Merry Christmas!

I only work today till noon, then off for a week!!!! I'm so happy. Christmas is a wonderful family time of the year. Everyone seems happier, kinder...

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope Santa is good to you....!

fine, just fine....

i'm two weeks post-op and feeling very well. trying to get accustomed to my new eating habits. Iv'e gone from all liquids for two weeks to pureed foods. I pureed a perfectly descent meal into what looks like very bad toddler food. oh well, what can i say. it beats broth....

i'm almost finished Christmas shopping. i'm proud to say i've done it 100% online. i didn't have to set foot in the busy shopping mall. now, that's something to smile about!

a change for the better...

i would like to let everyone know about something i've decided to do.
after much research and discussion, i've decided to have "lap-band" surgery for weight loss.
my surgery will be on thursday, december 1st.
the procedure will be done laparoscopally. it takes about 45 minutes and i will only have to be in the hospital overnight. gregg will be with me.
i will have a silicone band place around my stomach. this way, i will only fill up the top portion of my stomach when i eat, (and then the food will move on down and be digested normally.) there is no cutting or stapling. the stomach will only hold 2oz of food at time, so i will only be eating about a half cup of food at every meal.
for the first two weeks, while the stomach is adjusting to the band, i will be on liquids, the next two weeks i will have pureed food and then move on to soft foods and then a regular diet.
the doctor that is doing the procedure is dr.carlos ferrari. i was referred to him by dr. dane and i've also talked to others that have gone to him so i am comfortable with my choice.
i will be having the surgery at memorial herman memorial city hospital at I-10 and Gessner in houston.
unlike gastric bypass, this type of surgery is reversible, the band can be removed if needed. the weight loss is a little slower than the popular gastric bypass surgery. but they say a slower weight loss is better for you in the long run. within the first year, a patient will typically lose about around 70 lbs or so. i am a hundred pounds overweight right now so i am hoping for a successful surgery.
i've been told if i were to remain the weight i am now, that in another 10-15 years i would more than likely have more medical issues. gregg and the boys are very supportive of my decision and i hope you will be too, as in doing this i hope to live a long and healthy life!
~cindy

At the Ranger's Baseball Game in '96 

Time flies....

Wow! Today is Gregg's and my twentieth wedding anniversary! I think it's a wonderful thing! I am proud and happy to have such a great husband, father and best friend...!

Did you brush your teeth, Did you get your lunch money...

BAAaack to School day! The boys all got off to school this morning. I made a point to get up and devote the morning to a good sendoff! I made them each a 4 egg omelet with sausage and cheese. And sent them off with happy faces! Our fifth grader has been going for 2 days already. He seems happy and content to be back in the swing. Our freshman mentioned that he wasn't nervous at all, I think he's happy to be going into highschool, (could just be the abundance of pretty girls). Our senior, well, I think he's happy just being a senior.
Hopefully it will be a great year had by all.

Hey, and my lunch breaks will now be my own again........! Yes, the simple things!

hi!

T.G.I.F.!

It's 1:40 in the afternoon and I'm hoping that the afternoon zoooooms by. I don't know if you've ever done this, but, you know how it feels when you wake up on Saturday morning and think...yes! no work...it's the wknd...i can sleep longer! Well, this morning I woke up and thought for a split second that it was Saturday and then BAM! it hit me......it's only friday. Dang It!

I'm going to finish doing some back to school junk this weekend then we have a baseball team barbeque to go to on Sunday. It should be alot of fun.. just hope the weather isn't too terrible hot.

I've walked two miles every morning this week. I'm hoping I can manage to get to three miles a morning before the 20th. That is when we go to Sugarland for our first official training day. The first thing they do is clock you on three miles to see where your benchmark is.

Thanks for the encouraging words and the wonderful donations to the Leukemia Society!

Check out my walking blog or my donation page if you'd like!

have a nice weekend!

Down Hill Slide...

August 1st. The summer really has gone by quickly. School will be starting in only two weeks. The month will be a busy one. I've gotten a jump start on the school supplies $$$. But, I've got school clothes to purchase also.

I've starting training for a marathon! I'm very excited. Thus, I will probably be posting more on my 'walking blog'. Any extra encouragement would be appreciated!

My main focus for the month though, will be my kids as usual. I like the household to be very organized by the first day of school. I need to transform the house from the 'summer carefree craziness' to the 'let's study and be focused' setting. But, aside from that I will be walking as much as I can and trying to gain endurance.

My middle son, Travis, just got back from the NBC Hap Dumont World Series in Arkansas. They took 2nd place. It was a very busy week for him, playing up to three games back to back. They won the series the past two years so I guess it's only fair to take second this time! He got back on Saturday and today starts football practice! Wow, to be young ......!

a house renewed...

man, the day has come to force ourselves to spend money on our house. we knew if we didn't, the roof was going to blow off with the next hurricane that rolls thru. we had a list of priority items; new roof, replace the two sets of french doors that have been nailed shut due to falling apart at the seams and tile. our carpet was put in when we bought the house 14 yrs ago. we've had three kids grow up on that carpet. dirty shoes, spilt drinks, just all around dirt. it was time.

so, for the last week, we've had almost everything we own jam packed in the garage. we have one tv tray and a couple of plastic chairs between the five of us. it has been nothin but chaos. we aren't tiling all the bedrooms. this means our bedroom has also become a temporary catch all for everything from the big screen to the ten-ton safe. heaven forbid if i have to go to the bathroom during the night. it means shimming sideways, stepping over loose items, dodging a bookshelf and groping for a light...

as of today, the tile is complete. it's awesome. i cringe at the thought of moving our 'garage sale' style of furniture back in on that beautiful tile. oh well, one thing at a time, right?!

maybe i can post a pretty picture of the completed project for ya!

x 

kyle doing what he loves... 

Gotta love em..

God knew what he was doing when he decided I needed to be a mother to boys. Especially in the teenage years. I am guessing I probably would not have been very good at the hairspray, fingernails and accessories when it comes to teenage girls. This weekend, our middle son had his 8th grade formal dance. It was on Saturday night. It was already going to be a busy weekend and this big event would also be taking place in the middle of participating in an out-of-town baseball tournament.
Other than the money spent on ordering a tux and a corsage and the time it took to take him to be measured for the tux, we were pretty much prepared for the dance. On the other hand, I noticed that a whole heck of alot more went into preparing for the daughters.
They had to have spent many hours shopping for the perfect formal dress and shoes ($) and then the trip to the salon for the nails and the up-do ($, $). It would have been a much bigger ordeal getting a girl ready. I can only imagine the stress that would be flying around my house. Luckily, I just had to send him to the shower, help him into his monkey suit and off he went!
Being a mother to three boys....$priceless!

Travis, 8th grade dance... 

Travis, 14yrs old @ 8th grade formal... 

no book

Oh, forgot to mention.
I didn't get the book off ebay.
It ended up going for like 86.50

whoosh.

oh well..

mother's day in bed...

i made the mistake the other day of saying, "boy, i haven't been sick in a long time".
then "bam"!! it hit me.
i woke up mother's day morning and could hardly swallow. my throat hurt, head hurt and to top it off i had poison ivy!
i had been doing a little yard work the day before and darned if i didn't pull at some good ol poison ivy barehanded.
so, needless to say, i spent all but mother's day lunch, in the bed...

i have to say, my hubby and boys really took care of me....breakfast, a big balloon, two dozen roses and two sweet, sweet cards....

they must love me!

Weigh In...

Ok. I need a little weight loss help now!

We are taking a little family trip in exactly 51 days from today. I cannot reveal my starting weight because it is just a little too humilitating. I need to lose about 50 lbs, but no way is that going to happen in that short of time. If I could at least lose 1/2 of that before our trip, i'd be happy.
Any inspiration out there? I'd love to hear it.

I realize i'm too far past every being a "eye catcher" again. But, honestly, i'd just like to be able to get out there and do all the fun stuff there is to do with my boys and not be embarrassed to be in shorts.

So, here I start. I'm planning on cutting back on my servings at mealtimes. And I do intend on getting over to the track and walking as much as possible between now and then....

Help, anyone who might have a few great ideas....! Hit me...

Big Pink Book

I'm bidding on Ebay right now. It's for a children's book that was my favorite when I was a kid.

Being from a "traveling family", it seemed like every time we moved growing up, my mom would throw stuff away as she packed. I'm sure it makes sense to do that. But in the meantime, alot of the remnants of my youth disappeared. I do still have a few stuffed animals but that's about it.

Anyway, I had this alltime favorite little book when I was about 6 or 7 years old. It was called "The Big Tidy-Up". It was this really big pink book. I happened to locate a few on ebay but my gosh, they want like a couple hundred bucks. That's crazy. Some of them still have the $1 sticker still on the cover.

I'm holding steady on my bid of $40.
We'll see what happens.

Not Friday yet....

We went to a special mass at church last night. It was a memorial celebration for Pope John Paul II. Brandon was one of over thirty alter servers. They had the lights dimmed and lots of candles and flowers around a framed portrait. It was a very special tribute to a wonderful human being.

On a lighter note, I'm not getting any respect from my seventeen year old! man oh man, he's my first born and I must have done too much for him. He's helpless and unappreciative right now. OK, I'm thru venting....

Just one more day till the weekend...

not as pretty on the pic as in real life...sorry!