Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to NY we go!

We are heading out on our 1100 mile road trip at 5 a.m. tomorrow! I am dreading it and so freakin excited at the same time! Steve, not so much! He is so not a morning person but we have to leave at that time in order to get to my sisters at a decent hour...9 or 10 p.m. My hubs does all the driving, his choice, and he likes to do it in one shot. Brutus does a lot of sleepin and mama catches up on here reading.

Here is a pic of Brutulicious on our last road trip to NY! He is secured in a harness that is connected to the seat belt in the back and has just enough room to to sleep with his head on the console between us...he has the whole back seat mind you, but he has to be near us!


I was so hoping to have my new phone for this trip but it didn't happen. I just know we will get a call from my neighbor telling me it arrived as we were entering North Carolina or something! Oh well, I wont' be reading blogs on my blackberry but will do my best to read them at my sisters house as I am taking my laptop.

Anyway, this is a very short post but I am exhausted and I want to get to sleep as I am waking up at 4 a.m. Be well my blogger buds and I will check back here soon!

Love ya!

A little of this and a little of that!

I love this picture of my two babies, Jordan and Brutus.



This has absolutely to do with anything other than I wanted to share with you! Jordan will probably kill me as she had just woken up but I love the picture and its my blog so deal with it Jordana!

I spent a great day with Stephen....we took a drive in the roadster up to St. Augustine and had lunch by the ocean in a very nice restaurant we just happened to find. I had Mahi Mahi on a bed of coleslaw with a little guacamole and melted swiss cheese. It was so good and I ate about 1/2 of what was probably a 4-5 oz portion of fish. Steve had a blackened chicken breast wrap that he said was great. I was so content on the drive home that I almost fell asleep! Actually, it was the first time that I felt comfortable sitting in the car as it has a tiny seat and I always felt like a sardine. Not so much anymore.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with our friends at the clubhouse in our community. We have BOGO free coupons that expire on Saturday and hey, we never let that go by! Its too hot to cook too so thats a plus. I just might stick to the fish theme and get that again!

Tomorrow starts my packing for our trip to NY. I am so excited about this trip. I will be staying with my sister and while I know we will have our share of cry-fests, I know we will also be doing a lot of reminiscing and laughing. She even has a honey-do list for Steve so that he stays busy and doesn't get bored. I think he is replacing her storm door, fixing her ice maker and changing some outside flood lights. He loves doing that kind of stuff and is more than happy to do anything she asks of him. She has come a very long way since the death of her husband, my BIL. She is my baby sister and while I wish I could take away her pain, I am so proud of her and all that she has accomplished in the past two months. Ok, enough on this...tears are starting to roll here and this is supposed to be an upbeat post!

On the band front, I am happy that I did not go back to the Dr. for an unfill as I think I am at a good level of restriction and may even be at the Sweet Spot! I have been very careful about not eating before 10 a.m. and when I do eat, I am taking tiny bites and chewing the hell out of them before swallowing. I put my fork down and I even hum the Jeopardy tune in between bites! Last week it was the pledge of allegiance and who knows what it will be next week! The scale is inching down a little bit every few days and that makes me a happy girl! I also bought another "12 pack" of 1/2 hour sessions with my trainer Stacy today! She is so happy with my progress and that makes me happy!

Ok, enough with this happy stuff, I must get off my butt and fold laundry!

Later girlfriends!

I actually smiled in the dressing room today!

No shit! Although I have now lost 25 lbs., I have still been wearing a lot of my clothes that I wore, 25 and even 35 lbs ago. Crazy, right? I asked Steve why he didn't tell me I looked like an Italian sausage in some of the capris. Anyway, most were a size 16 and they start out ok from the dryer but get huge very quickly. Like most of you, I don't have a ton of extra money to go out and buy temporary sizes while I am losing weight. I've been making due.

Today I decided that I wanted to buy two new pairs of Capris and a few tops. I went to the store, picked up three pairs of 14's and two looked great, the third were too big! They were on sale too so that made it that much better! I then bought three tops in a size medium! Holy, schmoly! I used to buy X=Lg because of my big hips and butt but the medium fits great! I cannot remember the last time I was happy walking out of the dressing room in a store.

Moments like this make it all worthwhile, especially when the scale is being such a putz!

.3 BMI points from being overweight!!

Who would have ever thought that I would be excited about being overweight? As of my weigh-in this morning, I not only finally hit the 25 lbs lost mark but the loss brought me to .3 points shy of being overweight! How cool is that? Now, while I know that the BMI chart is a bit ambiguous, thats ok because I also saw 187.6 on the scale and I can assure you, I have not seen any number beginning with a 18 in a very long time!

On the eating front, not so good. I had about 1/2 of a scrambled egg this morning and I got stuck. I think its because I ate a little too early as I am tight in the morning. I've been eating for the first time each day around 11 or 11:30 but today I ate at 10:30 because I had to go out. I than went to Starbucks and had a Skinny Chocolate Vivanno Smoothie with a shot of espresso that went down slowly but went down! They are great by the way. I don't do them that often but I really do enjoy them. They are only 250 calories and pack a punch with 18 grams of protein. I figured that my 1/2 of egg didn't do much for me so I needed more protein.

Dinner was not good either. I mashed up 2 small meatballs with 1/2 cup marinara sauce and a slice of mozzerella cheese and got stuck after two bites! I am getting so frustrated! Yesterday was fine and today was a stucky sucky day! I am now sipping a cup of tea and it feels good!

I am getting ready for our road trip to Long Island on Friday...I cannot wait. My mother keeps calling me and tells me how much she cannot wait to see her grand-puppy, Brutus! He gets so spoiled at grandmas just like the four two-legged grandkids! I will be seeing some friends that i have not seen in a while and it will be interesting if anyone notices that I am almost "over-weight"! LOL

Have a great Sunday night all!

We did it!

Stephanie of Dreams of Skinny High Heels and our husbands finally got together for dinner tonight! We met at The world famous (who knew?) Dixie Crossings restaurant in Titusville, FL. It felt like being with old friends! She is as cute and funny in person as she is in her blog and her husband is such a sweetie. It is so important for all of us to have supportive partners and Steph and I definitely do!

Here are a few pics of us at the restaurant:






Steph and I are not only roomies, we will be travelling from FL together. She has been banded since February and she has been such an inspiration to me. I cannot wait to spend more time with her in Chicago!

Reflux?

I am 47 and I'm not sure if its reflux or not. I know what that back-wash taste tastes like but I just don't know. I've had a little sore throat all day that I hear others refer to and my tongue and lips are all tingly and a litte metallic tasting. I am very tight again and my doctor is out of the country for another week and than I will be away. The next time that I could possibly go see him is Aug. 10. I am eating but not all the time. Liquids take a very long time to go down in the a.m. but by the afternoon, I loosen up. I am only able to eat very little before I get "the backed up feeling". Sometimes it comes up and other times I can work through it. Should I be worried?

Oh, and don't worry...I have no problem gettng those pretzel m&m's down!

Friday, July 23, 2010
BYOC Friday!!!!! **Bring Your Own Craziness**

It’s time for BYOC Friday. Get to know your fellow bloggers better AND give your blogging brain a break! Enjoy!


1. Let’s brag a little….what’s the best perk you’ve ever had in your job (current or past)? Any employment counts - even if you’re a stay at home mom – you have perks (and the hardest job ever in my opinion).

I worked for a bank for 23 years and in the last 5 of those, the company owned a private plane. On a few occasions, I got to use it when traveling to CA from NY. Very cool.

2. Do you ever lie in your blog?

No, I can honestly say I have never lied in my blog.

3. What do you wear to bed?

Usually I wear a nightshirt but sometimes I just wear underwear ;)


4. Where do you go for advice?

Definitely Steve and my sister Sue.


5. Repeat question. Make someone a superstar without using a blog award. What comment or blog stuck with you the most this week and why?

Well, I will have to to say Sandy's blog on the different stages of tightness, sliming and PB'ing. As I have been experiencing all of these things lately, it really hit home.

Speaking of hitting home, Draz blogged about a motorcycle ride she did with her husband and it really hit home as I have been having such conflicting feelings about riding with Steve since my dad and BIL were killed on their bikes in May. Steve and I used to go out for rides and I loved that time that I spent with my husband. Since the "accident" I haven't been on the bike with Steve and its really been killing me. Reading about Draz's day with her husband really made me start to think and with her encouragement, we are going for our first ride tomorrow morning. I'll let you all know how that goes. Thank you Draz for helping me see and understand that my riding with my husband is in a sense honoring my dad and BIL's memory.

I am married to the most wonderful man!

(Please be reading this Stephen)

I can not believe what I put him through sometimes and while he rolls his eyes and tries to talk "his sense" into me, in the end, I get what I want. About a month ago we went to Verizon to get me a new phone. I chose the Droid Incredible (basically, its Verizons iPhone type device). It was on back-order and I have to wait 3 weeks for it to be sent to me...no problem.

I finally received it last Wednesday and Thursday, off to Verizon we go to get it all set up. We pull into the parking lot and there are signs all over the place for "It's Here...Droid X" What is a Droid x you are asking, right? Well its a bigger version of the Incredible! I'm getting old and my eyesight is going so I decide that I have to have the Droid X. The service tech says no problem but there is a $35 restocking fee to swap the phones. Hmmm...ok, I'll take it. The catch was that it will take 3 business days to receive the phone as they are out of stock. sigh...but ok.

In the meantime....I go online and start reading reviews of Droid X...guess what? Its TOO BIG for a lot of women mostly but men also. I knew it! When I first saw it, I thought it was BIG but I was thinking big was better. The biggest complaint was it is great if you want to watch videos on it but clunky for a phone. Well, I don't watch videos at all on my phone and I use it for internet, email, texting and phone. So, I decide that I want the Incredible after all! Oh sweet Jesus...Steve thought I lost my mind! He told me to keep thinking about it and today we went to Verizon, he measured the phones and yes Droid x is wider by about 1/4 in. and longer by a little more than that so yes, it is much bigger! Steve didn't think so but the salesman did! Yes! I am not crazy. He admitted that that was a complaint he is hearing.

At first he told me that I couldn't exchange it as I used up my one exchange...but in the end, he did it for me with his managers approval! Thank you! Yes, there is another catch here....I had to pay another $35 re-stocking fee but thankfully, now the incredible was $25 less than a month ago so it was only an additional $10 and I have to wait a week for it to be delivered! As Winnie the Poo would say "oh bother!"

Thank you dear husband for letting me have my way....once again! You are too good to me and I love you so very much!

On the Band front: Not much new here. Still struggling at certain times of the day to eat slowly so as not to PB or slime. We went to Chipotle Grill today for lunch (very good) but way to much food. I got a burrito bowl and Steve got a burrito. We could have easily shared one or the other. He ate his whole burrito but was crying about how stuffed he felt and I ate a few forkfuls of mine. On our way home I started to slime a little and actually, a little frothy slime came up in his soda cup but than I felt much better, him...not so much as he was still drinking it!

I had my hour this morning with Stacy at the gym and she was pleased to hear that my inner thighs are still burning since we last spent time together on Monday. She says she wants me to always be thinking about her when we are apart!

We are going out to dinner tonight with our friends and I will be certain to be very mindful of what and how much of it I put in my mouth. In addition, I will be silently saying the Pledge of Allegiance between bites as it seems to really help me!

I am still very tight!

It will be two weeks tomorrow since my .15 cc unfill and I seem to be getting tighter again. The unfill was like a breath of fresh air for the first week and now this week, I am back to PB'ing at least once a day.

From day one, I've continued to have issues with my coffee in the morning. I am only able to get a few sips before I start getting the backed up feeling. I am ok with that. I also used to drink a bottle of water before I exercised (after my coffee and on the way to the gym) and one bottle during and on the ride home. Now, I am lucky to get one bottle down by the time I get home. I have to drink very slowly, no more gulping. I am ok with all this.

Yesterday, I got home from the gym at 10:00 and I was hungry! I had a bad eating day on Sunday with PB'ing and not enough protein so I decided to make a bowl of oatmeal made with skim milk and a scoop of protein powder. It was very thin and I got that "your going to get stuck feeling" after about 3 spoonfuls! I put the bowl on the counter and went to take a shower thinking that I would be able to eat when I was done. Well guess what? The bowl was missing! I asked Steve what he did with it thinking that he dumped it and put the bowl in the dishwasher and he said, "I ate it". He never eats in the morning and NEVER eats oatmeal. He said he was hungry and it smelled good! I made a chocolate protein shake and it still took 45 minutes to drink!

I worked in the afternoon and struggled to eat a 6 oz container of Choibani yogurt but at least it stayed down. Dinner was supposed to be Eggplant Parm but I PB'd after about 2 bites. I ended up having a cup of Egg Drop soup that stayed down.

Today I am going to stick to protein drinks with strawberries blended in and yogurt for the first part of the day and see how I am feeling for dinner where I was planning on having a hamburger patty mushed up with a tomato basil salad. Hopefully this will give my band some time to get with the program. I am thinking I am eating slow and chewing like mad when I'm even eating something that needs to be chewed but maybe I need to chew more and eat slower yet! I have even been literally counting my chews (25 or more) before swallowing and putting my fork down between bites and saying the Pledge of Allegiance (in my head of course!) between bites!

Maybe even someday the scale will reward me with some lower number, yes? Oh yea, Weightloss surgery is taking the easy way out!

A Brazilian Wax? Really?

No, it wasn't I who subjected myself to the pain that such a waxing evidently brings but my daughter, Mallory! What was she thinking? She just called me to tell me, in detail mind you, how much it hurt. Than, she tells me she has to go back in 4 - 6 weeks to do it again! WTF? Why...I don't get it. And, there are tweezers involved, who knew? I asked my younger, much smarter daughter, if she was going to do it also and she said NO WAY! Thank you, Jordan. Mama is glad that one of her daughters takes after her!

In all seriousness, though, whatever. I wouldn't do it but to each, his own, right?

Two B.O.O.B.s members get together!

Steve and I were hanging out with Sarah yesterday afternoon and it was like catching up with an old friend! (and yes, we were sitting in front of "Lucy Ho's", don't ask!) She is as warm, open and friendly in person as she is in her blogging! Sarah and her family are visiting St. Augustine this week and there was no way that I was not going to meet up with her as I live only 1/2 hour away! The best part for me is that Sarah has family in SA so she visits often! Yay for me...we will definitely get to visit more in the future.

We both shared our excitement (and fears!) about Chicago. We were both apprehensive about planning a whole weekend with a bunch of strangers, but the reality is, we aren't strangers, it will be like meeting Sarah and feeling like we've known each other forever! I have met up with Gail and now Sarah, Steph, uh, when are we going to get together?

I cannot wait to meet Sarahs husband and daughter and I have no doubt that we will be getting together again in the future! Steve was such a good sport and because I share with him a lot about the blogs I read, he actually knew of the people we were talking about. I told Sarah that her blog, Catherines and Amy W. are the three that I found first and because of the three of them, it has made my journey so much easier. Of course, with each blog that I followed after them, I continued to find great women and men who have also contributed to my journey and I will be forever grateful!

Sarah and I are both looking forward to Chicago and meeting all the rest of you! I am hoping that next year, we do it again in Orlando ! Maybe, in addition to B.O.O.B.'s we can add a group of D.I.C.K.'s (daddys including cute kids) to the group? No, ok, I tried!

Back from "The Guilt Trip"

My mom looks a little worse for the wear but hey, after almost two weeks in the hospital, who wouldn't, right? She is feeling better and was so happy to see me which should make me feel better but it makes me feel guilty that I live so far away! We will be driving up to NY on July 30 and will be there for 9 days so I'm not feeling too guilty about only staying for 2 days.

On the Band front, I am still a little tight but nothing like last week before my unfill. My coffee still does not want to go down in the morning but I definitely loosen up as the day goes on. I had a few "stuck" episodes in NY but I really think it has more to do with just not paying attention when I am eating out and not chewing enough. I am definitely feeling restriction though and feeling satisfied while eating very little.

I have a 10:30 appt. with my trainer this morning so I am trying to drink a protein drink before and still a little tight. The hiccups are back! I think with this fill, this not being able to comfortably drink liquids in the morning is the most annoying thing! Normally, I would have coffee and than think about eating something after 10 a.m. but because I will be training/exercising, I thought I should get a little something in before. I guess my Band doesn't give a rats ass! It is not ready to let ANYTHING past this morning!

I will be back later....have a great day everyone!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that, followers....plus BYOC

I was just looking at my list of followers and realized that some of you do not have a link to your blogs listed. If you have one, please leave me the link in a comment on my own blog. I so love reading about all of your journeys and if you have one and I am not following, I need to know because I want to follow you!

My mother finally came home from the hospital on Thursday...thank you for all your prayers...but she will be on IV antibiotics for at least 4 weeks. I was talking to her yesterday morning and she was sounding very wishy-washy and she said in her famous "mother guilt" voice: "I wish you were here, I miss you so much". I assured her that Steve and I would be up there 7/31 and we are staying for 9 days. Not good enough it seems....she called my sister and told her how much she missed me. My sister pounced on me with "Elayna (my niece who is staying with me) is a little afraid to fly home on Sunday by herself so I was thinking....I have a round-trip air credit that I would give you if you come to visit your mother on Sunday...even if its only for a few days!" So, I will be flying to NY tomorrow and coming home Tues. Life sure changes quickly these days!

BYOC

1. Love or money? High salary or job satisfaction?

Definitely love but I gotta say, having money is a nice bonus! I could not work at something that didn't satisfy me no matter what the salary but whatever I do in life, I give it my all and I expect to be paid for my efforts.


2. What is your favorite time of day?

My favorite time of day is first thing in the morning, I am all alone with the puppster and we sit out on the lanai watching the sun come up over the lake behind our house. Well, I watch the sun, Brutus watches my coffee cup waiting for a little coffee at the end!

3. My in-laws just had their wills done so it made me wonder this. Do you have a will? Did you tell anyone your wish to be kept alive or not?

We definitely have a will and with everything that I am now going through as Executor of my Dads estate, we are thinking about adding a revocable living trust to make things easier for our children when we die. We each have a living will that states that we do not want to be kept alive unless there is hope for quality of life.

We both want to be cremated but honestly, we have not discussed where to put the ashes. Hmmm...maybe now is a good time to discuss this, yes? My dad wanted his ashes scattered at the golf course and Las Vegas which we did but my sister and I also kept some and each of us bought a beautiful Urn that we put the ashes in. I never thought I would want to keep ashes around but I have to tell you, it is so comforting to me to be able to look at the urn and feel my dads presence.

4. Repeat question. Pick one thing for one day you'll do next week that aids in your physical or mental health.

I am having issues with getting all my protein in so I will make it a point to do so every day, not just for one day.

5. Repeat questions. Make someone a superstar for a moment...whose comment or blog stuck with you this week.

There were so many this week that spoke to me, I can't limit it to one.

Rocky Horror Picture Show Time

We had so much fun last night at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was in a small theatre in St. Augustine. My poor, 14 y/o niece didn't know what hit her! She thought it was hysterical though and really enjoyed herself. For me it brought back so many memories of my teen years when it was a cult fave and we would go to the movie theatre near my house on Long Island for the Friday night midnight show. The actors did a great job!

Before the show we went to a my favorite pizza place here in FL. It took me a long time to even FIND a pizza here that I like. You have to remember that I am a New York girl and in my honest opinion, there ain't no better pizza than NY pizza! Anyway, not only do I like this pizza, I love it and I was hoping and praying that with my latest fill/unfill, I would still be able to eat it. Well, eat it I did! SCORE! I ate one piece minus the crust and I was full. Oh, the joy of my band! I love it.

On our agenda today with my niece is lunch at Panara with my friend who was banded in February and than off to the mall and flea market for some shopping! Can't wait!

Alligator Farm!

I had a good eating day today so far....tonight will tell the tale. We are going to see a very local production of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" in St. Augustine. Should be interesting to say the least. My niece keeps asking what its about. I told her she'll have to see it to believe it. She is now afraid!

Before the show we are going for dinner at Mezzaluna. It is an Italian Restaurant/Pizza place. I am praying that I can still eat pizza, albeit, very slowly/carefully. We'll see! I can always go with a smooshed up meatball, right?

I finally uploaded some pics from our big outing at the Alligator Farm. Lots of fun but definitely one of those places that you only need to visit once!

Albino Alligator



The Gangs all here!



Me and Stephen



Me and Stephen



My daughter Mallory & my niece Elayna



Mallory & Kevin (her fiance)



Me and my Mallory

Ahhhh...Sweet Relief!

Thank you for all your words of encouragement to get the unfill. Best decision I made! I had .15cc's of my .35cc fill taken out! What a difference it made immediately! I am so glad I went to see Dr. D today. He even explained that with everything I have been through these past two months, he is certain that stress is playing a huge part of my tightness. He further explained that when the body is stressed, you retain more fluid which in turn adds to your tightness. Light-bulb moment because leading up to my 2nd fill, right after my Dad and BIL died, I all of a sudden started feeling restriction again and the fill added to that. By the time I had my 3rd fill, I think we just over-did it with the amount of .35cc's not thinking about the stress factor.

My husband, on the other hand, almost got punched in the nose by me while in the exam room waiting for the doctor. The nurse commented that I had lost 3 lbs in the one week since I'd been there. Steve said "why don't you just leave your fill/restriction alone...at this rate, you will be at goal in a month!" At first I thought he was kidding...he wasn't! He really didn't get it at first why this not eating thing was not good but after I explained and then the Dr. explained more, he was ok with it. Are you kidding me? I was at the point where I was going to start gnawing on his arm in the car on the drive to the doctors office. I was so hungry. I wasn't even able to drink coffee again this morning! Came right back up after a sip.

I am happy to say that I had 1/2 of a hamburger with ketchup (no bun) for dinner and a little bit of the ice cream from last night. It felt so good to eat and not get stuck. I took tiny bites and ate slowwwwww. He also suggested I take Prilosec for a month to make sure my stomach quiets down from all the inflamation.

The only good thing that came from this episode is that this morning, for the first time in at least 8 years, I saw 189 on the scale! Not sure if it will be there tomorrow but that is ok, it was there today and it will be back! I feel it!

Going for the unfill tomorrow

Still having issues with my fill and I have an appt. tomorrow at 2 for an unfill. Yesterday was strange, I had problems with my coffee in the morning than also with water at the gym. I than had a few teaspoons of egg salad at lunch and it didn't go down. Later in the day I was picking while I was cooking and I didn't have any problems! I ate some fried corn, macaroni salad, 2 bites of a rib and a few chocolate chip cookies.

This morning, when I woke up I was thinking that maybe I was past the tightness and I wouldn't be needing an unfill...well, that was before my coffee! I couldn't drink water at the gym and I even tried some grits for lunch. No go. I called and made an appt. for tomorrow. Dinner was a few bites of left over fried corn and that did it! STuck again. I am now slowly drinking a cup of tea. I am so hungry and I am at this moment thinking that I may try a little ice cream, just to get something down. (ice cream went down very slow but it went down with only a hiccup)

My daughter and her fiance are leaving for NY tomorrow but my niece will be with me until this Sunday. We went to the Alligator Farm...pretty cool but SMELLY! Oy! I was going to hold a baby Alligator, no really I was, until the girl told me that he was projectile pooping on a few people before me. Uh, no thanks! I was not being pooped on by no Gator!

I will let y'all know how the unfill goes tomorrow!

So far...still a little tight today

Last night I was able to eat 1/2 cup of ice cream but even that didn't just slide on down! Me thinks I may be a little too tight as I was not able to comfortably drink a cup of coffee this morning. My doctor is closed today for the holiday but will be open tomorrow so I guess I will call depending on what happens today.

I'm going to the gym in a little while and i will slowly try to drink some water and than I will try some yogurt when I get home. I even had trouble drinking my water yesterday! He put in .35 cc's last Thursday and maybe if he pulls out .1 or even a little more I will feel better. The irony of this is that he originally put in .8cc's!!! Can you imagine? That was not happening as I couldn't even get down one sip of water!

I made some kick-ass meatballs in marinara sauce last night and I felt like crying when I couldn't eat even 1/2 without it coming up! Everyone was oohing and aahing about how good they were and thats when I said to myself that I shouldn't be feeling like this. Up until now, I was able to eat just about anything but just a little of it and when I couldn't even eat a smooshed up meatball, I knew something was wrong!

Ok, my fickle little band...you have until the end of today to let me know if we are heading back to Dr. D on Wednesday or not! This will not be the most pleasant trip either as we have to take Mallory and Kevin to Orlando International Airport and the doctors office is not exactly on the way. Its probably like 50 miles on the other side of the airport which will add another 100 miles to my 200 round trip ride to the airport! Good thing my husband doesn't mind driving!

Our plans changed today so we will be having a BBQ later on and will be going to the Alligator Farm tomorrow instead. This Alligator Farm better be interesting or everyone will kill me as I seem to be the only one who is excited about it!

I will let you all know what I decide to do about the un-fill! Have a great day!

Happy Birthday America!

First of all, my mother is in much better spirits...still threatening to jump out the window of her hospital room but much better none-the-less. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes. Hopefully she will get good news in the next day or so and be able to come home!

Mallory, Kevin and Elayna arrived yesterday afternoon from NY and so far, everyone seems to be having a great time! We went to the beach last night for the fireworks and even with some rain, they put on a great show and we had a wonderful time.

My fill that I had on Thursday seems to be giving me a hard time. I was fine on Friday during the liquid day and yesterday on mushies was fine also. Today was another story altogether. I got stuck on coffee, thank stuck on water, than stuck at breakfast (1/2 piece of toast, 1/2 egg and piece bacon), lunch was about 2 teaspons of egg salad..stuck and dinner was 1/2 meatball with sauce and guess what? Stuck! Not good. I was able to get water and a cup of tea down after all that so maybe I just need to go a little slower? My band now has 2.95 cc's in a 4 cc band. The doctor originally put in .8 but took more than 1/2 out when water did n't go down. I thought he was crazy when he told me what he put in and thankfully, he took it right out.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July! We are headed to the Alligator Farm tomorrow.

Update on my Mama and BYOC

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers on my blog yesterday about my mom. She is still in the hospital and unfortunately, they will be keeping her through the weekend as they have still not determined exactly what bacteria they are treating her for. She is currently on 3 antibiotics and one seems to be helping her as she is showing signs that the infection is getting smaller. She is a horrible patient though and just wants to go home. I can't blame her really but she has to listen to the doctor as she really doesnt have any other choice.

I will keep you posted on her progress/condition.

On to BYOC:

1. Seeing that it’s a patriotic holiday of sorts I thought of this one: Where were you on September 11th?

I was working for a Bank on Long Island and I was in with my Executive Vice President talking to one of our Investment Bankers who worked on the 104th floor of the WTC. We were talking when the first plane hit the North Tower and he said "I have to go...there is something going on next door". He didn't make it out that day. All they found was his wallet. Very sad...he was 38 years old and had two young children. He was one of too many who died that day. I left work soon after and went to both of my daughters schools and took them home. I didn't want them out of my sight.

2. What is your idea of fun? If given the chance to skip work/life for an entire day, what would you do? (assume you’d be by yourself) I would go shopping...I love to shop and very rarely find time to go by myself.

3. Suggestion from a follower. Some blog questions.

How many blogs do you follow? About 125
Do you read them all or just your faves? I read them all
Do you comment a little, a lot, on all? I try to comment on as many as I can if I have something of value to add, especially on those that comment on my blog.
Have you ever unfollowed someone because of something they said or you didn’t like their blog? Only 1 person. I just got to the point with this blogger that it wasn't helping me on my journey by reading her blog. She was eating around her band like crazy and asking for help but she obviously didn't want it.
Do you routinely unfollow and why
see above: I have only unfollowed the one blog and I have had one person unfollow me. I still follow the person who unfollowed me and it makes me crazy wondering why she unfollowed me :(


4. Repeat question. Pick one day and one healthy thing you’ll do for just that day next week. I can't narrow it down to one day but I will keep exercising

5. Repeat "Make someone a superstar" question. Whose blog or blog comment stuck with you this week and why?
Amy's Glass Closet

Oh, no....here I go again!

I have tried to avoid blogging all week thinking that all I seem to have to talk about lately is gloom and doom. Who wants bad news all the time, right?

My mom was admitted into the hospital on Monday due to symptoms of stomach bloating and a painful "lump". When I asked my mom how long she has had the "lump" she said, at least a week or so. Thats my mother! She'll tell you she doesn't feel well but than tells you she is fine. Anyway, she finally went to the doctor on Monday and he admitted her for a CT scan and colonoscopy.

The CT scan was done Monday afternoon and they determined that she had a cyst the size of a baseball in her stomach possibly caused by diverticulitis. On Tuesday, they drained the cyst and confirmed that it was puss filled as opposed to blood. They have been waiting for the biopsy of the fluid to come back to determine what course of treatment to take. In the interim, yesterday they did yet another CT scan and determined the the infection is actually more out of than in the stomach and its a big infection. Under the microscope they are thinking its a Staph infection but still cannot be sure until they get the test results back.

To make a long story short, each day she has thought she would be going home but today the doctor said to plan on staying in the hospital at least until MONDAY! He does not want her to go until he is certain what he is treating and says she will be on intravenous IV for a long time. She can do this at home but not this weekend as it is a holiday weekend and he wants her in the hospital where he can monitor her.

Please say a prayer for my mother. When I heard the word "staph infection", well you know where my mind went. On the other hand, based on what my family has been through in the last 7 weeks, i cannot imagine a God who would give us more to deal with so I am pretty sure that all we need to do is pray for my mother to get well so she can come home.

I am so torn right now as I want to jump on a plane and go to NY but I also have Mallory, Kevin and Elayna flying down to FL on Saturday. Do we cancel their trip so I can go to my mother? For at least today, we are leaving the plans as they are thinking that worst case, we can all fly to NY during the week if things change.

I am leaving in a few minutes to go to my Fill appointment than we are continuing on to STeves dads house in West Palm Beach where we will be spending the night. I will be home tomorrow afternoon and I will update y'all on my mothers condition. You have no idea what all of you mean to me. Thank you for ALWAYS being here for me! I love you all!