It was great seeing so many people at the Raleigh Area Get Together this morning!

I just want to take a minute to thank all those who came to the Raleigh Area Get Together this morning. It was great to see so much less of so many 'old' faces and to meet a few 'new' faces. We had about 40 people join us today, including some wonderful support people that came to provide support to their loved ones.

We had our meeting at our new location and it seemed to go over well. I asked for a show of hands to see if this location was working for everyone and we had a resoundingly positive response, so we will continue to use the new location. We had a private room that seat about 50 to 60 people at tables of 4 to 6 people. That was kind of nice because the tables were small enough that you were really able to talk with the people that were sitting with you. The fact that we had a private area made it nice because we were able to get up and amble around visiting one-another ... we even kind of ended up with a 'guys table.'

While I know that some are a bit leary of Golden Corral, they provided a reduced price for those of us who have had WLS and had a variety of selections that seemed to support whatever special food requirements we had. There was plenty of fresh fruit, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, quiche, morning meats such as bacon, corned beef hash, sausages, etc. They were also very gracious to a couple of our members who were just post op and couldn't enjoy their buffet and didn't require a purchase. The fact that it was a buffet seemed to work well because it didn't really matter what time people got there, they were able to be served in their own time and to fit their own needs... Of course, they are centrally located, have easy parking and handicap access. It look like it will work for us. Thanks Golden Corral ... After folks came in and made their way to the buffet and had breakfast, I introduced myself and the topic for the month: Staying on course while on vacation or traveling. Then, we went round-robin and everyone introduced themselves and shared whatever they were comfortable with about their journey. This is where it really gets fun because we're able to share in our respective wow moments. I think we had the best wow moment yet from Deb_M ... It's soooo good that I'll wait and let her share it with everyone!

I'll be in CA next month when we have the next meeting, so my better half and DH Ben has graciously agreed to host the meeting. It will be at the same location and time, on the third Saturday in August. I'll post it on http://wls.meetup.com/101 and here on OH before the meeting.

I'd like to take a moment to thank AndreaU. She is was so very nice to bring and share some samples of some protien products and it was truly appreciated by those who participated. I'd like to extend a very special thank you to Andrea!!

Thanks again to all who joined us today. Your support and sharing your Wow moments made my day!

Barb

I had a great time and keep learning new things and great ideas  for foods after surgery.  Everybody is so very nice and thank you Andrea as well for sharing your protein drinks.  Thank you so much Annie for sharing your story, you have done great and you are a great inspiration for me.  Barbara you do such a great job and making people feel so very welcome.  I look forward to our next get together.

:)
Christin

Christin,

You are sweetheart and I appreciate your gracious support.

Barb

Awwwwlllll! I wanted to be there but had to work(unplaned) Hope to be at the next one.
Myrtis

I hope you are able to make it too.  It is a really great support group.  This was my second meet up I have attended and I am pre-op waiting on insurance approval.  It is a great bunch of guys and gals.  :)

Myrtis,

I'm sorry that you were unable to make this one, but we have them every month on the 3rd Sat and I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.

Hugs,

Barb

It was great to see everyone again this month.. our group keeps growing by leaps and bounds!

If I helped one person with the protein tasting, then it was completely worth it.  I know what it's like to struggle to find a drink that is tolerable post-op, and if I can help keep that from happening, I'll do what I can.  If people desire it, I'll even do it each month.  What would be really cool is if others brought things to share info about each month.. kinda a way to pay it forward.  Just a thought.

Hi Andrea,

I really do want you to know that I appreciate what you are doing. I also brought some samples, but didn't get 'em over to the table ... sorry. I think that if we do that, it needs to be more balanced so that not only you and/or I are footing the bill. Let's see what we can do to spread the cost of the sampling around a bit. I'll check and see if we might be able to get vendors to donate samples. I'll let you know what I find out.

Thanks again,

Barb

I wish I could have made it to this one, hopefully I'll be in town during the next one.

I hope so too! We do it every month, so if you can't make it one month, maybe you can another.

I look forward to meeting you.

Barb