You better run to the bathroom and grab a drink before sitting down to read this monster!

Well, I was SO busy yesterday, I didn’t have time to even blog about my day so I thought I’d go ahead and update you on all the exciting stuff I did OUTSIDE MY HOUSE yesterday! I may bore you to tears because I really didn’t do anything all that exciting, but 5 months ago, there was NO way I could have tackled this day and actually enjoyed myself.

Of course, the fun starts just getting ready to leave the house because I really enjoy putting on makeup and picking out clothes to wear. I chose this pretty burgundy chenille sweater I’ve had for a few years that still had the tags on it and wasn’t sure it was going to fit, but when I put it on, it was almost a bit too big. Then I had to find some pants. The first pair of pants were a bit too small, well…not really small I think they are supposed to fit more like leggings and I’m just really not into that look. I just don’t think fat people have any business wearing skinny jeans, jeggings or leggings period. I wore them in the 80’s or 90’s (whenever they were last popular) but now I can see that it can make us look like a bowling ball precariously perched on a couple toothpicks…not the most flattering look, at least for me its not. I went ahead and tried them on and asked Erik for his opinion and he promptly mentioned the “skinny jeans” look maybe wasn’t going to work for me so I went back to my closet.

The problem is, the past couple of years that I’ve been purchasing clearance stuff in smaller sizes, they have mainly been tops, sweaters, etc. I don’t think I bought many pants unless they really caught my eye. I found a pair of black pants, put them on and they were WAY huge on me. I had to pull them up to my bra, just so the ankles weren’t around my feet and my legs were swimming in the pant legs, but we were running late and I thought they’d make do. I spent the rest of the day, hiking my pants up, rolling the stomach down, etc to no avail. These are definitely going in the “Can no longer wear” pile. The pictures below were taken as my 5 month progress pictures (again, not a lot of change that I see) and show the final outfit.

Once I got dressed, I went to pick out some jewelry (YES! I was getting all gussied up for my day of errands!). I chose one of my mother’s rings and another ring she bought for me that I hadn’t been able to wear for years because my fingers were too fat! Then I chose a necklace and earring set I got from AVON (which is half off at the moment if you like it. Just make sure you go to http://mvandever.avonrepresentative.com/ and then search for “Jet Accented Double Strand Gift Set” to order and I’ll get credit for it.) It is going for $9.99 right now and I can tell you, it is even prettier in person. Even Erik remarked at how pretty it was when I asked him to help me put the necklace on. On a side note, I’ve been VERY impressed with any jewelry I’ve purchased from AVON. To be quite honest, I kind of expected it to look great in the brochure, but look or feel cheaply made when I actually received it ( I know I shouldn’t talk like that since I’m a new AVON rep, but you know I’m always going to be honest with you guys even if I am selling the stuff). I have loved everything I’ve purchased so far.

Anyway, I completed my outfit with some sensible black shoes because I knew I was going to be doing a lot of walking lol. They are basically kedd looking sort of sneakers and probably look orthopedic, but they are extremely comfortable. If you’ve never purchased a pair of Softwalk shoes before, they are definitely worth the price! The inner soles are kind of like those egg crate type mattresses…very comfortable. I won’t lie, most of their shoes have that “practical pair of shoes” look, but if you have a day where comfort needs to trump style, these shoes will definitely do the trick and lets face it, when you have Fred Flintstone feet that are about as wide as they are long…you can’t be fussy in the shoe department! If it fits, BUY it has always been my motto!

So, here are this month’s round of pictures. You can actually see all my progress pictures here as well. I’m going to see if Erik can get my measurements today as well because I’m due for those. I’m still holding right around 333, but I’ve decided my new goal is to *try* to get to 317 by the end of the month. That will put me at 100 lbs lost in the first 6 months since surgery and a total of 148 lbs lost overall! I’m going to amp up the exercise and see if that helps. It may be a lofty goal, but it will be fun to see if I can make it.

So, the first place we went was the community college downtown. I had been going back and forth about starting my pre-requisites for nursing school this Spring. After this most recent hospitalization, I almost trashed the idea for good (at least for the Spring Semester), but then thought I’d go ahead and give it a try. I really don’t want to delay it anymore so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that I stay healthy. I’ve registered for Chem 1 and Intro to Sociology. Both classes will be completed online, but I will have to go in once a week (Thursday nights) for the Chem lab and I may have to go in for testing too…still have to learn more about how that works. Erik is also going to be taking a few classes so that he can finish his Interpreting certification. If all goes well, he should be done by the end of next year. Once he completes his certification, he will be able to make more money and have access to more work as an interpreter for the deaf which will be good since we have discussed that he will need to carry most of the financial load while I’m in nursing school (as I did for the four years he was working on his interpreting degree).

We both had to go in to sort out our financial aid stuff basically. I can’t get any grants since I have a B.S. already and Erik has a bazillion hours accrued without a degree so he is ineligible for grants as well. We were turning in information and meeting with advisers in order to explain why we were going back to school when I already had a B.S. and in Erik’s case, why he had a bazillion hours, but no degree yet. Hopefully we will get approved for some loans at least. I have to pay for my classes by the 9th and was a bit worried that, considering how strapped we are right now, maybe that was going to be the deciding factor about whether or not I started in the Spring or had to wait for Summer. As a last ditch effort, I emailed a woman who has always been sort of a surrogate mom to me (I think I mentioned that she was also there for my surgery) and probably the closest thing I had to a mentor growing up. My mom actually used to do her hair once a week so I saw her every week for most of my childhood. She has a PhD in education and probably was one of the biggest influences on me in pursuing my own education beyond high school. I emailed her, explained my situation and how much my tuition was and asked if I could borrow the money from her and pay her back if and when I got a loan. If I don’t get a loan, I will work something out with her to pay her back monthly. Thankfully, she wrote back and said she’d be happy to help and would be mailing me a check immediately…LOVE her! Thanks Pat!

After we got done at the college (where I did quite a bit of walking, stair climbing, etc!), we ran to the library to return some books and pick up some new books I had on hold. I started reading “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman based on the recommendation of my good friend Melissa over at Must Read Faster. You can read her review here (http://mustreadfaster.blogspot.com/2010/11/review-if-i-stay.html). She is cute as a button both inside and out (although she would probably cringe hearing me describe her that way lol) and a good friend of mine and I love her blog!

After the library, we had to stop by the bank and then it was off to pick up Tanner so that we could go see his audiologist to see about getting a new earmold made for him. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but our rescue Pomeranian snatched his hearing aid off the coffee table and ATE Tanner’s earmold! We don’t call him “Stink” for nothing…every inch of that dog is a stinker! His given name is actually “Paxton” and he still refuses to answer to “Stink” or “Stinkaroo” as I like to call him, but he better get used to it or start behaving! Anyway, most dogs are attracted to earmolds because of all the earwax, but our sweet lab, Thunder has never ever ate his earmold so I guess we didn’t even think about Stink. A few weeks ago, I heard him under my bed, where he hoards his best “treasures,” chomping away on something. I had Erik get down to check and he pulled out Tanner’s hearing aid sans earmold…great! They are only $75.00 a piece and no, they aren’t covered by insurance (most hearing related products aren’t fyi) so we weren’t thrilled at this discovery. I told Tanner that we would pay for this replacement, but from now on, he needs to make sure he puts his hearing aid up where Stink can’t get to it, because the next earmold will come out of his pocket! If you are wondering why we haven't gotten rid of this rascally mongrel, I give you exhibit "A" below...he's too freakin' cute! BTW, Tanner and I were reading "In the Forest of Hands and Teeth" together and Stink jumped up on the bed and lay down just like you see him there. Guess he can enjoy a bedtime story too :)



We got to the audiologist and one of the guys in the room with us just seemed to be observing while they made the impression for Tanner’s mold. I asked him his name and discovered he was doing his internship to complete his PhD in Audiology. He looked all of 20 years old! Holy cow! I enjoyed talking to him though and told him my undergrad degree was in Communication Disorders and had contemplated going back to grad school to complete my masters in audiology, but ultimately decided to go back to nursing school. We talked quite a bit about how Tanner lost his hearing, where I studied, other topics in deafness and hearing loss, etc. When we left, Erik said “You were very talkative in there!” with an amused smile on his face he added, “You need to get out more!” Embarrassed, I asked if I had been annoyingly talkative and he said “No, he seemed to be enjoying the conversation, it was just funny to hear you chatting away like that.” Just for the record, Tanner got a earmold with swirled red, black and white colors although the audiologist jokingly tried to talk him into a pink glitter one.

After we were finished at the audiologist, we ran home, got something to eat and then I went to pick up my new glasses (see picture below). I put them on (after a year of not wearing them) and couldn’t believe the difference! I don’t have a very strong prescription so I can get by without them, but WOW, putting them on just brought everything into crystal clear focus. So nice to be able to SEE.



Have you actually read this whole post? If so, you must be a glutton for punishment or a die-hard blog reader lol! Thanks either way because even though the activities I described were far from compelling, the fact that I was able to DO all of this and enjoy my day is something I just couldn’t have done 5 months ago. I continue to be thankful for each and every step I take back towards a normal life!