Odds and Ends - May 3

Did you know? The Beatles did almost all their Beatleing while the guys were still in their 20’s. Ringo Starr (real name Sir Richard Starkey), the oldest, was 30 when the band “unofficially” broke up in April 1970 with a press release from John Lennon. The official break-up would happen four and a half years later in December of 1974, when John Lennon signed his papers… at the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World.

A few weeks ago I started back up with calorie counting. I’d gotten to a point where I wasn’t comfortable (both physically and from a self-image standpoint) with the extra pounds I was carrying around, and since I’m at home most of the time I can be very particular about what foods I put into my body.

I’m combining calorie counting with daily exercise, sometimes Peloton, sometimes walking. I’ve done diets like low carb in the past and don’t care for the restrictions on the types of food I can eat. Calorie counting at least lets eat whatever I want, as long as I’m mindful of the portion and whatever else I’ve had that day.

I started on April 14 at 199 and today I hit 191. I’m targeting 170.

Calorie counting means I have a lot of photos like this on my phone:

We’re returning to Iceland this summer! Not having some sort of family summer trip planned had been gnawing at me for a few months now. With Rowan moving into 10th grade next year we don’t have a lot of summers left where we’re all together, so I’m really motivated that we make the most of them.

When I worked for Celebrity/Royal Caribbean early in my career I’d taken an Alaska cruise and really enjoyed that, but for this summer I couldn’t find the right combination of cruise and flights and hotels that made sense for us. Sidenote: there’s a huge opportunity for a hotel chain that can actually accommodate a family of 4 with two teenagers; two queen beds isn’t cutting it.

Instead, I found a voyage that leaves from Bayonne, NJ (NYC area) and disembarks in Reykjavik 13 days later! This means an easy ~1h30m flight up to Newark, and then an easy-ish direct flight from Reykjavik back to RDU. Before the cruise we have one full day planned in Manhattan. On the way to Iceland the cruise stops in Halifax, St. John’s Newfoundland, Greenland!, and two towns on the north and west sides of Iceland. At the end of the cruise we’ll spend a few nights in Iceland and then return home.

I didn’t say it would be a warm vacation!