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About this blog

THE SWEET SPOT My journal on my expedition to Bandlandia and my adventures there. I plan to stay forever (been to Onederland many times, but I never stayed long). Join me!:see

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12/26/08 It's the Thought that Counts!

My Christmas was great :cursing: and I hope yours was too (or whatever holiday you’ve been/are celebrating)! Today is our "Jammie Day" playing games and staying in jammies as late as you want. I’ve got so many wonderful new memories and more insights about the role of food in my life,:embaressed_smile: but I thought today I’d share my Christmas Eve. That’s the night we exchanged ornaments with each other. Poor Mr.SA! I know he feels such pressure to get just the right ornament for me as he knows what a Christmas nut I am. I think he feels more pressure for this little gift each year than any other and I’ll admit I probably add to that pressure since I am so sentimental about my ornaments and put so much thought into this tradition. It’s the only gift we all exchange on Christmas Eve so all eyes are on the ornaments. I started the exchange by giving out the ones I’ve told you about already (see my 11/19/08 blog “Inspiration in Skinny Photos” here) …the snowglobes with photos and another photo ornament each. They had a laugh over the photos I chose…my DD even noticed that the photo of me was a great one and she commented on how nice I looked (skinny honey, the word is skinny:laugh:)…and then I gave out several Disneyland Paris ones from our trip in May… I even had Mickey head glass ones that I personalized myself with their names/year and the DLP logo. I also gave Mr.SA some wooden German Steinbach ornaments (he grew up on an Army base in Germany so he has a small tree full of them). The kids gave me some beautiful ones they handmade that I’ll treasure. Then I opened mine from Mr.SA…it’s PERFECT:w00t:…it relates to something I collect (old kitchen tools) and I have a little tree that sits on the end of my kitchen counter that it will be perfect on…he told me he spent months on eBay trying to get this one before he finally did.   The only problem? He gave me the same ornament two years ago. No, I didn’t tell him...and I thought I kept a poker face:smile2: as I thanked him profusely, but he asked if I already had it…I think he guessed when he saw the kid's faces. It’s already hanging at the top of my kitchen tree and the kids see it every day as they sometimes eat at the counter. :crying:Poor guy, I felt so bad for him!:sad: I kept telling him how perfect it was and how much I appreciated the thought, but I couldn’t console him…I tried reminding him how stressed out we’ve both been and how many things I’ve forgotten lately, but he was sooooo disappointed. I then thought about my “ace in the hole” :idea:(my mistake) and was hoping that would make him feel better.   Remember my blog about my DD’s nativity set (see my 12/17/08 blog “I Believe in Santa” here)? Well, what I didn’t tell you then is that baby Jesus was the only thing missing from the set when she received it (who knows why). My Mom had bought her a lovely new replacement Jesus many years ago, but you could instantly tell it didn’t go with the original set (even with the pink light shining on him)…made of different materials and especially the scale. Baby Jesus was just a little bit too large for the rest of the set. This year I made it my mission to find the right replacement. The entire set, or individual pieces rarely comes up on eBay, but I kept my eyes peeled. I watched a few sets go by for over a hundred dollars (remember, this set was an antique). Then I finally found one in really bad shape with the stable and a few broken sheep, but low and behold…a baby Jesus:thumbup: I recognized him instantly from my Mom’s set. I sent emails back and forth with the seller several times making sure he was in good shape and explaining why I was so interested in just the baby Jesus. Well she wouldn’t sell or mail JUST him, fair enough, I’d have to pay for the whole stable, broken sheep and all. I won and paid way more than I wanted to, but I felt I’d never get another chance like this. It arrived and baby Jesus was in great shape. He was still wired down to a bundle of glued together straw under him for his cradle.   So, back to this point in our Christmas Eve…I now suggested we do our annual ceremonial placement of baby Jesus in the manger (see 12/6/08 "Traditions..." blog here). I asked whose turn it was to carry him in (hoping it was my DD), but DS1 said it was his turn, so I showed him where baby Jesus was hidden. We sang ‘Silent Night’ as DS1 placed him and at the end of the song my DD looks at him and says… “Hey, that’s not my baby Jesus?” “I know.” I said smiling. “I wanted to surprise you with the right replacement one and after a year of looking I finally found him on eBay.” Then the laughter begins… “He’s HUGE!” they all shout at once (my DD is crying with laughter:lol: at this point). Yep, I had to explain I bought him not even thinking that an antique set might have had different scaled sets:huh2: so I asked the seller about everything but his size.:der: Baby Jesus is as big as Mary...maybe bigger...he's HUGE! Even Mr.SA was laughing now…I hope he sees EVERYONE makes mistakes and it’s really the thought that counts.
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12/24/08 Twas the Night Before Christmas...

I’ve finished all the baking…yes, I know…Me? Baking?...yes, I told you all about my baking disasters here, but just because I like to get creative, that doesn’t mean I can’t follow a recipe. I even made my Mom’s famous “Teacher’s Pet” apple coffee cake for Christmas morning…so moist and yummy! The table is already set complete with Christmas crackers. I’m getting ready to cut up the three loaves of bread so it can dry overnight for my sage stuffing that goes in the turkey. If I’m feeling good about the cooking then all is well in the world (since we all know what a great cook I am…hee hee)!   My youngest and I have been tracking Santa in 3D on Google Earth/Norad…see how far I’ve come this year with technology! Right now Santa is over Ile de la Possession… ‘Possession’? That’s appropriate for Santa bringing new possessions…ha ha! Had to look this place up…FYI…it’s a small island that’s part of the Crozet Islands archipelago in the middle of the Southern Indian Ocean. “The island itself is very small, and features such memorable locations as Mount Mischief, the Jules Verne Mountains, the Moby Dick River, and the Lac Perdu (LostLake), which flows out to sea via the River Styx!” See…we’re tracking Santa and learning geography all at once!   Boy that Santa moves fast…good thing he’s got Rudolph leading the way tonight as we’re having a horrible rainstorm here. All that snow we’ve had since early fall and now no snow for Christmas…ahh well. We’re putting another log on the fire…time for a hot spiced cider! Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!
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12/23/08 ...and the children were nestled all snug in their beds.

I’ve collapsed into the recliner…for the moment. We’ve finished the shopping, the wrapping, and most of the baking. We held our annual “Poltergeist Feast”…let me explain, one year over Christmas break we made a huge Chinese meal which involves all of us chopping side by side and production line wrapping egg rolls and lots of wok cooking..well, the original “Poltergeist” movie just happened to be playing on TV that year. Ever since then my DD has insisted this become a Christmas break tradition complete with watching “Poltergeist” (really weird I know…can you tell my kids love traditions?). My DD and I even had time to make a few extra ornaments for our exchange tomorrow as we watched “White Christmas”. Let me just say here, it’s nice to have another girl in the house who appreciates a great old musical…I’ve been in this “boys club” for too long. Shhhh don’t tell…DD and I have secretly conspired to hit the Redbox over break for all the ‘chick flicks’ I’ve been waiting to see. Seven layer bars are now in the oven and my Fab 4 are playing Sequence (I’m sitting this one out as it’s a team game, but I’m up for Trivial Pursuit next). It’s nice to have everyone home. I’m starting to realize that we may not have too many of these years left with just our gang, so I’m trying to appreciate it all the more now. Happy Holidays all!
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12/22/08 I'm Making a List, I'm Checking it Twice...

I’m not ready for Christmas; OK I've admitted it. Every year I say I’m going to get it done early so I can just enjoy it…and every year I’m running around like one of Santa’s elves with his bum on fire. Thank goodness we have one of those school systems that’s screwed up (their idea of Spring Break is a long weekend) and the boys are still in school through tomorrow-half day. We picked DD up from college yesterday and she spent most of the day at two different Dr.’s appointments. I think she has about five more to go before the break is over. DH (took off all week) and I spent the day taking DH's car in to get fixed (again) and then we wrapped presents. It’s quite a production actually. You know me, I have a huge list of all the presents we’ve bought (on a spreadsheet of course). My system is all about equality and fairness. When I’m gone, my kids will be able to say many things about me (all wonderful I'm sure), but I will have no regrets about being fair. I figure it out to within a dollar of each other, and we wrap the exact same amount of presents for each kid. Santa even brings the same number of gifts and the same amount in each stocking. Of course this means wrapping several items together for some kids and it’s quite a mathematical problem (and my kids say they’ll never use algebra again). All I can say is I’m glad I only have three kids or my head would explode! We’re only half-way through the ‘big wrap’ so we’ll have to move double-time tonight and tomorrow. So I’m off to get busy before... ‘Santa Claus is coming to town!’
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12/21/08 The Price of Beauty

It’s the wee hours of the morning and I was reminded of this incident as I completed my now-weekly ritual. Since I’m on the path of turning half a century soon, and you all now know that not much embarrasses me, I thought I’d share another thing that’s so special about being 49 ½. Hairs start growing on your body in places it never did before. No, really! I looked in the mirror one day and saw a hair growing out of my chin…AHHHH!:eek: Then, in a few months I noticed I was starting to get a few whiskers over my upper lip….DOUBLE AHHHH!:eek6: Call me lucky;:ohmy: my dark haired youngest sister says she’s had this problem for years, but being a natural blonde (probably more like natural gray now, but I’m never finding out!:sad:) I’ve apparently been blessed to avoid this up until now (I don’t feel blessed). I’m blaming this all on the one month I tried hormone replacement therapy this year…estrogen I get, but doesn’t testosterone make boys go into puberty=facial hair? The hot flashes are way easier to deal with than boy puberty! Anyway, I sought advice from everyone and this is what I got; bleach (they’re already blonde), pluck (they come back thicker), wax (I’ve yet to brave this with my legs even), or hair remover…OK, that doesn’t sound SO bad? So off to the store I went.:nonod:   Now I have to preface this next part by telling you I have VERY sensitive skin. My neck turns red every time I’ve gotten my hair colored or permed. I have the kind of skin you can write your name on (or whatever else you please) and it will show up. So do I listen to the part on the box where it tells you to do a test patch…HECK NO! I’m almost half a century…I’m wise…I don’t read directions…except the part that tells you the max time to leave it on…8 min.? Well, this is a BIG problem:sneaky:…a few more minutes couldn’t hurt, so I set the time for 10 min. It’s a little bottle of cream and the lid has a built in brush…this is a piece of cake…just like nail polish right?:mad: I brush it on my face in the offending areas…the directions say to lay it on thickly (OK, I read a little more of the directions) so I keep brushing. It now looks like I got into the canned frosting in a big way.   After a few minutes I realized that I should have brushed more carefully…you would never know I have an Art Ed degree. My lips are now on fire:target: where I ‘colored outside the lines’. So I ran to get a cold wet cloth (sounds good right?) to try and wipe it off my lips. Oww! I’ve now succeeded in smearing it on every part of my lips…note: wet cloth does not work…now I’m jumping up and down…Oww, Oww! :cryin: Tissues…where are the tissues?....Ahhh…that’s better…lips are still burning a little, and they’re starting to swell, but the fire is out. A few more minutes pass and now my face is on fire! Beauty hurts though right? I tough it out…Oww, Oww, Oww! Can’t…take it…any…longer! Quick, what did it say?:smile2: Rinse? Wipe off? Who knows? Oww, Oww, Oww, Oww! I pretty much stick the lower half of my face under the sink while I’m wildly wiping it with a tissue in one hand and a washcloth in the other. What the #%!#:cheers2: is this stuff, rubber cement? After 10 min. of rinsing and wiping I finally realize it’s off…it’s just my skin that’s still on fire! I run downstairs for some ice and after about 20 min. with a cold compress I decide to take a look. OK, you know when you kiss a guy whose got really bad beard stubble…nope, that’s not it…let me start again…you know when you put red lipstick on, but you totally miss your lips? That pretty much describes my face…oh, now add Angelina Jolie’s lips…on fire! But my skin is now as smooth and hair free as a baby’s behind!
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12/20/08 Physical; Bring a Copy

It sucks to be 49 ½, especially when you’re obese. So today I thought I’d recant my fall physical…as that sums it up. I remember my yearly physicals up until about 10 years ago I never had ANYTHING to complain about. After that my strategy soon became; pick the two most important issues and focus on them with the PCP. This year Mr.SA insisted I make a list…how sad is that, I have a LIST! Mr.SA gave me the lecture about how YOU don’t know what is related…give THEM all the info. and let THEM decide what’s important (can you tell his dad is a Dr?). This wasn’t my style…I’m not a complainer (I know, I get it all out here) but I typed up my list (I’m a little OCD) of about 6 or 7 things and off I went. I should mention here that this was the visit this fall that I also decided to ask about the Lap Band for the first time.   I was a little nervous about my “list” as I sat waiting on the beloved crinkly paper on the exam table…I SWEAR they make it extra noisy just to make you more nervous. In walks a kid who could have been my son. OK, NOT my usual Dr.! He explains he’s an intern and would be doing my initial exam and then the Dr. would be in. Poor kid, this was NOT to be his day. I started into my list…and he’d ask me a few questions as I went along…then I forgot where I was, so I paused to actually go get out my type written list…BIG MISTAKE…his face got more flushed than mine:blushing: (and I think I need to add rosacea to my list) and I SWEAR his teenage acne was breaking out as I spoke. I tried to add a little humor saying my DH made me make a list because I was falling apart and needed a tune up:laugh:…no smile, no laughter…just looked more frightened:eek:…OK then:huh2:…on we went. I made it through to the end with a few raised eyebrows…I’m pretty sure my face was actually on fire at this point.:cheers2: So right about now I’m feeling like he must think I’m a hypochondriac or worse yet…what’s that thing people have when they want medical attention…munchausens? The LAST think I want is attention about all my health problems.   Dear God,:mad: now he’s trying to recap my list and I suddenly realize he hasn’t taken down a single note. He’s about on number 4 on my list when his memory fails:out:…I toyed with the idea of just handing him my list, but then I remember he’s not a writer…do I dare suggest he write it down…I think not, he’s flustered enough. It’s like watching one of my kids practicing for speech class at school…I want to yell “Where are your index cards?” He tries reciting my list about 3 more times unsuccessfully (I'm starting to get a almost 50 year old hot flash and may go nuclear any minute) when I we hear a knock at the door. It’s my regular Dr. “Are you about done it there?”…Panic forms on the poor interns face. He’s frozen in fear, he opens his mouth but nothing comes out.:nonod: I shout… “Oh, sorry Dr. ____, I’m keeping him tied up with my big list of problems…ha, ha…we’re almost done!” Relief flows back into the intern’s face. Loooong pause, then he finds new strength and says “What issues are the biggest problems that you would like us to focus on today?” OK, good boy, you may make a good Dr. yet…now we’re getting somewhere…I picked my “big 2” as always and recited back the details…off he went to get the Dr.   In they came and he recited my “big 2” perfectly…I did eventually get in the rest of my “list” as if I’d just remembered them…my intern looked on gratefully.:smile2: It went smoothly…I even got a phone number of a lap band surgeon from them even though I’m “…not that heavy and you’re not a metabolic nightmare, but you can look into it if you want”. Did I not just spend the last hour giving you my “list” of reasons why I need this? All is well…I had my surgeon’s phone number and my intern may not drop out of medical school, just yet. I think schools need to issue pens with all those medical books. Just wait until he sees my list at my 50 yr. old physical...next time I'll bring a copy!:ohmy:
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12/19/08 Consult Rescheduled >:-(

I just got a call from the surgeon’s office. I thought it was their insurance expert FINALLY calling me back.:smile2: I started off with “Thanks for calling me back!” Then I get “Thanks? You might not want to thank me yet…I have to reschedule your appointment.” :mad:#@%& (in my head) are you kidding me??! Mr.SA was off for the holiday and set to go with me on Dec. 23. I had all my questions ready to go.:sad: I was SO HAPPY:crying: that this would be done right before Christmas…a nice little present for me.:ohmy: At first she tried to put me off until Feb…:angry:not happening. Now it’s on Jan. 13th at noon, so who knows if Mr.SA can make it or not.:nonod: I’m depressed:sad2:…I know, that’s life. Many people don’t get to see their surgeon until that point anyway (half-way through 6 mo. diet). I’m still bummed…OK, upside-:nopity:pity party time, join me:party:…time to open that wine early tonight (maybe a lovely fruit martini even)…now that I’ve really got something to whine about!:cheers2: Who's joining me?
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12/18/08 Jury Duty

This year Mr.SA (DH) and I were both called to jury duty. I was thinking about this yesterday as I sat in the hospital waiting room without Mr.SA…he was on jury duty- Juror #12 (Last one picked)…as DS put it “Leaving me in my time of need!”:lol2: (funny boy). I’d been called to duty three times before in other cities but I was always traveling for work and no one could take my place, so work always wrote me a note to get me out of it…sweet relief to be honest. But now I’m home, not working, no excuse:glare:…I wasn’t sure what I thought about that…I’m pretty patriotic:patriot:…I can’t make it through 3 lines of “The Star Spangled Banner” without tearing up:crying:…I always call my Dad and thank him a on Veteran’s Day…I planned a day in Normandy:gnorsi: with a private guide when we took the family to Paris…heck I even rented every Normandy movie ever made and we had Tuesday movie nights:film: with the kids for months in preparation for our trip. So I know it’s my civic duty, but I was dreading this. Maybe I’ve gotten cynical in my almost half-century of life, but I’ve become one of those “don’t have much faith in our judicial system” people. It’s probably all those real court room cases that are on TV these days…so I’ll blame the media for my newfound knowledge of how the judicial system doesn’t always work. Two words come to mind O.J., or is that one bad word? I see people that get off on loop holes and it makes me angry…especially when children are the victims.:rolleyes3: I’m a pretty tolerant person; I’ve forgiven some pretty serious wrongs in my life especially when the forgiveness is earned…in fact those that know me would say I’m a kind, never-hurt-someone’s-feelings-let-alone-a-fly-on-their-head person. So I don’t like that I’ve gotten to this point, but if someone I loved were harmed by another, I think I would be very tempted to take justice into my own hands. I’m not so sure I would “trust the system”,:frown: but maybe, just maybe...now I would give it a chance.   You see I spent a day on Jury Duty…Jury Selection to be exact. I dressed nicely and got there early. I think I was hoping that then I’d be first to be interviewed and I could just tell them that I have no faith in their silly system and they’d let me go home…hey, I look nice, I would have time now to go window shopping at that fancy new boutique strip mall I’ve been dying to see. So 150 of us packed into a tight chairs-in-rows-room. After an hour and a half:sleep: of getting to know my neighbors the judge finally came in and told us that 6 of the 8 cases just settled. Then they started to call names and assign them numbers and I soon caught on to the fact that it didn’t matter that I came early. I watched as 50 people left the room never to be seen again and I was pissed they didn’t pick me:angry:…what’s wrong with me?:wink2: Eventually I let the slight go (forgiving remember) and I settled into my oh-so-comfy-NOT stacking chair with a good book. Lunch break we were released and then all us “losers” came back for round two. Another hour and a half and they started calling names again…44, 45, 46…Yeah me…juror number 47!:glare: We get to the courtroom and I won’t bore you with all the details, but only the first 12 + 2 alternates are THE jurors for the case unless they get dismissed.:hand: The judge is patient and informative and then starts the “Game Show” of “Eliminate the Jurors”! Round 1: “Raise your hand if you know anyone involved in this case.”…hand raised, they bring the sweet old man-juror #3 up and we all hear him proudly describe to the judge how he has known one of the lawyers since he was a little boy…good friends with his dad even…whispers between them…he waddles back with his cane towards us as the judge yells to him “Don’t get too comfortable”…more quick whispers…and before he can sit down… “Juror #3 is dismissed!” He looked startled,:yikes: then crushed:sad:…I felt for him. We all moved up one seat, and more importantly one number. Well, a million more questions and 5 more dismissals and we were done…I was up to being Juror #41…no where NEAR even being asked a question.:biggrin: I was exasperated by then…it’s late afternoon, my bum was sore from sitting in hard court-house chairs all day and they didn’t even need me! :rolleyes2:   Then the judge said something that I’ll always remember….It was a long impromptu talk about the importance of serving and our coming today…yadda, yadda, yadda...and then she said “God forbid you ever find yourself or someone you love in court (on either side),:laugh: wouldn’t you want the best people to be there to sit on your jury?” Something about that rang true to me. So yesterday instead of cursing the judicial system for making Mr.SA miss his son’s hospital visit…I did what I always do... especially when it’s earned…I forgave them.:glare:
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12/17/08 DS Update

Wanted to let you all know I (Mr.SA had jury duty of all things) just got back from the hospital with DS (youngest). He's sleeping now. Had plenty of time to write my blog entry while in the waiting room (sorry I rambled my story today, but it kept me busy). Both procedures went smoothly and he did well with the anesthetic...just took him longer than most to wake up. One small problem and we'll wait and see what the biopsy shows...may not have results until the day after Christmas (I pray it's before). Sounds like regardless there will be more testing in the future, since they shouldn't have found anything at his age...and maybe more tests depending on biopsy. Thanks for the prayers all!
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12/16/08 2nd Christmas Miracle!

My prayers were answered!:biggrin: My youngest, DS has two minor procedures being done tomorrow at Children's Hospital (nothing serious). The prep today involves no eating, laxatives, etc. TMI. It's 11am and he's "starving" already :glare:(13 yr. old going through a growth spurt needs hourly food). The hospital doesn't give you the time of the procedure until the day before. So, I've been saying prayers that he would have a morning procedure...another 1/2 day of no food would not be pretty.:rolleyes2: The OR nurse just called and he's the first one scheduled tomorrow!:rolleyes3: 6:45am check-in...yay! A tiny miracle...but one all the same...he and I were doing the happy dance around the kitchen!   I'm a little nervous:unsure: about the general anesthetic he's getting for the first time, hour and a half under in the OR...sounds like forever to me (he's got asthma and so many allergies)...please send prayers! We're having "jammie day" and playing games...distractions. I'm off to play (Wii)...
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12/15/08 Glimmer of Hope

Yesterday- I hesitate to share much about my kids here, except the good stuff. So lest you think I have the “Leave it to Beaver” family, you can be assured I don’t. We all have our issues don’t we? With 3 kids between 13 and 21, let’s just say we’re majorly going through those “teenage funk” years. My middle one, DS, is 18 and has been in that distant teenage funk for awhile now. When he's not working or doing homework, he can usually be found in the basement- his cave of video games from which he rarely emerges (except under protests from Mom)...He's turning into one of those cave fish...pale skin and I swear his eyes are bulging from sitting in the dark playing video games. Some days I curse the person who invented them and wish they'd spend eternity in video game hell...yep, I'd tape that guys eyes open and make him watch that first video game for eternity...what was it? Oh yeah...PONG...even better (think about it)! This weekend he brought up a board game from the basement for us all to play and I about fell out of my shoes...DH and I looked at each other in disbelief…WHO IS THIS CHILD??!!…Can I keep him…no, really…I’m NOT giving him back! I'm calling it my Christmas miracle!
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12/14/08 To "Diet" or not to "Diet"...

Well, I’ve been thinking about starting to track my calories on one of those food tracking sites. I’ve been reading that so many here do this…heck some of them even track their food and every calorie they burn exercising and just walking around. So I’m thinking, I’m committed…I can do WHATEVER it takes to make sure I’ll be successful with the Lap Band…I’m not afraid of working hard…heck, I just bought a fancy pedometer. They want me to track every calorie…I can do that, I’ve done it before…I’ve done WW, Atkins, and Alli among others. I’ve tracked calories before. I was pretty successful at some of those diet plans…I’m the expert dieter…I can stick to a diet like nobody’s business…I can even up to 50 pounds on a diet, it’s just the keeping it off that I have trouble with. I’m as anal as they come…I love lists and spreadsheets. I never much enjoyed the time it takes to track every calorie, but if that’s going to help me then I’m all for it! Except, the thing is I’m not sure I want to go down that path again. I guess it smells too much like a “diet” to me. And aren’t the mottos here “Diets don’t work” and “If you do the same thing you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten”. When I first started looking into the Lap Band it looked like the miracle I’d been searching for forever…Eat healthy, but mostly regular foods, just a lot less of them and the best part…you won’t be starving all the time. But after perusing this site more, I’ve found there’s a LOT of talk about dieting after the LB…even some of the diets I’ve been on before. I’m not saying that doesn’t or won’t work; different things work for different people…I’m just not sure it’s right for me yet. It just seems counterintuitive to me. The reasons I’ve always gained weight back is because yes, I felt like I was starving, but also because I got tired of not being able to eat normally. I hated thinking about food 24/7, planning and cooking special meals separate from my family, and tracking everything…it’s just not a normal relationship with food and isn’t that what I’m trying to change? OK, before you say Well, it doesn’t sound like you’re willing to do the work it’s going to take to make the Lap Band work, maybe you’re not ready for it”. I’ve seen those posts where someone thinks the LB is going to do the work for them…I get it, I know it’s going to be hard work. I get that I’ll be on a very strict pre-op and post-op diet, and I get that I’ll be giving up some foods forever, drinking protein shakes when needed, and yes even cooking some different meals from my family on occasion. I see the benefit in tracking my calories at the beginning year of having the Lap Band or later when I’m not getting the results I want or when the Dr. needs me to track them. I’m willing to work hard to change my eating habits, and choose healthy things-high protein. Maybe it’s a matter of semantics, but I don’t call that a diet, I’d rather think of it as a lifestyle change…and somehow counting every calorie for the rest of my life doesn’t sound like anything but a diet. I also remember that when tracking calories it made me think about food more…obsessing over it in a different way. Maybe I’m overly optimistic about this, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to eventually work past the head hunger and that I’ll get to the point where I have a normal relationship with food…not obsessing over it with stuffing my face or with a “diet”. Or…maybe I’ll need the accountability that tracking food helps with...I don't know. Honestly, I’m not certain where I stand on this yet, I may be tracking every calorie in a few weeks. I guess it will be one of those things I’ll have to figure out as I go along. I'm sure the answer is different for everyone.
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12/12/08 Glamour Shots...(and "Telling Others")

Nope, no “Afters” or even “Befores”. Remember?...I know I told you!?:wink2: I went back to the Urologist yesterday (See my “12/5/08 Urodynamics” blog…if you want to sing a wacky Christmas Jingle with me) for my “Glamour Shots” (Yee Old Tiny Camera up the gazoo photos).:eek: I wonder if I can get a copy for my fridge?:biggrin: After all that (again) my Urologist comes in and says they didn’t find any problems:confused: from the original surgery so he’s going to send me to a Specialist at Magee (Specialist?:glare: I thought you WERE a specialist!). Oh, and he gave me a reassuring “Don’t worry…you won’t be leaking the rest of your life.”…what am I, a faucet? :sad:Sigh. I seem to always be the “exception” or have the weirdest medical things happen to me that the Doctors can’t/take forever to figure out.:out: Just ONE example of many; 2 years ago during 3 months of a TERRIBLE no-sleep literally-can’t-leave-the-house-because-I cough-so-hard-I-vomit:puke: constant cough, it took 5 Doctors and 2 Specialist and about 5 different diagnosis of everything from hand-foot-mouth disease to small pulmonary embolisms:ohmy: for me to finally get a “we think you have adult onset asthma…that was aggravated by…”…who knows?:rolleyes2: The good new is, none of my problems have been terrible things that I know so many have to deal with…Hey, if the worst thing that happens to me is peeing every time I laugh, which my youngest just told me I do way to often :laugh:(the laughing, not the peeing, although that's true too), then I’ve got a lot to be thankful for! Asthma for me is like being obese and the many comorbidities it causes…you just get tired of it, tired of not feeling healthy.:frown:   I think one of my first questions for the new “Specialist” will be “Is there a chance this could improve with weight loss?” I asked my Urologist that (after also telling him I was getting the LB) and he said “Not for you! That only happens with people that are huge-morbidly obese…You’re not that overweight!” :sosp: Yeah…us low BMIers hear that from anyone we tell :rolleyes3:(I’ve only told 3 Doctors and 3 Nurses and ALL of them have used those same 4 words…You’re not that overweight!:glare: To which my immediate reply is always “I’m 100 pounds overweight!”:mad2: I was surprised how that just came out the first time and how defensive I felt about wanting to get the LB.:huh2: Some of them came around and eventually said positive things once they saw I was serious about it, but it was a weird conversation even with these medical “strangers”. I felt like I had to give a list of what a failure I’ve been at weight loss and all the terrible things I’ve let happen to my body because of that in defense of wanting the LB. What negativity…not me.:hand: It reinforced my decision not to tell anyone but DH-Mr.SA (and of course the WHOLE WORLD on LBT). So come on World…get behind me on this (just don’t make me laugh).:lol2::yikes:
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12/13/08 Dashing through the Doctors...

Last night: I feel like all I’ve done is go to the Doctors/Dentist this month!:rolleyes2: My youngest came home from school today with a high fever and a sore throat…then he vomited on the carpet…then the kitchen floor:puke: (yes, I'm not an idiot...I had already given him a big barf bowl, why he didn't take it with him as he ran to the bathroom, I don't know:glare:) so into the bathtub and a call:phone: to the nurse for advice and an appointment in the morning. He’s resting now, so I just sat down to look at my calendar and put in his appointment (yes, you know me well…my very-anal-color-coded-by-person-calendar…I’d be lost without it:wink2:). I counted up 18 Dr./Dental appointments for the kids and me this month…and the only 2 LB ones were my PCP visit and my upcoming my surgeon consult. Who knows how many visits Mr.SA has, he keeps his own calendar. So take out Christmas holidays and what is that…more than one appointment every weekday!:glare: Boy, it sounds like we any unhealthy bunch…and the rest of the family are all skinny as rails! I won’t share my families medical issues- just mine (Mr. SA is the opposite of me about sharing that kind of stuff with anyone), but let’s say we’ve already reached our family prescription deductible. Oh well, all those waiting rooms have given me time to actually read the book I started this summer…halfway now…I never find time to read anymore. I guess it’s also a good prep to for all those LB appointments I’ll have next year! :biggrin: Oh, he’s awake…got to go push the fluids…   Today: After 6 more “vomit session” :puke:and me steam cleaning the carpet DS finally fell asleep last night…fever still raging. He was all better this morning but we kept our Dr. appointment anyway so they could do the strep test. So we went “dashing through the snow” :driving:again today (our Doctors office was closed, but the one in Richland was open). Rapid test negative:thumbup:…here’s hoping the longer one is too. He’s got 2 exploratory procedures coming up this Wed. (no surgery, nothing serious) so I’m hoping he’s well for them. That's life.:rolleyes3:
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12/10/08 One Down, 5 To Go...Oh NO!

I had my first month’s weigh in with my PCP this morning. I came out 2 pounds lost (from my eat and drink fest last time), but at least I wasn’t water-logged/bladder bursting again so I could actually have a nice discussion and pay attention this time. My PCP visit went well and we discussed my building a support system (talked about online and the Healthwise Company support program I enrolled in). I’ve been having more trouble with my osteoarthritis in my lower back…not sure if it’s because I’ve just about eliminate the almost daily pain relievers since they started me on migraine medicine. I was afraid to start any pain relievers for my arthritis in fear of the migraines coming back (the arthritis is nothing compared to the migraines). She said it’s OK to start some Tylenol as needed, so we’ll see what happens. It’s also likely that I’m having more pain now that I’m exercising…my body saying “Exercise??!!! What’s that?!!” I’ve had some toe numbness on one side, so she’s having me get an x-ray just to be sure the discs are still OK.   I was so frustrated at the beginning of this process with learning I’d have to do the 6 mo. diet (Diet?!!! Been there, done that…if that worked I wouldn’t need a LAP-BAND®!), but after spending some time researching the LB I began to think 6 mo. was a good thing. There’s so much to learn and to prepare for. For example, this month my “Education Task” with my PCP was doing research and putting together my questions for my surgeon consult coming up. I’m actually amazed that even after 3 different hospital seminars how many questions I still have. I’ve been thinking about this and it’s because this isn’t like most procedures. Heck, when I had my hysterectomy & bladder sling it was pretty much textbook, no choices, standard procedures, I knew what would happen (except the failing part). With this I still have a million questions not only because every surgeon requires different pre & post-op testing/care (let’s not even get into all the differences in fill schedules/procedures/amounts)…but even with the surgery there’s differences….ie. I have a choice of which type of LB and a choice of where my port goes…and look at all the other differences we hear about on LBT: 1 incision or 5?, catheter or not?, CO2 heated and removed or not?, overnight or out-patient?, on and on. So having 6 mo. to research and prepare isn’t all bad and I know now I’ll be more successful afterwards because of what I’ve learned…   My only problem is…I started researching this in summer so I’m ALREADY almost at 6 mo. of preparing/researching…yep, when I look at it, the past 6 mo’s. went fast, but these next 5-6 months are going to be longggggggg! Help me make the time go faster...tell me a story…....anyone have a good joke?
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12/9/08 How many sizes are in your closet?

OK, after noting my lack of pants that fit yesterday (see previous blog) it got me thinking about how many sizes I’ve kept over the years. I decided to go check (in hopes of being able to wear a few someday:bored:). We’ve moved seven times since we’ve been married (I was a bean pole then 5'9"/132#...I've lost and inch and gained a ton), and yep, I got rid of clothes every time we moved …and yeah, my college daughter has permanently borrowed some of my better skinny clothes…and yep, we give clothes to charity every year…so WHY do I still have so many sizes?:cursing: OK, I’ve done the yo-yo thing for decades (obvious from my closet) and, let’s see, the lowest I’ve been in this decade was 160#, but even then, I wore a size 16 on a skinny day. So WHY do I still have size 10’s hanging in my closet??!!!:blushing: I actually have at least one pair of every size between 10-2x (that’s 14 different sizes). OK, I try to buy “Longs” when I can find them, and they’re so hard to find I’ve had a hard time giving them up (saved mostly a few dress ones or jeans)…but GET REAL, size 10’s!??:biggrin: Do you know how much DUST:blushing: was on the top of that pants hangar? I’ve always carried my weight in my lower half…I think I was barely in a size 10 when I was 130#! So there’s my new end goal…I’ll even settle for a 10/12 with an elastic waistband…wow, doesn’t seem even possible! :thumbup: Well, at least my pants are all sorted by size now…next year I plan to start working my way down that rack!:wink:
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12/8/08 Pantless until June!

I’m now at my highest weight ever by a few pounds.:thumbup: But I guess the good news (if you can possibly call this good news:angry:) is I’m well over the minimum BMI needed for insurance..yay me (not).:blushing: I HATE tight pants so I always buy a larger size, but I REFUSE to do that with LB in my future. I had a pair of jeans on with a belt this weekend (last notch) and they were hurting my waist yesterday…they felt like they were pinching me…well, I looked this morning and I actually have a little bruise where the belt buckle flipped up when I sat (probably my muffin top rolling them…lovely:glare:) and the buckle was jabbing me in the waist. As if being overweight isn’t painful enough…now I have to put up with “clothing pain”…geez! I wonder if “clothing pain” and bruising count as a comorbidity (hee-hee)? :biggrin:   I counted and I now have the following: 1 pr. Jeans, 1 pr. Dress pants, 3 pr. Elastic Sweat pants…so not even a week’s worth of pants! :wink: Thank God I’m at home and not working! I don’t think they expect me to lose much weight on my 6 mo. diet, but I have to confirm that...So it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to wear other sizes in my closet any time soon. I don’t end my 6 mo. diet until May 10th, so it will probably be early June for my surgery. What the heck happens when it gets hot out this Spring…I don’t think I have any capris/shorts that would fit me now! Maybe I’ll be allowed to lose weight on that pre-op diet? I’ll have to ask how many weeks that is, let’s see…maybe if it’s 4 weeks pre-op diet that would put me into April…let’s pray:pray2: for a cool spring…and that my 5 pairs of pants don’t split/wear out by then! If you see a pantless lady walking around, it’s me:willy_nilly:…I REFUSE to buy a larger size!
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12/6/08 Traditions...What's in Your Shoes?

I love traditions. They tie us to our families our faiths our origins and our holidays. Our parents passed some on to us and we’ve started some of our own…some are just little things, others are lengthy productions, some are from our heritage, some I’m sure most households do, and some I know are just our families. As I’m bringing up all the Christmas bins I’m reminded of all the little things we do each and every year to make this season special.   Always getting our live tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving; Advent calendars; St. Nicholas Day-kids setting their shoes outside their door Dec. 5 for little gifts from St. Nick the next morning (TODAY!..A northern Europe tradition); finding different ways to give to others in need-working at a soup kitchen, Toys-For-Tots, adopting a family; making our favorite Christmas cookies and a gingerbread house while wearing our elf hats with ears; Ornament exchanges with each family and with each other on Christmas Eve; singing “Silent Night” holding candles on Christmas Eve as one child gets the honor of placing Baby Jesus in the manger that sits on the mantle; leaving cookies and milk for Santa and a vegetable-usuallly a carrot for the reindeer; tying a ribbon at the top of the stairs and one of the children gets to cut the ribbon when it’s time to come down-a fire going and music playing; the kids rushing to the tree to see who can find the pickle ornament (from Germany) first that Santa has hidden on the tree because that child gets to open the first present; always opening the stockings first; Santa’s gifts always appear in plain green and red paper with large elvish writing of names on the fronts and there’s always one gift for each child that sits out unwrapped; cooking everyone’s favorites for Christmas dinner and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus before our dessert; and finally come the Christmas crackers that contain tissue party hats and little trinkets and dumb jokes that always get us laughing; taking each child’s photo on the couch with their new toys; the day after Christmas is always “jammie day” where we stay in our jammies and play games all day, Oh and we all have fun giving hilarious “Thanks for the Memories” gifts, but I’ll save that for tomorrow’s blog…my favorite/funniest kid story this year!…stay tuned...hee-hee   What are your holiday traditions??:thumbup:
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12/7/08 Thanks...for the Memories

NOTE ***Read the last paragraph at least for my favorite kid story this year…it still makes me laugh!   “Thanks for the Memories” gifts. My Dad started this tradition way back. He would wrap up little crazy things:crazy: that were funny or embarrassing. They are always preceded by a funny story that makes everyone wonder what’s in the box and you never know who’s going to get one. My favorite one was the year I’ve received a box of run-over mangled gas caps. Back when I was a teen, long before they had locking ones or gas doors with handy cap holders on them I lost 3 of Dad’s at the gas station by leaving them on top of the car where you’d put them while you pumped the gas (where else would you put them?). So one year Dad went to our local gas station where they had a whole box of them that other people had left (see, I wasn’t the only one) and yep, I gotem’ all!:wink: We’ve all started this now…   This year I’ve got some good ones ready for my kids. My oldest, my daughter, will be getting a lovely mug we found with Betrix Potter’s “Mrs. Tiggy Winkle” on it. When she was just one we lived for a few months with my in-laws when we were looking for a home after our move. We all loved reading her stories. One day out from the boxed book series came “Mrs. Tiggy Winkle” and she freaked out! :scared2: I have to admit, she’s one scary looking beady-eyed hedgehog (Google her if you want a scare).:scared: For many years, we’d say “Mrs. Tiggy Winkle” and she would imitate Mrs. TW and wrinkle up her nose and make a scary face. She wouldn’t go near the bookshelf at the Grandparents house until we showed her the book and put it up high. Her Grandparents love reminding her of that story. So now she’ll be getting a little reminder (we’re cruel parents, I know)! :blushing:   My oldest son will be getting what’s left of our old OSU front car plate as he had to buy a new one, along with a new front-end on our car (actually just the deductable). Yep, he got in his first fender bender:car::car: this year (no one hurt, low speed, bumped the SUV in front of him and the SUV won big time-hardly a scratch on theirs…:rant:RANT-I ask you why oh why can’t all bumpers line up at the same level?:mad2: What’s the point if they don’t?:cursing:). Yep, we’re really cruel parents!:sneaky: It’s a good lesson when your first accident is a little one though…I hope it’s made him much more cautious; I think so.   My youngest boy-13 will be getting music, specifically Guns and Roses “Sweet Child ‘O Mine”. He got his first guitar (electric) for his birthday in July (Santa is bringing him a bigger practice amp…are we crazy or what? The one it came with was really bad though.). We were so busy:willy_nilly: this summer that we couldn’t start lessons until September. Well, he was so anxious to start that he got on YouTube one day and by watching, tried to teach himself the long intro to the song above. After a month of listening to him trying to pluck it out…before we knew it he had it down and at the right tempo even.:thumbup: Google the music video on YouTube…it’s fast…and he’s never played a guitar…brass in the school band for a few years (band concert at school last Fri. night-very nice), but no strings. September comes and I take him for his first lesson at the music store (he’s nervous, but excited) and we meet the teacher…nice young guy who graduated from Berkeley and they go into one of the lesson rooms while I wait. Half-hour is up and they come out…huge smiles:biggrin::biggrin:…I asked his teacher how it went and he starts laughing:laugh:…OK, I’m thinking what happened?...my son is shy, but super funny…uh oh, what did he do?....the teacher tells me “We began with how to hold the guitar, then we started the beginner book…and it was great that he’s played an instrument at school because I could skip some of the real basics like timing, notes, etc.”...then he starts laughing again:lol2:….he says “We had a few minutes left of our lesson time so I played a little for your son to inspire him and showed him that soon he’ll be strumming and then I played him part of a great picking song.”…:smilielol5:hysterical laughter now… “Well, I finished and your son looks up at me and just gives me a grin” :ihih:(he’s got an INFAMOUS sneaky grin) “Then he looks down at his guitar and without a word plays the same thing I just played perfectly!” :wink2:….what song did the teacher pick…you got it…fate steps in….what are the odds…the ONLY song my son knows…intro to “Sweet Child ‘O Mine”!! The teacher says… “Boy was I amazed!:eek6:...now, if he could have done that with 2 songs…ha-ha!” (I’ll bet he thought he had a prodigy) :lol:We were in tears laughing (guess you had to be there). Ten lessons later and he’s perfectly playing “Stairway to Heaven” (except the big wild solo part). Looks like I’ll soon be a “Band_Groupie” in more than one way…hold those lighters up!!!:thumbup:
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12/4/08 Fa la-la-la-la...

The tree is up…it smells like Christmas in the house! We have a tradition of buying our tree every Sunday after Thanksgiving. We got a fresh 11’ one from a Zeilenople tree farm lot this year. No, it's not bent over..it sits in our 2 story foyer at the corner of the staircase and we have a glass paned front door (unusual I know-that’s me, but it fits our farmhouse style/porch house). My neighbors always comment they love watching our tree get decorated a little more each day as they drive by (maybe I'll make them come help next year). It’s my favorite holiday. I’m kind of a Christmas nut:blink:…holiday nut actually…rusty antiques nut…Disney nut…OK, I’ll save my many obsessions for another blog. Let me just say I’ve got 5 large shelving units and about 40 something:blush: (don't tell DH-Mr.SA) BIG bins (was boxes, now plastic… remember the floods I mentioned with the washing machine yesterday…let’s just say the laundry room is above the Christmas shelves...yes, I cried...Oh, BTW, Art came yesterday and with a laugh, 5 min. and a $25 check I'm back in the laundry business)…I just can't throw anything away-did you know you can keep popcorn strings for at least 10 years...yep, I'm on my second set now-strung with wooden cranberry beads every now and then. I store them in old coffee cans...they smell a tiny bit funny when you first get them out every year, but no mold...they just yellow a little, but they're a perfect buttered popcorn color:crazy:...I know, only I would think to even try saving popcorn (hey, they're a lot of work and my kids bloody finger tips)!! So many bins of Christmas stuff now waiting to go up (an infliction that was passed down from my Mother). I swear I didn't buy much of it...more than half of it is all the kids things (they have as much Christmas stuff as all their other stuff), so it’s not as bad as it sounds…it will be going with them one day…but for now we display it all! Our families (they’re the spoilers) have been building up their displays since they were born so it’s all their fault…the boys huge double-layer train board…one has a Disney train, rides and monorail, the other Ertl farm sets and models he built and painted w/western train…my DD’s Christmas dollhouse that one of my sisters and my brother (still can’t believe my brother did this) sanded and glued together for 4 solid weekends before one Christmas…I so enjoy watching my kids put their own displays up each year as they remember who gave them what:regular_smile:…they always turn out a little different and they still get new little things each year. I have a whole bins of Christmas plush animals, toys, and books they got from Grandparents and of course every handmade ornament they’ve ever made…and not just the ones from school…being an ex Art teacher, I’ve made a LOT with them over the years…we still exchange ornaments with both sides of the family every year, so the kids already have ornaments aplenty for their future tree. We've got the outside lighted garlands and wreaths on every window up already. Today I’m putting away the fall decorations…tonight we put the lights on the tree…tomorrow I pile the ornaments by person on the dining room table and then each person starts putting their own on the tree…I can hardly wait for the memories… “remember this one…who/when…”:thumbup: Fa la-la-la-la
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12/3/08 Stiff Underwear

It’s not what you think…although I’m not sure what you’re thinking:glare:…the dryer:washing: broke yesterday. Doesn’t it know I have mounds of laundry to do? Doesn’t it know we, five "we’s" actually, just returned from not one, but two Thanksgiving week trips; :car:Ohio and Philly:car:…I have suitcases full of laundry! Doesn’t it remember putting all my laundry on hold so my DD, home from college could do all her mounds of laundry before we left? My poor dryer…it’s old:closedeyes:…it’s moved houses with us…it no longer remembers anything…it has, as my children say to me when I forget something, it has “old-timers”. I put in a white load this morning…all was well with Ms. Washer…after all, she was repaired (yet again, after another flood) recently. But when I went to close Mr., Dryer, the tiny piece of metal that sticks out (maybe that’s why it’s a Mr.) to tell it the door is shut broke off (ouch, sorry Mr.). Of course the dryer won’t run without knowing the door is shut…I tried to tell it, yes the door is shut…I even tried to push a paper clip in the hole where the metal came from…no luck…but maybe I WAS lucky…I didn’t think to unplug Mr. Dryer before I shoved a paper clip into that hole…HEY, it’s 220V, I could have been electrocuted!!:scared2:   I called DH-Mr.SA, and he called his new best friend Art-the-repair-man. Let me go back…A few years back when the appliances started to fail, we called the company for a repair person…we got a $295 bill for a $12 fuse and <10 min. repair.:biggrin: So the next time one failed Mr.SA decided he was going to try his hand at appliance repair. Do you know there are online sites where you “diagnose” the problem and then buy their parts and follow the online instructions. Sounds like those medical sites doesn’t it…Oh, how my Dr. loves when I go there…diagnose yourself…very scary business….you end up thinking your have all kinds of horrible things…but I’ve digressed…anyhoooo…Mr.SA confidently tried his hand at the diagnosis and the repair…twice, actually…he admitted defeat only when he had no clean underwear left. In marches the local repair man, Art (no expensive company men for us anymore). Nice old guy…and he loves my old washer and dryer “don’t makem’ like that anymore! Those new ones have a computer board…$500 for the smallest problem…can’t fix just a part on those!” Don’t tell Mr.SA, but I ratted him out to Art, just in case he’d done more damage…after Art was done laughing he replaced my $12 fuse, charged me $50 for the house-call and gave me his card with strict instructions not to let my DH touch the machines. He’s been back every 3-6 months since then and Mr.SA usually hurries home to meet him…yep, I’m at home, but Mr.SA, who fancies himself the ultimate handyman (actually he’s very handy…most of the time) loves to chat it up with anyone who touches anything on our house.   So today he called his best bud Art. I get a frantic call back from Mr.SA saying I have to meet Art at a local gas station in just a few minutes…he’s booked solid today…so he’s giving us the part…no time to explain. :driving:I rush to the gas station where Art meets me with a smile… “No charge for the little part!”…tell me there aren’t honest repairmen in the world anymore! I smile and wish him a happy holidays and tell him I’m sure we’ll be seeing him soon (unfortunately)…he rushes off shouting out the truck window “It’s an easy repair, but tell your DH to call me tomorrow if he has any problems!” Problems? What problems…of course…why else would we be getting the part…why wasn’t I thinking…he’s put Mr.SA in charge of the repair!!!! I’m thinking as I drive home…doesn’t Art remember how he met us…doesn’t he remember my story of the two failed repairs…has Mr.SA schmoosed him into thinking he can handle this? :unsure:Now I’m getting nervous…after all, I have MOUNDS of laundry…the natives are getting restless…last pairs of clean underwear! Mr.SA gets home tonight beaming in anticipation… “Where’s the part?”… “On top of the dryer.”:thumbup:…I’m trying to be supportive… “Whoops!” I hear from the laundry room…my heart beats faster…whoops?.:car:..he busted something else already??… “I guess I didn’t explain the problem/part very well…he gave me the actual latch for the door…the wrong part!” :party: I guess we’ll be seeing old Art soon (maybe he’ll learn his lesson this time). My wet whites load is now out of the dryer hanging all over the house…at least we have clean underwear this time…even if it’s stiff!:biggrin3:
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12/2/08 Consult Scheduled!

OK, since my seminar I’ve been putting off calling to schedule my consult with the surgeon. I found it interesting that AGH (Hospital) leaves it in your hands to call them to schedule if you are interested and you can see the surgeon as soon as you want to. :biggrin: The other two hospitals I went to say they’ll call you to let you know if you are “accepted” into the program or not, and you can’t consult with the surgeon until a certain point in their programs. So I could see the surgeon right away…nice, right? So why was I putting it off?:scared2: I think I felt like I wouldn’t get many of these visits unless there was a reason for more (maybe just one, not sure), so I wanted to have all my questions in line (I’m anal about researching things). I kept saying “I’ll call tomorrow”.:biggrin3:   As we are literally walking out the door to leave for Philly for the Thanksgiving holiday the phone rings. My DH-Mr.SA says (trying to mumble) “It’s Allegheny General for you.” Mind you, I’ve decided not to tell anyone but DH-Mr.SA and here were my 3 children standing in the kitchen, ready to get in the car. I think my oldest, DD home from college, may now suspect something since I left LBT up on my computer and she used it to check her emails :car:(and I over reacted when I saw her on it). I don’t really mind that she knows, I just don’t want her to be disappointed in me if I don’t succeed. So I turn bright red:blushing: in front of the kids and grab the phone. “You attended our seminar about a month ago and we were wondering if you were interested in setting up a consult appointment with the surgeon?” Now I’m grabbing my calendar and running to the other room.:thumbup: He had an opening Dec. 23, which at first pass sounded awful because I know I’ll be busy with Christmas prep, but after a second I realized it’s also a day DH-DH is off so he can go with me.:wub::wub: If he’s my only support then I guess it’s good he knows what to expect after. Plus he was traveling and didn’t make the AGH seminar, so it will be a chance for him to meet the Dr. So…Consult scheduled…now back to my list of questions for the surgeon (why am I so nervous about this?)!:party:
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12/1/08 We Are.....!!!

It was the day before Thanksgiving and we’re packing up the car to go to go to Philly to my SIL/In-laws. We’re trying to get out the door by lunchtime because we know how bad the PA Turnpike gets this day. Side note: You pay a toll to take your life into your (white knuckled) hands to tailgate at 65 mph; :car::car:leave more then two car-lengths and someone darts in front of you (no turn signal, no smile, no wave…Happy Holidays to you too!), causing you to slam on the brakes and wonder if the car tailgating you will soon be in your backseat! :scared2: Back to the story…I finally got my three teens (DD is now 21 actually) out of bed and packing up their final items around 10am (this is early for some of them…teens!). My middle one (DS-18) comes up from the basement beaming.:biggrin: PAUSE right there! This alone is a holiday miracle…he’s going through that moody-teen:glare:Ask-your-teenager-now-while-they-still-know-everything phase:sneaky:…so moments of “beaming” are a rare commodity! He announces “I got accepted into the Engineering school at Penn State main campus!!! Whoo-Hoo!!”:party:(insert us jumping up and down here). Those of you that know PSU, know what a feat it is to get accepted to main campus your Freshman year (most go to a satellite their first 2 years). He’s a very smart kid (National Honor Society), but isn’t the best test taker (psyches himself out:scared2:). He took a course and studied for the SAT, 2 hours almost every day for months, and then took it several times. He thought he wanted to go to Ohio State “OH”… “IO”!!! (DH-Mr.SA and my alma-mater), but he missed the out-of-state scholarship by a mere 10 points on the SAT, so it was just too expensive to go there…He was crushed,:hurt:but I kept telling him things happen for a reason. Since then :pray2:we’ve been waiting:toetap05: for the acceptance letters online everyday, so this was welcome news indeed! He is totally thrilled (and we are too! He deserves this after all that hard work!...dilemma:confused3:...who will we root for at the PSU-OSU game next year?)! One of his best friends that he played on the soccer team and ref’d with got accepted as well (also engineering) so they’re making plans to room together. My niece is a junior there now, so she was thrilled when we got to her home for Thanksgiving and he told her. The chant around our house now is… :thumbup:“WE ARE” … “PENN STATE”:biggrin3:!!!
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11/25/08 Saying Goodbye

We’re off tomorrow :driving:for the holiday to DH-Mr.SA’s Family. I’ve been finding myself saying goodbye to certain foods already (does anyone else do that?)…strange since I’m still 6 mo. from the band. It’s mainly those items I don’t get often, like this past weekend at my parent’s house we were celebrating early Christmas…I found myself relishing Mom’s :drool:homemade pumpkin roll and her strawberry salad (she only makes once a year). Now I’m already looking forward to, and mourning the future loss of,:cool: the stuffing and pumpkin pie on Thursday. I know I’ll get tastes of things in the future, but it’s like saying goodbye to a good friend (OK, maybe a friend you thought was a good friend, but was really stabbing you in the back:sneaky:…I see it’s time to start that mindset change).:confused: HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!
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