So, the inlaws gave me a $100 gift card to Cato for Christmas.  I've wanted to go down there for a while so I dragged Britt with me.  I have a few Christmas lunch meetings to attend this week so I needed some dressy clothes.  I found a cute skirt and sweater.  Got a size 12 skirt and a medium sweater.  The skirt was HUGE!  They didn't have it any smaller.  The sweater was fine.  So, I grabbed some dress pants in size 10 figuring there was no way in hell I'd get them on.  They freaking fit perfectly!!!!  Oops!  Now I need a top.  I found a cute silky flowy top but all they had was small, large and x-large.  The associate told me to take the small.  I gave her that "are you kidding? it's a small!" look and trudged to the dressing room figuring it wouldn't get over my head.  HOLY CRAP!!!!  It fit!  It's gorgeous!  I RAN out of the dressing room and said "does this really fit?????"  She said "well, you could actually wear a x-small".  WHAT?????  Obviously, this size small came home with me!  So, a couple sweaters, some slacks and some blouses later that gift card was gone.  But, getting slacks in size 10 and a blouse in SMALL was priceless!  I gotta take a pic of this outfit and send it to my mother-in-law.  She'll laugh her butt off at this one! LOL

By reading the RNY board, seems I'm not alone in never having an official family portrait done.  Sure, we had a casual picture taken when Britt was about 3 months old.  But, that was taken by my grandmother in her living room.  That doesn't count.  We tried to do a portrait a few years later and the photographer really screwed them up.  Why would you use a blue background when we're all wearing blue?  It looked like the "Bohemian Rhapsody" video opening.

So, we sat down with Mark's new digital camera and decided to take some pics.  Sure, I wanted us sitting in front of the tree with the dog and kitten.  But, I couldn't find anyone to do the picture for us so a face shot will have to do.  We'll do something more formal later.  Right now, it's this shot and then my Christmas cards can be mailed tomorrow.  Yippee!  So, if you're interested in some of the outtakes, they're in my December 2007 photo folder.

I remain about 8 pounds from my surgeon's goal.  How freaking incredible is that!  I'm less than 7 months out and almost at goal.  If someone had told me that a year ago, I'd have said they were NUTS!  But, I see it on the faces of friends and family.  But, more importantly, I see it in that old enemy of mine....the mirror.  It even shocks me that the brunette staring back at me is, really, truly......ME!

Wow!  After being sooooooo frustrated by the stall, I'm in complete shock today!  My scale said 159.6.  WHAT?????  My surgeon's goal for me is 150.  Can I really be in my final losing decade?  How cool would it be to hit that around Christmas!  What a fab Christmas gift that would be!  Of course, being in the 140s would be a cooler gift but I've never been greedy.   I've been happily going to the gym and getting my protein in so I'm pretty sure that's what has me losing again.  It's so cool knowing I'm really, truly almost at goal!

Ugh!  I'd been holding at 163.6 for like 8 days.  I guess the stall has finally broken because I'm down 3 lbs in 2 days!  I'll take it!  I went back to the gym yesterday and I'm dressed to go now.  All I have to do is drop Britt at school then I head to the gym.  That may change because she wants to go.  The farther down I go on the scale the more freaked she gets.  She was okay having a "fat" mommy but this shrinking mommy is a whole different story.  Britt is, sadly, following my old path.  She'll be 11 in February.  She always wanted to go to Curves with me but they wouldn't take anyone under 12.  I totally understand that.  Allison, owner of the gym I go to now, said she would be thrilled to work with Britt.  So, Britt and I talked seriously about this last night.  She's willing to get up at 5:15 am to go to the gym.  I think if it's just me and her in the gym, she'll be fine.  That'll give us time to do the circuit twice and even a little treadmill time before we have to come home and get her a shower.  Wow!  I know at 11 *I* wouldn't have made that sacrifice.  So, I'm going to set it all up today.  She's really excited.  She's in a dance troupe that, honestly, most of the kids look anorexic.  Obviously my 5'3", 145 lb. daughter stands out.  Shoot, she's bigger than some of the Seniors in the troupe!  I don't want her *skinny* per se.  I want her healthy!  She's really excited and I sure won't squash that.  It'll get me up and moving faster too. LOL

I'm excited that I'm just 10.6 lbs from surgeon's goal.  When I started this journey just 13 months ago, I never dreamed that being healthy would be my 2007 Christmas present.  I LOVE how I feel now!  I LOVE my energy!  I LOVE my new lifestyle.  I LOVE my RNY!!!

I can't believe Christmas is just three weeks away!  The best part is that I'm 95% finished my shopping!  That's a miracle in itself!  I finished Mark's company holiday cards tonight and I'll get our home ones addressed, labeled, stamped and ready for the family to sign.  Then, I just have to print the holiday newsletter, put in the pics of us and off they'll go.  I can't believe it's only December 4th and I'm this ahead of schedule!  I guess losing 103 lbs will get your butt in gear. :)

I finally broke my stall.  I went to the gym this morning and my trainer "insists" I take my measurements tonight and do it every other week.  I do all my stuff like that on Fridays because my surgery was on a Friday.  Friday is certainly becoming a busy day.

I have some returns to do tomorrow and I'll pick up some gift cards while I'm out.  It's CUCKING FOLD here in Jersey but we're due for a little warm up this weekend.  So, hopefully we'll get the outside decorating done Friday and Saturday.  Woohoo!  We bought some new things for outside so I'm pretty excited.  We have a digital Christmas countdown clock in the window.  I love looking at it. LOL  I really should get a part-time job as one of Santa's Elves.  I'm a Christmas addict!

I'm off to do more cards!  Gee, I could really go for a cookie right now. LOL