Well, I am now two weeks post-op. Gall bladder is outta there! Surgery was a piece of cake. Ooooh, cake. Sounds yummy! Anyway, two more weeks until I can get back to my regular exercise routine. I can't wait. I have five lbs to go until I hit Onederland!!!!! I am soooo looking forward to that milestone!! My reward is going to be purchasing a pair of 501 Levi's for the first time in, oh, twenty YEARS! LOL!

Recently, I heard through the grapevine that my sister thinks my WLS is "cheating." It's not like we are the closest of siblings or anything, but to hear that from her, of all people, killed me. She knows what it is like to be morbidly obese, and to try to diet, and fail over and over again. She hasn't remarked to my face at all about my weight loss, negative or positive. But behind my back she tells everyone I am cheating.

I have changed so much in the last eight months. Not just the weight loss, but I quit smoking, I quit drinking, and I quit drinking diet soda. I changed habits and my viewpoint. I've worked so hard for the new and improving "me" and for her to say such a nasty thing, breaks my heart!!!

501's sound like a great milestone. Take some pics and post them on here...

As for the cheating - funny story.

I got kicked out of my school in 2nd grade for helping a fellow classmate cheat. We were taking a test on telling time. Initially, when we turned the test in we were supposed to return to our chairs and sit quietly while the rest of the class finished. After awhile, though, most kids were finished and started to get restless so the teacher sent the finished kids out for recess as they finished. I was the student monitor for the week so I was not allowed to leave the room until all students were finished and after enough kids left the room, our teacher was required to be on the playground and not in the classroom. So she left and it ended up being me and this one little guy named Ryan left in that room.

Mind you, we were 7 years old.

Ryan sat there and sat there and sat there and studied that test. And he ended up crying. And this broke my heart. So I went over to him and asked what was the matter. He said there were these two clocks he just couldn't tell the time on. So I walked him through what it meant. I didn't tell him the answer - I got him to think it out for himself. And ultimatley, before he could answer both questions, our teacher - Mrs. Haviland - walked back in. She sees me sitting next to Ryan talking to him and proclaims we are cheaters.

Yeah. We were.

But in the ten minutes I spent with him, he learned to tell time whereas in the 2 days we'd spent with Mrs. Haviland he still didn't grasp it.

Ryan also lived on my street. And he told me later that he ended up being able to tell time because of me.

And I ended up in a better school to boot!

So is cheating really that bad? Sometimes - it works out for the best!

But aside from the funny story - this is NOT cheating! This is life altering. This is harder, even. It is NOT easy, it is NOT a walk in the park - and if she doesn't get this - that is HER problem - not yours.

Family, you gotta love em...

.... cuz you sure as heck can't shoot 'em!! LMAO!! Thanks for the support. What an awesome story!! Ryan was a lucky kid!

*hugs* Shelly