The Big Adventure

We successfully made it to camp. For those that know the history, we made it to Worth Ranch without running out of gas. As you can see from the picture, we have a new paint job on the bus.

For some reason, I was not very apprehensive in the parking lot. Getting out to camp is always stressful to me, but not today. The boys did an excellent job of getting the trailer loaded and we got on the road.

The usual stop at the Mineral Wells Whataburger was awesome as usual. It is full of scouts heading to summer camp; Some to Worth Ranch and some to Camp Constantine.

Forgive the typos and the spellings, trying to get some posts up before I go bed.

Worth Ranch 2011

This is the official first post of the little Troop 5 summer camp adventure at Worth Scout Ranch. Scout camp is epic, but this year is going to special for me. In 2002, I took Zack Wisch to his first summer camp to Worth Ranch. As little Trmer oop 5 arrives on Sunday, Zack Wisch will be the Program Director. I will post more about this later, but it makes a Scoutmaster very proud when one of his Eagle Scouts is leading a summer camp staff.

We leave tomorrow morning. I hope to update this blog as much as possible. Enjoy and forgive my typos.

Tour d'Italia

Today was the 26th annual Tour d'Italia in Italy, Texas. I went down to Italy with my cycling buddy Justin. We met up with some other cycling buddies for what was a brutally windy and hot day on the bike. Wind was 30mph plus and the heat was over 104 off the road. We finished the 63 mile ride in 3:20.

The highlight of my ride was when I ended up in a pace line with a cycling buddy I have not seen in a while. He rode past me and yell “Shugart is that you? Where did you leave the rest of you?” We chatted and I shared my weight loss goal, he said he recognized the bike before he recognized me.

I am still above 200 pounds, but I am dangerously close to having a new frame.

Blog Update

For those 5 people or so that keeps coming back and checking to see if I have updated my blog. Ta Da!  Life has gotten in the way.  I always say that people make time for what is important so the blog has just not been important.  I am moving it up the list of my things to do.

Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office

I seldom post about work due to the fact I work for elected officials, in addition; making sure a law office has enough toner really is not that exciting.

I have had the privilege and honor to work for Tim Curry and Joe Shannon, Jr. as the Business Manager of the Criminal District Attorney for the past nine years. There have only been four District Attorneys in my life time and I got to work for two of them. To be part of the transition that brought Mr. Shannon as the District Attorney was a privilege. This transition had not happened in Tarrant County in over thirty-six years.

I have made a rare move within Tarrant County that the District Attorney’s Office believed merited a send off after nine years of service. Although more of a roast, it was quite flattering and humbling.

The above picture will be framed as part of my work history. From left to right, Bill Waybourn, Police Chief of Dalworthington Gardens; ADA Jack Strickland, started his career with T. Cullen Davis Trial; Judge Robb Catalano, a former ADA and one of my new bosses; Me; Joe Shannon, Jr., The District Attorney; and Melinda Westmoreland, an ADA, MC of the Roast and a cycling buddy.

Without the experienced I gained working at the District Attorney's Office, my new opportunity would not have been available.  I will always be grateful.

Weight Loss Continues

I continue to set intermediate goals to make my progress towards my ideal weight by my birthday. One of those was to be below 220 by April 1. I set this goal with the thought it was at the beginning of cycling season. After a hard summer of riding, I get down to about 230 to 225, so I figure if I could start the season at 220 or less, I could really knock off the weight in the spring and the summer.

I accomplished that goal. My next goal is to be below 200 pounds. The carrot I have in front of me is that I will purchase a new bike frame. To keep that in clear focus, the down payment for a Specialized Tarmac has been made.  Even in my hard riding days of my early 30s, I barly got below 200 pounds, This carrot better work