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| "Tons" of Change for Terry |
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Check out Terry’s change in looks! Terry’s decision this summer to join Weight Watchers was a huge impact on his life! He had gotten so used to being overweight that he didn’t think he’d be able to get back to a healthy reasonable weight. He dreaded going to the WW meetings, but knew he needed some help if he ever wanted to feel healthy again. Women hated him at the meetings. He’d loose 3 pounds a week for every .4 pounds a woman would loose. Some of his success was that weight loss techniques were so new to him. He didn’t know that Salad dressing added calories. He was so surprised how fattening chips were. This totally changed how he’d do lunch. No longer would he go to 7-11 and buy a big Mountain Dew and a family size bag of Cheddar Cheese Ruffles because surprise surprise, this lunch would be high in points! |
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Before...
This picture caused the change
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After...
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Now he’d feast himself on a baked potato with Feta cheese and fresh vegetables, a piece of fruit, a large glass of water and maybe if he could eat it all some rice cakes. He certainly felt better after eating this food compared to his former diet and he maintained his point level. His ultimate motivator is that he can ride his bike without feeling exhausted (Imagine always carrying someone Courtney’s size around everywhere you go!) and he could play tag with the girls. He doesn’t even miss his old diet. WW encourages people not to deprive yourself of those favorite foods – but they teach moderation and balance in diet. Nobody can live long living on a diet from 7-11! (We missed our financial success: maybe we should sue 7-11 for making Terry fat instead of joining WW.)
This June Terry got his actual principal’s license. This will allow him the choice in getting back working in the schools. He very much enjoys his current job. He still is working as the Support Center Manager for the school district’s IT division. What this means for non-tech people is that his team of people answer 500 calls a week helping teachers who would prefer to throw their computer out the window, but they need their computer to work right now because they have 24 students depending on them. Everything is always an emergency when it comes to computers. Terry is not bothered by the demands of his job and he enjoys thinking up solutions for desperate people. He also very much enjoys working |
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Jennifer bought me my "old" size for Christmas
Cool Eh?
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with his team and the people in his department. It is great when you can go to a job where all you do is solve problems all day and come home loving the work because of the people he spends the day with!
Even with his enjoyment of his current job, he misses working in the buildings around students. His solution to this desire is to become a building principal. He’d still be challenged with solving many problems a day and creating a working environment that encourages learning, risk and accountability, but he’d also have the enriching addition of the energy and excitement of students. He isn’t sure when this change will take place. It will be a step down financially for us and the district at this point would prefer him to become an assistant principal 1st (which is too big of a financial cut at this time). We might make this change when Jennifer goes back to work (the family isn’t ready for this now) or we might wait until his current job is no longer as fun as it is right now – but the desire to be principal is very strong and we will continue to prayerfully figure out if this desire is part of God’s desire for him.
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Volunteering opportunities have diminished greatly. He was going to serve on the PTA board this year, but the inability to communicate with our principal suggested that our being on the board might stir up more conflict than necessary. The church field trips has given him a much needed break from serving in leadership at a church. Like Jennifer, although he is not volunteering formally in many places, he is finding himself very busy. He does serve on the board of FSA (Field Science Adventures). He has served on this board ever since Kaitlyn was a baby. This is a fantastic educational program that a former teammate leads. This program provides camp experiences where students can go experience adventurous trips while discovering the sciences in the field. Terry is looking forward to the day when the girls can go on these trips and his realization the Kaitlyn could go very soon makes us realize how long he has served on this board. Terry’s primary focus continues to be the girls! He commits all of his time to the kids in spite of Jennifer’s continued encouragement to do things like biking or learning to rock climb. Although he does take his bike out more and more (because he now can breathe with the reduced load he is packing), he is thrilled to discover the girl’s ability to join him in these rides. One day this fall he took Courtney mountain bike riding on the alley cat attached to the back of his bike. As he rode over the rocks and down the narrow paths, Courtney cheered him on the entire way only periodically pausing in her cheers to see if they were going to survive the chosen route. This Spring the plan is to take up Rock Climbing as a family. Terry works very hard at work so he can truly enjoy his kids when he is at home. The result |
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The "Official" Dad...
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is he finds it hard to choose time apart with them when he can do similar activities with them! If he isn’t creating an activity for them to do with him, he is supporting them in one of theirs. The strongest example of this is his effort with being a swimming official. He has done this for the past 2 years even though Courtney is a better swimmer than he is. Even with his lack of ability in the water he has always been able to analyze different skills – so he can stand over swimmers and watch their strokes to see if they need to be disqualified. |
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