The Second Half of 2005

Jun 30, 2009

July 22nd~~~~~

Some good news for a change! I am, officially, DIABETES-FREE!

Went for a check-in with my PCP to see about the iron deficiency (waiting for those results), but asked him to run an A1C while I was there. It came back BELOW normal, at 4.0! And my finger stick came in at 84.

He announced that my diabetes is gone, and told me to stop taking my last medication.

With a little bit of ceremony, my husband and I flushed the rest of my metformin pills down the loo. They didn't go willingly, however, but opted to lie in a clump at the bottom. A little bit of shoving with the toilet brush sent them on their way.

See ya, little guys!

August 11th~~~~~

A minor, yet major to me, victory last night.

FINALLY squatted my body weight. Actually, MORE than my weight, since the machine was at 180 and I'm at 176. It was kind of a silly goal, but one I really wanted.

And while I only (there's that word that I detest) did 2 reps, I was pretty damned pleased with myself.

"If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this:
Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes,
hold you head high, look it squarely in eye and say,
'I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.'"

~~Ann Landers

August 12th~~~~~

"FUN WITH THE D.M.V."

Old license photo versus today's new pic. I'm not sure why the new one makes me look like I have a point on the top of my head. Just call me "Oblio". There's got to be a couple of you out there old enough to remember THAT allusion!

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day.

We should do this every day of our lives.
Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day.
Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought.
And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy.
But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day.

That's a heck of a day.
You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

~~Jim Valvano

August 22nd~~~~~

I received this as part of a weekly women's health e-mag, and thought I'd share it:

Be Willing.

For anything worth having, anything of value, there is a price to pay. If there were no price, there would be no value. The price is not arbitrarily imposed on the thing of value. The price is in fact a big part of what gives it the value.

If diamonds were scattered around on the ground everywhere, they would be worth no more than pieces of gravel. The rarity of diamonds, and the resulting price that must be paid to obtain them, are what make them so valuable.

Trying to obtain something of value without paying the price will only lead to frustration and disappointment. Much of the misery in the world today is the result of such misguided quests.

For anything of value, be willing to pay the price. Be grateful and enthusiastic about paying the price. Because without the price to pay, there is nothing of value.

September 4th~~~~~

"EXERCISE FUN!"

I've been keeping a workout log since January: what exercises I did, how many pounds, how many reps. In a fit of boredom, I started adding up the weights. For example, if I do bicep curls at 40 pounds, do 15 reps and 2 sets, I've lifted 1200 pounds (40 x 15 x 2). That number alone was staggering to me.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that math is not my strong suit, and I've checked the numbers, pardon the pun, a number of times. But even if I'm only CLOSE, I've lifted, curled, crunched, pressed, pushed, pulled and squatted . . .  drum roll, please . . . . 845,291 pounds. That's 422.65 TONS. Ye gods. Whoda thunk it??

"Life is what you make it.
Always has been, always will be."
~~ Grandma Moses

October 7th~~~~~

Here's a good general time waster, but something that proved, for me anyway, to be a lot of fun. Go to Google, and type in "[******] needs", but replace the asterisks with your name, as in "[Bette] needs".

Here's what I, according to the Internet gods, need:

-Bette needs her big sister

-Bette needs a little more "diversity" in her life.

-Bette needs the weekend to think it over.

-I think Bette needs to get on with her life. ...

-There were so many important people Bette needs to meet.

-Bette Needs Snowshoes

-Bette needs to think seriously about her role in her relationships

-For that Bette needs to be thanked

-Bette needs an Exorcist

-Bette needs to go back to the bath houses with the rest of the men.

-Bette needs a certain latitude to work, but we realize there are certain things you can't do on TV."

-Bette needs a carpenter to build an installation

-Bette needs someone to Help her honestly look at what she's doing and EDIT it!

-Bette needs time to make another costume change

-Bette needs new hired help

-Bette Needs Rescue

-Bette needs a good slap.

-Bette needs no explanation

-Bette needs to come to her senses, and fast!

-Bette needs to do a Hello Dolly revival

-Bette needs to get over herself post haste

-Bette needs a haircut.

-Bette needs to chill out and little and not work so much.

-Bette needs to understand that all of this is because of her doing.

-Bette needs to get hit by a car.

-Bette needs a smack on the hand.

-Come on guys, Bette needs more well wishes.

-"I think Bette needs me more than The Senate."

-Bette needs to win at something, damnit!!

-Does anyone else feel like Bette needs a big hug?

-I think Bette needs some spirit lifting.

Who says there's nothing but lies out there on the Internet? They're pretty much dead on.

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

October 11th~~~~~~

We were talking about this at support group tonight, and I thought I'd share it for those who hadn't seen it. Enjoy!

How Much Weight Have You Lost?

Your weight loss =                             

1 pound = a Guinea Pig

1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts

2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs

3 pounds = an average human brain

4 pounds = an ostrich egg

5 pounds = a Chihuahua

6 pounds = a human skin

7.5 pounds = an average newborn

8 pounds = a human head

10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year

11 pounds = an average housecat

12 pounds = a Bald Eagle

15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs

16 pounds = a sperm whale's brain

20 pounds = an automobile tire

23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year

24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream

25 pounds = an average 2 year old

30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats  in a year

33 pounds = a cinder block

36 pounds = a mid-size microwave

40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or  an average human leg

44 pounds = an elephant's heart

50 pounds = a small bale of hay

55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner

60 pounds = an elephant's penis

66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year

70 pounds = an Irish Setter

77 pounds = a gold brick

80 pounds = the World�s Largest Ball of Tape                      

90 pounds = a newborn calf

100 pounds = a 2 month old horse

111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year

117 pounds = an average fashion model

118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica

120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month

130 pounds = a newborn giraffe

138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year

140 pounds = refined sugar an average American  eats in a year

144 pounds = an average adult woman

150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary

187 pounds = an average adult man

200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds

235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger

300 pounds = an average football lineman

400 pounds = a Welsh pony

October 26th~~~~~~

Last night I had another new - and amusing - experience. I went to the pre-op seminar in Westport - yeah, the same one I attempted to go to on Monday! Crappy, rainy night, but I went. Good thing, too, since I was the only postop la bandster there, and Ilike for us to be represented. Nice, small group.

When my "Before and After" pics came up on the screen during the Powerpoint presentation, one woman told me that she didn't believe the "before" was me. She was very serious about it, too. She told me three times, until Tim asked me to get out my photo book, which I had the presence of mind to bring, so she should see the progression of photos. She still seemed pretty wary, even when I showed her my floppy arms and some abdominal skin sag. I threatened to pants myself and show her the proof of my saggy ass. I wasn't sure what kind of proof I could offer, but I did offer to let her call my husband on my cell phone. She didn't take me up on it, but me making the offer seemed to work.

My first thought was, "Why on earth would anyone CLAIM to be that unhappy, unhealthy, severely obese person if they weren't?" Then I realized that hey - when I look at some of the most recent photos, sometimes *I* don't recognize the "new me" as me.

I told the group that there I times when I FORGET that I'm not in the body of the person I was in almost 2 years ago. That I was standing in line waiting for a stall in the ladies' room last week, looked in the mirror and thought, "WHOA! That's ME!" That I honestly forget sometimes, when I'm not looking in the mirror, that the fat lady, on the outside, anyway, is gone. There's this still-strange-to-me skinny lady, with new-found cheekbones, collarbones and shoulder blades, and thin, almost dainty wrists, living here now.

It's not easy, though. The fat girl still lives here, and she fights with the skinny girl every day. She wants to eat when she's bored, tired, angry, lonely, sad, happy . . . hell, even horny sometimes. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this isn't easy. It's a constant battle between the two of them. Most days, skinny girl wins, but not always. Those moments of defeat are the moments when I find myself looking into my reflection in the water in the loo once again. The flesh may be weak, but the spirit is always unbroken, and I'll get back up and fight again.

Jeez. This is getting far too deep and philosophical for me. It's time for a long bubble bath and then, bedtime.

December 19th~~~~~~

Paul's company's Christmas party was Friday night and, I must say, I looked f-ing great. I was in a tight and clingy black velvet dress, a knockout pair of strappy black suede heels, and some nice, big, dangly earrings.

Highlight of the night, besides "winning" $13,800 at blackjack? I got HIT ON at the blackjack table, and I DON'T mean by the dealer in that "Hit me" way. I got hit on by a guy sitting next to me. THAT was damned funny, especially since Paul was on my other side.

Am I sure that I was getting hit on? I'm fairly certain that after guy tells a woman he doesn't know that she looks "hot", twice tells her that she's a "sexy white girl" (lyrics to the song that was playing at the time) and then gives her that "I don't see a ring on your finger" line (although he clearly wasn't looking very hard, since I had on a wedding band and faux diamond ring), he's not asking me to pass the chips. Know what I'm saying?

Hee hee hee.

0 Comments