This morning I got an email stating that someone had left a comment on one of my posts.  I eagerly went to read it (thanks to all who have commented) and it was from my friend, Lea.  And wouldn't you know it -- she was getting on me for not writing lately!  Funny -- she knows I hate this stuff.  Well, maybe not "hate" but I just don't seem to have time most days. 

So, I'm writing today.  Our church is beginning a new outreach program - Celebrate Recovery - and we are so excited about this.  We are having a band come all the way from California to play in our little town -- big news for our area since we are an extremely rural part of NC.  The whole program is a Bible-based 12-step program, not just for alcoholics and addicts, but for anyone with "hangups, hurts, or habits."  I can't believe how much I have learned about myself by attending the step meetings we have been having on Wednesday nights at church.

Sometimes you just need to have someone else say something about themselves to trigger that realization in yourself.  I have realized that I need to spend more "quite time" with God and get myself into the Word more often.  I used to think I was doing okay in that area, until I realized that I need to do it EVERY DAY, not just when things are going bad or if I happen to have the time. 

Sort of like this journaling stuff.  I sit all day on the computer (I do medical transcription from my home) and most days I am just eager to get off of it and do something else.  So, today I am going to say that I will try to write at least 2 times a week.  No way will I be able to commit to every day -- I know myself too good for that!

I love the way Lea ends her posts -- all that summarization -- I need to come up with a way to end mine.  Maybe she will give me some ideas.

Well, yesterday was my 6-month checkup following gastric bypass surgery on April 6, 1005.  Things went great.  I have lost 75 pounds since the surgery, which puts me right on track with what they thought I would be losing.  I have not really done what I should be doing, I exercise VERY little.  If I had been exercising more then I would probably have seen more weight loss. 

As it is, though, I am very pleased with my progress thus far.  I have had more energy and been able to do so much more physically than before the surgery.  I did not really have any major health problems, just basically way over weight (BMI 54) and had just begun having to use a CPAP machine (though I feel I have needed one for years and just never got checked out for one -- preop made me do it), some knee and ankle pains, but no heart disease or high blood pressure or diabetes.  But, all of these run in my family and would have eventually caught up with me.

The most amazing thing for me has been the awareness of what food I actually put in my mouth.  When you can only eat 3 ounces without being sick, you really begin to prioritize what you are eating.  And, before the surgery I was a chocoholic, now just the thought of chocolate makes me nauseous.  I no longer crave sweets like I used to -- though now I have a real love relationship with all things salty and crunchy!

The best part is that I still don't get hungry.  Never a hunger pang.  I could go all day and not eat, and sometimes have to remind myself to stop what I am doing and eat something (go protein!).  I even have to remind myself to get in my fluids because you get "full" so quickly and then you have to wait to consume anything else.  It takes all day just to get my water in and most days I don't get enough of that!

Surgery has been the answer for me to a lifelong struggle with my weight.  I know it's not for everyone, but for me it was the last-resort answer and has well been worth all I have had to go through to get to this point.  I had to fight tooth and nail with my insurance carrier, but finally got approved.  The surgery was a breeze, absolutely no complications, and my scars are not even that noticeable.  I have had no side effects from the surgery, and have only been nauseous when I ate something that disagreed with me (like chocolate and dairy products).  I have had no vomiting episodes except one time about 2 weeks ago when I slept late and dry-heaved following too long of a period without food (kind of like being pregnant and not having those 3 a.m. crackers near the bed to nibble on).

So, life for me is changing.  I have lost 2/3 of a person and still plan to lose about another 50 or so pounds.  They felt like I would lose 100 to 125 pounds, so I am close to their goal for me.  My personal goal was to get to 200 pounds, which I have not weighed in over 27 years (since I was 19 years old).  Right now I weigh less than I have weighed in 20 years -- and my husband says it's like having a different wife (I weighed more than I do now when we started dating way back when).  My clothes are all falling off of me and a friend gave me some of her clothes (she, too, had the surgery 1-1/2 years ago and went from 253 to 135 in 9 months).  I'm beginning to have "loose" skin, which I was really hoping would not happen since most of my weight is in my stomach area, but I can deal with some "bat wings" to get this weight off.

Guess I might need to reconsider this exercise thing and get into a program.  Maybe that should be the goal that I begin working on now.

Well, last night we found out that my husband's sister, Sheri, has severely advanced lung cancer (metastasis from her breast cancer 4 years ago they think) and the doctors have only given her 2 to 3 months to live. Pray, pray, PRAY. At this point, this is the best thing we can do. I know that God can chose to spare her if it is His will. I just hope that we can continue to pray for His will to be done through this. I just lost my daddy almost 2 years ago to pancreatic cancer, diagnosed on 12/12 and gone by 1/6, and it was a struggle to pray for God's will when I so wanted it to be MY will!

Sheri is about to become a grandmother for the first time, baby due in March, and she doesn't think she will be here to see that happen. I so hope that she will. Being a grandmother has certainly brought out feelings that I didn't have when becoming a mother. I cherish each of my grandsons, even though sometimes I would like to wring their little necks! I pray that God will allow her this blessing before he takes her home.  And that is the bright spot in all of this, we know that SHE knows the Lord and that she will be with Him in glory at the end of all of this!

Well, work is calling (again).

Well, this is certainly new for me.  My friend (minwife) got me into this, sort of.  At church we are journaling and I just absolutely hate it.  I guess I just don't see where I have the time to do this.  So, I thought, why not try what she does?  Go on the computer (where I spend most of my life anyway) and just type what I would normally put in that STUPID journal.

So, here goes.  We have 4 kids.  Our only son, Mike, is 28 and is in the US Army, stationed in El Paso, TX, Ft. Bliss, currently.  He is awaiting deployment to Korea with the 108th, now scheduled for June 2006.  Lyn, then next in line, is almost 27 and newly married.  She has 3 sons (Jon 5, TJ 3, and Cameron 1-1/2).  They all live with us.  Then there's Rachel (15) and Melissa (Missy, 12) who are still at home and hs'd.  We have essentially hs'd them from the beginning with a brief break a couple of years ago when they insisted on going to PS.  That lasted about 3 months and then they were dying to get back home!  Imagine that.

Anyway, I am a medical transcriptionist by trade and work from my home.  I am not particularly happy with the current company I am with, but at least I get to make some money and still be here for the girls.  I am finding that as the girls have begun their current school year that I am struggling to get them to do their work.  We have used many curriculums and non-curriculums over the years and currently are using the RC (Robinson Curriculum).  I particularly like the fact that it is book-based (literature reading).  We all are avid readers, so I thought that this would be the ticket. 

But, with my work schedule, the girls seem to be slacking even with this format.  All they have to do is math (Saxon), reading (RC list and recreational), and writing daily.  We are also supplementing with Apologia Biology (through a co-op that meets at my house every other week).  Then there's piano and dance, church, youth group, and all the HS group activities (Honor Society, etc.).  I've been considering limiting all their outside activities to only church-related stuff until they can get on track with their school work.  Maybe even cutting out all their electronically-related activities (computer, PS, email, TV, everything but the radio which is only tuned to KLOVE).  Then I think, no, that's way too harsh.  Just give them time and they'll straighten up. 

Any of you out there with this problem?  Any ideas of what I could do to motivate them?

Well, I don't have any time left on break so I'd better get back to work.  Maybe I'll tell minwife to look this over.  She may have some pointers for me on this blogging stuff -- it's all Greek to me anyway!