Hello Vickie....oh my what a couple days you have had!!

I feel bad for all of you but especially the boys for not being able to enjoy the Fiesta Farm. That would have been so fun! The Do-seum sounds like a fun place too. I think everyone was just to exhausted from riding and still feeling the let down of the Fiesta Farm.

Poor little Caralee. I had the same problem Carrie has when I tried breast feeding. My doctor had me go on formula as Jamie just wasn't getting what she needed. I felt bad but I did what was best for her not me. My milk was  just too weak. It wasn't because I wasn't eating right.The doctor said this is more common then we know. Things changed drastically when she had formula!! 

Congrats on getting that shower head on!! I couldn't do it anymore because of my pain. I always had one guy around that could do those things for me. You are doing great!!

Your landscaping will be wonderful!! I am so happy you are able to do it the way you want!!

Let me know how those shots work for you. Are they covered by insurance? I see my doctor again on the 31st. I am trying to lose but it is so slow going. Very frustrating for me and her too! I hope you have wonderful results!!

I love you...HUGS...connie d

Hello sweetest sistas!

I am behind with my posts!  I wanted to post yesterday, but it just never happened.  Yesterday, my friends, was one of those hella days that you don't see coming!  Whoa.  I think I wrote that we had planned to take the boys to a place called Fiesta Farm for pony rides and a hay ride, a petting zoo, and a picnic.  Fun day, right?  Web site says that they are open from 9 to 5.  We get there at 1:15 (boys all decked out in their jeans and cowboy boots!) and the damn place CLOSED at 1 because it was spring break!  WTH?  And we drove for 45 minutes to get there, too!

So, as you can imagine, the boys were so disappointed!  We finally decided to take the boys to downtown San Antonio to the Do-seum.  Rhymes with Museum, only the kids have things to DO there.  Another 30 minute drive to get there, and by then all three kids, including Caralee, were cranky and mad and crying, etc.  Fun.  The Do-seum was pretty pricey ($12 each!), but I will say they had a LOT of really neat stuff for the kids.  I think we would have had a better time if we had just planned to go straight there and not done all that driving.  We were too tired to really enjoy it fully.

(And we ate our picnic in the parking lot!  That was NOT what I had in mind when I packed it! LOL!)

Anyway, fast forward to last night and poor little Caralee screamed and cried and fussed non-stop.  I finally told Carrie, "This baby is hungry."  So I made a midnight run to the grocery store and bought formula.  Came home, fixed a bottle, and she drank it and fell right to sleep!  I guess we maybe went to bed around 1 a.m.  We were all exhausted from our long day and then to deal with the baby was just too much!  

And, I'm no expert on breast feeding, but it does appear to me that Carrie's milk supply is not adequate.  Caralee is a month old now and she still doesn't weigh 8 lbs yet.  She seems to get plenty of breast milk in the mornings, but by evenings she's hungry and fussing and Carrie keeps trying to nurse her continually, and her breasts never have time to build up enough supply.  

Well, anyway, I had a lot going on today.  It was my annual WLS visit today.  My blood pressure was good, my pulse rate was good, and my weight was a whopping 210!  OMG.  I'm both healthy and fat.  And I cried buckets, too.  James, the P.A., came in and he remembered Butch from two years ago when we were getting ready to go to Belize.  I had to tell him everything that happened and I cried and cried.  Very emotional and very upsetting.  Well, I told him I had pretty much stopped taking any of my vitamins or supplements for the better part of a year, and he said I must have had a really good reserve built up because all my numbers were fine except for Vit D.  So I got a new Vit D supplement to take.

Also, I told him I was really unhappy with my weight regain and I want to get it off.  So I'm going in for a weekly injection called "LipoLean" which is supposed to burn fat, boost energy and detox the body.  Also, he gave me an appetite suppressant called Bontril to try for a couple of months.  It's a type of amphetamine, but I won't be on it for long.  I told him it's like I'm starving and eating constantly every few minutes all day long.  He said it's because my cortisol levels are high (from stress), and the Bontril will help break that cycle.  I normally wouldn't take a diet pill, but for a short term solution, I'm okay with it.

He also put me on a modified diet.  I'm going to have two protein shakes a day, with two (or more) snacks of raw fruits/veggies, and then a real meal for supper.  I go back in one month and we see how I'm doing.  (I'll go back each week for the shot, but I won't see anyone during that visit except the nurse.)

I feel very much like I'm starting all over again.  But James told me, given the horrendous couple of years I've had, I really hadn't regained all that much weight and not to beat myself up over it.

Let's see.  Oh! I did want to report that I changed that shower head in my bathroom all by myself and I didn't have a bit of trouble doing it!  I just unscrewed the old one, wrapped "plumber's tape" around the threads on the pipe, and screwed the new one on.  It works great and no leaks!  Maybe I'll try tackling a few more projects around here.  I never had to do any of these types of repairs.  I always had my dad and/or my husband to do repair things.  Butch, bless his hear, could fix ANYTHING.  I did watch him do a lot of repairs over the years.  Maybe some of it sunk in.

I'm so excited about my landscape project next week!  I've bought 2+ dozen red knock-out roses this week.  They are gorgeous.  I sent a list of the trees I want to the landscaper this morning and they wrote back, "what size trees?"  Well, hell.  I don't know!  What sizes do they come in?  I'll have to call in the morning.

Carrie has a girlfriend coming this weekend.  I'm happy to have Megan here, although I don't know where we'll put her!  But tomorrow I have to clean house and figure out sleeping arrangements.  I do have a blow-up bed.  I guess I'll put her on that in the living room.  Carrie wants to go out to dinner with Meg on Saturday night, and I'm okay with that, as long as I have a bottle of formula!!!  I think it will be good for my daughter to have someone else to talk with beside me and my mom.  I hope they can go out for a couple of hours.  

I would like to have a little time to myself, too, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.  I think my trip to the doctor was my "ME" time for the month.  LOL!  Not.  I sure would like to sleep one night all by myself in my own bed.  Don't see that happening anytime soon either.  Oh, well.  I'll survive.

Dinner tonight was rice, mixed greens, baked sweet potato and pinto beans.  I have an apple for later on tonight.  I'm not one bit hungry, but I'm craving sugary junk food.  Sigh.  The battle never ends.  I hope the new drugs help!  I'm tired of losing the war.

Well, this has turned into a novel.  I'd better close.  I love you all so much!

Connie and Judy...I hear you ladies talk about cold weather and I get confused.  It's summer here.  We just blew through spring.  Makes it difficult to reconcile that its still winter elsewhere.  Connie stay warm and rest up. Judy I am glad you are feeling better.  The eating issue must bring back memories of post op WLS.  Hope it gets better soon. 

Cindy P.  Hope the doctor was able to help you. I hate to be sick.  Luckily I am pretty healthy except for aging stuff like arthritis.  I wouldn't hurt as much if I didn't push my body but the other option is to vegetate and to me that is just not living.  I go as much as I can then crash until the aches and pains are under control then go again.

Speaking of aches and pains it is time to slow down a little for a day or so.  I have mentioned before that I HATE shopping.  Had to do that yesterday and today.  Yesterday at the Y I made a bad judgement call.  I had worked my biceps really hard so chose to do cardio on the bike instead of the arm bike.  The sprint section of the cardio was ok as I was doing it.  Not so much a few hours later.  My knees have been killing me ever since.  I am leaving on a cruise Tuesday and tried on my formal wear and lo and behold everything I have is too big.  I haven't been on a cruise in nearly 2 years and I have lost 20 pounds in the last few months.  Ergo shopping trip.  I replaced my "little black dress"  pretty easily and I was able to shop in my closet for one other outfit.  That left two.  Went to Dillards yesterday afternoon here in Kingwood and found one dress but it didn't fit.  They found it in the right size at a store 45 minutes from me.  Had gone downtown Houston yesterday morning for shoes.  Only one store in the Houston area that carries shoes in AAAA widths.  This morning off to Willowbrook for the dress I had them hold.  Should have gone alone.  Got there and tried on the dress to be sure it fit, paid for it and was ready to go.  Then hubby says " I found a beautiful dress over here".  Well after trying on another 7 or 8 dresses I finally got out of there.  I bought the dress I went for and a black chiffon skirt and a white lace blouse with a few shinny threads though out it.  I like that it is separates.  I'll get more wear out of it that way.  Then it was on to REI, Costco, Macaroni Grill, and Burlington Coat factory.  I am one tired puppy.  Add to that the barometer is changing and my knees are screaming.  I will be adding Epsom salts to my bath tonight.

Hopefully I will finish my laundry tonight and tomorrow I can lay out everything I am packing.  I'll be wearing my old capris from now on so I don't have to wash again before I go.

That's it for me.

See ya tomorrow

Hello Arlene....I would love it in Florida!! I love the 80 degree weather. I don't care too much about the high humidity, but I would get through it. I am so tired of being cold to the bone!!! Our winters are just too long for me anymore.

I am sorry you are still in so much pain from your dental procedure. That is too bad that bone loss like that runs in your family. I can't imagine how it would feel to wear dentures. I hope you are managing well. At least you are chewing!! I am still praying for you too!

Love and many hugs to you....connie d

Hello Cindy....I am sorry you are still so sick. Good thing you went to the doctor. I pray the new meds work well for you and you are feeling much better soon.

Lucky you...no sunshine here for quite a few days. Maybe tomorrow will be a sunny day!! 

I love you....HUGS....connie d