Happy 75th Anniversary!

Whee! 75 pounds gone! I've been having a little celebration around here.

I bought myself a neat ring and a pair of Baby Phat jeans (size 16, natch). They were even brand new - not from a thrift store or anything!

I didn't feel the need to commemorate or celebrate the 25 lb loss, or even the 50 lb loss. I thought it was a fluke.

Hell, it's only been this past week that I was able to force myself to clean out my closet of all of my favorite clothes. I felt sure I'd need/wear them all again, even though they were in the largest sizes that I wore before the surgery.

I'm still getting used to all this. Standing in the closet looking at all the empty hangers was just about as wierd as getting catcalled at the gas station the other day by a truckload of migrant workers.

Don't get too excited, though. They always like the big ones.

Hey Paw! What's fer supper?

Fried chicken, green beans with fatback, and hot cornbread with sweet tea! Sallll-ute!

Yeah, not quite.

More than any other question, the question of "What do/can you eat?" crops up when the subject of my gastric bypass surgery is on the table.

The answer is: not much.

I'm about to celebrate my 5 month surgery anniversary, and unlike other folks I have spoken with, my diet has not advanced very much past what I was eating just a few weeks post surgery.
I keep reading that re-establishing eating is hit or miss, and what you can't tolerate today you might be able to tolerate tomorrow. I am the poster child of that particular little nugget of wisdom.

These days, after many MANY experiments, I pretty much survive on Wendy's small cups of chili, cooked beans, hot tea, coffee, mini ricecakes, and diet fudgesicles.

I have a very VERY long list of foods that just don't work. For instance, I cannot tolerate meat of any sort (with the one exception of ground beef in well-cooked chili.) My old loves, rice and grits, cornbread and, well, ANY bread are a thing of the past.

Strangely, I CAN tolerate corn chips and cheese dip, which seems like the LAST thing that would agree with me. Ditto for mixed nuts, and I have been known to have a few peanut M&Ms with no complications.

The big takeaway from all of my post-surgical appointments is to eat enough protein to meet the daily requirements.

That seemed easy when I first heard it, and it's anything BUT easy.

New for 2009

Well, I know I'm a little late, but I finally feel like it's a new year.

This would probably explain why I still had Christmas lights on my bushes up until last week.

I think the inauguration had to occur for me to feel like it was a fresh new year with a chance for a fresh new start. I have to admit that that Aretha's hat completely invigorated me.

I hit two huge milestones just this past week. I charted a 75 pound loss on the scale and I dropped under 200 pounds, ceremoniously entering into the 100s on the scale. This phenomenon is affectionately known in weight loss surgery (WLS) circles as "entering OneDerland."

Along with the adjustments that I've been making to my new habits and changing body, I've also been adjusting to homeschooling and have picked up a few new hobbies. Sweet girl and I have jumped headfirst into scrapbooking. She's much better at it than I am. I've also joined the Yelp community, and received an Elite designation for '09.

One of the good things to come out of the last year is a more reliable energy level. I hope that means that I will be able to write more, and more often. I kind of lost my mojo this past year, but like a loyal pet, the ol' blog was still here waiting for me when I returned from my long absence. I've straightened up the place a bit and added some new "baby" blogs ot my repertoire: My Kid's Krazy Krap and Cheaper than Marriage Counseling. You're welcome to check those out if you'd like using the links on the right.

SO . . . onward and upward, and oh yeah, Happy New Year!

2009? Already?!?!

Yeah, it's one of THOSE posts.

You know, full of the usual "where does the time go?" and "here's the best/worst things that happened in '08" and "here's what I'm going to make happen in '09" and all that kind of crap.

When you blog, it's pretty much a requirement that you create a wrap-up post, so . . .here tiz.

In short: 2008 was a doozy. To keep it simple, I think I'm just going to list a few highlights. I'm too tired/uninterested to do much more, but I may elaborate more later.

National stuff:

Collapse of the US financial structure. Michael and I kept our jobs; many others didn't. We kept our home and cars. Again, others weren't so fortunate.

Presidential election: We were all relentlessly hammered with speeches, propaganda, surveys, debates, bigotry, doomsday soothsayers and SNL skits. Frankly, I was glad when it was all over, and by that time, I had very nearly lost interest in who won. Now that we are a month out, I have some flickers of optimism about what will come during this new president's first fledgling months in office.

Olympics: Uhh, I didn't watch it. My bad. I think Michael Phelps won the whole thing, according to the endorsement deals.

Gas crisis: That was a trip. Not that I leave the house all that much, but I was stranded here with NO GAS more than once. Hell, the whole city was. When you COULD find gas, you damn near couldn't afford it.


R.I.P:
George Carlin. I'll always remember the 7 words you can't say. Always.
Heath Ledger. Pointless death. I was surprised how angry I was.
Bernie Mac. Damn, that sucked.
Tim Russert. Huge surprise. He would have loved this election.
Isaac Hayes. Even though the whole Chef debacle was stupid, I still thought you were cool.
Paul Newman. One of the greats, and I'm glad he stayed out of the spotlight near the end.


Cool Stuff We Did This Year:

Disney: Man, I could talk all day about Disney. I generally do, but you know, just to myself.

Fall Ball: Once again, I enjoyed the heck out of Little League. Ian had the best coach yet - Coach Ron. Go Scrappers!

GVA: The Georgia Virtual Academy was one of the best things to happen. Miss Rachael and I started our first year of homeschool!

FaceBook: Addictive, but a conduit to deeper friendships with those that shared my past. It's been an amazing experience rediscovering all of the people there.

Concerts: TOOL, Van Halen reunion tour, Plant Krauss. All three worth every penny.


Stuff We Survived:

Hospitals: Between us, there were 3 hospital stays and 2 surgeries. 2008 was the Year of the Doctor Visit. I'm extremely hopeful that 09 will be a healthier one.

The Big Cut: My gastric bypass surgery has changed me, and in turn, the dynamic of our entire family. Hands down, the best decision of the year.

Hey, Rita! You survived 2008! Whatcha gonna do now?

We're going to Disney!

And we did.

It's just about impossible to adequately explain how much fun we had at Disney. The trip exceeded every expectation I had, and I can't tell you how fantastic it was to be able to enjoy it, walk the parks, ride the rides, and keep up with the kids. Hub and the kids were amazed that I was able to go and go and go and go.

Me too, actually. Before, I could only walk for short distances before my back and knees would scream with pain and I would be exhausted. I could have never, ever taken on this trip. Not in a million years. That's why we haven't gone before now.

Not to sound too dramatic, but it almost feels like I have been cured of a debilitating disease and have been granted my health back.

Now that I think about it that way, I guess that's EXACTLY what its like. Actually, its as though my FAMILY has received the cure. More than once, I heard "I'm so glad you had the surgery, Mom. It's made you new!"

It sure has.

On with the photos! They are right over there, on the right, in the Flickr thingy.