There hasn't been any change on the dizzy front - rooms are still spinning around me and I can't put my finger on a trigger. I called the doctor's office this morning to see what they suggested, and since my labs came back this morning - they moved my appointment up to tomorrow morning at 9.
This is crazy stuff, ya'll... I mean seriously... I've done everything I can to make it stop! I've checked my blood sugars and they seem normal to me... although it's tough to judge because as a weight loss surgery patient - I eat to often to really get a good read on them, but they're hanging in between 160 (1 hour after I eat) and 130 (2 hours after I eat) - Apparently normal people (non-diabetics) should have a blood sugar level of less than 140 two hours after a meal.... so I don't think this is it.
I've checked my blood pressure, but of course it's a little high... could it be because I've got stress in my life? Yep! I've got a lot of overwhelming deadlines at work, and then I come home... and my husband is upset about an ordeal going on with one of our electronics, and our builders decided to dig up a portion of our front yard today and lay some crappy looking grass back on top. So, needless to say - things are a little tense at home tonight.
I just don't feel in my gut that either of those is the problem though... call me crazy, but I think it's something else. I've been psyching myself out the last couple of days trying to figure this thing out... is it possible to be pregnant without any signs? I mean is it possible if your body is completely functioning as if you're not? Who knows... I guess that it'll come up tomorrow as a possibility - always the first question my doctor asks. Again, I don't think that's it deep down, but I don't know that I would be heart-broken if that was it.
I don't know - I just feel like it's something more complicated - a vitamin issue or a dehydration issue. Although, is it possible to be dehydrated when you aren't seeing any other common signs of that? I guess all of this goes to tell you that my blood pressure is probably higher because I'm worrying about what's going on inside my crazy backwards body.
I haven't worked out today, but I just don't think I can without talking to Dr. W first... I was just in the kitchen cooking dinner and I swear - it just started swaying.
When John first got home (before the drama) - He asked me, "What do you mean by dizzy?" and all I could think to say was, "Lightheaded... rooms spinning..." I sort of feel like if I'm going to feel completely drunk... I ought to actually BE drinking! But of course it's been like 8 years or better since I've had any alcohol... so that's NOT it.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Today's Update
Does anyone else have problems with their stomach being extremely LOUD? I've been embarrassed so many times by the loud grumblings, and I've even been kicked out of some of my co-worker's cubicles because of my "alien". I don't know what exactly causes this phenomenon, but I had heard that it happens to people after having weight loss surgery. John thinks it's fun to listen to my tummy after we have dinner - not all the time, but when it really gets going - he'll listen and laugh... the worst is when I'm trying to go to bed - and it's super quiet in the house... all except for the "alien".
Today has been a pretty productive day - I did get my morning work out in today - a full 30 minutes, but I took the speed down a notch or two... I did about 7.5 miles this morning, (which is only about 1/2 mile less than I normally would do) as I'm still trying to work through this craziness that is going on with my body.
Naturally - if a weird medical mystery is going to happen... I'm the ginuea pig - and my system is putting me through the wringer right now. As I sit here - I literally feel like the room is spinning a little bit - and all I want to do is go take a nap. I have a feeling that I'd better get my Bible study done early tonight because there is a strong chance that I might crash on the couch before bedtime.
I'm reading through James 2 right now, and I think it really has some good points. The parts that I'm reading right now are talking about not favoring the rich over the poor... and I think that is so important - because we all tend to do that in some form or fashion these days. I don't really mean to do it, but I've caught myself struggling with it - not so much with monetary wealth... but with distancing myself from non-believers in my life. I know that part of my job is to minister to them, and I do in my best possible way - but if they're not open to it - I find myself not spending as much time with them.
I know it's a bad thing, but I just find that I want to be surrounded by people of faith right now because I have so much to learn from them. Their reminders to me about keeping my faith in daily struggles really helps me to realize that I'm not alone in anything that I set out to do... and that even more than their support - I've got God's support. I think new believers don't quite have a grasp on that in the beginning and I'm definently growing in that area.
I still consider myself a "new" believer because I don't think that much has been done on my part, and others - since my moment of accepting Christ into my heart... so I'm just embarking on my learning process and deepening my prayer life/relationship with God. It's a transformation that I won't be able to always see, taste, touch, or feel - but it's a big one, and I know that somewhere along the way - I'm going to look back and realize how much my life has changed for the better because of Him. Also because of all the people that have helped nurture my faith... again - God works in mysterious ways, and without him - we would have never found the most amazing church to become a part of.
To show that I am also working on my Bible memory - here is my first memory verse:
Psalm 107:1 (NIV) - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
I'll also leave you with a picture that I thought was hysterical... I know lots of people that squirt their kitties with water when they do something bad... so it's just extra funny to me.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Dizzy Not Ditzy
I managed to get in 1/2 a workout today - I'm still struggling a little bit with something that I can't describe. I'm in a constant state of dizziness right now - so I didn't want to push it to hard on the workout for this first day because I wasn't sure that my body could take it.
So since I've been home (somehow I got here without passing out) - for reference I got home at 6. I've managed to do a load of dry cleaning, do 15 minutes (4 miles) on the bike, eat takeout Mexican food (John's about to start back on his diet - so it was his last meal), change the sheets on the bed, do my Bible studying, take a bath, and now I'm sitting here relaxing. It's 8:15, and I'm worn out...
I'm really glad that I go see Dr. W next week because if anyone can help me figure out what this dizziness is all about - he can. Is it vitamin related? I don't know. Is it dehydration? I don't know. Is it related to an illness? I don't know. Is it somehow related to my allergies that have been rampant lately? Again, I don't know. For the record - NO, I'm not pregnant. (I know that tends to come up on these types of posts... so I just wanted to put it out there first. Believe me - when that happens - I'll shout it from the roof tops!
So tomorrow is another day and another try at keeping all my projects juggling in the air. I'm going to give a couple of ideas a try in the coming days... I think that the pace that I'm having to keep in the evenings is just a little to much, and that wasn't even with cooking or having to really clean up my kitchen... so my goal is to either start working out in the mornings or do my Bible study in the mornings... we'll see what my body decides it's up for. My preference would be working out in the mornings because that gets it out of the way early... and gets me up and going before work. I also don't know if my mind will be alert enough in the mornings to really read and comprehend my Bible studies. So, again - it's a work in progress.
In the event anyone wants to check it out - we had a REALLY good message this week for anyone that is married, or planning on being married someday... I'd write about it, but my Dad reads this, and the topic was a little embarrassing. So I'll just link to it here... for those that want to check it out. (it's the one titled Intimacy 4 Intimacy)
So since I've been home (somehow I got here without passing out) - for reference I got home at 6. I've managed to do a load of dry cleaning, do 15 minutes (4 miles) on the bike, eat takeout Mexican food (John's about to start back on his diet - so it was his last meal), change the sheets on the bed, do my Bible studying, take a bath, and now I'm sitting here relaxing. It's 8:15, and I'm worn out...
I'm really glad that I go see Dr. W next week because if anyone can help me figure out what this dizziness is all about - he can. Is it vitamin related? I don't know. Is it dehydration? I don't know. Is it related to an illness? I don't know. Is it somehow related to my allergies that have been rampant lately? Again, I don't know. For the record - NO, I'm not pregnant. (I know that tends to come up on these types of posts... so I just wanted to put it out there first. Believe me - when that happens - I'll shout it from the roof tops!
So tomorrow is another day and another try at keeping all my projects juggling in the air. I'm going to give a couple of ideas a try in the coming days... I think that the pace that I'm having to keep in the evenings is just a little to much, and that wasn't even with cooking or having to really clean up my kitchen... so my goal is to either start working out in the mornings or do my Bible study in the mornings... we'll see what my body decides it's up for. My preference would be working out in the mornings because that gets it out of the way early... and gets me up and going before work. I also don't know if my mind will be alert enough in the mornings to really read and comprehend my Bible studies. So, again - it's a work in progress.
In the event anyone wants to check it out - we had a REALLY good message this week for anyone that is married, or planning on being married someday... I'd write about it, but my Dad reads this, and the topic was a little embarrassing. So I'll just link to it here... for those that want to check it out. (it's the one titled Intimacy 4 Intimacy)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
5 Month Update
I thought that it was time to give an update on how things have been going. I've admitted to the lack of exercise already, but this week - I've lost another 5 pounds - which is great, and maybe I can keep the trend moving in that direction as I am nearing my 6 month appointments.
If I keep moving in this direction - I'll near the 75 pound mark by my appointment with my PCP. I think that I could hit it by my appointment with the surgeon the following week. It's not quite what I expected, but 75 pounds in 6 months is respectable weight loss... I guess I don't know what I expected because obviously it was irrational, but in some ways it might not have mattered if I'd lost 200 pounds - I might still not think it was right... who knows. I'm a girl and I reserve the right to be irrational from time to time.
We took my measurements again for my 5th month and here is where we are:
Weight: 66 pounds lost - I'm closing in on being under 250!!
Chest: 8 inches lost
Waist: 11 inches lost
Hips: 7 inches lost
Neck: 2.25 inches lost (really? wow!)
Left Thigh: 3.75 inches lost
Right Thigh: 3.5 inches lost
Left Calf: 2.5 inches lost
Right Calf: 2.5 inches lost
Left Bicep: 2.5 inches lost
Right Bicep: 2.75 inches lost
Left Forearm: 2 inches lost
Right Forearm: 1.25 inches lost
That's a total of 49 inches... in 5 months - I don't know of any other time in my life when I've lost this much in total. Which is very cool - don't get me wrong... I'm just not that good at looking at where I've come from versus where I am now. I struggle with being in the moment. I always have... and it won't be until some random moment in the future - after all my goals have been reached that I'll wake up one day and really understand and appreciate where I've come from. (It might even be the day I have my first child... but someday it will come, and the post will be long and it will be emotional.)
I wish I was one of those people that could see the big picture all the way through a situation, but that's just not me... and I'm always a work in progress - on several levels... tomorrow at some point - I will work out. If I can get myself up there in the morning - I will do it tomorrow evening... no matter what! I'm working under the assumption that this 5 pounds is going to breathe some life into my workout plan... it's time to get serious - so that things can hopefully move in a more positive direction every week.
The only thing that I still find puzzling is that I haven't had and drastic changes in my clothing. I haven't had to replace everything yet - meaning that I can still wear things from back when I started this journey. They are pretty baggy, but other than the waist - they still fit. I would think that I'd be moving down in the sizes at a faster pace these days, but it just doesn't seem to be happening... is it possible to skip sizes and need to jump to something completely different? Can I go from a 24 to a 20 or smaller without needing to buy anything in between? I guess only time will tell.
I'll leave you guys with a comparrison picture of me... the left is me the night before surgery, and the one on the right was taken yesterday.
If I keep moving in this direction - I'll near the 75 pound mark by my appointment with my PCP. I think that I could hit it by my appointment with the surgeon the following week. It's not quite what I expected, but 75 pounds in 6 months is respectable weight loss... I guess I don't know what I expected because obviously it was irrational, but in some ways it might not have mattered if I'd lost 200 pounds - I might still not think it was right... who knows. I'm a girl and I reserve the right to be irrational from time to time.
We took my measurements again for my 5th month and here is where we are:
Weight: 66 pounds lost - I'm closing in on being under 250!!
Chest: 8 inches lost
Waist: 11 inches lost
Hips: 7 inches lost
Neck: 2.25 inches lost (really? wow!)
Left Thigh: 3.75 inches lost
Right Thigh: 3.5 inches lost
Left Calf: 2.5 inches lost
Right Calf: 2.5 inches lost
Left Bicep: 2.5 inches lost
Right Bicep: 2.75 inches lost
Left Forearm: 2 inches lost
Right Forearm: 1.25 inches lost
That's a total of 49 inches... in 5 months - I don't know of any other time in my life when I've lost this much in total. Which is very cool - don't get me wrong... I'm just not that good at looking at where I've come from versus where I am now. I struggle with being in the moment. I always have... and it won't be until some random moment in the future - after all my goals have been reached that I'll wake up one day and really understand and appreciate where I've come from. (It might even be the day I have my first child... but someday it will come, and the post will be long and it will be emotional.)
I wish I was one of those people that could see the big picture all the way through a situation, but that's just not me... and I'm always a work in progress - on several levels... tomorrow at some point - I will work out. If I can get myself up there in the morning - I will do it tomorrow evening... no matter what! I'm working under the assumption that this 5 pounds is going to breathe some life into my workout plan... it's time to get serious - so that things can hopefully move in a more positive direction every week.
The only thing that I still find puzzling is that I haven't had and drastic changes in my clothing. I haven't had to replace everything yet - meaning that I can still wear things from back when I started this journey. They are pretty baggy, but other than the waist - they still fit. I would think that I'd be moving down in the sizes at a faster pace these days, but it just doesn't seem to be happening... is it possible to skip sizes and need to jump to something completely different? Can I go from a 24 to a 20 or smaller without needing to buy anything in between? I guess only time will tell.
I'll leave you guys with a comparrison picture of me... the left is me the night before surgery, and the one on the right was taken yesterday.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Busy Days
I just realized that I never made it back yesterday to post anything other than the survey deal. I got very busy running around with my Mom - we had lunch, got the new TV looked at, went to dinner, Home Depot, Target, and played several rounds of Pounce... very active Friday for me since I also worked a half of a day.
Today has been more of the same... I've been battling my allergies - so I got some children's Claritin last night at Target - so I took some of that and then slept in a little this morning. We had a late breakfast/lunch at a restaurant that John loves to have pancakes at. We started off there - then we went to this flea market place called Traders Village... we spend several hours there. It was a wild day there - my Mom kept trying to buy me stuff... birds, furniture for the front patio, a puppy, (it was the cutest little female boston terrier) you name it - she tried to buy it!
From there we went to Sam's to look for me a Wii (I'm looking at getting the machine so that I can try out the Wii Fit that comes out shortly after my birthday), but Sam's didn't have the game systems available for purchase in the store - only online. We also went to Best Buy to look for the game there as well, and actually got irritated with them. Apparently they had a bunch of them in the back, but were holding them because they're in the add for this week... so you can't buy them until tomorrow. Whatev... no game was purchased today...
From there we went to the grocery store, and made our way home to make some food for me to freeze. John mowed the lawn, and fertilized... while my Mom and I made 2 different dishes for me to freeze... I ended up with 30 + meals in the freezer! SCORE! There isn't much in this world that is better than having some of the better dishes from childhood pop into your freezer - and you didn't even have to work hard for it.
That's about it for the day - right now we're watching True Lies (it's on TV) and we might play some more Pounce before bed... we also bought a special dessert at the store for John & Mom to try out - if I have any - it will only be a bite or two. Then some more Claritin and I'm off to bed again... still working on becoming human again... but I'm on the road to recovery. Hopefully I'll be there by Monday because it's time to start working out for real this time... more than a 3 week flirting with a routine... but a real live working routine.
Today has been more of the same... I've been battling my allergies - so I got some children's Claritin last night at Target - so I took some of that and then slept in a little this morning. We had a late breakfast/lunch at a restaurant that John loves to have pancakes at. We started off there - then we went to this flea market place called Traders Village... we spend several hours there. It was a wild day there - my Mom kept trying to buy me stuff... birds, furniture for the front patio, a puppy, (it was the cutest little female boston terrier) you name it - she tried to buy it!
From there we went to Sam's to look for me a Wii (I'm looking at getting the machine so that I can try out the Wii Fit that comes out shortly after my birthday), but Sam's didn't have the game systems available for purchase in the store - only online. We also went to Best Buy to look for the game there as well, and actually got irritated with them. Apparently they had a bunch of them in the back, but were holding them because they're in the add for this week... so you can't buy them until tomorrow. Whatev... no game was purchased today...
From there we went to the grocery store, and made our way home to make some food for me to freeze. John mowed the lawn, and fertilized... while my Mom and I made 2 different dishes for me to freeze... I ended up with 30 + meals in the freezer! SCORE! There isn't much in this world that is better than having some of the better dishes from childhood pop into your freezer - and you didn't even have to work hard for it.
That's about it for the day - right now we're watching True Lies (it's on TV) and we might play some more Pounce before bed... we also bought a special dessert at the store for John & Mom to try out - if I have any - it will only be a bite or two. Then some more Claritin and I'm off to bed again... still working on becoming human again... but I'm on the road to recovery. Hopefully I'll be there by Monday because it's time to start working out for real this time... more than a 3 week flirting with a routine... but a real live working routine.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday Fun
I was tagged for this - so here goes:
The rules:
Each player answers the rules about himself [or indeed herself]. At the end of the post, the player tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read his [or her] blog.
What was I doing ten years ago?
Oh how embarrassing!! I was in college (has it been that long?!)... not appreciating the GREAT gig I had going... free tuition, room & board, and generally anything I could possibly want... no job (umm... thanks for EVERYTHING Dad!)... man - to only be able to go back - knowing what I know now!
Five things on my To-Do list today:
1. Work
2. Entertain my Mom
3. Get our new TV fixed
4. Possibly some shopping
5. Get some decent sleep... got to catch up before I unhatch my big workout plan on Monday!
Three of my bad habits:
1. Biting my nails (when I don't have fake ones)
2. Not working out - this changes soon!
3. Not reading my Bible enough - working on this one too!
Five places I’ve lived:
1. Cypress, Texas
2. Houston, Texas
3. College Station, Texas
4. Tuscaloosa, Alabama
5. Midland, Texas
Five jobs I’ve had:
1. Fundraising Researcher
2. Database Manager
3. Special Events Planner
4. Photo Lab Associate at Target
5. Nanny (the summer between high school and college - GREAT JOB! Paid very well, got to do some cool stuff for free while entertaining the kids, and got to go to work and sleep for another hour or so before the kids got up)
Five books I’ve recently read:
1. 6th Target
2. 5th Horseman
3. 4th of July
4. 3rd Degree
5. 2nd Chance
Bonus: 1st to Die
Up Next: 7th Heaven
I tag Laurie, Allie, Jenn (I saved Tasha, Staci & Dawn for you!), Sarah and another Jen. (Jen's blog is private)
The rules:
Each player answers the rules about himself [or indeed herself]. At the end of the post, the player tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read his [or her] blog.
What was I doing ten years ago?
Oh how embarrassing!! I was in college (has it been that long?!)... not appreciating the GREAT gig I had going... free tuition, room & board, and generally anything I could possibly want... no job (umm... thanks for EVERYTHING Dad!)... man - to only be able to go back - knowing what I know now!
Five things on my To-Do list today:
1. Work
2. Entertain my Mom
3. Get our new TV fixed
4. Possibly some shopping
5. Get some decent sleep... got to catch up before I unhatch my big workout plan on Monday!
Three of my bad habits:
1. Biting my nails (when I don't have fake ones)
2. Not working out - this changes soon!
3. Not reading my Bible enough - working on this one too!
Five places I’ve lived:
1. Cypress, Texas
2. Houston, Texas
3. College Station, Texas
4. Tuscaloosa, Alabama
5. Midland, Texas
Five jobs I’ve had:
1. Fundraising Researcher
2. Database Manager
3. Special Events Planner
4. Photo Lab Associate at Target
5. Nanny (the summer between high school and college - GREAT JOB! Paid very well, got to do some cool stuff for free while entertaining the kids, and got to go to work and sleep for another hour or so before the kids got up)
Five books I’ve recently read:
1. 6th Target
2. 5th Horseman
3. 4th of July
4. 3rd Degree
5. 2nd Chance
Bonus: 1st to Die
Up Next: 7th Heaven
I tag Laurie, Allie, Jenn (I saved Tasha, Staci & Dawn for you!), Sarah and another Jen. (Jen's blog is private)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Job Search Update
The job search has hit a snag... the main school district that I applied to originally is having a major budget problem, and might not be hiring any teachers this year. They might actually have to lay some off.
I've had to regroup and I've applied to 6 other districts in the surrounding area - or at least the 6 that it would be reasonably close enough (that is to say less of a commute than to my current office) to drive to. I've got a friend with some connections at one of the districts, but nothing really concrete... so we're back to waiting, watching and praying for God to help me make this happen.
Once again - I'm praying for patience and faith to know that his plan is much bigger than I can even imagine... and that he'll help guide the way while giving me the patience to wait for it to happen.
Nothing has changed at the current job - even after Monday's sudden outburst of kindness... we've rapidly gotten back to "normal." We had a wonderful co-worker leave yesterday - she's moving back to Seattle with her family, and it was so interesting to see how different her experience working here was. She had such an outpouring of love and admiration... and she was truly emotional about leaving... so it's not everyone here - just the people I report through. I can't imagine what she must have felt leaving a job that she loved... because I honestly can say without a doubt that my last day would be in the running for one of the best days in my life, so far.
In honor of my chosen (hopefully) soon to be profession... a reference to a book... (also a movie now)...
Is it possible?
Is it possible to get dumping syndrome for the first time at 5 1/2 months out from surgery?! Something weird is happening to me... I used to be able to eat a couple of miniature candy bars and not have any problems, but lately - things are changing. I'm starting to notice a major shift, and I think it's even happening with foods that I wouldn't think that it would.
I just ate a small snack I bought downstairs - it was nuts with rasins & a few M&M's mixed together... I took out the rasins because I won't eat those things... and that left me with a mix of peanuts, cashews, almonds, and 5 M&M's (literally)... and I'm sitting here sweating and felling like I just drank a pitcher of margaritas!
Really - it's bad - I'm very loopy right now, and I've had this happen a few times over the last few weeks... I'll sort of contiously blackout (sounds weird, but it's true) where I can function... like driving and all of those things aren't truly affected... well I guess they are, but whatever. It's sort of like I'm majorly zoning out - and then I'll snap to and sort of have to figure out where I am again. Strange, right?
So I've now noticed this twice today... once on the above mentioned snack, and this morning when I had my South Beach protein bar... is this dumping syndrome from to much sugar, or something else happening with my freaky body?
I just ate a small snack I bought downstairs - it was nuts with rasins & a few M&M's mixed together... I took out the rasins because I won't eat those things... and that left me with a mix of peanuts, cashews, almonds, and 5 M&M's (literally)... and I'm sitting here sweating and felling like I just drank a pitcher of margaritas!
Really - it's bad - I'm very loopy right now, and I've had this happen a few times over the last few weeks... I'll sort of contiously blackout (sounds weird, but it's true) where I can function... like driving and all of those things aren't truly affected... well I guess they are, but whatever. It's sort of like I'm majorly zoning out - and then I'll snap to and sort of have to figure out where I am again. Strange, right?
So I've now noticed this twice today... once on the above mentioned snack, and this morning when I had my South Beach protein bar... is this dumping syndrome from to much sugar, or something else happening with my freaky body?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Accountability
I have a confession to make, and really - it's something I've been struggling with for a while... I fell off the wagon on the workout front. I was on such a roll, but then got sick... and haven't been able to get back on track since.
Don't get me wrong, I understand how important it is. I really want to do it, but my body just isn't cooperating right now. I have really been feeling very lethargic lately, and am unsure about what's happening...
I'm going in to give all my samples of blood tomorrow morning on my way in to the office. It's getting inside of a month from my six month check up with my surgeon, and that means a visit to my PCP first. So maybe he can shed some light on what's happening with my crazy (lack of) energy level.
I've got to get in gear though - I'm halfway through this first year... and I really need this next 6 months to be the same if not better in the rate of weight loss department. I'm not completely tied into hitting a certain number on my weight... but I do want to get as low as I possibly can before my first year is over.
It's no secret that my big goal is to have a child, and I'm not the picture of patience... so the sooner the better for me. We're not getting any younger, and have been waiting for an addition to our family for 6 years... I just want us to be able to enjoy our children... and then enjoy our grandchildren and retirement. This is totally my impatience, and my need to know that I'm actually destined to be a mother - like I believe I am.
I sometimes struggle with being patient and waiting for God's plan to come to fruition, and believe me - I'm working on that... but in the mean time - I've got to get in gear and get to working out.
Maybe I focus to much on the big global picture and creating a habit, and not enough on the day to day... I don't know. I think in some way - my demons about being perfect are creating some of the problems. Someone at the hospital told me that I should work out at the beginning of the day before I eat anything, and if that doesn't happen for whatever reason (mainly because I can't get myself out of bed) it makes me feel like I've lost a day and then I just give up. Sort of like when I'd diet before the surgery, give in to some sort of temptation... resulting in some sort of cheating the program... then I'd feel completely defeated... and I'd fall off the wagon bigger than I'd ever done before.
But something has got to give... anyone want to be my accountability partner? (I'm even open to having several!!) To check on my daily progress? To see if I worked out each day or not? To guilt me into getting up on the bike if I didn't make it in the morning? Be an angel by motivating me with emails, articles, or anything else that will keep me moving in the right direction and not focusing on the insignificant details?
Don't get me wrong, I understand how important it is. I really want to do it, but my body just isn't cooperating right now. I have really been feeling very lethargic lately, and am unsure about what's happening...
I'm going in to give all my samples of blood tomorrow morning on my way in to the office. It's getting inside of a month from my six month check up with my surgeon, and that means a visit to my PCP first. So maybe he can shed some light on what's happening with my crazy (lack of) energy level.
I've got to get in gear though - I'm halfway through this first year... and I really need this next 6 months to be the same if not better in the rate of weight loss department. I'm not completely tied into hitting a certain number on my weight... but I do want to get as low as I possibly can before my first year is over.
It's no secret that my big goal is to have a child, and I'm not the picture of patience... so the sooner the better for me. We're not getting any younger, and have been waiting for an addition to our family for 6 years... I just want us to be able to enjoy our children... and then enjoy our grandchildren and retirement. This is totally my impatience, and my need to know that I'm actually destined to be a mother - like I believe I am.
I sometimes struggle with being patient and waiting for God's plan to come to fruition, and believe me - I'm working on that... but in the mean time - I've got to get in gear and get to working out.
Maybe I focus to much on the big global picture and creating a habit, and not enough on the day to day... I don't know. I think in some way - my demons about being perfect are creating some of the problems. Someone at the hospital told me that I should work out at the beginning of the day before I eat anything, and if that doesn't happen for whatever reason (mainly because I can't get myself out of bed) it makes me feel like I've lost a day and then I just give up. Sort of like when I'd diet before the surgery, give in to some sort of temptation... resulting in some sort of cheating the program... then I'd feel completely defeated... and I'd fall off the wagon bigger than I'd ever done before.
But something has got to give... anyone want to be my accountability partner? (I'm even open to having several!!) To check on my daily progress? To see if I worked out each day or not? To guilt me into getting up on the bike if I didn't make it in the morning? Be an angel by motivating me with emails, articles, or anything else that will keep me moving in the right direction and not focusing on the insignificant details?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Side-Trip
Well, when I left work tonight - I planned a night at home with my beloved Law & Order reruns... because GAH - last night they played basketball games instead of showing my favorite... they did the same thing tonight, only I wasn't home.
My mom's plane landed at about 5 this evening, and immediately she text messaged me to come meet her for dinner - so John and I went out to her hotel to have dinner with her before her conference starts tomorrow.
So we just got home from dinner, and I am again pretty tired. I've got to get in bed before 10 or I'm really not going to be moving very well in the morning... I need to at least get my 7 hours of sleep minimum... so off I go.
Sorry that this post isn't full of more information - I'll do better tomorrow!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Slacker
Okay, so let me start off with a moment that NONE of you are going to believe... because I didn't believe it either. Last week my boss asked us to make a list of all the projects (donor names) we're in the process of working on for our staff meeting this morning. Well, being that I'm the target of choice right now - I took her at her word and did it. Come to find out this afternoon - I'm the ONLY one on my team that did it. So in front of the other two ladies on my team - she goes, "Kim, what reward would you like for getting this done on time?" Little did she know that I was going to ask her for something at the end of this week anyway - so I piped up and said "Well, Can I leave at noon on Friday to pick up my Mom from the airport?" She happily said YES!! Score 1 for Kim!!
Tomorrow morning - I'm interviewing with her for another position within the office... so maybe this good fortune will carry over into that as well... because I really need some new challenges if I'm going to make it through summer!
On other things, my second meeting with my mentor is tonight, and I'm a complete slacker.... I feel really bad about it too. I didn't memorize my two verses that I was supposed to... so I hope that she forgives me. I did do my reading, and have some really killer notes on everything I read - and all my prayers for the last couple of weeks are written in the journal with my studies. So hopefully she'll be happy about that and not to upset that I didn't get the other done.
I do have a plan on how I can work that in... my brother-in-law used to (might still do it) tape verses to the wall of their shower so he could study them while he was in the shower. I think that's a perfect idea for memorization of verses - because you're in there every morning and what else have you got to do? It doesn't take that much thought to wash your hair... so I'm going to try it this next two weeks, and hope for better results.
Poor Lisa, she for some reason doesn't get emails from me... so we've had a hard time with communication lately - but I'm going to check on that this evening too. Hopefully I can help make it easier on her in some ways too if she knows where I'm at with the reading. I feel bad that I've emailed her about 4 different times over the last couple of weeks and she hasn't gotten any of them. I keep getting emails that say "if you've responded - I haven't gotten it...", poor thing!
Well, I'm off to meet... but wanted to post something in case I am just not in the mood when I get home tonight. I tend to just want to sit and decompress when I get home in the evening - especially if I've done something in between work and home. So I feel that I'm in for a small piece of pizza for dinner and some Law & Order time when I get there...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday Recap
As promised - we'll finish today with some photos of the new additions to the yard...
For starters though - John rocked out at church filling in for our worship leader. Two of our friends from our old church came, and it was really nice to see them. (Hi Jenn & Dawn!!) After the main service - we had a baptism ceremony. Three people were baptized today, and I was really glad to see what it really was like. I'm looking forward to going through the ceremony in June.
After church - John's parents came over for lunch, and to celebrate John's mom's birthday. We had a lovely afternoon, and even worked in a nap. I wish I would have worked through my tiredness, and done some scrapbooking - but I didn't... and I'm not going to beat myself up about it either! (don't try to make me! HA)
Without further delay... here are the photos:
Here is a close up of one of my new hibiscus flowers... pretty!
Close up of the positioning of the hibiscus trees.
The flowers and the greenery in front is the bulk of what we did in the front... I'll take some more photos as they start to grow in and fill out.
We put in the front plant here - and left two of the ugly things we ripped out of the front flowerbed.
We built this flowerbed to match the one on the left side of the driveway.
Here is one of my new matching hanging plants for the back porch.
Here is our new red bell pepper plant - below the hanging plant on the right of the porch.
Our patio tomato plant under the left hanging basket.
This is the crepe myrtle on the left side of the yard, and the flowers that look so great - are the exact flowers we just planted in the front. We have an identical flowerbed on the right side as well, and it looks just as good. I can't wait for the crepe myrtles to bloom!!
For starters though - John rocked out at church filling in for our worship leader. Two of our friends from our old church came, and it was really nice to see them. (Hi Jenn & Dawn!!) After the main service - we had a baptism ceremony. Three people were baptized today, and I was really glad to see what it really was like. I'm looking forward to going through the ceremony in June.
After church - John's parents came over for lunch, and to celebrate John's mom's birthday. We had a lovely afternoon, and even worked in a nap. I wish I would have worked through my tiredness, and done some scrapbooking - but I didn't... and I'm not going to beat myself up about it either! (don't try to make me! HA)
Without further delay... here are the photos:
Here is a close up of one of my new hibiscus flowers... pretty! 
Full view of the front of our house.
Close up of the positioning of the hibiscus trees.
The flowers and the greenery in front is the bulk of what we did in the front... I'll take some more photos as they start to grow in and fill out. 
We put in the front plant here - and left two of the ugly things we ripped out of the front flowerbed.
We built this flowerbed to match the one on the left side of the driveway.
Here is one of my new matching hanging plants for the back porch.
Here is our new red bell pepper plant - below the hanging plant on the right of the porch.
Our patio tomato plant under the left hanging basket.
This is the crepe myrtle on the left side of the yard, and the flowers that look so great - are the exact flowers we just planted in the front. We have an identical flowerbed on the right side as well, and it looks just as good. I can't wait for the crepe myrtles to bloom!! Saturday, April 19, 2008
Crawfish & Kim
I thought this cartoon was funny, and I know my Cajun friends will think it's hilarious!
I think I glossed over the details of the crawfish boil last night - and for starters - I don't know how many of my "yankee" peeps (those of you up north) know exactly what that is. Crawfish typically come from Lousiana, now that's not to say that they don't have them other places - but the peeps of Louisiana have made crawfish popular.
I think I glossed over the details of the crawfish boil last night - and for starters - I don't know how many of my "yankee" peeps (those of you up north) know exactly what that is. Crawfish typically come from Lousiana, now that's not to say that they don't have them other places - but the peeps of Louisiana have made crawfish popular.
This is pretty much the traditional set up, at least at the few crawfish boils that I've been to... If you look closely - most people eat multiple pounds of these critters - because it's mostly shell. It looks like a lot of work for little meat, but people really seem to enjoy these.
The traditional way to eat them is:
Crawfish are eaten with your hands (don't ask for utensils; you will only be laughed at). Don't be intimidated by that big pile of cooked crawfish.
With one hand, grasp the crawfish head. Grasp the tail with your other hand. Gently squeeze the tail end of the body close to where it joins the head. Hold the head steady and gently twist the tail end, still applying pressure. The meaty end will twist out of the head.
Put the head aside for the moment. Slide a finger or thumb under the first few segments at the top of the tail and peel away the top partially expose part of the tail. With the shell still partially intact, bring the tail meat to your mouth and sink your teeth into the exposed meat.
Chomp down on it, and it will pop into your mouth as you leave the tail behind.
The part that shows if you are a true Cajun or not is if you eat the head. Take the head and suck the hot, spicy juices out of it.
It's the last part that really does me in... but we lovingly called that the Cajun bong last night. I don't even quite know where that came from, but we all got a huge laugh about it.
So basically, I don't eat seafood of any type... so I'm not much fun at crawfish boils - I also am a spicy food wimp... so that's another reason that I typically don't participate... but lots of people swear by them, and get extremely excited during crawfish season. A lady at my office in particular gets crazy about these things - she goes to a crawfish boil every weekend during the peak season... and even forces us to go out to lunch some days so that she can eat them during the week too. The typical season runs from March through June - so she must get her fill during that short time until the next year.
We've been invited to another one in a couple of weeks - the family that hosts the next one has an event like this every year. There are lots of kids at this party, and typically half of them end up carrying around a "pet" crawfish for the afternoon, and I know those poor animals probably just wish that they'd be shown the same mercy as their brothers & sisters that are getting boiled! Last night - there were a few running around the bottom of the pool... so if nothing else - they are always entertaining!
Hopefully my friends that are around me at these parties don't think that I'm a weirdo or a diva... I just have never been a fan of the stuff, and now that I hardly eat much at all - I'm really not that adventurous - I think I'd make myself sick because the food is spicy, and I can't drink within 30 minutes of eating... so that would leave me burning for 30 minutes!!
John loves the occasional treat - and this year he's lucky enough to indulge twice!
Picture Post
A few of you have actually enjoyed these pictures - so I didn't want to disappoint. I just thought these were cute... so enjoy!
Planting Roots
Whew! I just got cleaned up after spending most of the day outside... my sunburn proves it! The yard is looking great though, and John is still out there putting out fertilizer. We planted lots of flowers, and greenery... planted a new flowerbed, ripped out some plants that we hated in front... (they were replaced by the flowers and greenery)... and planted 2 big hibiscus trees in pots... oh yeah and planted a patio tomato plant, and a red bell pepper plant.
6 months ago - I never would have been able to hang in there with John on this project, and I still feel like he did most of the hard work - but I was out there with him for moral support and as much help as I could provide.
We still want to put out a little more mulch, before I get some pictures - but if the mulch doesn't make it out tomorrow afternoon... I'll still take some tomorrow for you guys. It'll look better after the flowers have a chance to grow a little - John planted some in the backyard last fall (I think) and they look phenomenal now... they're really pretty.
I'm sure that the rest of the evening will be spent trying to rehydrate, have dinner, do some laundry, and relax. John will probably do some more practicing before he leads worship tomorrow morning, but other than that - I'm going to be a bum!
I think that most of the next few weekends are going to be a flurry of home projects - while John gets the house ready for my birthday. We're having a small get together of some family and close friends... to celebrate, and a lot of the folks haven't been to the house yet - so John's really pulling out all the stops. He's got a list of things that he wants to get done, and even some things that he'd like to get done if time permits.
It really is funny though because of his parent's history... you see whenever John's parents have anyone over to the house (kids excluded) there is a flurry of home improvement projects, BUT typically the biggest projects are being completed the day before the party - or even some on the day of the party... which has always cracked me up.
When they threw my college graduation party - they redid their floors, did some work to the walls...and other crazy things. They had his sister, Susan's, college graduation, and literally - minutes before the party - we had a lady in helping us hang window treatments! They've had John's grandmother's birthday party at their house for the last couple of years, and there is always a frenzy of yard work and cleaning out things the day before the party.
It does always end up looking good, but the joke that we always have with them is... would anyone have noticed if it hadn't been done? So, with all that being said - I am THRILLED that John is planning ahead. I'll share pictures of anything that I can...
6 months ago - I never would have been able to hang in there with John on this project, and I still feel like he did most of the hard work - but I was out there with him for moral support and as much help as I could provide.
We still want to put out a little more mulch, before I get some pictures - but if the mulch doesn't make it out tomorrow afternoon... I'll still take some tomorrow for you guys. It'll look better after the flowers have a chance to grow a little - John planted some in the backyard last fall (I think) and they look phenomenal now... they're really pretty.
I'm sure that the rest of the evening will be spent trying to rehydrate, have dinner, do some laundry, and relax. John will probably do some more practicing before he leads worship tomorrow morning, but other than that - I'm going to be a bum!
I think that most of the next few weekends are going to be a flurry of home projects - while John gets the house ready for my birthday. We're having a small get together of some family and close friends... to celebrate, and a lot of the folks haven't been to the house yet - so John's really pulling out all the stops. He's got a list of things that he wants to get done, and even some things that he'd like to get done if time permits.
It really is funny though because of his parent's history... you see whenever John's parents have anyone over to the house (kids excluded) there is a flurry of home improvement projects, BUT typically the biggest projects are being completed the day before the party - or even some on the day of the party... which has always cracked me up.
When they threw my college graduation party - they redid their floors, did some work to the walls...and other crazy things. They had his sister, Susan's, college graduation, and literally - minutes before the party - we had a lady in helping us hang window treatments! They've had John's grandmother's birthday party at their house for the last couple of years, and there is always a frenzy of yard work and cleaning out things the day before the party.
It does always end up looking good, but the joke that we always have with them is... would anyone have noticed if it hadn't been done? So, with all that being said - I am THRILLED that John is planning ahead. I'll share pictures of anything that I can...
Friday, April 18, 2008
Exhausted Again
I'm going to keep this short - as it's WAY past my bedtime... Ok - it's only 10:15... but I've been up since 5 - don't judge me! We just got back from the crawfish boil, where some of the "dinner" was found swimming in the pool... but everyone had a great time.
I had a really busy day at work, and am basically completely brain-dead at this point... so I'm going to pretty much cop out on this post.
We've got some big planting plans for the yard tomorrow (I'm not all that excited about it - but I'll manage... with some sleep first!) and I'll post some pictures of what the final outcome looks like.
Ok - the pillow is calling me...
I had a really busy day at work, and am basically completely brain-dead at this point... so I'm going to pretty much cop out on this post.
We've got some big planting plans for the yard tomorrow (I'm not all that excited about it - but I'll manage... with some sleep first!) and I'll post some pictures of what the final outcome looks like.
Ok - the pillow is calling me...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Checking In
I feel like I've been ignoring the whole weight loss surgery part of my life lately... or at least in the blog world. Sometimes I forget that it happened, but others it is right there in my face. Again, the weight isn't coming off like I would have thought or hoped it would... but it is coming off and that's the important part.
The hair loss is incredible... I wouldn't say that anyone other than John and I can tell... and that's because it's all over the place. I do mean ALL over the place. Right now, I'm shedding more both the dogs combined!
Food demons are all over the place... I've made the mistake of falling into an old trap two mornings this week, and I have really paid for them. Tuesday and Wednesday, I started off the day with sugar... and it left me feeling like what I can only imagine a drug high would feel like. I guess in its own way, it was dumping syndrome... but not like what I was told it might be like. I don't know if my body is still reeling from the trauma or if I'm just having some serious allergy issues coming on... but even today - I've been really headache prone, and just generally not feeling good. I've been battling a stuffy nose for a while - so this is probably all playing in together... but I hope that it is better in the morning.
I do have to find a way to be charming tomorrow night at the crawfish boil, and that doesn't exactly fall in line with an allergy attack. ARG!
The hair loss is incredible... I wouldn't say that anyone other than John and I can tell... and that's because it's all over the place. I do mean ALL over the place. Right now, I'm shedding more both the dogs combined!
Food demons are all over the place... I've made the mistake of falling into an old trap two mornings this week, and I have really paid for them. Tuesday and Wednesday, I started off the day with sugar... and it left me feeling like what I can only imagine a drug high would feel like. I guess in its own way, it was dumping syndrome... but not like what I was told it might be like. I don't know if my body is still reeling from the trauma or if I'm just having some serious allergy issues coming on... but even today - I've been really headache prone, and just generally not feeling good. I've been battling a stuffy nose for a while - so this is probably all playing in together... but I hope that it is better in the morning.
I do have to find a way to be charming tomorrow night at the crawfish boil, and that doesn't exactly fall in line with an allergy attack. ARG!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Happy Birthday
Today is my mother-in-law's birthday, and as far as those go... I lucked out in a big way!! Betty is the most amazing woman, she's so many things to so many people. She's a great mother, grandmother, friend, sister, wife and daughter. (As far as I'm concerned) She is strong, loving, kind, spiritual, funny... and just a joy to have as an addition to my life on daily basis.
She isn't the "in your face" type of mother, but is very supportive... she will let you know her opinion on things, but at the same time lets you make up your own mind too. The stories I've heard about her are so funny... she's an amazing person to shop with too. She will get a bargain where the stores don't even know there is one to offer.
One time John's sister, Susan, and I went with her to the mall. She needed some makeup, and it was one of those times when they were giving a free gift with purchase. Typically you have to spend a certain amount (say $20) to get the gift... well, this day, she needed $40 worth of products. So she asked the lady at the counter for two free gifts since she'd earned it... well I think the sales lady was so shocked because she had a hilarious look on her face, but Mom ended up walking away with both gifts. Susan and I at the time were thoroughly embarrassed... but that's just the way Mom is.
John tells a story of a similar nature where as a child - there was a gas station they'd pass occasionally on the way to visit his grandmother. This gas station would give a free car wash if you bought a certain amount of gas. Well, the day that they made it over there on this trip - the car wash was out of order. So they went on about their trip to visit Memaw... well the next time they went to go visit (about a month or so later... maybe longer) she stopped by that gas station. She didn't need gas, but she went in and told the clerk the story of her last visit. She explained that she hadn't gotten her free car wash, and asked if she could get it that day... John said the guy just looked at her, and shook his head... then said "sure, lady." Hysterical!!
They have great stories about growing up with Betty, and I love everyone of them. I've watched her over the last 5 1/2 years with our neice... and she is one of the most amazingly generous, loving, and accomodating grandmothers I've ever seen. She would move heaven and earth for Taylor and now Brooklyn too... and they love her dearly. It's a very sweet thing to watch.
Today, I wanted to share my mother-in-law with all of you, and celebrate her birthday.
Here are a couple of pictures of her...
Here she is Christmas morning - enjoying some family chatting and some coffee.
She isn't the "in your face" type of mother, but is very supportive... she will let you know her opinion on things, but at the same time lets you make up your own mind too. The stories I've heard about her are so funny... she's an amazing person to shop with too. She will get a bargain where the stores don't even know there is one to offer.
One time John's sister, Susan, and I went with her to the mall. She needed some makeup, and it was one of those times when they were giving a free gift with purchase. Typically you have to spend a certain amount (say $20) to get the gift... well, this day, she needed $40 worth of products. So she asked the lady at the counter for two free gifts since she'd earned it... well I think the sales lady was so shocked because she had a hilarious look on her face, but Mom ended up walking away with both gifts. Susan and I at the time were thoroughly embarrassed... but that's just the way Mom is.
John tells a story of a similar nature where as a child - there was a gas station they'd pass occasionally on the way to visit his grandmother. This gas station would give a free car wash if you bought a certain amount of gas. Well, the day that they made it over there on this trip - the car wash was out of order. So they went on about their trip to visit Memaw... well the next time they went to go visit (about a month or so later... maybe longer) she stopped by that gas station. She didn't need gas, but she went in and told the clerk the story of her last visit. She explained that she hadn't gotten her free car wash, and asked if she could get it that day... John said the guy just looked at her, and shook his head... then said "sure, lady." Hysterical!!
They have great stories about growing up with Betty, and I love everyone of them. I've watched her over the last 5 1/2 years with our neice... and she is one of the most amazingly generous, loving, and accomodating grandmothers I've ever seen. She would move heaven and earth for Taylor and now Brooklyn too... and they love her dearly. It's a very sweet thing to watch.
Today, I wanted to share my mother-in-law with all of you, and celebrate her birthday.
Here are a couple of pictures of her...
Here she is Christmas morning - enjoying some family chatting and some coffee. 
This is a picture from our birthday celebration last year, and Taylor is helping with the candles.
Here she is taking care of Miss Brooklyn, around Thanksgiving last year.
Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Name that Movie
I just thought these were funny... can you name the movies that go with the pictures?
Prayers for Kim
My friend "the other Kim" is having her surgery this morning at 11:30, and I wanted to make sure to send an extra prayer up for her this morning...
Almighty God, my heavenly Father, as you have always sent angels to do your healing work, so you have sent men and women as instruments of your healing now. Bless the surgeons and all who will attend to Kim, that their knowledge and skill might bring the healing you desire. Grant Kim the confidence and peace to know that all of her days are in your care. Through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen
Almighty God, my heavenly Father, as you have always sent angels to do your healing work, so you have sent men and women as instruments of your healing now. Bless the surgeons and all who will attend to Kim, that their knowledge and skill might bring the healing you desire. Grant Kim the confidence and peace to know that all of her days are in your care. Through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday Already?
I can't believe that the weekend has come and gone... and I'm back at work already. I spent all day today working on researching one project, but it did make the afternoon seem to move fairly quickly. That was a nice surprise.
I'm probably going to keep it short for today because I really just need some time to go home and veg with the hubs. I will do my Bible reading, and make a 1/2 pot of soup mostly for me to freeze for future meals.
My father-in-law makes the most amazing (or he gets the credit - but John's the only one that has made it for me) vegetable beef soup, and I thought that it would be something easy to make and freeze. I meant to make it yesterday, but it didn't happen because I totally fell asleep after church and woke up about the time that I needed to pull myself together for our small group... so we're having it for dinner tonight.
I'm really pretty indecisive when it comes to food - so I'm taking full credit for planning tonight's dinner... John and I tend to have an every other day rotation with this because he gets tired of planning our meals every night... and I just sit there with a blank stare on my face when I get asked what we're having.
I hope that everyone is having a good week so far... a special shout out to "the other" Kim - as she's having her surgery tomorrow morning, and we'll be praying for her in a post tomorrow. She's going to do great, although I'll miss her comments and things on the blog while she's recovering! See ya on the other side, Girly... big things are coming your way!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Super Sunday
Whew, I'm exhausted, but still have a couple of hours before bed... as I'm still working on getting our laundry done. Mainly - I have to wait for the sheets so that I can make the bed.
Anyway - we had another great message today about communication with your spouse. I'll potentially get into more detail about it in another message later this week. It was a good message, and had lots of great information.
We attended our first small group meeting tonight, and it was a lot of fun. We start off with dinner, tonight it was some really yummy fajitas... and finished with some homeade sopapillas. We sort of hang out and eat for a lot of our time together, but finish off with a short Bible study. The study is a short video followed by some questions that lead us into some good discussions.
Tonight's study was about sexual sin...and temptation... and how that can happen with small things leading up to what I would consider one of the ultimate sins. It's interesting how some of the questions led us to look at how we were raised and where our moral standards were set, and who set them... some of us have a different idea of how we'd like to handle that with our own children, but overall it was an interesting look into our pasts and how to avoid situations that might cause you to do something you wouldn't want to.
The couple that hosted tonight's meeting are having a crawfish boil on Friday night - so we'll get to hang out with everyone again this weekend. Typically our small group meets every other Sunday evening... so it gives us three weeks of hanging out with everyone to get to know them better.
Have I mentioned that I LOVE our church? Maybe it's just timing, but I feel like it is very different from the experiences we've had before... now we've never had a bad experience... and maybe it's totally the differences in me because of losing weight and becoming less of a wall flower... but it just seems like the people are much more outgoing and accepting of meeting new people and really getting to know them. I'm sure it's probably a little of both, but it just goes to show you how God provides the right things at the right time.
I'm going to leave you with a few pictures... one is cute - and two are of my own personal horror from this weekend... and then I'm off to do some more Bible reading!
This is Missy tanning this afternoon after having a special puppy treat.
This is how my hair was styled after my hair cut yesterday... and I'm horrified at it now even more than I was yesterday... it looks like something nested in my hair! Okay, memo to me... don't have any errands to run after getting your hair done if you aren't happy with it!! (D0es it not look like I had a run-in with an angry bird? Or that I just woke up?)
This is the back of my hair which wasn't as bad as the front, but let me just tell you guys... for someone losing their hair because of the weight loss surgery - having a stylist tease it up like that, and then having to brush it out... I lost lots more hair than I should have!!
Anyway - we had another great message today about communication with your spouse. I'll potentially get into more detail about it in another message later this week. It was a good message, and had lots of great information.
We attended our first small group meeting tonight, and it was a lot of fun. We start off with dinner, tonight it was some really yummy fajitas... and finished with some homeade sopapillas. We sort of hang out and eat for a lot of our time together, but finish off with a short Bible study. The study is a short video followed by some questions that lead us into some good discussions.
Tonight's study was about sexual sin...and temptation... and how that can happen with small things leading up to what I would consider one of the ultimate sins. It's interesting how some of the questions led us to look at how we were raised and where our moral standards were set, and who set them... some of us have a different idea of how we'd like to handle that with our own children, but overall it was an interesting look into our pasts and how to avoid situations that might cause you to do something you wouldn't want to.
The couple that hosted tonight's meeting are having a crawfish boil on Friday night - so we'll get to hang out with everyone again this weekend. Typically our small group meets every other Sunday evening... so it gives us three weeks of hanging out with everyone to get to know them better.
Have I mentioned that I LOVE our church? Maybe it's just timing, but I feel like it is very different from the experiences we've had before... now we've never had a bad experience... and maybe it's totally the differences in me because of losing weight and becoming less of a wall flower... but it just seems like the people are much more outgoing and accepting of meeting new people and really getting to know them. I'm sure it's probably a little of both, but it just goes to show you how God provides the right things at the right time.
I'm going to leave you with a few pictures... one is cute - and two are of my own personal horror from this weekend... and then I'm off to do some more Bible reading!
This is Missy tanning this afternoon after having a special puppy treat.
This is how my hair was styled after my hair cut yesterday... and I'm horrified at it now even more than I was yesterday... it looks like something nested in my hair! Okay, memo to me... don't have any errands to run after getting your hair done if you aren't happy with it!! (D0es it not look like I had a run-in with an angry bird? Or that I just woke up?)
This is the back of my hair which wasn't as bad as the front, but let me just tell you guys... for someone losing their hair because of the weight loss surgery - having a stylist tease it up like that, and then having to brush it out... I lost lots more hair than I should have!! Saturday, April 12, 2008
One Year Ago
One year ago today, I told John that I wanted to have a gastric bypass... boy what a difference a year makes! It took me about 7 months to get the surgery accomplished, but in the remaining 5 months I've lost 61 pounds... or at least that's what the scale said this morning... I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt until tomorrow morning when maybe I'll have lost another pound?!I'm amazed at how different our lives are on this one year anniversary - in so many ways... for the better. I'm sure that my one year surgery anniversary will bring even more exciting changes to comment on, but I'm just going to leave you tonight with the awe of the decision I made last April 12th.
Those of you that have had or are about to have this surgery know what an awesome decision that is... I'm off to eat a little piece of steak for dinner - what a difference 5 months makes in what you can eat.
I only braved steak a few weeks ago because of a mistake in a takeout order - I'd ordered a tostada with taco meat, but got it with fajita meat instead (that's what it normally comes with at our favorite place)... so I went with it very carefully, and all went well. So I've ventured to pork chops once since then, and this will be my third venture with steak.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Programing Break
That is to say that I'm not going to put a picture in for your viewing pleasure tonight... I realized that I might only be entertaining myself with those... but they'll be back because I love pictures.
I can't say for sure if what I'm experiencing is a God thing... or what is happening, but being at home with John lately has been really good. Not that it hasn't always been... but I'm just feeling extra lovey lately.
Maybe it's God's way of giving me something to look forward to at the end of the day - or something to miss - because I find myself missing him more during the day this week.
(Okay - now I feel like this reads as if I don't like being around my husband normally and that this is a weird experience for me... not the case!! It just seems like I'm enjoying it more than ever before!)
So needless to say - it's 4:30 and I'm dying to get out of the office and go home!! I've always been a home-body, and this is certainly not a time when work is occupying my mind enough to make me not wish I was at home... doing my own thing... but I'd swear someone was messing with the clocks today because the time is DRAGGING!!
Hey - maybe it's because there isn't any sports for us to watch... just sayin... No, that's not it... maybe we really are putting last week's sermon into practice? Could be... it was about marriage and how it's not all about YOU... it's about service to your spouse. Now, that can be taken a lot of ways, but it's really about doing things with a happy heart even if it's something that you don't normally want to do. Like say - he leaves his socks all over the floor (John doesn't necessarily do this, but it's the first example that popped into my head) and typically you'd get mad at him... or whatever the response is. The idea behind the sermon is that it's really not about changing the behavior of the other person... you just have to accept it. (Ok, the sock deal isn't the best example now - looking back) Again - it's more about helping him/her out with the short comings without being resentful or angry about it.
So I feel like I've been trying to think more along those lines this week, and maybe it's working... Kevin said that when you look at marriage from this perspective - that people tend to respond in kind. Because it makes them look at themselves too and think about things differently. Who knows... but all I can say is that I'm really diggin' spending extra time with my hubby right now!! (John - Pickle Juice!!... okay, its an inside joke, but if you email me... I might just explain it to ya!)
Here is the information about our message series at church - it's called 4 Keeps.
Marriage isn't always easy. In fact, some would say it is rarely ever easy. You have to work at having a good, strong marriage. In this series, Pastor Kevin is going to take us through what God's Word says about love, communication, forgiveness, finances, and even sex (yikes!). If you use these five areas as pillars for your relationship, you can have a marriage that will stand the test of time and will be for keeps.
Ephes. 5:31-33 (NIV) "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." [32] This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. [33] However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
In this series we discover how God wants us to love one another in our marriages.
April 6th
Love 4 Keeps --THE foundation of any marriage or relationship should be love. But it isn't love like the world defines it-- it is love defined by the Bible. It might surprise you to find you've been loving your spouse the wrong way. But there is a better way that will lead to a marriage that will really be "until death do us part."
April 13th
Communication 4 Connection --The next pillar to lean on in any marriage is the right communication. It's funny how differently men and women communicate. Since no one is a mind reader, we need to learn to communicate our wants and needs so that our marriages can be strong.
April 20th
Forgiveness 4 Failures -- Nobody is perfect, sure. But why does it seem like your spouse is so much "less perfect" than others? In any family their are fights. But we need to learn to fight right and forgive quickly (and often).
April 27th
Intimacy 4 Intimacy -- Here it is-- the sex talk. Sex is the closest two people can get physically. But God also intended it to be an emotional, relational, and spiritual connection, too. Come hear about God's plan for sex in your marriage-- you'll be glad you did! We also have a great children's ministry for your kids during this sermon!
May 4th
Finances 4 Fidelity -- Couples argue over money more than any topic. Money problems lead to divorce, depression, and deep anxiety. Getting on the same page and having the same plan for your money is the final pillar for a strong and healthy marriage.
Listen to these messages and more on our podcast page.
I can't say for sure if what I'm experiencing is a God thing... or what is happening, but being at home with John lately has been really good. Not that it hasn't always been... but I'm just feeling extra lovey lately.
Maybe it's God's way of giving me something to look forward to at the end of the day - or something to miss - because I find myself missing him more during the day this week.
(Okay - now I feel like this reads as if I don't like being around my husband normally and that this is a weird experience for me... not the case!! It just seems like I'm enjoying it more than ever before!)
So needless to say - it's 4:30 and I'm dying to get out of the office and go home!! I've always been a home-body, and this is certainly not a time when work is occupying my mind enough to make me not wish I was at home... doing my own thing... but I'd swear someone was messing with the clocks today because the time is DRAGGING!!
Hey - maybe it's because there isn't any sports for us to watch... just sayin... No, that's not it... maybe we really are putting last week's sermon into practice? Could be... it was about marriage and how it's not all about YOU... it's about service to your spouse. Now, that can be taken a lot of ways, but it's really about doing things with a happy heart even if it's something that you don't normally want to do. Like say - he leaves his socks all over the floor (John doesn't necessarily do this, but it's the first example that popped into my head) and typically you'd get mad at him... or whatever the response is. The idea behind the sermon is that it's really not about changing the behavior of the other person... you just have to accept it. (Ok, the sock deal isn't the best example now - looking back) Again - it's more about helping him/her out with the short comings without being resentful or angry about it.
So I feel like I've been trying to think more along those lines this week, and maybe it's working... Kevin said that when you look at marriage from this perspective - that people tend to respond in kind. Because it makes them look at themselves too and think about things differently. Who knows... but all I can say is that I'm really diggin' spending extra time with my hubby right now!! (John - Pickle Juice!!... okay, its an inside joke, but if you email me... I might just explain it to ya!)
Here is the information about our message series at church - it's called 4 Keeps.
Marriage isn't always easy. In fact, some would say it is rarely ever easy. You have to work at having a good, strong marriage. In this series, Pastor Kevin is going to take us through what God's Word says about love, communication, forgiveness, finances, and even sex (yikes!). If you use these five areas as pillars for your relationship, you can have a marriage that will stand the test of time and will be for keeps.
Ephes. 5:31-33 (NIV) "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." [32] This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. [33] However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
In this series we discover how God wants us to love one another in our marriages.
April 6th
Love 4 Keeps --THE foundation of any marriage or relationship should be love. But it isn't love like the world defines it-- it is love defined by the Bible. It might surprise you to find you've been loving your spouse the wrong way. But there is a better way that will lead to a marriage that will really be "until death do us part."
April 13th
Communication 4 Connection --The next pillar to lean on in any marriage is the right communication. It's funny how differently men and women communicate. Since no one is a mind reader, we need to learn to communicate our wants and needs so that our marriages can be strong.
April 20th
Forgiveness 4 Failures -- Nobody is perfect, sure. But why does it seem like your spouse is so much "less perfect" than others? In any family their are fights. But we need to learn to fight right and forgive quickly (and often).
April 27th
Intimacy 4 Intimacy -- Here it is-- the sex talk. Sex is the closest two people can get physically. But God also intended it to be an emotional, relational, and spiritual connection, too. Come hear about God's plan for sex in your marriage-- you'll be glad you did! We also have a great children's ministry for your kids during this sermon!
May 4th
Finances 4 Fidelity -- Couples argue over money more than any topic. Money problems lead to divorce, depression, and deep anxiety. Getting on the same page and having the same plan for your money is the final pillar for a strong and healthy marriage.
Listen to these messages and more on our podcast page.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Not Much
I don't have much of a writing vibe today, but I of course can't give up my blog challenge. I started my Bible reading last night, and read James 1:1-4... and can I just say that it is SO applicable to my life right now.Isn't it funny how God puts the right words in front of us just when we need them?!
My take on what I read was that God doesn't promise to keep us from trouble, but that it's our job to take those problems and look for the lessons that we're supposed to learn. It does promise that while God won't keep us from trouble - he will be there and help with endurance to get us through to happier times.
So, basically - I need to be looking for the lesson to be learned while I'm waiting for a better job to come along, and trust that God is there with me helping give me the strength to get through all of this.
I was supposed to start a new women's Bible study tonight with a group of ladies from our church, but after some thought and prayer about it - I realized that it was just going to be to much for me to keep up with. I need to focus on learning what Lisa and I are working on, and not spread myself to thin at this point. The ladies were so nice about it, and totally understood what God is calling me to do right now, and hopefully a little further down the line - I'll be able to join them for a different study.
That's about all I have for today - I'm going to get some more time in reading.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Car Mystery Solved
Well, my big shaky ghetto-mobile is now fixed!! It turned out to be a mis-firing fuel injector... which explains the smoking!! Did I mention that the gas light came on during our fun ride home from church? It apparently was burning through the fuel faster during the time that we had to drive it... so when they called to tell John that it was ready - he mentioned that he hoped that he could get it to a gas station without running out of gas.The lady there told him that they'd get us 4 gallons to get us to a gas station... but when they sent their workman to get the gas (and what car dealer doesn't have their own pump?!) he ran out of gas!! HA! The lady called to tell John because she thought it was really funny... and she said "well, better him than you..." no kidding!! I can only imagine how "thrilled" John would be if that happened to him!
The last time he talked to her - they were taking it in to wash it... well... isn't that special... it's raining now!! ARG! Oh well, at least I won't have to be the cowgirl driving her husband's truck to work anymore... speaking of gas... I stopped to fill his truck up this morning - and $75 didn't even fill it up!
I did it with the credit option instead of debit because of the stories of people stealing PIN numbers when people do debit at the gas station... but I didn't know there was a maximum charge amount... this whole fuel thing is really rediculous!
I know it infuriates my Dad that we complain about gas prices, but will pay $2 for bottled water or $5 for a coffee... well - I don't do either of those things... so I'm going to go ahead and complain!! It's crazy! The only thing I can say good about it is... thank God, John carpools! If we both were filling up every week - we'd be broke!
Thank goodness they're starting to make family-sized cars as hybrids now too - although I saw something on the news last night about how those are unsafe around blind people too. I didn't watch the story, but my guess is they are too quiet? From the images I saw - it looked like a blind man was about to cross the street, and then they showed a picture of a hybrid car... I guess maybe they can't hear the engine like other cars, and it causes problems for them in knowing when to cross the street? I don't know - but that's terrible.
It'll be 3 years or so before I get another car, so maybe they'll have that fixed before then...
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Mentor Monday Recap
Lisa and I went through Exodus 16:1-18 yesterday during our time together, and she really shed new light on these verses for me.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Look, I'm going to rain down food from heaven for you. The people can go out each day and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether they will follow my instructions. (Exodus 16:4) (NLT)
Lisa said that what this verse means to her is that it is our job to delve into the Bible to gather our spiritual food to get us through each day. We do this through prayer and reading scripture. God gave us the Bible, and it is up to us to use it to guide our lives.
So the people of Israel went out and gathered this food-some getting more, and some getting less. (Exodus 16:17) (NLT)
By gathering two quarts for each person, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed. (Exodus 16:18) (NLT)
We read the next two and discussed them together. Lisa explained that this can be an analogy for us to realize that God provides us just what we need to get us through the day. Sometimes we'll need more and other times we'll need less, but he will always provide just enough.
So in combining those ideas for someone that is just starting to begin studying scripture - it meant a lot to me to think that God will provide just enough for me spiritually, and all I have to do is get into the word and "gather" it each day. What an amazing gift!! I'm humbled already...
Lisa showed me her plans for our lessons last night, and our plan is to meet every other Monday for the next 12 weeks (6 meetings). From there, we'll see if we need a break or what we want to do next.
For my daily reading - I'll be reading from James (we're going to cover the whole book) and from Psalms. We're going to be going at my pace and adjust how we need to as we go forward... faster or slower depending on how I'm doing. If we finish James before the 12 weeks - she will choose another book for us to read.
She's also assigned me two verses to memorize before our next meeting: Psalm 5:3 and Proverb 18:10 - I will put up the exact wording when I figure out which version we're using for our memorization. I'm assuming that we'll use either the New Living Translation or the New International Version... I've emailed to ask Lisa her preference.
Lisa also has questions that I need to be prepared to answer each week... I'm going to email her to send those to me, and I'll share with you what they are when I get them from her.
It was really neat for me to see how much effort she had already put into this in preparation for our first meeting. She is such a neat person, and I'm thrilled to be working with her on this... I know that I'm going to learn alot!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Could it be?
So according to Prevention Magazine's weight loss model... this is me at my beginning weight, current weight, and me at my goal weight. Can I just say that I don't think I look as good as the model of me currently (really didn't look as good as her when I started either!!)... but it's really hard to imagine me ever being like the third one!! I really can't tell much difference between the first two either... but I'm sure some of you can... You know - something that is really hard for me - is imagining success in this process. I think that with years and years of diets and failures... I've been conditioned to think that my current weight is about the best it's ever going to get. Somewhere in there is hope that I could reach the bottom picture, but since I can't remember ever being thin... it's a stretch.
Seriously - even in Kindergarten - I was a chubby kid... so it was somewhere between ages 4 & 5 that this problem began, and it just compounded over the years... and I'm not complaining because - had I really been able to take it seriously at an earlier age - maybe it wouldn't have gotten to the point that it did with my health. Although, I might not have understood things in the same way if they had happened differently.
I don't know - I guess the craziness that I experienced during the first plateu is starting up again. I guess I just really thought that there would be periods when my body would be tricked into losing several pounds in a week, but that doesn't seem to be part of my plan. I'm again - not complaining - it just makes it that much harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel... or to imagine what things might be like at my goal... I still have 117 pounds to lose (give or take one or two) and it'll take me over 2 years to get there at this rate... which I thought I had surgery to speed this up, or at least that was part of it!
I just wanted to be farther down the road at this point - looking at the possiblilty of having a baby in 2009... and I know that it's still possible... but not as possible as being 100 pounds into this journey would be...
Okay, end of silly rant.
Tonight - I'm meeting with Lisa for our first session... so I'll have some stuff to blog about when I get home, and with the hubs watching the NCAA Championship tonight... I don't see a problem with getting it blogged.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Seriously?
I saw this picture and thought it was appropriate... and pretty funny too. Anyway, another fabulous day in paradise... all except for the car situation. About 6 months ago, something weird happened with my Expedition's engine... it started miss-firing, and while it's an 8 cylinder it was only using 7. This made my truck really shaky.
Well, this morning on the way to church it started doing it again... really badly this time. We had to run a couple of lights to get it to church, and when we pulled in the parking lot - it was smoking... nice... I felt like such a loser!
We had a great time in church, we started a new series about marriage today. The message was about two people becoming one, and realizing that everything is not about "You" - that when you live to serve you do things with happiness in your heart... even when the gesture isn't recipricated... or goes unappreciated... no matter what - you serve the other person (in any relationship). Kevin even used a really good analogy, and gave us all a visual to use for the next few weeks while we're going through this series. He took two different colors of play-doh and mushed them together... not just side by side... but where the colors are mixed and become 1 ball of play-doh... that can't be separated back into the original colors. So we were all given a little deal of play-doh to bring home, and those of us that are married are to mix our colors. He's going to use it for reference during our next few sermons.
Then we headed back out to the gheto-mobile, and had a lovely couple from church follow us home... seriously though - we had to literally turn off the car at every light because it would start smoking... so I guess my sick little truck is headed back to the shop. I guess they'll come get it with the flat-bed trailer tomorrow, just like the last time.
I only hope that they truly get it fixed this time!! Until then - I'm a cowgirl driving to work in John's truck... man - I hate driving that thing! It seems like it's a mile wider than mine... but I'll get through it.
Tomorrow is my first meeting with my mentor - and I'm thrilled to get started working with her. We'll be meeting at Starbucks tomorrow - so I might have to check into one of those sugar free coffees that Lacy has been talking about... I've avoided getting anything from there since my surgery - but we'll see - maybe I'll just get an iced tea or some water, and stick it out a little longer. I think that might be a better option because if I start back into getting those - that's drinking calories again, and I'm still trying to avoid doing anything that would make my weight loss any slower - since it's SLOW enough!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Curious Changes
Ok, so this picture just made me laugh... and I always love seeing images in posts. Couple those things with the fact that I adore animals... and funny pictures of them... and as often as the pictures are appropriate - I'm going to stick them in.I was sitting in my office yesterday, and noticed something that I've never seen before... I guess I've always had really chubby arms and hands... but I can now see blue veins going everywhere! I have to say that I'm not really sure that it's attractive, but I guess it is one step closer to normal.
The collar bone is still coming out more and more all the time... along with my hip bones, and ... (Dad - stop reading if you can't handle it...) my bones in my rear. I swear... I still have over 100 pounds to lose, but I have no butt... so when I sit in chairs that don't have any padding... it's like bone on wood or bone on plastic... and it's kind of uncomfortable... not sure how that's going to work in the future!
That's probably to much information, but I know my WLS sisters out there can relate!
Friday, April 4, 2008
0-15 In 1 Afternoon
I know that title probably has you all trying to figure it out... basically - it's a joke about the fact that John and I don't have kids of our own, but we've got one of his cousin's kiddos for the weekend. He's 15, which could be scary for those of us without kids... but this one really is a good kid! John is going to help him out with some Algebra this weekend, and I feel sure that they'll play some Xbox too...
His name is Justin, and I'm so impressed with him... he's really pretty quiet, and I tend to forget that he's entering those teenage years... but he weathered my commute with me today (1 1/2 hours in the rain) and told me all about the new high school that he's going to be moving to next year. It's Justin's family that is building a house out here by us, and it sounds like the kids are really excited about the new opportunities. I even heard some interesting things about the food at the schools out here - it sounds like a whole different world than what I had growing up... but I'm sure I'll hear more about it when they get started.
I hope that John can help him get a good grasp on the Algebra... it's so important for him throughout the rest of his high school and college career... Lord knows - if I would have actually learned it - I wouldn't have struggled so much with my math courses.
Isn't it funny how your whole perspective changes on education and youth when you have to go out on your own and make a living... if only we aged backwards... I could have SO much more fun with my youth!
I don't know what's in store for this weekend - I might spend the day with the boys tomorrow and get in a little reading and scrapbooking... or who knows what the world might throw my way... I'll be sure to write about it though - so it won't be a mystery for long!
His name is Justin, and I'm so impressed with him... he's really pretty quiet, and I tend to forget that he's entering those teenage years... but he weathered my commute with me today (1 1/2 hours in the rain) and told me all about the new high school that he's going to be moving to next year. It's Justin's family that is building a house out here by us, and it sounds like the kids are really excited about the new opportunities. I even heard some interesting things about the food at the schools out here - it sounds like a whole different world than what I had growing up... but I'm sure I'll hear more about it when they get started.
I hope that John can help him get a good grasp on the Algebra... it's so important for him throughout the rest of his high school and college career... Lord knows - if I would have actually learned it - I wouldn't have struggled so much with my math courses.
Isn't it funny how your whole perspective changes on education and youth when you have to go out on your own and make a living... if only we aged backwards... I could have SO much more fun with my youth!
I don't know what's in store for this weekend - I might spend the day with the boys tomorrow and get in a little reading and scrapbooking... or who knows what the world might throw my way... I'll be sure to write about it though - so it won't be a mystery for long!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Prayer in Schools
One thing I found interesting last week when I observed, was that as part of the morning announcements - the kids observe a minute of silence... where they are instructed to meditate, pray or just sit quietly. I thought that was really refreshing, and of course I know the principal and she's a Christ-Follower... so it was a neat way to bring that into the school without going against any of the separation of church & state laws. In that light, here is some food for thought... in light of my career of choice... my father-in-law sent me this:
After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching prospect said,
"Let me see if I've got this right: You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.
You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.
You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.
You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the state exams.
You want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.
You want me to do all this and then you tell me........I CAN'T PRAY?"
After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching prospect said,
"Let me see if I've got this right: You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.
You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.
You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.
You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the state exams.
You want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.
You want me to do all this and then you tell me........I CAN'T PRAY?"
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