October 17, 2006
  We returned from our fall vacation last week - the trip was all - and more than I'd imagined it could be. We met 11 of our OFF family- what a wonderful thing it was ....First it was in Niagara Falls in Ontario Canada we had dinner at a favorite seafood spot of Nancy B's. She and her husband JB and Candy W from Buffalo,NY had a terrific evening together ! 
Next we met Eileen B, Judy G. & Carla K. in Dewitt Michigan- for breakfast at Bob Evans. We had such a lot to talk about and hated breaking up the party .Before parting we even exchanged a few pieces of clothing.. it was an amazing morning. 
Later that same day we were in St. Ignace Michigan, arrived too late to go out to Mackinac Island but in plenty of time to meet Joyce L and her friend Grace - they drove and hour one way to meet us and have dinner with us - what a great gal - of course with 2 ladies such as us with the same name it would just Have to be fantastic ! We left with much hugging and promises to meet again next spring in Wisconsin...lol We arrived in Rice Lake ,Wisconsin later that day to stay with my youngest daughter JJ , we saw most of my family that were in the area and nearly all the friends I'd had when I left there in 2004 to marry John and move to Cape Cod -- the phrase "OMG I hardly recognised you two " accompanied by many squeals and giggles- was the theme ! Next we drove south to meet Gala near Madison - we got to meet her husband James and her 2 terrific kids Bryan and Abi- this was also a momentus moment for OFFers - all four of us -Gala & James and John and myself have had RNY... Gala had hers 3 weeks after James and John had his 6 weeks after me... small world eh ?
Then we got to Milwaukee where my oldest daughter Lisa lives.. we brought JJ with us so the 4 of us had a grand time together trying to cram in everything possible in such a short time especially just being together...we met Kathy K and Patti J - orginally we'd planned to meet at one meeting but fate stepped in when Patti's grandson broke his leg and she was the adult in charge at the time... so we met them a day apart ... Kathy and I had our suregeries on the very same day- she has met her goal and looks Mahhhvelous ! Patti is all I'd pictured and more ,  we chatted like we'd known one another for a long time with both of them . Finally it was time to wind the caravan towards home- the trek began on Oct 6th but we had one more meeting set up - in Maumee Ohio with Margo M and her DH Michael and Debbie G.- needless to say it was also a wonderful encounter ! We hated to leave them -amidst tears and hugs , smiles and waves we headed down the highway arriving home on Sunday Oct 8- tired but full of such joy from meeting all these truly wonderful people . 
We weighed ourselves before leaving on Sept 22 - I was 208 and John was 174 - 3 weeks later I'm 204 and John is 172 - the one thing I was concerned about while on vacation was gaining weight - cuz you know we don't eat the way we do at home as when on vacation -  ugh ! But we're still working the tool and it's still working for us - thank god ..