Tuesday, August 9, 2011

100 Days Strong: Day 83, Getting ready for tomorrow

Day 83, Tuesday, August 9th.

Tonight I'm getting ready for tomorrow. I'm going to the Indiana State Fair to work in the "Scout Legacy Area" at the fair. Our local Council has an area at the State Fair where people can come and practice some Scout skills and learn about Scouting. I'm really looking forward to it.

Weighed in this morning at 174 still. Shooting for 165. Hopefully I can get there eventually.

This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?

100 Days Strong: Day 82, Troop meeting night

Day 82, Monday, August 8th

Tonight was our Troop meeting. The SPL and ASPL did a great job of running it. I did 2 Scoutmaster's conferences, and 1 Scout got a Board of Review for 1st Class.

The SPL introduced our new system of electing a new ASPL. The Scouts took to it pretty good. I was a little worried about weather or not they would like the idea.

Tonight was a good night. A lot got done, and the meeting was a lot of fun to watch.

I'm still holding steady at 174 lbs. Nothing new there to announce. I just wish I could loose another pound.

This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?

100 Days Strong: Day 81, Troop Committee and PLC

Day 81, Sunday, August 7th

Tonight was our PLC meeting and our Troop Committee meeting.

I met with the SPL about 1/2 hour before the PLC meeting started, to go over a few things. There were several new things I wanted to introduce to the PLC, and needed to bring the SPL up to date with them. We're making some changes to the way we do some things too.

Everything went well for both meetings. The SPL did a great job of running the PLC meeting, and the Committee meeting went really well too.

One of the biggest changes that we're making is with the Troop elections. We're no longer going to be electing a new SPL each 6 months. Instead, we're going to start electing a new ASPL each 6 months. The new ASPL will serve for 6 months, and then will move up to the position of SPL when his 6 month term is finished, to then serve as SPL for the next 6 months. I got that idea from Scoutmaster Jerry. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it works.

My weight is staying steady at 174 lbs now. I just can't seem to really loose any more. I guess we'll see if I ever make my goal of getting down to 165 lbs.

This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?

Saturday, August 6, 2011

100 Days Strong: Day 66 through Day 80, Sometimes life just gets in the way

Day 80, Saturday, August 6th

Sometimes life just gets in the way of my Scouting. I've done a pretty good job of keeping up my blog for the last 6 months, but just recently I've been so busy I've just not been able to keep up with it.

Over the last 2 weeks I've had some really great Scouting. We had a Court of Honor on July 25th that went really great. We handed out over 90 merit badges, and had around 8 Scouts advance in rank. I'm really proud of everything they've accomplished this year.

We had a Troop campout on July 29th through the 31st too. The older Scouts worked really hard on helping the newer Scouts with their advancement. I think there were probably 5 or 6 Scouts that finished advancement requirements for their next rank, and at least 2 that made 1st Class.

We've been working really hard to bring the Troop to a state of being fully boy led. I've said for a long time that we were a boy led Troop, but after all the podcasts and blogs that I've been reading and listening to for the last 6 months, I've realized that we weren't really 100% boy led yet. I just thought we were at the time. Well, it's almost there. I've got a few more ideas that I've gotten from some of the great leaders out there that I want to see put into place, and then we should be 100% fully boy led.

My diet is another subject I want to talk about. I started out 80 days ago at 183 lbs. This morning I stepped on the scale and weighed 174 lbs. I've lost 9 lbs so far. I just can't seem to loose it fast enough. It's driving me crazy. I don't eat very much. I don't drink any soda. I really watch the type of food I eat. I try to exercise as often as I can. I think I'm doing most everything right, but still can't loose it like I want to. My goal is still to get down to 165 lbs, and I know I'll do it, but it's taking a whole lot longer than I thought it would.

I just signed up today on the Bechtel Summit website for a position of Scoutmaster for one of our contingent Troops. I went to the 2010 National Jamboree as a 1st Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 1218, so I think I have as good a chance as anyone else does. Hopefully when the Council gets around to picking Scoutmasters they'll consider me for the position.

I guess that's all I can think about writing for now, so I'll end it here.

This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?

Friday, July 22, 2011

100 Days Strong: Day 65, 3rd day of Webelos Adventure Camp

Day 65, Friday, July 22nd.

Tonight is the final night of Webelos Adventure Camp. They check out tomorrow morning around 9:00 am.

I went back up to camp tonight for the closing campfire. The staff did an excellent job of putting on a terrific campfire program. They had several songs, skits, and a very nice flag retirement ceremony. Even the Webelos got to get up on stage and sing songs.

After the campfire program was over I headed back to the campsite for a little while. Everyone was really tired, so I didn't stay for long. It was almost 100 degrees today, and the heat really zapped everyone's energy. I got home around 10:30 pm.

For my 100 Days Strong:

I weighed 175 lbs this morning. My goal weight is 165 lbs.

I spent more time with the Webelos at camp tonight.

This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?

100 Days Strong: Day 64, 2nd day of Webelos Adventure Camp

Day 64, Thursday, July 21st.

Tonight I hurried home from work so I could change into my Scout uniform and head up to Webelos Adventure Camp to have dinner with my wife and youngest son, and all the other Webelos that are at camp this week.

I got there around 10 minutes before the evening flag ceremony was to start.

After flags, we all headed into the dining hall for dinner. I really enjoyed having dinner with the boys. They told me all about everything they had done that day. After dinner was over we all headed back to the campsite to relax for a little while. While I was sitting and relaxing, several of the Webelos came over and sat down with me. We had a really great time talking. They were asking about what it was going to be like when they joined Boy Scouts. I was happy that they were interested in hearing about all the fun things that they were going to get to do when they crossed over. I just hope they don't get too bored with Webelos between now and the time they cross over. This is always the hardest time for the Scouts.By now they are getting tired of Cub Scouts and are ready to move on to bigger and better things.

The camp did something special for the boys tonight. There was a night swim session for them. They don't normally do this, but it was so hot that they decided to give them a special treat. They swam from 9:00 pm until 10:00 pm. After they got done swimming I decided to take off and head home for the evening.

I really enjoyed my visit to camp tonight. I hope the boys enjoyed it as much as I did.

For my 100 Days Strong:

I weighed 175 lbs this morning. My goal weight is 165 lbs.

I visited the Webelos at camp tonight.

This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?

100 Days Strong: Day 63, 1st day of Webelos Adventure Camp

Day 63, Wednesday, July 20th.

This morning before I went into work I helped my wife with some last minute packing, and helped her get everything ready for Webelos Adventure Camp.

She and my youngest son, Jon, leave for camp today. All the Webelos are to meet at the school at 1:00 pm to load their gear into the Pack trailer for the trip to camp. They have to check in at 2:00 pm.

After helping her get her gear ready, I left for work.

When I got home from work I changed into my Scout uniform and headed to camp to see how things were going. I was a little worried about how all the Webelos and adult leaders were getting along. The temperature was around 95 degrees today, and the heat index was around 110.

They were all pretty hot, but otherwise were getting along pretty good. My wife said that the camp staff had been doing a good job of really pushing the boys and adults to drink plenty of water all day long.

I didn't get there in time to eat dinner with them in the dining hall, but I still had plenty of time to sit and talk to the boys and see how their day went. They all seemed to have had a pretty good day, and were all really enjoying camp.

I stayed until around 10:30 pm, and then headed home. Luckily, camp is only around 15 to 20 minutes from my house, so it wasn't a long drive to get home.

For my 100 Days Strong:

I weighed 175 lbs this morning. My goal is to get down to 165 lbs.

I had a really fun time visiting the Webelos at camp.

This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?