:confused: I'm ready to go! I've been planning to have my surgery for a really long time now, but have only just convinced myself that it's okay to spend the money! My insurance won't cover any type of weight-loss program or surgery, so I'm on self-pay and have been really trying to save money, along with cashing in some stock options. I don' t mind taking the money out of my savings, but it sure did hurt to cash in that stock! But I figure that this is a much better investment!

I'm scheduled for surgery on October 18, and I'm flying to California from Texas. I haven't told a whole lot of people about my surgery. I just don't want to hear a lot of "I told you so's" if something doesn't go right. But I'm thinking positive -- Like Oprah says, if you put positive energy out into the world, you'll get positive results!

My weight loss ticker isn't going to be right until I actually go down for my surgery because I'm scared to weigh myself lately! But I've promised myself that I'll keep it updated and keep journaling my progress!

I can't wait to say hello to the "new me" a year from now! Life begins (again) at 40!:whoo: