Hey, You There, PBing on I-40

Yup, that was me. On the 7 hr drive home from where we laid our niece to rest I got stuck. I got stuck on the last few bites of my lunch 5 min before we left town and made it about 2 hrs before I finally had to PB. Pulled over at the Geromino place on I-40 where I promptly ran into the store and asked for their restroom. I was told that it had just been cleaned so it was closed, but the next exit had a truck stop. Uh yeah, that wasn't going to work...so I ended up PBing in their parking lot. Didn't really have a choice. Get back on the road and I still wasn't feeling that great. Drive 3 hrs more and had to do the same thing in Kingman. I was stuck for 5 hours. I think that is a record. After the 2nd episode I had a horrible headache so I took a Tylenol....and got stuck on it. I am really hoping I didn't do any damage to myself because I am having the hardest time eating solids. I am sticking to liquids for the next day or so in the hopes that I will allow the swelling to go down and be able to eat again.

On a positive, I WILL be under 200 for NASCAR weekend next weekend. I was 201.9 on Sunday, the day before my 9 month bandiversary. 73 lbs gone! Holy moly!!! I can't wait for that sweet, sweet number starting with a 1 to appear on the scale.

Because We All Need A Laugh

My "old lady" Silky got busted by her daddy today. What? She is just hungry all the time like her mama used to be! Good thing the dog treats were almost all gone from the container when she got ahold of it this morning!

Had To Shop

My husband and I will be traveling to eastern AZ for our niece's burial and I have nothing to wear for it. It isn't exactly dress or skirt weather there this time of year and all of my dress pants are quite literally falling off of me. While I should be excited about shrinking another size and buying a pair of size 14's, the reason behind the shopping trip pretty much puts a damper on any celebration.

This weekend I did a closet cleanout and really need to get rid of clothing. I would like to give others who may be unable to afford shopping in between sizes the chance to have smaller clothes, so I will start posting articles of clothing next week. The only thing I will request is that whoever claims items please pay for shipping...I have a lot to get rid of and it will certainly add up. Not sure when I will post again, but it likely won't be until next week, so I hope you all have a blessed week and weekend!

Sad Week For My Family

We had what turned out to be the worst Valentine's Day ever on Tuesday. My sister-in-law, who was pregnant with her first child, went in for her 38 week appt on Tuesday, about an hour after receiving the gift we mailed out for our future niece. At her appointment they discovered that her baby girl had no heartbeat. After 24+ hrs of what must have been the most emotionally painful labor, a beautiful daughter, granddaughter, great granddaughter, niece and cousin was stillborn at 6:45 last night.

One of the volunteer photographers from Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep went to the hospital and did a photo shoot for the family...I am oh so thankful that there is an organization out there that does this for families who have experienced such a painful loss. I will be remembering them for donations in the future.

I am heartbroken for my SIL and her husband. All we can do at this point is be there for emotional support and pray for them because they could use all of the prayers and good thoughts that can be offered.

Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiightttttttt Valentine's Day

I had a bad stuck episode last night and now have to suffer through the swelling that accompanies those lovely incidents. I am SUPER tight this morning. I'll just keep sipping on my warm liquids in the hope that it will help settle things down so I can actually consume solid food today. Red Robin, yummmmm.

Hubby is going to the FAA to do some paperwork in order to start A&P school (to get his license since he has 15+ yrs experience on aircraft) and so since he is going to be close by, we are going to do lunch together. It isn't technically a V-Day thing, just something we do when he is close by. We don't partake in the hoopla that surrounds 2/14...we do special things throughout the year to make sure we never feel unappreciated in our marriage. All relationships should be the same!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you wonderful followers. Hope you have a great day, no matter what you do!

Gym Tomorrow, Take Two

Yes, I know I said I was going tonight but that was before I ate 3 bites of dinner and got stuck. Stuck like I have never been stuck before. I was stuck for 2 hrs and finally had to make it PB its way back up. Now I am so swollen that I can barely drink water. Ugh...I hate when that happens! So it is off to bed to make a gym appt first thing in the morning. Think I can get a little gym love in on Valentine's Day? I need to!!

Tomorrow Tomorrow, I'm Sure I Won't Love You Tomorrow

Tomorrow starts my regular gym routine again. Son is finished with basketball so we are going to be going to the gym together after I get home from work. My hubby hates going at night, but we will see if we can change that. I NEED to get active and kick-start my loss again as well as tight up areas that are getting scary.

We attended a friend's wedding last night and I actually felt pretty. Below is a photo that my son took of me before we left. Not the best shot, but it shows my pretty new size 14 dress. I also chopped my hair yesterday. Not too drastic, but got rid of about 6 inches of nasty, broken off, split end infused hair on my head. It also feels good to be rid of all that extra weight on my head...no more headaches! Now if only I could have my hair back to normal so I can get rid of the devil horns I have with my regrowth.

How Quickly Things Can Change

Yesterday we were moving to AZ in June, our house was going to be packed up in a month, my husband was leaving for his new job in a week, and I was obsessing over Pinterest ideas for our new home.

This morning everything was turned upside-down. My husband is not going to be working for this company now. We are not moving where we planned to. Our lives are kind of up in the air, but I am not as devastated as I think I should be. Does this mean that down deep I had a bad feeling of possibilities for our future? Perhaps, but I believe that God has a plan for us and obviously what we thought was ideal for us wasn't meant to be. I am keeping an open mind and trying to stay positive, but I do ask for prayers for my family during this potentially difficult time.

One thing I can say, I am very happy that I have a party to do tonight after work to cheer me up!

New Slider Discovery

Fried pickles. I had a bad craving for fried pickles today so I went to BWW for lunch. I ordered a Naked Tenders kids meal and got the side pickles as well. I ate my chicken first (actually only 1 1/2 of the 3 tenders because I started to get full) and went to town on the pickles. Those suckers go right through and I ate half of the appetizer. Ruh roh. Won't be getting those again for a very long time. Guess who is going to be having a protein smoothie for dinner tonight?

I had to laugh, but also found my lunch description rather obscene. LOL

I Drank The Koolaid

I am now slightly addicted to Pinterest. It may become a sickness. The worst part? Most of my pins are for food. Good thing I found other things to obsess over because the food items I pinned are things I can't even eat! My son and husband will benefit from it though :-)

However, I am venturing into more areas and have discovered many awesome ideas for our new home and super cute outfits. Fun!

36 Weeks Post-Op (With Pictures)

Yesterday was spent in the car...all day. We left our house at 7:00 a.m. and got home at 9:00 p.m. Being in the car all day means not drinking a ton so you don't have to use the restroom every 10 minutes. I think I only drank 30 oz of water all day. Well, my body doesn't approve of such a lack of fluids and LOVES to punish me by retaining, retaining, retaining. I was up 4 lbs this morning from Sunday morning. Guess who is getting all of her water in today?? It is mind boggling to see what my body is capable of.

I was late with getting these posted since 36 weeks actually occurred on Friday, but here are the latest photos. I don't see any difference myself. I'm noticing that the further out from surgery I get, the less of a difference I see with my progress. Maybe I need to wait longer to do progress photos to not get discouraged. Maybe I need to get my lazy behind to the gym so I see more progress when it is photo time. Maybe.

Today's photos on top, last month's below. I have to point out the crazy batch of hair sticking out of my head (on the top, right next to the end of the frame). That is some of my regrowth that drives me bonkers!! I have hair sticking out all over my head, but I am happy that it is starting to come back in.

Caucus Day and Anxiety

Today was the Nevada Caucus and it was my first one. It was an experience to say the least. I have always voted, but this was something fun to be a part of as well. It was also the last political event I will be a part of in Nevada. When I came home my husband had started tearing down his workbenches and such in the garage so a friend could take them to his house. We went to Home Depot to pick some things for the house (to start getting it ready for our move) and I started to have an anxiety attack. It is really hitting me today that we are moving. The reason I bring this up is because I have always been a stress eater. I have noticed that since I don't stress eat anymore I get anxious much easier. Having to learn to deal with life since surgery is a daily struggle, but it something I work on constantly.

NSV (But Could Have Been Bad)

I washed my hands this afternoon and the paper towel dispenser decided I needed about 10 towels to dry my hands. Thank God I looked at my hands before I tossed the towels into the trash because my wedding ring was in there!! I was a sight to see in the bathroom scattering out paper towels on the counter in the hunt for my ring. So good thing? My fingers are getting skinny...but I need to watch myself until I get this ring sized down!

New Food Obsession

Oh Yeah? Oh Yeah. I bought these meal replacement bars at my surgeon's office and LOVE them. One bar has between 26-30 grams of protein, roughly 13 grams of fat and 300 calories, but they taste SO good and they are filling! I actually took 2o minutes to eat each of them. Perfect for a meal on the go without worrying about PBing and you will get your protein requirements in with these bad boys! I ate one for breakfast yesterday and had another for dinner (wasn't feeling the cooking thing last night and avoided the drive through) and then I had one for breakfast this morning. My favorite is the one that you can see torn open on the bottom, the chocolate caramel...it tastes just like a Snickers bar but not too sweet. I love.

My appointment yesterday wasn't too eventful. Walked in, was complimented by my liason who was working the front desk yesterday morning ("Girl, you are getting so skinny! Slow down!!) and that was awesome, sat down, got weighed (which really ticked me off because their scale weighed me 4 lbs more than my own did...had nothing to do with the fact that I was fully clothed or anything), waited for the PA, spoke with him for about 2 minutes and was done. No fill needed. I am happy at my current sweet spot. Not going to see them again for 6 weeks since I am doing well, but if I get to the point I am trying to eat everything in sight I am supposed to give them a call. My official weight loss since my last appt was 9 lbs, which seemed low to me, but I go based on my own scale at home, so it is all good. When I get near my goal I will focus on the doctor's scale reading, because that will be the one that matters. All in all, things are great!

Happy Hump Day!