Isn't she adorable?

This is Gail of Gails Journey and me today at Cracker Barrel in St. Augustine. She was with her mama, who is just an older, adorable version of her daughter, and I was with Steve the photographer, AKA, my hubs! Steve and Gail made a date to go sky-diving in March along with her sister-in-law and aunt so he was a happy boy when we left. He actually said to me "this is so nice, meeting new people that like to sky-dive!" Yes, its all about my Steve, is it not? This will be Gails second time sky-diving...she went the first time to celebrate 100 lbs lost! She has since lost another 20 lbs! I am so proud of her!

This was the second time that I've had the pleasure of having lunch with Gail (Steve's first, nananana!_ Gail will be with her SIL in Chicago and we cant wait to get together again. Her mother even invited us to Gails dads Birthday BBQ the week before BOOBs so we just might be visiting with her and her whole clan again real soon!

That's it for now as I have to go cook dinner but I will be back later checking in on everyone!

***EDITED***I am exercising like mad and.....

***EDITED***Seriously stuck at dinner! Steak and spinach. Honestly, I think its the spinach, is that possible? I guess my fill really did do something!

Nothing on the scale! Well, I shouldn't really say nothing, its more like "nothing new". Let me 'splain. After my unfill, I proceeded to gain 7 lbs in two weeks! Nice job, Jax! Anyway, I have now lost those rotten 7 lbs and now I am stuck again! My fill from last week doesn't seem like enough but I am going to wait it out. The doc thought it would do me until the middle of OCt! Hah! I'm hoping it gets me to the middle of next week! Oh, Bother!

Other than that, I am good. Really, what do I have to complain about? I have two gorgeous daughters, my little Brutus and a man who loves me crazy. I am just going to be thankful right now for what I have and not worry about what I don't have (skinniness!).

I also want to be thankful and Thank all the BOOB's coordinators. I cannot believe how this weekend in Sept. has evolved into what sounds like what will be a GREAT weekend! I promise to pay it forward if we ever do this in Orlando or elsewhere in FL! You ladies are all great and so damn creative! I am also thankful, that I am travelling and rooming with Steph! Did y'all get your Race shirts? Mine came on Saturday and its HUGE! I ordered a LG but I think its a mens large because it is big!

Less than 5 weeks away, can't wait!

Friend visits, Family visits and Fills, oh my!

I have had a couple of crazy busy days! Yesterday morning Steve and I set out for a 220 mile trip across the state to visit my step-mom and my sister who flew in for an over-night visit. First, we had to visit with friends who we met on our trip to Italy last year. They live in the same town as my dad did and we always said we'd get together and while they have been to our house, this was our first time at theirs!

We had a great visit! They both could not stop complimenting me on my weightloss! I was at one of my highest weights in Italy (220 when we left and 215 when we came home. I lost weight in Italy, go figure!) Anyway, I had about 3 oz of NY strip steak and than a cookie for dessert. Delish!

Here is a picture of Steve, myself, Mike and Judy:



We than went over to my step-moms and went out to an Italian restaurant with my sister. We had a great visit and than this morning we went to Cracker Barrell and than Steve and I left for my 2 pm doctor visit which is almost exactly across the state from where we were but still 100 + miles from my house! Anyway, I gained 4 lbs since I was last at his office 2 weeks ago today! Yay me! He wasn't concerned in the least. He told me he fully expected me to gain after going through my starvation week! He had taken out 1 cc than and than today he put back in .5 cc's. I am now at the same restriction level, 2.4 cc's in my 4 cc band that I was at when I had my infamous way too tight 3rd fill!

I admitted to him that I questioned myself whether I needed that 3rd fill but figured since I was there, I would get one! Again, he was a doll and said that the rule of thumb is "if you don't know if you really need a fill, chances are you don't" Lesson learned the hard way! Anyway, I am now on liquids for 24 hours than mushies for another 24. I am hoping to get my weight loss moving again. He told me to call him if I have any problems but not to come back for 6 -8 weeks as he thinks that will be when I am ready for a little more. His thought is that I will have lost 10 -15 lbs in that time and will be ready.

I am now 5 months into this journey and all in all, I am happy with my progress and my hope is that I continue to lose, even if its slow. If I keep doing what I am doing, I can make my goal of 60lbs down by my one year bandiversary in March 2011. And you know what? Even if I don't, I will be ok with that too because I am on my way to thinville and I will get there!

Dinner in Orlando with the Boobs gang!

I was so excited to find out that Grace and her sister Farrah were coming to Orlando to visit Universal Studios for the new World of Harry Potter! My husband and I drove to Chili's in Orlando to have dinner with Stephanie, Grace, Farrah, Maria and Amy and had a wonderful time.

My husband is such a good guy and when I told him I was going to go he offered to come so I didn't have to drive by myself. It was about 1 1/2 hr drive to Orlando from my house. He really enjoyed himself though. He loves meeting a lot of the people from the blogs as I read them to him quite often so he gets to put names and faces together.

These are a few pics from our evening together:

Sitting: from the left side is Steph and Amy. Standing: from the left side is Grace, me and Maria





I was so happy that we were all able to get together while Grace and her sis were in town. It was just a taste of what Chicago will be like. I cannot wait to see everyone again and try to pack so much into just a few days. All of the girls on the Boobs committee have been doing a fantastic job of putting together a great weekend. I am so lucky to be travelling with and rooming with Steph who is one of the planners!

I just read Camilles post about her gym plans this week and I am planning on leaving in a few minutes myself for a Cardio Core class. I than have a personal training session at 10 but than thats it for me at the gym until Thursday. We are heading over to the west coast of Florida to visit with Peggy, my dads wife and my sister who is flying down from NY for 2 days. We will be home early evening on Wednesday so who knows, I may be able to go Wed. night but we'll see!

Have a great week all!

Sunshine State? uh, no its been raining all day!

That's ok though. I am actually quite fine with it. I started the day at the gym and than came home, showered and went out for a manicure appt. This afternoon I went shopping with the hubs, well, I shopped, he stayed outside in the parking lot fiddling with the automatic car seat adjuster or something to that effect! It worked out just fine...I bought a new pair of shoes and I got a pair of jeans. I hate buying clothes right now but sometimes, I just give in because I want a decent pair that fit for now. With the sale and 20% off coupon, they came out to $27 so really, very inexpensive.

So, as most of you know, my oldest daughter Mallory is getting married next March. (actually, her wedding day would have also have been my sister and brother-in-laws 22nd wedding anniversary) Anyway, I have started to look at gowns and have found two that are very possible maybes. I am debating on whether I should bite the bullet and get one in a smaller size just so that I don't have a problem if I wait and then can't get it.

Here are the two dresses that I am leaning towards, both from Dillards and both in Royal Blue which is my favorite color too:

This one is my favorite!



Here is the runner-up!



I have a very tiny waist in proportion to my hips and I think the top one would fit better than the 2nd which is fitted right at the waist. What do you guys think I should do? I am currently in a size 14 and still want to lose another 35 lbs. I am thinking that at most, I may possibly be a 10 by next March so if I order a 12, I could always have it taken in. Should I do it or should I wait a while longer?

Happy Friday and Spin Class for all!

As my Italian Nonna used to say: "Oy Vey" (ok, she had a lot of Jewish friends!) I finally got up the nerve to do a spin class last night and man oh man, is my ass killing me this morning! I did my regular 1/2 hr training with my trainer and we were talking about it as she was teaching the spin class immediately following our time. She talked me into it! So I went and for 45 minutes I can honestly say I never stopped pedeling and I even stood up about 1/2 the times that she said to! All in all, it was the most intense 45 minutes of Cardio I have ever done and it really felt good. Than..not so much now! I will be heading to Sports Authority this weekend to invest in a very padded pair of bike shorts!

On the band front, since my unfill, my dear friend "the scale" has gone up 6 lbs but as of this morning, its only up 4 lbs since the unfill. My head says that the 6 lbs I lost during the week of not even being able to drink liquids wasn't real. I was so dehydrated so that when I started to eat/drink again, my body became a sponge and is holding onto everything that goes down! My heart says...phooey! Very discouraging but I go on.

I have been exercising like a demon this week and I am so sore so maybe, just maybe, by Sunday, my day that I track my weight, I will be rewarded. I am going to the Doc on Wed to go over the results of my Upper GI that I took on Tues. He called and said everything sounds like its fine based on the Radiologists report but he still wants to see the CD that they gave me. I looked at it and I have to tell you, my upper pouch looks big but I really don't know what I am looking out and how magnified the picture is so I will have to wait for the Doctor to look and tell me his opinion. I keep fearing that with all the PB'ing I was doing I dilated the pouch. We'll see. He didn't think that was the case so I am praying he knows what he's talking about.

All I know is, when he took out the 1 cc of fluid, I was able to eat again and it was heaven. The problem now is, the level of restriction I have is 0. None. The amount of fluid in my band is exactly what I had after my first fill and that was the same, no restriction at all. I think I need to be brought up the the level of my second fill to get results again.

I am off to work now and will pop back in tonight after my step class to check out Draz's BYOC. Have a great day my lovely ladies (and Andrew too!).

My sister....

found out today that she received a grade on a paper that will allow her to receive her Masters degree! She went back to school 6 years ago to get her teaching degree and has been teaching H.S. Italian for the past 3 years. I am so proud of her!

She called me up to tell me and she was crying. My brother-in-law would have been so proud of her and because someone was texting when they should have been paying attention while they were driving, he isn't here to celebrate this huge accomplishment with her. Will I ever be able to move past the anger that I feel whenever I think about my Dad and BIL?

My sister has come so far these past three months but everywhere she turns she is reminded that her husband will never be coming home again. I am so blessed that my husband came home from that trip and I keep asking myself "why am I the lucky one?" I know I have to just accept what is and move on but it is so damn hard! So many questions and "what ifs" keep playing in my head. Sometimes I feel like it will never end. You want to hear something "funny"? A week before the accident, I actually signed Oprah's "no phone zone" contract. Very out of character for me.

Life really does go on....my sister, my husband and myself are living proof of that!