The Winding Road to Parenthood

Springtime cake

2012-01-21T18:01:00.001-07:00

Although it is only January, spring is in the air with this two-tier cake. Butterflies just cannot resist the primroses and rose buds!

Buttercream frosting in three shades of aqua is a perfect backdrop for these springtime decorations.

When the top tier was removed and the top of the bottom tier decorated, this beauty appears:

What I've been up to lately

2011-12-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

As you know, I've been taking a few classes from Hobby Lobby in cake decorating. I'm in the middle of a Fondant and Gumpaste course and am having lots of fun! Here are some photos of recent flowers I've made.

Calla lilies

Carnations

Roses

Video share time

2011-11-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

This is a video of my doggy Cinnamon trying to get at a piece of tortilla. He hates balloons. We had some leftover from a birthday party from last night and thought we'd see if he'd get over his fear to eat the tortilla.

While he didn't in this video, I do have another where he finally did get his little treat!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T07:21:00.000-06:00

I hope you have a Spooktakular Halloween! Be safe and eat lots of cake!

Halloween sugar cookies

2011-10-20T22:33:00.000-06:00

Click here to see more goodies I've made recently.

My condolences to Lauren Coyne and family

2011-10-15T15:32:00.001-06:00

Please join me in sending your thoughts and prayers to Lauren Coyne (The Making of a Mommy) today, who lost her husband Michael yesterday. Lauren and Mike tried for many years to have a family, but had to put their quest for children on hold as they battled Mike's leukemia.

I am so sorry for your loss, Lauren. May God bless and keep you close through your time of grief.

New cakes

2011-08-17T07:16:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted here, but really, what's to post? I do want to share my latest cake with you. Once you've taken a look at this, please feel free to look through the other pictures too.

Summer-time bliss

2011-07-02T15:50:00.000-06:00

What is summer without some pink lemonade? Or even cupcakes? How about some pink lemonade cupcakes?

I graduated!

2011-05-27T21:41:00.000-06:00

Tonight was my last class in the Decorating Basics Course. This was such a fun class to take! I've always enjoyed baking and wanted to learn decorating, so I'm glad I took the opportunity to do it.

My final cake was a chocolate sour cream cake with Bavarian cream filling, chocolate buttercream icing, and dark chocolate buttercream borders. I can't wait to cut into it and taste it!

More cake!

2011-05-20T23:29:00.000-06:00

My best friend asked me to make her daughter's 13th birthday cake for her party tonight. So I obliged. She wanted the cake itself to be purple, with white frosting and purple zebra stripes, and hot pink borders. I used Wilton's sugar sheets to make the zebra stripes. I had a lot of fun making this cake and her daughter absolutely loved it!

Tonight in the cake decorating class, we learned how to do drop flowers, rosettes, pompom flowers, shaggy mums, and the 1M swirl. Here are pictures of the cupcakes I made in class.

Pompom flower above.

Rosettes.

A leaf design.

A shaggy mum.

Once I got home, I switched over to the leftover buttercream frosting I had and frosted the rest of the cupcakes using the 1M swirl.

The reverse 1M swirl. I like how this really looks like a rose.

I thought these turned out really cute!

Next week is our final class for this course. We have to take a frosted cake to class so we can decorate it. Then, starting the very next week, we'll move on to Course 2, Fondant & Gum Paste Flowers.

I guess it's a good thing I made these cupcakes. Hubby and I can use them to celebrate our 6th anniversary on Saturday.

Cake photos

2011-05-13T22:11:00.000-06:00

I took my second basic cake decorating class tonight. It was lots of fun despite the fact that I'm suffering from either a double ear infection or a sinus infection. I'm going to go to urgent care tomorrow to have them diagnose what's going on so I can get some relief.

We learned dimensional piping, leveling and torting a cake, then filling it. Practiced smoothing the cake with Viva paper towels. Oh, and piping gel transfers. That's the procedure I followed to get the pattern I made on the cake.

We'll have this cake on Saturday for my birthday party with my family. I'll actually be gone on my birthday for work on Tuesday, so we are celebrating early. I'll be turning the big four oh.

My thoughts are with you tomorrow

2011-05-07T22:34:00.000-06:00

For those of you who have found success, Happy Mother's Day tomorrow! For those who are still striving to fulfill that dream, may you enjoy the day with your Mom.

I made this cake for my mother in law for tomorrow. It's a white chocolate velvet cake with strawberries and cream filling, strawberry buttercream icing, and shaggy mums on top. I haven't yet "learned" to do these in class, but I wanted to give them a try. Not too bad if I say so myself. I just hope my buttercream stays put!

Saturday morning musings

2011-04-30T07:35:00.000-06:00

This morning I'm going for the March of Dimes walk. My team raised over $2,000 which was double our goal. I raised $525, so not too bad.

I'm planning on dropping off all my unused fertility medications at the Nat.ion.al Take Ba.ck Pre.scr.iption day program. It's all expired and just taking up room in our back room.

I am taking up a new hobby. Cake decorating. A friend of mine got me interested in it and I figure if I'm good enough I might just be able to make a little bit of money at it. Here are some photos of the cakes I've already done, and I haven't even taken any of the classes yet!

I got the idea for the Rainbow Cake from Lisa over at A Day in the Life of a Preachermans Wife. Thanks Lisa! This rainbow cake got lots of rave reviews! The first two cakes shown are modified versions of it with just four layers, as I'm taking those to different events and need to be able to easily transport them. The seven layer cake I made was over 8 inches tall! So yeah, needed something not quite so tall.

If you are ever in need of some great buttercream recipes, go to the Wilton Discussion Forums where you will find the BEST buttercream recipe! It's called Bunnywoman's ButterCream. You will not be disappointed with it.

He is risen!

2011-04-24T06:40:00.000-06:00

He is risen indeed!

May you have a blessed Easter!

What a crazy world we live in

2011-04-14T22:40:00.000-06:00

There have been so many crazy, unexplainable things going on in this world lately, it's a wonder I'm still sane!

Last week, a co-worker in our Denver office was killed by her boyfriend before taking his own life. That very following weekend, the same thing happened here in town, with the boyfriend shooting his girlfriend before driving his car off the Royal Gorge to his death.

A dad shot his 8 year old daughter before trying and failing to take his own life here in town. Then the mom who drove her mini-van into a river in NY/NJ with her children strapped into their seats. Another mom and her aunt bound her 20 month old daughter with electrical tape and then tried to drown her in a toilet in Colorado Springs last week.

What the hell is wrong with these people? This world seems to have lost its sense of right, of morality, of compassion. What would drive a person to take another life when it isn't in self-defense? Especially someone you proclaim to love? Especially a person your brought into this world?

I will never understand it.

March update

2011-03-19T09:36:00.000-06:00

I've been remiss is posting. I must admit that I am not doing too well in the weight loss arena. In fact, I seem to be excelling in the weight gain arena. I went a couple of Mondays ago for another adjustment and he put in 0.4 ccs. It seems to be helping, but am very frustrated.

Still not pregnant so no news there.

But, I'm enjoying life. Hubby and I have been hosting game nights with friends and family. Created a few tourneys and giving prizes to the winners and losers.

Working lots of hours. We're again in our busy season.

So over all, things are well. I am going to start walking during my lunch hour with one of my co-workers so maybe that will help. Oh, I am going to walk again at the end of April in the March of Dimes March for Babies. I've already met my fundraising goal of $300, in fact I'm over $400. I'll post the link to my page in case any of you wish to donate to this good cause.

Take care and thanks for reading.

Still alive

2011-02-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

I am still alive and kicking. It's been a few weeks since my last post. Don't have time for much now, but to say hi!

Hope you had a great Valentine's day with your sweety.

Michael Jackson - eat your heart out!

2011-01-26T19:11:00.002-07:00

I hope I have this kind of spunk at their age!

Rare siting in Colorado!

2011-01-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

You don't see this everyday! I finally got my husband to dance with me at his cousin's wedding reception. We had so much fun! All the guys got down on all fours during "Save a horse, ride a cowboy." The wives/girlfriends got to ride them! It was a blast.

Notice my new 'do? Got it cut Friday night. Was tired of it being long and taking forever to do. This is much better.

2011 Goal

2011-01-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

I made a goal for myself for this year: 3 pounds a month for a total of 36 pounds lost. Let's see if I can do it.

Book challenge for myself: 1/3 of the bible and 30 books.

What are your goals?

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T11:21:00.002-07:00

May your 2011 be filled with many blessings, lots of love, tons of laughter, and few tears.

Stomach bug = D = Lost weight = I'd really rather not have gone through that

2010-12-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

So Christmas Eve afternoon, I'm out doing some running around with a cousin. The plan was to get our nails done, have lunch, then do some shopping. We did do all that, but because she was getting her acrylic nails removed the old fashioned way by soaking them off and filing them by hand, it took forever! By the time we were out of there, it was close to three o'clock and the choices for lunch were slim to almost none.

We ended up stopping at Del Taco. I grabbed my normal fish tacos. Ate them, no problem. Salsa was a bit hot but figured the jalapenos that day were spicier than normal.

We go shopping, I spend way too much money, then go home to get a few things done before Hubby and I go to church then drive to my mom's.

As I'm wrapping my gifts, my tummy begins to hurt, as if something I ate didn't agree with me. Pre-band, had this happened, I would have just walked to the restroom, stuck my finger down my throat, and got rid of the offending food. Now, that just does not happen. I really miss those days!

I eat a Tums, we load up the car, go to church, then head to mom's. Have dinner, play some games, eat some candy (too much candy). Finally, I get this strange feeling that comes over me. I think I'm going to be sick. I go to the restroom, stand over the sink, wretch once, then say I'm not going to let myself be sick, then head to lay down in a bedroom.

Before I can make it, I'm falling, face first, into the doorway of the bedroom. I hit my temple and my knee, before Hubby is able to catch me. He moves fast, by the way, when he needs to!

This, of course, scares all my family. There I am, on the floor, and my brother is on one side, trying to remove my jacket. I have a tight turtle neck on and they are pulling it away from my neck. Hubby undoes my jeans button. They take my blood pressure and it is very low, like 80 something over 50 something. Twice. A few minutes later, it comes back up to my normal of 114/75.

After refusing to have them call 9-1-1, I'm able to slowly get up and make it to the bed I was originally aiming for. I rested a couple of hours then went home.

Saturday, my tummy still hurts, but no fainting. I could eat, but it always made my tummy upset, therefore I didn't eat much.

Sunday, same thing. But then that evening, I finally had my first BM since Friday. First one wasn't so bad, other than it was hard, due to the constipation. After that, it was like Niagara Falls.

Monday, a little bit more of the D, but seriously, what was left in my system after Sunday? I call the doctor to make an appointment and am able to get in at 11 o'clock. After taking my BP twice, which was 90 something over 70 something (I think), they concluded that I have normally low blood pressure. I explained what had happened and the conclusion was that when I wretched, I put pressure on this nerve that starts with a V, like vaga (vay-gah), or something like that, that caused my already low BP to drop even more, which caused me to get so light-headed, that I went down. But they did an EKG just to make sure nothing was wrong with my heart, which the results were normal, and did blood work, which I haven't gotten back yet, to make sure there was nothing else going on.

My greatest fear this whole weekend was that it was my pancreas again. I absolutely didn't want to go back to the hospital. That was pure torture. But thank God it wasn't. Had it been, I would have been in severe pain, throwing up, pain in my back. Pretty much like what happened the first time (except I only threw up once then).

So while I was at the doctor's yesterday, they took my weight and it was 217. With my clothes on. If you recall, that doctor's office (my PCP) is where my official high weight was taken from the summer of 2009, which was 294, also with clothes. So if I do my math right, I'm down 77 pounds. However, I would really have rather not gone through this to lose a few pounds. Really.

Now I'm feeling better. My digestive tract is not totally restored to its former glory, but it is on its way. The doc did tell me to drink lots of water, to keep well hydrated, to help keep my BP up. I think that means in the mornings, when I'm getting ready, I should probably drink water rather than my coffee, although I'll still have coffee, but start out with water first. I know this last month has been bad when it comes to water consumption as I have just been so busy with work. I can't let that continue though, as I really don't want a repeat of this, or have to take medications for it. Although, are there meds for low BP? I really don't know.

So my Christmas weekend pretty much sucked. I'm hoping the New Year's weekend is much better. We're going to have our annual party. Which means tomorrow and Thursday, I've got to get my butt busy and clean house! Do food shopping! Make my wonderful finger foods (because I can't spell the word hores de vores)!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and you have a great New Year's Eve! May God bless you as he has me. Hugs to you and thank you for following me and keeping up with all my drama, news, and boring stuff too.

A not so funny thing happened on the way to get the camera

2010-12-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

From the time I first stepped on the scale to the time I went and grabbed the camera to take the picture, I gained a pound. Can you believe that? Ugh.

So today's final weigh in is not as pretty as I hoped, but on a positive note, at least I'm in the negative and I didn't gain. Of course, I think I would have done much better had I not gone to a cookie exchange this week and eaten half of the cookies I got! Double ugh.

I did go and get a fill on Monday. My last one before my year of free adjustments was up, although I actually have two free adjustments in the books as they give out a free adjustment when you go to the December support group meeting. I was there last year right before I got banded, so I got one then, and I was at this months, so I got another one. That's a $50 value for each adjustment.

Sorry I didn't put more together for my bandiversary post. Just wasn't feeling like doing much reflection. I'm still not. If I did, I think I'd be more maudlin then positive, so I just won't go there.

But, a new year is about to begin so I am going to get my butt in action and see if I can create a perfect storm of good eating, good exercise, and snack moderation to create a downward trend in my weight. That's my goal. To do all three things at once. I seem to do one sometimes two things at the same time, but not all three, thus the reason for my six month plateau. I've got to bust through this and get back on track.

One year

2010-12-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

It's been one year since I've gotten the band. Down about 72 pounds. No photo updates. Just a mention of the anniversary.

I'm sick

2010-12-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

Stuffy nose . . . check.
Runny nose . . . check.
Red and painful nose . . . check.
Pile of puffs plus . . . check.
Sore throat . . . check.
Cold . . . check.
Hot . . . check.
Tired . . . check.
Ready for the sniffling-sneezing-coughing-aching-stuffy-head-so-you-can-rest medicine.

I gobbled the turkey!

2010-11-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

And I've got the proof on my hips, belly and thighs!

Ugh, no exercise plus way too much to eat equals a gain!

223.2.

Oh well, it's a new week.

Deadly Game of Spoons

2010-11-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

This is what happened with my in-laws yesterday playing Spoons!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T05:33:00.003-07:00

To my American friends, I hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends. I hope God has blessed you with many things to be grateful for.

The cooking has begun!

2010-11-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

I've got in the oven right now the crust for the dessert recipe I recently posted. The banana chocolate fudge pudding pie, I guess you could call it.

Soon, once I finish washing the dishes, I'll start getting the bread ready for the stuffing and bake the sweet potatoes for the casserole, and maybe even make the cranberries.

Tomorrow will then be actually making the stuffing, or dressing as some call it, since it doesn't get stuffed in the bird, and the sweet potato casserole. It's a new recipe that I've never tried before but most of the reviews were highly in favor of it, so I think I'll give it a try. I don't plan on putting any marshmallows on top, so hopefully the ol' in-laws will enjoy it. If not, I will be eating this casserole for days as I'm tripling the recipe! Eek!

What have you started cooking tonight?

Holiday Challenge update

2010-11-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

I've posted another loss this week. I'm down to 220.6, which is 1.2 pound loss, I think. I haven't had any caffeine yet so math is beyond me at the moment.

Not bad considering I didn't do a lick of exercise last week. But I will do that that though this week. I've got to! With Thanksgiving coming up, there is no way I can slide this week by just watching what I eat.

Stuck plus a PB - ugh!

2010-11-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

This morning, I scarfed down my cheese stick and turkey slices breakfast. Not good. It got stuck and while I didn't have time to PB, boy did it hurt and there was tons of slime.

Then tonight, prior to a meeting with one of our clients and their employees, they invited us to join them for dinner. Chicken, mashed potatoes with green chili gravy, corn and salad. I took two bites of the chicken and a bite of the potatoes and not only was I stuck, but I knew I had to PB. I excused myself to the restroom where I proceeded to PB into the sink. Gross. Finished there, got back to the table, attempted a small bite of my salad. Yeah, I'm done. I come up with the excuse that my stomach was in knots due to my speaking to such a large crowd, and I'm able to wrap my leftover dinner for later. I go to put it in the fridge in their kitchen and PB some more into the kitchen sink. Thank God that no one was in there to see me. Big huge globs of slime and salad/chicken coming out. Yuck!

But, I made it through the presentation, got a round of applause from their employees, and finally go to sit down. My feet were killing me after standing for two hours and being in my high heels. Perhaps next time I should wear flats.

I came home and made me a shake as I knew I shouldn't attempt solid food after my day of eating. And you know what is funny? I had a Las Vegas roll at a local sushi restaurant for lunch today and had absolutely no problems with it. Go figure.

No exercise today. Hoping to get to the gym after tomorrow's meetings.

Holiday Challenge - results from week 1

2010-11-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

Despite Aunt Flo showing up yesterday - two days early - I had a great week! I'm down to 221.8, which is a loss of 2.8 pounds this week. Sweet!
Yesterday I went to my mom's for the day. We had crafts planned to create for her Christmas decorations (got to love Hob.by Lob.by). They came out really good. Mom cut all the bought decorations into small usable pieces and then my aunt and I made the crafts. Here is how my project, a wreath for her pillar candle, turned out:

I ended up getting stuck twice yesterday! First time was with a hot from the oven banana muffin. Second was with lunch, baked chicken breast which was moist and spinach salad. Ugh. But, after making a run to the next town over's WalMart to buy AF supplies (remember, she was two days early so I wasn't prepared), and also buying some chocolate and kettle korn, all those snacks went down just fine.

My aunt made dinner last night, hamburger stew, and it was so good! Thankfully, no problems with it.

I hope that all of you challengers had great first weeks too! I'll be sure to swing by and check on you.

Thursday report

2010-11-11T19:16:00.002-07:00

Lunch today at PF Changs was good, as expected. I ate not quite half of the lamb dish I ordered, and about half my brown rice. I love their brown rice!

Had my crown put in this afternoon, so my mouth was all numb. I went to the Y early and walked on the treadmill rather than doing a class.

Dinner tonight was grilled cheese sandwich with one bread slice and turkey slices, and tomato soup. Oh it was so good.

I got on the scales at the Y and they read 220! My scales at home read 222 this morning, so I am definitely making progress! Can't wait for the Sunday weigh in.

No gym tonight

2010-11-10T21:48:00.002-07:00

Had to stay late at work tonight, didn't get out til 6:30, missing my class. Crazy busy at work, it's only going to get worse over the next three weeks. Still ate well today. Another salad for lunch, then had a small portion of chicken Alfredo.

Tomorrow's lunch is PF Changs. Yummm.

Brrrr!

2010-11-09T22:07:00.002-07:00

Today a cold front moved in. It made it quite cold when I left the Y tonight. I'll have to remember to pack my stocking cap in my gym bag tonight for tomorrow as having a wet head after exercising then going out in the cold is not a good thing.

I've been eating spinach and mixed green salads with rotisserie turkey breast, dried cranberries, sugar snap peas, bell pepper, different cheeses (blue or cheddar), and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Tonight I added some Asian pear slices to it. So my calorie intake has been pretty good. Breakfast consists of light cheese stick, slices of deli turkey, and an apple.

I tried step aerobics tonight. The choreography was tough! I got so frustrated with it. But it was a good work out, a high calorie burner. I'm sure my muscles will be feeling it tomorrow.

Exercise & Good eating

2010-11-08T21:25:00.002-07:00

I exercised today and coupled it with some pretty healthy eating. No sweets yesterday or today. So far, so good.

How are you doing?

New challenge begins

2010-11-07T07:56:00.006-07:00

Today marks the day that the new Holiday Challenge begins. I really need this challenge. Not so much to win the money, because hey, we all know that it is usually the newer bandsters with lots to lose and losing lots will win. That's not why I am in this challenge. I am in it for the accountability of it. I haven't really had anyone to say boo to since the last challenge and it shows on the scales. Thank you again, Kristen, for running this challenge!

I am going to get back to my former bandster ways of eating: small bites, chew chew chew, small portions, LOTS LESS FOOD!

I am also going to do my best at exercising. Unfortunately, with the work I am in, our really busy season is upon us and I expect to have some really long days ahead of me. Hopefully I will still be able to get to the Y and exercise. I am going to need those extra calories burned if I want to meet my goal for the challenge.

Which brings me to the numbers.

Starting weight: 224.6 pounds
Goal weight: 210.0 pounds

So in the six weeks, I want to lose 14.6 pounds. That's 2.43 pounds a week. I need to do this. I can do this if I put my mind and body and mouth to it. I have been stuck and climbing at the 220-224 range since July. That's enough laziness for me.

I am going to try to start tracking my food intake and exercise each day. Not sure if I will be able to post it, but I need to see what it is I'm doing and I want my readers to see it to so they know what it is I am doing and what it is I am not doing. And don't be shy about calling me to task if I am slacking. I need your help. I think that is why most of us are in this challenge, so we can help each other.

In fact, I am going to create another blog list on my left sidebar with the blogs of each contestant (I really hope there aren't a ton because my blog will be really long :0). That way, I can see how you are doing and offer my support to you as well.

Best of losses to everyone who is competing. May all the bandsters lose!

Coloradoans say NO again!

2010-11-02T21:36:00.002-06:00

So far, with 23% of precincts reporting, Coloradoans are saying NO to the personhood amendment, 73% NO, 27% yes.

Thank you sensible Coloradoans!!!

Holiday Challenge

2010-10-31T08:55:00.001-06:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, I will participate in a Holiday Challenge. Kristen is hosting this once again. Thanks girl, you rock!

Here is the great badge Joey put together for the challenge:

If you want more details on the challenge, or would like to join it, please click here.

An oldy but goody

2010-10-30T22:45:00.002-06:00

Tonight I made this dessert that I posted back in February. When buying the ingredients, the Nabisco Low-Fat Vanilla Wafers were $3.99 and the store brand regular wafers were $1.99. I went with the store brand.

I'm taking this dessert to my in-laws tomorrow for a bon voyage meal. Hubby's mom and dad are getting ready to take off for Yuma AZ for three months. They are leaving really early this year. So we're having a last meal with them until after the first of the year sometime. Not sure when they are coming back. We won't even see them for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Do you have a favorite dessert recipe that you like to make? If so, make a blog post of it and paste the link in the comment section. Would love to get more ideas of yummy (and healthy?) desserts.

Holiday challenge

2010-10-29T11:43:00.004-06:00

I've joined a new weight loss challenge for the holidays. It gets started November 8 and runs through December 20, I think. I'll be posting more details on it. While it again is who loses the highest percentage of weight, I'm making my goal to be 10 pounds, or down to 210, whichever is greater! Thanks Kristen for organizing it again. You rock!

Deleted last post

2010-10-26T11:39:00.002-06:00

I had to delete the last post because every time I would go into my blog, it kept opening up new IE tabs, so I think there may have been a bug in that darn link.

It happened one weekend

2010-10-25T13:42:00.006-06:00

I don't know what "it" is, but I thought that was a catchy title! :0)

Hubby left Friday to go hunting. So I was home alone with Cinnamon and Sugar. They weren't too bad. Normally they get pretty antsy when one of us is gone. They'll sit along the back of the couch or at the top of the steps just staring at the door, waiting for our return.

However, at night in bed, it was a totally different story! I don't know what it was that they thought they were hearing, but they kept waking me up. Saturday night, Cinnamon was barking so bad that I even got up, sans PJs, to see what he was barking at. He wouldn't even jump off the bed and go looking with me, he stayed there! The little shit! I looked out our computer room window, didn't see anything, went to the landing over the front door, nothing. I think he was just hearing things. So Sunday night, I closed our bedroom door, and they didn't bark once!

Saturday, my mom, aunt and I went to dinner and a movie. We saw Hereafter. Save your money! It took forever to get to a point. If I hadn't have paid so darn much money to see the dang thing, I would have got up and left it was so boring. About 1/3 of the movie happens in France so they're talking French with subtitles. Ugh, I really do not like reading my movies. I'd rather read a book! Then, in the last 7-10 minutes of the movie, everything comes together and it's all happily-ever-after. To say I was disappointed is putting it mildly. Blah.

We had a potluck at church Sunday. I made a chile rellano casserole and pumpkin spice cupcakes. I expected the rellano to be hot but it was so mild I was embarrassed! I used a bag of mild Anaheim chiles and a bag of Big Jim Anaheim chiles. The Big Jims are supposed to be hot. Not this time! But all of it was eaten so that's good. The cupcakes were a hit too. I posted the recipe over on Grits, Greens and Everything In Between if you're interested.

Sunday evening I got started on cleaning out my bedroom closet of all my too big clothes. My closet is looking pretty good. However, my bed isn't as I threw all the too big clothes on it intending to sort through them and deal with them. Well, I ran out of time before my Sunday night shows started (Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters), so I didn't get back to them. I ended up just moving them over so I could go to sleep last night. I will deal with them tonight when I get home from work. I have to as Hubby will be back from his hunting trip this afternoon and I'm sure he won't be pleased with them piled on his side of the bed!

I have so many really nice work clothes that I think I will end up taking to our local YWCA for women there. I thought about taking them to a consignment shop, but I'd rather donate them to someone who is in need. However, I'm not going to get them pressed. They are all clean, just wrinkled from being tossed to the bottom of my closet.

Hubby did fill his deer tag. He shot a 2x3 buck. I'm sure we'll be skinning and processing it tonight. By we I mean them. I don't cut fresh deer. The last time I did that I about tossed my cookies the smell was so bad. I don't mind cooking it or eating it, but for some reason that fresh smell just turns my stomach.

How was your weekend? Did you get all accomplished that you wanted?

Shout out to Dagny!

2010-10-25T09:26:00.002-06:00

Hey Dagny, tried to pop by your blog to say hi but I see you moved it to invite only. Send me an e-mail as I seem to have deleted your address when I was going through my clean-out-my-in-box-frenzy one day.

Hope you're well!

Hugs,

The snacking has got to go!

2010-10-23T13:44:00.002-06:00

I weighed in this morning. I'm up to 225. Not good. I can't blame it on eating bigger meals. It's all the damn snacking I've been doing. I've got to wrap my head back around this losing weight thing. Easier said than done.

Met my goal!

2010-10-21T23:42:00.003-06:00

My reading challenge goal, that is. I've now read 30 books! I surpassed last year's number of books read. Pretty cool. I've got quite a few more to read as I went a bit hog wild in buying books to read on my nook.

Ugh

2010-10-10T21:29:00.002-06:00

How effed up is it when my cousin is going to be a grandma before I'm even a mom?

Effing facebook!

Edited for content once I cooled down.

Sweet and Sour

2010-10-10T19:42:00.003-06:00

That's not describing my dinner tonight. That's describing my recent good news from my surgeon's office and the bad news of the economy.

First, the sweet.

When I went to the support group meeting last week, I was told that Dr. S does not have any restrictions on when we can try to get pregnant after the band. I was very excited about this as some recent research revealed that using donor embryos costs in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.

Next, the sour.

Hubby's restaurant is struggling right now. Big time. A recent increase in prices hasn't even scratched the surface of the shortages he is experiencing. Labor costs the way they are is going to force him to make some tough decisions. We've had to make some tough decisions.

For right now, we just can't afford to try for a baby. Between me still paying off all my medical bills from being in the hospital this summer to new bills cropping up due to having to get a new crown (and another one next year), money is beyond tight. It hasn't helped that I've been having to buy new clothing, and a new coat and jacket, so I've put myself on a spending freeze.

Things will turn around. I just need to give us some time to build our savings account back up, to get back in the black, and lose a bit more weight. Time, it's about all I got right now.

Life goes on

2010-10-02T08:50:00.003-06:00

Life has been busy lately. Between keeping up with exercising, getting a new client at work, celebrating birthdays, and life in general, I've not taken the time to blog. Nothing has been so exciting or newsworthy to share.

Weight remains steady. Snacking remains. One of these days I will decide to quit the snacking and I know I'll start seeing some losses again.

So, since I've been AWOL, I'll share with you some photos of my babies. Sugar is wearing the pink fuzzy sweater. Cinnamon is au-naturale.

Every other day morning tightness?

2010-09-24T11:24:00.002-06:00

Okay, so yesterday I ate the rest of my turkey/cheese roll up along with the hard boiled egg. No problem.

This morning, I bring the same thing for breakfast and once again, could only eat about 1/2 the turkey/cheese roll up, and no egg, before I felt stuck/full.

What gives with this?

I am definitely feeling restriction! Yesterday for lunch I ate a tostada and 1/2 a beef enchilada with a couple bites of refried beans and Spanish rice. Ate the other half and my chicken burrito last night for dinner (it was a small burrito).

And my scales? Showed a loss! Of almost 3 pounds! I was at 223 and it's down to 220.2. Of course, part of it was that I got a hair cut and an eyebrow/lip wax. No more mustache for me! By the way, it was only the second time I've gotten my lip waxed. It didn't hurt quite as bad this time as it did the first time.

I skipped zumba last night to get my hair cut. So I need to make sure I go tomorrow morning to zumba class to get in my exercise. Don't want to lose any ground on this new loss.

New breakfast got stuck!

2010-09-22T09:12:00.002-06:00

Yesterday evening, I went to the grocery store to stock up on my new breakfast items per the suggestion of my doctor's office. I got slices of deli turkey and ham. I already had cheese sticks and eggs to boil. So I packed my breakfast last night.

This morning, I make myself a little turkey and cheese roll-up. Take two bites and I'm stuck! I don't know if I took too large of bites or if I didn't chew well enough or maybe I have very tight restriction first thing in the morning, but it hurt. And since I was eating in front of the gals who I take break with, and who don't know that I have the band, I quit eating. I didn't want to try any more. So I calmly placed the 1/3 eaten roll-up back in the Ziploc baggy along with the egg I had already peeled, then put them all in my lunch bag. If they noticed that I only ate a small portion, they didn't say anything. Once the stuck feeling passed, I didn't eat anymore as I didn't want to take any chances. I really hope that I don't get hungry this morning.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this before on my blog, but at one of my support group meetings, I had said that I am able to eat bread, pasta and rice with no problems. I don't eat a lot of bread, but I can eat it. My surgeon said that it was because I have one of the newer bands and that they are more forgiving than the older bands. I wonder if that is why I have never PB'd while many of my band readers have. Interesting.

Adjustment

2010-09-21T16:17:00.002-06:00

I went in today for an adjustment. I had 7.6 ccs in my band. I again got the lecture of not eating yogurt for breakfast. I need to eat solid protein. Not just for breakfast but for my snacks too, so no more pita chips (after I'm finished with my open bag ;~).

Before he filled me up, he took out all of the fluid. That hurt! I don't know why it hurt, but it did. In fact, I'm still kind of sore from it. Not my stomach, but where the tubing runs to my port, and then it referred it to my back too. That is so weird.

I'm not sure if he put more in there or not, as when I glanced at my chart, he wrote down 7.0, so perhaps with him taking out all my fluid then putting it back, it re-arranged my stomach inside my band, and that will now be a good restriction. We'll see.

I also need to get serious about cutting back on the mid-meal snacks. I know if I did that, the scales would start showing a smaller number. By the way, according to his scales, I've stayed the same weight since my appointment in August, which is precisely what my scales at home have shown.

I forgot to ask him about when I can start TTC again. I could kick myself for forgetting to ask! When I go next month for the support group meeting, I'll ask then. So Tracy, if you go next month, don't let me forget to ask!

Clothes giveaway discontinued

2010-09-16T21:00:00.002-06:00

Since I only got one hit on the clothes I posted, I invited my mom and aunt to take a look at them. My closet is very bare now! I still have some stuff that isn't fit for giving away that I'll either toss or well, probably toss as I can't imagine turning them into cleaning rags (you have to clean to do that! lol). It's mostly shirts that are stained.

I next need to tackle my dresser drawers to clean out all of my too big undies and bras. I'll probably toss all those too.

So, if you did happen to stop by to browse but didn't see anything you liked, thanks for stopping by. And Maria, I e-mailed you about the dress you claimed.

NSV & New exercise class

2010-09-14T13:26:00.002-06:00

Friday night, after having been told by a co-worker a couple of days earlier that I needed to go buy new slacks as my butt was all baggy, went and bought size 14W slacks and they fit well! NSV! I am now down 12 sizes in pants, from a 26W to 14W. I'm quite excited about that, considering how my scale has hovered around the 220-222 mark for two months now.

I did a new exercise class last night at the Y: Kick n strength. It's an hour long class that combines kick boxing and strength training. Kristi teaches it, along with several other classes at the Y. She is also my favorite zumba teacher. But back to kick n strength, we did about 30-35 minutes of kick boxing routines, followed by 25 minutes of work with a weight bar. I'm not sure how much my bar weighed as I didn't see a label on it, but we lifted it with our arms several different ways, did squats with it (Kristi loves squats!), then laid on the floor, and did several different lifts, both with our legs, our arms, as well as the back of our knees (that was hard since I was sweating so much it kept slipping). We then did some (what am I talking about, we did lots!) of crunches. After the class, walking out to my car which I usually park quite a way from the door, I was just dragging! It felt good to know that I worked really hard in class.

Tonight I'm going to try Y Firm. It's an hour long strength training class that is supposed to burn lots of calories. It'll be interesting to see how I feel after it. Normally, on Tuesdays, now that our bible studies have started back up, I'd go to bible study instead. But since I have other things going on two Tuesdays a month, I've decided to work out on the other Tuesdays. Hubby gets to explain why I'm not there.

From my closet to yours, picture post 2

2010-09-11T22:56:00.005-06:00

Second post of the clothes I'm giving away.

MOST ITEMS CLAIMED (again, to my mom and aunt :0)

From my closet to your closet - pictures post 1

2010-09-11T22:33:00.008-06:00

I'll probably have to do this in several posts to make it easy. Here's what's up first:

ALL ITEMS CLAIMED (many given to my mom and aunt :0)

From my closet to yours

2010-09-11T15:38:00.005-06:00

I've been meaning to go through my closet for ages now, and this afternoon, I'm finally going to do that. I will have clothes ranging from 26W down to about 20W, maybe even some 18W, although I may not quite be ready to get rid of my 18s, even though my butt and hips, and my waist, fits into a 14W!

So, even though I'm not going to Chicago with the BOOBS, I am offering up some of my too big clothes to anyone who can use them to cover their own butts, hips, waists and boobies. I'll take some photos as I go through everything, then post them in a new post.

I ask that if you want something that you can use now or very soon, please leave me a comment. If it will be a while before something fits, still let me know, but if someone else can use it now, I'll give that person first preference.

I'm not a Vic.tori.a Se.cre.t shopper, so I don't have any really cute bras. However, if you have a need for a boulder holder or two (48Is), let me know as I have several bras this size that I just can't wear anymore. If you want to see pictures of them, leave me a comment and I can take those too. As far as my panties that are too big, well, I won't be donating them to anything except the garbage can. Ew, gross!

ETA: Some items I may ask for shipping, or depending on how much is shipped to one person, I may ask for help with shipping costs. I'll let you know.

The slide

2010-09-08T21:27:00.001-06:00

Has it begun? Time will only tell.

Protect Families Protect Choices - Fact Sheet

2010-09-03T23:20:00.000-06:00

Protect Families Protect Choices - Fact Sheet

They are at it again. Please, Colorado, listen to reason and vote NO on Amendment 62 in the general elections in November. I thank you.

Happy 500th blog to me!

2010-09-03T09:44:00.003-06:00

This is my 500th blog post. Woohoo!

A lot has happened in the past 500 blogs posts. Also, a lot has not happened.

I've taken clomid to try to have a baby. I didn't get pregnant.

I went through three separate IVF attempts with Dr. Slick. I never made it to retrieval.

I switched REs to Dr. S at Conceptions. Made it to both retrieval and transfer. I didn't get pregnant.

I was told to lose weight. I got the lapband and I've lost 75 pounds (well, okay, 72 pounds as I'm backsliding right now). I'm not pregnant.

I'm 39 years old and getting older. My old eggs are getting even older. Chances of me getting pregnant on my own and with my own eggs? One in 100 billion. I have better chances of winning the lottery. Perhaps I should start buying my tickets.

But you know what, with all that hasn't happened, there is a lot that has happened.

My Hubby and I are a lot closer now than we ever have been. When you go through a painful time in life, you do one of two things: you either fall apart or draw closer together. We've done the latter. We have each other's backs more now than we ever did. We protect the other now more than we used to. We are a buffer for each other when needed.

I'm a lot healthier than I used to be. I'm feeling really good. I look a lot better. I feel a lot sexier, just ask Hubby.

So while I may not yet have a baby in my arms, I have been blessed in other areas. For that I am grateful.

You never know what life may hand you. Maybe I will win that lottery. Maybe I won't. Either way, I'll be here. Living a good life. Loving a good man. Being loved in return. That's what counts. Wanting what you have and more importantly, enjoying what you have. The rest is just icing on the cake.

Which reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw:

If the cake's no good, what good is the icing?

Update

2010-09-01T07:08:00.003-06:00

Per my GYN's scales, I'm down 72 pounds (this time last year I was 292). So that's good news.

As far as trying the low tech way to have a baby, that's not going to happen. IUI or even good ol' fashioned sex. My weight is down, but I'm still 39 and my eggs are still old. That won't change.

So that's it. It's either going forth with donor eggs/embryos, or consider adoption.

Forgot

2010-08-30T07:11:00.001-06:00

I forgot to weigh myself this morning before I started drinking my coffee. Oh well, I'll just see what the doctor's scales have me at.

Recipe!

2010-08-26T20:24:00.002-06:00

Tonight I made dinner and created a side dish from our garden yummies.

Chopped zucchini sauteed in olive oil with cherry tomatoes, with a bit of garlic powder, salt, pepper and dried basil. Nom nom nom.

Check out this recipe that I posted this morning on Grits, Greens and Everything in Between.

Upcoming GYN visit

2010-08-25T10:07:00.002-06:00

On Monday, I go in for my annual gynecological visit. I've got a couple things I want to talk with Dr. B about.

1) My cycles are getting shorter. I haven't kept strict records, but it seems like they keep getting shorter with this last one only being about three weeks long. Plus, I was spotting for about four days after AF supposedly ended. Not normal.

2) With the weight I've lost so far (75 pounds), what does he think about us TTC again. Does he think we have a chance going the low tech route of IUIs? Since of course, it seems like everyone who loses weight can now get pregnant (isn't that the old wives tail?). Can he do IUI or do I need to go back to our RE? And if so, which one? Or should we just save our money and go the donor route?

I find myself being reluctant to start up again with the TTC. That path is a rocky bitch that tears me up, both physically and mentally. Not only is it rough on me, but Hubby as well. I wonder if I can do it again. Getting my hopes up to only be crushed by the onset of AF. Shooting myself up with all those damn hormones that make me a raging bitch one second, a weeping fool the next. Oh, and let's not even get started on the money aspect of it. Or the comments from well meaning family and friends who tell about their friend's daughter who blah blah blah so of course it must work for us too.

Can you tell that TTC is not easy? That it's not cheap. That it takes its toll on those who are trying to do it? That it tries our faith. Even Hubby was wondering if our lack of having children was some form of punishment for something he or I did in our past. How jacked up is that? But those thoughts are with us. Wondering why not us and why some poor little teenage girl who has no business having a child, much less two or three before she even turns 20?

I feel like I should be psyching myself up for this again. But how do you do that? How can you prepare yourself for the onslaught of TTC? Especially when you've been there, done that, refused to buy the t-shirt? How can you prepare yourself for another round of self-induced pain and torture? Without even the reassurance of it working? Those rose-colored glasses have not only been removed, but tossed in the garbage bin long ago, to never be worn again. We clearly see what is on the horizon, we don't want to be lulled into a sense of "just knowing" it will work. That TTC cherry was popped a long time ago.

Weekend away

2010-08-24T06:49:00.003-06:00

This weekend we went camping at Eleven Mile. It's less than two hours away, so it's a perfect weekend get away when you don't want to go too far.

We did some fishing, although I didn't catch anything. Night fishing is the most successful way to catch fish there. However, I stayed at the camp when Hubby went night fishing, as I knew I wouldn't be able to stay up that late.

I took a walk Sunday morning down to the lake and around a small portion of it. We think the lake got its name because it has eleven miles of shoreline, so I knew there would be no way I could walk all the way around!

I finished reading one book and started another while there. It's so nice to read with nothing else to do.

My MIL and I took turns cooking. If I cooked breakfast, she'd cook dinner, and vice versa. That way neither one of us had to cook more than once and clean our kitchens more than once a day. Breakfast was late enough that we didn't eat lunch.

Now I'm back and have to go to work. It sucks, but hey, it's what allows us to go on these fun little trips.

Got stuck - ouch!

2010-08-18T20:38:00.002-06:00

Tonight, I baked chicken breasts and sliced sweet potatoes, made some ramen noodles and warmed up some left over zucchini/golden zucchini/corn/onion saute. Everything was going well, until bam! I felt like a brick was stuck sideways in my esophagus! I sat there for a moment, then had to get up, then went to the restroom. I didn't PB, but thought if I were going to, I should at least be near the toilet.

It took about five minutes, but the pain passed. Hubby came in to check on me. This is the first time this has happened. I think it was the ramen noodles. Which is odd, as I had angel hair pasta for lunch today with no problems. Weird.

Maybe my fill is finally kicking in? We'll see.

Hmm - NLS? Do I have this?

2010-08-18T07:32:00.001-06:00

I read on another bandster blog about a new condition that is out there that many bandsters (and others who are losing weight) suffer from. It isn't a medical condition, but more of a mental condition. New Low Syndrome.

Basically, when you hit a new low weight, your mind starts playing games on you, and before you know it, your new found healthy habits have flown out the window and you're back to your old bad habits.

This describes me to a T right now.

Hopped on the scales this morning and it said 221.something. I could still blame it on AF, but the bag of St.acy's pita chips in my desk drawer, the chocolate peanut butter T.wix bar that is on its way out of my system, and other goodies certainly have played a role in it. Granted, I do get the munchies and chocolate cravings during this time of the month, but since band, don't indulge them quite so much.

Oh well. I'm trying to stay up with my working out, so my indulgences aren't so terribly bad, but considering I had a low weight of 217.something, that's a four pound difference, and well, it won't take long for it to get even bigger if I don't stop this destructive behavior now.

It's funny. Since my last fill a couple weeks ago, it seems like I can eat even more than pre-fill. Isn't that just so weird? I wonder why that is.

AF already?

2010-08-16T07:00:00.002-06:00

Ok, I've not been keeping really close track of my AF, but I think she is coming awfully damn early this month. I need to keep a closer eye on her, as it seems like it was only three weeks ago since she showed up the last time. Hmmm.

But that would explain the reason I'm only down 0.2 pounds. Well, that and my eating habits sucked this week.

2010-08-10T17:37:00.001-06:00

I was attacked! It was brutal. The munchies overcame me and I ate 1/2 bag of pita chips, a Take 5 bar, and one pb cup. Now I'm going to recover at the Y.

Very nice weekend

2010-08-09T07:23:00.000-06:00

My cousin A is marrying O next month. Right now, they live in Minnesota. O came in this weekend for two bridal showers, one at my cousin’s (the groom’s sister), the other at her aunt’s. My mom and I drove up to Denver for the one at my cousin’s.

It was a lot of fun! I got to meet O for the first time and their cute little daughter C. We visited with several of my aunts. Had some yummy food my cousin made. She is quite the cook! She had gastric bypass about six or seven years ago, but doesn’t let that stop her from her love of baking and cooking.

I went up there expecting to have cake. I was planning for this. However, no cake, just lots of yummy fresh fruit and other baked goods. We stayed after the shower and had some dinner with them from a local Mexican food restaurant.

After making our way to the hotel, I tried working out, but just didn’t have much energy. I think it was a combination of not a lot of protein that day and not much water. I drank lots of iced tea, but only one bottle of water. I walked for about 15 minutes then rode the bike another 15 minutes. At least my heart rate got up a little bit.

Sunday morning we went back to my cousin’s for breakfast. She made the most delicious stuffed french toast. She used Italian bread, cut it about two inches thick, and stuffed it with cream cheese mixed with Splenda and fresh blue berries. Talk about heaven! I had about 1/3 of a slice and a piece of her hashbrown quiche she also made, and lots of fruit.

On the way home, Mom and I stopped at Castle Rock to do some shopping. I found a summer dress for half price, two really cute tops, and a skirt, all on sale. I also found a really cute pair of slacks and a top, but those were full price and a new sale starts today using "Ho.ney Mo.ney" from previous purchases, allowing 20% off full priced items. So I’ll go to our local store today or tomorrow and see if I can find the same outfit.

I also was able to find some new Bali bras at another store there. 42G! These are minimizer bras. My girls are actually starting to look, dare I say, normal sized! The waistline of the dress I bought actually falls below my breasts, rather than on them. I’ll have to take a picture of it tonight when I get home so you can see it.

We also did stop at the Ro.cky Mou.ntain Ch.oc.olate Fac.tory. I bought an ice cream cone and enjoyed every bite! But that was the only thing I bought other than a bottle of water. That was my sweet treat for the weekend.

My doggies were quite happy to see me. Hubby was gone this weekend too, so they were stuck in the kitchen, since I refuse to allow them to be outside overnight at home. I know they bark and I won’t be "one of those neighbors." The daytime is okay, but not nighttime.

Oh, by the way, the size of the dress? 18! NSV!

If you’ve noticed, you’ll see that I haven’t updated my weight ticker. That’s because I didn’t weigh yesterday since I was gone, and since I didn’t have a BM all weekend due to the lack of water, I am retaining, and I just don’t want to record that weight! LOL But tomorrow morning I’ll update, regardless of what the number is.

Day 5: Complete*

2010-08-06T21:39:00.002-06:00

Finished up another day without any sweets, unless you count the honey I put on 1/2 of a sopapilla with lunch today. I'd say I had maybe two teaspoons, if that of honey.

But I am finding that I'm replacing my sweets eating with savory eating. Remember the pita chips I talked about yesterday? Well, I went to Ta.rg.et this evening after work to pick a few things up. After leaving the cosmetics area, I was walking towards the check out. On my way, I walked by the food area. My eye got caught by more of those pita chips. They had all four flavors! And what did I do?

I bought all four flavors!

Then I bought a jar of buffalo wing dip. It's blue cheese and buffalo sauce flavored. It's pretty tasty, but I really didn't need it. Nor did I need the chips, of which I ate some of the Parmesan garlic herb flavor tonight along with some of the cinnamon sugar flavor.

I've got to stop this madness! I can't be replacing one thing with another. I can't even justify that the pita chips are baked, not fried, therefore not so bad for me. They are still a carb, and I'm sure it won't be long before they lead me back to the sweets road.

*If you don't count the cinnamon sugar flavored pita chips, I'm good. If you do, I'm not so good.

NSV

2010-08-05T23:09:00.003-06:00

I was reading a post by Catherine about her plans for her Halloween costume this year. It got me to thinking about a past Halloween costume I wore for work one year, about eight or nine years ago. When I bought it, it was a size 24-26. I thought that it should fit me just fine. I was wrong. It would not zip. But because I spent around 55 hard earned dollars on it, I was going to wear it!

So I paired it up with a denim vest to cover the zipper that wouldn't zip. No one knew the difference, but I did.

I still have that dress. I went to my closet, pulled it out, and tried it on. I think I've found a new dress to wear my knee-high boots with. What do you think?

Day 4: Complete

2010-08-05T22:22:00.002-06:00

Got through another day with no sweets.

However, I did misbehave, but with Stacy's pita chips and homemade guacamole! Damn that stuff is good!

Have ya'll tried Stacy's pita chips? No, this isn't a paid product endorsement. I never heard of them before my grocery shopping trip on Tuesday, and even then I really didn't pay attention to the brand name, just that they were plain pita chips.

Whoa! They are yummy! I got the Simply Naked flavor, which has just a little bit of sea salt on them. They have a few other flavors. I noticed that the grocery store I went to carried their cinnamon sugar flavor. Next time I go back I'll have to check out their other flavors. A good alternative to a fried chip, but I'm sad to say I probably ate about half the bag tonight.

Colorado Girls

2010-08-05T22:17:00.000-06:00

Day 3: Complete

2010-08-04T22:10:00.003-06:00

And successful. No sweets. I did have some pita chips with mango peach salsa with dinner, but no sweets.

There were still donuts left from yesterday. I looked at them, but decided they'd be all dried up and nasty, therefore not good enough to eat.

I'm pretty stoked that my weight is coming down. Not sure if it's due to the cut out of sweets or my fill, or a combination of the two, but I'll take it.

I even weighed at the Y this evening after my water aerobics class. This was post-shower with wet hair and with clothes on, and it came in at about 217.5. Not too shabby!

Really?

2010-08-04T06:58:00.002-06:00

This morning, as part of my normal routine, I stepped on the scales. But what do my wandering eyes see?

A NEW LOW WEIGHT!

217.6

EEK!

I stepped on the scales twice, and I got the same reading both times.

That's pretty damn cool, if I say so myself! This no sweets thing and the fill on Monday is working out great!

Day 2: Complete

2010-08-03T22:55:00.001-06:00

Two days now I have not had any sweets. I didn't touch the donuts that were brought to work. I didn't buy anything when I went grocery shopping. Can I make it three in a row?

Ah shucks, ma'am, I'm honored!

2010-08-03T12:46:00.001-06:00

Sara Beth over at New Beginnings named me for The Versatile Blogger award. Thank you very much!

The premise behind this award is to thank the person who awarded you (see above), name seven things that your readers don't know about you, and then name ten bloggers to give the award to.

That's what you're supposed to do. However, I'm going to be a rebel today and be like Elvis, and just say, "Thank you. Thankyouverymuch!" hehe

Ya'll know so much about me already, I'm not sure I could name additional things without getting to the point of naming things that not even Hubby knows about me. And let me tell you that a spouse finding out something new about you through your blog is not the smartest of ideas.

But, to try to be somewhat in the spirit of this award, I bet you didn't know that I turned up my nose at the box of fresh, sticky donuts and pastries that a co-worker brought to work today. I covered those suckers back up with the white paper that was taped to the top of the box and said oh so very politely, "No thank you." I was really thinking, "You dirty bastard! Take those effing calorie bombs away from my face before I stuff them all in and get white sugar crumbs on my shirt!"

I also bet you didn't know that I went over to $t@r8uck$ and got a large black tea, shaken not stirred. I also politely said, "No thank you" to the request of a sweetened iced tea. In my ever so humble opinion, whoever came up with sweetened iced tea should be taken out back and shot! That's just a sacrilege.

And unless you are stalking me, I bet you don't know that I'm wearing my black knee-high boots today. With Christmas socks on underneath.

You also don't know, I'm sure, that I went to this morning's farmer's market and bought some sweet corn (peaches & cream I believe), red potatoes, okra (hmmm, love fried okra) and some sweet vidalia onions. I spent all the cash I had on me, a whopping $8. I'm rolling in the dough, don't ya know?

Oh, rumor has it that I stopped off at the Chinese restaurant next door to work to pick up lunch. Bet you don't know what I got! Sesame chicken, sweet & sour chicken, vegetable lo mien, and egg rolls. I ate about five or six pieces of the sesame chicken, three pieces of the S&S chicken, a very small serving of the lo mien, and a bit of my egg roll. Oh, and one piece of onion and one piece of green bell pepper from the S&S. I shared quite a bit of my lo mien with the doggies. They enjoy that stuff!

Unless your name is Mary (hi Mary), I bet you also don't know that I have support group meeting tonight. Hello, my name is Miss Tori and I'm an alcoholic. Oh wait, wrong support group!

Last but not least, unless you are very observant, I bet you didn't realize that I deleted my progress pictures. I apparently offended a few people with my nude-ness, and therefore I removed them, because I'm all about not offending people's sensibilities. You know, because I roll like that.

Gosh, I just named seven things ya'll don't know about me. I guess I should name ten bloggers too, since I'm being all compliant-like.

If you have the word blogspot or wordpress in the URL of your blog name, then I nominate you! Ha! Take that! That's way more than ten. Like twelve, or maybe even thirteen.

Day 1: Self Challenge Complete

2010-08-02T21:33:00.002-06:00

I have gone one day now without any sweets! We left the birthday party early due to inclement weather and needing to let our doggies in, therefore we missed the cake and ice cream.

I was able to eat tonight but not too much. Our cousin made chicken fajitas, so I ate some of the filling, a bit of guacamole, a couple small bites of rice which tasted nasty anyway, and about three chips. Oh, and a little wedge of watermelon. No tortilla.

I'm fighting the urge to snack by drinking flavored water. I may be going to bed early to keep myself from going through the kitchen cabinets and pulling out the white chocolate chips that I know are in there!

Got a fill

2010-08-02T17:16:00.003-06:00

I went in this afternoon for an adjustment. I had to justify why I needed one to the office manager. When I spoke with the doctor, and gave him the reason why I thought I needed a fill, he agreed. He ended up giving me 0.6 cc's. That's 0.2 more than he has been giving me!

So now I need to be really careful and see how I do with this one. I don't want to start getting any PBs or get stuck.

It will be interesting tonight as we have a birthday party to go to. I'm going to try to stay away from the cake (I'll let you know later how I do), but I'll need to be careful with what I eat. I'm really hoping I feel some significant restriction, if not tonight, then in the days to come.

Oh, his scales have me at 222. A lost of five pounds in the last 2.5 months. That just is NOT acceptable to me! lol

Accountability - can I do it?

2010-08-02T06:30:00.000-06:00

I have been struggling. As I've said before, I have a huge sweet tooth. I knew going into this that my band would not prevent me from indulging my sweet tooth. That I would have to control it.

For a while, I did really well. Not that I ever didn't indulge it, but I was limiting it to once or twice a week.

Right now? It's a daily thing. If it isn't s'mores, then it's ice cream. Or cake. Or something.

I want to change that. I need to change that. I've set a goal for myself to lose 100 pounds from my highest weight by the time I've been banded one year. In order for me to do that, I must really cut back on my sweets consumption. I think if I were to do that, my rate of weight loss would greatly improve.

So this is what I plan on doing: I will post daily if I did or did not indulge my sweet tooth.

I don't know if it will help me or not, but I do know that if I have to be accountable to someone other than myself, maybe I'll think twice about sticking that sweet into my mouth. My plan is to only indulge once a week.

I hope I can do this. I want to do this. I need to do this. Something has got to change. I can't keep this up for much longer, otherwise my scales are going to start to go in the opposite direction.

A picture may not but the scales sure do!

2010-08-01T08:06:00.004-06:00

Lie, that is! Ugh, what a morning already and I've only had my first few sips of coffee. Perhaps I should go back to bed and try again.

So last night, before hopping into bed, I hop on the scales as I often do, to get an indication of how they're going to look like in the morning. I was quite pleased. They were in the lower 220.something. My night weight and the next morning weight usually differ by about 1.5 pounds, so I expected this mornings weight to be awesome!

Well, it wasn't. It was 220.0. And I was actually fine with that, as I had set a goal for myself to lose 10 pounds during this challenge, and I met it. Yay!

Except, that was my weight when I first got on the scales this morning. Then I had to go and let the dogs out, I started my coffee since I was already in the kitchen, then grab the camera to take a picture of the scales for the contest.

220.2.

WTF!?!?!?!?!?

Okay, so I figure it was the weight of the camera. So I get back on without holding the camera. It stays at 220.2. Fine. I take the picture. I realize the zoom isn't very close and the photo I took is showing way more leg than is decent at this time of day, so I get back on to zoom in, this time the scale is showing 221.2. Huh?

I try this several times, and each time, my weight is anything but 220 or 220.2. Fine, you damn persnickety scales. You win. For now. You don't realize who you are messing with. The person who holds the purse strings and the trash bag strings. Ha! Hahahahaha!

So, for the weight I'm turning in to Kristen, I'll turn in the 220.2, since that is what the photo shows. However, for my own little ticker above, I'm using the 220.0.

And this week I will be buying a new set of scales. Anyone want to buy a set of scales? I'll sell it to you for cheap! ;~)

The 20s are almost gone

2010-07-28T07:04:00.003-06:00

I knew from when I stepped on the scales last night that this morning's weigh in would be a good one, and I wasn't disappointed.

220.0

Not an ounce over or under.

Twice.

I'm on the verge of breaking into a new decade. It's exciting! It's been a long time since I've seen those kind of numbers.

I've never really verbalized on my blog what my one year bandiversary goal is. I commented on someone else's blog the other day (was it just yesterday?) that I'd like to lose 100 pounds from my highest weight of 294 by December 17, 2010. In order to do that, I need to lose an average of 1.5 pounds per week here on out.

I can do that! I will do that!

If you are in your first year of banding, what is your one year bandiversary goal? It doesn't have to be a number on the scale. It can be a BMI, or a size of clothing, or even participating in a sport - such as a 5k or 10k.

Let's band together (hehe) and support each other in reaching those first year mile stones. I know we can do it!!!!

Recipe for zucchini

2010-07-27T12:31:00.000-06:00

Hi all, I posted a recipe for fried (or baked) zucchini over on Grits, Greens and Everything in Between. Go check it out!

Closer than you think

2010-07-27T07:32:00.004-06:00

Friday morning, before getting ready for work, I went out to our back yard to check to see if we had any produce that was ready to pick from our garden. I was able to harvest some zucchini, yellow squash and a couple of cucumbers.

I heard our neighbor who we share our back fence with let their dog out, so I thought I'd glance over and then offer them some of our garden yummies.

EEK!

That was a bad idea. The gentleman (read old man) was standing in his sliding glass door, waiting for his doggy to do his business, wearing nothing but his tighty-whities. My eyes were scarred!

I hurriedly turned my head away and decided not to offer them any veggies after all.

It got me to thinking. Just how much can they see into our back patio door and kitchen window? Perhaps I shouldn't walk around in my underwear as I'm apt to do.

Relaxing weekend ***UPDATED WITH PHOTOS

2010-07-26T17:38:00.003-06:00

Friday night my SIL and I left after work to head up to the mountains for a bit of R&R. We met our hubbies and in-laws who went up on Thursday. It was gorgeous up there!

We camped out at the O'Haver Lake camp ground located near Salida, CO. We rode the ATVs.

Sat around the camp fire.

Making our kissy faces.

Father in Law above. Mother in Law below.

Went fishing. Got some sun. Ate some s'mores.

Saw some wildlife.

And some not-so-wildlife.

It was so nice to get away and relax.

The dogs enjoyed it too. My MIL brought her little yorkie. She is quite the Alpha female. She tried to boss around Cinnamon and Sugar. Cinnamon is too passive and let her get away with whatever. Sugar on the other hand gave her crap. It's too bad my MIL was around when the fighting was going on, otherwise I would have smacked that little yorkie right on the nose. I've done it before, and she settles right down then. Oh well.

Today I'm back at work, fighting the yawns. I think I need to go across the street and get me a venti iced black coffee, shaken not stirred, from the Bucks (short for st.ar.buck.s).

Speaking of (.). No, not AF or my monthly period. I'm talking about putting periods in between the letters of certain words so your blog isn't brought up in a search for that word. I think I may have to start doing this more often. Remember my Sweet 16 post? Yeah, the store I mentioned in that post must do a search of the net for stories about their clothes. Well, they posted the link to my blog post on their fa.ce.bo.ok page. Yeah, it was nice to get the props for reaching a size 16W, but on the other hand, my blog isn't common knowledge to 98% of my family or friends. A few know about it, but most don't. And my co-workers (with the exception of two) don't know about my WLS. So now, if any of them happen to be a fan of that store on FB, they could very well see my post, therefore outing me. So just a little lesson that if you don't want to be discovered, you may need to use those little dots in the names of common names such as FB, or SB, or DB (wow, all those have Bs in them and they are not the same word). Oh, I think you can go into your blog settings and say you don't want to be included in any internet searches, so if this becomes a problem for you, you could do this too. Or so could I.

BYOC - Bring your own craziness!

2010-07-23T07:41:00.000-06:00

It’s time for BYOC Friday. Get to know your fellow bloggers better AND give your blogging brain a break! Enjoy!

1. Let’s brag a little….what’s the best perk you’ve ever had in your job (current or past)? Any employment counts - even if you’re a stay at home mom – you have perks.

There are several perks about my job. I'm not chained to my desk, so I am able to go run errands during the day if needed, and around Christmas time that is extremely helpful. I also tend to travel a bit during the summer around Colorado, which not only gets me out of the office, but allows me to visit other towns too and some really beautiful country.

Also, many of our insurance carriers offer us free tickets to various professional sports games, such as Avalanche hockey games, Rockies baseball games, Nuggets basketball games, and Broncos football games. Very sweet!

2. Do you ever lie in your blog?

I don't think I ever have. There is no reason to. I don't disclose everything, but who does?

3. What do you wear to bed?

Prior to losing weight, I rarely wore anything to bed, as I prefer au naturale (except when AF is around, then I wear underwear). But now that I'm losing weight, I tend to get cold, so I do wear PJs on occasion. Not all time, but sometimes.

4. Where do you go for advice?

I often ask Hubby for his thoughts. Or my BFF. What I find I do quite a bit is just talk with someone and I'm actually able to think my way through whatever is going on just by them listening, and not actually offering any advice.

But, if we're talking fashion advice, then I rely heavily upon the sales people because I am clueless when it comes to that stuff. The best thing a clothing store can have? A mannequin fully decked out with clothes, shoes and accessories. I don't have to think, just buy what's there.

5. Repeat question. Make someone a superstar without using a blog award. What comment or blog stuck with you the most this week and why?

Hmmm. A couple actually. As I previously mentioned this week, Gilly with her thoughts on restriction level and need or un-need (is that a word?) for fills/adjustments. Also, TracyZ with her thoughts on self-sabotage - following the band rules (or not following the band rules) and the results of such. I agree, if I'm doing as I'm supposed to do, I will lose. If I don't, well, the scales reflect that.

5 Things That You Can Find on my Nightstand

2010-07-22T07:07:00.000-06:00

I stole this from Rain. Feel free to rob and duplicate (R&D) on your blog too!

5 Things That You Can Find on my Nightstand

1) Telephone - with great big numbers, digital caller ID, and speaker phone, just in case I'm too busy to hold the phone while in bed.

2) A little red bullet.

3) A book that I've already read and just have been too lazy to move to my closet.

4) Lip balm - got to put that on right before I go to bed.

5) Piggy bank - a really cute pink piggy bank with green, white and black flowers on it. Hubby bought it for me when my other piggy bank was stuffed. Bad thing about this bank is that it has an escape hatch on its belly. Makes it too easy to get money back out.

Potpourri

2010-07-19T15:14:00.004-06:00

It's been a while since I've talked much about anything IF related. Since we are taking a break in order for me to lose weight, we are not actively going through any IF treatments, so therefore I've not had a lot to say about it. However, I have a few things to share that have happened recently.

As you all know, Hubby and I recently purchased a travel trailer. It was something that we've wanted for a while now, but put on hold due to fertility treatments. We finally decided that we must still live a full life. And that putting some money into a "toy" would be worth it.

A couple from church, who have three children and are struggling a bit financially until she is finished with her student teaching and becomes a full-fledged teacher, commented about a camping trip they were taking this weekend. She said that they would be staying in a tent, but only going overnight, since they didn't have a "new fancy trailer to stay in." I wanted to tell her that I'd trade having children for a travel trailer any day, but I didn't.

However, Hubby did say something to his cousin who made an off-hand remark about trading their daughter for our trailer. Hubby said we'd do it in a heartbeat. Later, the cousin, his wife, and another couple came over that night for dinner and games. The cousin and wife brought their one year old with them. She is a great little girl. We both love her and are so thankful that she has blessed our cousins. Little "S" was being a typical little one year old in not wanting to go to sleep that evening. After finally getting her to go to sleep, the wife asks Hubby, "Are you sure you want kids?" and he said most definitely!

Our desire for children hasn't lessened any at all. Although we may not be making the big deal out of it that we were while going through treatment, we still want children. However, we are really putting our faith in God right now to provide for us. Either to provide us with a natural pregnancy or provide us with the funding to pursue donor options. And, if it doesn't happen, to provide us with the peace of accepting our situation.

~*~*~*~*~

I got to thinking that it has been a while since I've gone in for an adjustment. Ten weeks, to be exact. In that time, I have lost an average of a pound per week. I am having issues still with eating between meals, eating more than I think I should at meal time, and with my sweet tooth. Plus, I know that if I weren't exercising, I'd not be losing anything, as demonstrated this last week where I actually gained.

I called and am scheduled for an adjustment in two weeks, as the doctor is out next week and he sees his Lap Band patients on Mondays.

Gilly had a post today about her restriction level that has me thinking too. I am able to eat just about anything. The one thing I haven't really allowed myself to have is pizza crust, except for the cracker crust you get at Papa Murphy's. I can eat pasta, rice, bread (although I don't eat very much bread), meat (including steak, ground beef, chicken, ham, pork chops, etc.), reheated meats, salad, raw veggies, even popcorn. I don't PB and I don't slime. I am blessed that I haven't had any problems with my band (I don't consider my GB surgery and resulting prancreatitis band problems).

So while I've had good weight loss in the last ten weeks, I think it's been more because of my efforts at exercise than totally my band. I'd really like to get it to where it is both. That if I don't exercise, I'm still losing, but if I do exercise, I lose even more. Does that make sense?

~*~*~*~*~

Today I went home for lunch. I was planning on eating a Lean Cuisine type of meal, but decided on the way home that I'd stop off at Wendy's and get the Mandarin Orange Chicken salad. During the drive, I heard on the radio an ad for these new salads and didn't realize that they were at Wendy's until afterwards when they were talking about Frosties. So I pulled in and ordered one of their new Pecan Apple Chicken Salads. Oh. My. Goodness! It was yummy! Roasted pecans. Diced fresh apples. Dried cranberries. Bleu cheese crumbles. Grilled chicken. Mixed greens. Pomegranate vinaigrette. Delish as Rachel Ray would say. And I couldn't eat it all, so I'll have some to eat tonight. Now I haven't looked up the calorie count, but most of the fat will come from the cheese and pecans, and to me, it totally is worth it. You should go by and try one. They have four new salads, and each one of them looked very yummy.

~*~*~*~*~

If the weather cooperates tomorrow and is only in the upper 90s, then I'm going to wear my new black boots, new capris and new top to work. I then have Bunco tomorrow night and think it would be a great outfit to wear. Maybe more of the ladies will notice my weight loss as some of them haven't said anything, although I'm surely not looking for compliments! Yeah right, I want lots of compliments! lol

~*~*~*~*~

Normally, I don't make too much out of how many followers I have, as I know from personal experience, there are quite a few blogs that I read through my Google Reader that I haven't clicked follow, and I'm sure that's the same for my blog with many of you. However, as of today, I have 69 followers. Hehe. 69.

So thanks to all of you who are following me! I'm trying to make sure I follow you too, so if you don't see me on your list of followers, and want me to be there, leave me a comment with your blog addy and I'll be sure to click through. Otherwise I may just add you to my reader and be an invisible stalker.

Sweet 16

2010-07-17T16:37:00.004-06:00

No, I didn't just have my 16th birthday (um, time machine anyone? lol). I was able to fit into size 16W bottoms! I swung by the Dress Barn this morning and picked up a pair of blue jeans, black slacks for work, black capris, black skirt, and two pairs of denim shorts, all size 16W. I also bought a new top, size 1XL (with my girls and muffin top it will be a while before I'm able to fit into a regular XL or even large).

Holy crap!

Do you know how long it has been since I've fit into a size 16W? I barely could fit into them back when I was doing TOPS in/around '94. And only for a very short time. And what is really weird is that I was in the 180s back then (about 186 was my lowest), and I could fit into a size 16 pair of Rocky jeans, if I sucked in my gut and didn't breathe. Makes me think perhaps the sizing is a lot different now than it was then. What do you ladies think?

Here are photos of the skirt and new top I bought. I took this while trying them on, so sorry for the poor quality. Isn't the top just too cute? I love the asymmetrical look.

What is really great is that I can wear my new knee high boots with the capris pants. Of course, I need to wait until we get back down into the 90s before I wear them as I just don't think it's a good choice for 100+ degree weather. If I wanted to hem the above skirt a bit so it falls right above my knees I could wear it too with my boots, but as it is now, it is just not the right length for my boots.

When I was in the fitting room, I started laughing out loud, I was so happy I could fit into the 16s. I consider this to be a huge NSV!

What I've been doing this week

2010-07-16T18:27:00.004-06:00

Sorry I haven't been posting. I helped with my church's VBS Wednesday, Thursday and today. I was in charge of the crafts. I put together this video for Sunday. Let me know what you think.

Good to be home but man is it hot!

2010-07-12T18:27:00.003-06:00

Just made it home and am now unloading the trailer. Will post more later about the trip. The one thing I'll say now is that we definitely got spoiled with the cooler mountain weather.

2010-07-09T07:36:00.001-06:00

How beautiful it is in God's country. After my morning coffee I'm going for a walk with Cinnamon. He loves it up here too. Not so sure yet about Sugar.

Your addiction does NOT equal my addiction!

2010-07-07T09:51:00.003-06:00

Last night I went to support group. It was an interesting meeting. I lost 16 pounds during the three month challenge, but did not win the challenge. A gentleman there lost about 7% more than I did, you can totally see it on him too! His round tummy is almost flat!

The topic of soda pop came up so I asked whether my surgeon (who was not there this time as he just had double hernia surgery on Thursday and was home resting) allowed for drinking diet soda or not. The group leader said he did. You just have to try it and see how it affects you. So, one of these days, I shall give it a try in the late afternoon, after I have given my lunch plenty of time to pass through my port into my lower tummy.

What was interesting, was after I asked my question, the guy who won the challenge said oh don't drink any pop because once you do you won't be able to stop! Um, just because you had an addiction to diet coke (he was drinking upwards of a 12 pack a day) doesn't mean that I have the same addiction. I mean, yes, it was a rare day that I didn't have a Diet Pepsi, but I didn't often drink more than three in a day. I'm not looking to replace my water with Diet Pepsi, but I want to know if I find myself wanting one, like I did last Saturday, that I can have one. And who's to say that I'll even be able to drink soda? I have to try it first, as for some people, drinking carbonated beverages after the band is painful for them. So please, don't push your addictive reactions on to me!

The leader also went over portion sizes. She handed us a couple of pages of various food items and what the normal portion size is (ounces, tablespoons, cups, etc.) and the number of calories in the portions. It was pretty interesting. As a bandster, we often times are eating no where near a normal portion of most food items, but there are some things that we can easily eat that we may be overeating. Such as avocado. A serving is 3 ounces and has 120 calories. I can easily eat more than that, even with the band. I love avocado. Whether it's sliced up with a little garlic salt, or mashed into guacamole, or mixed with some fresh salsa. Even though avocado is one of the "good" fats, it is still fat, and I have to remember that I shouldn't eat the entire avocado!

So overall, the meeting was informative. The nurse got after me, again, for eating my morning yogurt. But I will continue to ignore her because for me, the 12 grams of protein along with the 8 grams of protein in my cheese stick, is a great breakfast choice! The benefits of the live active cultures in the yogurt and the calcium and the protein far outweighs the slider factor. So I'm okay with it.

Support group tonight, drinking, and boobs

2010-07-06T14:03:00.005-06:00

I actually put a reminder on my work calendar and on my home calendar about tonight's lap band support group meeting. So maybe I won't actually forget this time, like I have the last two months, although I'm using my gall bladder surgery last month as an excuse.

We'll be finishing up (I think) a three-month weight challenge we had. It's based on whoever lost the greatest percentage of weight. I estimate that I've lost roughly 15 pounds in the three months since the challenge started, which is about 6.3%. I'll be excited to see how I did compared to the others. I really hope we all lost!

One thing I want to ask tonight is about drinking soda. As you know, it's been since December 16 since I had my last Diet Pepsi. While I have gotten over the severe cravings, I do find myself every once in a while just wanting one. Not needing one, but wanting one. I want to see what the doc says. If he says yes, then I need to see if there is a particular time when it is best to drink it: before a meal, after a meal, how long after a meal (more than the one hour minimum, that is). And if he says no, then, I'll just deal with it. Or I may try it. I just keep getting that image in my head of my psychologist drinking his large diet coke during my evaluation appointment with him. And my surgeon did his lap band surgery too. So I figure if he can drink it, perhaps I can too. We'll see.

Right now I'm drinking a Venti Black Iced Tea from StarBucks. It is actually pretty good. The only improvement I would make to it is a lemon wedge squeezed into it.

Oh, and I really do need to go buy some more bras. Either that or I need to do my laundry more often. Wearing my old bras really makes me feel like an old woman whose breasts are hanging down around her knees.

Vlog of trailer - first time attempted this so forgive the subject

2010-07-04T14:36:00.002-06:00

I went out and took three vidoes of the inside of the trailer with my cell phone. So you can't hear what I'm saying, but I'm just basically telling you what you're looking at. This is my first attempt at publishing videos.

The first video is of our bedroom with the queen size bed. That matress may get replaced some day.

This is of the bathroom. I know, real exciting.

This is of the kitchen and dinette area. I really like the big back window!

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-04T08:22:00.002-06:00

I hope all of my American readers have a great Independence Day! Don't eat or drink too much. Be careful when lighting those fire crackers!

This week's challenge update has me at 221.4, which is not quite two pounds down from last week. I'll take that!

Second home

2010-07-03T10:09:00.008-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, Hubby and I bought our second home. No, not a house, but a travel trailer!

Hubby has an old Coachmen that is about my age, give or take a few years, and it got mangled earlier this summer in a freak hailstorm. Besides the hail damage, it also was damaged a few years ago when he bottomed out parking it at a camp site, and it broke the sewage tank, making it not user friendly.

We are both excited with this purchase. Now we can take off on weekends and enjoy time with each other sans family. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with both of our families, but it will be nice to go camping without having to rely on his family to take us.

Next weekend we'll be taking it out to attend a church camp retreat. It should be fun. We'll be taking our doggies with us. Cinnamon will love it as he's done it before. Sugar I'm not so sure about as she isn't a big lover of riding in the car.

Now comes the fun part of getting the trailer all set up with supplies. I bought towels, pillows, mattress pad, broom, dust pan, etc yesterday for it. I still need to find some sheets for it as Kmart didn't have any nice sheets for cheap. They had cheap sheets (140 count - ugh!) but not nice sheets (400 count at least).

Here are a few pictures. I want to name her (I've designated the trailer as a her). Got any suggestions?

My rings are falling off!

2010-07-01T20:41:00.002-06:00

I was just sitting here on the couch, reading through some blogs, and I felt my rings slip. I gave my hand a little shake, and my wedding and engagement rings came right off!

I find that my fingers are much thinner at night than during the day. Which is weird. However, I am either going to have to quit wearing my rings, or buy something to put on them so they do not slip off.

What have you done to ensure you don't lose your rings prior to getting them resized?

One Hundred Pushups

2010-07-01T11:46:00.003-06:00

Am I a glutton for punishment? I don't think so.

Am I wanting to prevent the bat wings that serious weight loss can lead to? Yes!

Am I sure I'm not a glutton for punishment? Well, we'll see.

I was reading over on Lap Band Talk today about exercises for combating the bat wings. The One Hundred Push Ups program was recommended. I read through it and I think I might just try it.

Not only would it be good for my arms, but I think it will help firm up the girls, as well as help with my abdomen.

I'll read some more on it this weekend, do the initial test, then start it on Monday.

Please feel free to join me. Perhaps if there are several of us, we can cheer each other on.

It can't hurt, can it? Well, maybe!