What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas!

Yup, at 47 I got a tattoo on my lower back! I still cannot believe it as I always said "I will never get a tattoo!" I just had this need to get one as a tribute to my Dad and brother-in-law. The irony is my Dad was so not a fan of tattoo's. My sister got one when she was 35 and he always gave her grief about it! (Sorry Daddy...It was just something I had to do!)

The experience was actually pretty exciting...the tattoo salon was in the Mirage Hotel. I figured that the Mirage wasn't going to have a fly-by-night tattoo parlor in their hotel and I was right. The owner, Mario Barth, has another one in Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino and both came highly recommended. We went to the salon in the afternoon and I spoke to the artist who would be doing it and I described to him what I wanted. He told us to go to our show, CHER, and come back after the show and he'd show us his design. Steve got a modified design of the same tattoo, only his doesn't have wings and his says "Jim" instead of "Daddy".

When we got back to the Mirage, it was about 10 p.m. and the whole atmosphere of "King Ink" was changed into a club. Steve and I went into a private room with "Big Tony" (who was one big Teddy Bear!). He was so moved by the events that led me to him and the reason for my getting the tattoo. Anyway, it was a little painful BUT I kept thinking about my Dad and BIL, Jimmy and it was worth the uncomfortableness, believe me! This was also Steve's first (and only) tattoo and he told me it didn't hurt at all...I was just a baby!

My sister, my girls and my sisters children are coming to FL this weekend for my fathers Memorial Service on Monday. It will be another couple of rough days for our family but at least when it is over, we can all truly start the healing process. Today was my sisters birthday and I just wanted to be with her and give her a hug. It will have to wait until tomorrow though. I so want to take her pain away...she is my baby sister, and I wish I could help her more. She is staying until Wednesday as my niece still has school. I will see her again on 6/14 as she is flying down here so that Steve can take us to Charleston to see where the accident happened and we'd also like to thank the Dentist whose office is right there and who was the first on the scene. He tried to help my Dad and BIL and we just want to thank him.

On the Band front: Just when I think I don't have one and am counting the hours until my next fill a week from Monday, I get "backed up" at lunch and full on stuck at dinner! Me thinks bread is no longer welcome! I took one bite of Panara Breads new lobster sammy and WHAM! Tonight, I didn't feel like cooking so Steve made me a hot dog. Same thing but worse! Both times bread was present so no more bread! At least not the soft kind.

I have lost 6+ lbs since my first fill on 5/3 and I am hoping that now that my life will be getting a little more normal again (if thats even possible) I will be able to get back on track with my exercising and healthy eating.

I really have been negelectful in my commenting on others blogs but I swear, I have been trying my best to keep up with Google Reader. I miss you all sooooo much...please know that!

I am almost back....

My life has been a whirlwind since getting the news on May 11th about my Dad and brother-in-law. We went to New York on May 13th and stayed until this past Thursday, May 20th. Friday morning we left at the crack of dawn to drive to my step-moms house to spend the day and night with her. We got home yesterday afternoon.

Today we are just spending the day relaxing at home and packing for our trip to Las Vegas. Yes, you heard me right...we are leaving tomorrow for a 4 day trip to Vegas that was planned before this horrific accident. I originally was going to cancel but than I decided that I should take some of my fathers ashes to the Golden Nugget which was his home away from home. With the support of my sister and step-mom, that is what Steve and I are going to do this week.

Next Saturday, my sister and her two children will be flying to FL and on Sunday our girls will be arriving. Monday, which is Memorial Day coincidently, we will be having a Memorial Service for my father at his Golf Club. Once we get through next weekend, hopefully, we will finally be able to rest knowing that our loved ones have been taken cared of.

We have since found out that the driver that hit them was using his cell phone at the time of the "accident". Maybe I can join up with Amy W. and we can both be guests on Oprah!

On the Band front...not much going on there. I lost a few lbs these past two weeks but not as much as I would have liked. While I am definitely eating less, my choices just plain sucked. I plan on using my few days in Vegas positively and will be using the gym each day and eating healthy. As I said previously, my father was my number one cheerleader and he was so excited for me when I made the decision to get the band. I will make him proud and lose this weight once and for all!

I plan on going through each of your blogs today and catching up. I feel so out of the loop. Thank you all again for the support you have all given my family...it means more than I can say.

Thank you!

After spending the last two days with my sister, grieving for her husband/my brother-in-law and our father, I came home to my Moms house to these beautiful flowers from a bunch of B.O.O.B.s! What a sight and to change gears from crying to smiling was the best feeling. Thank you so much for ALL your kind words - you have no idea what it has meant to me and my family.

My brother-in-law's wake will begin tomorrow and will continue on Monday. He will be laid to rest on Tuesday. We still have a few tough days ahead of us so I have to ask you all to continue to keep us in your prayers.

I love you all....

Sorry about the double post but

I just wanted to thank everyone for all your kind words. This has been a horrible time for me and my family and all the support I've recieved here has helped so much. My husband came back to me safely and I am so blessed to have him. My sister and Peggy will never know what I felt today when I saw Steve pulling into the driveway on his motorcycle and my heart breaks for them.

We will be flying to Long Island, NY tomorrow and will be spending the week with my sister. Jimmy will be put to rest this coming Monday and will be waked on Sat and Sun. We will than have a Memorial Service for my dad in the coming weeks.

I'm not sure if I will be able to post or comment during this time but know that I will still be reading your posts. This community has become my drug of choice and I need you all on this journey if I am to succeed. And I will succeed, my dad said so.

Thanks again.

I am overwhelmed.....

with all the support you have all given my family and me. Steve is home, safe. I thank God for that. I will write more later but I just wanted everyone to know, my husband came home.

Let me introduce you to my Dad and Brother-in-law

They were both killed today when stopped at a red light on their motorcycles. They were hit from behind by a man who never touched his brakes upon approaching the intersection.

My Dad was 80 and my brother-in-law was just 50. My sister lost her father and husband and her children lost their father and grandfather. I lost my Dad and brother-in-law and my children lost their grandfather and uncle. At this time we do not know what caused the driver to do what he did. Was it a medical condition? drugs? alcohol? cell phone? Who knows. All I know is that they are both gone and my family is devastated.

If you read my blog this past Sunday, I posted this pic of my Dad along with a few others. This picture was his last one taken. But for the grace of God, my husband Steve could have been at that light with them. They were all in Myrtle Beach along with a few of Jimmy's friends enjoying Bike Week. Steve and the others had gone through the light while still green but Dad and Jimmy waited at the red light.

I was so fortunate to have had my dad with me this past weekend. We spent some daddy-daughter time on Sunday morning while my husband still slept. My dad was so looking forward to this trip with his two sons-in-law. My dad lived every day of his life to the fullest. He golfed 4 times a week and rode his motorcycle every single day. He loved it! He was never sick a day in his life! I am so fortunate to have had him for so long. He was my biggest cheerleader in life and was so supportive of all my weight loss efforts. I will have a treasure chest full of memories of my dad.

Jimmy was just starting to enjoy life. He was always a hard worker and many times during his 20+ year marriage to my sister, he worked 3 and sometimes 4 jobs so my sister could be home with their two children. My sister went to school during this time and just recently went back to work as a teacher. The additional income allowed him to cut back on his workload so that he could spend more time with his family. I am grateful that they had this time.

Please keep my family in your prayers. My husband will be driving back to Fl tomorrow on his motorcycle without my dad and I know this is killing him. He told me many times that he didn't really want to go on this trip but was just going to take care of my dad. Although he'll never say it, I know his heart is hurting because he will feel like he failed. That's who my husband is. While I will thank God every day for sparing my Steve, I will never go a day without thinking about these two great men who were taken from us so violently and tragically.

Life is so precious...you just don't know what is going to happen from one moment to the next.

Happy Mama's Day and a little Road Trip!

I will not be with my chicklets today :( but its okay because they will be having breakfast with my mama and sister and my girls will be coming to Florida in less than three weeks to see us for a week. We will celebrate than and I cannot wait!

I had my friends over last night for a BBQ and I told them about the band. I have been slowly telling more and more people and I am so blown away by how everyone is being so supportive and non-judgemental. Even the part about my going to Mexico...its easier telling people now that its done. Most people who I told up front were concerned about that part but now its like, "why don't more people go to Mexico?" I guess its the fear of the unknown about having surgery in a foreign country.

I did really good with my eating while everyone was here and than while I was cleaning up I popped a two little pieces of a brownie in my big mouth and guess what happened? Yea, you guessed right, STUCK! Holy schmoley! So that makes it brownies and leftover turkey meat that is on my "do not eat list". Its probably a safe bet that I should include all dryish cakey things, huh? Well, today I am actually a little sore in the belly area and it really wasn't a bad stuck episode, it lasted about 10 minutes or so and I didn't do much sliming. I'm sticking to liquids today just to be on the safe side.

The "boys" started their motorcycle road trip this morning. On their way to Myrtle Beach to meet up with my brother-in-law for a few days. Its about 400 miles from here so Steve and my dad will be doing it in 2 days. Brutus didn't really go with them but I just could not pass up this little photo op! Yes, I know, I am sick but he lets me put anything on him because he knows there is a cookie in his future if he does! I am referring to Brutus, by the way, and not Steve just in case you are confused!



Doesn't Brutus look sad that they forgot to take him?




I have to finish getting ready for work so I wish you all a wonderful Mothers Day whether you are a mother or not!

BYOC ala Drazil

Friday, May 7, 2010
BYOC Friday!!!!! ♥♪ Bring Your Own Craziness ♥♪

1. Do you have any nicknames? (Thanks for this question Joey)
My nickname is "Jax"! My oldest daughter started to call me this one day (she only uses this for when she is trying to make a point, all other times its Mama) and than my husband picked up on it. I will get cards made out to "Jax" and notes too. Other times he calls me "beautiful" which gives me goosebumps!

2. What was your “last straw”? The incident/situation that made you decide to get a lap band or commit to losing weight via any plan this time? I've had so many last straws t lose the weight but kept getting rejected by my insurance company because my BMI wasn't hight enough for them. One actually told me "when you gain the weight, it will be covered". This past January we were on a cruise and sat with someone who was being banded right after the cruise. While she had her surgery here, she told me about her friend who went to Mexico because it was less money than self-pay here....As soon as I got back from the cruise, I became a woman on a mission and the rest is history!

3. What’s your favorite joke or funny story? (This is from Sandy – she needs some laughter to start the weekend and requested this one.)
Ok, this is not a joke but a very funny story. When my oldest daughter (you notice how its always Mallory?) was learning to drive, she was slowing up for a stop sign but then never really stopped! I said "excuse me but you just went through a stop sign!" and she said "duh, I know but stopping is optional if the sign is outlined in white"! Yes folks, she was serious! I said "please tell me you are kidding", she was not! She told me that her friend told her this. Once I was done laughing, I explained that ALL STOP SIGNS ARE OUTLINED IN WHITE and they are NOT optional! You STOP at all STOP signs! End of story.

4. If you could be a TV dinner – what flavor would you be? Pizza/fried chicken with coconut layer cake as dessert.

5. The question we do every week so everyone can be a little famous without having to do an official blog award….what blog or comment stuck with you or spoke to you the most this week and why? It was definitely Jess' blog about her fear/phobia about death and dying.

100 Followers, STUCK and Tim McGraw

When I started to do this post I realized that I now have 100 followers! How cool is that! In my wildest dreams I never imagined that 100 people would ever care about what I have to say! Maybe 5 but not 100! Thank you so much and more importantly, thank you for helping me with this journey with all your comments and sharing your own stories along the way. This support has proven to be invaluable to me and a whole lot of others. I am trying to stay on top of who is following my by also following you...however, if I am not following you, I apologize from the bottom of my heart and ask that you comment and just let me know so that I can start following you! Thank you again!

I always knew I had a little ESP in me and last night pretty much proved it! Steve and I were running late and had to still go home to feed the dog and walk him before we left for our concert. We knew we wanted to be on the road at 5 p.m. and it was almost 4:30 so I told Steve we could just go home, take care of Brutus and run! We could stop on the road to grab something for dinner, a Wendys Chili would be fine for me! Well, he HATES fast food and suggested that we just eat the LEFTOVER turkey tacos from the night before as we still had plenty of Taco fixins. I had had breakfast but no lunch and was getting hungry and said that may be a bad idea because I've been really tight since the fill and felt like I would be rushed to eat so I didn't feel comfortable and would rather just go out. He said "don't worry, you take care of you and I will take care of the dog so you can take your time eating."

What a dear, sweet man...NOT...I want to kill him! Ok, fine, I heat up the shells, the meat, slap the tacos together, he inhales his and I sit down to eat mine. One bite....two bi....Are you kidding me? Holey schmoley! STUCK big time!!! OMG! This was nothing like my little "traffic jam" incidents, let me tell you! So I proceed to push the plate away and get up and now I am walking around. He gets up, puts the leash on the dog starts walking out and says "are you stuck?" Uh, yea! He then leaves. I am hovering over my sink in the kitchen trying to do something but not sure what to do...thats when the slimming starts along with hiccups. I'm doing this for 10 minutes when he comes back in and says "still stuck?" uh, yea. So much slime but nothing else. Finally, its after five and he says, we really have to go. so, I grab a ziplock filled with paper towels and we head out to see Tim! Steve suggested that I bring an Atkins shake which turned out to be a great idea.

We were about half-way to Jacksonville when the sliming finally stopped but nothing ever came up so I assume it must have gone down. I drank the drink during the car ride and later in the evening, I had a good hand full of cinnimon sugared almonds. I ate them one at a time and chewed until they were liquid before letting them slide down my throat! I also had a very small handfull of M&M's which also went down fine! Nice dinner, huh?

Suffice to say that I will not ever be doing leftovers of poultry again as I think it was the turkey, drier than the day before, that got me stuck! I was eating to fast and BAM!

Lady Antebellum was the opening act for Tim and they were fantastic! Tim was, well what can I say? He was just TIM. What a great entertainer and so easy to look at. He mentioned that he just turned 43 the other day and a young girl sitting next to me who was probably in her very early 20's said..."wow, he's almost as old as my dad and my dad looks nothing like that!" Tims mom and sis were in the audience as they live in Jacksonville as did Tim for some time in his youth. All in all, a very great concert and except for the getting stuck business at the beginning of the night, I thanked Steve for getting me the tix and once again for making my day. He does that A LOT!

Have a great day!

Steve, Tim and 199!!!!

What a day! I started the day by waking up next to my wonderful husband and will be ending the day with Tim McGraw...ok, so Steve will be with me for that one to, but still! Oh, yea, and in the middle of all this, my scale said 199. I saw 199.8 for a nano-second last November but than it started to go right back up AGAIN so this is a big deal for me! While I fully expect some bouncing, it sure did me good to see it at this point in my journey! I am slowly changing the chanting in my head to say "I know I can, I know I can" instead of "I think I can, I think I can". I did change my ticker even though Wednesday is my official weigh-in day but whatever, I am the one making the rule here and every now and than I can change it!

Have a great day everyone!

6 weeks since surgery

Wow...I can't believe its 6 weeks already! How fast the time flies, right? I do not remember the 6 weeks leading up to the surgery going half as fast as this.

As of today, I am down 12.6 lbs. I did not have to do a pre-op diet so that is a solid average of 2 lbs per week. I am feeling some restriction again since having my first fill on Monday and I am really feeling it that I am on my way to thinness! I cannot remember when I lost this consistently in the past with WW. My goal is 1 lb. per week so I am one happy camper today.

I had a really good day with Steve today....yes, everyday is a good day but some days are extra good. We met clients at noon to show them condo's on the ocean. After spending 3 hours with them (we think they will buy one of them) we left them and stopped for lunch at this little Gourmet Market. I suggested that we get a chicken/pesto/avocado panini and split it. Great idea he said! My husband is a bean pole and food is so not important to him! Anyway, I bit into my half like I didn't have a band and guess what? It got a little jammed after two bites! I was fine in a minute so I am sure it was not a PB. I than started picking the sandwich apart which was a clue to Steve that I was feeling restriction. The second clue was when I offered him my bread! I ended up eating the chicken and avocado and felt full. Yay! He ate my picked over bread and all was well with the world.

When we got home I saw that my boyfriend, AKA UPS man, made a delivery, Yes! My Click Mocha Espresso arrived. I was so excited as I have been salivating over those Dark Cherry Mocha's that Starbucks has been shoveling down my throat and when Jen, A Southern Girls Journey, said she ordered the Click and bought sugar-free cherry syrup, well that sounded mighty fine to me so I did the same. I couldn't decide if I wanted it hot or iced but went with the iced. I put it in my Magic Bullet with a few ice cubes. Ok, so Starbucks does not have to worry but it really wasn't bad at all! It took care of my caffeine fix I needed and also gave me a cherry/chocolate fix with 15 grams of protein at the same time! The best part is that at 120 calories, it is almost half of the calories of the Starbucks drink (skinny/no whip).

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I am making Turkey Taco's for dinner, mmmmm. Worse case scenario, I will only eat the filling and not the taco. I am sure the ground turkey will go down easy enough.

Happy Cinco de Mayo to all!

First full day with my fill.....

So the verdict is....I don't know what to think. I seemed very tight this morning and even felt a little "backed up" with my cottage cheese. I was full though with 4 oz. So far, so good. Drank 2 bottles of water and than had a small Wendy's chili for lunch. No problem with that. Another bottle of water and than dinner was about 4oz. of halibut with about two spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. I am definitely feeling full.

I am onto regular food tomorrow so I guess I will just take it slow and see how it goes from here. Up until yesterday, I could eat A LOT! Right now I am feeling satisfied on not a lot of food. I hope this continues...thats all I am going to say on this subject! Fingers are crossedxxxxxx

First Fill and all is right with the world again!

Please humor me and let me think this at least!

The doctor that I chose to provide my after-care was highly recommended to me by Stephanie as he was her surgeon! Thank you Steph! He was just amazing. He made me feel like I had been going to him all along and was very complimentary about my weight loss so far. We talked for about 30 minutes before he did the actual "fills".

At first he put in 1.3 cc's in my 4 cc band but when the water went down too fast, he gave me an additional .5 cc's bringing me to a total of 1.8 cc's! I feel fine and was able to drink a 20 oz. bottle of water during the 90 minute car ride home. I am on liquids for the rest of today and than mushies tomorrow. By Wed., I can slowly move on to regular food.

My husband was so funny, when he realized that I had almost 1/2 the capacity of my band filled, he asked the doctor "what happens if she maxes out on the size of the band before she loses her weight?" The doctor laughed and assured him that I wouldn't. I have to go back in 4 weeks for my next fill and he won't be putting in that much each time going forward. He did say that one of the nice things about having the smaller size band is that it usually will take less fills to reach my sweet spot. We'll see.

So, Tess, as we were told by those that have gone before us, its no big deal! Lets hope that this is what I need to get my weight loss moving again! I am sooooo ready!

Lets get this party started - First Fill today!

I am praying that this first Fill gets my weight loss moving again. I have been stuck at a loss of 11 lbs for 2 weeks now with no movement on the scale! I have really jump-started my exercise routine and hope that the fill will jump-start the weight loss as I am really getting discouraged.

The one thing I hope the Fill doesn't change is my water intake. I have been having no problems getting in 8-10 cups of water every day and that does not include any iced tea or coffee I drink. I am happy about that at least! From this point on, my goal is to lose at least 1 lb per week....that's not too much to ask for is it?

Yesterday was the first day I went in my pool and it felt so good! I even didn't mind putting on my bathing suit. Crazy as it sounds, the weight that I have lost has made a difference in the fit of some of my clothes and that includes the bathing suit!

The water temp was 88 degrees and I can already see that I will have a fight on my hands with Steve about the water temp this summer. We had a solar water heating system installed over the winter and he is aiming for 90 degree water temp during the summer months. I am not in agreement with this at all. He likes the pool to be really warm and I like it at 86 or 87. Those last few degrees really make a difference. When the air temp is 90+, the last thing I want is the pool temp to be the same!

Steve surprised me with tickets to see a Tim McGraw concert this week and I am so excited. We are going Thursday night. We are also going to Vegas for 4 days in 3 weeks. He got tickets for Cher and the new Elvis Cirque de Solei show which is at the new Town Center on the strip. We will also be staying there which is exciting as it is brand new. I was hoping to see Garth Brooks at the Encore but he had the nerve to take the month of May off! Can you imagine?

Next week Steve and my Dad will be taking a motorcycle ride up to Myrtle Beach, SC, where they will be meeting my brother-in-law who will be riding down from New York. They will be gone from Sunday until Wednesday. While I will miss him, I am also looking forward to not having to worry about cooking dinner for him! I really just want to concentrate on me and what goes into my mouth for a few days. I love fish and very rarely make it at home because he hates it! I plan on getting in some fish while he is gone! My favorite way to make it is on the BBQ. I put the fish in tin-foil with a little olive oil, lemon juice and white wine and some kind of veggies. I wrap it up real tight and steam it on the grill for about 10 minutes on high heat. Delish! I also do it in the oven with parchment paper. It is so light and refreshing. Maybe I'll try it this week too....why wait until he is gone? I can make the same thing with chicken tenders for him. Good idea!

I will let everyone know how my fill goes later today. Have a great day.