Who would have thought that inspiration could be found in Mira's story? It amazes me each time the cruelty of men (as in humanity) when treating each other and even the lowliest of all creatures... this story moves me .... each time ... This was the story I read when I was first presented with two awesome ferrets as a gift from my husband and my son ... I knew nothing about them or how to care for them but in researching and learning I happened upon Mira's story and since then I have been a 100% supporter and donor to ferret shelter/rescue services Nationwide...

Mira - Short for Miracle ... was abused ... neglected ... stepped on and burned and YET she did not lose her playful and loving nature ....

This is her story and you can read the full story and others here:  http://www.ferret-fact.org/Mira.htm 

Ferret Association of Connecticut, Inc.

Meet Mira Nearly 5 years ago, Mira came to the Ferret Association of Connecticut shelter. At 3 months old, she had been stepped on, causing permanent injury to her shoulders and front legs. Bleach had been spilled on her and not washed off, causing third degree chemical burns to half her body. Mira almost died that first night. But Mira is a fighter; she survived. In time, Mira became sassy and spoiled. Although still crippled, with missing hair over her deeply burned shoulders, Mira blossomed into an "almost normal" ferret.

What isn't normal about Mira is her spirit. Outgoing and friendly, Mira is the star of any event she attends. She can never climb or run fast, but she can play and hop and loves to nip toes.

Just like Mira I REFUSE to lose my outgoing and friendly spirit ... even in the face of adversity ... I am moved by an inner force that surpasses all of that and I press on ... undisturbed ... 

I find inspiration everywhere and I learn lessons even from these little creatures .... I had 8 ferrets on Saturday morning ... all kept like royalty in an awesome multitiered pen that occupies an entire room all for them ... they are perfectly groomed ... liter trained and do tricks ... they are so smart I swear one day they will talk LOL ... and for the uninformed Ferrets are NOT rodents and they make awesome pets but they need a lot of attention and care ...

After Zumba on Saturday I came home and took a shower and was whisked off to a restaurant for lunch with DD ... with no makeup and totally busted I asked DD to run me by Petco afterward since it was right on our way to pick up a big bag of liter ... It was then that she placed a warm little bundle in my arms that wrapped its paws around my fingers ... I immediately named her Pandora little fuzzy belly just stole my heart ... and I had 8 ferrets no mo ... cause ferret #9 came home ...

This is Pandora and I this morning...
 
and this is her with her sister Chiquitita ... she climbed their kitty tower all by herself at her tender few weeks age ... she looks so much like her brother Finibeau...

 

Meet Martita's ferret #9 her name is Pandora ... itty bitty tiny and soooo cute...
  

Oh and this is not all that much off topic ... it is as WLS friendly as it can get ... pets are awesome therapy ... I spend awesome quality time on the floor with them ... I run with them ... I play with them and I have awesome walks with them.... do not fret thinking I went CRAZY (even if I am nutz) when you see me on the beach walking my ferrets ... trust I walk them EVERY DAY and I have an awesome stroll while they play and exercise and stop and check every passerby as they in turn stop and pet them too...



This was me YESTERDAY  holding Pandora and her brother FiniBeau ... Beau is no longer the baby... 

 

Today I could not be bothered with all that hair ... plus after my 4:30 a.m. 5.5 miles run this morning I only had chance to hop in the shower pack and bring lunch and b-fast to work and of course my DH snapped my pictures for my digital empowerment journal a picture a day helps keep the pounds and the inches away....

 

This is my empowerment collage today ... staying away from morbid obesity one day at a time ... one choice at a time ... living my life to the fullest and loving it!!! 

 

Like Mira in the story did not lose her essence in the face of such adversity neither will I lose mine ... I am enjoying my journey post WLS as if it were the first day ... it has paid off in maintaining a total loss of 203 pounds ... of having 5 co-morbidities in remission and of having health and mobility and the ability to run/jump and swim just as good or better than I did on the track/swim team in high school ... WLS the best thing I did for ME!!!

Thank you for allowing me to share.

Off to the doc ...errr ... to the vet that is ... Petunia and FiniBeau (Beau for short)  two of my awesome eight ferrets are off to the vet ... it is time for their shots and checkup ... and away we go ... like this ... no age hang ups for me ... at 50+ I plan to rock ..and at 90+ I am going to keep on rocking with my designer's depends and customized heels .... 
 

At 5 1/2 years post op I am living life to the fullest just like I did before but much more now with health and mobility and a heart to do onto others YET should I fall short I am getting up... repenting and keeping it moving ... it is all good.... these are snippets of my week so far... this morning started with a 5 mile run to the beach and the next town line over and back home ... I love love love to run ... having been on the track team in school I am just thrilled to be able to hit the pavement in a run and I do every time the opportunity arises ... I wasted many years being mobility impaired my joints buckling under my weight ... but since WLS that has changed...

On Thursday I chilled after work and I did my nails myself ... I swear this is a coincidence LOL... they match my frock LOL

 

I went to work yesterday in a red Ralph L dress rocking my comfy red and brown heels ...
 

and I compared it to me in a red dress prior to WLS...


Last night my DH and I went out with friends from our 'Oldies Keeping the Flame Going Group' ... we went to an oldies club and then met up for a night of fun in Norwich at the Sun ... WOOT ... I got red sevens with a wild joker on the dollar slot ... taking my winnings at taking the teens from my church group shopping later ... WOOT! fun fun fun... I went totally hoochie like this...

 

I am off to have a glorious weekend ... I called my family back home and all is well within the circumstances so far ... I checked on the shops and all is good ... so I am going to relax and enjoy the rest of the day....  being MINDFUL and dedicated to my health, happiness, family, friends and ferrets ....WOOT ... living and loving ... it certainly feels good...

Remembering me ... the same woman in a smaller frame ... seasoned by good and bad experiences and still learning new things each day ... I am a work in progress....

My before keeping me grounded in today ... one day at a time ... one step at a time ... I do not want to go back to 5 co-morbidities and limited mobility .. it is not about looks I CHOSE to look AWESOME at 327 pounds and today maintaining at a total loss of 203 pounds less than that I CHOOSE to look and feel awesome too....

 

These awesome words were shared with me and I choose to live by them "don't carry your mistakes around with you. Instead, place them under your feet and use them as stepping stones....

Thanks for allowing me to share.... WISHING A LOVELY WEEKEND TO ALL!!!!

  

I am definitely not quitting ... I am alive and well and kicking .... 5 years 6 months post weight lost surgery I am rocking my journey and my life with the same excitement and anticipation as in the beginning....

After an awesome celebratory weekend of our wedding anniversary we were highly and exceedingly blessed ... no matter how much we requested no gifts it took most of the morning yesterday to open up cards and gifts from our party ... WOW ... such generosity ... we are so exceedingly blessed ... that we are going to pay it forward ... all of it...

I started my morning with an early morning run after rounding up my awesome ferrets who were being brats ... they hid my keys and won't give it back ... lol ... then they hid my lens case ... hmmm why did I leave it downstairs???? so I had to pop in a new set of lenses and all I had left were my sterling grays ..... I love love love my guys.... 

I left the house for work after rounding up a bunch of fur and making sure they had their twice daily dollop of vites....


and I left dressed like this...for work weighing 26 pounds under my surgeon's predicted goal and 4 pounds under my personal ideal goal ... WOOT and holding it for five years and a half....
 

This is my empowerment collage today ... BEFORE AND AFTER ... because I refuse to forget ... that fat woman is me ..I am as proud of her as I am of me today ... her deliverance is my release and my release is her deliverance .... that is the image that keeps me on track ...one.day.at.a.time ... because I refuse to go back ... free of 5 co-morbidities and limited mobility I am set for life and I intend to pursue!!! AND NOT TO QUIT!!!

 

These are snippets of my weight loss journey and my life.... I speak in first person and I share my personal experiences only ... I write to encourage myself and just maybe someone else who cares to read the words of my testimony ... 

I love the inspirational picture above ... DON'T QUIT! SUCCESS IS FAILURE TURNED INSIDE OUT INDEED!!!! 

Thanks for allowing me to share...

oh this is the video of me yesterday with my bandidos...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkX64r2KxPk 

 This morning I am totally inspired by this inspirational message shared a few days back by someone on FB ... I am certainly feeling/believing it today too...

 

I shared on Friday with you as I headed off to our anniversary dinner dance with friends ... my DH and I celebrating the anniversary of our life commitment...

Today, totally inspired by the words above ... I recall how many times in my life I had to change the teacher or the way I looked at the lesson or the test ...and how many times that took care of THAT...

I am totally grateful today ... I got up at 5:00 am and ran 5.5 miles with my running partners 

 
then I went off to shower and get dressed for another bigger celebration .... the blessing of our years together and those to come in the house of praise.... I chose a green gown on Friday and I am sticking to green today too ... wearing this dress with my white hat ...short gloves and a red rose ...
 
Now that I have shared with my weight loss community family I am off to help my dufus DH find his tie and off we go ... wish us blessings and wish us love .... 

Thanks for allowing me to share ... he married me fat and again we reaffirm our vows me remaining lean ... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time ... one choice at a time...
 

Thanks for allowing me to share ... another glorious day ... hugs and much love to all ...

and the best tool is LOVE ....  But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE.  

Wish me blessings or wish me love ... as I head out with my best friend, my partner, my lover, my bodyguard my bother my better half to once again celebrate with friends the anniversary of our lifetime commitment of love .... it is almost a quarter of a century ...

I married the good Samaritan who knocked on my door that faithful night my children screamed and wept as I was left a bloody mess on the floor ... slipping into darkness but holding on ... God sent me a stranger in the middle of my distress ... I could have died but he got there just in time to get me help...

I married the man who took the brunt of my anger and my frustrations and my bitterness and disappointments all sequelae of my mental distress... sequelae carried on for years as I washed my face and myself compulsively trying to wash off the goriness of rape ... domestic violence ... 

Through it all he was my friend and my brother and my bodyguard and when my heart settled to love once again I realized that love was always at my side ... my partner ... my unconditional....

Through the years and life's mischiefs he lost complete function of both his kidneys, the peripheral vision in one eye completely gone, the toes of his feet were amputated and if that was not enough he had a partial foot resection .... through eight years of dialysis I picked up the baton and carried on just like he did for me .... through waiting for a kidney and finally being blessed with a kidney flown all the way from Kentucky on the LifeStar helicopter I was there for him... through again being afflicted with his vascular disease and Charcot foot and multiple fractures needing complete care I am there for him...

So today I walk proud on the arms of my unconditional ... to have dinner with friends and to don another gown on Sunday to get blessings in the house of praise ... because through the sunshine and the rain ... through the good times and the bad times ... I HAVE THE BEST TOOL OF ALL ... I HAVE LOVE .. no matter what it looks like ....

For the amputations there was my hysterectomy .... for the kidney there was my lumpectomy ... for the foot resection there was my stomach resection and my RNY ... hand in hand we travailed together or at separate times he caring for me and I caring for him .... at the end of the day ... he is my family .... the father of my children who are not biologically his ...

At one point a friend suggested I divorce him and just live with him because he is a liability ... I just looked at her and said ...'in sickness and in health ... till death do us part'

It is our anniversary ... I am going to dance, dance, dance and have fun and on Sunday I will say I do all over again ... tonight as they usually do my friends are going to toast to "Dufus and Diva" yesssssss!

He married me fat and in 2008 at our first re-affirmation ceremony he married me thin...
 

we changed a lot .... I had the pounds and he had an AFRO that later became a FRO and now all that is left is an "O" LOL ... I tease him all the time ... that I can make him an awesome lace toupee at the shop LOL but he loves his 'O"....

SO I am heading out dressed like this and posting while I wait for Al and my friends to pick us up...

I am hating my gown .... I wore it a year ago and for some reason it is too big ... it is and XS but that means nothing I am holding up the bodice with my arms WTH ... no time to fix ... I will plaster some IT STAYS roll on adhesive on my boobs ... that should hold it...
 
 
and I am pinning my hair up it is hot ... I am leaving like this...
 

I love love living and loving and sharing ... and trust I have tons of faults .. I can be a royal PITA and I can be a real biatch too ... but Al ... he is always steady.... and constant ... sometimes it riles me up that I am so ticked and he does not react nor raise his voice even ... I even throw things and tantrums because of it .. and all he says 'babe, what's wrong? calm down' grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr LOL .... and I do calm down ... eventually....

TO keep on Weight Loss Topic though I must share that I had 5 a.m. breakfast with my beautiful OH sista from the BAF board MSW will Not Settle this morning  ... and we had FUN ....
 

I had a strip of bacon .. some bites of eggs... a spoonful or two of oatmeal and I was stuffed ... she had an awesome feta/tomato/egg omelet and after a few bites she was stuffed too ...

 
so we sat there and had breakfast dessert with the awesome peanut butter fudge protein brownies I made her off the recipe I shared ... SHE LOVED IT!!!....
 

 

I love taking pics .... I take a picture a day ... I want to see me keeping the pounds and the inches away ... I track it in a digital journal A PICTURE A DAY KEEPS THE POUNDS AND THE INCHES AWAY.... IT WORKS FOR ME!!!
 

I got to work at 6:30 am sharp right after breakfast with MSW...
 

I made a collage the day before too...
 

and this is me the day before ... Yikes I got stuck in the pink section of my closet.....

 

I post to keep myself encouraged and maybe to encourage just someone else who may want to read my goofy ramblings... because I am staying away from morbid obesity one.day.at.a.time, one choice at a time ... and I am loving it and having fun on the journey ... a friend once told me ... there is joy and there is misery in equal measures, I choose to embrace joy and let it happen to me - oh misery is there, but I am not letting it in... I have embraced those words since and I let joy happen to me ... even in the midst of chaos...

Thanks for allowing me to share ... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY 

  I find empowerment in quotes daily .... sometimes just taking a few minutes to read an encouraging quote would be just the word I needed to hear, the push or the press to start me off on another glorious day ,... this is one of  my favorites....  and part of the title of my entry....

"One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering."  Ida Scott Taylor. 

My all time favorite is this one... I try to live by this and sometimes fail however the greatest thing about it is that when I wake up to a brand new day I try all over again and purpose myself to live by this... 

"Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.--Christian D. Larse" 

With those awesome words in mind I started my day today as I did yesterday.....

I woke up this morning grateful once again for health and mobility and free of 5 co-morbidities prior to WLS (5 years and 6 months ago) ... and as I have a goofy tool that works for me I took a picture for my digital empowerment journal "A picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away" ... it works!!! I see it!! I feel it!!!

 

Yesterday my DD who had a b-day on Sunday (omg my child is over 30) joked about my tiny Michael Simon NY knit dress with sweetpeas and pods and beads all over it... I wore it over a year ago and still rocked it for the same fit or maybe a bit looser yesterday....  and I loved it ...

 

I love to use my hands to create things ... I love to sew ... I love to sketch... and I love to paint ... and I love hair in all lengths shapes and colors ..... I wish I could garden but I kill every vegetation alive so I enjoy watching my husband do it and am thoroughly entertained ...  

I love to lounge at home with my palette and my canvas and just paint ... this was me on Sunday painting a hummingbird that a friend shared on my wall on FB ... I am painting it for her... of course all the splattering of the background paints and stuff are done in my workroom ... and the fine tuning and stuff are done in my den ... 

 

I love to spend more time with my brushes these days ... 
 

I find inspiration and encouragement everywhere and in everyone story ... hence I log on to OH daily and read and get encouraged and stay grounded just being on a forum with others that share similar journeys to address the issue of obesity...this is my walk away from morbid obesity ... one day at a time... one choice at a time ... I post to be grounded and encouraged...

and to all I wish A BEST OF ALL DAYS .... BECAUSE WE HAVE TODAY!!! 

I will never forget how far I have come ... and I will use my before to keep me working towards an awesome today and a better tomorrow ... TODAY IS MY BEST DAY YET! I AM IN CONTROL!!!

 

Thanks for allowing me to share... ending with another inspiring quote:

"Never give up on what's important to you. It might be a new job, your health, your family, your finance. Keep believing you deserve the best because you sure do. Let no circumstance ever push you to give up or lose hope. Never give up."  Christian D. Larse 

....and I for one love it!!!! with a weighted hoop I could finally do what I no longer could ...

Ah hah! hmmmmmmm when I read my TITLE in this article I just wondered how true it was ... it certainly sounded like FUN ... but not willing to go out there and spend money on something I was not sure I could or would want to continue to do I decide to make my own .... BUT ... it was not until the other day that I read an article from the Mayo Clinic site regarding these here hoops ...

Because this is what caught my eye a year ago...

Hoop Yourself Slim With This Hula-Hoop Workout

What's not to love about this super-fun workout? It burns mega calories, sculpts your body, and blasts off belly fat.  http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20397949,00.html 

And just the other day I was sharing my crafts and read this awesome article from the Mayo Clinic that confirms just how AWESOME this FUN workout it .... and we CAN ALL DO IT ...the WEIGHTED HOOPS are EASIER to work with than the smaller un-weighted ones.....  click on the link and read for yourselves....
 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weighted-hula-hoops/AN01638 

Do weighted hula hoops provide a good workout, or are they just a gimmick?

Answer

from Edward R. Laskowski, M.D.

Weighted hula hoops can be a good addition to your exercise program, especially if you're able to hula hoop for at least 10 minutes at a time. In fact, any type of hula hooping, with a weighted hula hoop or a regular hula hoop, can help you meet your exercise goals.

Weighted hula hoops are bigger and heavier than traditional hula hoops. You can use a weighted hula hoop as part of an overall fitness program, to add variety to your workouts, or simply as a fun way to get more active. Keep in mind that for most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends getting at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity..... read more here.... http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weighted-hula-hoops/AN01638 

Yesterday morning we did not do our regular run ... so instead I had an awesome workout on my hula hoops I MADE MYSELF! .... 60 minutes on my water weighted hoop and 30 minutes on my homemade unweighted hoop.... and I have fun....

This is me ... making hoops and hula-ing my old arse into sculpted fitness ... shrinkles and all..to think FOR YEARS I COULD NO LONGER HULA .. and now I can rock that hoop...
 

I even hulaed on the green at the Festival of Arts and Ideas with strangers on a dare by my DS lol...
 


I am loving being fit ... and I LOVE THAT MY LABEL SAYS .... MADE IN THE U.S.A.!!!! more than I love the awesome size and that I am no longer a 4-5X ...
 

I put on my BCBG XS dress and took a picture for my digital album A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away....
 
Then I made it workplace friendly by pitching something over it...
  

I love making an empowerment collage ... by taking a picture of me before my WLS and placing it beside a current picture of me TODAY...


 

and this is another goofy thread ... because I choose to speak about my journey in 1st person as I can only account for me on this walk while giving my full support, understanding and substance where/whenever I can to others I meet along the way .... 

5 years and 6 months post RNY ... it feels as if it was just yesterday ... the excitement/joy and anticipation are still there equally new equally strong .... because Life with health and mobility ROCKS ... and how about looking good one may ask? well I did that at each and every size I ever was .... I loved loved loved to be groomed and dressed from a size 4-5X all the way down to an XS in some fashions today... whatever awesome plus sized I did not buy I custom made .. pretty much like I do today,,...

Thank you kindly for allowing me to share ... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY POST WLS...  

 JOURNALING and keeping track .... whether on paper ... in a document ... or in a picture....

Whether one journals in writing or on a computerized tracking system or on a spreadsheet or on a notepad or in a word/office document  or in simple daily notes or index cards it is an awesome everyday tool and so much more awesome IMO on this weight loss/maintenance journey .... 

I find journaling especially most useful during maintenance ... the stage where I am at 5 years and 6 months out....

I created a goofy tool for myself .... A DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNAL ... I certainly did ... and I have tracked my journey A Picture A Day since I was able to recover from surgery and post op complications that landed me in a longer recovery period than most ... at 3 months post op I was still barely able to move around much ... but time/healing/endurance all played into a final recovery and me just taking it and running with it from there .... at 5 years and 6 months out I have been maintaining 5-6 pounds under my ideal goal weight seamlessly ....

I have fun with this goofy tool ... because I just love love love taking pictures.... and 'A PICTURE A DAY KEEPS THE POUNDS AND THE INCHES AWAY'

I took a picture of my breakfast yesterday morning .... I had turkey/low fat mozzarella rolls and a red delicious apple .... it was deelish and I enjoyed it ... and I did not get through even eating half of it before getting totally stuffed.... I had the other half of it and my apple for lunch ... dinner was AWESOME stuffed peppers with seafood courtesy of DH ... it was delicious...
 

I took a picture of my lunch that I will have today before wrapping and putting it in my lunchbox.... it is an AWESOME Morning Glory Portobello Mushroom Veggie Cheese Burger on a Wheat Thin... I had a few bites of protein brownies and coffee for breakfast and it was YUM....

Water... Tea... non-carbonated SF drinks in between .... oh and my morning coffee 1/2 regular 1/2 decaf and I am good to go.... 


 

I then took a picture of me today for my journal .... realizing that I wore this outfit back in 2008 at my lowest weight post WLS I did a search in my journal for the picture I had taken back then and I found it!!! and I made a collage .... of my before RNY.. at lowest my lowest gaunt faced weight post WLS in 2008 and TODAY this day ... at my maintenance weight  5 pounds below ideal goal... 5 years and 6 months after .... I LOVE MY JOURNEY!!!! I love being able to get up and run 5-6 miles without even getting winded - hardly....

 

There is nothing wrong in sharing/or looking at BEFORE and TODAY ... it is an AWESOME empowerment tool ... PLEASE JUMP IN AND SHARE.... YOUR before and afters and awesome tips and tricks that have helped you along the way........ 

ME BEFORE....
 
AND ME TODAY...
 

Thanks for allowing me to share....


Obstacles can't stop you. Problems can't stop you. Most of all other people can't stop you. Only you can stop you.   Jeffrey Gitomer 

   I heard the bird chirping the minute I walked into the house through the basement back door last night coming in from the gym … I went over to my DH for a hug and kiss as he was sprawled watching the games on the widescreen TV and then I went over to check on my 8 awesome furry baby ferrets … all too happy to see me and full of genuine love … after pets and hugs and kisses I look around and wondered WHY were birds chirping in my house … the sounds a bit fainter now in the room with my guys pen ….

Tired at the end of the day I dragged myself up the stairs to the kitchen to notice that once again BIRDS ARE CHIRPING! ….. all the lights were left ON and that the TV in the kitchen is blaring (on the games) and there is NO ONE watching it …  somehow the dufuses (my adored DH and offspring) have the misconception that I have stock in United Illuminating the higher the bill the more careless they are...

Worried about these chirping birds and wondering how the managed to get into the house and how to free them I decided to start opening the windows (the central air is on) so they can fly back out to their freedom.  Kitchen windows open I proceed to the living room were AGAIN lights are on (come down holy ghost and sit on the panaMANIAC) and the living room TV is on (ON THE GAMES) but NO ONE is in there watching it … MAD BIRDS CHIRPING IN MY LIVING ROOM …. Anyhow I turn the lights off AND the TV off … …  and I went up to my room after opening the windows in the living room.

Remembering that I did not open the windows downstairs in the basement where our den is, I grab a huge towel from my linen closet and went back downstairs when all I wanted to do was to hop into the hot tub and then go to bed … I go downstairs with the big towel … I go past my DH who ASKS ME what I am doing and I TELL HIM it looks like a bird or two got into the house and I have to open the windows to let them out … he says okay and is glued back to the TV…. Chirping Chirping I but NO BIRDS TO BE SEEN …

I give up … I go back upstairs ..  hop into the tub and pass out for the night … No painting tonight … I am tired … I had backed up sleep from being up fretting about my sister and about the folk back home and painting my stress off on canvas with my brushes and my palette.  

I woke up at 3:45 am and put on my running gear before my friends from my running group tapped on my window at 4:00 am ….  We run for over an hour this morning going a bit further than we usually do … I come back home clean and feed my guys ..  go up to my room to shower/dress and get ready for work  … THANK GOODNESS FOR SEPARATE BEDROOMS …. I putz around in there and then DH calls me down for breakfast he prepared and he is fixing my lunch bag too …. I come down to the kitchen and LO AND BEHOLD THE BIRDS ARE CHIRPING … CHIRPING CHIRPING … I ASK ALL … .what the HECK DO I HAVE TINNITUS OR DON’T YOU HEAR THE BIRDS … that is when the DUFUS tells me that I am hearing the SNEAKERS of the basketball players on the games that he has  been WATCHING …. gotta love him!

SHOOT ME SOMEBODY!!!!

This is my empowerment collage today.... My before and TODAY ... because I refuse to forget what living with 5 co-morbidities and impaired mobility felt like .... I take a picture a day ... for my digital journal "a picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away"....


 

Maintaining a total loss of 203 pounds and loving it!!