December 30, 2011

Hi Folks,

Well, the wheels are in motion for January 24th. I have a pre-surgery appointment with my GP to get medically certified for surgery on January 17th. On January 18th I have to be at the hospital for blood work, my pre-anesthesia appointment, urinalysis, and an EKG(?). I guess they didn't care about my heart when they removed the tumor. I picked up my prescriptions at the drug store, a couple antibiotics and a Movi-prep. For the uninformed, that is the same stuff they gave me to prep for my colonoscopy last year. That thought freaks me out, so I left that bag of stuff from the drug store at work and hid it. That will make it all better. I hope the 24th comes quick. It's weird, looking forward to something that you are dreading. Does that make sense? LOL  I'll be glad when it's over.

I got on the scale this week, feeling brave. My appetite certainly has picked up. And the Christmas cookies brisket and colcanon and potato rolls (that is what I made for Christmas dinner, and damn I'm a good cook!) and peppermint bark and stuff. Lots of peppermint bark. Still down 51 pounds from pre-surgery weight when I met with the anesthesiologist the day before surgery, and down 70 pounds from my all-time high Fat Camp weigh-in. The upcoming surgery is making me nervous and I'm starting to eat  more when I'm not hungry. Grrrrrr. Too bad the surgery couldn't fix my head. I've been doing very well with the walking, doing an hour a day. Certainly not hauling ass, but hauling my own ass is enough right now.

I had to laugh the other day. My desk at work is right in the window, and one of the girls commented that I'd best not pick my nose, because everybody can see me. Now anybody looking up there has a good shot at seeing me groping my colostomy bag or looking down my pants. LOL  All the rules for putting your hands down your pants change when you get a colostomy folks.

My bag is having it's first overnight trip away from home. I'm visiting John tonight. My brother if anybody doesn't know that. He's making me pizza and salad.Yum. He even turned the heat up for me. Up to 63. LOL  It will go down to 57 tonight. Can a woman have a night sweat when the temp around her is 57? I'll let you know!

Happy New Year Folks. Take good care if anybody is partying. I'm still on a movie kick, so I'll probably be watching some Hitchcock when the New Year rolls in. I don't know who I am kidding with that. I can't stay awake past 9:00 lol, I've been exhausted lately.

Tonight it is War of the Worlds and Capricorn One. Good stuff! And yes, I know. There are new movies, like from the 80's and stuff.

Kay :)

Miscellaneous Stuff on Saturday

1. Leave Her to Heaven
2. Signs
3. Independence Day
4. Play Misty for Me
5. Delta Force
6. 2 Atomic Fire Balls
7. 1 Bun Bar

It's not some weird free association exercise!. It's the movies and treats I got at the video store. I love the 5 movies for 5 days for $5 thing. And I've had a hankering to see these movies and they are not on Netflix. I'm not sure what happens when colostomy meets a burger from Portillos and then comes upon an atomic fire ball! Sounds like it could be an exciting sci-fi flick! Coming soon  . . .

Also all this commotion messed up the end of my gardening season. I sort of missed fall. But maybe the gardening for this year isn't over yet . . . behold . . .

It's nearly a foot long! LOL  Kind of fun. And totally organic. Just ask Midge and Finn.

My first full week of work kind of kicked my ass. I'm sore and stiff and out of sorts and tired and sneezing and hence the movie fest. Very recuperative! LOL

I'm going to watch Leave Her to Heaven now. I really want to start with Play  Misty for Me . . . but that will be better in the dark.

Kay :)

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Surgeon's office called today and my colostomy reversal is scheduled! January 24, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Woo hoo! I wish it was sooner, but at any rate it is nice to have the date. The doc really wanted me to have 3 months minimum to heal and for things to settle back into place, so I guess it is working out just as it should.

Kay :)

Before and After Pics

LOL Now you weren't expecting pictures of me, were you? LOL

Mar cut out and baked all these cookies for us to decorate! She whipped them out while she was cooking dinner for hundreds of people for a big catering job! She's amazing. And generous. She fed us good eats too! Thanks Mar.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Saw my surgeon today. The doc said everything looks good. He just wants to review the report from the colonoscopy I had about a year ago before we schedule the colostomy reversal (woooo hoooo) for mid-late January (but hopefully sooner –my thought, not the doc lol). Looking back, the problems which made the colonoscopy necessary were probably caused by the tumor, but who knew!? I can’t wait! Except I can’t keep the depressing thoughts of entering the hospital again, and chicken broth and clear liquids and needles and IVs and getting out of bed after surgery and hospital gowns and burning through what had seemed like a ridiculous amount of banked sick days and stuff like that. But the result is what matters! I’m going to focus positive thoughts and energy on that. My stoma has healed up and contracted and retracted and has gotten much smaller (this is totally normal), which, in combination with my own somewhat “wavy” (oh shut up) abdomen, presents a new bagging challenge. Grrr. I will conquer it! Hopefully before the surgery! LOL 

My Dad will be 92 on December 12^th, and since I was going to be in Joliet today I went ahead and picked him up two of his favorite things . . . a French Silk Pie from Baker’s Square (yummers!), and some sliders from White Castle (ewwwww). Only a girl who loves her dad would invite that odor into her car! It certainly does linger. Anyway, when I ordered the pie at Baker’s Square I noticed the one in the display case had the Christmas décor on it, holly and berries, red and green. Cute, festive chocolate! When the clerk set my pie in the counter, just green stuff, no red! It looked weird to me, not very festive.

Kay: “Why no little red balls?”

Clerk: “I don’t know why the French Silk pies are missing those.”

Kay: “Weird, because I see red little red balls over there on the other pies. Oh well.”

He rang me up, I handed him over a $20 bill, and he is handing me my change he says in kind of a low, secretive voice: “I gave you the senior discount.”

Kay: No words, but I think my face had flashed to the look that, when I used to pitch and the umpire pissed me off very badly, caused a few of them to give me a warning. And honestly folks, it is hard to control your facial expression sometimes, especially when an umpire is watching . . . and making bad calls . . . (and, sadly, this is not my first senior discount grrrr, so I can’t blame it on looking haggard from the surgery).

Clerk – quickly after seeing “THE LOOK”: “To make up for no little red balls!”

Ohhhhhh. LOLOL It was pretty funny. And Kay likes discounts. Just NOT senior discounts. At least not yet. lol

My friend Mar is having us over tomorrow night to decorate sugar cookies. We do it every year. And just so we don't OD on sugar, we have lots of snacks while we decorate. I love that! It’s so much fun. It’s really the only time all year I feel artistic. Stop laughing Mar and Donna! And the cookies, frankly, kick ass! Mar wraps mine (ok she double wraps them), with her razzle dazzle overwrap machine to keep them safe from my snitching so my family can enjoy them at Christmas time. They taste even better after they are frozen. Yum. 

That makes me remember my reason for starting this blog, weight loss and Fat Camp! And good health! Hopefully after this next surgery we can get back to that. I haven’t weighed myself for a while either. I have gotten in the walking groove again. I’ve been walking about an hour a day. I can’t let this cold weather stop me either! Or my return to work full-time next week. It was nice easing back in with four hours a day, to be sure, but with another surgery looming, it’s time to stop using sick days for now. And I admit, the looming surgery is good incentive to keep walking while I can. Walk while the walking is good I say!

Take care folks,

Kay:)

December 4, 2011

Hi Folks,

Just when you think you have a handle on the bag thing, and that waiting til mid-late January for your colostomy reversal won't be so bad after all, your stoma has to go and heal up and get smaller and retract and  mess up your system. And you have just had your last visit with your home health care nurse. At least the last one the insurance company will pay 90% of. LOL  It's a work in progress. I'm kind of anxious to see the doctor on Friday and talk about the reversal. And I don't know how I did it, but I got to Wal-mart tonight, and had to take off my glasses to read something (aging is so much fun!), and met with resistance when I went to put them back on.  Somehow I had Stomapaste in my hair behind my ear! Believe me folks, it is not going to do me any good there. Yeah, go ahead, look that up and see what it is.  That gummy brown paste is really hard to get out of your hair! If anybody from work reads this, don't look too closely behind my left ear tomorrow.

Enough whining! Nobody likes a whiner! Well, thank goodness my friends and family do . . .

One more week of working half-time, then back to full time.

I put up what Christmas stuff I'm going to today. Midge and Finn were a big help. I have to watch them so they don't molest my smiley face Santas.

Had a lovely evening last night over at Mar's. She cooked her annual gourmet dinner for the girls who help her with catering. Good food, good company, a very pleasant evening. I ate many things on my "you probably should avoid this list", and I even drank a beer! Yummers.  As you may or may not know, Kay like beer. Beer good. But it is on the list.  The GAS list. The dinner was wonderful, as always . . . visions of banana fritters and rum whipped cream and black raspberry sauce dance in my head! When I went back to work Monday, a thought popped into my head . . . gosh I have to put on a real bra and go to work today! Last night at Mar's I had a similar thought when I realized that 9:00 was by far the latest night in weeks that I had clothes, not PJs on! LOL

I'm still battling my peppermint bark addiction. I have to look on line and see if there is a program I can try.  I was checking out at Wal-mart and I commented to the checker that it was a miracle I made it through the store without putting peppermint bark in my cart. She looked and me and confessed that she had 2 different kinds of peppermint bark in her car. Then she asked me if I knew about the Peppermint Bark Ice Cream! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I've been doing very well walking. I've walked every morning, and then a short walk after dinner. Going a bit further every few days. Feels good.

Take care folks. More after I see doctor on Friday.

Kay

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

No news really!

Had a nice Thanksgiving.

I'm doing well. Started back to work 4 hours a day on Monday. I have my last visit with the home health care nurse tomorrow. I'll miss her. It's nice to hear from a pro that everything looks OK and her tips on the colostomy have been invaluable.

I've been walking in the mornings, and I enjoy it. When I go back to regular hours, it will be dark when I get off anyway, so the morning walks are a good thing.

Darn the holiday season! If you truly are what you eat . . . I am Russell Stover's Peppermint Bark right now! ARGHHHHHHH I fear the loss of my sweet tooth was a temporary thing! I guess it wasn't a miracle surgery after all! LOL

Next thing is follow-up appointment with surgeon in Joliet on December 9th. Dr. Wu said we could discuss scheduling the colostomy reversal in mid to late January. It will not be here soon enough for me!

Kay :)

November 21, 2011

Hi Folks,

Saw doc this a.m. He said everything looks great. Back to work  a week from today, half-time for two weeks, then back to full-time. I have to go see doc again in a month.

I see the surgeon December 9th. He said we can discuss the colostomy reversal then, and hopefully get it set up for mid-late January. Woo hoo!

I'm doing very well. Fighting off a cold. My folks have terrible colds and coughs. They are just miserable. Ironic to come down with a bug just as you are coming to the end of your sick leave! No biggy. In fact the timing definitely could have been worse. Thank goodness it wasn't a couple weeks ago, when sneezing/coughing would have really really been painful.  LOL

Taking it easy for Thanksgiving dinner, ordered some of my friend Mar's yummy heat and eat food from her catering business, turkey, Mar's sausage and mushroom stuffing (yum!), gravy, and this cranberry relish that my Dad just loves.  I just gotta heat it up. Easy peasy. I'm making our favorite side dishes and rolls and of course, dessert! It will be delicious.  

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Kay :)

November 16, 2011

Hi Folks,

Recuperation continues rather uneventfully. I cannot stress how much I am looking forward to the colostomy reversal in January! LOL

I stopped into the courthouse on Monday, visited a bit and tidied up the office a bit. I will talk to the doctor on Monday about heading back to work half-time to start.

I am going on little outings to the store and library, stuff like that. I've been taking little rides, to get out and get some fresh air. Outings have been going well, but they do tucker me out. I've started going around the block a couple of times a day, concentrating on keeping my shoulders down (they want to creep up around my ears lol). I have a lunch date tomorrow, woo hoo! My back is still sore. My body had to adjust to carrying all that extra weight, and it will have to adjust to having it gone. I feel like my core strength is kaput.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is nearly here! I feel like my camping trip was some weird turning point in time; the weather was so nice that weekend it seemed summery, then boom went into hospital and came out into this weird fall/winter time. LOL  Sounds weird I know.

Thanks for all the cards folks. Mail is a highlight when you are home and recuperating . . . except for all the bills that are rolling in now! LOL

So things are going well, but are too boring to post about! LOL

Kay :)

Miss Malley

Oh a mysterious parcel today, Royal Mail, with a customs sticker!  From the UK! What's up with that! Then I see it is addressed to "Miss Malley" and I laugh out loud and then and I start smiling, really really big. John you scamp! I wish I had your e-mail or mailing address so I could write a proper thank you!

John is an internet friend, a Yahoo Word Racer expert, who, believe me, has plenty of moves! It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows John the Brickie that his lovely gift was accompanied by an eloquent note. A few of us have been lucky enough to be the subject of  a poem by John. I have been so honoured. You made my day John. I can't stop smiling! Thank you for thinking of me. And my favorite part . . .the picture of you (may I just interject here ***WOW*** a very handsome man holding a cake, be still my heart!), or maybe the angel pin, or maybe the kitty, or maybe the note . . . oh I love it all! You made my day. Thank you John! XOXOXO

Kay a/k/a Miss Malley :)

Tuesday, November 8

Hi Folks,

Recuperation continues. Had my first outing on Sunday (thanks Donna!) to WAGS, Wal-Mart and Jewel. Though I got tired and had to wait in the car at Jewel. LOL  And when I got home I had a six hour nap and a pain pill! Wow. I've been sleeping very well, very conducive to my recuperation.  I had ants in my pants yesterday (a sure sign I'm starting to feel better), so I took a trip to the library. I got too many books, and they were too heavy (what a wuss!), and I found a nice stack of magazines. Love that magazine exchange, and I love our terrific library! That trip resulted in a 4 hour nap (NO pain pill). LOL  Knock on wood (lest I jinx things!), the bag thing has been going much better.

Watching a lot of TV, Netflix (classic sci-fi day yesterday, big excitement), reading, puzzling and napping fill my days. 

I tried on some clothes I already own, mostly tops, that I have bought that I loved, but that looked terrible with my big belly, and wow, they fit! One is even (gasp!) too big! Weird weird weird.

Thanks for thinking of me all. Everything is going well. Boring, but well.

And though this weather is perfect nap weather, I'm getting tired of it! Rain rain go away please!

Kay :)

Saturday, November 5

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all the cards and and e-mails. They really brighten my days.

Saw the surgeon in Joliet yesterday. A rather stressful trip for me, but turned out I did not need to stress at all, because I won the Bag War yesterday! In fact (and knock on wood here, I do not want to jinx myself, but I am definitely in the lead lately). Woo hoo! LOL I was so glad my brother took the day off to drive me, because that trip kicked my ass! Out in the bright sun and cool air, and wow the yawning started. LOL Surgeon said everything looked good, and we'll hopefully reconnect my innards in mid-late January. I realize this "hopefully temporary" thing is necessary lingo, that nothing is 100%, but I'm going to keep a positive attitude. PMA! Thanks for reminding me of that Donna.  Dr. Wu said I need time to heal,and for inflammation to go down, and things need to settle back into place. My bowels were pushed up by my diaphragm after all! I have another appointment in a month. He said he would take a laparascopic approach to start to reconnect, but he would not be at all surprised if he had to open me up again. Whatever it takes to ensure the best result is fine with me!

This whole episode has not seemed real to me (though of course I know it is), and gosh, between the incision and the colostomy, I forgot about this other thing . . .  the other night I realized, wow, I have no hormones now, and this menopause thing is real too! Night sweats and hot flashes. LOL  Whoop de doo! 

So now that is way TMI for today. LOL 

Have a good weekend folks. I'm contemplating a little drive today, but we'll see. My car has been sitting for two weeks! It must be getting bored too!


Kay :)

November 3, 2011

Hi Folks,

No news is good news. LOL Recuperation continues rather uneventfully. Hooray! Follow-up appointment with surgeon who got called in to assist tomorrow in Joliet. Big outing for me (and my bag!)! I'll let you know how it goes.

Kay :)

Halloween

Hi Folks,

Recuperation continues. Doing well. It's much easier to get in and out of bed now, no pain, just a little soreness. Haven't had any pain pills for 3 days. I do still enjoy my bed, that is for sure. I just can't get comfy sitting up for long periods. I think part of it is when I came out of surgery, from laying flat for all those hours, my lower back was very very sore. That is why I'm not a back sleeper, that lower back thing. It's coming out of it though. I'm pretty easily fatigued. My getting ready for and the actual outing to doc has tuckered me out! And I'm not just saying that so I can get waited on and have my mom's yummy cooking whenever I holler . . . I swear!  I make my Dad wait on me too, to keep things fair. I don't want to show favoritism. I am an equal opportunity whiner.  He is good at bringing me Starlight mints and cats!

Got all the staples out this a.m., all 48 of them, and now I'm all steri-stripped. Very Halloween-like to me when I look down. I feel very seasonal. I could cut a window in a t-shirt and have a peek-a-boo costume! Haha. Just kidding.

Knock on wood, having a good IJP stretch too. I'm referencing my previous post here folks. And I did it myself! Honestly I deserved a little success there,

Off to nap!

Thanks all for thinking of me.

Kay :)

It's Just Poop ----- Saturday, October 29

Hi Folks,

Warning . . . graphic medical stuff to follow . . . if you are queasy go back a post and look at the cute cat picture lol.

Doing well. Biggest thing for me now is dealing with this colostomy. Yes, a colostomy. A surprise.  I know John mentioned in his post-surgery pinch hit post that the mass was tangled with a lot of other stuff, so they took the mass, both ovaries, my appendix, and a bit of bowel. The bowel was badly adhered to the mass, and when the surgeons got it loose, there was a section of it that did not pink up well. It was felt that section of the bowel would probably die, and rather than possibly subject me to another major surgery so close on the heels of this mother, the bowel was removed and I have a colostomy now. Had a rough start with this thing, due to its location (and my own anatomy lol), but  thanks to a wonderful nurse at the hospital (thank you Anita!), and a terrific home health nurse courtesy of my insurance company (Bless you Nancy and thank God for good health insurance!), things are looking up. There is a learning curve and practice helps too. The colostomy is temporary, I can get my plumbing hooked back up proper in 3-6 months. In the hospital, when I was having a hard time getting things to stick (lol) and was a bit down and discouraged, Mar summed it up pretty good. She said "It's just poop. You'll deal." And so I shall.

Just a couple more things:

Morris Hospital is terrific. Everybody. I'm so glad I got to have my surgery there and recuperate on Two East after my one night in the Mid ICU thing. Not sure what that is called, but they were terrific there too. The cafeteria food is freakishly good.  The eggs and toast! Wow. If I was going out to breakfast right now, and had my druthers, I'd go to the hospital! It was that good. Crazy, but true! My Mom is a great cook too. Now instead of dialing 3663 and ordering my meals though, I just yell MOM! Though just for fun, later, I'm going to call her on my cell phone and, just like I did at the hospital, ask if I may please order my lunch now . . . lolol.  Shhhh, keep this to yourself, but I could cook my own eggs . . . mums the word on that one folks!

Looking forward to getting my staples out Monday. I guess if you are nervous about taking your bag out for the first time, there are worse places to go than a doctor's office. lol.

And finally, losing some belly weight sure feels good!

I'm going to go for a walk later and get some of this brisk fresh air.

Take care folks,

Kay :)

Finn the Legwarmer

Finnegan is keeping a close eye on me during my recuperation. We are doing well, pretty tired, and really glad to be in our own bed. More later.

Kay :)

Thursday October 27, Woo Hoo Home!

Home! Home! Home! Woo hoo! Got home a little bit ago and have to deal with those internet withdrawals right away.


What is wrong with this picture . . . 91 year old Bernie sitting here trying to decide if he wants to go to the VFW or Ebbey's for his Thursday beers, and Kay heading off to bed for a nap! lol

More later, but for now, everything was benign (woo hoo), and from my pre-surgery meeting with the anesthesiologist last Thursday, until my weigh-in this a.m., down 44 pounds! Holy cow!


More later, I'm doing very well, but I can't get comfy and I need to settle in. I suspect a nap will fix everything, and Finn is ready for me. Gotta love a warm, purring cat!

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes folks. When you have family and friends, life is good!

Kay :)

Sunday night

Mother called tonight.  Kay has been moved out of what Kay termed "semi-intensive care."  Her friends Mar and Donna visited her today and at least one other of her friends will visit tomorrow.  Also, she can take phone calls now.  Phone info on www.morrishospital.org

Mother said she took our dad with her when she visited today.  Yesterday Kay was speculating whether Dad would visit her at all.  I told her he might not because he'd be afraid they were going to keep him. 

Visiting Hours

Hi, this is John, pinch-hitting for Kay.  I saw Kay at the hospital this afternoon.  She looked very tired out.  She said last night was the longest night of her life...she'd finally fall asleep then wake up to see the clock had only gone 15 minutes. 

The surgery was very long.  The cyst had tangled itself among a lot of things.  They took her appendix and an ovary while they were in there.  They'll have to wait for the biopsy, but the doctor said it didn't look like anything cancerous.  He showed her a picture of it, which she said was really gross.

They had her sit up today in a chair.  It was incredibly painful.  They're going to have her sit up again tonight.  They were talking about moving her to a regular room tomorrow.  However, that would mean they'd take the catheter out and she'd have to get up to go to the bathroom.  She's hoping they'll delay that.

She couldn't think of anything to say other than that she was on the ice cube diet, and that if a person walked past her with a 7up right now, she would kill them and take it.  She can't have 7up or any other food until they can hear enough sounds in her gut.  Not enough sounds in her gut, I said.  Guess there's a first time for everything.

She will be in the hospital for 5-7 days.  If you go to the Morris Hospital page, www.morrishospital.org, you'll see a link where you can send her a little message.  John

Just Thinking

 This is just a partial list, and not necessarily in order (though the first 2 are definitely right)  . . .

Good things . . . family, friends, vicodin, sick days, insurance, warm cats (preferably dry), my down alternative comforter (if I can sneak it away from Finn), Netflix, grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade soup.

Bad things . . . clear liquid diet and this weird cherry soda I have to drink. I'm a little suspicious . . .

Surgery

Friday, 11:15 a.m.

Glad to have it scheduled.

Kay :)

Camping Pic

Patty, Donna and Marilyn (Mar) at camping. I've known them for over 100 years (combined of course!). As you can see from their somber expressions, they didn't have any fun at camping at all!

October 15, 2011 - Best Case Scenario

OK Blood test is ok. No specialist, no leaving town. Whew. Probably end of next week. Will know more on Monday.

Woo hoo!

Kay

October 14, 2011

No news is . . . no news. It's going to be a long ass weekend.

Kay

Thursday

No blood test results yet. Hopefully tomorrow. I'll be relieved to have this thing scheduled. Now that I know there is something in there, I want it out BAD!

I'll post good news as it comes in!

Kay :)

Misc Stuff, Camping, and Wednesday, a Weird Weird Day

Monday:

Lots of action to report. All done with physical therapy for my shoulder, it's feeling much stronger, no more pain! Woo hoo.

Had a lovely hike and lunch and good laughs with my buddy Chris to start the week. Much pleasantness. And lots of stairs!

Tuesday:

Had a great camping trip. Terrific weather, lots of laughs, good eats. Nice ride on pontoon boat. Great long weekend. Waaay too much beer and food. My first night there, washing up the supper dishes, one of the guys said something funny and I looked up at him, laughing, and I sliced the hell out of my thumb. Mental note to self . . . be careful dumb ass! It bled for hours. Unfortunately my ER nurse friend wasn't coming til the following night, but three cheers for Mar! She fixed me up with a good bandage. Her excellent bandaging may possibly have been inspired by the fear of my bleeding all over her lovely new camper. If there had been a health care professional around, maybe there would have been stitches. Fortunately for me there was none, just my inebriated friends. So all weekend I kept that thumb bandaged. Couldn't wash any more of those damned dishes with a bandage on my hand. Pretty smart of me!

Then back to work on Tuesday. You know how you feel after a long weekend of eating and drinking too much, and not getting enough sleep, when you are pushing 50 years old? Well I do! And how! I was a little stiff, a little sore, not unusual after camping weekend and that long drive, but I had a pain on my right side, around my rib cage. It did not improve. I thought I was sore from camping, or bean bags maybe, but the most likely culprit . . . hacky sack!

Well the pain did not improve. In fact it was so painful I toyed with the idea of going to the emergency room. I tossed and turned and flopped around all night Tuesday, could not get comfortable, could not get to sleep. I could not help but think of my good friend, who, after a weekend of partying and fatty food, was stricken by pancreatitis, and was hospitalized and had to tell health care professional after health care professional about her beer consumption and fatty diet over the weekend. Oh the pain. Not just the pancreatitis, but the confessing. The friend who told ME that she drank 12 beers and ate a foot long Subway sandwich, but when the doctor asked her, she told him 6 . . . beers and inches of sandwich!!! Well I should never have teased her about that, because karma is a bitch man.

Wednesday (The Weird Weird day):

Well, come morning I realized I was going to suffer the same fate. The confessing, not the pancreatitis hopefully! The pain is not going to go away. Off to the ER. There is my friend Patty, who was also at the camping trip. Very handy to have ER nurses for friends. Except it's hard to lie to people about what you did to bring on your painful condition when your health care professional friend is standing there, and knows THE TRUTH. Oh and there is my boss's wife, also an ER nurse. So right off the bat I confess my sins (well, most of them lol) over the weekend --- tons and tons of beer and fatty junk food! Nobody seemed surprised or even shocked by my bad behavior.  ER business commences. All the pain is around my gallbladder, I have mistreated and abused my gallbladder all weekend, so all signs point to the gallbladder. So I get an IV, blood work, ultrasound. Then doc wants a CT-scan. Hmmm Ok. Weird and unexpected but OK.

Doc comes in and gallbladder is OK, liver is OK (quite shocking after the camping trip honestly; I think I forgot to mention that in addition to the beer there was booze in the coffee in the mornings too, topped with fatty whipped cream), but it turns out I have quite a large mass in my abdomen. Probably a benign cyst/mass/tumor from my ovary (I heard it referred to as all 3 things this weird weird day). Strangely my first thought was “Damn! None of these people needed to know I drank like a fish all weekend and ate tons of crap! I confessed for nothing!”

After the doctor assured me he was not joking (lol), I said ok, why is my side so sore? Turns out large masses in your abdomen can put pressure on nerves and generally just mess things up. OK. Refers me to my gyno for 3:30 this afternoon. Big fun! Definitely surgery. Doc is waiting for results of CA125 blood test (****!) before scheduling surgery, to see if I can have it here at local hospital or if I have to go to a specialist. Hopefully blood work results will come back tomorrow. And hopefully I will be able to have surgery here at local hospital.That is best case scenario.

Did I mention it is 31cm? WTF? If I told anyone it was 31 inches, oops, I meant centimeters. Sorry about that.

Is this really happening?

I'm glad the Weirdest Day of My Life is over! Very very very glad.

Kay :)

P.S. I'd like to share two funny typos that I corrected. In the paragraph about my cut thumb and Mar's camper, substitute "breeding" for "bleeding". In the paragraph about the ER doc referring me to my "gyno" substitute "gyro" in there! LOLOL

October 1, 2011

I know I'm a day late! My router went out and I am technologically challenged. My weight is the same as last week, which is surprising, considering that my diet turned into the "Corn Dog Diet" thanks to Corn Festival the last couple days!

I was in a soupy mood this a.m., so I cooked, sort of. Trying to utilize my pantry, so my cooking involved opening a lot of cans!

I read a bunch of recipes for Chicken Tortilla Soup and formulated a plan. I used a can of Progresso Hearty Tomato soup for the base, just because I have a ton of it that I got super cheap in my couponing adventures. I threw in some enchilada sauce, stewed tomatoes, black beans, green chiles, fresh corn, sauteed onions, garlic, and green, red and yellow pepper. Then off to market for some chicken, found a big pack of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, reduced for quick sale. Grabbed some sour cream and wanted an avocado, but they were too hard and too expensive for me. Seasoned up the chicken breasts with olive oil, chipotle powder, fajita seasoning, and chili powder from the Spice House in Chicago (yummers), and grilled it off and shredded it with two forks. Threw the whole shebang in crock pot and seasoned it up with some more of the spices. It smelled pretty good in the kitchen at that point. Served it up with a squiggle of sour cream and a squiggle of clearance Wholly Guacamole, and topped it with these little tortilla strips I have had in pantry from Aldi. They taste like little, lightly salted Fritos! Yum. Can't get those again . . .

Anyway the soup was delicious and satisfying and filling and a success! I think I prefer the tomato base over the chicken broth base I have had before. I'm going to start eating more beans and veggies. Look out world!

Camping coming up next weekend. Right now weather sounds delightful, and the menu is not too extravagant. Not that that will stop me from overeating! LOL  But I'm going to try to get some walks in. Shouldn't be too difficult with the fun dogs, Lily and Sophie, available.

Keep up the fight people! And stay away from the corn dogs!

Kay :)

September 23, 2011

Hi Folks!

I'm alive. John and I went to Madison, Wisconsin last weekend, for the Farmer's Market and apples and a little hiking. Seems John booked a hotel that didn't provide free internet (ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH and WTF - that doesn't mean where's the fat this time Maureen!). That is why I didn't post last Friday.

My weight is up 2#. I'm not surprised what with the Wisconsin thing! There was Green Acres, this yummy restaurant that has a block of cheddar the size of Rhode Island on the salad bar. And gosh that ribeye was good!

And the farmers market! Wow! It was spectacular . . . great variety, great prices. Between us we bought honey, shallots, rhubarb breakfast bars, Cortland apples, an apricot bar, Honey Crisp apples, radishes, garlic, a cherry-rhubarb bar, blue cheese, a peanut butter cookie with a chocolate ganache center, 12 year aged cheddar, lots of goodies. Actually I bought most of the sweets, but I think John ate most of them!

We also took a very nice walk at a county park. It had hills and gosh, I was huffing and puffing and John accused me of being out of shape! Ha ha. And boy howdy, I sure am.

I've been going to physical therapy for my shoulder, doc has me doing rotator cuff exercises. I've gone three times, plus there are exercises to do at home, and my shoulder is starting to feel stronger already.

I'm still playing around with dieting and trying to lose weight. I have not been serious at all. I don't know why.

Looking forward to hearing from my Fat Camp chums, hope you are all faring better than I!

Kay

Carb Harvest

Dug up some potatoes, sort of. Some were actually visible on the surface of the bed, so I took that as a sign to pick them. An interesting variety of sizes, I have sweet, red and brown potatoes. The ones on the right are brown and red potatoes grown together, a sort of potato fusion I guess. That is the most action a bed around here has seen in a long time.

Midge's zinnia bed has been a delight all summer, lots of color, lots of birds.

And after being nearly pepperless for the last three garden seasons, my bumper crop this year is very welcome.

September 9, 2011

I'm back!

Weighed in this a.m., up one pound, but believe me, that is way better than last week's fictional weigh-in would have been!

Doctor appointment for my sore shoulder is coming up on Monday (finally! lol). Went to the doctor for my wonky blood work for my thyroid. Seems my TSH was high, which may indicate hypothyroid. Doc wants to recheck in 6 months before putting me on medication I'll have to take every day. Since I can't even remember to take a vitamin every day, that idea was fine with me. Except for the being tired and dragging ass part for another 6 months. LOL  Maybe my new walking regime will help perk me up.

My friend got me out walking on the towpath with her two dogs. First night we walked for an hour, second night for an hour and 15 minutes. Last night it rained (whew I was relieved because I was sore!). I did a mini walk at lunch, and stretched, which helped the soreness. We are walking her two dogs, Sophie and Lily. Only one near drowning so far. While we were yakking near a low spot, Lily (7 months), apparently thought she could walk on water. Alas she cannot! She was in and out pretty quick, but she did not smell good afterwards. She had a couple good shakes and shared her pond scum with us.

We went from 100 degree + heat index last week to 70's during the day and 50's at night the this week. I love it!  Makes walking much more inviting.


John and I are heading to Wisconsin next weekend for some apples and some hikes. We'll be by Madison. Should be fun. I love Wisconsin. Beautiful parks. They have cheese there.

Looking forward to hearing from my Fat Camp Friends!

Back in the fight!

Kay

August 23, 2011

Hi Folks,

I'm going to shake things up. New weigh-in day is Friday. I'm going to accept that weekends are not my dieting forte, and concentrate on the other 5 days in the week. And some of that poundage last weigh-in was beer/weekend weight (whew)!

I'm down 22 pounds since Fat Camp. I've been yoyoing for weeks now, 5-6 pounds. I think part of the problem with real heavy people (me for sure!) is that while some people notice right away that they have gained a pound or two, for me it seems to be five or six!


So I'll be back next Friday, hopefully with a good number!

Keep up the fight people!

Kay :)

August 16, 2011

Grrr. Scale was up 5 pounds today. Too much weekend again. I continue to flounder. I'm hoping some of that 5 is weekend weight, but who knows? Back next week.

Kay

August 9, 2011

What a glorious morning! The temperature has dropped something like 30 degrees! The morning glories like the cooler temperature apparently, finally a massive blooming. Midge likes the cooler temps too. It was lovely sitting out with my coffee (not camping coffee darn it!), enjoying the hummingbirds. My morning was marred only by my weigh-in! LOL  I'm pretty much holding steady, hovering within 2-3 pounds. I'm tired of it, ready to lose some more. On the plus side (I almost always make a typo when I type "plus side" and I type "plus size" and have to correct it lol), I think my cycle of gaining is over. In fact I am declaring it OFFICIALLY OVER! When I lose maybe 10-15 more pounds I can really expand my wardrobe with items in my own closet! I hate all my clothes right now, ready to retire them. Family reunion Saturday, I'm trying to bank some calories for that.

Keep up the fight people! Back next week.

August 6, 2011

Here is John (in his new razzle dazzle tie dye t-shirt from his fundraiser at work last week), with Midge, both astonished and amazed by that cucumber from my garden. Everything in my garden is turbo charged . . . except the cukes! LOL

August 2, 2011

Well the good news is that the 6 pounds from last week was "long weekend pool party weight". But I have not lost any more weight. Holding steady, and getting sick of it. It might be time for something drastic, like exercise!

Keep up the fight people!

Rage, rage against the Klondike Bar sales!

Kay :)

Midge and Garden

  
Here is Midge heading into her secret hiding spot. There is a cat circle in the middle of the bed, made by a very identifiable flying object. Midge can go from  zero to four feet in the blink of an eye in her unrelenting quest for the goldfinch. I had sunflowers in each corner of this bed, but Midge, in her quest to catch the goldfinch that love sunflowers and zinnias and all seeded flowers (oops, didn't know that until very recently), had pretty much demolished them with her crazed leaps. The zinnias have taken some hits too.

I pulled up my beans, and now Midge seems determined to dig up the broccoli. Either that or she is devising another hiding spot so she can surprise the unsuspecting birds. She likes to sleep in this hole with a big old broccoli leaf shading her. Occasionally she is startled awake when a cherry tomato bops her on the head.

One of my tomato beds. My grape tomatoes are turbo charged this year, some of them are as big as a  Roma tomato. My tomatoes aren't getting very large, but are very sweet and delicious. I have a bumper pepper crop, lots of zucchini, and a couple of pumpkins turning orange. Carrots are coming along, and the potato tops are starting to die. I did sneak into the potato bed for some new potatoes. Yum. My two beets (I'm not sure what happened to the other beet seeds lol), are coming along. My thyme and catnip are flowering and attracting a ton of butterflies and hummingbirds, very fun. Overall a very nice garden year for me. Maybe my thumb is turning a wee bit green. NOT like after the St. Patrick's Day party where I had a small accident with the green dye whilst dyeing my beer. LOL





I could have sworn I posted last week. My weigh-in was disastrous after having Monday off and spending the day in my friend's pool drinking beer and applying expired sunscreen faithfully, according to label directions. Whew. I don't think even I can gain 6 pounds in one day, so when I weighed my fried ass last week, all I could do was attribute the monstrous gain to the Monday pool party. Hopefully I will be able to confirm that tomorrow with a successful weigh in!

Back tomorrow.

Kay

July 19, 2011

Hi Folks,

Still holding steady. Haven't been doing great, but haven't been doing too horribly either.

I had a funny thought today. If I meet my weight loss goal for my 50th birthday, I'll actually weigh the weight that is on my driver's license! LOL 

Heat wave here in Illinois. I have no desire to be outside at all, so my activity is down. I go out and water my garden in a.m. and that's about it. I hope it breaks soon!

Keep up the fight people!

Kay

Midge's Flower Bed

Midge's flower bed looks a little different from the June garden picture. Don't worry, she can still squeeze in there for some pom pom fun.

In fact, she supervises all things garden . . .

July 12, 2011

Whew, down a pound. I declare the cycle of gaining over! I was actually surprised, what with the german chocolate birthday cake my mom made for John's birthday celebration, and other miscellaneous fattening foods.

My garden looks great, lots of veggies coming along. Good for my weight loss effort for sure.

Blood work for my health insurance coming up soon, I'm hoping to see some improvement over last years numbers. And there is a health fair as well, with most of the local gyms presenting. Hoping to find a good deal. I need to do some weights.

Keep up the fight people!

Kay :)

Hardly any room for Super Midge now in her flower bed!

July 5, 2011

Ok I am up 2 more pounds. That is a gain of 4# from my low point since I got back from Fat Camp! Time to get serious again and nip this in the bud! I seem to have come to my senses these past couple of days, so hopefully my binge is over. 50 is coming . . . and I am down 25#. No time to dawdle. 75 more to go to meet my goal of 100# by my 50th birthday.

Back next Tuesday.

Kay

July 4th Garden

Last year I had the most beautiful, majestic pepper plants. The only problem . . . no peppers! Well this year I have the puniest plants and peppers out the wazoo!  I've never gotten peppers this early before. Very strange . . .

Yes, that is a corn stalk there. On my getaway with my buds we stopped at a garden center and they had a clearance 4-pack of corn. Hopefully it will perk up a little!  I also picked up a clearance cauliflower and a clearance hot pepper. Lacking any garden space, I stuck those in a planter. I must stop!

I also have a mega crop of zucchini coming, this single plant is loaded with 8 zucchini. John thought he had planted a pumpkin or a squash in that spot (not my faves), and the huge plant was shading my tomatoes, so I had  been pruning (mutilating?) the plant pretty freely so it would not invade my tomatoes. I do, however, love zucchini, so when I finally figured out what it was I let it go. It's monstrous!

Besides the radishes and onions, and the harvest for the pesto (which turned out scrumptious), I've had several small head of broccoli too. Pretty good for Black Thumb Kay!

I know tomorrow is weigh-in day, and it is not going to be pretty. If I was an alky instead of a foody, I'd say I had been on a bender. But since I said I would share every Tuesday, win lose or draw, I'll be back tomorrow grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And the getaway with my friends was lots of fun. Sort of Beer/Food/Laughfest 2011. Here is my friend Mar, I had a little fun with a photo of her that was in the local paper with a big fish she caught in Canada. These wanted posters were popping up here and there. And please note in the second picture, the vegetables. And the beer. And the empty cheese dip container. There was also an Amish Bakery and camping coffee.Sigh. It seemed like a good idea at the time.  Tomorrow on the scale I may think otherwise!

Back tomorrow evening to fill you in on the dreaded weigh-in.

Garden Harvest - Herbs

I had a bumper crop of basil, oregano, thyme and parsley. Decided to make some pesto. Besides the herbs there is garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes (they give it that lovely reddish hue), salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Oh . . . I almost forgot the parmesan cheese. Yum. My first try making pesto on my own, I've only assisted John in this endeavor in the past. I'm calling it "rustic pesto" because it is a trifle coarse, my ancient food processor is not as proficient as John's! LOL  I'm very pleased with the flavor. I'm thinking it would be tasty tossed with some spaghetti squash (Julie!), or spread under the skin of a roasting chicken, I've got lots of ideas.  But my favorite is broiled on bread, topped with cheese, along with a nice salad. Nice to have a tasty treat like that in the freezer.

I could see from the kitchen window that Midge was stalking something, but I wasn't sure what. When I finished in the kitchen I came out to see what she had captured. She was quite proud of herself, having caught herself a pom pom!

 

And lots of catnip, hung out to dry. 

Once You Start on a Life of Crime . . .

Please meet Finnegan, the petty thief. His first offense . . . a misdemeanor I am sure . . . a dog toy from the neighbor's yard (the first of many). He has lots of toys, but he has no interest in them. I bought him some dog toys, but no luck. Maybe if I throw them over the fence?







And more recently, yes, that is a bird's nest and a barbie doll. He brought the nest home the day after a windy storm, so I'm sure it was empty, there was probably no pillaging (gosh I'm an optimist!).  It must be a bit of work, for a cat to get these items over a 6 foot chain link fence topped with a totally ineffective net cat fence!

Even without the evidence, he just looks guilty, doesn't he?

June 21, 2011

Hi Folks!

Holding steady, which means I am still up those 2 pounds from last week, darn it! I was not particularly focused this week, I must admit. Too many temptations . . . like the meal John cooked for Father's day! LOL  Just kidding. My lack of focus is all my fault. I need to get back on track.

Leaving Sunday for a getaway with my old friends at a cabin down on Lake Shelbyville. That will be challenging as well. Yes, there will be beer. LOL  So I won't be around Tuesday a.m. for my weekly weigh-in and blog post, be warned.

Back in two weeks, hopefully back on track!

Kay

June 14, 2011

Well the scale is up 2 pounds today. I'm not bummed, I think it was just a little too much birthday weekend. Maybe I should have worked Monday instead of taking a long weekend! LOL Oh well. I was really active, between doing some yard work, trimming along the fence, my ass got a good workout. It's still complaining. My arms got a good workout trimming some high bushes. My stomach got a good workout with the birthday pizza (yum) and ice cream sundae(s). And a birthday lunch with my friend yesterday. Sigh. Also got a good workout moonlighting for my caterer friend a couple of times recently. Lots of bustling about and some pretty heavy lifting. Unfortunately the workout is probably canceled out by eating her delicious food. Buffets are not good for me people! The good news is the pay from moonlighting is going into my Return to Fat Camp Fund. Woo hoo!

Still no diet soda, not even with birthday pizza. Kind of surprised myself there.

I have resumed my walks along the towpath. I feel that when I see wildlife on my walks, it is kind of a reward for my labors. I was somewhat shocked to see a coyote bolting from the lumberyard on the outskirts of town, but very pleased when a cardinal kind of trailed along with me for a good section of the tow path Sunday. I love it when that happens.

Keep up the fight people! Back next week.

Kay :)

June Garden

Here is my garden. John got me started on raised beds a couple of years ago. I’ve got radishes, beans, onions, lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, carrots, squash, basil, parsley, broccoli, strawberries,  taters, and sweet taters. There is also a bumper crop of wee maple trees coming up in there too, you probably can’t see them very well yet (dang those helicopters!), as well as a bountiful amount of grass (the legal kind!), clover and morning glories. The area between the two beds is planted with a butterfly/hummingbird/wildflower mix, and there is asparagus in there too---that tall business there is some asparagus going to seed. There is a bed along the fence that has a zucchini plant and some perennial flowers, thyme, oregano, catnip, asparagus fern, some lilies and other stuff, and some red poppies that are just getting started.  I have some daisies starting on the other side of the raised beds, right by the hollyhocks. One side of the double bed is veggies, the other is all flower seeds, including zinnias, marigolds, a few carrots because the tops are so pretty, with a sunflower coming in each corner. I’ve heard stories of some people planting their flowers in rows. Interesting. There is also a bumper crop of cat in there. That is Midgie’s favorite spot, it’s a wonder any of my flower seeds are coming at all! LOL

I call that grass off to the side in the middle picture my ornamental grass (haha), but it's just a patch of long grass for Midge and Finnegan to hide and play in. They love it and are in there all the time.

June 7, 2011

Down two more pounds. Woo hoo!

Have a rotten cold/sinus thing going on now. Not too peppy.

Still haven't gotten into an exercise routine, but am generally more active, especially in the yard and garden in the a.m. Looking forward to garden veggies. Already had radishes and onions, and I picked up some lettuce from an organic farm near here. Going to have a lovely salad tonight. Hopefully it will still sound lovely tonight! LOL

Running late now. Keep up the fight people!

Kay

May 31, 2011

Down 2 more pounds. Woo hoo.

I took a little walk every day for the past week. This week I'm going to lengthen things up. Man can I sweat! Wow. And it really just started warming up. Yikes! 

John helped me replace some indoor/outdoor carpeting on the back steps this weekend and good thing he did. My ass was complaining something fierce! I had already been out earlier, pulling some grass along the bottom of the fence.  I had to give up on pulling nails out of that bottom step, I thought it was going to seize up! The good news is that there must be some muscle in there somewhere for that to happen. I wasn't sure . . .

Still no diet soda. But I think I'm drinking more beer! LOL Just kidding.

74 more pounds to go by June 11, 2012, the big Five-Oh.  What a lovely thought! LOL

Take care people and keep up the fight! I guess I have to keep dieting even though the Biggest Loser is over!

Kay :)

May 24, 2011

Woo hoo, down 4 pounds. That is -23, starting from my afternoon Fat Camp, post Mexican lunch with beer weigh-in. But dang it!  Weight Watchers cut me down a point! LOL

Haven't been doing great with the old exercise routine, but I've certainly been more active, in house, lawn and garden. Would be great if I would combine it with some Kettlebell swinging . . .I need to start up with my "Smoke Breaks" at work again too. Those little walks on the towpath are good for me, both diet-wise and mood-wise.

Long  weekend, woo hoo! Except for the food battles. Of course the weekends aren't going to stop rolling around, so I'd best learn to deal. I've got a graduation party Sunday, and  I know I'll drink beer and generally pig out, so I need to plan accordingly.

I've found that repetition for breakfast and lunch works well for me. Figured out a few breakfasts/lunches that satisfy me, but don't stuff me, during the day, mostly simple cheap stuff (the cheap part is good too lol), like hard boiled eggs and peanut butter toast and fruit.  Then I'm good and hungry for supper. Which is good.  When I eat when I'm not hungry, well, there is no satisfaction for that. I've been doing better not eating after supper too.

I've been sleeping really well too, I think that helps my weight loss. I'm sure more peppy.



Keep it up people!

I'm focused on moving forward, not backward! On the scale, and on the towpath! LOL


Kay

May 17, 2011

I was not surprised to see the scale go up two pounds after camping this weekend. I am actually surprised it isn’t more . . . maybe I lost some weight last week, before I went camping? LOL  I guess we’ll never know now.  My friend Musit says that we should really call it “amping” instead of camping, because we use so much electricity! LOL There was not a whole lot of physical activity, given that it was incredibly cold, wet, rainy and generally miserable.  Oh, and I almost forgot about the wind! Mostly we huddled around the rainy fire.  I did get some exercise dodging the smoke.

I did spring into action at meal times . . . go figure.  We like to sort of rough it at camping, so we suffered through meals like  thick-cut apple wood smoked bacon, fried taters, eggs and griddle toast; French toast, sausage and eggs; cheesy campers stew grilled to perfection by George (buttered foil POUCHES <more on this later lol> filled with taters, onions, peas, burger, cheese), with a lovely salad and home-made Amish oatmeal rolls, warmed by the fire and (mine at least) thickly topped with butter; fajitas with Chihuahua cheese,  marinated flank steak and chicken grilled by Grill master Mark, with red, yellow and orange peppers, red and yellow onions and baby bellas, with my friend Patti’s homemade salsa (heavenly), and rice and beans. Yep. Oh the suffering people.  We snacked on Donna’s cheese dip and bread sticks and Mar’s spinach artichoke dip and many other goodies. We had lemon bars and Mar’s “Soon to be Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies”.  I have a confession to make. My name is Kay and I am a foodie. Some of my friends are foodies too.

There was Camping Coffee (sugared coffee with Baileys and whipped cream on top-at least that is how I make mine!), and boy , did Mar’s Soon to be Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies taste good with that on the cold, wet, windy mornings! My coffee did not taste nearly as good this a.m. Maybe Camping Coffee doesn’t have to be just for camping . . . ? And could cinnamon chocolate chip cookies be breakfast appetizers every day? Oh and there was beer. Lots and lots of beer.

I spent much of the weekend thanking God that I took Mar and George up on their generous offer to sleep in their beautiful new camper. I can’t imagine tent/car amping in that weather! Yikes!  I’ve been camping down to Lake Shelbyville so many times, I can’t believe I was so ill-prepared for this trip. When I heard it was going to be in the 60’s  I decided my crop sweatpants would be suitable attire. Maybe a wicking shirt to go under my t-shirt, just take one, just in case Kay. Leave all the other long sleeved shirts hanging in your closet.  And I do not need to take my trusty, warm, lined Champion windbreaker, just leave it hanging in the closet Kay. And make sure you don't take anything with a hood! Gosh I’m dumb. Always ALWAYS take some long pants with you go camping people! That is my advice.

I toyed briefly with the idea of leaving early due to the inclement weather, but Mar told me she would get “very very mad” if I did.  Out of curiosity I asked her what might happen if she did get very very mad, and gosh, she was maybe going to kick me in the shins if I left early, so the terror of that happening totally knocked the idea of my leaving early right out of my head, and I opened a beer instead.  In actuality my shins were so numb from my questionable crop pant wardrobe choice, I possibly may not have felt anything. On a trip to Wal-mart I did pick up some crew socks to help cover the gap there, between my no-show socks and my crop pants. It was a good look for me, really. Very sharp. Sigh.

There were many laughs though, the best one during a game of catch phrase, during which I orchestrated a “Do Not Get Donna’s Clue No Matter How Hard She Tries Moment”, and the word she was trying to get us to say was “pouch” and wow, did we have fun. From her shock and dismay and frustration at being unable to get us to say pouch, to her questioning of her own vocabulary (I mean the look on her face when her husband told her that marsupials have beaks, and her brother telling her that the pouch animals carry their young in is called a “slit”, and then her putting her hands in her jacket packet and kind of pouching it out, doing a visual for us, I really did see a marsupial with its young in a pouch, I swear!!!) LOL LOL, then to confusion, then to righteous indignation, and even questioning another camper to verify that she did, in fact, know what a marsupial is, wow . . .  I was laughing so hard I thought I may have ruptured something. I could not talk. I could barely breathe. But don’t worry, another beer fixed me right up. LOL Sorry about that set-up Donna . . . NOT! It was priceless really. And a decent ab workout too.

And to watch an 11 week old golden retriever puppy frolic with Big Sis Sophie in the wet grass. It was like watching pure joy in action. Yesterday Sophie was flat on her back, and that pup was right on her chest, looking her in the eyes. Private dog talk, sister stuff I guess.  Or maybe Lily had enough of Sophie snitching her chew toys and just decided to take her down for the count? Nobody had a camera but I’ll never forget that picture. Perfect example of rain, wind, cold be damned! Let’s enjoy each other!

As far as the diet goes, back to it. I need to lose the all-or-nothing attitude. For example, if I eat way too much for breakfast, don’t figure the day is shot and pig out the rest of the day. And gosh it’s hard to stop the overeating cycle after a weekend eating binge. My body wants to know where her camping coffee and cookies are! I need to work on changing my thoughts and habits so they are not so destructive to my goals.  50 is coming, I can see it creeping down the towpath . . . where I should be walking more! LOL We did get a little dry weather Sunday afternoon, and played a bit of hacky sack. Thanks to Fat Camp I was definitely more mobile than I would have been pre-Fat Camp, and I am not sore at all, and even though I do say so myself, I still got it! I'm just not sure what it is.

Take care people and keep up the fight!

Kay

Midge and Finn

May 10, 2011

Down a bit more today. From when I weighed in at Fat Camp (in the afternoon, after a huge Mexican meal , the last supper lol), I’m down 19 pounds.  Of course now that I’m home I weigh in first thing Tuesday a.m., before I drink an ounce of water (and after I do certain other things. . . )!  That reminds me of when I used to go exercise at Tina’s Shape Shop here in town many moons ago, and I was working out and this girl came in, apparently for the sole purpose of weighing in. She took off her shoes and socks, shucked off her jeans, and got up on scale. Then she quickly stepped off, and removed her earrings, and stepped back on! LOLOL How much do you figure those earrings weighed! I cracked up then and I’m cracking up now! Anyway, my weight chart at Weight Watchers is kind of zig-zaggy. A steady downward trend would be good.

It’s nice that the weather has turned. I’ve been out in the yard more, planting garden stuff, pulling weeds, trimming the fence.  The cats love it. And what good helpers they are. I think I’ve planted the same onion 10 times! Still haven’t gotten into a regular walking routine.  Can’t blame the leg anymore, it’s back to normal, minus the gross vein. Woo hoo! And there must be some muscle in my ass somewhere, wow it’s sore! The good old bend and stretch. If it wasn’t for Fat Camp, toting all that compost and potting soil would have been a lot tougher! 

I have camping to contend with this weekend, lots of food and beer and friends and camping coffee and beer and snacks.  It’s always something though.  I can’t be a hermit. I’m too much fun! Buck up and have some willpower Kay! You can do it! I can choose to be more active too; I can walk around and drink my beer, instead of sitting in the camp chair! LOL Just kidding. There will be bean bags, maybe hacky sack if our old bodies can handle it, a puppy to walk, and a big dog too. I’m trying to bank some calories this week, knowing that the weekend is going to be rough and full of temptation.  Hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t kid around about walking and drinking my beer, I have a vision of me parking my cooler several campsites away, and having a bit of a trek each time I need a beer . . . lifestyle changes. The people there are pretty friendly. I’m sure no one will mind if I stumble into the wrong campsite.  LOL And maybe I can leave the whipped cream and booze out of my coffee . . . no . . . no . . .  not gonna happen. 

Still no diet soda! That still stuns me, I was terribly addicted to that awful stuff. My Return to Fat Camp Fund continues to grow!

Keep up the fight people!

Kay