A Little Catching Up...

Ok, so part of being "back" is actually posting , right??  So...  let's do a "catch up" post, shall we??  Since my coming back, me 'n the Hubs have been on a Deaconate retreat (amazing time with amazing folks in an amazing place!) and at "Deacon Reserves".  To refresh, the Hubs is a Deacon candidate in our church and we attend class one weekend a month.  The classes are post-graduate level classes and at the end of five years he will be ordained and I too will have the credits to obtain a post graduate degree...  The classes are mind numbing and by the time the weekend comes to an end I am seriously trying to figure out ways to intravenously infuse gin, vermouth and olive juice....

It snowed these past two days...  Are you kidding me???  Seriously???  SNOW?!?!? 

Speaking of snow, I have an NSV that I've just GOT to share - I skied this year!!  Yep!  ME!  I've skied!  The first time in a long, long time!  I'd pretty much given up on skiing due to my RA, but this year I strapped the skis on and went careening down a mountain - it was so absolutely amazing!  Oh, how I've missed it!  We took our GrandAngel skiing this year too!  Two years old and he was on skis - he and Grammy spent lots of time on the bunny hill - and it was absolutely glorious!

I've lost fifty-eight pounds so far - well, since July of 2011.  I have these three pounds that seem to come and go lately and they're driving me NUTS!!  As soon as I think they're finally gone, just like Jason, they're baaaaaack!  damn!!  So, I am going between fifty-five and fifty-eight, depending on what those damn three pounds want to do!  C'monn GOLF season!  Maybe whacking that little white ball around a manicured course might be the ticket to getting rid of those unwanted pests!

Speaking of "unwanted pests" (Susie Segue strikes again) the ants have been well disposed of - or at least I HOPE they've met their demise!! The exterminator finally came today and did what exterminators do...  We shall see.  The winged ones are the most horrific..  Be gone ants - be GONE!!

Have a Terrific day!!

Until Next Time!



Thank YOU, Secret Bandit!

Thank you, thank you, thank YOU, Secret Bandit!!  What a lovely and thoughtful gift I received in the mail today!!  My Secret Bandit sent me the most beautiful martini glass - in my absolute favorite color!!  It is a rose pink glass with beautiful spots that yes, look like lady bugs!  The grooves very much remind me of golf balls!  The pictures I snapped do not do this beautiful piece of glass work justice..  Along with the martini glass (which WILL be used later this evening while I'm watching my favorite golf show), I received the most beautiful, inspiring and encouraging letter - I cried..  I cried big tears it was so beautiful, so full of care..  Thank you, Secret Bandit, thank you for your friendship, your encouragement, your thoughtfulness..  You touched my heart more than you'll ever know...

So we've recovered from the Deacon Reserves weekend, thankfully.  I had a really tough time with food over the weekend.  It seemed that at every meal my band (which still remains nameless...) snapped shut good and tight.  I'm noticing that it seems to happen often when I eat out.  Eating at home doesn't seem to be a problem..  I make it a point to concentrate on what I'm doing, go very slowly, take ever so small of a bite and chew to oblivion, but it doesn't seem to help.  Even a tiny sip of water isn't helpful..  Three bites into the meal and my little lady hiccups begin rearing their ugly heads - yeah, I know we touched on the fact that hiccups have no heads, please humor me..  I'm not quite sure what to do about this annoying little conundrum - I love that word, "conundrum"..  Anyway, it only seems to happen when I am eating out.....  Any suggestions???  I am ready to resign myself to the fact that I'll only be having the soup and mashed potatoes when I eat out...

And all is quiet here at the ponderosa, thankfully.  I believe our GrandAngel is coming tomorrow to spend a few days with us, so I'm getting my workout shoes ready!  I was a complete slug over the weekend - sitting at a desk for hours on end will do that.  I did take a short walk at lunch on Saturday, but it was more for the sunshine than the exercise!  I'm looking forward to running around the yard and shedding my slug!

Have a terrific week!!
Until Next Time!

I'm Quite Full, Thank You...

I had a fill today - my first.  I wasn't sure what to expect from this visit as it was my first since surgery.  On one hand I was expecting them to check their surgical handiwork, say "good job", pat me on the head, and send me on my merry way with my lolly-pop in hand.  On the other hand, I was kinda hoping to be "topped off" because even though I've been eating about a cup to a cup and a half of food per meal, there are times I could eat more.  I'm not ravenously hungry after eating, but I could have more during the meal.  Anyway, I get to the office, fill out the questionnaire and wait to be called in.  Get this..  My blood pressure is...  NORMAL!!  Then they do the weigh in, and I find out that I am actually thirty seven pounds down since surgery - can I get an "amen" here???  While I was in the hospital, I remember asking a nurse if my Bariatric Doc put anything in my band at the time of surgery.  I don't remember her answer because I went back to sleep while she was going through my chart.   I've been wondering about this ever since - not really knowing - and you know me, Ms OCD, I must know!  So when I was called back into the office with the PA, I asked her..   She said she would check during my fill - yay!!  I was happy knowing I was getting tweaked!  She did the fill, and quite frankly, it wasn't as scary as my warped brain imagined it to be.  What made me come very close to falling off the bed thingy was when she said that I had "4cc's" in my 10cc band and that she was giving me 0.5cc's more.  FOUR cc's??  Are you kidding me?? Seriously???  Doesn't this sound like an enormous amount to have put it at the time of surgery???  I am absolutely floored....  Just stunned.  She double checked the surgery notes in my chart and there it was in black and white - four cc's......  Stunned, I tell you...  Oh, and thank you MandaPanda for the head's up!  She gave me an antibiotic for what she agreed was a sinus infection!!

After my appointment, I met our Baby after his class and took him to lunch (I had soup), filled his tank, gave him money - you know, the usual College stuff..  It is always nice to see him though, if even for a short while...

It is fifty three degrees here right now.  Yep, I think Mother Nature took that Labor Day thing seriously - it definitely feels "fall-ish".  I had to find my sweats - and think I need new ones...  And just so you don't think I've given in to this fall crap, I still have my flip-flops on - let the battle begin!!

Until Next Time!