Wheetsin

If you want to do your own research, rather than using Google (there are some good sources out there, but also some very not good ones) visit your campus bookstore. Go to the psychology area and look for a thick, shorter, paperback called "DSM-IV". Though warning - do NOT do this if you are paranoid or a hypochondriac - diagnosed or not. And don't use it as a substitute for seeking real help. Just see it as a good reference to learn more about the criteria for diagnosing mental disorders.

I travel a lot - generally at least one flight a month, and sometimes three flights in a week. The roomiest seats, by far, are on Midwest's 717 flights. Flights I would try to avoid - anything Southwest. The seats are narrow side to side, but what gets me on SW is that there's very little room between seats, front to back. At my heaviest I could still squeeze into their seats, and even buckle up, but I didn't stand a prayer of being able to get the tray down. No chance at all. Plus - and I hate to say it - Southwest is just trashy. The planes are dirty, pit stops aren't done well, etc. Unfortunately they usually have the most availability and best fares, so in the business world they're sort of a necessary evil but I NEVER fly thenm for personal travel unless they have the best route or there is an extreme difference in price. If you don't fly much, then it's also nice to know that with SW there is no assigned seating. Based on checkin (you can do it starting midnight the night before, and if you can - do it then!) you're giving a boarding group (1 of 3 possible). Then you just line up in the right "corral" and wait for "cattle call" to board. Can I say how much I hate flying SW again? I don't generally fly first class (since it's usually work footing the bill) but I have a few times and I'd say it's worth the price difference unless you're on American Airlines. I'd think these would all be standardized, but I've flown 1st class on AA a few times and I was always as squished, if not more, than in business/coach. Actually in my last 5 flights, including a Southwest flight, the one I've been most squished on was an AA 1st class flight... now that I think about it. Oddly enough American Airlines is my ABSOLUTE favorite domestic carrier for international flights. I go out of my way to book AA for international travel whenever it's available. So yeah - kind of depends on where you're going, and what plane is being flown (the reservation stuff online will tell you this). Something I would suggest if you're not familiar with flights/planes is www.seatguru.com. You can look up all major (and lots of minor) airlines and planes, and get tips about where to sit... what seats are roomier, which are tighter, noisier, quieter, have trays, don't have trays, etc.

I'm a west coasterner turned midwesterner and I've never heard either phrase. Well, until now, obviously.

I guess I'd have to ask - do you think the 11 y/o would even care? I'm an only child, and have virtually no experience with kids that age, so all I can do is ask. When I was her age I was asked to be in a wedding and had no desire to be in it, so they used one of my cousins instead and it was no sweat for me. When I sat in the audience and saw my cousin up there, it didn't bother me one bit. I think what's unfortunate is that the bridesmaids are being selected to provide symmetry to the groom's side. That's all about how the pictures look, and nothing about having special people with you on your wedding day. *ETA - I'm not sure I would agree with the "you use both or you use neither". If it's something the older one wants to do, I wouldn't deprive her of it just because her sister isn't being asked to do the same thing. Tough situation, glad it's not mine.

Here are some dishes, appetizers, I've done that have worked well for me & guests: Fondue! I've found it to be the PERFECT bandster dinner party! It is always great because you eat slow, and can have portions as small or large as you'd like, and it's fantastic for socializing. For meats I get lobster tails, shrimp, chicken, pork, and filet, ahi, and salmon - and use baby russets, carrots, pearl onions, etc. for the veggies. For the broth I just use the FF chicken stock and add some orange juice, parsley, garlic, cumin, etc. and a dash on pineapple. Makes a nice "Caribbean" style broth. You can precede it with a cheese fondue (gruyere and crab is awesome), and follow it up with a choclate desert fondue (I just use godiva chocolate bars with either a little bit if Peanut Butter mixed in or plain, or some pecans & caramel - then get pretzels, cheesecake bites, rice krispie treats, etc. for dipping). Seafood (fish mostly) is generally a safe bet. But I like to go a little fancy when we have company, unless we're grilling, so I make a lobster & shrimp stuffed filet of tilapia. Bacon wrapped shrimp on the grill (if you spritz with olive oil beforehand they will stay extra moist). For a great appetizer, take fresh grated parmesan (from the block, not the pizza topping kind) - line a baking tray with parchment paper and place the cheese by the heaping tablespoon onto the paper, a few inches apart. Bake at 350 (I think that's what I do) until it melts and browns. Let them stay on the paper until cool to make a "chip" or they're moldable when warm, so you can lay them over some shape (I use an inverted muffin tin or foil that I've folded into a "taco shell" mold) and let them cool. The muffin tins work great to make "cups" for holding small green salad portions, fruits, proscuitto salads, etc. If we want to do something quick and good and more casual, I make a crustless pizza (have posted the recipe before, so it should still be out there) that my guests ALWAYS enjoy more than real pizza. You can cherry pick your toppings to your preference, or use toppings that you know will go down ok.

My first size took 40 or 50 lbs. Progressively, each size will take fewer pounds because the same number of pounds will represent a greater and greater percentage of excess body fat. I'm now hitting a new size about every 20 lbs.

You know - the boob thing is weird. I'm wearing a full cup size larger now. I think what's going on is that the boobs have stayed the same size, but the rest of me has withdrawn enough that they stick out more. Kind of the same thing behind all the guys who lose weight & think their weewee has grown longer. :tired And on the anniversary - you know, I was so busy that it totally just snuck up on me. Like - I knew it was coming - a few months... a few weeks... oops, it was yesterday! :faint: We should do something to celebrated a belated anniversary.

I broke my promise to myself and shopped this weekend. A LOT. But LB was having their "40% off your entire purchase" sale, including sale items, so I couldn't help it. Thursday was my 1 year. By home scale I'm exactly 130 down. By Dr. H's scale probably about 110 - 115 (he never weighed me at my pre-op highest, just at consultation). I was lucky if I put on a size 32 and it fit, so was wearing 34+. Now I'm buying 18/20 tops and 22 bottoms. Here are my most recent progress pics.

Ok guys, Thursday was my one year anniversary, but Sundays are my weigh & picture day, so postponed any updates until today. I'm now officially an 18/20 top and 22 bottom. That's down from a 34+ top & bottom pre-op, and a total loss in my first year of 130 lbs. Here are my progress pics. Note: NO, I don't wear camis alone, only under things but it's one of the only things I could find that's "clingy" and would show my current shape.

Ok guys, Thursday was my one year anniversary, but Sudays are my weigh & picture day, so postponed any updates until today. I'm now officially an 18/20 top and 22 bottom. That's down from a 34+ top & bottom pre-op, and a total loss within a pound or two of 130 lbs. Here are my progress pics. Note: NO, I don't wear camis alone, only under things but it's one of the only things I could find that's "clingy" and would show my current shape. Here's how one year with the band changed my life!

Laurend, I do this "thing" to my back sometimes... I say "thing" because doctors tend to dismiss it, but it causes SEVERE pain. It will come out of no where, but is usually associated with an arm movement. Once it was while washing my hair, once while sitting down on a bed... once I even did it in my sleep, and woke up to the pain. The pain is so intense I freeze. Generally I can't move my head either... even the bumps in the road on the way to the ER cause agony. But it doesn't hurt constantly, only with certain movements. E.g. sometimes if I walk holding a pillow between my body and my arm, it's a LOT more comfortable. Weird that it would matter that much, huh? But only sometimes. Sometimes I feel like Quasimodo because I have to walk with my back hunched and my neck cranked or endure searing pain... but at rest I'm ok. If I had to diagnose myself, I would say it feels like a ripped muscle. It hurts that much. But when I tell them the antecedent activity, they dismiss it and want an xray. It usually happens in the trapezius area... and one in my lower infraspinatus. (I say "usually"... like 4 or 5 times in my life). It will kill me for a day or two, then over the span of about two weeks gradually taper off until I'm fine. The most serious I've been able to have a doctor take it was an Rx for vicodin and flexeril. All that did was give me a lot of gastric distress, and take the pain away temporarily. Oh, and one doctor said, "I don't know, maybe a trigger point? You feel a little balled up." And wanted to give me steroid injections. No thanks! Anyway, I don't know if this is at all what you're feeling/experiencing, but if so, maybe we need to join forces and figure out what's happening once and for all. :myscared:

A socialist and a communist at the same time? That's pretty impressive!

Never feel bad or guilty because things - on either side of the spectrum - aren't clear to you. And never feel bad because just maybe, your ultiamte direction is not in line with the direction your family would prefer to see you follow. My family is very religious. Particularly devout Catholics, with the exception of my parents. Mother is a "relaxed catholic" (by choice and by force) and father is a methodist, technically, but really one who prefers to manage his beliefs and relationships on his own, not with a church. This is not going to come out sounding the right way, but I don't know many other ways to say it. So you'll just have to trust me when I say "I don't mean it exactly like it will sound." I think very often christianity is trained. I know it is. An awful lot of people are told, from birth, that this is how it is. Now from that training you can, when you're old enough and mature enough, apply your own critical thinking and either accept it or not accept it, or kind of accept it. Some people (I do truly believe this) will never look it at critically, but will blindly follow it because it's what they're taught. Think of all the things people absorb from their family, friends, society, etc. and it never even dawns on them that there's maybe a different way of being, because - they're never around anything different, they never experiecne something that makes them ask questions, etc. It's not a bad thing, because obviously it gives them something in their life that they need, and there are worse things (esp. physically) that someone could turn to. A lot of my family knows nothing about my atheism. I think. To be honest, I don't really know - maybe they do, it just never comes up. They know I don't go to church, and they know that when I've attended the (Catholic) funerals of family that has died, I remain seated while everyone else stands, I don't sing when everyone else sings, etc. I know people noticed that when my grandfather received his last rights, my head remained up, my mouth didn't move, and my eyes remained open while everyone else was bowed in prayer. They don't ask, and I've been asked not to bring it up. (By my parents, and I can understand why they ask me that. I live away from my family, the rest of them all live in the same city. I'm not the one that would have to sufffer the "consequences", my parents are). If you feel a spiritual connection and feel that christianity is the answer for you, don't let people's or a church's greed get the better of you. There is a church by me (one of those mega warehouse churches) that gives you a payment book when you join. Seriously - like the payment books you get for a mortgage or car loan, only for tithing. Our neighbors belong to this church, or did anyway, and told us that while she was in the hospital (cancer), they were left messages from one of the church coordinators wondering if they'd "forgotten" to submit their tithing coupons, because they "just happened to notice" that their payment stub hadn't been sent in. But the point to realize is -- I would doubt most churches operate this way (really can't say for sure, obviously :myscared: ). As a previous poster said - don't let a few apples turn you off to fruit, if fruit is what you're craving. I think sometimes the best you can do is a lot of introspection, and a lot of asking yourself why. Why does something make sense, why does something jive or not jive with you. What is your life like with or without something in it, etc. Whatever the right path is for you, you'll know it when you find it.

Maybe if instead of the "ego" type, or the "muscular" type, you focused on the "smart" type, or "ambitious" type, or maybe even "gentle" type or "caring"... you'd find someone who could give you the settling you're wanting. There's a lot more depth to be found than "doesn't treat me badly" (which is NOT the same as "treats me good") and "muscular". :myscared:

When "communism" or "socialism" are used negatively, it's usually by someone who doesn't know the difference between communism, socialism, and fascism. Or just someone who straight up doesn't know what they mean, but thinks they do. There's a real definition, and there's the "What lots of people think it means" definition. Outside of primitive man, we've never really seen pure implementations. Let's talk -isms. I'm tired of religion.

That's not entirely accurate. What you asked was: If you had asked "is she investigated faith", my answer would have been much different. But that's not what you asked. Not only were the words different (which who cares), but the meaning - or at the very least the tone - were completely different.

Ok guys. I'm out of Disaronno (I just bought the little bottle, it only made 3 drinks), and I'm out of sour mix. But I do have some generic amaretto and Crystal Light lemonade. Think it will work the same? There's plenty of bear, my dad's homebrew actually - stout - but... yuck...

Still waiting for an answer on this one. Emphasis mine.

I see how being called pathetic, disgusting, vile, bitter, having your alleged behaviors being attributed as "from the bowels of hell", being told you hate christians (which would include your parents) - even though that was later retracted, and a host of other names could be hurtful, but honestly I wasn't hurt at all. Even though it came from someone twice (at least) my age. Some people resort to name calling, and some do not. When it happens, you just have to realize - that's how they're able to handle the situation. And I'm fairly sure you weren't really referring to all the names I was called, but you have to understand it's a two way street. Actually no, it's not, because I didn't call anyone names (to the best of my memory anyway - granted it's fading fast). It may have happened, but I don't think it did. Yet I took it. Perhaps I shouldn't have, but by and large it's just not significant to me. And I don't think the people or person who called me these names should be ashamed. Again, it's how they're able to handle the situation.

I keep wanting to call you "BJ". My surgeon never specified. I gave up carbonation because - well - I was down to caffeine free Diet Coke anyway, and what's the point other than eroding my organs? I have had the occasional sip of DH's Route 44 strawberry limeade. On flights I always go with apple juice. More carbs than I'd prefer, but have them fill the cup with ice so I'm not really getting more than a few ounces. The calories are one reason. Some people also have reduced tolerance for the carbonation, and (I perosnally have not come across any evidence of this) some surgeons believe the carbonation can expand and lead to stretched pouches.

Serious question here. Emphasis mine. When I read that, every time it is stated, it sounds like - "The bible MUST be literal and true in all areas because if it is not, then the basis of my faith is on shaky grounds and I would lose one of the things I hold most dear... so I'm going to close my eyes to any other possibility because if I open them, I might see some scary things out there." Is that how it is meant?

yeah, I do have to agree with that, to a degree. A lot of the questions I've seen posed have left me wondering, "What the point? Because if there is one, just get to it." If it were me, that's what I would prefer.

Like anti-semitism? It's not semantics when you say that you have backed up "everything" you have said, when in fact you have not. And then say you do not tell lies. Funny how when something does line up for you, it's semantics. Or nit-picking, or rubbish, or "whinning", or lies, or pathetic, or below the belt, or... ad infinitum. The point being, what you said was (apparently) in the context of "theologically and biblically". But you didn't say that. At least not until after the fact. And I seem to have left my crystal ball at work today. So I took you literally. And maybe sometimes I shouldn't do that, because - wow - look at all the things that I might be missing out on.

But then you can't stand by everything you've said. That context that has a pretty sharp ring sometimes.