Barbara, we love you!

Barbara "My New Life Rules" lost her husband Mark. My heart breaks for her and her family. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Barbara, please know that we care deeply for you and I hope that knowing that will bring you comfort. God be with you!
Big Hugs,
T

40 vs 48

On the left is me at 40, on the right is me last month.

In 2 days, I turn 48....I'll take 48 over 40 any day!

I told you a few days ago about the funk I was in from looking at old pictures of myself, how sad it was to see how I'd let myself go. Friday I'll be 48 and you know what? It doesn't hurt, at all. I wouldn't go back. I'm so much healthier now, I'm so much happier now. Most of the people in my life are happier too. I say, bring it on 48, I can take it! I feel certain that when I'm 49, I'll be able to show you all a picture of myself at my goal weight, feeling even better about myself than I do today. Many great things come with getting older, one of them is knowing the significance of the layout of a car...the reason the rear view mirror is so much smaller than the windshield is because what's ahead of you is so much more important than what's behind you.

Today, I'm grateful for the place I'm in right now, and I'm looking forward to what's ahead. Happy Wednesday!

Big Hugs!

T

A little bit of Mardi Gras in my life!

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you had a nice weekend, mine was fabulous, although busy, busy. I've been nominated for a couple of nice blog awards and I promise I'll give those my attention soon. You've all been asking for some Mardi Gras pictures when the time comes, so I thought I'd share a little bit from Mardi Gras past. Enjoy!

This is the King and Queen of Krewe du Lac 2 years ago.


Mardi Gras 2009, my brother-in-law was a Duke and he works in Africa,
thus our outfits.

Mardi Gras 2010 John was Stu from "The Hangover"

Mardi Gras 2008 We were a Redneck wedding, I was the bride big and pregnant!

Mardi Gras 2008 we were Dog the Bounty Hunter and Beth, that's our TV crew.

John & I on the float before the parade.

I hope everyone has a great day! Big Hugs,

T

BYOC

It's Friday – so it's BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy. 5 questions you can copy and paste into your blog to give your brain a break and to get to know each other better!



1. For $50,000 – would you go without brushing your teeth, showering or wearing deodorant for 3 months?

Not no, but Hell no! There are few things that I hate worse than being dirty. I can hardly watch westerns, gladiator movies or pirate movies, because they are dirty, especially the teeth, I can't concentrate on the movie because I'm so grossed out!

2. Is it harder to tell someone you love them or harder to tell someone you don't love them back?
It's very easy for me to tell people that I love just how I feel about them, it would be harder for me to tell someone I don't love them.

3. What is on your bedside table?
Two cell phones, a decorative box, a book, hand lotion, foot cream a huge hospital glass of water, a book and my blood pressure medicine. When people come over, I put most of it into the decorative box…clever huh?

4. If you could be invisible, who would you kiss?
There's no one I would want to kiss if they couldn't see me, that just doesn't sound fun to me. However, there might be a few that I'd like to listen in on and maybe take a peek at in the buff.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your life in blog land and real life.
Well, I'm still pissed that Draz has no hail damage or speed bumps on her thighs. I love reading everyone's blogs, I got an award from Lisa, I got gloves in the mail from Tina and last night I got texts from Joey!!! Talk about make a girl feel good. I love how we can all be there for each other. Some of us have never even met and we still care about each other.

In my life: Mardi Gras is gearing up, I have so much to do and a party or two every weekend. I ordered the perfect pair of shoes to go with my ball gown, they didn't fit, I have skinny feet, WTH? My son stayed home from school for 3 days sick and went alone to the Dr., he got weak after getting a couple of shots and passed out, whacked his head really good and scraped his back all up, that sucks, I knew I should have taken off work to go with him! Sunday will be the 34^th anniversary of my Mom's death, I can't believe she's been gone so long, I always get nostalgic and a little melancholy this time of year, I just realized, it's this time of year. This weekend the hubs and I have no kids, we are entertaining on Saturday, it's going to be another busy weekend, I hope I get to sleep somewhere along the way.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Big Hugs!

T

Time for a heart to heart!

It's time to have one of those talks with myself. You know the one, the one that goes like this...

Self: Look, you and I both know that you are not hungry, this is all in your head.

Self: Yeah, but for some reason I really want to eat, you know like the good old days.

Self: The good old days? Are you high, what was good about them? Sure you could eat with wild abandon, but it was always followed by the awful remorse, the shame, the sugar hang over.

Self: I know you're right, that's why we got the lap band, so that we could have some help when things got like this. Why do they still have to get like this.?

Self: Because, we're only human. Everyone has those times when we're scared or sad or lonely or angry or any emotion that we don't want to feel, it's only natural to reach for the old favorite anesthesia. We'll get past this.

Self: What if we don't what if it's bigger than us, what if we can't stop ourselves and we start to binge again, what then?

Self: Again, that's why we got the lap band remember? Remember the last time we thought we could "binge" yeah, not so much. Pearl has our back.

Self: You're right, I just feel a little out of sorts, I'm sure it's hormones.

Self: Isn't it always hormones? Hang in there, tomorrow will be better.

Self: Yeah, you're right. I'm glad half of us is sensible.

Self: Me too, we can do this, just read the blogs of others, they've felt the same way, they got through it too. It's not the end of the world if we eat a few chips, count it, plan for it. Big changes can be made one little step at a time.

We feel better now, how about you? One step closer to Friday, can't wait.

Big Hugs,

T

Better day, and a prize in the mail!

Thanks for all of your comments to boost my crappy mood. It's so nice to know that I've got folks out there who've got my back! Thank you for that. I realize that when I get my feelings hurt it's a cumulative thing and that once I'm in that mode, the next person to come upon me, need only look at me funny and I'm hurt. Add this to the list of many things that I need to work on!

Yesterday was a crazy busy day, and I was stressed, stressed = super tight for me. Yesterday, I PB'd 3 times. It took me all day to eat 1 chicken strip and last night I actually got stuck on and PB'd mashed potatoes. Today, I'm still very tight and it's been difficult to eat anything. Last week I was wide open, could have eaten anything I wanted and actually told my husband I thought I needed a fill, funny how things change. Today I'm thinking that if I had a fill, I probably wouldn't be able to drink water.

Okay, so anyway...yesterday I'm having this absolutely crazy day and have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I get home last night at 7:30 with take out for my kids and on the counter is a package for me! I love to get packages, it's from Tina and it's fingerless gloves that she knitted for me! They are a beautiful green and I'm actually wearing them right now and typing, love them! Thank you Tina!!! Tina had a give-away on her blog and I was one of the lucky winners. Talk about make my day.

I have another busy weekend ahead of me, such a busy time of year. I hope everyone is doing well. Again, thanks for all the support you guys give me. It's humpday! Yippee!
Big Hugs,
T

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens....

bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with string,
these are a few of my favorite things.

And here are a few of my not so favorite things...

• being told to be quiet
• being told not to eat something or that I shouldn't have eaten something
• someone who says "we" thinking you don't know they mean you
• feeling inadequate
• being laughed at, when I don't think it's funny
• having my feelings hurt
• being the kind of person who lets these things bother her

I just needed to get those things off of my chest. I may look like an ox on the outside, but on the inside...I'm fragile. Not always, but often times, I'm fragile. I hate even writing that down. I think that part of the difficulty of my size is that it truly belies my interior, that at times is child-like and bruises easily.

I really am having a wonderful day, but some events from the weekend have made me stop and think about a few things. Emotionally I have made great strides in some areas, in others not so much. The above would fall into the "not so much" category.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Happy Monday folks!

Big Hugs,

T

PS

Milk & Noodles is noodles in milk with butter and salt & pepper. It's kind of like mac and cheese minus the cheese. Weird, I know.