South Carolina Here I Come!

Get ready South Carolina ... I'm coming your way on the 29th of July! My son, Reese, is graduating from Boot Camp. He made it ... well, I hope he made it ... and his girl friend and I are flying out on Wednesday for his graduation. We're trying to make accomodations through the base and can't reserve our one room, one small bed, until Wednesday. Yikes ... can you imagine having to sleep with your soon to be (hopefully) mother-in-law, and she snores? Anyway, we're really excited to see him. He doesn't know that we're coming so hopefully he'll call so we can tell him our arrangements. He ships out to Virginia on Saturday and we'll fly home that evening. He wanted us to drive him to Virginia and stay there for a few days but the cost of rental car, one way, and housing was just too expensive.

Hmmm ... what have I been up to these last couple of days. I finally got my french door painted inside and out. That took a lot of oomph out of me. I just need to put one more final coat on the outside of the door and I'll be done! A project that I've been putting off for several months. And it wasn't as hard as I was thinking it would be. It was harder!

Some of you have asked if I take supplements after the surgery. Definitely yes! I take a sublingual Vitamin B under my tongue and chewable multi-vitamin (gag) every morning. When I start introducing meats into my diet, other than canned meats or deli meats, I will start on a chewable Calcium with D. I need to take these suppliments for life. I'm not supposed to ever take aspirin or ibuprofen. These medicines will cause an ulcer in the new stomach pouch. It's amazing that I haven't had a headache since I stopped taking the pain medication after my surgery. Normally I have headaches every other day. I really think that my headaches were due to sugar. A few years ago I went off of sugar for two years and my headaches were almost null. If I do get a headache I can take Tylenol but will have to cut it into fourths to be able to swallow.

Every Friday night is date night and Lynn and I usually go out to dinner. He's been having withdrawal symptoms since my surgery because we haven't gone out. We have our grandaughter from Oregon staying with us for a few days and she loves Chinese food, so I suggested we go for Chinese last night. Hmmm ... what can I have? Well, I ordered a vegetable plate and asked that they steam the veggies really soft. I introduced my new tummy to a little broccoli, carrot, snow pea, and mushroom. I noticed right away that they were cooked soft enough for me. But once again, I chewed and chewed and chewed. I noticed that Sarah and Lynn were through with their first plate of food before I had even finished my meager portion. It's amazing at how fast I used to eat and how much I could consume in a short amount of time. I think one of the big secrets to losing weight is to take smaller portions, chew and chew, and take your time eating. You'll recoginze the feeling of foolness before you're finished with your food. And then the important part, STOP EATING! I also picked out a tiny piece of chicken from their plate of fried rice and tried that. It's really too soon to start eating regular meats but I thought I'd give it a try. After eating I noticed that it felt like I had a big burp that needed to come up. It was then that I realized my pouch wasn't really accepting the veggies and chicken. I knew that if I burped it would come up, so I used mind over matter and kept it down. It was a little uncomfortable for a couple of hours and then I was fine. One nice thing about eating out ... I'm a cheap date! Give me a couple bites of your food and I'm fine.

I've had some invites to some of your gatherings at convention. I'll try to swing by. E-mail me your details at sumatragal@gmail.com. or comment here on my blog.

And, yes ... more main dishes for the recipe book would be delightful.

Gotta run .. we're catching a bus to tour the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House this morning at 9:00. Can't wait to see the inside of this beautiful ediface. The cool thing is ... if there is ever a new temple built in your area, you can go inside it while they have the open house. It' s amazing and something you won't want to miss!

Love to All!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so happy that your able to see your son! also that your doing so well with your new lifestyle. I'd love to chat with you sometime...your so possitive and well, just an inspiration! There is a get toghether at the blue iquana the 4th of August if your free... Is there anything you suggest one can't miss when coming to Salt Lake? I arrive tuesday afternoon and leave Sunday morning, the only time I'll get away from the convention is going to riverton....but is there something close that is a MUST? your so sweet to answer, God Bless, Deb

Unknown said...

My family and I were just in Utah for a family reunion. One of the activities was to tour the Oquirrh Mountain LDS Temple. It is absolutely breathtaking, and it was fun for the eight kids that accompanied us. I noticed the use of circles in the temple throughout the decor, and the circle is a symbol for eternity. It was most prominent in the sealing and celestial room where it was used as border on the crown of the room.