Fattening me up

I've heard that people gain weight easily once they get married. I think Kate may be trying to fatten me up already. The past two days she has made amazing dishes: pad thai and an awesome rice with shrimp. Both had that patented level of spice that few people other than Kate, my dad and I can enjoy. They were awesome.

But alas, the way we workout, she'll have to do better than that. I usually gain weight when we go to the US. This winter, I gained around 4 lbs (3 of which probably came from an 18 inch cheese steak I ate in one sitting). When we come back to Monteverde, I usually lose the weight right back.

Kate's been organizing some workout sessions with women from the area. They meet at the institute and do hip hop abs, and other videos of the sort. I've been part of a mixed martial arts collective for around 10 months now. We have a strong core of 4 strong young men, who meets three times a week to work on our striking, grappling, and submission fighting skills. We beat the shit out of each other--literally. Yesterday, one of our "stations" consisted in holding your hands over your head while your partner punched you in the torso for 3 minutes. Ever felt a nicely placed liver shot? It really sucks. Really. I mean it feels terrible. It's a weird sort of pain that radiates and fills you with acid-like feelings of nausea. You simply want to collapse.

So, in sum, I feel more than ready to take on the this marriage thing-a-majig. All my combat training will come in handy should Kate ever channel Jody in a fit of fury, perhaps brought on by a difficult to use can-opener. Furthermore, my voracious appetite fueled by my workout regimes will make easy work of all the calories married life will throw at me. And finally, but not least importantly, I love Kate, I love her family, and I love how my family loves Kate and her family.

Liver shots, I don't love (unless I'm dishing them out).

Martially yours,

Uncle Nesto