A little relief...finally!

Okay, okay. I guess I was a little too tight, because now, I feel great. It's amazing what just a couple of lbs will do to make things better. I got my last fill on Aug. 1st and I felt pretty good for about 6 weeks. Then the one and only pb episode...followed by several more instances of tight band days. The weekend before this past, we went to Nashville IN for the weekend and then onto the OSU-Indiana game in Bloomington. Wouldn't you know that whole time we're out with friends, my band puckers and has a temper tantrum. Out to eat a couple of times and each time I had to box it up when I could and bring it back to the room. Of course I ended up eating crap during the tailgating since all those goodies went down fine. Frustrating weekend food-wise, but had alot of fun with friends. Always enjoy "little" Nashville, the artsy shops and lovely landscape. Great little town to hang out.

We stopped in Columbus IN on the way down and spent a few hours shopping at the premium outlets. Needless to say, I did very well. The first store...GAP. It's been years since I've even stepped foot in the store, but I honestly didn't know what size I was in misses. The pants I usually buy don't come in a lower size in Women's so I'm off to the misses departments to figure out what brands fit well. Found a great pair of jeans at the GAP and also 3-4 pair at the Lee/Vanity Fair outlet. I could kick myself for not buying another pair of the trouser jeans I bought there. Just the kind Stacy and Clinton from What Not to Wear would say to buy. I was afraid that they wouldn't wash up well since they were only $21, but they washed great with just a light touch of an iron to get the major sharp crease back. Crap. I'll have to scavenge the malls around here to see who might carry that particular style I guess. Got lots of great things, new belts, lower rise jeans, sweaters, shoes (the credit card was smokin'). But hey, I don't get to shop much and my rationale was I just got rid of several bags full - I needed some clothes that fit!

This past weekend we went to Columbus Ohio to a party my OSU senior nephew was having. His annual OSU Buckeye party. Also, met up with our friends from the week before and celebrated Steve's 50th birthday at Ruth's Chris and stayed overnite. First we went to pick up Derek at Otterbein College, then went to some other friend's daughter's OSU house for lunch and check out her place. Typical overpriced college house. She ended up only being 1/2 block away from my nephew's place so it worked out great! Then my friend Patty and I snuck away during the game and "took a walk" to the nearest outdoor Mexican place and treated ourselves to a couple of margaritas. We called my sister-in-law to meet us and she snuck away from the party too. After the party, we checked into our hotel and changed and met up with our friends for the birthday celebration. The hotel, Homewood Suites, was one of the better ones I've stayed in recently. Very spacious...I wished we were staying more than 1 night. And what can I say about Ruth's Chris, it's just the best. I could have cut my filet mignon with a fork. I truly think they have the best steaks anywhere I've ever been. Plus the bonus, the plates are heated to 500 degrees so your steak isn't cold by the time you are done eating. Great for bandsters!

Hubby says we're going to have to stay home the next couple of weeks to get ready around the house for the winter. I agree. I need time to decompress and focus on "us" for awhile.

Gracie girl (the stray who found her way back) is about ready to have her kittens. And get this, I go out about 7:30 am this morning to feed her, and I look up before I walk out onto the deck, and there is a deer about 40 feet from me. Now mind you, we live in town. Imagine my surprise when I see a big, big doe staring right at me. We had our moment of sizing each other up. I knew by the time I went and got my camera it would be gone, so I just stared at it for about a minute before I opened the back door and it trotted of toward the edge of the cornfield next to us. Gracie just stared at the deer looking as stunned as I was. Wow, what a great way to start the morning. Had to leave a note for hubby about it this morning otherwise he wouldn't have believed me.

Now that my band has been more cooperative the past few days, I am realizing that this is the restriction where I need to be. I'm hoping it will stay this way for awhile longer, since the idea of another fill right now is the furthest from my mind. And recently, my cousin found out her port/tubing was leaking and needs to get it replaced. She is not happy and rightly so. So, that is always in the back of my mind that with every fill comes the possibility that there could be a puncture and more surgery (and more money). The lbs are coming off, ever so slowly. But I feel good and I look much better and the compliments are nice. So, I'll take each day as it comes. 5 more lbs and I'll officially just be considered "overweight" instead of "obese". That will be a nice change and a nice mini-goal.

Easy weekend...

Easy enough anyway. Friday night hubby and I went to the German Heritage Festival for a bite and listen to some of the music. Didn't stay real long since the weather was cold and damp. Had a nice hearty potato soup that was amazingly good due to the weather. I also got an apple dumpling and couldn't even touch it since I was full of soup. Afterwards, we went to my parent's house and played cards. Mom ate most of the dumpling, I had maybe 3 bites and was done. Better off anyway.

Hubby roped me into going to his brother's house in St. Mary's to watch the Buckeye game Saturday. They were having a "block" party and had their big TV outside on the patio. Pretty much pissed the whole day away from what I was intending to do. So on Sunday, I did about 6 loads of laundry and baked most of the day. I had found a turtle cheesecake recipe in the Taste of Home magazine that I was dying to make and try out as a dessert for Thanksgiving. I also wanted to make a pumpkin swirl cheesecake and perfect it from the last time I made it a couple of weeks ago. Oh, and ice cream, I have to admit I made some ice cream.

Well, both cheesecakes were to die for. I tried the pumpkin swirl that evening and it was great. The turtle cheesecake I had a small serving yesterday and brought both to work. Got rave reviews and a couple of recipe requests. Amazingly, even though I have all this stuff in my house, after I sampled both I'm not really interested in having any more. Before the band, all bets were off and I would have polished at least 1/2 of one of those cheesecakes off already. My desire for snacks and treats have definitely waned. Not at first, but after a few months I've really lost alot of the urges to eat any crappy foods. Not that I'm a master of healthy choices, just that it's more important to me to eat right at least 80% of the time. I actually had 1 tablespoon of ice cream last night and that was enough. The last batch I had to throw out because I didn't eat it within a couple of weeks and hubby isn't much of the sweet eater. Wow, this band has kicked my butt. In a good way. I can resist things I never would have resisted before the band and it doesn't seem to matter if they are in the house...the exception being Lay's Potato Chips and dip. My sister-in-law asked my husband what he was going to get me for our anniversary and then she said that all he had to do was smother himself with chip dip and roll around in some Lay's potato chips and I'd be happy. (She was pretty close to being right about that!). Luckily, he decided to give me flowers.

Last night I went through my closet again and ended up with 3 garbage bags worth of mostly dress clothes and about 15 dresses and suits. I just got rid of a bunch of clothes a month or so ago to the local Catholic "goodwill" store (FISH). Looks like they will be getting a bunch more pretty soon. It's a great feeling to be able to get rid of some of this stuff and say 'never again'. I tried a suit on I wore for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary 4 years ago and it was bigger than when I wore it to their party. Hubby said to keep it, but I said I don't plan to be in this size next spring and put it on the donation rack. I'm going to want some smokin' hot stuff next spring honey!

Anniversary...4 years or as my husband says "feels like 8"

Yesterday was our 4 year anniversary. Dozen roses from the hubby...YES! I love flowers. It was a pretty mellow anniversary. Neither of us felt like going out since we went out to dinner with his family the night before for his parents 57th anniversary. So we got a pizza from the local restaurant and watched TV since the weather was crappy.

A few days ago, our beloved Gracie Girl came back to visit. Back in July, we took her and her kittens to a farm a little over 3 miles from our home. We thought she would have a better life there than in town outside around the school traffic and the elements. Her kittens were around 10 weeks when we brought her and her kittens out there. It was tough because we really took a liking to Gracie. But we have Stuey and he is king of the castle and likes it that way. Hubby and I were taking a walk down by the new school track and we saw a gray tiger running away. I told hubby that it looked like Gracie Girl and yelled her name. Well, she stopped and turned around. I yelled her name again and she began walking toward me and meowing. We both dropped our jaws that it was her. Not sure why she came back because I know she was getting fed at the farm and she had a great barn and hayloft to hang out in with no other animals at the place. But, she is now back and hanging out in the cornfield next to our house. We think she's pregnant again. She eats more than Stuey ever did and he is twice the size of her. Not sure what we are going to do with her, but it's nice to know she liked us enough to come back.

Amazingly, the pizza we had last night did not show up on the scale. This morning I actually weighed 1 1/2 lbs less than yesterday. It was a nice surprise. This weekend we are planning on going to a local Germanfest. Hubby will get to try his different beers and eat German food. I think his brother and his wife are coming up tonight for the food. His wife is originally from Germany and loves any type of German heritage festivals around the area. Since most of this area is drenched in 'krauts, myself included, she has no problem finding places to go.

The OSU Buckeye game is on at 3:30 Saturday, so I don't know if we'll watch is somewhere or watch it at the Germanfest with the crowd. Hubby MUST watch his beloved Buckeyes, believe me, I heard about it when our wedding was actually the same day as a Buckeye game. Luckily, it wasn't the Michigan game or anything, he probably wouldn't have showed up:)

Being stuck isn't much fun...

I didn't realize I haven't posted in quite some time. A alot has been going on of late, with our local festival over and trying to finish up the bookkeeping for that. The weight loss center where I had my procedure done is trying to establish a support group for us "up north". When I showed up it was just myself and another girl, but boy did we have alot to talk about. She has been banded for about 15 months and has lost almost 140 lbs. We talked for almost 2 hours and it really felt good to find a "comrade" in this journey so close to home. I came away with a renewed sense of commitment to this banded life and look forward to getting together again as I feel this will just give me an added monthly boost to focus on doing the right things.

Hubby and I went down to my brother and sister-in-laws camper in Brookville, IN recently for a day. My brother-in-law from Wisconsin came down to spend a few days and relaxed at the camper for most of the time. He was also in town to see how the in-laws are doing for my sister's benefit. It sounds like they may come down for Thanksgiving this year which will be really nice. It's so rare when we are able to spend holidays together anymore.

I attended the state human resource conference last week to try and keep up my certification credits for recertification next year. Lots of sessions, information overload and tired butt are pretty much the norm. The event was held in Sandusky for 3 days and on day 2 I ended up getting sick on some food at the conference. Barely made it to the bathroom. I had been tight for a few days, but never had problems getting down food until Thursday. I proceeded to throw up plegm for the next 2 hours back at the hotel room and was concerned...because at that point there was no way I was even going to try getting liquids down. I ended up calling the doctor's office and the doc called me back about 1/2 hour later. I asked him how long I should let this go before I should be concerned, and he said I could come in that night for an unfill. After I told him I was in no position to drive and that I was about 4 1/2 to 5 hours away, I let him know that if things didn't improve by the morning I would drive down somehow and get an unfill. Luckily, I only threw up about 2 more times after I spoke with him and began to feel better little by little. When I thought the worst of it was over, I trekked over to Walmart and got a 4-pack of protein shakes for the next day. I was able to sip water the rest of the night with no problem and Friday was able to drink the protein shakes and a few crackers. My first and only stuck episode...I think I'll start really listening to my body next time. That was horrible...

I took it pretty easy this weekend eating soft foods to let my stomach calm down and I still feel restriction, but don't think the band has moved so that's good. My hometown has a fall festival and I went with my parents while hubby watched the Buckeye game with some friends. We went out to dinner later that evening and were in bed by 10pm. Wow - are we getting old or what?

I was pretty bummed yesterday when I found out over the weekend that my beloved Little Nashville Opry in Nashville IN burnt to the ground this past weekend. I have been there over 2 dozen times over the years seeing different country music entertainers and have some really good memories or girl weekends, weekends with my husband, and meeting the "stars". Gosh, I remember seeing the likes of Toby Keith, Statler Brothers, Randy Travis, Steve Wariner, T. Graham Brown, Glen Campbell, Diamond Rio, Billy Dean, Suzy Bogguss, John Berry, Sawyer Brown, Gary Morris, Lee Greenwood, Charlie Daniel's Band, Eddy Raven, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Hal Ketchum, and a few more that escape me right now. It was always my favorite place to go to see a show because you could get a good seat if you got tickets the day they went on sale. It is also a great weekend getaway to do a little sightseeing at Brown County State Park and go into town and see all the local artists' work. We are going down there in a few weeks and staying so I'll have to check out the ruins and see what I can find out about if the owners are going to rebuild. So sad...

Gurgle...Gurgle

My band and I have come to an understanding lately. If I choose to eat too fast, it will stick a ball in my gut and tell me NO MORE OR ELSE! Then I have to wait until I belch (quietly) or my throat gurgles enough to let some air out, or beat on my chest like an ape. If I didn't catch the signal in time, then I'm miserable for 5-10 minutes spitting into the sink feeling like whatever I just ate is coming back to haunt me. If I treat it well, it stays pretty quiet and we get along fine. It sure doesn't like it when I'm in a hurry or stressed. And it doesn't like cold beverages. It will tighten up like a pouting child and remind me to slow down.

The rules of a banded life: treated it kind of like your partner. Be patient, kind, work with it, be adaptable, and respectful. For a little aggravation, you get a priceless return on your investment - the gift of better health!

The nurse at the weight loss center likens the gurgling to the sounds of Chewbacca. It is quite embarassing to be talking to someone and you emit the noise of an alien. I guess not everyone experiences this, but those of us that do, it's hard to disguise.

I have to go to a conference in a couple of weeks and I am dreading having to sit in seminar after seminar for 3 days emitting strange noises. I'll have to time my beverages and meals a little better during that time to avoid the problem.

Otherwise, the process is going pretty smoothly. I can lose 3-4 lbs in one week and then not lose a lb the next, but overall it's progessing. I cleaned out my closets over the weekend and hubby and I took 6 garbage bags plus 2 more bags full of clothes to the local FISH store (sort of like a Catholic Goodwill). Now I need some new going out clothes.

And the cycle continues...

Hubby, girlfriends and family...

Well the past 2 weeks have been eventful at least. Hubby went to see the cardiologist and scheduled him for a heart cath the same week. The doc ended up keeping him overnight in the hospital since he probed a vessel of one of his arteries pretty thoroughly. Apparently, he has a branch off an artery that is getting squeezed between 2 chambers of his heart with every heartbeat, not completely shutting off flow, but definitely narrowing. At this time, he changed his meds and is going to treat it with medication to keep his heart rate and blood pressure low. A few days after the heart cath, his pulse and bp were even higher, so back to the cardiologist for another change in meds. He was off work for a week and missed his fishing trip to Canada with friends and his brother. Wasn't very happy about that. But he wouldn't let me cancel my girls getaway over it. He went back to his family doc this past week when his counts were still elevated and she upped his meds, but seriously it hasn't helped much. Sounds like another change in meds is in his future.

My girlfriends and I went to Columbus for a 2-day getaway on Thursday and Friday. We lined up a package of a hotel room and massage and pedicure for 4 near the Polaris mall and had a wonderful time! For 3 of us, we were virgins at pedicures. And dear Michelle had never had a massage either, so she was a little nervous. But all in all, a wonderful time. Went to dinner Thursday night and my niece and her friend also met us since she lives near Dublin/Upper Arlington. On Friday, we went shopping and got home around dinner time. We all talked like this may have to be an annual event. It certainly was much needed after the last couple of weeks.

Saturday we went to visit hubby's folks and had pizza at Bud's with my folks. Afterwards, we dropped by some friends to see if they wanted to go to Brucken's for a drink. Didn't have to twist their arm much. But we were home by 10:30 pm, so it wasn't a late night by any means.

Today, I decided to make a Sour Cream Peach Pie for my dad....who loves peach pie and custard-type pies so I figured it to be a no-brainer. It is actually quite good if I say so myself.

Chatted with my sister on Facebook this afternoon for a little while and caught up on some family stuff. Lots of drama going to these days with job losses and new babies and job-realignments.

Our little village is getting ready for it's annual festival in a few weeks and I've got alot to keep track of this year, so I'm getting my feet wet trying to learn the ropes. So far, not too bad. We'll see how that weekend goes. It raises alot of money for the local parish and always has a great turnout. Should be an interesting weekend.

E/R yet again...

Hubby still not feeling well...last Thursday he wanted to go BACK to the emergency room for chest pain, nausea, radiating left arm pain, jaw numbness/tingling. They kept him for about 3 hours and then sent him home. Nothing is showing up. Friday he had his follow-up with the family doc for the last time he went to the E/R. She spent about 50 minutes with him and won't rule out a heart problem. I like her. She has only seen him a few times since we transferred him over to her a few months ago. She's an internal medicine specialist and very thorough and seems to listen very well. She doesn't seem to get frustrated that the issue hasn't been found, but says that since he hasn't been feeling well, we may be missing something and ordered more tests. She also referred him to a different cardiologist that he is to meet with today.

As far as the lap band goes, I got my fourth fill about 10 days ago and WHAM! I now know what restriction feels like! Wow! It really forces you to slow down eating and it really cut down my portion size for sure. Interestingly, since my visit I've actually lost 6 lbs! The weight is melting off and even though I've had a few uncomfortable moments when eating too fast, I think things are going rather well. Saturday night, we went to Red Lobster for some seafood and I made the mistake of ordering a Raspberry Lemonade and started to eat a cheddar bay biscuit (just the crusty part, not the doughy inside). Cold liquids are always harder for me to get down since my fill and with the bread - well let's just say I felt quite rough for about 25 minutes. Once things settled down I was able to eat a couple of shrimp and a small lobster tail and some crabmeat, but very slowly and swallow itty bitty pieces at a time. Mental note - no more bread until the END of the meal and No liquid period!

This past weekend we took it pretty easy and stayed close to home. Friday night, hubby went up to the ball diamond to watch the tournament and some of my old friends from high school were up there - so - I walked up there and we caught up on alot of happenings. It was great to see them. It had been since Christmas time since I had seen either of them and they noticed I had lost quite a bit of weight and asked what I was doing. So, I ended up telling them I had surgery. I can't say I've publicized it, but I don't want to lie about it either. Even though they like to talk and it will probably migrate among our friends, I don't want them thinking I'm ashamed of having it done. I guess I look at it like, I have a problem, I'm working on fixing the problem and this is a step in the process that will help me resolve the problem. The one friend is a nurse and she knows more about it than the other friend, but both were supportive and did not judge my decision, so that was nice. They both know my struggles with weight and they both have had their ups and downs too, so they can relate.

I'm taking a late lunch to go with hubby today to his appointment and meet his new cardiologist. We're hoping he can shed some light on what the issue may be. I really hate to think this is something he has to live with. He's only 48 and this has been going on now 5 years. It really affects how much he wants to do and although he tries to keep upbeat, it's really hard when you just don't feel well. He's such a wonderful person - I just wish he would be free from his pain and be able to enjoy life the way it should be.