New Low

Yay, I finally did it...I reached a new low!  Since I restarted my battle in November 2009, my lowest weight was 269 lbs in November of 2010, as of today I weigh 268 lbs!  Now I feel like I can finally finally be working in the right direction again, I am not playing catch up, I am breaking new ground for myself.

Thank you Ayla for a fabulous weekend and an incredible workout and swim which I know made the difference for me this week.

Now, having said that, I do believe that many years ago (I'm not even sure when it was, maybe 2000) the very first time I ever tried Weight Watchers I did really well and though I don't remember exactly, I am pretty sure I got to 250 lbs, so when I get back there, that too will be incredible.  I plan to do that this summer :)

Visiting with Ayla this time I was 20 lbs less than when I visited in November and I sure could feel the difference.  And in just under 3 weeks I am going to Arizona and I am at least 20 lbs less than I was when we went last year.  I like knowing that and perhaps I will feel a difference in my comfort on the plane as well.   I can't wait to go.

By the way, I bought the most fabulous shoes right before I left Edmonton!  I have never spent $200 on a pair of shoes before (and likely shouldn't have this time) but I absolutely love them.   Actually, that's not entirely true, I did spend about the same on my new running shoes.  Here are both pairs.

And here were my backseat buddies this weekend :)

Today I am at home with my puppy.  He missed me like crazy for the 2 nights I was away, not sure how he's gonna handle the week in Arizona soon!  Poor guy.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Life :( and :)

I think I have been avoiding posting.  Life kind of went sideways at work for me and I've been very sad.  One of my co-workers died last week...she was the sweetest person ever.  Last year she was diagnosed with lung cancer from asbestos, it was a shock to her and all of us.  She went on sick leave and had chemo (it didn't work so they stopped), then had surgery to remove one of her lungs.  When she was recovered from that and radiation, she finally came back to work in November.  She looked fantastic!  And her treatment was very successful.  In March she came and told my boss and I that they found cancer in her other lung.  Seriously...we were so sad but she was so positive.  They had a treatment plan and it was all good.  She just left again on sick leave a couple of weeks ago.  I think she only had one chemo treatment, ended up with pneumonia and her remaining lung collapsed.  She hung on a couple more days and then that was it.  I know with everything I just said it sounds like it shouldn't have been a surprise but it truly was.  She has left a big hole here at work.  She worked here for over 20 years.  And in my role as administrator for the section so I had a few days that were quite difficult cause I wasn't able to stop thinking about her and focus on something else as it was my job to help get things in order, to draft the email to go out to all the staff letting them know that she had died, etc.  It's hard to see her empty workstation. At some point we will have to clean it out and perhaps let someone else sit there.  Too soon for that though. Anyway, the funeral was on Monday and a few days have gone past now so I feel more back to normal and I can finally tell the story without breaking down.  She will be missed.

I think because of that and it being my TOM I have been struggling with working out.  Haven't really done anything physical since Tiger and I went for a nice long walk to the dog park on the Saturday.  I have been eating okay though, so I am relieved about that.  Despite not being okay I haven't had any desire to sooth myself with food so that makes me happy.  And I am coming out on the other side and know things will get back to normal soon. 

Best news ever...I get to see Ayla this weekend!! :)  This started out as a super crappy week but is ending super awesome.  I can't wait to see her and the boys and Rob and to hang out and work out with them.  I will see them tomorrow...SO EXCITED!

I didn't lose any weight last week and feel like I likely won't this week either, but that's okay.  I'm okay.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a good Easter :)  Mine was pretty good, Saturday we had supper with my family at my sister's house and Sunday we had supper at Gord's Mom & Dad's house.  That's two days in a row with big meals...ugh...but they were delicious and I think I planned my days sufficiently that I did okay overall.  

So supper at my sister's house was at 4:00, she invited us all by email, so we all got the same message.  We went there just before 4:00 and amazingly enough it wasn't a crazy madhouse like it usually is.  With how big my family is it doesn't take much.  But it was actually fairly quiet and relaxing.  One of my sisters wasn't there yet, but she basically lives on her own schedule and is rarely on time.  So we just watched golf, ate around 4:30 and knew she would get there when she got there.  She showed up at 5:00 and proceeded to get mad at all the rest of us because she was sitting at home the whole time thinking that supper was at 5:00 and why the hell didn't any of us text or call her to find out where she was?  Apparently she thinks we would have done so if it was one of my other sisters who had been late.  She did sit down and eat, made a few comments about how she paid for the turkey and then we didn't even wait for her to eat with us.  Like I said, we have a huge family, someone is always late and no, we don't wait for everyone before we eat.  She finished eating and said it was time to go.  She acknowledged that it was her fault she had the time screwed up but still felt that we should have done something in her absence.  So she left at 5:30 and my mom promptly got up and went into her bedroom.  Thanks very much for upsetting my mom on Easter...anyway...before she was there and after she was there we had a very nice time.  And I am sorry that she ended up upset, but we didn't really do anything, here I thought we were being nice by not stressing because she was late again.  Can't win.

Last week I finally went for my mammogram, first time for me.  What an incredibly painful and humiliating experience :(.  But results came back clear so it was worth it.  I admit I was fairly crabby that day, lol.

Gord and I also got our eyes checked this week so I think we are finally done all of our check ups for a while.  Yay :)

Today is a stat holiday for me so I get to stay home with my puppy.  He doesn't know yet but it's haircut day for him, lol.  He is stressed while I do it but then he feels so much better after.  And I just got a cordless clippers to use so I am looking forward to trying them out and not having to worry about a heavy cord.

Today is sunny but cold here...brrr...but I can't complain too much because we somehow were lucky enough to not get more snow even though it seems like everyone around us did.  

Take care :)

....Waiting....

Awe man, I am driving myself insane!  Ever since I found out that I can get breast reduction surgery, it's all I can think about and I am waiting waiting waiting to hear when my first appointment might be.  I even shut off my answering machine and starting paying for voice mail so that I will get a notification anytime someone leaves me a voice mail at home.  Desperate much? lol  I'm trying to be patient but not really succeeding, I just want it so much now.  

Other than that I am still doing well.  For the first time I walked home from work this week, it always seemed to far a distance, but I googled it and suddenly it didn't look that bad.  Plus my legs are still getting quite sore from running on the treadmill so I figured taking some lengthy walks would be good.  So I tried it out on Wednesday and it only took me about 37 minutes, which was pretty good.  I pushed myself so I was a bit sore, but I was still able to do it again the next day.  Sure is nice to get home and have my exercise already out of the way.  I hope to do that maybe once or twice each week, and to balance that with my working out at home.  I had a great workout on the treadmill & bike this afternoon, then used the kettle bells as well.  I am sore and tired and that feels good.

Last weekend my hubby and I went to Home Styles 2012, it was fun to walk around and see everything, especially since my hubby can be quite lame and rarely wants to do anything.  We also got to see Sandra Rinomato speak, we were both excited about that, we love Property Virgins, though we learned she's not making that show anymore, she has a new show starting in April.  Anyway, while we were there we put our names in to win a bunch of things and turns out my husband won a climbing personal safety kit which of course is something we don't need at all, lol.  We hope to sell and make some money, it's worth $450 and we sure could use some extra money in the golf fund since the golf courses are starting to open.  This year we are hoping to start walking 18 holes once a weekend, if we can afford it.  I haven't been able to walk 18 before so I am excited to see how that will go.  I must remember to keep hydrated, I think that is part of my failure.

Last night I watched The Descendants with a couple of my sisters, was a good movie, I enjoyed it.  Yesterday was a nice sunny day but today is rainy and dreary.  I need the sun back.  Always.


I hope everyone has a good week and a great April.  :)