Feeling Weigh Down

This is the second day I have felt completely terrible. David passed on a doozy of a bug to me! I can't eat anything without feeling queasy and disgusted, and drinking isn't much better.  I have been doing my best to stay hydrated despite it all, though. I have discovered G2 Raspberry Lemonade. It tastes great, which increases my minuscule amount of desire to drink it.... Also, it isn't quite as loaded with empty calories as normal Gatorade, and it helps replace electrolytes.

In our house, Gatorade is now referred to as "my Alligator", due to the overwhelming cuteness of one of our friends' sons. His name is Judson. He is two. I bought him and his sisters Sonic slushies last week, and the entire afternoon he was beside himself with glee over his Gatorade slush, which he called "my alligator." Love!

The upside of feeling bad is that my diet has taken care of itself lately.  I have gotten to the point post-surgery where I can eat enough to not lose anymore weight-- especially if I am bad and eat foods classified as "sliders". Sliders are anything with high carbs/ high sugars that slide right through the sleeve. Things like candy, chocolate, crackers, chips, etc. Fruits and Vegetables also slide pretty easy, but they don't count as bad foods since they are high in nutrition and low in calories. The addition of dips, dressings, butter, oil, etc. would change their status to bad, though. If I am good about sticking to my eating plan, and stick to mostly meat and vegetables, I am not quite at the place where I can eat enough to gain weight. Meat and protein-rich foods stay in the sleeve longer, and make you full much quicker.

Anyway, the point is that I haven't wanted to eat anything in 24 hours, let alone the bad stuff. It hasn't been pleasant, but it will be nice to see the weight go down with little effort. My wonderful David has been so good to me, and has indulged my whims for liquids just to make sure I don't get dehydrated. Also, he is bringing me home some Orange Sherbet Push-pops. I love them.

This whole weight loss surgery process has made for an interesting few months. David has been so supportive and understanding throughout it all. The week before the surgery last December, he bought me a recliner for me to sleep in while I was recovering (I read on several message boards that this was a must-have, and I highly recommend it). It is now my favoritest place to sit in the whole house. For a good 8 weeks after surgery I was almost completely miserable.  I didn't want to do anything. All I wanted to do was sit in my chair and either sleep or read a book. I had a few spurts of energy here and there, and I was super encouraged seeing the weight come flooding off, but for about 85% of the time I felt terrible and had to try very hard to be pleasant. Plus I had to make 3 separate trips to the ER. David was my champion through it all.

I don't know that there's any deep, significant truths or reflections in all this. I'm sure there are, but sometimes it takes time for them to find words. I am just so glad that I have a faithful God and a faithful spouse to walk with me, even through the yucky times.

Back After Another Hiatus

I just realized it has been an incredibly long time since I have posted anything! Again!

 So, to update, the adoption stuff is on hold. We still want to, but we decided to take few months and see if we can have a baby naturally. In the meantime, Trinket is getting plenty of cuddles.

Also, we decided to move forward in finding Zenzi a new home. We knew we would have to do it eventually, since she never met a child she didn't want to test her teeth on. It's been one month since we said goodbye, and I have gotten several updates from her foster mommy that she is doing really, really well. She loves having other Keeshonds to play with, and her sleeping arrangement has been upgraded to being in bed all night with her beloved peoples.

Another major change around here is that I had weight loss surgery last December. I have lost about 60 pounds so far! This is another reason why we wanted to give pregnancy a shot. Of course, we don't believe in doing anything to prevent a pregnancy, I just use that language to signify our using fertility meds. Today was the beginning of my second round of Clomid. I am also going in less than a week for a hysterosalpingogram, which is a test to make sure that my Fallopian tubes are clear, and don't have some kind of blockage preventing pregnancy. We are praying that everything is clear and that this round is successful. They checked out my ovaries yesterday to make sure everything looked good before starting this round of Clomid, and it all looked great. This is the first time in two years that I am completely cyst-free!

The biggest thing lately has just been an onslaught of illness- David came home Monday with a violent stomach bug, and promptly shared it with me. It has been a little miserable around here the last three days. This is also the week that our church is doing VBS, and I am supposed to be helping. I made it Monday and today, but I'm not sure if I will be going back. Puking on the kids would be a bad thing, I think.

We also just got back in town from Louisiana- we were there over the weekend for an Above Rubies retreat/ family camp. We met several new friends, and were so encouraged gathering together with like-minded believers.

That's about all I can come up with at the moment. Prayers for wellness and a bouncing bundle are appreciated always!

After a brief hiatus..

I'm back to the journey of losing weight.  I made a pledge with my mentor Bernie yesterday to lose 25 pounds. She is going to help me keep track, and she has been teaching me how to cook simple things that don't need a recipe.  Like, chicken. And vegetables. And none of it with pre-packaged sauce or a creamy soupy surrounding. I am loving it. And I actually finally fit in smaller jeans today.

An Exciting Week!

This week has just been full of things to be excited about!  I have lost about 2 pounds in the last week, and got my glasses prescription updated (with a snazzy new pair of specs...).  I have been to work out almost every day in the last two weeks, and I am almost down into my smaller jeans! Yay!

The most exciting thing, though, is that I am preparing to go out of town with the hubs to marriage/ family retreat.  It's an Above Rubies retreat, which might just be my favorite magazine that I get. I am so so so so so excited to go! Last night we got a doo-hickey that will let me play my ipod through the tape player in the car, so I have been working on compiling my trip playlist.  The trip to the campground will take about 3 hours, so I think that my three days worth of listening material should suffice... Can you tell that I am just a little bit excited?!?  Lol.

Also, I woke up so happy and refreshed this morning.  Last night David finally gave me the go-ahead to get no-bark collars for our little bark-happy furries, and last night was the first full night of peace and quiet that we've had in a long, long time. They had gotten into the habit of barking like little maniacs constantly starting at around 12:30pm.  Every night we would eventually end up kenneling them, but it was just perpetuating the cycle because that little bit of attention was rewarding their bad behavior. And, I didn't want to just leave them out there to bark out of pity for my neighbors, and because I kept getting these visions of an angry neighbor slipping some rat poison in under the fence....  So, now the problem is solved, and I feel extremely delighted.  We took the collars off of them first thing this morning (the directions say not to leave it on them more than 12 hours straight) and yet the environment of my house is blissfully quiet.  *sigh of satisfaction*

I'm about to head out to the gym, now. And enjoy the quiet!

Happenings

Today is one of those days where you know you should eat something, but nothing sounds good except something from McDonald's.  So, you fix one of your normal favorites and just hope it seems more appetizing once it's served.

According to the Wii, I am now down 25 pounds since the beginning of December, and about 35 pounds since my heaviest weight in the last 3 years.  I have been on a plateau for the last week or so (a little birdie might try to tell on me about some Valentine's chocolates and an ill-fated batch of Dunkin Donuts, but don't listen. Silly little bird...). But, this morning, I finally broke through!! I have been swimming the last two days at the gym, and I've progressed to 120 laps in just under 90 minutes.  I am proud of my progress!

Aside from the weight loss journey, things are really looking up around here.  My husband is still wonderful.  We are still enjoying one another greatly, and spending our at-home hours in companionable peace (for the most part).  In the evenings we have been watching a couple tv shows together, then reading together.  He reads aloud, and I cross-stitch.  I am working on a picture of a little girl angel in a flower garden right now.  He has been reading me "The Gospel According to Jesus" by John MacArthur.  It is truly a classic.  I'll have to write more later, I'm out of time for now.