First day back at work

Wow, I didn't think it would be so hard but I was wrong. Four weeks ago today at 12:45 p.m. I received the phone call that would change my life. I was at work at the time and that is why it was so hard walking through that door today. However, the people that I work with are unbelievable. I am very thankful to have them in my life and they made it easier. They let me cry, they let me laugh and than they said "GET BACK TO WORK"! It turned out to be a good day for me as I was busy and didn't have time to be sad.

Tomorrow I have a very busy doctor day. My fill appointment was rescheduled for tomorrow at 9:30, than, I finally have my appointment with the ankle/foot specialist that took 5 months to get! My WLS doc is about 100 miles south of my home and then the ankle guy is 100 miles NW from there. It will then be about 100 miles to get home from the ankle doc. All in all, Stephen figures it will be about 300+ miles of driving. We could be 1/4 of the way to New York! See, that's how I measure all driving time!

I have no clue what the outcome will be at the ankle/foot doc. I have excruciating pain deep down in my ankle joint when I exercise and after an MRI, my orthopedic said I had a lesion in the crevice that is somehow related to arthritis. He immediately referred me to this guy as the diagnosis was out of his league. He said he would think surgery would be involved but he wasn't sure. I do nothing halfway it seems. At first I was upset when the ortho doc suggested surgery might be the answer because I thought it would really impede my weight-loss. However, I haven't been able to exercise anyway with the exception of walking, so if surgery is the answer and its just a matter of a few weeks to heal, I would be ok with that. As long as it fixes the problem of course. Anyway, I will find out tomorrow.

Its funny how....***Edited***

when you see or read something it turns into something else in your head. I just read the post from Work In Progress and now I cannot get the song "Build me up Buttercup" out of my head. Except that its not "Build me up Buttercup" its "Fill me up Buttercup" as I am getting a fill later today with Dr. D. I will try to contain myself and not sing when I see him coming at me with the needle!

On the Peanut butter cup front, I am so with Work In progress that they are heaven in a cup! I can still remember those commercials where the guy walking down the street with his chocolate bar crashes into the guy with the jar of peanut butter and says "Hey, your peanut butter is in my chocolate bar...No, your chocolate bar is in my peanut butter!" or something like that. I was definitely ahead of the curve on Peanut Butter Cups as I always painted my Hershey bar with peanut butter! If only I brought the idea to Hershey sooner!

Anyway, yesterday I was with Stephen in Walmart and all of a sudden I started to get the sweats like I was having a low blood sugar episode and I was craving chocolate or something I knew would take care of the feeling to get my blood sugar up. I quickly made my way over to the protein bars and found a Snickers Marathon Energy Bar. I actually compared the nutrition label to a package of Reeces Peanut Butter Cup and while the Marathon bar was only 10 calories less at 210, it had 14 grams of protein compared to 5 on the RPBC and it had half the fat. I am not a protein bar person but I have to say, it was really good. I didn't buy more as I thought it could be a problem for me but I have to say that I may buy some protein bars to have in case of emergencies such as that. Any recommendations?

I will check back in later after my fill.

****EDITED*****
Fill has been postponed until Wednesday at 9:30 due to an emergency(Doc's, not mine!. Will update fill info at that time!

Happy Hot Summer Meltdown Challenge Day!!

Good Morning my Pretty's...I am so pumped for this challenge. I want to wish all of us good luck and I'm looking forward to seeing a lot less of us come August 1st! I just took my pic and emailed to Kristen so now I am officially in Hot Summer Meltdown mode!

Nothing much planned for today except running a few errands with Steve. It actually feels good to just relax and have nowhere to go.

Our girls got home safe last night a little after midnight after driving for 17 hours from our home in FL to Long Island. The house is so quiet with them gone. Jordan actually has started to talk to us about moving here with us and that makes me VERY HAPPY but I am afraid to get to excited just yet! Fingers crossed. I will see Mallory, Kevin and my niece for the long 4th of July weekend as they will be coming with Elayna (my sisters daughter). Steve, Brutus and I will be driving up to LI at the end of July for a week which will be great.

I've attached a pic from our day at Magic Kingdom along with one of Steve showing off his new tattoo in Vegas. I teased him that it makes him look so tough to which he said "I don't have to LOOK tough, I am a cop and I have a gun!"





I have a question for you all....how much do you eat at every meal? I am a little confused. I have heard some people say that they only eat 4 oz. at every meal. I am going to my doctor tomorrow and will ask him but I'm curious. My doctor in Mexico who did my surgery had me speak with a nutritionist who told me 1 cup in total volume at every meal is the norm. So, what are you doing?

SIDE BAR...I am sitting in my little room off my bedroom smelling freshly baked Croissants baking in the oven! Me and my great ideas to buy my husband these frozen Croissants from William Sonoma for his birthday. He loves them so much though so it was a good choice as he is so hard to buy for! He even bakes them himself so I can make myself scarce when they are baking.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Wii Fit & Blahs

The blahs are because my prescious daughters left this morning heading back to Long Island. This always makes me sad and this particular trip was a gazzilion times worse. My father was supposed to drive from his house to visit them while they were here. Instead, we drove to his house for his memorial service. Will I ever be able to go one day without crying? I know I will but right now that just doesn't seem possible.

Ok, get a grip Jax! On a good, fun note, my 80 year old father was the proud owner of a Wii that I seem to have inherited. I bought a Wii Fit and this morning watched as my Mii went from this skinny little thing to a "plumper" version when I was weighed! How funny was that? Not very actually but I suppose it really is funny.

I was not happy about the weight on the Wii as it was 2.4 lbs higher than my bathroom scale with the same clothes on. I am convinced it has to do with the rug its on but whatever. It is what it is and as long as it goes down I will be fine. I am only showing a 2.5 lb loss during the past 4 weeks and while I know why its only a 2.5 lb loss, its still making me crazy. I feel like I wasted the last 4 weeks with my band. Monday is my 2nd fill and I pray that will zap me back into form!

I had cottage cheese for breakfast today and plan on having some turkey salad for lunch. Bread AND chips are definitely on the DO NOT EAT LIST which is probably not a bad thing! For dinner I will be having some lean steak on the grill (hopefully) and some spinach. I may have a protein shake if I feel like a need a little something for a snack. I am really going to be watching my calories and making sure I get my protein it. I know that these two things are the reason why my scale has not been so nice to me lately. Oh, and let me not forget, WATER, WATER and more WATER!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can see a little more movement on the scale between now and Monday at 2 pm!

1. If you could live anywhere in the world - where would it be and why?

Italy or to be more specific, the Amalfi Coast. Steve and I went there on our honeymoon and it was a magical place and I have memories of that trip that will last a lifetime.

2. How old were you when you got drunk for the 1st time?

16

3. What was your favorite toy growing up?

I loved the Barbie Camper.

4. What's your favorite season and why?

Fall because it always seemed like a new beginning.

5. Repeat question....which blog or comment spoke to you or stuck with you the most this week?

I am just coming back to life after going through hell for the last 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I have not been a very good blogger so I have to pass on this for this week.

Back in the Land of the Living!

We took the girls (and Kevin) to the Magic Kingdom yesterday and we had a "magical day"! It was so frikkin hot and than around 4:00 the torrential rain came! Thankfully, we had not stopped for lunch so we found a table at one of the restauants and had taco's. We got on the road to drive home around 5:30. It was so good to relax and just have fun with the family. I am so happy that we did this...actually, it was Steves idea.

The 3 of them are leaving tomorrow :( but will be back for a long 4th of July weekend. Steve and I will be driving up to NY for a week at the end of July. I cannot wait for that to roll around as I really miss my family.

I am going for my 2nd fill on Monday and it cannot come too soon! I am also going back to the gym next week so watch out girls...I am in the Summer Meltdown Challenge and I AM BACK!!!!

Family

Thats really what life is about, right? My sister and her children just left for the airport to go home. Now that we know that Daddy and Jimmy have been laid to rest, my wish is that all of us can begin the healing process and begin to live again.

My daughters, Mallory and Jordan and Mallory's fiance Kevin are here until Saturday. We will be going to Disney tomorrow for the day as Kevin hasn't been there since he was 3! I am not sure what park they will choose but all that matters is that we will be together and will have fun!

Tonight will be the first time in 3 weeks that I have cooked dinner and I am so looking forward to it! The scale has not been my friend during this period of eating out, believe me! I also will be drinking all my water today for the first time and I know that my body goes into "hang onto every single calorie I eat" mode when I do not drink enough. Mallory and I even went for a nice brisk 2.5 mile walk this morning. We will be doing a lot of walking tomorrow and than we plan on going to the gym on Friday morning.

Yes, I think that I am ready to begin healing.