The Rest of My Trip

Ok, so here's a NICE post (after the yucky PB one last night). I wanted to tell you about the rest of my trip. It was, of course, mostly about meeting baby Zachary. When my sister handed him to me I was instantly struck by the incredibly strong sense memory of holding her as a newborn. I'm four and a half years older than she is and I remember that day like it was yesterday. (Also, I was tickled pink that my sister had him wrapped in the blanket I knitted for our first meeting.)




It was SO good to see my sister looking so wonderful and happy (if a little tired).



That first night was a blur of family and hugging...several aunts, uncles, and cousins got to town the same night we got in. It was wonderful to see everyone. This is two of my mom's siblings, Aunt Arlene and Uncle Mark.




On our second day there, we did a lot of eating. I was super impressed that my sister and brother-in-law took the baby out to lunch with us. They walked the half mile to the restaurant in the chilly weather (the baby was WELL bundled and inside my sister's coat)...talk about no excuses...Dana had given birth mere days before and was already walking miles each day.

I didn't do much else. Scott went to the art museum with my aunt Arlene, her husband Jay and my uncle Mark (the one we went to Disney with in November). I chose to stay behind and spend some quiet time at my sister's house. Dana and Mike went upstairs to take a nap, and Zachary curled up on me and slept for an hour and a half, snuggled into my arms. Sweetest thing ever.

We went to the pizza place I love for dinner, Pizzeria Posto. I somehow managed to get almost NO pictures without the baby from this trip and since he wasn't with us, the camera didn't even come out, but this is from one of the last times I was there, last winter:


The next day, Sunday, was Christmas. The day of my nephew's bris and the awful PB incident. Let's not talk about that. Moving on...

Monday was fabulous. It was such a gorgeous and sunny morning that we wanted to get outside and walk. Dana bundled the baby up and popped him in the stroller and we (me, Scott, Dana, Mike, and my mom) walked for a couple of miles and got some lovely fresh air. I love city walking now. It's so relaxed - totally different from working out type walking. It's nice to be able to walk miles and miles without getting tired.

After that, Scott, my parents, and I went to the MIT museum. That was amazing! I loved seeing all of the technology, old and new. This was one of my favorite moments, comparing the phone that Scott keeps in his pocket to the gigantic old computer with hundreds of times LESS computing power.



I like this one too. Scott is a database engineer and I have heard him say, more than once, that tech is hell.



We even got Zachary the cutest hat there...it's a Thinking Cap. :-)


I got this super cute and nerdy shirt for myself as well, which I bought in a plain old size LARGE, thank you very much.



That night my dad's sister and brother-in-law, my Aunt Jinny and Uncle Charlie, came to town. Zachary went on his first train ride on the T...he didn't seem too impressed as he slept bundled in a wrap inside of Dana's coat the whole way.



We went to a fabulous restaurant, Upstairs on the Square, in Cambridge. The food was spectacular...Dana and I shared salad, a roasted cauliflower pasta dish (which I ate very... very... slowly because I was scared I'd get stuck again), green pizza (spinach & herbs) and my mom and I shared a huckleberry crumble with salted caramel vanilla bean ice cream. Yum! I ate small-ish portions quite slowly, and did fine.

Tuesday was the day we were leaving. Our flight out wasn't until the night time so we had most of the day there. Scott and I were finally able to spend some alone time with Dana, Mike, and Zachary as everyone else went sightseeing to the town where my father grew up. It was nice to have some quiet time with them, and we're already planning another trip for the summer.

Later, we went for a walk on the Freedom Trail in Boston and saw some of the old sights - the old state house, the location where the Boston massacre started, etc. That's something Scott was excited about and I'm glad we got to see it.

It was then time to go home. As awesome of a trip as it was...the best part was quietly snuggling Zachary and getting to know the little guy.

My First Real PB

Do NOT read this if you are easily grossed out. Or if you are eating. Seriously. This will be very graphic. You have been warned.

So. In the midst of my wonderful trip to Boston to meet my adorable new nephew, something bad happened. It is politely referred to as a PB or "productive burp" but the ugly reality is...

I barfed. For the first time since surgery.

I previously had what I THOUGHT was a PB. Oh no, my friends. That was nothing. I just slimed a bit.

In some small way, I doubted my band doing its job as far as providing restriction. I knew I had gotten a bit "stuck-ish" before. Some food took a few minutes to go all the way down and it hurt a little. But nothing terrible or traumatic.

Not this time.

We were at my sister's house for dinner on Christmas night. We ordered Chinese food. I had a few bites of spicy chicken, some broccoli, nothing deep fried or out of the ordinary. I then took one bite of a vegetarian steamed dumpling. Uh oh. It wasn't going down. I put my fork down and
waited a few minutes. It wasn't going anywhere. The pain in my chest started coming in waves. I stood up and walked around. Didn't help.

All of a sudden, my mouth started watering and filling with slime, just like last time. I went into the bathroom and started spitting. And spitting. And spitting. My mouth kept filling with saliva.

Then the foam started. WTF was that?

I just wanted the pain in my chest to go away. As much as I hate vomiting, I was willing for it to go up or down at that point. I was coughing and trying desperately to get it to come up.

That motherfucking dumpling would not go in either direction.

I was practically in tears at that point and various people kept knocking on the bathroom door to see if I was ok. Scott even asked my sister if she had any syringes around (she is a doctor) in case I needed some fluid removed. (I would not have allowed that, of course.)

Then, all of a sudden, I hiccuped a few times and then barfed up a bunch of goop. Right after that, Scott knocked again to see how I was doing. I was better, but still feeling a little bad. My throat was hurting. I left the bathroom and rejoined the party, still feeling pretty miserable and
sore. I wouldn't hold the baby because I didn't want to puke on him if anything else came up.

After about 10 minutes, I thought I'd drink a little hot tea since I had heard that hot beverages can relax things if you're stuck. I took a few sips and then I ran to the bathroom and barfed again. The tiny, evil dumpling chunk came up and SWEET RELIEF, I felt immediately better, other than the sore throat.

A little while later I s-l-o-w-l-y sipped my tea and felt a ton better. I stuck with just warm liquids for the rest of the night. I was super hungry a few hours later and sipped the broth only from a cup of chicken noodle soup at the hotel.

I have been fine ever since. However, I will never, ever eat another steamed dumpling again.

Is there anything that can be done to get things moving if (goodness forbid) this ever happens again?

Home From Boston

I'm home from Boston. The highlight of the trip, by far, was meeting my beautiful nephew Zachary. He is such a sweetie.



My husband, Zachary's Uncle Scott, is pretty smitten with the little guy too.


I never knew that I could be so head-over-heels in love with such a tiny little person. This whole newborn baby thing is nothing I've ever really experienced this closely and I love it. He's so smooshy and soft and he smells good and when he curled up in my arms and slept for an hour and a half while everyone else napped...my heart grew three sizes that day. I've never really liked babies very much but this one has stolen my heart.

My sister and brother in law are amazing parents. Dana has always been great with kids (which is why she became a pediatrician) and I have seen Mike being wonderful with his nephew, but seeing them with their own child is just incredible. They're so loving and patient. My sister is glowingly beautiful. They were meant to be parents.



My parents are over the moon thrilled to finally be grandparents. My mom is really in her element as a grandmother and absolutely melts whenever she looks at Zachary. (However, I'm having a bit of an inferiority complex as I was the firstborn and now I think she likes the new baby better than me. ;-))


My father...he is in love and has the little boy in his life that he's always wanted since he got "stuck" with two daughters. :-)



I have so much more to tell you...including how I had my absolute worst stuck episode ever, the fun we had with the extended family, our visit to the MIT museum, a couple of wonderful meals, and more...but for now, it is bedtime so that will all need to wait. Goodnight!

Science: Why You Have Room for Sweets

I read this article which explains, in theory, why we have room for dessert even if we're otherwise stuffed:

"The sugar in sweet foods stimulates a reflex that expands your stomach"

Well THAT sounds like a bad idea. Didn't many of us have surgery to make our stomachs LESS expanded?

Read the article if you have a few minutes.

Zachary

My nephew, Zachary Alastair, was born at 12:39 AM last night. He is 8 pounds, 4 ounces. My sister and brother-in-law and the baby are all doing great. I love him already. <3

I Didn't Eat the Cake

Y'all are going to get sick of me talking about all the things that I didn't eat, but I had to tell you this. There was a cake in the office today for my boss's birthday. And I didn't have any. Not one bite.

And the world didn't end.

Who knew?

I'm having a nice cup of Thai coconut chai tea with lowfat milk and Splenda instead. (Celestial Seasonings brand and verrrrrrry tasty, by the way.) I'd rather lose weight than eat cake right now.

Whoa.

Limit Your Sitting/Sleeping to 23.5 Hours Per Day

If you haven't watched this video on Lap Band Gal's blog, you must! It's simply brilliant.

Skillmania Pictures

A few pictures from the party we went to this weekend...

Me & Scott


Me & my friend Erron.


With my friend Donna (the party hostess) in our flashy headbands.


Jello Shots!


With my friend Amethyst.


The blue jello shots were especially chewy.

Junk Food Hangover

I went to a party last night. I'm not really a party person but I go to this one, Skillmania, every year. (You can see some of the pictures from last year here.)

We had a blast. It was way quieter and more mellow than years past, but that was kinda nice. I felt like I got more of a chance to talk to different people.

There will be plenty more pictures in the next few days, but for now, here's one of me. Notice that I'm wearing the shirt from my BOOBs Secret Santa..size large (no x), thank you very much. :-)



I ate too much junk food. I knew I would. I planned for it but was still a bit taken aback to see 2.5 pounds up on the scale this morning. I suppose it's no surprise since I had:

3 Jello shots
A shot of root beer schnapps
Chicken nuggets
Broccoli casserole
Hash brown casserole
Pizza breadstick
Chips & cheese
Birthday cake
Frosted brownie

It's not like I really had a LOT of anything...it was just all junky/carby/salty/sugary.

I'm on detox today. Protein, fruit and veggies. Loads of water. A good, hard workout. I'll be back down in no time.

New Toy & Great Walk

I am so lucky...I have a husband who actually listens when I speak/write. Remember last month when I wrote, "I think that when I get some extra cash I am also going to try to pick up a used Garmin Forerunner GPS sports watch (I want one BAD)"? Yeah, well, Scott remembered. I got home from work last night and my darling husband had a wonderful graduation gift for me.

Not my picture, but this is what it looks like.

It's a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS/heart monitor watch! I was so excited. If it hadn't needed 3 hours to charge, I would have immediately gone out to try it out.

This morning I had to take it out for a spin.



Thankfully, I already had plans with Jessica to meet up at this beautiful wetlands preserve, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, to go for a long walk today. I was SO proud of Jessica! Even after she thought she couldn't go any further, she pushed herself to do another mile and we did over a 5K - about 3.4 miles. She is doing so well and I was thrilled to be there for her first 5K.

Old Shirt

I have had this shirt since high school. I have had it in a drawer at my parents' house for 17 years because I loved this shirt dearly. It has been way too small to wear since 1994.

I wore it to work today. And it fits. Size large with no "x" in front of it.

Break Room Junk

This was the sight that greeted me in the office break room today...


Why yes, that is an M&M's buffet with every type of the instruments of the devil colorful and delightful little sweets. This was after the vultures at work got to them and they were mostly gone.

I didn't have one. Not one. Not even the coconut kind that I have never even tried and I love coconut!

I have no idea why it all seems pretty easy right now, but I'm gonna ride it 'til the wheels fall off.

I Didn't Eat the Bagel

You may have heard me say that I have a bagel for breakfast every Friday. My work provides them and I love bagels so I have one every Friday...bread scooped out, but I can easily eat the whole thing, and I almost always do. With cream cheese. I noticed that I am starving all day, every Friday.

Duh. The bagel.

Today I didn't eat the bagel.

I'm done with my plateau. I'm done camping at this weight. I'm ready to climb again.

I've been stuck right around 198 pounds for months. As of this morning, I was 194.6. Is exercise the secret, like Lap Band Gal said? Maybe. Probably. I have been kicking butt on the running trail 3-4 times per week, 45 to 60 minutes at a time. I am getting to the point where I crave exercise. I know what a runner's high is. I desperately want to do a 10k, because doing a 5k is just no effort at all anymore. I bought a Groupon for a kickboxing class and a boot camp and can't wait to start.

And also? I didn't eat the bagel.

I Have the BEST Secret Santa!!!

I came home to this shirt in my mailbox, wrapped up all pretty-like:



Best. Shirt. Ever.

Who knows me this well? WHO? I shrieked at my husband for about 10 minutes insisting that he MUST have bought me this shirt because seriously? Who would ever think to get me a shirt involving nerds and zombies? It took me several minutes to calm down enough to find the little card that said it was from my BOOBs Secret Santa.

I wish I knew who she is because I would give her a big, sloppy kiss.

I don't know who you are, Secret Santa, but I love you.