March Madness?

March was nothing.
Just wait until  my April foolery.  

Forget lambs and lions.....March is going out like an Italian kitchen bitch here in Judiland.
I just finished making baked ziti for 75 people.
At midnight, I thought my kitchen was a disaster.
Right now, I am proud to say my tolerance level for messy kitchens has increased.
The fact that I can't see the counters nor get within five feet of the sink has not stopped me from making myself a lovely cup of strong, hot tea and coming into my cozy little office and doing a blog post.  As if I don't have a care in the world. 
As soon as I am finished, I am going to take a long shower, wash my hair, shave my legs and maybe even lather myself up with self tanner.
Then, I'm going to get myself all dressed up, put on my make up, give myself a few once overs in the mirror and then pack up all my ziti in my vehicle and drive through tunnels and  over hills and down winding roads to Collegeland for the Delta Zeta Parent's Luncheon.
By the time I finally get there, I will have forgotten completely about the kitchen.


I think I need another cup of tea.  But, I don't want to go back into the kitchen.




Give this blog some love......
Live. Laugh. Eat.
Ali is a lovely, sweet and smart young woman and a dear friend of my girl Toni.  Ali is  Nutrition major at The Pennsylvania State University and just started a nutrition blog.  Ali's blog is just getting going but so far it's filled with great information we can all use.  Plus, as an extra bonus--it's filled with youthful enthusiasm. 
Here's how she describes her blog:
A place where you can come to realize you can "have your cake and eat it, too"!
Eating healthy does not mean depriving yourself!  This blog will share tips on ways to lead a healthy lifestyle even with that super busy schedule of yours!  It will include ways to improve your well-being nutritionally, physically, and mentally.  So sit back, look around, and enjoy!

Tell her Toni's mom sent ya!!!










  

I lived to tell about another week......

Leaving the house last Saturday night.....

Last week, summer rolled into Judiland....teasing us with temps in the high 70's and low 80's
It was enough to send shivers up my spine thinking that bathing suit season was next week.
But, true to Pittsburgh weather....this week brought with it a killing frost, hail, high winds, rain, sunshine, clouds....you name it....everything except snow. 
On the home front, it was another week of trying to get my act together in every aspect of life.
Even though it felt like I worked enough to get 25 people's acts together, I sit here at some ungodly hour of the morning with a sink full of dishes in the kitchen, an overflowing hamper of dirty towels in the bath room, a pile of mail that needs sorted on the dining room table and the knowledge that my work email is overflowing, my desk at the office has many undone things waiting for me to do and I am quite sure my phone is blinking up to high heaven...possibly even completely filling up my voicemail box.  Not to mention that I have to make baked ziti for 75 for tomorrow and I think I need a good dose of self-tanner.
There.  That's it.
No.  I forgot.
I have a super emergency.
I am out of my favorite wine.  

Happy Friday!!!

Give me the good gin!

My beautiful martini that I enjoyed last week at Lunardi's!

By now, I'm sure you know that I have a deep abiding love for Gin.
I wish I could tell you a fascinating story about how I became acquainted with this beautiful spirit but alas, my story is quite mundane.
It was borne out of ignorance.  But, I sure like thinking about it and sharing it with you! 
It goes like this.....
Growing up, my mother was quite a highball lover.  She hosted many nights of highball drinking around our dining room table--whether it was just a Sunday night playing scat with her family or a Friday night sewing club with her gal pals or a Saturday-night-after-bowling get-together or a meeting of her ISDA amici, my mother always had the high-balls covered.  She even had special coasters for her high balls (they were minature jockey straps....haha!).
My mother always made pretty high balls--sometimes with those marachino cherries floating in the short glasses with a little bit of juice for color, sometimes with curly lemon or lime rinds hooked on the side of our fancy stemmed glasses, sometimes with umbrellas attached to the sides of our sherbert-colored parfait glasses and other times with fancy green olives floating in our cool looking martini glasses.   We always had a  frosty bottle of  Gilbert's Gin on the dining room bar.  I think my mother loved gin best of all.  I was in love with the bottle.  It was much prettier than the brown Seagram's 7 bottle and the ripply clear Seagram's Vodka bottle.  Although the tall bottle containing a yellow liquid called Strega always captivated me--I knew better.  My mother and her sisters and her friends never touched the Strega---my mom's brothers would do shots with it and get sick...it was a man's drink.   I always found the Gin bottle to be pretty and inviting. 
Yes, my love affair with gin began even before the pine-y liquid touched my virgin lips. 
So, when it came time for me to order a drink at a bar,  I ordered what I knew---Gin.
The bartender asked--"with tonic?"
I had no idea what tonic was but of course I wasn't about to let him know I wasn't an experienced gin drinker....yes, I always drink gin with tonic...
"With a lime?"  he asked.
"With 2 limes"....I replied....proving that this young chick knew a thing or two about how to drink gin.....
My signature drink was born right then and there......gin and tonic with double lime. 
Over the years, my pallette expanded and demanded better quality gin---soon it was Tanqueray and tonic with double lime. 
But, if you only had the house gin....I drank it.
Along came my Lapband.
NO CARBONATED DRINKS.
I thought I was going to die without my gin and tonics.  
But, once again, I learned to survive.....good bye tonic, hello shaken, not stirred,  so long double lime, I love ya twist! 
Not just survive.....but thrive! 

This time, only the good gin would do.
Tangueray?  Sure!  
Then, I met Hendricks.
I had arrived at Gin Heaven.
Sure, I'll still drink Tangueray...if I absolutely have to.
But, don't try giving me  Gordons or Gilberts or Seagrams.
I deserve so much better.
And, damn, I'm worth it.
I have  my Lapband to thank for my evolution of knowing that I deserve the best quality.....of food and booze.....
Thus, I have my Lapband to thank for  being a better gin drinker.
If I didn't have my Lapband, I would still be drinking cheap gin with tonic and double limes.
 Imagine that?  Judi without a martini? 

Tonight, I am going to drink to my Lapband. 

  

So many potions......

How's a girl to choose?

Anyone who has spent the greater part of their adult life trying to lose weight knows the score.
There are millions of ways to lose weight.
Many of them claim to be miraculous! 
Just pick one and you are golden.  
Uh-ha.......okay.....sure....
Then why is real weight loss so hard?

Well, I'll tell you why--with the  millions of products and services and programs promising weight loss, choosing which one you want or doing the trial and error method can take a life time. 
Essentially....what you've done is spent a lot of time, spent a lot of money, maybe lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of weight.....only to end up trying it to lose weight.
Yes, the cycle of weight loss.....it can feel never ending and defeating.
Purely from a statistical standpoint---if you look at the millions of  miracle ways to lose weight that are so different---you can drink it off, sprinkle it off, carb it off, non carb it off, count your points it off,  pillpop it off, cut if off, exercise it off, pray it off and so on and so on--and the millions of people who want to lose weight, the numbers tell us that it really should be easy, easy, easy.  You can just find the program you like, do the simple things they tell you to do and walla.....the weight is off and your life is so much better! 
I'm not a numbers gal but it sounds pretty reasonable to me.
But, we all know that's not how it works.
Logic doesn't apply here.  

 So, why am I thinking about this right now?
Well, as I've told you a million times before, I am a weight loss junky.  I actually feel a wonderful high at the slightest hint that there's a new weight loss product or program or drug coming out!
My heart goes pitter patter and my toes start to tingle.  I get warm all over.  Even to this day.   
I swoon for new dieting programs, break-through dieting medications, you name it.....
Just when I thought I knew every weight loss miracle out there, another one comes along and makes me stop and go wow.
But, this one is over 1700 years old.
And, guess what?  I have it and I absolutely LOVE IT!
No, it's not my Lapband! 
Back up. Back up.  
One of my sweet students is from China.
She is forever bringing me gifts from her homeland.  Now that she is in her final year of school, her mother is now sending me gifts.   It is so endearing!
One of the first gifts my student ever gave me three years ago was a tea called Pu erh.   She's given me a few other containers throughout the years because she knows that I enjoy drinking it.  
It's a  Chinese tea that has the right balance of caffeine punch and a strong herbal yet spicey tea flavor.
Although I don't adore it as much as I adore my Chai tea, I like it very very much and have often told her how delighted I was to have found such an unusual tea!
The other day, my lovely student brought me a darling little package that her mother sent for her to give to me....it was filled with little sweets, a embroidered pillow case and a beautifully decorated container filled with Pu erh tea.  Inside was a note written by her mother--which I could not read.  So, my student had to read it to me.  Her mother gave me a brief history of the tea--telling me that for centuries, this tea was presented to emperors and other royalty as gifts of honor due to it's extreme health benefits and anti-aging properties and that she was presenting it to me to honor me for being in her daughter's life when she was so far away from home.  So sweet!   She went on to say that her daughter told her I was getting "model thin" and she just knew it was from the tea! 
Her last comment struck me as very odd---I thought that maybe her sentiment didn't translate well.
But, I didn't want to dishonor the lovely note so I smiled and penned a note for my student to translate and send back to her mother.
Yet, her comment stayed with me for a few days.
So, I did what any other questioning person would do---I GOOGLED Pu erh Tea. 
Thousands of web pages came up.....touting the MIRACLE WEIGHT LOSS EFFECTS OF PU ERH TEA!! 

So, it makes me wonder.....was it my Lap Band of my Pu erh tea?


 

I was sending weird signals......

or so the cable company declared!  
I've been identified as having "signal leakage" !
Have I been loose talkin'?

Evidently, my leaky cable wire signals can interfere with all kinds of things from airplanes to air traffic controls to FCC things to spy equipment to someone's internet access as much as 10 miles away.
Pretty exciting stuff.....huh?
Imagine...me?  Technologically taking down the entire communications and security of the world?
Maybe it was my blog!!!

So, they turned off my internet and didn't even tell me.
It was such a covert operation that they could not even tell me???   Did they think I wouldn't notice?
Well...for the record.... they sort of told  me.
They put a big orange tag on one of the high wires leading to my house.
I am so unfamiliar with what the hell all those wires leading into my house are for and I don't look at them often enough to know if there's always been a big orange tag on one of them.
And, even when I did notice the tag (because Carmen suggested I go outside and look at the wires....as if that would do any good), I didn't understand what it said and further, it didn't have the name of who left the tag on the wire.
Yeah, I know....confusing.  Imagine how I felt. 
So,  I called the cable company.....the customer service person walked me through the steps of trying to access the internet.  Even when I told her about the big orange tag (she said she didn't know what I was talking about....), she said we had to go through this big process....looking at blinking lights, pulling out plugs.....sheesh....
We hung up having not solved my problem.  
I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Since I'm the mother of an almost computer-PhD and I work at the place that practically invented the internet and computers, I figured I had a special aura about me--the magic touch---I was going to fix things once and for all.  After all, I figured I just had to do a little of this, a little of that, yell at it and then do a little more of this and that.  Right?
Notsomuch.  
So, yeah, I ended up calling customer service  back--telling the new guy my story of woe.  He had no idea what the big orange tag was either.     He said they would NEVER put a tag on anything without telling you who the tag was from and, when they do shut something down, they put a big door hanger on your front door that explains the situation.   So, he didn't think THEY shut down my internet and he was SURE THEY DID NOT PUT THE ORANGE TAG there. 
Well, Mr. Customer Service, I have a big orange tag, my internet is not working and I am going to be having blog withdraw any moment and there was NOT a tag on my door telling me that my internet was shut down.  So,excuse me fine sir but this is an emergency!



He set me up with an appointment for Sunday afternoon.

When Carmen arrived on the scene, he called the cable company. Again.
He was going to get to the bottom of this!   They told him they had no idea what the big orange tag was.  As a matter of fact....this customer service rep  said that she knows for sure that it's always there.  Then, after some further questioning,  she suggested  that maybe the electric company put it there!  ahhh-haaa
My husband works for an electric company.
They don't shut down internet!  They shut down power! 
 He asked to talk to someone in maintenance. 
Carmen told the maintenance department guy about the big orange tag and the loss of internet.
Carmen read what the tag said to the maintenance guy......something to do with ingress.
The guy in maintenance said it could be their tag but there's no reference about it on our account.
But, it very well could be their tag.  
And, they might have shut it down.
He said that ingress means that signals are leaking.
How would I have known what ingress meant?.....I couldn't GOOGLE it! 
He told Carmen that they have people whose job it is to go around and find leaking signals.
Clearly, we were a problem.....we were giving off weird signals or having signal leakage.



No,  I didn't make up that story as an excuse for not blogging.

But, if there's a breach in security somewhere......

More pants talk.....

When did Friday get here?
I'm not sure.
But, I'll take it.

On with the pants.....

The other night, my girlfriend and I had a very indepth and lengthy conversation about pants.
Yes, there's lots of things to talk about when it comes to pants!
The seed that started our conversation was that I mentioned to her that I had worn a pair of growing pants that day.
What are growing pants?
They are pants that seem to grow in size throughout the day.
I had just purchased these particular pants a few weeks back and I loved them so much when I tried them on and they were such an amazing price that I bought 3 pair--in different colors.  What I wasn't crazy about was the fact that I had to buy a larger size than I normally do.  That was not a good thing. But, considering the price and the style and the yummy colors, I decided these were pants that I could not pass up.
The fact that my normal size seemed as though they would be unflatteringly snug if I would be wearing them with anything tucked it, I decided that I should definitely buy the larger size.  Was I wrong? How was I to know they would be growing pants?
 After a day in those  growing pants, I wasn't quite sure what to do about the other 2 pair that I had not worn.  Should I return them and buy my regular size?  I was quite perplexed and decided to seek out my friend's counsel.
We debated the issue for quite some time and discussed the theory that perhaps there are times when you should probably  buy pants--like jeans and other cottony fabrics---a little snug because they will grow.  But, we also noted that these same fabrics do tend to shrink when laundered and run through the dryer so that theory may not be the best one to follow.
We pondered the idea that the cheaper the pants, the more we could not depend on the sizing.
We wondered if sizes were just a bunch of hogwash.
We discussed the perils of pants shopping.
We compared notes on how many pair of black pants each of us own.
We  divulged our worst pants moments and our best pants moments.
We confessed the highest price we ever paid for pants.
And, we shared our pants fantasies.

In the end, we decided it was best that I just wash and dry all three pairs and hope for the best.
Not a novel idea and possibly not the best solution.  But, considering the price of gas and the fact that if I do go out to the mall to return them, I would surely buy even more stuff (I'm not a girl who can go into a mall with buying something....).  Then, so much for my bargain pants!

I wonder what our pants talk would have sounded like 100 pounds ago?

Spring Fever!

Hope you catch the good part.....

Good Morning Spring.......

You feel more like summer!  
Temps in the high 70's and low 80's?
IN PITTSBURGH, PA?



Did you hear?
Bright colored denim is being touted as all the rage this Spring!
Upon learning this exciting news--and never one to be behind on fashion trends--I set my sights on colored denim shopping.
However, living in Pittsburgh, I figured I had a little bit of time to get rid of a few visiting pounds and research the best prices before getting myself a pair or two.
After all, I am usually still wearing winter duds through most of March.
Oh how the weather gods have messed with me this year!
I need those colored denims NOW.
Because with the way things are looking....it's gonna be bathing suit season any minute now.
And, that ain't a good thing. 
Colored denim---I can do.
Bathing suits---not quite yet. 

Hello Spring!

For your  Spring shopping pleasure....here's the best deals I found on colored denim.....

Canyon River (at Sears)--$19.99
Old Navy--Slim flared jeans--$34.00
Express--various prices $34-70.00
Chico's--wait for sales and coupons before scoring their animal print ones! 
H&M---whoa, you can find any color or price.....yahoo! 

I've also seen them at Loft,  New York and Company, Coldwater Creek, Target and even Walmart!
So many choices!
I might have to have them in every color.  

Oh, and while we are on the topic of Spring......I want to share with you another item that you'll just have to run out and get.....it's the Stila Brand Lipstains.....OMG.....these things are the real deal.  I mean....the real deal....put it on in the morning and you've still got color going on at night! Trust me, I tried it out on St. Patrick's Day....I went from Top of the Morning to Tu-ra-lu-ra-lu-ra sporting Mango Crush!    It's not a shiny, shiny look so you might want to keep some gloss or maybe even some Smith's (Rosebud) Lip Balm in your purse or pocket to glide on for some gloss.  The Stila Lipstain also works as a blush.  What a bargain.....2 beauty enhancers in one!  Must have a lipstain to match each pair of colored denims!


I'll do anything to avoid talking bathing suits.....

Ghosts of St. Patrick's Days past.......

Yesterday, in the early morning hours, I found myself unable to sleep.  After a full day of St. Patrick's Day shenanigans, you would think that I would just pass out happily dreaming of cute leprecauhns and pots of gold.  Instead, I was dealing with the dreaded hormonal issues of a girl in the prime of "the change" as well as that last drink of the night..... (the one you should NEVER have!)
 Enough said.
So, as I stumbled down the steps, I was trying to decide if I should clean the kitchen, start making our Farewell to Spring Break Dinner or  download my St.Patrick's Day pictures and send them off to my St. Patrick's Day party gal pals.
Downloading the pictures won....by a very wide margin.
Wouldn't my party friends be super impressed when they get an email from me at 5 am on the day after St. Patrick's Day?
They will think I'm still partying away......or getting ready for 7 am mass.  
(2 things the Irish are known for.....)
So, I put together a chai latte type concoction and sat down to go through the steps of downloading the pictures from my camera, putting them on Facebook and emailing them off to some friends.
(Won't everyone be thrilled when they wake up at some reasonable hour of the morning and find pictures?)
Between hitting "SEND" and going into the kitchen to make another chai latte concoction, I came back to my computer and found an email from one of party friends......

HOLY SHIT!  I didn't realize how much I have aged through the years!  
I just saved the pics you sent No more St. Paddy's Day pics!!!  

These are the last ones we will ever take!    If only I could sleep I might look better.   

 I don't need any more reminders that I'm getting older. 

Why in the hell are you still up?  Did you even go to bed?  Don't even tell me you got up to cook!

I was sorry to hear that someone else couldn't sleep....

I was just about to shoot her off an email telling her that we weren't going to stop taking pictures on St. Patrick's Day and make some silly joke about how someday we will need some reminders of what fun we had.  But, I decided that her tone of the moment didn't seem like she would appreciate it. 
At least not that early on the morning the day after St. Patrick's Day. 

However, her mania somehow transferred to me and  I found myself obsessed with our St. Patrick's Day pictures.

Why did she want to stop taking pictures?
I wanted to see for myself!  
What secrets do my St. Pat's Day pictures reveal throughout the years?

So, in the spirit of my recent pictureography.....I will share with you a Historical Romp through St. Patrick's Days in Judiland.......

2005

2006

2008

2009

2011

 2012

 Maybe it's all the GREEN but I think we are all aging pretty well.....!

WE ARE TAKING PICTURES NEXT ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

The morning after St. Pat's Day Gospel for Good Irish Girls....

 I am pretty sure that Irish Catholics have been given dispensation this morning from Mass....due to headaches and other assorted Irish ailments....... 
Even so, there will be many red-eyed,  ruddy-cheeked, blue-eyed lads who will show up because they too afraid not to.
But, I can guarantee you that there are lots of  blue-eyed lasses who are skipping Mass today.
Why? 
Irish woman are all saints.... just ask those red-eyed, ruddy-cheeked,blue-eyed lads who show up at Mass.............. they will confirm it. 

Top of the MORNING!

My St. Patrick's Day wish for you.....




May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.





My Irish eyes adore you.....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Twas the day before St. Patrick's Day......

Can't think of a better reason to have a mom and daughter SPA day!
What better way to get ready for a day of getting my Irish on!

What better way to restore the happy smile to my beautiful little girl's face.....

It's Spring Break in collegeland so my little girl is home.
While lots of sorority girls spent their Spring Breaks on beaches, my sweet girl has spent her SB dealing with a myriad of dental procedures.
Not exactly what either of us had in mind when we had our first of many "what to do on Spring Break" talks over the holidays.  Best laid plans!   You know---the old Murphy's Law.
(usually I like Irish boys....this Murphy guy must be a mixed breed) 
Thankfully, tomorrow, I'll be partying with the fun Irish boys that I like!

Happy TGIF St. Patrick's Day Eve !!!

 

Going on F*I*V*E..........

a fact that's pretty damn hard to believe!

My father always tells me that time passes much quicker the older you get.
Once again, the good old Irish fella is right.

I had Lapband surgery in August 2007.

Yeah that's me folks....the morning I left for my surgery....posing with the Superwoman outfit I was planning on wearing the following July 4th.  (FYI--I never wore the outfit...)  I will never know what possessed me to wear all white!  What 250 pound woman wears all white?  One that wants her BEFORE picture to look really, really bad?

It's 2012 folks.
That's 5---1,2,3,4 FIVE---years ago.
Mama mia!
In keeping with my picturography of my journey.....here we go!

I kicked off September 2011 feeling as though I needed to be a bit more careful of what I was eating and how much I was eating.  With my Lapband filled to the brim and my new found expertise on what I could eat with no problem, I knew that I might soon grow out of my pants if I didn't stay focused on eating the right foods and the proper quantities.  I won't lie--I was worried.  

October 2011 brought with it a new Trader Joe's within minutes of my house.  Couple that with the impending holiday season and I had myself a full blown anxiety-riddled month.  That anxiety caused quite a few chocolate and candy eating episodes.  I was starting to "feel" my stomach again.  I didn't like the feeling at all.  So, I went out and bought some Spanx. 

I cooked my way through November, and shopped and entertained and partied my way through December.  I became addicted to Peppermint Bark and other assorted goodies by the year's end.  I had fleeting moments of real panic followed by more Peppermint Bark.  By the new year,  I could just feel those extra pounds.  I knew they were there.  But, I refused to accept it.  I pretended my room was too messy to make my way to scale.  Well, I really didn't have to pretend too hard....

These last two months have been a bit of a battle with 8-12 pounds. Blame it on the Peppermint Bark or the pretzels or whatever hell you please. The fact of the matter is that I deserve them.  I am not going to sugar coat it, folks....the reality is that I have been misbehaving.  Sure, I'm not misbehaving enough to put on 100 pounds.  But, a dieting girl like me knows all too well that 100 pounds always starts with just 5 or 10 pounds. 

The one thing I will tell you friends is this--the journey never ends.  And, for that, I am happy.   

I am a journeyer!  

I'm not happy about the extra pounds I am battling but I figure....at least it gives me another topic to whine  about discuss!

Thanks for joining me and supporting me and motivating me and encouraging me. 

I need to share my journey as much....maybe even more....than you need to hear about it!

Year 3 was a hard act to follow!

I found myself gliding into Year Four of my Lapbanded life in a pants size that I only had fantasies about.  I was ready to greet Fab Four head-on!
But, to be honest---I was more than terrified at what was ahead. 
There I was....at an unprecedented new low--weight-wise--wearing pants in the single digits and determined to keep it that way. 

I was thrilled beyond belief that somehow, someway, I found myself at the corner of am I too thin? and nothing tastes as good as thin feels.  I could not believe that I was the woman I saw in the mirror each day!  And, even more importantly, I felt better than a 50+ year old woman has a right to feel. 
Yes, I was strutting my stuff and damn happy to be doing it. 
 And, did I mention that I was 5 pounds BELOW my goal weight?
It was a dream come true, an unbelievable time in my life and damn, I had lost 115 pounds! 
Yet, there I was....shaking in my darling shoes!
So, what was the problem? 
I'll tell you what the problem was......
Did I ever tell you that I have a long history of losing weight only to gain it all back?
Yeah, I was the queen of being thin for a millasecond. 
Was my millasecond up?
Would I be able to maintain this weight loss?
Or, would I do as I had done so many times before and gain it all back now that the weight loss fun was over and  I had to do the mysterious work of keeping it off?
My Lapband was filled to capacity.....which meant that I could not go back and get it filled anymore.
I didn't want to lose any more weight.
I didn't want to gain any weight.
Somewhere deep inside of me, I was starting to panic.
And, oh yeah, did I mention that I was pretty Lapband savvy by this point?
I was very aware that I could not eat a pound of pasta but a vat of mashed potatoes and a pound of good chocolate would work out just fine.
It was the kind of knowledge that pretty dangerous. 
So, yeah....Lapband Year Four was daunting.....

September  2010-These  2 picture even stopped me in my tracks....was this really ME? Would I always look this thin?  Will I always be able to wear these pants?

By December 2010, I was beginning to realize that I could do this....I could keep the weight off....even the holidays weren't going to stop me from keeping my dream alive!

By January 2011, I was still fitting in my jeans.....I considered that a good thing. 

By March 2011....my green hair returned, my clavicle was visible and my jeans were still zipping.  I figured my Irish luck was still going strong.

By May, I was starting to feel like "yeah, maybe I'm learning to live like a thin girl...."

By July 2011, I was head over heels to fit into a Size 6 dresses.....

By August 2011.....when I celebrated by 4th Bandiversary....I looked back at how the year began and wondered why I was so worried.....

Come on back and I'll share with you how things are going in YEAR 5......
HINT:  I'm terrified....is my millasecond FINALLY over THIS YEAR?

A Lapbanded girl's Flu Survival Guide.......

Don't eat Chinese food just because you think you feel better.


Having a stomach flu is not a Lapbanded girl's friend.
Last week, I was the victim of it's wrath.
And, believe me, it was not pretty.
What started out on Wednesday as just not feeling very well--headachey, chills, aches and pains--turned into a Thursday of trying desperately to get through at the office and a Friday of lots of flu activity ended up on Saturday with me feeling somewhat better but not energized enough to cook.
My son made a pit stop in Pittsburgh on his way home from his conference and my daughter arrived home for Spring Break.  So, of course, Mommy has to pull out all the stops for meals.  
We ordered from a very good Chinese restaurant and settled in for a family night of chopsticks and "The Hangover 2".
Yeah, let's just say that my Lapband got an amazing workout from all the stomach girations.
I can now report--with utmost certainty-that my surgeon put my Lapband in there to stay.
With all the stomach convulsions my Lapband had to live through between Thursday night and Saturday night, the fact that it survived in tact was miraculous.
I'm still feeling a little woozy just thinking about it.

Come back tomorrow when I will resume my motivational picture posts (before we were rudely interrupted by the FLU!)--Lapbanded Year 4!  

Flu + Chinese Food=Asian Flu

 I underestimated my fluziness.

FLU-Z......

Getting a nasty case of the flu on a Friday is a cruel joke.
An awful, awful, cruel, cruel joke.  
Chills. Monster headache.  Everything hurts. Stomach issues.  Feel like shit.
Did I mention chills, monster headache, everything hurts, stomach issues, feel like shit?

Not the way to kick off a weekend.
Excuse me while I go and be sick......again. 
Thankfully I like the way I decorated my bathrooms....

Three is a charm......

For me...it was!

August 2009-August 2010 defined weight history in my life!
My body finally caught up to the weight loss!
Plus, I lost a few more pounds that I wasn't planning on!
I dipped BELOW a 100 pound weight loss!  

My body was in weight loss mode and I started worrying about being too thin!
HISTORICAL INDEED!

Yes, it was a very historical year!

And the beat goes on.......

My Lapband journey in pictures.....my second year! 
August 2008- August 2009

October 2008--still wearing clothes that are a little too big for me....probably still teetering between a 65-70 pound loss

December 2008.....probably down a solid 70 pounds by now

March 2009......had a major loss of 15 pounds to get down to 85 pounds lost!

July 2009.....on the cusp of loosing 100 pounds!

August 2009--I DID IT!  I lost 100 pounds!