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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.
Band_Groupie

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10/12/09 I?m Seeing Red

To finish my vacation adventures (sorry for my acrophobic ‘safety’ issues in the last blog LOL)….   After driving out the East gate of the Grand Canyon, we stopped in Cameron for lunch. We headed down to Sedona with side trips to the Wupatki Indian ruins (we decided we’re not ‘ruins’ people after stopping at several as we thought they all looked the same) and then to Sunset Crater; an old volcano (we both loved the lava fields…my geologist DH was in heaven). We also stopped at the overlook in Oak Creek Canyon to get a great view of the switchback road we’d be driving down and the cliffs.   We checked into our hotel, grabbed a glass of wine and walked to the edge of the mesa the hotel is on where we sat on a rock to watch the sunset overlooking the red rocks of West Sedona and then to dinner.   We were up at dawn to watch the sunrise and hiked around the base of Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. Got some breakfast and then we decided (well, I picked two and let DH chose) to do a harder hike (labeled ‘Moderate’ instead of ‘Easy’); and he picked Doe Mountain. I thought it would be OK, since the hike was only a mile and a half up about 500’ to the top of a mesa and then several miles around the mesa top…and heck, I’d just done so great hiking into the Grand Canyon and all (what I didn’t know then…). We arrived at the trailhead and signed in (in case you disappear from the face of the Earth they know where to start looking for your body). We saw some others on their way up and passed a few on their way down. The trail was steep switchbacks on one side of the mesa and was a pretty good, but skinny path. I was doing OK until about 1/3 of the way up and then as I followed DH the trail seemed to deteriorate. We were suddenly on a VERY narrow path, but we could still follow it, with the cliff on the side and then it got even worse…we were ducking under bushes and near the top we were climbing straight up rock faces and trying to wedge our fingers and toes into the crevices so we could climb. About this time I’m cursing the Red Rock Ranger station for labeling this a ‘Moderate’ hike…and screaming ‘If they call this ‘Moderate’ what the heck do they call ‘Hard’? I about need some ropes and carabineers to get up these rocks as it is! This is supposed to be HIKING! NOT rock climbing!!!’ Well, I made it up the last steep section with DH bracing me at points and then up the last rock ‘chute’ to the top of the mesa. The plants here were very spaced out with wide areas between them. We followed the ‘trail’, which quickly disappeared, but it was no problem as the instructions said it circled the edge of the mesa, so we just stayed near the edge. We got to the edge overlooking Sedona and sat for a snack/water and to take some photos. About that time I had to ‘go’, badly…so I found the tallest ‘bush’ I could to crawl under (about 4’ tall) and had DH be the lookout…we hadn’t seen anybody since the beginning of the trail. Sure enough here comes a helicopter! I scrambled to finish as DH said he was told to lookout for hikers, not helicopters…smarta$$. Off we went to circle the edge back to the trailhead. There was no path to be found, but we knew we’d find the trailhead down if we just stayed on the edge. After another hour and it looked like only ½ the mesa circled to us, we ran into the lady we had seen going up the trail before we’d started. She was completely lost and had been circling the mesa for a long time. After some discussion on not being able to see our parking lot/cars from where we were and our experience from where we’d just been, we decided to forgo the other ½ of the mesa’s edge and cut across it to take a peek on the other side (she was an experienced hiker from Colorado).   We were joking along to each other about how we were glad we’d signed in below…perhaps a helicopter would come by before dark…could we spell ‘HELP’ with rocks…etc, etc. Another ½ hour picking through some thicker brush and getting stabbed by cactus plants and we came to the other side. We saw the cars far below and set out along the edge to where we thought the trailhead would be. I swallowed my pride and discussed how much more difficult I’d thought the trail up was (wondering how I was going to get down all those rock faces) and to my surprise she complained as well and described the same problems coming up. Soon we saw another couple and after calling to them, to our relief they were at the top of the trailhead (they had just gone a short way onto the mesa and returned the same way…thank goodness someone had some sense). DH and I then realized it would have taken us several hours more to get here if we had circled the entire mesa…it was MUCH larger than we thought and the top loop could not have included the entire mesa.   We started down the path with our new group and we weren’t 2 minutes down the second switchback when I knew we were walking much further West than we’d been on the way up (I could tell from looking at our cars far below). Just as I thought that the lost Coloradoan said the same thing! Suddenly, we were all describing our rock climbing on the way up and the other couple was laughing at us…apparently, the three of us had gotten off the normal trail! They thought they’d seen the point where we’d made a wrong turn on the way up because they’d almost done the same thing. Well let me tell you, we were laughing the whole way down…it was a much longer trip on the way down then the route we’d taken, but at least I was walking and not climbing! I should have known better than to let DH lead…he’s got a terrible sense of direction, and like any man, he’d never admit he was lost of ask for directions. We were happy to cross our names off the sign-in as we returned and I parted from our company with ‘Thank-you.’ and ‘Happy Trails!’ as they laughed. We cleaned up back at the hotel where DH and I used tweezers to get out the small cactus needles and he even had one huge one that was about 4” into his thigh…that’ll teach him not to ask for a women’s help!   We drove up to Oak Creek Canyon for our last trail that afternoon. It’s its own microclimate of lush foliage and tall pines along a creek in the middle of that desert. It was a cool, tranquil FLAT hike…just what we needed. We said goodbye to the red rocks of Sedona and to Arizona as we woke to our first rain (made it easier to part) the next morning for our flight home. It’s a beautiful place.
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12/27/08 It's a Wonderful Life!

Like I said, Christmas was wonderful…so I’ll warn you what’s to follow is all that “It’s a Wonderful Life” stuff. I’d like to say everyday around here is like that, but you already know it’s not, so I’ll just dwell on this one very special day…actually, it wasn’t even an entire day of bliss as we all didn’t get enough sleep so we were all getting a little crabby by the time we went to bed, but let’s just pretend and say it was a whole wonderful day. We’d stayed up playing board games with the kids until almost midnight on Christmas Eve, so everyone slept in a little (not long enough, like I said). We got started with cutting the stair ribbon and finding the pickle ornament (see blog here). We opened the gifts one by one and took a break midway for breakfast. The kids had fun with our “Thanks for the Memories” gifts (see blog here) and we had a lot of laughs over them (although DS1 guessed he’d be getting a piece of the car). DD got lots of new work clothes, which she loved, since she’s graduating in Spring (and we’re all saying prayers that in this economy she’ll still be able to find her dream job, or at least A job). I spent about 2 weeks on eBay buying new items for her, so I was able to get a lot of great brands (it’s all about the brand names, especially when you’re 21) and stretch the budget. DS1 got a lot of college room gear and Penn State apparel (so he can fully participate in the stadium ‘white outs') for his new home next fall; once again “WE ARE…”!! DS2 got some toys, clothes (since he informed us this year he’s tired of only hand-me-downs) and lots of guitar accessories. When they thought it was over and we’d cleaned up, I sent one of the kids to the basement fridge to get some milk. We had each of their big gifts, a Santa gift (like DS2 guitar amp…yes, we’re nuts…it’s SO loud), sitting out unwrapped in the basement that they happened upon as a surprise. It wasn’t the “stuff” but the special moments I’ll remember most. It’s so nice just celebrating with our family now (we used to always travel to grandparents, which was great fun, but way more stressful for the parents) as you can really savor the experience (One of my neighbors came to borrow an ingredient for baking about mid-day and she looked as frazzled as I used to with her house full of company…she must have said three times how nice it was for me just to be celebrating with my family and how much she wanted to do just that. Poor thing, I gave her an extra hug as she left…I’ve been there). It’s nice to see my teens thanking and hugging each other. The kids really put a lot of thought into their gifts this year and I love to watch their faces as they gave their gifts and watched the person open them. My DD ordered some really unique items online that fit everyone’s interests perfectly. She said there’s online sites where you can put in people’s interests and it brings up gift suggestions from lots of shops. I guess she thinks my hobby is drinking LOL. She ordered a special frame for me that fits rows of wine corks that she glued in to make a cork board (I had a big bowl of them sitting on the bar in the basement…and it was 8 years worth of corks, I swear!). Dinner was wonderful. Everyone pitched in and we had the whole turkey and stuffing dinner. The kids got into a whole discussion about how nice the dining room is, especially with all the decorations (Who ARE these kids?). I about fell out of my chair…it was enjoyable for me to listen to them go on and on, as we don’t eat in their often, but I really try to make it special at Christmas. My MIL gave me her old Christmas china last year (since I’m such a Christmas nut) and I received some serving pieces this year so it was all laid out on a shiny gold tablecloth. I painted above the wainscoting a deep red and we had the chandelier dimmed and candles going everywhere with gold and red ornaments and glass bead garlands sparkling everywhere. But again, WHO ARE THESE KIDS that they would even notice the dinner, let alone the room their eating it in? As we finally fell into bed, even Mr.SA who isn’t sappy or sentimental in the least, commented on those special moments. Now that our youngest is 13 and officially a teen, I thought some of the ‘kid’ magic would go out of Christmas. But it’s a different kind of Christmas and a different magic now. Each of our ‘teens’ is transforming into their own person, an adult, and it’s a wonderful and magical thing to see that happen.
Band_Groupie

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12/28/08 Awareness- Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head

Soooooo? How are you doing with all the food this holiday?   I feel terribly guilty telling all you banders (pre-band here, just trying to maintain) that I gained a full two pounds since this holiday season began and I know, I know, the holidays ‘aint over yet! If that’s any indication of the fun I’ve had then I’m having a great time…and I know, I know…time to redefine fun! I am becoming aware how much food and fun are integrated into my life. Actually I didn’t think I went totally crazy with the food; at least not as crazy as I normally would have. I did savor all those items that I knew I probably won’t be able to eat again post-band. Like the HUGE ball of sticky sage stuffing at Christmas dinner. This stuff-stuffing gets ‘stuck’ in my normal stomach (you could stucco walls with it), so I’m sure this won’t work next year. I’m pretty sure I even broke the family cardinal rule of ‘Never eat anything bigger than your head’ at that meal (the whole meal, not just the stuffing). This rule is just a joke between us, but I think I ACTUALLY broke it…Yep, I’ve also become acutely aware of the amount of food I can pack in with no problem. It’s kinda like playing ‘Biggest Loser’ when they show contestants what they normally ate in one day and they act so surprised…if you go along never paying attention, then you can’t fully appreciate the change you need to make. I still can’t believe I’ll ever be satisfied with a cup of food or less…it sounds like magic or a miracle to me right now.   So in this pre-op period where I'm trying to lose a few pounds. I'm trying to do what I can to prepare and one thing I have been trying to work on is the whole ‘awareness’ thing. It’s becoming quite the head game I found I’ve been playing…trying to pay attention to the massive amounts I can eat…trying to listen to my stomach…I’ve found I’m rarely actually hungry when I eat (that’s what happens when you’re eating all the time even when you’re full). Of course, I usually don’t catch myself before I eat yet…sometimes I’m taking my last bite of something and I’ll suddenly think “Why the heck did you just eat that? I don’t even remember getting the food!” Mindless eating…again! And OMG I’m AMAZED at how many food, exercise and diet/diet drug commercials are on TV (and now Lap Band ones too)! I guess this is the season for new diets and new resolutions. Can I just say here that I tip my hat to all of you who have gotten banded in the last few months, NO…I bow down to you...I think it would be particularly hard this time of year…I’d have to turn the TV off or get Tivo so I could skip all the commercials!   Anyway, I’m hoping that starting this ‘awareness’ now will help me some with the transition to the band…it can’t hurt, right? One of my biggest fears is the ‘head hunger’ thing and getting through that. As a pro-dieter (as in ‘very experienced’, not ‘in favor of’) I know first hand how hard that part can be…I can lose lots of weight, I just can’t keep it off. While dieting I always felt like I was starving and all I thought about was food, or tracking food, or weighing food, or planning meals with food, or buying food, or exercising so I could burn more calories so I could have another bite of food…you get the picture. I’m soooooo praying that the Lap Band will help extinguish that hunger and even more, the obsession. I’m hoping by next Christmas that I’ll have good restriction and food will no longer be in control…I’ll be about 6 mo. post-op then. See?...I’m also trying to get my head around how long it will probably take to get the band working for me! So there’s another thing I need to work on…realistic expectations. Time for new rules...like ‘Never eat anything bigger than your fist' (or is that too big)?
Band_Groupie

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4/29/11 They're Coming To Take Me Away

*Note: I just added my last 5 blogs here today and only this one shows up on the 'blogs' page (You'll have to click on 'The Sweet Spot' next to my name on the blogs page to view the other four). I'm losing it...No, not weight (still in my 155 holding pattern). I'm losing my mind.   I went to see my surgeon, but I'll get to that in a moment (stay tuned for some LB info. below). I've been working on making pillows for the great room. I found the same fabric as is on the new recliners at JoAnn's. So I made four throw pillows for the couches. Then I recovered the bench cushion for the church pew to match (not shown yet). I stood back to admire my work and realized that I'd gone all Maria Von Trap with only one fabric...and it was the only fabric in the room (no window treatments in this room)...more than a little too matchy-matchy.   So, back to JoAnn's for some more pillows (I decided to try my hand at some fancy pillows for the pew, since it's not sat on unless we have a crowd) and after bringing home lots of swatches I picked four new fabrics. Off to the fabric store once more and I found three of them and put them in the cart to be cut. Half-hour later and I still couldn't find the fourth fabric, so I asked an employee for help...in answer to the her question 'No, I have no clue which section of the fabrics I got the swatch from'. She found it in minutes and put it on the cutting table for them to cut for me.   Home again and I start cutting my shapes for the pillows...hmmm...this fourth fabric has some snags and looks like it wont hold up very well...I start pondering going back for a different fabric...and then...   ...the lightbulb goes off...     ...I'm looking at the backside of the fabric!   ...OMG, no wonder I couldn't find the fabric! It's solid, but more golden on the back and has a totally different weave (of course, stupid). I curse my blonde hair. So I also decided to make pillows for the recliners. And here are my fancy pillows and cushion for the pew (I just looked at images on Google to get some ideas to copy). Tons of work with different trims or beading on each one, and I'm not sure I even like them (the contrast of the cream fabric bugs me), but I'm hoping they'll grow on me.       *Portion of Post Deleted For LB Book   Follow me here: http://bandgroupiethesweetspot.blogspot.com/  
Band_Groupie

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7/27/09 Murphy and the Grad Party- Part I

Sorry, I've been gone from here for 10 days, so it's a two part blog.   Murphy’s Law: “If something can go wrong, it will”…seems to be the theme of my life the last few weeks. Nothing traumatic, just life picking on me again. I, however, have survived and am victorious…well, sort'a. As you know I’ve been preparing for DS1’s HS graduation party yesterday…and you’ve heard me whining about trying to make the DVD slideshow of his pics. It was going slowly, but I was learning and slowly but surely I rummaged through my half-unorganized photos and managed to sort them by year (quite the feat), scan, crop, and individually save about 500 photos. Then Muphy’s Law kicked in…it went something like this…(or you can skip this part and just know that I’m severely technologically impaired.).   - My program was an older version of the one my Sis (middle one) had and trained me on…this caused some great difficulties figuring it out and a few items my program couldn’t do.   - Imported a large group of photos into the slideshow program (Movie Maker)…it mixed them all up…had to move them back into chronological order and by then the originals were back in the albums or boxes in a jumbled mess. Remember, I’ve got ‘old-timers’ (as my kids say) and I can’t remember what I did 5 min. ago let alone what year a pic was taken…I’m sure I guessed some of the years wrong, but no baby pics in the teen years LOL...it was 'close enough'. - Set a group of about half the photos into a new folder after they were done, went back to the slideshow and the photos were now just big red “X’s”. After much hysterics…well…it took some undoing. - After importing about 200 photos the slideshow program decided to slow down and continued to do so as I went…by number 500 there was a 30 second delay between each click on my mouse and when finalizing the transitions it would freeze the computer every 15 min. or so…VERY slow going.   Yes, I was ready to lose my mind, but I was determined to win the battle and finally, last weekend I finished…it was beautiful…13 pieces of music…500 pics…cool transitions…even a title and ending! Now, all that was left was to burn the DVD’s! Murphy’s Law again…   - I read the notes from the training with Sis, and realized I now needed to import the whole thing into yet another program…problem was, I didn’t have the program. DH and I spent last Saturday downloading other programs online and trying to burn the DVD with them to no avail.   - I finally admitted defeat and called Sis. Three hours later and many attempts later we figured out my older version could burn straight from there, but my problem was I didn’t have enough RAM to do this with such a big slideshow.   - I’ll wrap this up by telling you that I had to save all the photos and copy them onto DS1’s new college computer we bought him for graduation (after many promises that I wouldn’t blow anything up). Then…yes…I had to REDO the whole slideshow program again from music to photo transitions. I’ll just say that I had Sis in hysterics laughing at all the things that had gone wrong…the only thing that hadn’t happened was the computer completely crashing.   The only thing that saved me from chucking the whole thing was the fact that DS1’s computer is lightning fast and had the newer version of the program on it…well, that and the fact that I had a slideshow for DD’s graduation (one where all I did was scan the pics and paid to have the rest done…money WELL spent folks) so of course DS1, and everyone else was expecting one.   On to the next fun part of my last week. My second big job for the party was the quilt…you know the one where I’ve been saving all my kids T-shirts from every sport/activity they’ve been in since they were a tot and made them into a quilt…I put bands of white canvas between the T-shirt squares and at the party everyone takes a sharpie and writes messages/signs the quilt there. Well, after the DVD’s were finally burned last Monday morning I got back to working on this…thought I’d have weeks to do the quilt as the DVD was only going to take a few days after the scanning part…HA HA. I had most of the shirts cut and started piecing in the canvas. I was zipping along happily and was finally thinking that I’d be able to get caught up and finally start working on the food and other parts of the party. Yep, Murphy’s Law again…(or you can skip this part and just know that I’m cursed).   - The belt that drives my 53 year old Brother sewing machine broke…well, it didn’t just break…it looked like the rubber had been rotting slowly for years and now it was in pieces. Yes, I screamed...Did you hear me on Tuesday? - Many phone calls later the only tidbit of help I got from any store was a name of a store about an hour away where they might be able to fix it if I brought it in and left it for their repair guy….but that would take at least a week.   - More phone calls to every friend and neighbor…do you realize that no one sews anymore? Not a single soul I could find had a portable sewing machine.   - I admitted defeat and called Sis again (more sympathetic laughter) and she agrees to pick up Mom’s portable and bring it on Friday when she arrives a day early to help me with the party.   On to Part II....
Band_Groupie

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5/24/09 Speed Racer

I jinxed myself. Here I am giving you all advice about driving, signs and the traffic on this holiday weekend. DD went camping and boating to a lake here in PA (about 3 hours from here) with a bunch of her friends this weekend. She drove a group and the last thing I said to her was ‘Drive safely!’ An hour later I got a call…her voice was shaking and it freaked me out ‘Mom?’...me ‘IS EVERYONE OK?!!’…Her ‘I got a SPEEDING TICKET!!!’ …me…just breathing again. It was her first ticket. Remember how I told you all to watch the speed limits as you drove through unfamiliar streets? Hmmm…should have reminded her. She was on one of those 4 lane rural roads that has stop lights and a few businesses every once in awhile to somewhere she’s never been. The speed limit kept changing from 65 to 55…well she was caught speeding in a 45 mph zone; didn’t see the sign changing the speed limit. She was so upset…of course ‘everyone around her was going the same speed’. It’s a good lesson. We had a ‘teachable moment’ discussion and she calmed down. I only hope it doesn’t hinder her from getting good car insurance when she moves out of here and can’t be on our policy anymore. I’m just SO relieved it wasn’t a wreck and everyone is safe. Oh, and the 8 yards of mulch is FINALLY done…we’re all exhausted, but now we can enjoy what’s left of our long weekend. I soaked in the jacuzzi tub for a half-hour and my muscles still hurt…black mulch…looks beautiful, but I have no fingernails left and my hands, even with garden gloves on, won’t come clean.
Band_Groupie

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12/29/08 It looks like someone threw up ornaments on our tree!

Kids say the darndest things…wasn’t that Art Linkletter’s show? I’ve been ‘waxing nostalgic’ here over all the holiday traditions and reminiscing over stories from holidays past in many of my blogs lately and today's no exception. As my DD and I were standing in the foyer today looking at the huge tree she began pointing out some of her favorite ornaments from years past. What a lovely moment we were having as once again we fondly remembered stories that went with each ornament, the giver, the funny story behind it, or why it had special meaning. Then she turns to me with a smile and says “Mom, it looks like someone threw up ornaments on our tree!”…I laughed and said “What does that mean?” “Well, most people have a tree that has a theme or something that ties it all together.” she continued “You need another tree or something; there’s SO MANY ornaments.” I gave this some thought…Well, I have some things that tie it together; the dried baby’s breath that looks like snow, the huge bow at the top with ribbons cascading down and all the little bows, the red candles clipped to the branch ends and there are those popcorn strings we strung so many years ago and still use. Then I thought about other trees…I have a neighbor who has a beautiful tree with nothing but Hallmark ornaments she’s collected for years, and another neighbor with matching balls that are color coordinated to her room decorating. I do have that tiny kitchen tool tree on my counter, and Mr.SA has his collection of nothing but wooden Steinbach German ornaments on his skinny tree in the Family Room, but she’s right…our huge fresh-cut tree is packed full with so many ornaments of all shapes and themes. I make ornaments out of everything. There’s the gods-eye made with sticks and multi-colored yarn that I made when I was at Girl Scout Camp one summer and the tiny red license plate with Mr.SA’s name that used to hang from the seat of his very first bicycle. There’s the favorite bunny pacifier holder that was always pinned to my youngest DS’s shirt and the pink sparkly barrette that DD bought me at her Secret Santa shop at school one year. There are the little baubles we picked up in each of the countries at EPCOT and something from every other family trip we’ve been on. Of course there are all the ornaments we’ve made or bought for each other over the years. Yes, my tree is just like my house and its many collections…I explained to her it does have a theme…memories…and lots of them.
Band_Groupie

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1/22/09 A Busy Week

Well, my computer is still down. The 3rd power cord arrived (Dell) and now it gives me a new error message…grrr! I’ll let Mr.SA deal with it next week (traveling this week) with the guy he gets to fix our computers near his workplace. You don’t realize how much you rely on your computer until it’s gone! I’m supposed to be logging my food intake online, but with limited access, that’s been stalled.   I’ve been so busy the last week since I last checked in here. Got DD on Saturday (in a snowstorm and self-navigating several accident detours) from college…it was scary on those steep, ice covered, back roads (I need 4-wheel drive). We saw another accident on the accident detour…truck halfway in a ditch and they were trying to rock it out). DD had 2 Dr. re-check appts. scheduled for Tues. She woke up and was ill/pain Tues. around 4am (so bad she was numb and almost fainted- low blood pressure probably), but we made it to her pre-arranged Internist visit at 8:20am, but now the recheck took a new turn. The Internist ordered 5 new tests and gave her a new med Rx (the pain was short-lived so we’re hoping it wasn’t related and was just an intestinal virus). We flew downtown to Magee Hospital for her 10am re-check appointment only to find out her appointment wasn’t until 1pm (remind me to double-check times with DD…I love my DD). I decided to make the best of it and after MUCH finagling, begging, and phone calls we were able to get 3 of the new tests completed there, 1 started, the rest scheduled for the hospital near her college, and we had lunch in the cafeteria. I think I now know every waiting room and lab at Magee intimately now…we sat in the last one for 2 ½ hours. We didn’t get out of there until after 4pm, so we were stuck in traffic and more snow squalls heading back to college…and we had to pick up some dinner…what a long day. DD was laughing and calling it our ‘Magee Bonding Day’…yeah, I love you honey but, funny…not! The good news is that the test results we have so far are all good news.   DS1 had his scoping procedure done yesterday and everything is clear. He was the last of us to go in for this. I was talking to the Gastroenterologist after the procedure and as DS1 was waking up from his ‘twilight’ anesthesia…he hears the Dr. saying ‘return in 3 years’ and DS1 wakes up and yells for all in the recovery room to hear...‘I have to drink all that S#@T again in 3 MONTHS??!!’…lovely language from my 18 year old…don’t you love it when your kids embarrass you?... ‘no honey, it’s 3 YEARS’…he doesn’t even remember it happening. Remind me to thank DH for being away on business all this week. Anyway, it’s all good...the Genetics Counselor said we don’t need genetic testing at this point (great news) and so we don’t have to all go through this again for 2-5 years depending on the person (We’re going professional then…with the prep/process…I’ve got it down pat).   Now onto my LB process…I’ve made my Cardiac MRI appointment the surgeon ordered and also my Cardiologist visit. I’m done with all this stuff by mid-February. I’m still a little confused as to how surgery might happen by the end of April. I don’t finish my 6 mo. diet until the beginning of April. I called about the Pre-Op group class I have to take with the Surgeon’s office, which is only offered twice a month, and apparently you can’t schedule that until everything is turned into the insurance co. at which point the surgeon gives me a tentative surgery date. There was also some Lab Work mentioned and I’m not clear when that happens either. I’m thinking it will be early May before surgery…great, I’ll be on that lovely pre-op diet for DH's 50th and my 49 7/8 birthdays the end of April (born on the same day). That’s OK though, DD graduates beginning of May and DS1 the beginning of June. I’m thinking I can schedule between the two as I’ll have a house full of company and parties for both events. If I align this perfectly I’ll have about 3 weeks max. to heal before the second event...and I'm not telling anyone so I have to be 'huggable' by then (hmm…maybe 2 ½ with all the prep work for the huge H.S. graduation party…hmm…maybe more like 2 if they can’t schedule me the day after my company leaves the first time...I'm living in my la-la land again aren't I?). I’d better be one of those Banders who posts ‘Yeah, I was home the same day and was fine..out shopping the next day…back to work the same week’…I’m counting on it or I’m taking your names and comin’ after you!!!
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3/19/09 Party Hopping, shopping, mopping...never stopping...finally popping!

Yep, April will be my month this year. I’m sure it will all be a blurrrr.r.r.r.r..r..r..r. I’m party planning today. I’ve got to get moving on this as we’re all graduating soon…Me, to a new life with the LB hopefully near the middle of April; DD from college May 3, and DS1 from H.S. June 5. In between all these is DS1's 19th birthday May 15, and DH and my 27th Anniversary on April 24, and did I mention my 50th birthday is April 27 and DH’s 50th birthday is on April 28th; but we were actually born on the SAME day….HOW’s that? Glad you asked! …I’m letting you ponder it a minute…… TIME’s UP! DH was born on an U.S. Army base in Japan…so his Mom actually gave birth on the other side of the world 2 hours earlier than mine (time zones and all that)…cool huh? DH loves to say that he married an older woman…I just smile and nod…yep, I’m a…what’aya call it…cougar…I’m not about to explain that he’s actually 2 hours older. I’m thinking we’ll be keeping the Anniversary and the Birthday’s low key this year as, according to some on LBT, I may be sipping broth and sleeping in a recliner still post-surgery. If so, it will still be the best birthday ever! So mainly I’m planning the older 2 kids graduations. I’m sending out emails today and making lots of lists (being my usual anal OCD-tendency self) about all the things that I need to do. Lordy, the outside work alone will take me several weeks…I hope it warms up soon! Time to fly.
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12/31/08 The Fat Lady Has Sung!

Goodbye 2008! It’s fading fast and the fat lady WILL sing tonight…this fat lady that is. It’s sooooo over! I have bigger and better plans for 2009 so I’m welcoming it in with style. My sister (#3 out of the 5 of us) called and canceled their trip here today from Ohio because she’s sick, so I’m a little down. My kids were all so looking forward to them coming. They have four boys similar in ages to my kids so they’ve grown up together and are great friends. We love having family for New Years. We even had all 16 (all but the Chicago gang) to our house for the Millenium for a slumber party…great fun! Anyway, we took the kids to a movie this afternoon (Benjamin Buttons) and now we’re getting ready to party. I helped DD get ready for ‘Plan B’ and she just left with the boyfriend for Pittsburgh in her skinny red party dress. DS1 has to work for awhile (restaurant server). Over the years, Mr.SA and I have done it all…parties, clubs, but when the kids were little we mostly stayed home or had neighbor parties. If you’ve been following my life at all you won’t be surprised to hear I had an evil New Year’s plan. I went around the house in the afternoon and turned all the clocks ahead two hours. It was great…we counted down with the kids until midnight and celebrated the whole shebang; party hats, noise makers, party poppers with confetti…it was fun. Of course, my neighbors probably thought we were crazy banging pans on our front porch at 10:00pm, but the kids were so happy they were able to stay awake until the New Year (well, sort of), and we had a peaceful hour or so after they went to bed to ring in the New Year. This went on WAY more years than we even hoped it would…then one fine year my oldest (DD) heard about the “ball drop” from someone at school…darn that TV…foiled again! I’ve since confessed to my evil plan, and the kids think it’s hilarious (well, sort of). So now I’m all dolled up with nowhere to go (well we were invited to a neighbor party, so not quite)…but it’s OK…I’ve got my party hat on and party poppers ready to go…we’re ringing in this New Year in style…the fat lady is singing tonight…she’s going DOWN in 2009! Happy New Year all! "Auld Lang Syne" (times gone by) Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind ?   Should old acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?   CHORUS: For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne. And surely you’ll buy your pint cup! And surely I’ll buy mine! And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
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3/20/09 Spring Has Sprung!

7:44am EST…it’s official…Spring is HERE! Spring officially starts when the Sun strikes the Vernal Equinox, i.e., the time when the Sun strikes the Celestial Equator at 0º 0' 0"S declination for the Northern Hemisphere. Yes, I did the countdown…and it was more fun than New Year’s! We’re having record low’s today (of course); 26° right now and light snow flurries are coming down, but it’s all good. Even Mother Nature can’t keep Spring from arriving.   Yesterday we noticed our first crocuses blooming out front. They're in the flower beds at this house, but at my last house I planted them all through the front lawn (they die off before the first mowing). Yes, my neighbors thought I was nuts...I've wondered what the family that bought that house thought their first Spring there. I'll encourage you all to start a veggie garden this year, especially with the recession going on. Even if you have no 'plot' you can plant a tomato in a pot. Tomato Tips: -The tomato is a vine...give it a stick, deck rail, or something else you can attach the main stems to as it grows, and fertilize every month. -Buy a plant then bury 1/4-1/3 of the stem when you plant it (pinch the leaves off the buried part)...the stem will grow more roots and you'll have a really healthy plant. -Tomatoes get 'sucker shoots'. As the plant grows look where the branches attach to the main stem. In that 'crook' you'll see a baby stem starting to grow...pinch it off and you'll get healthier branches and more tomatoes. -Tomatoes like even, deep watering. ie. it's better to do one long heavy watering every other day and let it dry between than to water lightly 'willy-nilly' or flood it all the time (the roots will grow deeper looking for water=healthier plant, and you won't get tomato rot-black spots on the bottom). Add some lettuce seeds (easy from seed, fast growing, pick leaves from the outside of the plant as you need them, replant a new batch as you use them up or they start to send up a flower shoot-leaves get bitter then) and onion starts (look for them in the veggie plant section- they look like a bundle of almost dead green onions-below) in the pot around the base and you've got salad all summer!   WELCOME Spring!
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1/2/09 Winding Down

We had the last of the holiday shindigs yesterday, played our last board game (DD and I lost at “Battle of the Sexes”...stupid sports questions!...but the guys had no idea what to use to stop a run in a stocking- HA!) and I’m exhausted. My asthma couldn’t tolerate the fresh tree another day (my kids say I’m officially now a cough drop addict…do they have a 12 step program for that?...actually, I do think the lining of my mouth is getting burned from all the menthol eucalyptus!) so I defrocked the tree and stuffed it out the door. The un-decorating is so depressing really, isn’t it? My house is now a wreck of half-undecorated rooms, bins everywhere waiting to be repacked, cookie and candy crumbs in every corner, and let’s not mention those pine needles I’ll still be vacuuming up in June (Where the flip do they keep coming from?). As much as I’m the holiday queen, I’m always happy when things are back to normal…or maybe I’m just tired? So promise me I’ll have more energy next year when I have some of this weight off…won’t that be nice…turning 50 and having MORE energy…sweet! …zzzz:sleep:
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3/3/10 Blog Updates

Sorry, I'm a little behind with all of you as I've been having some issues (gallbladder, etc.). I'll get caught up today!   Here are my blogs about what's been going on, another nutrition blog on sweets, and my gift for reaching goal. Enjoy! Oh, and don't forget ANYONE can leave comments (just chose the anonymous and write your name so I'll know it was you, and just keep pushing that post/publish button, it's stubborn and takes several times and a word recognition). -BG   I'm Stoned: 3/2/10 I'm Stoned ~ THE SWEET SPOT Sweets and Sugar-Free: 3/1/10 Sweets & Sugar-Free ~ THE SWEET SPOT Dizzy Blonde: 3/1/10 Dizzy Blonde *Update* ~ THE SWEET SPOT My Sexy New IRS Friends: http://bandgroupiethesweetspot.blogspot.com/2010/02/22810-my-sexy-new-irs-friends.html
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11/10/10 That's Life!

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile...life threw me for another loop (it keeps life interesting, doesn't it?), but I'm back to (almost) normal now (or as normal as I'm willing to get...and 2 pounds up again grrr).   I was using a belt sander to take paint off some trim wood outside our house...I was up on a ladder, turned on the sander and...picture funniest home videos as it grabbed the wood and yanked me right off the ladder. Nothing broken, but lots of drugs to help the pain. I also had some increased restriction after the small refill. Details here: Stiff and Tight   If you're very brave, or just want a laugh read: Scary Story; How My Belly Button Is Like My Stoma   If your Doc doesn't allow NSAIDs with the LB read: Health Advocate and NSAIDs   Some updates and my LB Surgeon leaving here: Downs and Ups   Halloween Pics here: Happy Halloween   DS1 had emergency surgery, but is recovering well now and is back to class tomorrow. Quick (boring) updates here if you must know: 1, 2 & 3   A 'brain dump' about TV and technology as I was sitting at the hospital for the third day here: The Neverending Story   Lots of pics & my fashion history here today: Fashionista- What Goes Around...
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2/16/10 Before/After

I finally posted my Before, During, and almost After pics. Enjoy... Here: http://bandgroupiethesweetspot.blogspot.com/
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1/4/09 Come to the dark side...

My DD and I decided it would be fun to color and highlight each others hair over the break. In the spirit of having my 'girls club' established at home again, I went along with it willingly. I am now a brunette for the first time in my life. I promise to post a pic soon, now that we've got a digital camera to replace the old broken one. Only problem is I'm using Mr.SA's laptop as my DD cut the cord on mine:angry: while borrowing it and closed the recliner on it...so computer access is limited until my new cord arrives from eBay.   Anyhoo...I've always been a natural blonde, up until the time I started coloring my hair that is (I don't ever want to know what's really there now). I think my brain just grew two sizes:laugh:...ha, I wish!:thumbup: I thought a change of hair color would go right along with my other big changes coming this year...let's just say I hope my other decisions are better made, or maybe, like other things I just need to get used to the new me!:thumbdown:
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4/2/10 Blog Updates

3/22/10 7 Habits...Or Maybe 70... 3/23/10 Namaste 3/24/10 Tell All 3/24/10 I Died 3/25/10 I'm Coming Back Home (Parent's Move) 3/28/10 Prepped and Ready to Go 3/29/10 Surgery Update 3/30/10 A Bouncing Baby GB   3/31/10 b***h and Whine 4/1/10 Up 19 Pounds...and NowI know Why!! 4/1/10 Stiletto Award 4/2/10 My Crossover Addiction   All here: http://bandgroupieth...t.blogspot.com/
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4/1/11 Friday Facts

- I've decided to start dieting to get these last pounds off (Atkin's as that was my most successful diet, several times). YAY...all the bacon and cheese I can eat!     *Portion of Post Deleted For Lap Band Book   - You know that first bullet up there...April Fools! And no, I'm not making fun of those that follow Diets with the Band (do what works for you). Hey, I knew I couldn't pull the pregnancy card again.   - I started work on our Study I showed you (and DD's old room). I love blogging as it often helps me think things through and get new ideas (many from you)...I decided to "go shopping" in my own home and moved out two big pieces and moved in four smaller ones. DH got home late Saturday (poor guy/geez work...and it's a Sunday return this week), so Sunday I put him and DS2 to work moving all the furniture around to see how we liked it. When DH saw everything and where I was setting the small old TV (note here; this is not our main 'TV' spot-we have a nice flatscreen in the great room and a huge big screen in the basement), he decided he wanted to make his stamp on the 'new' room and went shopping.... I swear if 'She who dies with the most fabric wins!', is the women bumpersticker, then just replace 'Fabric' with 'TV's' for men!   I've got lots of furniture and shelf painting ahead of me, but I'm excited about the final plan (pics to come when it's done).   - My 'Martha Moment' this week: Remember the lamps for the Study I made, and that I noticed that the dried sheet moss had faded over time to a 'dead looking' brown? Well, I went out and bought new moss, but it wasn't as green as I wanted. I decided to try dying it with green food coloring in water...it worked...I started out covering (glue gunned on the moss) these topiaries that are also for the Study. I was dreading the lamps as I'd have to take all the glued on moss off the Styrofoam and replace it...and I wasn't sure how that would go (aka I was feeling lazy and knew it would be a ton of work). Then I had an idea...dye the faded moss that was already on it! A foam brush to dab on the solution...and voila! Think outside the box! (I wish being a 'green thumb' was always that easy!)   - I've been 'Spring Cleaning'; kids rooms and my art closet for the past month...have a huge pile for charity, but I let my kids decide what they wanted to keep and box up (mainly toys they aren't using anymore). I think they all got the 'hoarder' gene from DH and I. I now have boxes of trophies (that they'll never look at again, but don't know it yet) and sets of their favorite toys...hey, it's a small price to pay not to be 'that Mom' (the one that threw away all their things). I've still got lots to finish up.   - My middle Sis and her family are arriving tomorrow for their 'Spring Break' (I've been busy getting DD's empty/now 'guest room' back in order...shopped my house again and moved some furniture in)...'cause doesn't everyone want to vacation in Pittsburgh for their Spring Break (not much 'green' in sight herd, but hey my Snow Crocuses are blooming, and it's snowing...now who's playing the April Fools joke...snow in April?!!)? And no, I didn't know they were coming when I started the 'Spring Cleaning' so my house is a wreck and I'm cleaning like a wild woman. I'm so excited to see them!   - Had a 'drinking girls' lunch yesterday with a neighbor (somewhat like a 'working girls' lunch, but without the working)...no, I only had one glass of wine...I SO needed the break from the housework and DH doesn't get home until early Sunday morning, so no help in sight LOL! Back to work!   - 156 lbs., down 1 (again).   Happy Weekend Fools! I'd recommend the rubberband on the kitchen sprayer (if you have a separate one from the faucet)...lined up just right...gets 'em every year!
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4/9/09 The Continuing Saga of a Woman and Her Bladder

DD found a ride home from college (saved me a 4-5 hour trip tonight, whew), so I’m back from the track meet and all packed for the trip tomorrow, so onto my day…   Stop reading if you don’t want to read about my incontinence issues, yes…again (it never ends). I went in this morning (after taking DS1 to get blood work and to school) to get my ultrasounds done for the incontinence Dr. (Urology Specialist). After drinking the prescribed 32 oz. plus some an hour before the appointment, I arrived 15 min. early as instructed, full and ‘ready to go’. My appoinment time came and went...then I sat for another 15 min., then another 5…my back teeth were floating by then and my eyes starting watering…I crossed my legs and said a prayer of thanks that the good Dr. had put me on Vesicare, or it would have been all over by now. 5 more min…I’m in some serious pain…and then I gave up…I walked up to the receptionist (with my knees locked together) and asked politely for the bathroom key. ‘Oh, but I think they need your bladder full for this procedure’. I glanced around at the men sitting in the quiet waiting room...OK, I'm way beyond caring. I nicely said ‘I understand that, but they are late for my appointment and I have to go NOW!’ (Do they understand that I am here for an incontinence issue??!! What about a full bladder and having to wait longer than expected don’t they understand??!!!) She saw the desperation in my eyes…or maybe it was the tears of pee streaming down my face…either way, she showed me right in.   The tech lady had a ‘trainee’ gentleman with her, so I tried to be brave. The rest was textbook, well sort of…ultrasound of my bladder (yeah, push on my bladder a little harder with that thing…I dare you), then kidneys, then ovaries (do you know your ovaries move around with age, yes, even without a hysterectomy…I thought that was interesting). Then she handed me the lubed up ‘probe’ and asked me to place it up the vajay-jay (Oprahism). She sought out the ovaries internally…all I’ve got to say is that I’m glad she knows what she’s doing…looking for a baby on an ultrasound is a piece of cake compared to finding ovaries that are no longer where they are supposed to be (I think mine were touching...awww, cute). Even looking at the screen it all looked like fog to me…no dark spots, no light spots. Don’t you always try to read the tech’s face just to know that they didn’t find something bad? Am I the only one who thinks I’ll be watching the tech’s face and they’ll gasp when they find the 70 lb. tumor (that’ll explain the weight gain anyway). Sometimes I can even get something out of them…this one wasn’t budging, not a thing…I even pulled the ‘I’m having abdominal laparoscopic surgery in less than 2 weeks.’ Nothing…no indication…I’ll get the results by Monday. I’ll try to post about my pre-op visit today this weekend…it was…interesting.
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4/20/10 Blog Updates

Sorry, I'm behind on the Updates...too busy this month LOL!   4/7/10 The Chasm That Is Now My Belly Button   4/7/10 The Black Hole 4/8/10 Gen's Request for Monthly Numbers 4/9/10 **PLEASE READ** 4/10/10 Feel the LB Love 4/17/10 I'm Back 4/18/10 Who ARE you People? 4/19/10 Book Input; Your 'Moment' 4/19/10 Book; Why you chose LB? 4/20/10 New Sig   All here: http://bandgroupieth...t.blogspot.com/   *Don't forget, anyone can comment...just use the anonymous button under comments and keep pushing post to get the word verification
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1/26/09 Total Eclipse of the Heart

So this morning was my pre-op Cardiac MRI. I was downtown at AGH (hospital) early and after muddling through registration I finally navigated my way through the halls to the right elevator. The hospital must have had a million additions to it over the years…it’s like being a rat in a maze..you know, lab rat…fitting.:cheatfree: I finally found myself in the bowels of the earth with no one else around and found the two solid doors that read ‘Cardiac MRI’ waiting room...my luck, they were locked…just about the time I was questioning if I'd made a mistake and came the wrong day I found another door down the hall. Apparently I was the first appointment of the day and the receptionist thought she’d unlocked the door – so apologetic! The people there couldn’t have been nicer. I got changed, hooked up to the equipment and then onto the MRI bed…ready to start. Let me tell you, I had a brain MRI done this fall at a different place as a clearance for putting me on medicine for my migraines (which have mostly disappeared…fabulous!). It was quite the adventure…they had me lay on a bed, then WHAT”S THIS? Without a word they snapped a plastic mask over my face (I felt like Hannibal)…no instructions, no panic button…just “Hold still. This should take about 10 min.” Out they went. That’s it! Suddenly the noises start and the bed moves…WTFlip?:cheatfree: Why am I moving? Just when I got used to one noise it would stop…ok…WHIRL, CLUNK, WHIZ…bed moving!:eek: Yea…lay still?? Are you kidding me? How can you lay still when this cacophony of sounds keeps startling me…and couldn’t you warn a girl that the bed will keep moving?!! Thank God there wasn’t a panic button, and only my head and chest went into the machine, and that it only lasted 10 minutes! Geez…give people some warning! So I went this morning with some trepidation. They asked me if my blood pressure is ‘always that high?’ (yea, and I’m on meds). The Tech was so sweet and started telling me about everything that would happen (this is new), but I panicked a little when she said it would take about 45 min. I could hardly handle 10 min. how was I going to make it through 45??!! Now this is different…“pick a radio station and here are your headphones to drown out those awful noises”…smart!...and “I’ll be talking to you and telling you when to breath and when to hold your breath and you’ll hear me through the headphones.”…and the best part “Here’s a ball to squeeze if you need to come out.”…YAY…‘a PANIC BUTTON!’...oh, whoops I just said that out loud!:Banane37: The Tech laughed and said, “Well, yes, but we don’t like to call it that as it gives the wrong connotation and might scare people!” OK, lay down, eyes closed…I’m thinking “Go to your Happy Place, go to your Happy Place” and into the tunnel the bed goes. Now, I’ve got to say my hips and my arms were squished a bit against the walls of the tunnel the whole time…and I’m big, but I’m not enormous…I can now see why some here say they had to do this with their arms above their heads (I feel for you!). The music is playing and the Tech starts giving me my breathing instructions with her most soothing voice “In, Out, In, Out, Hold, Breath.” She warned me when the bed would move and the music drowned out a lot of the noise. After awhile I calmed down,:Banane37: just in time for Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” to start playing on the headphones:lol:…it was so fitting that I almost started laughing…almost.:iagree: P.S. Got my computer back tonight…all better!
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1/5/09 This Is The Dawning Of...

Went to my PCP today for weigh-in...drumroll please....#3!!!!:w00t: PARTY AT MY HOUSE! I'm thinking that means I'm about halfway there, "over the hump" or in my case "over the bump", or "over the big bumps", OK, "over lots of big bumpy cellulite"...eeew.:eek: Nothing could ruin my mood…not even the Nurse who ushered me to the scale with a loud “AND WHY ARE YOU HERE TODAY?” “For a WEIGH IN visit!”:tt2: I replied as I hopped up on the scale to NO WEIGHT LOSS. I smiled at her and said “Well, at least I didn’t gain anything in Dec. and that’s something?!”…not a word…hmm… “Have a nice day!” I coo as she departs.   I see the CRNP at my PCP's office for these visits and I love her. We were chatting along about my not losing any pounds this month, and her new haircut, and me poking fun at myself ...we were there just chatting (yes, mostly about my diet/exercise)…when she says “This is always the best part of my day!” I said “Yeah, I’ll bet it’s nice to see someone who’s happy to be here and isn’t sick!” I really do want to start my better habits now so we made some harder goals for this month :confused:…I also want to start that ‘bird thing’…and NO I’m not (YET) talking about eating tiny portions like a bird…you know, No drinking with meals…you can either sit at the birdfeeder or the birdbath for a drink, not both.:sleep: About the time we were lamenting bad haircuts from years past,:thumbup: I remembered I left my DD at another Dr’s. office, so I scooted to get her.   We picked up our records at yet another Drs. for our..yet another Dr’s.appointment tomorrow morning (nothing to do with LB). I came home and sorted all my Dr’s. records an into a huge pile of files…whew. Man, I thought that ‘Dashing through the Drs.’ (HERE) was bad in Dec.…this next month will be worse between the whole family.That’s life. I’m proud to say that in between guitar lessons for DS, errands, and getting 2” off my hair (couldn't have another bad haircut!), I also made my last required Dr. appt. with the NUT:crazy: (No, not that kind of nut…not the Psych, the NUTritionist). So…another drumroll…if all goes as planned and no one calls again to reschedule…and when the moon is in the Seventh House…and Jupiter aligns with Mars…I’ll be through all the Dr’s. appointments (except probably a pre-op) by Feb. 5th!! Yea…then more waiting…double yea…
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