Brett H Perkins – Murfreesboro, Tennessee

My thoughts… My experiences… My life.

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    Brett Perkins

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Archive for December, 2009

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A Look Back :: A Look Forward

Posted by bretthperkins on December 31, 2009

So… here we are. A new year is, literally, on the horizon. Today is the end of one of the best years of my life. I am honestly quite sad to see it go!

A Look Back :: What Made 2009 So Great –

· Promotion at Deloitte: The year began with a move up for me at my previous job. It really was, in my opinion, quite an accomplishment to move up as quickly as I did at Deloitte. Granted, I have since moved on to other things, but I am still quite proud of what I did there. :)

· Wicked: I went up to Indianapolis to visit Tai and see the Musical Wicked. It is an amazing show, and I recommend seeing it if you have not already. I also had a great trip up to see Tai in Indy.

· American Idol: In the summer, Eric and I took a road trip to Orlando, Florida to audition for American Idol. It was a fantastic trip full of nothing but happiness and leisure. It wsa a HUGE break from my, then, stressful job. We met some incredible people, I met Eric’s friend Charlon, and we got to sing… in front of thousands of people. (Sort of).

· Epcot Center: On the trip to Orlando, I finally got to go to Disney World. I had never been, and I have still not been to a big chuck of Disney World, but I did get to go to Epcot with Eric, Charlon, and a couple of other friends. It was great! :)

· Moving in with Eric: I love David and Daniel like brothers. We lived together for about 6 years. That is a huge deal to me and they will forever be a part of my life… but the time was right for us to take our separate paths. Daniel has moved in with his partner Vinny and David has moved on to his own place. They are both doing very well. I do not want to live alone, so Eric and I, after talking about it for several years now, have finally moved in together. And I couldn’t be happier. We are such a perfect match and living together has, so far, been nothing but awesome!

· New Townhome: Moving out from the 3 bedroom townhome into a 2 bedroom was SUCH a great move! I got a bigger room, the place is nicer, decorated, and it just feels like home! It is in the same compex as my old place, but in a different section. I love that townhome, and I know that Eric and I will be there for at least another year.

· New Job at Kroll: I know that the first thing on this list is a promotion at my previous employer, but that is only one thing. I have since moved into a new job with career aspirations that are incompatible with the entity at Deloitte to which I was affiliated. So moving to this spot, for me, makes the absolute most sense. I am still very excited and forward looking into this job, and hope that it turns into several years of good work, a path up, and happy times!

· Weight Loss: I started thinking about my weight again last year in December… I even wrote a letter to myself. But, I did not have the discipline to follow through with a weight plan. Well, that is all different now. I have lost 23 pounds and still counting. I look better than ever and I am really excited about the coming year.

· Figuring Out More About Me: I am complex… and in that complexity comes ambiguity and question. I still did no really KNOW who I was… and to be honest, I think that I will continue to change and figure things out until I am gone… but I really starting thinking about who I REALLY am and what REALLY matters to me. I became a bit more focused on myself than I have ever been before, and you know?! It has really made a huge difference. I am still a considerate friend, but I am out for ME now. No one else!!! My friend Deana put it best when talking to her husband about a difficult situation. She told him that “I love you, but I love me more.” And that is SUCH a profound thing to say and realize. I had to learn to LOVE me more. And to be honest, I think that because of that, this year has been SO great!!!

A Look Forward :: What To Expect From 2010 –

Honestly… I haven’t the foggiest idea what to expect. I learned long ago that expectations are quite the paradox. They are good and they are bad, they are right and they are wrong… and sometimes, expectations are the HARDEST things to manage. Life is not scripted, and not everything is planned in advance. You can never know what will happen, nor should you. So with that in mind, I look into the next year with excitement and wonder. I hope that 2010 will be as great, if not greater, that 2009.

With that, I close out this year on bretthperkins.com. I am working on a decade retrospective, but I won’t have that ready for a few more days… so look for that.

I hope that everyone reading this has a safe and memorable holiday today, and if you choose to drink or otherwise party, please use good judgment and be safe! The last thing anyone wants is for 2010 to begin with tragedy.

May the new year bring happiness and good fortune to you all.

-=brett=-

Posted in Family, Friends, Health, Holidays, Parties, Randomness, Thought, Work | Leave a Comment »

My Diet :: What Works for Me

Posted by bretthperkins on December 29, 2009

Several people have asked what I am doing to lose the weight, so here it is:

Keep in mind that some of this may be as drastic a change for you as it was for me, so plan to phase it in over a few weeks if you start.  Also, this is what is working for ME… everyone is different, but this diet for me has had consistent results since October of about 3 lbs per week.  I STRONGLY recommend against trying to lose more than that per week without consulting your doctor.  Also don’t be afraid to play around to find what works for YOU…  we’re all different.

1)  Eliminate ALL soda (even diet)
2)  Drink ONLY water or Crystal Light.  Tea and Coffee are good in moderation, and only sweeten with Splenda.
3)  Eliminate 80% of your meats.  Replace with veggie burgers stuff and soy meats.
4)  Stay away from Hamburger and Chicken.  Try to stick with lighter meats like Turkey.
5)  NO FAST FOOD!!!  If you have fast food, research what is out there first.  There are good alternatives out there and most places have nutritional information available on their websites.
6)  Eat lots of grains and foods with Omega 3.
7)  Take a daily multi-vitamin AND a vitamin B complex.  (The B complex aids in boosting metabolism)  This might be too much vitamin B, but its water soluble and your body won’t be hurt by it…  the B in the multi-vitamins is not as complete as the complex.
8)  I am taking a diet supplement named Lipo 6.  I think it helps… but who knows! lol
9)  Don’t eat past 8 PM.
10)  Eat ALL of your meals, and snacks.  You should be eating at least every 3-4 hours.  This keeps your metabolism going.
11)  Know yourself.  You, like I, have vices.  Cater your diet to them.  You will never stick to anything if you completely stop eating the foods you enjoy!
12)  Drink Water… Often.  Like 100 oz. per day.  Keep a bottle with you and refill it often.
13)  Work out about 40 minutes 3 times a week.  Nothing strenuous.  Just get your heart going a bit (140-160 beats per minute) and sweat some.
14)  No WHITE bread.  Eat whole grain.  I recommend the purple “Healthy Life” bread.  You can find it at Walmart.
15)  Keep healthy snacks around you…  and allow yourself to munch.  (Apples, kashi granola, celery, etc)
16)  Have a “cheat day” where you can eat anything that you want… just keep the portions on the small side.
17)  Drink lots of water…  did I say that already?
18)  No fatty cheese.  Get no-fat or low-fat cheese.
19)  No processed snacks.  They are empty calories with no nutritional value-add to your diet.
20)  Take the stairs and park far away.  Don’t be lazy! :)   (OK, I’ll admit, its too cold to walk far to get to work… guilty of parking close!)
21)  Stick to it!!!  Just remember why you are doing this!!!  And on the days where you really don’t feel like going to the gym, or working out at home, just tell yourself to do it for 10 minutes.  Odds are, you will go longer.  :)
22)  If healthy foods are not available, switch to plan ‘B’:  Portion Control.
23)  Lastly, drink LOTS of water.   H-2-Oh My Goodness you will feel great because you are hydrated!!

That is what I do.  My typical day:

  • Breakfast (7:00 AM) :  Kashi Cereal or waffles (1 serving) and some turkey sausage (1 serving).  2 Eggs can replace the sausage.
  • Coffee between breakfast and lunch.  2 cups.  Approx 20 oz.
  • By now, I have probably already had about 40 oz. of water.
  • Lunch (12:00 PM) :  Light meat sandwich on wheat or soup.  Nothing too crazy.
  • Snack (3:00 PM) : Granola Bar.
  • Up to about 70 oz. of water by now.-
  • Dinner ( 6:00ish): Veggie ‘chicken’ and brocolli/cheese… or some kinda lean pasta dish.  Sometimes I will have some more soup or 2 ham/cheese sandwiches.
  • I drink Crystal Light at night.

That is about it.  Cater it to you, and hit google to see what other people are doing.  I have read a TON of stuff that has worked for others.

-=Brett=-

Posted in Diet, Friends, Health | Leave a Comment »

Woo! I Finally Got Work!

Posted by bretthperkins on December 28, 2009

Work work – OK…  so, I will admit:  I have LOVED doing things at my own pace for the last two weeks at Kroll.  I have read a lot and learned a lot, however, I am SO glad to actually begin working on the applications!  We are still in a bit of a lull, and to be frank, I believe that we will be for the next several weeks.  The good news is that we have time to prototype various bits of the UI (User Interface).  So we began working on that today.  It is not THAT major, but it is the little detailed stuff of which I absolutely love!!!  I was assigned two basic tasks:  1)  Re-design the header for the web-site and 2)  Begin building the site-map.  A site-map is basically what it sounds like…  It is a listing of all of the pages, in hierarchical order, and is used in navigation and security.  Right now, it is just a text file, it will eventually be a database table driven site-map with Active Directory Groups for permissions and access enforcement.  Anywho…  I got to actually work, and I was thrilled.

Mom work – After I left work, I headed to mom’s where she made some left-over turkey and we had some broccoli and cheese.  It was good.  I am back on my diet starting today.  I kinda cheated ALL of last week… but it was Christmas.  :)   I will likely cheat a little this week…  so I am going to prepare and allow for that.  But next week:  NO CHEATING!  kk.  Anywho, after dinner, we took down her Christmas stuff and packed it up.  I also played with the dog, Max.  Poor Max, though… he was playing outside the other day when his leash got caught around a bird bath, and the bird bath fell on his foot.  Staci, my sister, is going to take him to the vet tomorrow, I am sure he is fine, but he will NOT put his back paw on the ground, so he hobbles on 3 legs. It was cute when I came in, though, because Max was all happy, he grabbed his ball, and came to play, but then he remembered that he had a hurt foot, dropped the ball, and started whimpering.  :(   Anywho, Staci came by with her daughter and husband to grab Max, my mom was dog-sitting.  Then I came home.

Dad work – After that, I spent about an hour on the phone with my dad.  His printer stopped working after I upgraded his computer to Windows 7.  Anywho, that is about all.  Eric and I are watching Disney’s UP.  It is SUCH a great movie!!!  :)

On second thought… I think that I will go back to doing nothing… if only I could.  :)

-=brett=-

Posted in Family, Technology, Work | Leave a Comment »

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