He's now a master!

Last Saturday, my husband took part in Cornell University's January graduate recognition ceremony, and this week he found out that he got at least an A on his final project for his Master of Engineering in Computer Science thus graduating with a cum laude distinction (if they awarded such distinction to graduate students). I'm very proud of him; he completed this achievement all while working full-time. And, by doing it through the employee degree program, it was all free. Just amazing! I'm so proud of you, honey!

Parrrrtaaaayyy

My husband and I hosted a small dinner party this past Monday night for 7 friends. I made a ham, scalloped potatoes and some brownies, and friends made pasta with fresh pesto and ginger glazed baby carrots. It was a very successful party! This picture was taken before everyone arrived, but I did manage to make it through the night without getting anything on myself. Yippie!

Work's been rather stressful lately because instead of my normal job I've been working on redesigning our department's website, and I'm getting significant push-back from our web team. If I make it through this process I guess I'll be a stronger person, but I may be insane too!

Well, I made it ...

though the last year and truly am better off having gone through it, with just one exception, losing Koba. I'm sure most people do these types of posts around the New Year, but given that we'll be at Disney on New Year's (woo-hoo!), I figured I'd do it now. Oh, and let me say this now before I forget: seriously, thank you all for continuing to check and read my blog. I've been significantly lax at posting lately, so I really appreciate those of you who've stuck around and have continued checking in on me!

The last year has been filled with a significant number of changes. My husband and I reconciled our marriage (and are continuing to work on it), we lost our sweet Koba, I reached my goal-weight, I made the decision to go back to school for Landscape Architecture (and am working toward that goal regularly, now) and we moved into a new apartment. With the exception of moving (which really has been positive on many fronts), these changes have all been pretty significant, and I feel I've handled them quite well. So, while I'm hoping this next year isn't quite as dramatic, I look forward to the new challenges and changes and hope that you all will continue to check in with me (as I do with you) every once in a while. Have a very happy Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

I (finally) did it

The elliptical, that is. After a 5 month hiatus, I finally got my butt on the elliptical again this morning. The last time I'd done it was right before Koba died, and I think there was some sort of a mental block involved in not doing it. And, I used the fact that the warmer weather allowed me to get outside and do more physically to excuse myself from doing it most of the summer. But, this morning, I just felt like getting back on. At first, it felt really good, but just a few minutes into it, I had to fight back tears. Thankfully, I was able to do the full 35 minute course and burned ~266 calories. Oh, and I realized something most of the way through, I probably shouldn't be doing the weight loss program any more. Duh!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

One of my best birthdays ever!

The day began lazily enough (waking up about 9am, opening all but the present from my husband because he was still sleeping) but then swung into full gear because of a desire to watch football and get dim sum. Dim sum was, as usual, fantastic, and the company (my friend and husband) was even better. And, we made it back to our apartment in time to catch just about all of Florida's win over Vanderbilt! Yeah!

Then, the rest of my afternoon was spent doing just whatever the heck I wanted! I browsed Coach's website (my husband got me a gift card; thank you honey!), perused catalogs that came in over the past week and cut my fingernails and cut and painted my toenails. Then, while I was getting ready to go out to dinner, my dad called to wish me a happy birthday. He was very sweet and tried to suggest that this was just my 30th (instead of 34th) birthday. I told him if I'm going to lie about it, it might as well be my 29th birthday instead.

Dinner, unfortunately, got a little of a late start because the restaurant was packed, and our table wasn't ready when we arrived. But, that actually turned out to be a good thing because I had discovered earlier in the day that the club I'd planned on going to didn't open until 9pm (and dinner was at 7). After dinner, my husband stopped by another restaurant to pick up one of the most important parts of the evening, the above pictured cake, of course. I was so pleased upon first seeing it (and even more pleased once I took a bite of it!) that I wanted to dig in right away. But, alas, I controlled myself and waited until after arriving at the club.

We got there just after it opened, so we had the place entirely to ourselves, save the employees. And, while I at first thought it was going to suck if no one else ever came to the bar during the course of the evening, I soon had my thoughts changed when a group of supposed 20 somethings arrived celebrating a friend's 21st birthday ... with parents in tow. So, the place filled up rather quickly ... wouldn't you go to a party if someone's parents were footing the bill? The good thing (or so we thought) about all of the party-goers was that there would be other people dancing. But, apparently, the girlies were too chicken (with one sadly dressed woman being the exception). So, we said, screw it, let's show these girls how to dance. And, so we made fools of ourselves. In all, great fun! Over the course of the night, I had 4 drinks (a ton for me!), my entree, a tiny piece (but divinely yummy!) of cake and about 8 bites of a French bread pizza sub after arriving back at home in order to help stave off the hangover, really! :)

A great Halloween!!!

Suffice it to say, I went all out this year. It's the first year (as an adult) I really felt good enough about myself to make a spectacle of myself, and in the process I managed to drag my husband along with me. Thankfully, he was a very good sport.

So, you know who I'm supposed to be, but do you know who he is? I will be thoroughly impressed with anyone who tells me who he is. I'll even give you a hint: there is a tie-in to Audrey Hepburn which is the beauty of the costume.

The tie-in is so good that we decided to enter the university-wide costume contest at work yesterday. And, would you believe we won the Judge's Award?!?! This award essentially means we won the whole thing! Crazy!! Guess what the prize is, though. A freaking sheet pizza, a dozen wings and 2 quarts of soda. Lucky us, eh? But, whatever, we'll throw a small party and let our friends eat the garbage, right? :) It's the fact that we won that counts!

And, after giving out candy at a friend's house (b/c there aren't many kids in the neighborhood where I live), we went out for a drink ... with me still in my costume!

Oh, and how could I forget?! After the costume contest, my husband and I walked around to our various offices to show off how we were dressed to our co-workers, and while on the way back to my building from my husband's, we heard someone whistle the typical cat call type whistle and then someone yelled you're hot! At first, my husband thought it was someone I knew just being silly, but after looking around and spying what appeared to be a jail transport van, we both decided it wasn't someone either of us knew and to just keep walking. A compliment, I guess, but a rather odd one. :)

Anyways, I had a fabulous Halloweeen, and I hope you all did too! Now, I'm really looking forward to Saturday because it's my birthday, and we're going to do a bunch of fabulous stuff! First, we're going to watch my Gators beat Vanderbilt. Then, we're going to have dinner at a Thai restaurant with a few friends and then from there we're going to go to a fantastic local club where there's good drinks, comfortable seats, dancing and most importantly, clean bathrooms! There, we're going to enjoy my favorite cake in the whole world, red velvet cake, and I promise, I won't over-indulge in it. Whatever we don't eat, we can take home for me to savor one tiny piece at a time. :)

And now for a completely different Halloween experience

I think I've mentioned it before, but in case I haven't, I love Halloween. As a child, I never had very nice costumes because my parents didn't like Halloween and didn't go in for buying (or making) us costumes. Most years, my costume existed of a plastic mask and clothing I already owned. Since becoming an adult every year I'd dreamed of the things I'd like to dress up as, but in general, I was very limited to what I could wear because of my weight.

In 1999, I dressed up as a mop from the Sorcerer's Apprentice to compliment my husband's Mickey. You can't really tell it from this photo, but I bought one of the cheap brown sheath-like costumes (I think it was supposed to be a monk's costume) to make myself the handle and attached a couple of hula skirts just below my knees to make the mop head. In my hand, I carry a bucket painted to look like an old wooden bucket and filled it with iridescent wrap to make it look like water. Pretty darn creative, huh? But, can you see that I'm wearing something over the gown thing? Well, I was a bit uncomfortable with how tightly the gown thing clung to my body (surprise, surprise), so I wore a brown t-shirt over the gown ... not that it made me look any better. But, it did make me feel better!

Last year and the year before, I dressed up as the spider woman. In 2004, I had to put on the "one size fits all" skirt over my head (instead of stepping into it) because the elastic wouldn't stretch out enough to fit over my hips and abdomen. So, when I wore it last year and easily slipped it on, I was thrilled. But, when I look at myself from then now I know I never would have even considered what I'm planning on for this year ...

I am going to be Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's! I found this vintage dress on eBay, an Audrey-style wig, long black gloves, some pearls and even the long cigarette holder! Oh, and even though the wig I bought comes with (what I'm sure will be a rather tacky) tiara, I'm going to add the tiara I wore on my wedding day to top it all off! The only thing I lack now is shoes. Sad that I don't have a pair of appropriate low-heeled or flat black shoes, but I don't. So, I'm still on the hunt! The caveat is that I don't wear a lot of black, so I don't want to spend more than $20 on the shoes since I know they won't get much use. Anyways, I'm very excited about it (even though I know I'm no where near as skinny as Audrey always was), and I plan to take photos. So, be on the lookout for them soon after Halloween! What are you all planning on dressing up as?

Gooooooooooaaaaalllllll!!!

About friggin' time! I read the scale with amazement this morning, 135.0 lbs!! Yeah, I've finally reached my offical goal weight, 1 year, 4 months and 2 days after WLS!! I haven't been all that stressed about not reaching this number because I'm happy with how I look, but now that I'm here, it's really nice to have achieved it. Now, the next goals are to run, not walk, the Disney 5K in January and the Nike Womens' 1/2 Marathon in October of next year. I doubt I'll become one of the psychos (like my sister, so I mean that with love) who runs marathons all the time, but these are two physical goals that I'd like to be able to achieve.

I've got more photos from NYC that I'd like to post, but Blogger's photo upload stopped working on me this morning. So, check back again for more in the near future!

Back to normal ... thankfully!

My weight this morning was 136.0 lbs, so I was able to lose those extra 10 lbs of water weight in the last week. Thank goodness! I'm sure the resumption of the med that I'd run out of and the start of my period helped significantly. And, on top of that, I got my butt walked all over NYC this past weekend!

A friend and I drove down Friday morning (mostly uneventful with the exception of part of the muffler flying off about an hour from home). We arrived in Chelsea at my friend's brother's apartment (where we were staying) at about 4pm and almost immediately set off. We first hit Tiffany, Bergdorf, Henri Bendel, Takashimaya and Zara in midtown before returning to Chelsea for dinner. I was on the hunt for a new winter coat (since the one I wore last year is a 14 and way too big!), so most of where we shopped throughout the weekend was to help me toward that end. Although, Bergdorf's, Bendel's and Takashimaya were only for the experience of going there.

After exploring Chelsea with my friend's brother and his boyfriend for a little while, we found a Japanese place where the ladies from Sex and the City enjoyed dinner at some point during the show's run. From there, we headed toward the meatpacking district in order to kill a little time before we were to meet a few friends at the Maritime Hotel for drinks. I had 1 Bellini because I was trying not to spend an absolute fortune, and I didn't want to get too drunk either. We got back to the apartment at about midnight. Unfortunately, my night, in effect, did not end. My friend's brother has a studio apartment, a rather large studio for NYC, but still a studio. So, no privacy ... for anyone! My friend slept w/ her brother in his bed, and I slept on the couch not 3 feet from their feet! And, within 2 minutes of turning out the light, my friend's brother was snoring, loudly! And, I kid you not, it went on for most of the night. When my husband snores, I just wake him up and ask him to turn over, not exactly something I could do in this situation. I'd brought ear plugs, but unfortunately, they were completely ineffective. I heard everything, even over my white noise machine. Suffice it to say, I got no more than 4 hours sleep that night and none of it was very consecutive. All this lack of sleep really stressed me out because I knew we had major plans for the next day ...

Our first stop of the day was Le Bergamote, a French patisserie. I enjoyed a fabulous, authentic almond croissant and a non-fat latte, and I got a Brioche to go knowing that what little of the croissant I would end up eating and the latte wouldn't hold me for long. From there we caught the E train to its last stop, the former World Trade Center stop. I'd never seen the site (either when the buildings were there or after 9/11) before, so I wanted to take time to look around. There were images taken on 9/11 displayed throughout a small memorial that were so incredibly powerful I had a difficult time staying there to look at them. And, I sensed some uncomfortableness in my friend, so we kept moving ... across the street to Century 21 in my continuing quest for a coat! I tried one on that I liked, but it was a bit too snug to fit a bulky sweater underneath. So, I left with just a couple pairs of tights. We walked north toward City Hall until we came upon a Papyrus. Papyrus is my all-time favorite stationary store, so we had to go in. I found an anniversary & birthday card for my husband, a birthday card for my sister, a couple of cute beaded rings for my nieces and Christmas cards. Yup, Christmas cards! We don't have a Papyrus anywhere near us, and I found some I loved. So, I just decided to go ahead and get them.

From there, we walked up (and over I think) to TriBeCa, a fabulous neighborhood made famous by Robert DeNiro and more recently the What Not to Wear studios. I, sadly, was not able to figure out which door led to the studios even though I was standing on the correct street and block, but it was cool to see it. We hopped back on the train uptown and ended up back in the meatpacking district for brunch at Pastis, yet another favorite of Carrie and the girls. We both had the Omlette aux Fines Herbes w/ French Fries, and despite feeling a leetle guilty about the French fries when ordering them, the guilt flew right out the window (oh, wait, we ate outside on the patio) when they arrived! I typically don't care for eggs, but this omelet was so well prepared; it was light, airy and just completely delicious. I couldn't stop raving about it, and oh, my, gosh, the French fries! I promise I ate only a quarter to third of the fries they served me, but dang, were they phenomenal! If you go to NYC, you must go to Pastis for the fries! I mean it!!!

We did so much that the details have become a leetle bit hazy, but I think what follows is what we did. :) From Pastis we caught the E train again up to Midtown in order to retrieve my jewelry and to meet up with a friend. While the cleaning did cost me about $35, it all looked amazingly as if it were brand new, so I was thrilled. I have a very good sense of direction, so when we headed north toward Central Park in order to catch another train down to the Union Square area I, at first, got very confused. But, once we found the station, we were headed in the right direction, south. One of the things that amazes me most (now that I'm back at home) is that with the exception of this situation, my friend basically knew where all of the train stations were and we always managed to be on the correct side of the tracks upon descending the stairs. It was sooo fabulous not to have to worry about consulting a map every time I wanted to go to a different place. Once in Union Square, I managed to spend almost $85 on MAC makeup (all stuff that I needed and would have bought online if I hadn't been going to NYC), and I found a very cool scarf at Lucky Brand Jeans. At this point, we were so loaded down with packages that we decided to make our way back to the apartment to drop off our acquisitions and to rest for just a few minutes before heading back out. (So much shopping to do!)

Our next stop, SoHo and the East Village, were my most successful shopping venues for the day. Upon ascending the steps from the station into SoHo, we entered an entirely different world, to me at least. The streets were much more narrow, and the streets were filled on all sides with quaint shops. We turned up Thompson St. so that my friend could check out a shoe shop, and just before it, I discovered a fabulous high-end second-hand shop. There, I found two absolutely fabulous winter coats from Marc by Marc Jacobs and Yves Saint Laurent. I, of course, loved them both; although, I didn't bother trying either one on after seeing their prices, $850 & $1200, respectively. Ouch!! After dejectedly leaving the store, we continued up Thompson St. toward the heart of SoHo, but then I saw it, The Hat Shop. I had to go in even though I had no coat with which a hat could accessorize! I tried a few more traditional wool hats on, but with their prices at about $200 each, I couldn't seriously look. But, then my friend found a basket of lovely knitted hats with fabulous touches of feathers adorning them. I found a brown one, and fell in love. It didn't matter that I had no coat; I had found my hat! I left the store with my hat lovingly packaged inside a hat-box giddy over my find. And, while I was still in search of a coat, I didn't mind not being able to afford the two previous coats I'd found so much anymore. After that, we hit the most awesome Apple store, FCUK (where I found another coat I liked but wasn't sure about spending what it cost for it), the flagship Prada store (featured in the Sex and the City episode when Carrie took Berger there) where we oogled an $11K men's suit-coat along with a myriad of other significantly over-priced but gorgeous shoes, handbags and clothes and two different H&M stores within 2 blocks of each other! While my feet (thankfully!) weren't bothering me, my lower back had seriously begun aching by this time, and due to the significant lack of sleep the night before, I had seriously begun to fade.

We returned to the apartment by way of a local Chelsea bar where we briefly dropped off the friend we picked up in Midtown who met another friend who would later join us for dinner. I was so freaking exhausted at this point that I considered not joining everyone for dinner, but I didn't want to be ungracious to my hosts. So, I changed my clothes and did my best to re-energize myself before heading back out. Because of my back pain, it was decided we'd take the train down to the restaurant (even though it really wasn't that far), so our walk to the restaurant was only 1/2 a block.

The restaurant was an authentic Spanish Tapas bar full of a very lively crowd of birthday celebrants. They were so loud, we had to shout ourselves in order to be heard across the table, so thankfully, the food made up for the ambiance. (I'm sure on a more normal day of smaller parties the ambiance would be amazing.) I can't remember what all we had because there were soo many things that were ordered, but all that I tried I loved. Unfortunately, though, because I couldn't eat as much as the other 6 people there, I ended up getting a bit screwed in the end. The bill was split evenly 7 ways (even though some had espresso and dessert and others didn't), so couple the extras with the significantly smaller quantity of food I know I ate, there's no way I consumed $37 worth of food. But, oh well! There was no way I was going to say anything!

After a bit of a detour getting back to the apartment, I did my best to settle in for what I feared might be another sleepless night. Thankfully, though, my friend had a different type of earplug that, instead of being inserted into the ear canal just covered the outside and part of the ear canal, allowed me to sleep rather soundly throughout the night. I woke up happy and refreshed! I had a 4-5 hour drive ahead of me afterall!

After leisurely getting ready, we walked down to The Park restaurant where I enjoyed part of some fabulous Ricotta Pancakes with Tangerine Marscapone sauce and some apple chicken sausage. From there, we walked down to the Chelsea Market to pick up some sandwiches for the trip home, and there, I found some of the most fabulous bread at Amy's Bread, some cookies at Eleni's and then some pastries to share with my husband back at the French patisserie we ate at on Saturday morning.

Packing the car was a breeze because my friend's brother brought just about everything down on a cart, and we set off on our drive back home. Neither of us really wanted to leave the city (despite wanting to get back to our own things), but with the help of fabulous weather, the trip back was a breeze making it that much easier to say, when are we going back again?!

Title revisited (feelings of largeness ... to put it mildly)

I didn't think I'd get to this point again and so darn quickly too, 145 lbs! Yes, you read correctly, one-hundred forty-five pounds. According to the scale, I have gained 9 lbs in the past week. How on earth that is humanly possible, I do not know ... especially when nothing's changed in my diet or my exercise regimen (non-existent). But, what has changed is that I'm totally PMSing and thus retaining water, and I ran out of one of my regular meds about a week ago. And, while this pill isn't taken for this purpose, it acts as a diuretic. So, while I'm happy about my breasts being a bit fuller (such that I can lean forward and not have them fall flat from the sides), I'm not happy about this huge weight gain. But, I'm still wearing my size 6 pants, so it can't be too significant. The meds arrived in the mail today, and I should be getting my period soon. So, here's hoping the pounds start dropping off soon; I can't take a 9 lb gain!

Post surgery report

It's been a week and 3 days since I had my right wrist surgery to clean up a tear in the cartilage. I've been rather limited in my ability to type since then, so that's the reason for the delay in reporting. I got the soft cast and sutures removed today and have been given a brace and an order for physical therapy. The doctor was pleased with how my wrist looks, not much swelling or bruising. But, unfortunately, I still have some numbness and pain in my ring finger that she can't explain. She advises that it could take up to 2 months for it to fully go away, but she feels it's not nerve damage. Yeah, right. And, now, this damn brace is making it more difficult to do normal things like type, drive, etc., and it's frustrating the hell out of me. But, the strength in my wrist isn't good enough to go without it, so I'm stuck with it. Hopefully, with the PT, it will be strengthened more quickly and I won't have to wear the brace until my next appointment w/ the surgeon, which is a month from now.

On another note, I had the same woman who asked me how I could stand only eating 3 tbsp. of food a day shortly after returning to work post-WLS ask me how much pain I was in after my WLS surgery this morning. I was intrigued by her question, so I answered it honestly. She then got a disappointed look on her face and said, oh. So, I wouldn't be able to do it. This woman is 5'3"ish and at most 145 lbs! So, she sees my success, thinks there was no work involved post-surgery and that it could help her lose the 15-20 lbs she wants to lose. Oh, come on! I politely tried to explain that you have to have a BMI of over 40 to even be considered (after which she says, yeah, mine's 26!) and that it was a lot of work to get to where I am. It wasn't just magic, and then she says, but you're guaranteed of never gaining it back, right?! Arghghghgh!!! Noo, I have to work at it to maintain my weight, and if I'm not careful, I could put a lot back on. Ohhhh, she says. Sheesh!!!

Still encountering changes

One change that I've recently come to realize is that since losing all this weight I've been able to develop friendships with other women more easily. And, what I don't know is is this change due to my increase in self-confidence or is it one of those things that most women probably wouldn't be willing to admit, now that I've lost the weight and can "fit in" with them and others am I more attractive with respect to being a potential friend? Or, is it a combination of them both? I suspect it's the latter, but who knows?!

Throughout my life, I've had a handful of very close female friends, but it was usually only one at a time. And, in the course of my 8 years of marriage prior to the past 4 months, I really didn't have any female friends, close or not. But, now, I have 3 women with which I do things socially on a semi-regular basis, and I'm loving it! Two of them came over this past Friday night to hang out and watch Sex and the City, and we had an absolutely fabulous time! I ate way too much and had 3, count them!, 3 glasses of wine. Granted, that was over the course of 5 hours, but that's a lot of wine for me! Yes, I'm over-analyzing the situation, as usual, and I'm thrilled to have other women with whom I can hang out, talk fashion with and confide in. So, I'm going to do my best not to screw it up! Wish me luck!

On another matter entirely, I'm scheduled for surgery this Friday. I'm sure you're wondering for what? Is it possibly plastics? Nope, I'm having arthroscopic wrist surgery in an attempt to repair or clean up torn cartilage in my right wrist. I'm not looking forward to the surgery and have considered chickening out, but the reason I'm scheduled for the surgery is that I have pain because of the tear. I've gone through physical therapy and have had a cortisone injection, and neither relieved the pain. So, one of the biggest things I'm worried about is the anesthesia. I have the option of being given the twilight anesthesia or general. I'm leaning toward the twilight, but I had twilight when I had my wisdom teeth out and I remember screaming in pain during the procedure. So, I'm just not confident in choosing the twilight. And, another aspect I'm worried about is post surgery. If she can fix the tear, I'll have a cast from my fingers up past my elbow for 6 - 8 weeks. This is my right wrist, guys, and I'm right handed. So, I'm not going to be able to do things w/ my right hand, things like what I spend an hour each morning doing due to my hirsutism. How in the hell am I going to deal w/ that?! If she can't fix it but can only clean it up I'll only have a soft brace for a couple of weeks. So, this weekend when I helped my husband move our stuff from our 2 storage units into 1 I lifted away despite the pain thinking that maybe I'd tear it even more so that she wouldn't be able to fix it. Crazy, huh?!

The rest ...

I hope I don't bore you to death with these ...


The Bathroom


Saying hello to you all from the bathroom


The disastrous office


Me explaining the issue with the office


Our bedroom


The guest bedroom

And, unfortunately, I can't show you the living room because the video clip is apparently too large/long. :P I'm sure I've sufficiently bored you to tears w/ what I've got up, though.

The 1st Video Installment ...

As promised, here's the first installment of video taken of our new apartment. Enjoy!

Pics of the new apartment

Sheesh, guys, it's been a million years; I know! I do believe I finally have the apartment unpacked ... for the most part. The only thing that's really lacking is the office, but I'll get it done soon. Here are some photos of the apartment for your perusal. The place is small, so it's difficult to get wide, overall shots of all of the rooms. But, I tried! :)

Some of them are certainly obvious, but here's the order of the pics:
The living room, the kitchen (I got those flowers at the farmer's market for ten bucks!!), the view of the lake from our apartment, the bathroom, the bedroom, the guest room, the office. I also have some video I took that I'm going to try to post later this week as well as a post about what's been going on with me. I again apologize for the complete lack of posts lately. I hope there are still some of you out there!

We've moved!

We chose the place on Lake St. and have been in the long, arduous process of moving for what seems like an eternity. We're thankfully almost out of the old place and only have about one night's worth of work left, and that's why I haven't posted in ages. I'll try to post more when I can, but once we finish with the old place, there's butt-loads of unpacking to do at the new place. Fun, fun!

What an amazing day!!

After picking up some folding chairs for a friend who's having a party tonight, we made our way down to the local farmer's market as I wanted to pick up a bottle of wine for the party. After getting my requisite iced non-fat cafe-au-lait and the bottle of wine, I went to a booth called Posies where they piece together a large bouquet of fresh flowers for the amazing price of ten bucks! I kid you not this bouquet would easily cost $60 from a florist. There are lilies, echinacea, zinnia, liatris, stock, daisies and a bunch of other flowers I don't know the names of; truly amazing!! Then, we got lunch at a booth that serves fresh, gourmet, vegetarian food. I chose the small variety platter which had a southwest corn salad, a chickpea salad, fresh green beans, a salad of mixed greens with fresh, edible flowers and other things I don't remember! Yummie!

Soon after returning home we left again to see two apartments. I can't tell you how many apartments we've seen over the past two weeks, but I can say none of them were what we're looking for ourselves. Have I mentioned that our lease is up on August 17th and we haven't found a new place yet? It's been really stressing me out. After today's visits, though, we have two that we like! Yeah!! Now, we just have to decide which one. Neither are in my preferred location, downtown, but they each have their benefits. Here's a quick summary:

Wildflower Dr. - $950 + all utilities
Pros:
Air conditioning
2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Patio
Garage
Washer/Dryer
On bus route
Large pantry
Dishwasher
Cons:
W/D old
Dark kitchen w/ no windows
Bus only every hour
About 1 mile to downtown
Small windows
Old kitchen appliances


Lake St. - $1100 + elect (includes heat)
Pros:
Completely renovated last year
3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Beautiful carpet and hardwood floors
Brand new appliances
Completely furnished w/ nice furniture
Large windows
On bus route w/ buses every 10 minutes
Dishwasher
Large kitchen island
Blocks to downtown and work
Nice breeze
Cons:
Shared coin-op W/D in basement
Elliptical may not work (ceiling height)
Will have to keep a storage unit
Limited parking
Possible noise from neighbors
On 3rd floor (carrying in groceries/moving in)

So, what do you all think? I'm leaning toward the place on Lake St. as long as the elliptical will work there. We'll have to measure.

We then got changed into our bathing suits and went to one of the gorges. We had some pretty big rain storms yesterday, so there was quite a lot of water running through the gorge. It's in the 90s here today, so it was a really nice reprieve. We walked around in the water for a while then found a nice spot in the sun at a spot just perfect for lounging in the water. I enjoyed it so thoroughly and know I'd never even have considered doing it last year. It was so awesome!

And, tonight's my friend's party! I'm going to need tomorrow to recover, but I need to get packing!

Crazy! Crazy!

(My post title probably breaks some trademark law or something. Oh well!) Happily, my nieces were in town visiting with their dad (sadly, my sister couldn't make it because she had to teach) last week. I took 3 days off of work and drove down to my parents' Saturday-Tuesday, and they came up here on Wednesday. We played mini-golf, went to my parents' church picnic, went to the movies, went to the zoo, went to the pool, went to a local interactive science museum, went bowling and ate ... a lot! We had ice cream twice (the 1st time I got a rather bad non-fat, SF chocolate iced latte, and the 2nd time I ordered a smaller than kid-sized vanilla cone dipped in cherry (oooh, do I love ice cream dips!) which my eldest niece ended up finishing), Chinese, Tex-Mex twice, vegetarian and my mom's cube steak, mashed potatoes & gravy. Boy, was I bad! Thankfully, though, I was so active, I didn't gain anything; I didn't lose anything either, but I'm ok w/ that.

When they were up here last summer, I remember playing mini-golf at the same place. This was maybe a month post-op, so while I had lost some weight, I was still carrying around quite a bit. And, while I recognize some of my issues were due to the surgery itself coupled with the heat we were experiencing, I remember getting totally worn out just from mini-golf! And, there's no way I would have gotten myself into a bathing suit last year! Although, while sitting in the kiddie pool, I put my hands down on the bottom and locked my arms letting my legs float upward, and what did I see floating first? Skin!! Arrrghh! It was narsty. I did my best to not let that happen again. And, I still found myself comparing myself to other women at the pool, but yes, I know I'm skinny! I will admit that now, but I still look at certain parts of myself and think, ugh, I'm still fat. Unless I have plastics (and it's not looking like I will unless I leave my husband and find me a sugar-daddy ;) ), it's just going to be the way it is; I can't help it. In normal clothes, though, I still find myself mesmerized when I see myself in a picture or on video. I borrowed a digital video camera from work while they were here, so I have a lot of video from their visit. I'd post some of what little I have with me in it, but I can't seem to find any info on Blogger on how to do it. Anyone else know how?

Oh, and yesterday, my husband and I played tennis for the first time in a very long time (I don't remember when the last time was!). While I always did ok at moving around the court previously, I know that when a shot would be hit at either side of my half of the court instead of in the middle, I'd think, ehhh, not gonna get to it, so why should I bother trying. Yesterday, not only did I try I made it to the ball on most occasions. And, it felt good to run. My chest wasn't bouncing all over the place, my knee didn't hurt (although it's a little sore today) and I actually felt light on my feet! The one unfortunate situation? Because of storing extra balls in my pocket, my dang shorts kept falling down too low, so when I'd go running for a shot, I could feel the skin of my abdomen flapping away in the breeze. Ok, no, I'm probably exaggerating a bit, but that's what it felt like! And, I knew if I took the time to try and look if it was actually happening I'd only draw attention to it and I would have missed the shot! I forgot to ask my husband if he noticed it; I'll try to remember to ask and will let you know. ;) Yup, going to have to find shorts that fit better before playing again!

1 year, 1 month + Post-Op Photos

Today

21 May 2006

Oct 2005, Jan 2006, March 2006

14 March 2006

Today

21 May 2006

Oct 2005, Jan 2006, March 2006

March 2005, December 2005
18 July 2004

19 October 2003
Sorry for the long hiatus all. I plan to post more tomorrow.

What the *bleep* was I thinking?

Yesterday started off really well. My mom came up for the day to enjoy her mother's day present: brunch, leisurely stroll at a local garden and an afternoon at the spa. Brunch was fantastic. We were able to sit outside in their garden patio where I enjoyed Brie stuffed French toast and chicken & apple sausage. After brunch, we headed to a local garden affiliated with the university. I'd never been to this particular garden before, and while it wasn't as impressive as Filoli in California or Longwood Gardens outside Philadelphia, they had some incredibly unique plants and shrubs I'd never heard of before. On top of that, it was an incredible day weather wise, so that made the garden even more enjoyable.

Then came the spa. Ohhh, man. I'd been to this spa before (but only for a pedicure), so I knew about their services and setting. After shedding our clothes for Japanese-style kimono robes and fluffy-white slippers, we were taken to our choice of tranquility rooms. The first had a fireplace filled with tea light candles, lemon-infused ice water, strawberry fizzle hot tea and four semi-reclined chairs and ottomans and lots of natural light coming in from two windows. The second offered the same 4 chairs and ottomans and ice-water as well as hot water and a selection of teas with honey, various sugars and cream. But, the kicker was a natural stone wall with water cascading over the stones down into a shallow pool. Ahhh, so incredibly relaxing. We were only there for about 10 minutes before the therapist called me back for my treatment, the Taughannock Falls Waterfall treatment. I won't do it justice, so instead I take the following description directly from their website:

While lying on a wet table the six Vichy shower jets allow the water to flow over you as warmed stones glide smoothly over the body helping to relieve tired, achy muscles. Wash away the stresses and worries of life. This treatment incorporates an aromatherapy salt scrub and finishes with a hot stone aromatherapy rub.

While on our honeymoon, I had a facial aboard the cruise ship but had never had a body treatment before because of knowing I'd feel uncomfortable having someone else being forced to touch my body (not to mention likely seeing my body sans clothes). So, it was really nice not only having the robe fit (a bit on the big side, actually) but feeling comfortable in the setting and with what was being done to me.

I'm pretty sure my mom had a really fantastic time (she had a facial and a pedicure) as she'd never been to a spa before, and I certainly enjoyed my day. So, that sounds like a full day already, right? Well, after arriving home at about 4:30pm, I sat my butt down and watched the most recent version of Pride & Prejudice. I'd seen it once before, but given that I'm currently reading the book and am nearing the end, I was interested to see how closely the movie follows the book. The result, the storyline is pretty much the same, but certain events were quite different. It's still enjoyable, though. So, with about 15 minutes left in the movie I decided to ask my husband if he was interested in taking a walk after it was over. (No, he wasn't watching the movie but was instead lying on the floor reading one of the programming books he'd checked out from the library.) He agreed to the walk without any questions of where, what type of walk, etc. We set out on the walk through our neighborhood without a plan of how far or long of a walk we'd be taking. On similar walks we'd taken in the past, Koba dictated how far we'd go, but alas, he was not there. :( So, without a word, we went beyond the point where we usually turned around with Koba ... all the way to the end of our road (which turns out is 1.2 miles), and at the end of the road, we decided to keep going ... despite blisters beginning to form on my feet, not having any water and quickly approaching darkness. In all, we walked 5.1 miles across greatly varying altitudes. (This is where today's title comes from.) By the time we got home, it was almost completely dark, I had 6 small blisters on my left foot & 4 on my right foot and my left knee (the one that had begun degrading before losing all this weight) was hurting. Oh, and get this, I still went hiking through a gorge trail this morning because we'd planned to do it, and my knee is still hurting with every step I take. Even still, it all felt good. And, while I won't yet call it official, I weigh what I have lost, 137 lbs, as of this morning!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone has had a great day today and that you've been able to enjoy your time off (if you had it). I've essentially had the past 5 days off (including the weekend), and I don't look forward to going back to work tomorrow. I've had a very good time these past few days and would like it to continue; although, I have missed Koba throughout the weekend. I, as usual, didn't accomplish all I would have liked to accomplish this weekend, but I did do a lot. The garden's looking better and better, but there's still a ton of work to be done. With the amount of rain we've had thus far, it's a never ending cycle of weeding.

Have I mentioned that my husband and I have decided to move to another apartment at the end of our current lease? We like the house we're living in a lot, but the well water is just too bad to continue living here. Our lease is up on August 17th or so, and we haven't yet found another place. We're hoping to move closer to downtown, so the number of options is smaller. And, a lot of what's downtown is rather old, early 1800s or so, and being rentals, they're typically not too well taken care of. And, while I'll admit I've been spoiled with where we've been able to live, I just can't imagine moving into a ratty, dirty, smelly apartment and paying $1000/month for it! Yes, I know, it's a lot cheaper than anything I'd find in NYC, San Francisco or any other major city for that matter, but this is the middle of cow country, for crying out loud, not some major metropolitan area! It just so happens to be a university town, though, so we're paying a premium. And, well, without the university, neither my husband nor I would have jobs, so I guess we can't complain too much.

In honor of the 4th of July, I made the following burgers both yesterday and today (b/c my husband liked them so much!). If you like a kick to your burgers, you're going to love these!

Firecracker Burgers

1 lb. 95% lean ground beef
1 4oz. can hot diced green chilies
2 tbsp. chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. granulated beef bouillon
2 tbsp. Worchestershire Sauce
4 slices of Jalapeno cheddar cheese

Mix the ground beef, chilies, garlic, beef bouillon and Worchestershire together. Let the mixture sit for about an hour to allow the beef to take up the chili and garlic flavor. Form four equal sized patties. Pre-heat the grill to at least 350 degrees. Lightly oil the grill grate then place the burgers on the grill. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side adding the slices of cheese to the burgers about 2 minutes before removing the burgers from the grill. Serve on a bun with your favorite condiments.

Enjoy!

I must have found some guts when I lost the weight!

My department had our annual summer picnic yesterday at our director's house on the lake. There was food, beer, water, a jet ski, a boat, a canoe and a sailboat ... oh, plus almost all of my co-workers plus various family members of each. The food wasn't so hot (hot dogs, greasy! hamburgers, clams (eww!), chips (yes, I'll admit, I had a few chips, a couple of Fritos and 2 Doritos! Bad Jenn!), veggies and various salads. I had a hamburger, and I probably would have been better off w/ a hot dog, the hamburger was so greasy! But, the big news for me, I went jet skiing! I first tried it w/ my husband, and being that the jet ski was meant for one, we had quite the difficult time keeping it balanced. We got about 150' from where we took off, and completely lost our balance. In we went! Thankfully, the water was a ton warmer than when we went kayaking on the same lake a couple of months ago, and while I panicked for about 2 seconds, I quickly realized the PFD was going to keep me above water w/out difficulty. We tried getting on the thing again but kept flipping it, so I decided to make my way back to shore and then walk back to my director's beach-front. After my husband returned, I decided I'd give it a try. Man, was I scared! But, once I finally got the thing started, I was off like a shot. And, as long as I was in the calmer water (the winds were rather strong yesterday), I had a blast, but the return trip was rather hairy for me as I was going against the wind and the waves which led the jet ski to jump up in the air quite a few times. So, instead of staying out there longer, I decided to bring it back in ... which in and of itself was an adventure. I thought that if I completely let off the throttle it would stall, so I kind of came into the dock a little too quickly. I hit the kill switch, but if I recall correctly, someone ended up jumping in the water to stop me and the jet ski from careening into the rocky beach. Yup, my director was stressed. ;) But, it was fun!

Today, I saw The Devil Wears Prada with a friend. I read the book a couple of years ago and enjoyed it, so I figured I'd like the movie. While it was different in ways from the book, it was still quite enjoyable, and if you like clothes, fashion or chick flicks, I'd recommend it. Oh, and after the movie I went to Gap to see if I could find anything that was part of their "really big sale". Yup, that wasn't an issue. I don't remember exactly how many things I found, but it was quite a few. I must say shopping now that I'm a size 6/M is sooo much more fun ... especially when stuff's on sale! I mean, I found stuff for $7.99, and everything on sale was an extra 25% off! If you have a Gap and are in need of anything, go there! Fabulous sale!

Old habits

I realized today that I have an old habit I've yet to change, I don't look at myself in the mirror unless I'm there specifically for the purpose of doing my hair, etc. I can be standing directly in front of a mirror washing my hands or whatever, and I just don't look at myself. I guess it comes from years of not wanting to see my own reflection, but I find it odd that even now, after having lost 134 pounds, my mindset hasn't changed. I guess if I force myself to look at myself whenever I go into a restroom (b/c I do want to see if I've got green stuff stuck in my teeth!) I may eventually change my behavior.

Our house seems so empty now without Koba. Yes, my husband's there, but it's missing a certain energy and presence. There have been a number of occasions since his passing where I know he would have made sure he was taking part in whatever was going on, and in each case, I realized it and missed him sorely which usually resulted in me crying. He was just so sweet, so generous and loving. I know I had 13 1/2 wonderful years; I just wish I could have had more.

Too much ...

and not enough. As I'm sure you can all imagine, life's been significantly disrupted over the past week ... mostly with crying. I miss my sweet boy so much. Most of the time, I still can't accept that he's really gone. We picked up his cremains and paw print impression on Thursday, and I really thought that would help sink reality in. But, since there's really nothing that allows me to visibly tie his cremains to him, it didn't help. I guess I need to put everything of his away. I couldn't put his bed or his bowls away, and I haven't been able to bring myself to throw away the partially empty can of his food or the Frosty Paws (doggie ice cream) we used to help get his pills down in the last days. On multiple occasions, I swear I've heard him ... either his nails on the floor or his cough or his squeak. Usually, there's a good explanation for the noise, but after hearing what sounded exactly like his cough last night, I couldn't get settled down and didn't fall asleep until 3am. Everyone's been really nice. We got 4 cards, and my family sent us plants/flowers. And, all of your posts of encouragement and kind words have meant a lot to me. I am at least able to function mostly normally. But, I really need something that will keep my concentration in order for thoughts of him being gone not to creep into my mind. My husband and I are going to a coping with pet loss meeting on Tuesday night, and I hope it will help some. And, speaking of my husband, he's been really great throughout all this. He's been incredibly supportive and understanding, and I'm so grateful. I have wonderful friends and family, and this experience has really proven it to me.

In Memoriam: Our Beloved Koba

01.13.1993 - 06.19.2006

He died peacefully (we hope) this morning at home just before I woke up. He was a wonderful dog, and I will miss him immeasurably. He was my baby. I had him before I met my husband, and he has been with me through so much. I honestly feel that he hung on during the time that my husband was gone because he wanted to help me, and once my husband moved back in, he felt it was ok for him to let go. I think this because it was shortly after my husband moved back in that he began not eating as well as he always had. I'm struggling with this loss so much. I've been crying so much today; I think that this may be harder than when my husband left because I know Koba can't come back. He'll always be with me, though. I will never forget his smile, his bark, even the way he panted. He was my first dog, and I know he won't be my last. But, he will always have a very special place in my heart, my sweet boy.

Last Sunday, the day before I was scheduled to leave for Chicago, he became very ill. He wasn't able to walk or stand, and when we tried to get him to stand he would immediately fall over. We took him to the vet, and they began IV fluids and antibiotics. I struggled with my decision to go to Chicago, but the next morning when we went to the vet's to see him and how he was doing, the vet felt he was doing better. He was more alert, his temperature was down slightly, he was willing to walk to go outside and he ate a little. So, I decided to go. On Tuesday, I learned that in the past month he lost 13 pounds, a lot of weight for a human in one month! We decided to keep him in the hospital for the week, and each day, the vet (and my husband because he went to see him each day) saw small marks of improvement. Even so, I knew he wasn't going to fully recover. So, on Friday upon returning from Chicago, we decided to bring him home with us, to continue monitoring his temperature and his weight, to make him as comfortable as possible and to spend as much time with him as we could. He seemed pretty good to me on Saturday (well, as good as could be expected), but he was worse yesterday. My parents came up to see him for what I told them was likely the last time, so I'm thankful they were able to come up. Then, after they left and before going to bed, my husband and I laid down with him for at least an hour just petting him, kissing him and being with him. It was a hot night, and earlier we'd considered going to Starbucks to get something cool, but something inside me told me not to go. I'm really glad we didn't. We went to bed about midnight, and at 3am he woke me by coming into the room. He was breathing rather heavily but was still able to walk on his own, so I tried to see if he wanted to go outside. He got as far as the mudroom and then decided he didn't want to go out. So, I laid down next to him on his bed and spent about an hour petting him until his breathing calmed and he was asleep then went back to bed. I decided not to get up at my normal time but to go into work late, but when my husband woke me up at 7:30am and I saw the look on his face, I knew. I've probably already given too many details, so I won't go into what all happened next. But, I had to tell his story; he was such a special dog. We've decided to have him cremated and to have his ashes kept in a wooden, memorial box so that he'll be with us forever. It was so horribly difficult leaving him at the vet's today, petting him, kissing him and saying goodbye for the last time. But, I know he's in a better place now, and he's watching over us telling us to go on. I just hope he wasn't in too much pain when it happened and that he knew we loved him with all our hearts. Life will not be the same without him, but I know I can do it.

1 year post-op follow-up

I had my 1 year post-op follow-up appointment yesterday. It ended up being with the nurse practitioner. I was kind of hoping it would be with the surgeon, but I kind of knew it wasn't a likely possibility given his busy schedule. I went prepared with all of the questions/issues I'd written down over the past few weeks in preparation for the appointment. My weight on their scale was 144 lbs which is 3 lbs higher than my scale, but I was wearing clothes and shoes and had eaten. So, I didn't let it bother me. That weight puts me at 130 lb loss from my pre-surgery weight. The NP showed me a chart of my loss over the past year and the percentage of excess body weight that each number represents. So, as of yesterday's number, I was at a 98% loss of excess body weight when an ideal body weight of 134 lbs is used. I don't know where they get that number, the IBW, some chart I guess. But anyways, she said she was very happy with me at my current weight. I expressed my desire to get down to my goal of 135 lbs, and she was ok with it as long as it doesn't get below that.

One of my questions was about weight maintenance strategies, and that was answered by a "new" diet. They want me to increase my calories to 1200/day, but I won't start that until I reach my goal. It's not a whole lot different from what I'm already doing, though, so she said that once I reach my goal if I continue to lose weight to give them a call to re-evaluate. She asked me to keep in mind that the number on the scale is just a number and that it's how I feel that matters, but that number is part of how I feel. For me, 140ish is still too much. Yes, I'm wearing a size six, something I never thought I'd be able to do, but I'd like to be a solid size six. And, some sixes are still a bit tight on me, so I think losing the last 6 will get me there. I also I have a pretty strong desire to really start toning things up even though I do recognize that toning up certain areas won't help the loose skin situation.

On that subject, she did mention that she could refer me to a plastic surgeon at their affiliate hospital, Strong. She said that for an abdominal tummy tuck, hip to hip, w/ a regular plastic surgeon the cost would be about 10-12k. But, they have a residency plastic surgery program where the head resident does the surgery (and gets 1k) and the hospital costs are about 3k. So, it's a pretty significant cost reduction. She said she'd recommend I not consider it until I'm finished losing and only after having children (if there are any plans to). But, given the cost (even the 4k option), it's unlikely I'll do it. There are many other much more important things that need my money right now. And, she said that my skin isn't that bad; most of the time, I agree with her ... but not always.

I took the bloodwork results I had from late April with me, and she said everything but the B12 levels looked good. It was at the low end of normal, but they like it to be a bit higher. So, she's going to wait until the results of the blood draw they took to decide whether or not to put me on a supplement. Oh, and she did suggest I start a calcium supplement again. So, on the way home, I stopped at Sam's and picked up a box of the Caltrate Creamy Lemon chews (thanks for the recommendation, Sandi!). They're quite yummy!

We discussed my exercise habits (one of the reasons she's concerned I may continue to drop weight), and she was quite pleased. She said that I'm above average in the amount and level that I regularly do; I was surprised by this. I mean, I figured people would be more apt to exercise after having this surgery given that it's just so much easier, but apparently, in her experience, people still don't. They say, oh, I walk the dog, or I walk around the block sometimes. I guess it all depends upon the person. Yes, I did allow myself to get to 274 lbs, but I'm still the type of person that somewhat thrives upon exercise. I get tremendous enjoyment from it. Now, if summer would ever hit here (it's finally somewhat sunny here today but it rather chilly w/ the wind) I'd be able to do things outside again.

I also had somewhat of an ah-hah moment with her. I remember thinking the first time I met her "of course, she's really skinny". I figured she was about a size four. So, when we were talking about my weight, how happy I've been with the loss, etc. I mentioned how I was wearing size 8 jeans and had a couple of size 6 pants, and she said, wow! wouldn't that be nice. Incredulously, I said, what do you mean? Aren't you a size four or something? She laughed and said, no way, at the smallest I'm a 10! I was dumbfounded! Guess my perception is still rather askew.

In wrapping up the conversation we had, I mentioned how happy I am with my results. She said I, of course, had every reason to be very happy and that she hoped I recognized that my success is only partly due to the surgery. Yes, it played a big part, but the work that I've done over the past year is integral in my success. She mentioned that she's had other patients come to her and ask her to tell Dr. O'Malley thank you for their weight loss, that he's their only reason for losing weight. So, she just wanted to make sure that I wasn't thinking this as well. I let her know that I do commend myself for my success but that I also recognize that Dr. O'Malley's experience, knowledge and skills played a part as well.

I'm off to Chicago on Monday morning. I'm really looking forward to the trip even though it's for work. The work stuff doesn't begin until Tuesday morning and lasts through Thursday afternoon, so I'll have Monday evening and most of Friday to enjoy the city. Yippie! I plan to go to NoMI for dinner Monday night and do the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio on Friday. I'll try to post from Chicago, but if you don't hear from me, I'm sure I'll post a full discourse when I return. ;)

Nada

No movement scale wise this week. I somewhat expected that because I'm still weighing myself every day. I read an article some time ago about a study that showed people who weighed themselves daily as opposed to weekly or not at all lost more weight and were able to catch weight gain trends more quickly and take steps to stop it. So, I don't feel as guilty about doing it. Oh, and my impending period is gracing my body with extra water weight I'm sure. We have to deal w/ the period the week before and probably the week after, so we really only have 1 week out of each month where we're "normal". Crazy!

While I didn't get to do too much this weekend because of rain, I still had a really good weekend. We're doing this every other Friday off thing at work as long as we make up the time prior to the Friday off. So, I had a nice 3-day weekend. Other than a couple of errands, I didn't accomplish much of anything on Friday, and come to think of it, I didn't accomplish much all weekend. But, that's ok, right? I can't remember if it was Thursday or Friday night, but one of those nights, my husband and I went down to Barnes & Noble, got coffee and just sat there for a while reading magazines. I discovered that I should always sit and preview magazines before buying them because I picked up 3 I probably would have just bought if I'd been looking for magazines but hadn't planned on reading them first, and after quickly reading them, I found there wasn't really anything of interest that caused me to want to buy them. Anyhoo, we watched Transamerica and Shopgirl, and on Sunday we got really good Dim Sum for lunch and later went down to Starbucks where I just sat reading the Sunday Times. It's weird, while we weren't interacting with each other all that much, the time we spent at B&N and Starbucks was really enjoyable and made me feel closer to my husband. Is that odd?

Nope, I haven't fallen off of the face of the earth ...

Although, it may have seemed so to you all! I can honestly say I've been very busy; although, off hand, I can't really say how. Well, let's see. I guess the big news first: my husband and I have officially moved back in with each other. The big move took place last Friday evening; I went with him to where he's officially been taking up residence for the past 5 1/2 months and helped him pack up what little he had there. I hadn't yet seen the place because I didn't want to see all of his stuff elsewhere. But, since he was leaving it (and coming home), it was ok. He didn't have a whole lot of stuff there, so it's integrated back into the house well. And, given that we only have 2 1/2 months left in this house (we've opted not to sign another year's lease b/c of the issues w/ the water), all that he has in storage will stay there. I'm happy to have him home; although, I found myself in a complete panic the other night as I was trying to fall asleep. I wasn't completely rational at the time given my sleepy state and became thoroughly afraid he was going to leave again if I didn't do everything right. It bothered me so much that I woke him up to talk about it. I've been doing much better lately, though.

On Sunday, my husband's dad and girlfriend were in town to visit. Although we think he knew I'd lost weight, he didn't know to what degree I had and that I had WLS. My husband and I had been sitting outside reading the Sunday Times, so when they called to say they were close, I moved inside so that my husband could greet them first and then I could make my grand appearance. I waited a couple of minutes after their arrival to go outside, so they were making their way toward the door as I stepped out. The look on my father-in-law's face was priceless. We'd surmised he would swear, but the look was even better. His jaw just completely dropped; he was without a doubt dumbfounded. I relished it. After giving them a quick tour of the messy house, we made our way to the Watkins Glen SP in order to do the gorge trail we weren't able to do last month. While we didn't do the entire trail, there are over 900 steps with some rather significant elevation changes, and nothing bothered me at all. Both my husband's dad and his dad's girlfriend were struggling, and their struggles brought back such memories for me. I'm so glad I'm not there anymore. We ended the evening with a nice dinner on the south end of the lake and a stroll on the pier. It was really good to see his dad; I'm glad I had the opportunity.

Then, Monday we met my parents about an hour away from home in order to see the latest IMAX movie, Roving Mars, and to go to the mall. The IMAX theater is part of a science museum, so while we were waiting, I found a scale that would tell you your weight on Earth, the moon and Mars. It's not something I ever would have done previously, but with my new-found confidence bolstering me and the quarter pricetag, I went for it. It was clearly geared toward kids as there was a cheesy, sci-fi sounding guy announcing that the ship was ready for blastoff or something, but even with my confidence higher than it's been in a long time, I almost cowered when I heard him say "and your weight on Earth is ..." b/c I thought he was really going to announce it. I liked what he had to say, though; my earth weight was 136.2 lbs, wrong, but cool. And, I don't remember my moon or Mars weights, but of course, they were significantly less. After the movie, we headed off to the mall as I was, once again, in need of some pants. Would you believe I found, and bought!, size six capris from J. Crew?! Size six! Holy buckets! I never dreamed that in less than a year I'd go from a size 26/28 at Lane Bryant to a size six at J. Crew. Never!! Yup, that made my day!

Next week will be my 1 year follow-up appointment at my surgeon's; although, my official 1 year anniversary isn't until the following week. But, I'll be in Chicago for training, so I had to push the appointment forward. My weight is currently 141 lbs, 6 lbs from my goal. And, while I don't think I'll be at my goal by my one year anniversary, it's so close I'm not stressing about it. I mean, dang, I'm at 141, I'm wearing size 6 pants and I've never felt better, physically, in my entire adult life. Although, there are still some niggling issues sticking around that I'll be discussing next week: dizziness, very easy bruising, foot cramps, potentially poor circulation in my extremities. I've got my most recent blood test results from my GP in hand, so they'll have those to compare to past/new results. Ok, did I make up for my neglect?

Proof of the kayaking!

I got this picture today from one of my classmates who took it with one of those disposable waterproof cameras, so the quality isn't the best. Can you tell which one is me?

Happy, happy ...

Yesterday was my husband's and my 8th wedding anniversary. We had a very nice dinner at a local restaurant. The company was better than the food; although, don't get me wrong, the food was good. It just wasn't phenomenal like it was the last time we went there. I will say, however, that dessert, a Profiterole Sampler (French Vanilla Ice Cream Filled Cream Puffs Drizzled with a Chocolate Ganache, Berry Coulis & Caramel Sauce), and the coffee service that my husband had (coffee with a create your own gourmet plate of homemade, fresh whipped cream; mini chocolate chips; cinnamon sticks; rock candy swizzle sticks; natural sugar and cream) were fantastic!! I can definitely say that I ate more bites of the dessert than I should have, but thankfully, other than making me feel a bit too full, it didn't make me sick. Unfortunately, it was the first time with a dessert (post surgery) that I didn't want to stop eating it. But, I knew if I didn't, I'd get sick. And, I figured after all that food and dessert that I'd probably gain something, but happily, I stayed the same this morning, 143 lbs! Whoo-hoo! I honestly don't get it (b/c I didn't change anything about my diet and I actually haven't been doing the elliptical as often as I should), but I somehow lost a total of 5 lbs over 4 days! Amazing! I'll take it! Just 8 more to go to goal! Yippie!!

More pics

So, here is the promised pic of me in my new bathing suit (not bad, huh? Although, my freaking calves are still huge, but seeing as my 103 lb sister still has big calves, I guess there's not much I can do), the requisite full body (All of the clothes I'm wearing in these have become a bit too big, and I'm still not thrilled w/ my arse. I think it looks a bit dumpy.) and head shots and some more of the doggie and garden (as we had a brief reprieve from the rain today). Enjoy!



















I realize you all probably don't care as much about my garden as I do, but ehh, they're pretty pictures! ;) Off to do laundry and make dinner!