Seriously, More Pictures Needed!

Well, I imagine some of you BOOBs are still traveling, while others may be jet-lagged, but I have been checking in every hour or so for more pictures and tales of your weekend romp, and I really do need more, if you don't mind! I'm so glad you all had a blast. I found myself secretly nervous and excited for you, and sure hope I can join in the reindeer games next time around. I'm actually going to The Windy City in a few weeks (tagging along on a business trip with the Hubs), and can assure you my time there will be filled with thoughts of all you crazy ladies painting that town red.

On the band front, I saw my surgeon on Thursday, and he was pleased with my progress (6.5 more lbs, for a total of 76 lost). He said he could "go either way" on the fill, and wanted me to make the decision. I decided to have him "give me a small fill". Afterward, I asked how much he gave me, and he told me .5ccs, which to me seems pretty significant. Interestingly, I do not feel any more restricted, and I almost think I feel less so. Maybe Dr. B. pulled a fast one on me, and when he said he could "go either way", maybe he meant that literally, and went the other way. Anyway, I'm hanging tight (but not really), and will see how this month pans out.

This morning, I went for a swim at the gym, and during my first lap, I caught sight of a band-aid at the bottom of the pool. I switched lanes immediately, but could not stop obsessing about that damn band-aid, catching a glimpse of it in my peripheral vision each time I passed by. Exercise is not for wimps, but I'll keep on keepin' on.

Until next time, tootles!

Don Draper, Disney & Port Pain

I love Don Draper. He is one sexy, smokin' sonofabitch. I just had to say that. If you don't watch Mad Men, you should. If you do, you undoubtedly agree with me.

So, I was a naughty girl this weekend. I met two of my college roommates for a mini-reunion at Disneyland yesterday. Actually, we met at Downtown Disney, and did not go into the park(s). The libations were flowing, however, and I drank more than my share of liquid calories. Vodka mixes so nicely with so many sweet flavors: simple syrup, grenadine, pineapple juice...but I digress. It's amazing how you can get together with a good friend you haven't seen in years (15+ in the case of Amy), and pick up right where you left off. Here's a photo of the three of us:

Thank God for my friend Sandi's cascading hair, huh? Wonder what the server who took the picture was thinking. I'm also not sure what's going on with my arm (I don't think I have fat rolls on my tri-cep).

I've been having some significant pain at my port site for the past two days. This has happened a few other times since my surgery, and it eventually subsides, but I have never figured out the cause. The best way for me to describe it is that it's like a stinging sensation, like I'm pulling sutures out of a muscle. I know I don't have stitches, so I don't know what to think, except that it seems to be induced by either exercise or overeating. Last time this happened, my surgeon gave me antibiotics, but I'm not convinced that I had an infection or that the antibiotics are what caused the pain to eventually go away. I remember reading on someone's blog that the hard lump just above my port incision is not, in fact, the port, but rather scar tissue. I'm not sure if this is the case or not, but that hard lump is definitely the site/source of the pain. Have any of you Lovelies had a similar experience?

Princesses and Flying Horses

Through a colleague of my husband's, we have partnered with many friends in "adopting" an Army Ranger Unit stationed in the remote, rural hills of Afganistan. We chose this particular unit because we got word that they are in particularly difficult conditions and a very perilous location, with limited supplies and access to any real creature comforts (i.e. water for personal hygiene). Last week, Steve received an email from the Sgt. of the unit, and it really touched my heart:

"I wanted to say thank you for all of the packages; the guys all enjoy having snacks and magazines. I would have sent you an actual letter but as it is we get most of our resupply via air drop so its hard to send letters back to the post office. I was reading a card from Sandi E. and she mentioned that she could only get her daughter to draw princesses and flying horses. Its been particularly difficult for us these past couple of weeks and all I could think was how much we could use some more princesses and flying horses around here. Thank you again for all of the support."

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with the band, but man, it really pulled at my heart strings, and I wanted to share it with you.

New Low: A License to....EAT?

I was so stoked on Saturday morning. I went to the gym for Aqua Fit class, and weighed myself before diving in (I only weigh in at the gym, as they have one of those balancing scales which I have calibrated with my surgeon's scale, in my mind). I saw a new low of 261, which tickled my fancy. I'm only 6 lbs. away from my wedding weight, which was kind of an unwritten big goal for me (80 lbs down, but also a time when I felt pretty good). I also have some weird fantasy about putting on my dress and veil and seducing my hubby, but it's only in my mind....Anyway, I was feeling great, and then I got home, and I guess my sub-conscious decided to celebrate without my permission.

Now, we had company this weekend (one on my husband's USNA college roommates). Off topic, there is something about academy living that forges remarkable life-long friendships and Steve has the most amazingly close-knit group of friends. I think it has something to do with sharing the agony of Plebe Summer. But I digress.... So, guy-company means pizza and beer and wings and things, not even food that I'm overly fond of. But, alas, I chose to enjoy some leftovers when I wasn't even hungry. I ate too much on Saturday and Sunday, including pizza, carne asada, cookies and ice cream, but don't know what the damage is, scale-wise. I see my surgeon two weeks from today, and it's kind of a big deal to me to show a decent loss each month. I think I want him to be proud of me, as weird as that sounds. Failure is not an option, so I need to stay focused these next two weeks, so I'll get a big 'atta girl' hug from Dr. B!

Thousand Word Thursday

OK, how fun is this (Thanks Amy!)?

If by any chance you haven't heard, Amy came up with this great idea to post a picture to describe the topic of the week. This week's topic:

"Let's celebrate our own beauty and how wonderful we all look with a photo of your favorite feature on your own body".

My first thought was that I like my skin. It's been good to me over the years: limited wrinkles, tans nicely, rarely burns, no breakouts to speak of. But then I thought it would be weird to take or crop a picture of my skin. So, I'm going with smile. People tell me I have an infectious laugh and smile, so I'm going with that.

Below is a cropped photo from my wedding, as well as the original, for context. I'm sure I Crest-White-Stripped before that day, so my teeth kind of look eerily bright in the black & white shot.

Wow, That Was Embarrassing!

It's been about 8 weeks since my last band adjustment (I was denied a fill early August, because I mentioned to my surgeon that I had experienced a couple of "stuck episodes"). For whatever reason, my [yet unnamed] band seems to have tightened up over the past week or so, and I have been getting stuck more often than not when I eat solids. Yesterday was very busy, and I did not have a chance to eat a real dinner before heading out to Zumba, so I grabbed an apple (literally off the tree), and ate it very slowly, chewing very carefully, as I drove to the gym. It went down just fine, and I headed into class with my thermos of G2 fruit punch (read: bright, bright red). Anyway, I was Zumbing along, and got pretty parched about 20 minutes in, so I grabbed my thermos and took a swig. Not good. I felt the liquid pool in my throat, and knew I had to excuse myself to bring it back up, for lack of a better term. (Incidentally, I also decided I could use my exit as an excuse to move to another part of the room, because the girl next to me had really bad B.O.--How do people not realize when they stink like that?) Anyway, I hurried toward the restroom, unsure if I would make it, when I spotted a drinking fountain much closer, and decided to dump the G2 there (please don't judge me). Well, horror of all horrors, not only did I expel a boat load of bright red liquid, but dozens of mini apple chunks as well. I panicked! I tried to shove them down the drain, but the holes in the drain-catch were too small. I had nothing to wipe it up with, so I just started to scoop the mess into my hand as quickly as possible. I got most all of it, but was struggling with the tiny pieces, so I decided to grab a paper towel from a nearby dispenser, and wipe down the drain. I turned around to grab one, and saw that there was a guy waiting behind me for a drink. I'm pretty sure he saw the whole chunk collection and wondered what the hell I was doing. I just wondered what the hell I was thinking. I made my walk of shame to the restroom where I finished my business. When I made it back with a paper towel, it was all cleaned up.