5773 - In With a Bang

This past Sunday evening was the beginning of Rosh HaShanah - the Jewish New Year.  I had high hopes for the New Year.

Unfortunately, Sunday afternoon we received a call from David's friend Vinny.  His mom had been in the hospital & passed away that morning after surgery the previous day.  Mrs. S. had made arrangements a long time ago to be buried down here with Vinny's dad so he was heading down here.  Both David & I were saddened to learn that none of his family offered him a place to stay for the duration.  Needless to say, we told Vinny our home was open to him.

 

Erin & I never made it to services on Monday as our home needed to be cleaned up for our company.  David, Erin & I busted tush to get the house in order.  (I must say it's looking good now.)  We were exhausted after a full day project!

 

Tuesday we went to H0ly Cr0ss H0spital so David could have an arthrogram (xray of a joint) on his shoulder.  We've been worried that he has another necrotic lesion in his left shoulder.  The orthopaedic dr believes it is a bone spur but we need to be sure.  Talk about a disaster! If it could go wrong, it did.  First the staff decided he was there for an MRI - something he can't have due to his spinal cord stimulator implant.  Then after the CT scan, the attending doc disappeared! We left & hope to have results this coming week.  By the time we got home, we all needed a nap!

 

Vinny arrived late Wednesday evening.  He was in pretty good shape all things considered.  I guess that even though his mom passed, it hadn't really hit him.  Or perhaps he didn't want to grieve in front of Erin - who was thrilled that Mr. Vinny was here for a visit.

 

We said goodbye to Mrs. S yesterday.  Vinny held up pretty well all things considered.  I had to go back to work, & David needed to come home.  Vinny went to lunch with his cousins so they could have some time together.

 

This afternoon Vinny left to go back home to his wife.  Mary wasn't able to come down with him because they have no one who could watch their 2 fur babies.  I know that the 2 of them will take their time grieving & getting use to life without Mrs. S in it.

 

Mrs. S, wherever you may be, please know that your Vinny will always be a part of our family.  And when you look down upon us, as I know you will, you will see that your son is loved - by his wife, his few cousins & us.  We'll do our best to keep him smiling.

Choices

Back at the end of June I joined WW.  Again.  I was tired of always feeling tired & being uncomfortable breathing.  So far, so good.  I've managed to lose 16/17 lbs.  It isn't much, but I'm doing this slowly on purpose.  Whenever I lose weight quickly, I end up going back to my old habits.

It's now been 2.5 months & I like the changes in me.  I'm looking forward to more changes.  Some of what I'm seeing is:

• I eat breakfast now - something I never used to do.  My new fave breakfast?  Something I call Sandra's Yummy Yogurt.  I am hoping she shares more recipes!
• I'm limiting my soda intake.  Down to 1 per day.  Face it - a 12 oz can is 4 points & for now it's okay to use them on a soda.  By the end of October, I hope to limit  drinking so much Coke & switch to seltzer.  (I have to have my fizz.)
• My body talks to me, & I've started to listen.  When it tells me that enough is enough, I listen rather than forcing myself to finish something just because it tastes good. 
• I don't clean my plate anymore.  It's okay.  I don't have to.  I've told Erin that she doesn't have to clean her plate so why do I have to?  I don't.  That is SO liberating.
• When I do eat out, I'm more careful with my choices.  I also started to ask for a box immediately so I can pack up half my meal.  I'm finding that I still manage to leave some on my plate.  Again.  Very liberating.

 

What has happened as a result of just these few things? 

• My clothing fits better & in fact some is already too big.
• Erin sees me eating healthier which means better choices for her also.  (For example, when I asked her to try some different veggies this past week she did.  She didn't like them, but the point is that she actually tried them.
• I'm starting to feel better bit by bit.

 

I'm not expecting to, nor do I want to, ever go back to what I weighed in high school.  I just want to be healthier.  I'd say that's a pretty good goal for me.