Sunday Morning Selfie

Welcome to my weekly accountability to healthy living blog, Sunday Morning Selfie. This is a place on the web where I reflect on the past week and look for ways to make good decisions, dietary and otherwise, as I move forward thru 2017.

 My name is Joe Bryant. I am an Seattle area Broadcaster and Teacher and this is my story.

Spring Cleaning

I am a bit late to publish today and will be keeping this short as Kelli and I are on a bit of a Spring cleaning roll. She is focusing on the inside and I am taking care of making the decks and yard a pleasant place to be again. One thing she did that I have to give a major salute to and tell a story about is she steamed cleaned the carpets!

Usually we would hire having the carpets cleaned but this needed to be done on short notice as Emily is hosting the cast of a play she is in today and, after a long winter of Bandit and I hibernating in the man cave it was in SERIOUS need of a clean.

So yesterday I went to Lowes to see if they rented carpet cleaners. There I experienced some customer service I could be critical of but also, in the end, received some excellent customer treatment.

 On the bad side, the first person that I asked if they rented machines for carpet was the guy in the paint department who told me “not that he knew of”. He then turned to ask another Lowesian and she said “we don’t rent anything here. We used to rent the Rug Doctor but quit doing tha”t.

With that info I went to check out. (killer deal on light bulbs right now thanks to PSE. 6 nice, energy efficient  bulbs for $10! )

I decided to take one more crack and asked an employee at the self checkout about carpet machines. She said “yes, they are over there”, and pointed a few feet away to customer service. The machines we about 20 feet from the two people I had asked previously and were also right next to the door these folks would be using every day!

I understand they are the “paint department” people, and it’s a big store, but I was not impressed when I realized they were in plain site of where this duo, I assume,  spends eight hours a day.

But while I would suggest Lowes cross train its employees more to make them aware of products and services I also have to commend Amanda, the customer service person who rented me the machine.

She was patient with the process and answered my questions but the BIG THING she did was save me a HUGE headache. 

 When filling out the rental agreement my phone rang so I silenced it and sat it on the counter. Somehow when I left with the machine my phone decided to stay at Lowes. (Lot’s on my mind these days I guess). After getting home and realizing no phone came home with me I called and Kelli sat on hold with the store while I rushed back.

When I arrived Amanda said “I just got off the phone with your wife and here is your phone. I am sorry I did not notice in time to catch you before you left the store”.

Obviously there was no need to apologize and I was thrilled as it is a new I phone 7 that  I recently purchased at COSTCO and it would have been spendy to replace even with insurance and also a big hassle.

So a salute to Amanda in Customer Service at the Renton Landing Lowes! The machine works pretty good too when you have a hard working wife like Kelli pushing it. 🙂

Speaking of COSTCO…. Have you seen this months coupon book? They will now deliver an entire freaking pallet of Oreo cookies to your front door! In fact, if you want to stock up AND save $1000 on Oreo’s they will deliver two pallets. BUT THAT’S THE LIMIT.

My Current Weight

With deals like that it is a wonder anybody ever loses any weight around here.

As to my current weight, last week was much like my trip to Lowes, some things to be critical of and also some big wins.

It was teacher appreciation week and it seems every time I went to my mailbox there was more candy in there as thank yous from various departments. I am proud to say I did not consume a bite and made many co-workers happy when I passed my goodies along.

The parents provided a lunch that was very healthy AND tasty on Thursday. There was salad, sushi and other Asian themed dishes that made it easy to eat lite. I avoided the brownies and cookies at then end of the table.

But on Friday the Administration fed us hamburgers, hot dogs and a great chili. I feel I did well but going hamburger patty smothered in veggie chili, no bun. But then desert came out and …… let’s just say the Root Beer Floats are my kryptonite.

So while I did not have the perfect week and am still not 100% back in the rhythm, I am three pounds lighter than I was last Sunday…. drum roll ….. at 226 pounds.

I am sensing my goal of being under 200 before Emily graduates in mid-June slipping away but I also don’t see any reason why I cant get into the 215 range with the help of and re-dedicating myself to the 30/10 Weight Loss For Life program. That would be the lowest weight I have been in the 2000’s and a far cry from the 260 neighborhood I started the year and this blog with.

And the other great news is that it appears to FINALLY be decent weather. So I am going to go return the rug machine, thank Amanda once again, and get on the Electric Bike I spent lots of money on two months ago that has been ridden four times.

Thanks for reading my SMS and Happy Sunday! Joe