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!