RECOVERY!!

I was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday (9/17) evening and sent home with four prescriptions:  hydrocodone/tylenol liquid for pain; cafarte to help heal my stomach; pill to reduce acid reflux; shots to help with blood clotting.  Yeah...I so did not know I was going to be expected to give myself injections.  =/

So, my mom and I dropped off the scripts to the pharmacy and then headed home for....dinner.

I did tons of research prior to being sleeved.  I became a very active member of a forum, specifically gastricsleeve.com.  This is where I discovered pretty much all the possible scenarios I faced with regard to pain, "eating", energy, etc.

Meals for the first 3 days post-op consisted of sugar free popsicles and chicken broth.  Very exciting, eh?!  I found myself not hungry, yet craving things like cream of wheat, cottage cheese, tomato soup - all things I can have in due time.  I knew that my job for these 3 days was just to focus on getting in a minimum of 64 oz in whatever sugar free, low to no calorie, caffeine free method I saw fit.  I know for a fact I fell short all 3 days, but I also know I did my best.  My mom made me some homemade chicken broth that she cooked up with carrots, celery, onion, seasonings, and chicken.  It was the best chicken broth EVER and it went down so very nicely.  Actually, I found myself enjoying my mom's chicken broth and those sugar free popsicles most as they were the only things that were easy to consume.

Sleep was a weird thing.  To be fair, sleep is always kind of a weird thing for me, but this was different.  I would take one hour cat naps here and there and then find myself unable to sleep through the night....like at all...as in I didn't sleep from the hours of 11pm to 6am.  Weird.

Oh, I did receive some flowers from some extremely thoughtful people!  Thank you so much to :  Auntie, Uncle David, Nicole, and Danielle; Linda, Craig, Ethan, and Coco; Kim and Robert!  =)

On Friday, I sent an email to my nutritionist to clarify what I would be allowed to start "eating" on Saturday which would be my 5th day post-op.  All the documents I received contradicted one another - from my NUT, from the bariatric coordinator, from the hospital's dietitian.  Oy!  She actually called me in response and asked a few questions and then told me I could actually add in protein shakes and soups starting immediately.  It probably sounds ridiculous, but I totally could have jumped for joy.

I went to get out an EAS Carb AdvantEDGE ready to drink chocolate shake from the fridge.  I drank less than half of it and put the rest back in the fridge.  It really didn't sit that well with me.  For dinner, my mom made me some Campbell's tomato soup.  This was lovely.  This was perfect.  I would have sworn it was the best meal EVER, lol (you know...just after my mom's chicken broth).

On Saturday I changed it up to make my own protein shakes using 1% lactose free milk and whatever sample packet of protein powder that suited my fancy.  This kind of protein shake went down much better, so I decided to put a hold on the ready to drink ones.

By Sunday I had started somewhat of a routine...breakfast was half of my protein shake (4 oz) and then about 3-4 hours later I would drink the second half.  Lunch would be 3-4 hours after that and typically consisted of half a cup of soup (tomato...mmmmm...yummy) and then dinner would another half a cup of soup or broth.  Basically I was consuming under 400 calories.  Shocking how much energy you can have with so little food.

I went back to work on Monday and actually felt pretty great.  I purchased this really cool inflatable chair thingy that converts into a twin bed from amazon so I can take a nap during my lunch break.  It has come in handy because Tuesday I had NO energy at all.

Chair

Bed

On Wed (9/25), I went to my first post-op doctor's appointment.  I discovered that I had lost a total of 20 lbs from my pre-op appointment on 9/4 to 9/25.  Nine of that came off post-op.  Needless to say, I am a happy girl.  No "buyer's remorse" here with my sleeve!  I also learned I could advance my foods to the next stage which is "Soft Food".  This means I can eat cottage cheese, yogurt, sugar free pudding, mashed potatoes, softly scrambled eggs, cream of wheat, etc.  This also made me happy!  In anticipation that's what I would be released to, I had a pack of grits in my purse for lunch.

So...yeah....grits may not have been the best thing to start with because they did not go down very well, in fact, they got clumped up and clogged up in my stomach and it took a good two hours for them to mosey their way down.  It didn't hurt, but it was extremely uncomfortable.  Oh...and all this was from 3 small spoonfuls of WATERY grits.

For dinner, I came up with my best idea/recipe yet.  I made a ricotta bake.  I took 1 cup of ricotta cheese and mixed it with 1 large egg, 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, two scoops of unflavored protein powder, and all kinds of seasoning.  I baked it in a ramekin for 30 minutes on 350 degrees and it came out all bubbly and smelling delicious.  I then heated up 1/4 cup of pizza sauce in a small bowl and scooped out 1/4 of the ricotta bake to put on top of it.  It tasted like I was eating stuffed shells minus the shell.  It was heavenly PLUS I calculated it to be 20 grams of protein per serving (I'm supposed to get 60-80 grams of protein per day).  This was all fine and dandy, but I only managed to get in 5 baby spoonfuls and then I was stuffed.  So....um...maybe 4 grams of protein if I'm lucky.

So, for the next month I will be experimenting with all kinds of cool recipes I create under the label of "soft foods" and I will share them on my blog!  =)

SURGERY!!

I come to you today, a sleeved woman!  No, no sillies...I did not get all tatted up.  I had my vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery one week ago today, Monday 9/16.

I was supposed to be at the hospital at 6:00am, but my mother insisted that was ridiculous for my 9:00am surgery, so she told me we would "aim" for 6:30, lol.  Who am I to fight with my driver?!

We arrived around 6:40ish as we had to take my official BEFORE pics before we left, of course!  I will, by the way, update pics every month.

I had to register which meant I had to pay.  I refused to pay at my pre-op because they had the wrong dollar amount saying I owed about $950 more than I did.  After I paid, I had to go to ambulatory care to provide a urine sample so I could prove I wasn't preggers.  I was actually sent home with a kit to bring the sample with me, but wouldn't you know I left the pee in my fridge.  Ooops.  After that, I was whisked away pretty quickly into the prep area where I had to change into my gown, my party hat, and they hooked me up to the I.V.  Several different doctors and nurses came by...they had to verify I knew who I was and what procedure I was getting several hundred times and they needed to look down my throat to see if my airway was clear and all that jazz.  My doctor came by, the bariatric coordinator came by, and then a little while later I was given happiness in my I.V. and I don't remember anything after them wheeling me down into the surgical room.

When I came to, I remember feeling pain.  They drugged me up.  I spent way more time in recovery than my mom thought because they don't let you out until you are awake and whenever I would wake up, I was in pain, so the pain meds would knock me out again.  Finally I was awake enough for them to take me to my room, where my mom was waiting.  My friend LaShaune's mom works at the same hospital I was at, so she actually showed my mom to my room.

I remember sweating profusely...a cold sweat.  It was gross.  Once settled, I was told that my blood pressue went sky high in surgery and they had to give me meds for that.  Also, my doctor did go ahead and repair my medium sized hiatal hernia.  I was given a pain pump with morphine and for the first several hours, I blew that thing up.  I looked back at the text messages I sent last Monday and everything was bragging about how awesome morphine is.

As soon as I was able, I began walking laps around my floor.  I started off with one lap, returned to my room and used the bathroom and then brushed my teeth.  A while later I did two laps, returned to my room, used the bathroom, and brushed my teeth.  Still later yet, I did three laps, returned to my room, used the bathroom, and brushed my teeth.  You are probably wondering why I brushed my teeth so freaking much.  It was the only relief I could get for my awful cotton mouth as I was not allowed to drink anything until my leak test which was to be around 9am on Tuesday.

My mom stayed with me until around 5pm.  Pretty sure I bored her to death cuz I kept going in and out of unconsciousness courtesy of morphine.  LaShaune's mom came to visit me later in the evening which was very sweet.  So basically, I answered texts when I felt up to it, posted on FB that I survived, and walked the halls all while getting my blood pressure and temperature checked every 4 hours, getting breathing treatments every 4 hours, having countless meds added to my I.V., and having my legs gently massaged by these sock like things to help prevent blood clots.

On Tuesday morning, they came to get me for the leak test.  I had to drink a sugary clear substance first...this was a "safe" liquid so that if I did have a leak, I would not be harmed by this being released into my abdominal cavity.  The second drink they gave me was barium which was basically like a chalky pepto bismol tasting liquid.  They told me I passed and I was taken back up to my room.  Silly me thought they would bring me the one ounce beverage of my choice following that, but NOOOOO.  They needed to wait to hear the "official" results of the test which took 2+ hours.  LaShaune's mom came by for another visit - such a sweet lady!  =)

Once they got the official results, I was brought a tray with chicken broth, jello, and a water bottle with one ounce medicine cups.  I was told to sip, sip, sip.  I headed straight for the broth and it was soooo good.  It felt a little tight in my chest.  After I felt like I conquered that, I went onto the jello.  I didn't really care for it as it did not go down as nice as the broth, so I switched back to the broth.

A few seconds later, I found myself heading straight for the bathroom to throw up.  I felt extremely nauseous.  Wouldn't you know that at that exact same moment my doctor and the bariatric coordinator would come in.  They told me I couldn't throw up...it would hurt my new stomach and they helped me breathe through the nausea until I felt better.  They warned me about "eating" too fast and I went back to bed and sipped on my broth a bit more until I was ridiculously full.

I then lounged around for way too many hours while my mom and I were waiting for me to be discharged.  Finally around 5:30pm, we got my instructions and my prescriptions and we were sent on our way.

Next post will detail my recovery week!  =)

Pre-Op and Two Week Count Down

Yesterday, Labor Day, made exactly 2 weeks before surgery.  I don't know how to verbalize how excited I am about this.  One of my sisters tried explaining to me that I wasn't excited about the surgery itself, but rather where I expect to be weight-wise 6 months down the line.  She's wrong.  I am excited to physically feel the effects of having 85% of my stomach removed.  I'm excited at whatever comes my way as a result of having this surgery.  Will there be pain?  Yes.  Will there be frustration?  Yes.  Will it be difficult and challenging?  Yes.  BUT...you know what?  It's painful, frustrating, and challenging to be 190 lbs overweight.  The difference is that the pain, frustration, and challenge associated with having this surgery will cut down on the pain, frustration, and challenges I face as a morbidly obese woman.

I haven't been as diligent as I have wanted to be in trying to get some weight off pre-op.  Part of the problem is that my surgeon only requires a 3-day diet.  Since I am a good rule follower, I keep hanging onto that and I will no doubt be the best 3-day dieter he has ever seen.  BUT, alas...that's not good enough.  Almost everybody on the forum I've joined has at least a 2 week pre-op diet, so starting today I'm pretending my surgeon does, too.  It will only benefit me in the long run.  What does this mean?  Well, I will be drinking a protein shake for breakfast and another one for lunch or dinner.  The lunch or dinner I don't consume a shake, I will be eating soup.  I will allow myself snackage, though.  I can have sugar free pudding, jello, and popsicles.  I'm even thinking about going cRaZy and exercising a bit up to surgery day.  I will have an extra protein shake or a low fat/low sugar Greek yogurt to compensate.  I'm also going to religiously track on Myfitnesspal.  Oh and let's not forget about maintaining my hydration.

I had my pre-op appointment today at the hospital.  It took FOREVER.  Basically I had to go over all the paperwork acknowledging this, that, and the other thing.  While reviewing the first document, I noted they had me down for the wrong operation.  That was a little troublesome, but it got squared away before I left.  I did have to have an EKG, a chest xray, blood drawn for metabolic, glucose, and iron testing, along with the usual vitals.  Then I got to meet with the bariatric coordinator for the hospital.  She is super awesome and I liked her right off the bat.  She gave me a notebook with all the info I will need from my pre-op doctor mandated diet through my surgery and on into recovery and the various stages of eating.

The good news is that I have done so much research that I knew everything she told me with exception to some of the details relating to my hospital stay.  The bad news is that I will literally not be allowed one morsel of food or one sip of water from 12 midnight before my surgery until the next morning AFTER my surgery.  They will provide me with a flavored sponge to provide moisture to my dry mouth and they will allow me to gurgle and spit out water.  That next morning following my surgery, my first sleeved drink will be (insert drum roll)....barium.  yay.  not.  Yes, I shall have to do a barium swallow to show that I don't have any leaks.  It is my understanding that barium is mcnasty, but eh....all part of the process.  I will have to go my first walk 4 hours post op and then they will come around to take me for a walk every 1.5 to 2 hours after that for two reasons.  Number one it is to avoid blood clots and secondly it is to help move the gas around and out since they fill the stomach full of gas for the procedure.

Following the pre-op at the hospital, I headed over to my surgeon's office.  While waiting to speak with him for the last time pre-op, I was able to talk to three recently sleeved ladies in the waiting room.  That was a pretty awesome experience!  Once I was pulled into the back, the pre and post op vitamin regimen was discussed and then I was asked what additional questions I have.

I had only consumed a 110 calorie protein shake for breakfast and didn't get to leave my 1:00pm pre-op business until 5:00pm.  Needless to say I WAS STARVED.  I headed to Pei Wei to get hot & sour soup to go and headed home.  I am slightly embarrassed to admit I did eat the 2 fortune cookies in the bag....not trying to make excuses, but I was operating off of fumes and was starting to get a pretty bad headache.  I'm proud to say, however, that I did log those two cookies into my food journal.  All in all, after my 2nd protein shake for the day, I only ended up 100 calories higher than what I was aiming for (1000), so I'm okay with that.  Tomorrow is a new day!

Hospital, Hiatal Hernia, and Happiness

I started my own self-imposed pre-op diet on Monday.  This means I'm trying to eat less and incorporate a protein shake as at least one meal replacement.  I'm attempting to lay low on the carbs and sugar, also.  

So far so good, though I have had some rotten headaches.  According to my calculations, I've lost 9 lbs since I started "caring"  again and 6 of these pounds have been since my last doctor appointment 2 weeks ago.

On Tuesday, I had to have a gall bladder ultrasound in preparation for my upcoming surgery.  Good news is that I did not have a gall bladder baby,  Phew!  lol.  It was a fairly quick and totally painless procedure, but the really cool thing is that I met a woman in the waiting room (her daughter was having an ultra sound) who had the gastric bypass done 7 years ago by my surgeon and she sang his praises (and looked like she had never been overweight a day in her life).  The ultra sound tech had the lap band done 3 years ago by my surgeon and also sung his praises.  Even though I am quite confident in my decision to have this surgery and with the surgeon I selected, it still made me even feel better about that decision having met these two women.

Today, I had my EGD (upper GI endoscopy) which is the second procedure required pre-op. There is so much hoopla over a 10 minute procedure, sheesh!

I had to fast from 10pm last night until it was all said and done. My mom came and picked me up at 5:45 am as we had to be at the hospital by 6:15. I filled out some paperwork and then they took my mom and I back into a different waiting room. I had to pee in a cup to prove I wasn't pregnant and then they took me back. 

They took my vitals and then had me change into a gown and lay down. Next came the IV and then my mom was brought back to hang out with me until I got whisked away into the operating room. I remember them helping me turn onto my side and then the next minute (it seemed) I was waking up in the recovery room. I had a pretty bad cough waking up from the anesthesia, so the nurse gave me ice chips and then raised the back of my bed and got me some water. That helped.

I had to chill out for 15 minutes or so and then they brought my mom back. The nurse gave my mom some instructions and then I found out I had a hiatal hernia. I actually suspected I did after reading so many posts on the forum I belong to. I also found out my stomach was a little inflamed, thought not sure why. The nurse explained neither one of these things would prevent me from getting my surgery and so all is well for moving forward.

I believe the hiatal hernia will be fixed during surgery as I've read that the surgeons usually do this during the VSG surgery.  I will have to ask my doctor when I see him on 9/3.

I was discharged and then my mom and I went for breakfast. I am so happy my parents having finally accepted I'm doing this. It's a huge relief off my back! =)

I just woke up from a 2 1/2 hour nap a few minutes ago and I don't even feel guilty for taking the day off of work (well maybe a little bit).

Next step: Pre-op appointment at the hospital on 9/3 followed by my last appointment with my surgeon. Time is flying by and keep getting more and more excited with each passing day! =)

I'm back....

Oh my, I sure have been gone a long time.  Over a year, it appears, since my last post.

I've been thinking about returning to the blogging world.  It's interesting, though.  Last time I started blogging I was in the process of losing tons of weight and embarking upon a running adventure.  This time, I shall return to blogging to hopefully capture another attempt at the same.

Let me explain.

By the end of May 2010, I had officially weighed in less than ever before as an adult....well to be fair...even as a teenager.  Then I started putting it back on.  At first it was just a little bit, but then it became a lot.  It's easy for me to go back and see how and when and why it all happened.  Hindsight is always 20/20, after all.  I also have an extreme talent of self analyzing, for the record.

Injury launched my downhill spiral.  For those of you who have read my blog before, you know I ended up with a pelvic stress fracture during a half marathon.

Reentering the dating world after a long, long, long hiatus continued the tumbling.  Triggers, triggers everywhere I guess you could say.

Work stress became the icing on the cake.  Literally, I guess.  I mean what better way to solve problems than to stuff one's face with cake, right?!  The sad thing is that I knew better.  I know better.  Why did I never have a shut-off valve?

I just let my weight become a reflection of my misery.  I've let it define me.

Well...not any longer.  I've decided after much thought and research to embark upon a new adventure.  Some of you will cheer for me.  Others will disapprove.  The bottom line is that for the first time in a very long time, I've never been so sure about something in my life.

I am scheduled to have a vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) on Monday, September 19, 2013.  This means that 85% of my stomach will be removed endoscopically through 5-6 incisions during an approximate one hour surgery.  I will have to spend one night in the hospital and take one week off of work to recover.  My new stomach will allow me to eat no more than 4 oz at a time and I will have to learn how to listen to my body to know when I am full.

I began the process of seeking out a surgeon in March.  By early April, I had my first appointment.  At that time I was opting for gastric bypass.  I received approval from my insurance company (BCBS) in late May, but too late for me to go ahead and follow-through with the surgery until the end of the summer.  Summer, as many of you know, is my busy season at work and it just wouldn't be right to remove myself from the game for a week or more essentially for elective surgery.

My parents are very leery of this whole thing.  They feel surgery is too extreme a measure.  I understand their thoughts.  I get that I have proven I am capable of losing 100 lbs on my own.  I have not been able to keep it off, however.  I feel like this surgery will give me the tool to lose the weight and manage the maintenance process.  If I could, I would have the surgery tomorrow.

In these next 5 weeks, I will continue my research as to the best protein shakes and vitamins for post-op, as well as seeking out helpful hints to deal with all the curve balls that may be thrown my way.  I will pursue camaraderie and fellowship from the different on-line forums for my specific surgery and I will make an effort to lose as much weight as possible pre-surgery.

I shall keep you posted!!!

I'm still ticking!

Apparently I've just turned into a bad blogger.  I can't say for sure I will get back to my regular blogging self anytime in the next century, but what I can do is blog when it's feasible and not blog when it isn't.  Sounds fair to me!

Since we last parted ways...

I've suffered the loss of a friend.  My friend was Friday Night Lights.  I watched all 5 seasons on Netflix and then...felt empty.  For 5 seasons I lived in Dillon,TX.  For 5 seasons I "cared" about football and the lives of my many "friends".  For 5 seasons, I got all caught up in the drama and then....nothing.  Empty.  I'm trying to replace my friend, but so far nothing has hooked me yet.  I will let you know if/when that changes.

Since we last parted ways...

I've traveled to Huntington Beach, CA to visit my brother and sister-in-law.  I arrived on Friday, 2/3.  Eddie took me to our Surf City Marathon Expo where I stocked up on all sorts of goodies.  Have you ever tried the Halo brand sweat bands?  OMG!  I have never in my life worn a sweat band that truly did not allow sweat to drip in my eyes.  Best. Sweat Band. Ever.  I also purchased a visor with a built in sweat band, but I've yet to try it out.  I then purchased a pair of Experia Cool Max PINK socks which are awesome!  We all know how much I enjoy NUUN, so I bought a few cylinders of various flavors to tide me over.  Wouldn't you know I would forget my SPIbelt?  No worries...I bought a bigger one at this Expo which totally holds everything I need - including my cell phone!  =)  Yes, I totally dropped a small fortune, but it was well worth it!

After the Expo, we headed to Slater's 50/50 - Burgers by Design.  Eddie had been telling me about this place for quite some time.  He wanted us to be bold and daring and try the Peanut Butter and Jellousy.  We had amazing service and we were even encouraged to each pick out a burger and then they would split both burgers for us so we could each have half of the other's burger.  We decided on the PB&J burger (pb, strawberry jelly, bacon, burger on a honey wheat bun) and the special of the month, the Pizza Burger (1/2 beef 1/2 Italian sausage burger, fried cheese sticks, red pepper pizza sauce, and pepperoni on a Ciabatta roll).  Though we both enjoyed the pizza burger, we agreed the PB&J burger was the MOST AMAZING BURGER EVER!  I might have convinced him we needed to go again to experience it in all of it's glory once more before I left. 

Saturday was more or less a chill day with plenty o' carbo-loading.

Sunday was race day.  Eddie and April had never done a half before.  This was my 8th.  I was, of course, walking the race since I have not been running for almost a  year now.  I have to say that it was probably the most boring course I've ever been on.  You may recall that I did the OC Half back last May and the course, though VERY hilly, was fantastic taking us along the beach, cliffside, and through some beautiful neighborhoods.  The Surf Side City Half was a different ballgame all together.  We started on the Pacific Coast Highway (or the PCH as the cool kids call it) and with the exception of a 2 mile detour off a side road which looped back to the highway, we remained on the PCH through the finish line.  Although I did appreciate the beach scene, it wore out its welcome at the 8 mile turn around.  I will say that the runners and walkers in the race were incredibly friendly and supportive.  The staff members working the race were helpful and sweet dispositioned.

A few cool / mentionable moments.  Around mile 3, I met an older couple.  We were chatting as we walked and they told me the best experience they have ever had was walking the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer two years in a row and that they looked forward to walking it again this year.  What you don't know is that I've been listening to the advertisements for the Houston Walk on 96.5 thinking that this may be something I want to participate in.  More on this subject in another post, but needless to say, I took this as a sign I needed to walk the walk!  Near mile 4, I hit up a hydration station and disappointingly noticed they didn't have any Vitalyte available.  I knew I needed electrolytes to help stave off the calf cramps, so I asked oned of the volunteers and he said he would look for some.  I told him thanks, but not to worry about it and kept marching along.  He apparently found some and ran it over to me.  What a great guy!  Then, around mile 6, I was traipsing along and some really awesome girl who was on the other side of the highway about 4 miles ahead of me came running across the median to give me a bracelet and some words of encouragement.

Overall, I was okay with my performance.  I maintained a decent consistent pace through mile 8 and then it went completely downhill when the calf cramps blasted me around mile 9.  I had a hydration plan of only drinking the Vitalyte at all stations, but the first one didn't have any and then I was only able to find it at the second and third.  By the time I hit the 4th station, they were out.  I hit up a medic tent around mile 10.5 and got a cup of Gatorade that took me to the finish line, cramps and all. I didn't end my race listening to music, so there is no finishing song on this one.

I think it's time I buy some salt pills to take with me on my journies.  =/  Any suggestions of brands?

We pigged out on pizza Sunday evening.  I think I was trying to replenish the 2260 calories I burned during the race. 

April and I got foot massages on  Monday.  Then I headed back to Houston on Tuesday.

Wednesday was a pamper-me day.  I got a MUCH needed haircut in the morning followed by a 70 minute hot stone massage that I purchased via Living Social a long time ago.  Although the massage was relaxing, I have to say that I still prefer my deep tissue torture sessions.  ;)

Thursday, I had eye surgery...AGAIN.  6 years ago, I jumped on the lasik bandwagon.  Right before I was to have standard lasik surgery, the doctor decided he would prefer to do a procedure on me called Epilasik.  This was as a result of my astygmatism and it meant a longer recovery period.  I remember being totally miserable for about 5 days or so.  Well several months ago I noticed that my vision had changed and since I had paid for a "warrantly" of sorts on my surgery, I was entitled to free touch-ups as necessary.  I went through the whole process with Lasik Plus before they determined the procedure would be beneficial to me.  This time they decided to do PRK surgery - slightly different than Epilasik and a longer recovery period.  I wasn't able to return to work until the next Tuesday and even then...my eyes were not as they should be.  My left eye was slightly over-corrected and my right eye was lagging behind.  It made for a very unbalanced vision causing me eyestrain and glaring issues.  It has since improved, but is still not perfect.  My doctor basically told me to have patience.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures in this post.  Not only am I bad blogger, but I'm a terrible picture taker, as well.  =/

I have so much more to catch you up on, so hopefully I will get to writing another post ASAP so you can share in my family's excitement!

Whirlwind Recap

What would Christmas be without a decorated goose?

I know I keep disappearing.  Don't take it too personally.  It seems when I first started blogging I looked at any and all opportunities to find some great "story" to share and now it's about finding the time/energy to share whatever few great "stories" happen my way.  The longer I go without blogging, the more annoyed I get with the prospect of trying to catch up on my blog.  Does that make sense?

So, with that I do a quick recap of events.

Christmas
As some of you know, for 33 years, I have spent Christmas in Chicago.  With the upcoming arrival of the first grandchild to my parents, our family opted out this year because we couldn't stomach the idea of younger sister Linda having the baby without us being around and we also couldn't stomach the idea of spending Christmas sans Linda and Craig.

We all gathered to my parent's house on Christmas Eve and ate too much food and watched Christmas movies.  Older sister Cathy, brother-in-law Jay, and I all decided to stay at my parent's house for the long weekend.

We all gathered again at my parent's house on Christmas Day and ate too much food, watched Christmas movies, and opened up presents from my parents.  Normally we would have exchanged our sibling "Secret Santa" presents, but we decided to wait until New Year's Eve so that brother Eddie and sister-in-law April would be able to join us.



I lost our competition because my door knob was disproportionate to the door and house. But I'm not bitter...oh no. 



The whole line-up - Jay's, mine, my mom's, and Cathy's.  Cathy won.  Whatever.

Linda, Craig, and Coco just a few days before Ethan's arrival.

My cute mom and dad.

Nephew time
My nephew, Ethan Edward, was born on December 28th.  He was a whopping 10 lbs, 4 oz and measured 21" in length.  Linda and Ethan remained in the hospital until New Year's Eve day.  Linda started her own blog, so for more info go here.

Sweet Ethan on his birth day.

too cute for words

It's hard work being this adorable.

New Year's
What a great way to bring in the New Year!  We got to enjoy our little Ethan and we had Eddie, April, my aunt, my uncle, and my two double cousins - Nicole and Danielle all in from out of town to share in the excitement and anticipation of a brand new year filled with wonderful opportunities!  We also had our sibling "Secret Santa" gift exchange, ate too much, watched my dad play Bejeweled, and brought in the New Year in the Spa sipping on champagne.

Freebirding
While my two double cousins, Nicole and Danielle, were in town, I made sure they experienced a burrito the right way - a la Freebirds (vs. the wrong way - a la Chipotle's which they do have at home back in Chicago).  Danielle opted for the daintier "Hybird" while Nicole and I want all hungry-hungry hippos and ordered "Monsters".  The verdict:  those cRaZy girls prefer Chipotle.  Whatever.

Nicole with her spinach Monster

Danielle with her wheat Hybird

A toast to the New Year - Freebirds style!

Wedding
What does a year look like without a family wedding?  I don't remember.  We have had one every 1 to 1.5 years in our family for the past 5 years.  This year, we all gathered in Springfield, IL for my cousin Anna's wedding to her new bride, Nicol, on Jan. 14th.  I have two words for you:  Photo Booth!  Have you ever been to an event with one of these things?  OMG - soooo fun!  My cousin Rachel and I kept going in there - sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with a group and laughed the night away. 

Chicago
I was supposed to drive back with my family to St. Louis to grab our flight back to Houston, but work duties called me to Chicago instead, so I caught a ride with double cousin Nicole and her boyfriend Justin back to Chicago.  I spent the next 3 days in meetings designed to improve the operations of our company.  Have you ever spent 3 full days in meetings?  Wow - it was really hard for this girl with A.D.D. who is used to multi-tasking the days away.

Now what?
Those of you who "listen" to me FB or Twitter, know that I like My Fit Foods.  I'm just sooo not in a cooking mode right now.  I haven't been for quite a while, actually.  My Fit Foods has fresh prepared meals you can just pick-up, warm-up, and eat.  I've gained back a lot of the weight I had lost.  I'm not happy about this, but not being happy about it doesn't change the situation.  I've tried to restart South Beach time and time again and I keep failing.  My mom thinks this is because I enjoy life's challenges and I already conquered South Beach (um...before the weight gain) so now I need a new challenge.  Younger sister Linda and her hubby, Craig, have started Weight Watchers Online.  I've decided to follow in their footsteps - so basically I'm food tracking and I'm eating most of my meals via My Fit Foods.  I'm kinda squashing most of my racing for now because I've not been training and it's becoming a bit of a joke (that isn't funny).  I have plans to get back into the groove, one mile at a time.

So...please forgive me for getting behind in my blogging and blog reading.  I will make a concerted effort to stay on top of such things moving forward!

Cheers to a Happy and Healthy New Year!