Random Acts

Keeping up with my New Years resolution of daily random acts of kindness. Have missed a few days here and there but have tried to "double up" the following days and I think I'm ahead. I try and keep it simple, the kind of stuff anyone could do. And along the way here and there I keep looking for really fun ways to make someone's day. Some entries from my "Random Acts 2010 Journal"..........

Paid for the lady's coffee in the car behind me at Starbucks yesterday afternoon.
Paid for a kids lunch who was behind me in line at McD's....couldn't see him too well in the rear view mirror, but he seemed to be right around the age of my sons.
Cleaned up someone else's trash.
Let three cars into traffic ahead of me during the evening commute. Snowy, nasty. We all wanted to just get home.
Offered to stop at the drugstore for a co-worker who is home sick and couldn't get out.
Chose to forgive someone who really hurt me this week and choose to believe it wasn't intentional.
Emailed my last professor to tell her how much I enjoyed her class.

Just little stuff. But it sure is fun.

2nd Fill ~ Gurgle Gurgle Gurgle

One more CC in this snazzy little band buddy of mine. Up to 4 CC in my 10CC band, I felt it gurgling as it filled. What a difference, at least for now. They gave me a bottle of water and asked me to drink half of it before I left the office....and it took about 15-20 minutes. I know everyone's experiences with fill's are different but I sure have been pleasantly surprised so far. My doc doesn't use any topical anesthetic and the little tiny needle stick I feel is no big deal. I've never had a problem with needles in general but honestly, I am amazed at just how much of a "non-incident" it really is. I'm lucky, I know lots of people have to travel miles and miles for their appointments. My doctor's office is less then 5 miles away and I can go over my lunch hour.

Some of the nurses in my doctor's office are banded. They told me it's not unusual for patients to gain weight after their first fill, their philosophy is that we start out with a conservative restriction and gradually work up to that lovely "green zone" we're all aiming for so in the meantime, it can kind of be up and down as we find our way, the way that works best for us.....which foods, what amounts, when to eat etc. As evidenced by everyone's stories in the blogs I read, it really is an experience that's unique to each of us.

It's snowing again. Again!!!!!!! A coworker said it best......we're all living in a big snow globe and someone just keeps shaking it up. It is falling straight down today in big, romantic flakes. Looks just like Christmas. Except ho-ho-ho it isn't and we're kinda wanting to move along into spring now, Mother Nature. Put your hands in the air and step back from the globe, lady!!!!!


Now let's see which one of these fine liquid selections in my refrigerator get to be my dinner? And breakfast? And lunch....and.....and....

Second Fill, Bring it On

My first fill on January something-or-other really hasn't made lots of difference. 3 cc's in a 10cc band is noticeable but I can still eat at least a cup and a half of food without feeling full. I called and moved my appointment for the second fill up to tomorrow as I am on a plane to Philadelphia in two weeks ~ don't want to have to deal with the liquids thing or a new restriction while I'm staying in a hotel and working a convention floor all day.
It's kind of left me feeling a wee bit blue about the whole thing. I am reading all the wonderful success stories on all the blogs I follow and they are so inspiring to me!!! My Dr. told me it's not uncommon for it to take 6 months before I start steadily losing weight, that starting out very slow and steady is a good thing...... but I just want it sooner :)) Now, now now!!! I've made lots of positive changes but also have to admit, there is plenty more I could be doing. I let the pain in my knees win over the Tylenol I could be taking that would allow me to walk more. I'm not very careful about counting calories. Still, I am trying to give myself credit for the positive changes I have made, knowing I'll continue to add more and more......and eventually it all will add up to long-term sucess.

Some of the changes......

*   I don't drink liquids with my meals. Not ever.
*   I make sure I eat enough protein every day and have become very conscious of protein grams on everything that I buy or order.
*   I've quit eating bread for the most part. It actually goes down ok so far, but I've lost my taste for it.
*   I have water with me just about all the time and MOST days I get in my 64 ounces. Not all. But most.

I weigh once a week. Anything more makes me a little crazy. I know I really need to step up to the plate and get this exercise thing added to my life as a part of the daily routine. It's my biggest challenge right now.

Speaking of vitamins.......was I???..........I talked to my nutritionist about the vitamins my family practice Dr. had prescribed to me a couple of years ago. Her first question ~ am I taking my daily mutivitamin? Absolutely!!! And then she went down the short list of supplements, asking me about the foods I eat regularly. As we went down the list together I learned I'm getting plenty of each vitamin through the multi-vitamin tablet and the foods I am eating and really don't need the supplements I was buying. They're not hurting me but lots of money I don't need to spend.

We can't have it all at once, can we? Ohhh man, I know. I know. So here I am, continuing on the slow and steady crawl.

Knowing that eventually I am going to win this race.

What???????

日本語「よく」話せません。

I'm going out on a limb here. Someone is leaving me comments in Japanese. Or Chinese. Or Taiwanese. Sorry ~ I'm sure my lack of Pacific Rim cultural diversity awareness is showing, but all those languages look the same to me when I see them written. So the message I want to convey........and hopefully this is what it says up at the top of this post with my sincere thanks to Babelsfish for the assistance............I don't know how to read Japanese. I don't even know if it's a legitimate comment on my blog or maybe it's some weird spam thing or whatever. I am always a bit suspect when people approach me speaking in a language I don't understand. Forgive me! Feel free to comment again.......but I'll have to ask you to do so in English. Or pig-Latin! I orta-say owe-nay ow-hay oo-tay ead-ray at-they. Orta-say.

Cheers!!!

Salut!
Chin-chin!!

 

Tiny Pleasures

My best friend came over to yak for a while. We both live in the same city but busy schedules mean our visits are infrequent. As I regaled her with some crazy story about my recent business trip.......probably compaining about the forced march/stroll I had to take every day to get to my booth at the trade show.....I looked up and saw she had tears in her eyes.

What the....?????

"Your face," she said. "You've lost so much weight in your face, it has changed so much. That's the face I remember seeing in high school."

Wow.

Dealing with it on the road....

I was kinda nervous about the whole thing.
Got my first fill on Tuesday and had to fly out bright and early Wednesday for a full week in a hotel and convention center. I figured the only way to deal with it was like everything else I've conquered in life: head on with a plan in my hand.

Step One: Formulate plan.....but first!!!!!! May I take this moment to holler out my first big NSV...non-scale victory....and might I add, I think those are the sweetest victories of all. Sooooo I slid into my window seat on the teensy tiny commuter-type airplane and.......tahhhh-dahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!............buckled the seat belt without sucking in my breath, turning bright red and straining my shoulder to tug the thing into place. It fit!!! With some room to spare!!!!! Ohhhh myyyy GOODNESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heightened security measures in effect as they are I refrained from hopping into the aisle and shakin' a Happy Nessa Dance up and down the plane but I was dancin' in my heart, I can tell you that!!!!!

Ahhh-hem!!!
So anyway........back to the plan. Step one: Carry water with me everywhere I go. When I carry it, I drink it. When I don't have it in my hand I don't think about drinking it so much. (Curious little side note here, as I boarded the plane at the gate laytex-gloved security agents actually TESTED my water bottle with a little paper strip and some chemical to make sure it was really water. Interesting.)



Step Two:  Focus on things other than food, learning to replace the pleasure of airport pretzels with other things. This was easy, for a couple of reasons. I've had an inner-ear/sinus thing going on for the past couple of weeks. It leaves me feeling like I will tip over all the time....like the little gyroscope up in my head is leaning off to one side, I kind of feel like I have to concentrate to not wobble off-course. Taking decongestants has kind of helped but I really do have to pay attention when I am walking along, especially when I'm away from home, lest I lose my balance and kinda keel over.

Strolling through airports and buildings this past week with all of their architectural anomalies and linear distractions proved to be both a welcome distraction...and a bit of a challenge. I surely did keep my mind off food..........seemed like there wasn't a square corner or parallel line to be found from here to Georgia and back. Fun to look at but...........not sure if this will make sense but combined with my balance problem, I spent the entire week feeling like I was going to fall off the edge of the earth.........take a look........



Fabulous architectural design at O'Hare in Chicago........



But seriously, a girl with a tricky inner-ear thing could have a hard time just staying upright trying to navigate the place. Moving sidewalks get me where I want to go but I already felt like I had just stepped off a merry-go-round.



Hold. On. To. The. Rail.
 Hold. On. To. The. Rail.



And THEN I got to my hotel.
Let me explain, while I have tackled a number of challenges in my life involving great heights.......I don't like them. No I do not like them at all. I don't even like the third step of the ladder in my garage. Anything higher than step number two, I call my sons.

My hotel was a 50-story maze of a zillion structural lines, not a single one of which were parallel. One step into the lobby and I realized I was going to need dramamine just to get to my room on the 25th floor. To my way of thinking that's 25 opportunities for a wobbly lady to go careening to her death just finding her spot to sleep.



My lovely little room had one full wall of glass window. I swear it felt like the floor was sloped straight to a certain death just beyond the sill and knew.....one mis-step in the middle of the night in that dark room should I have to get up and pee and I could end up on the sidewalk in my nightie. I pulled the curtains tight and tried to forget pigeons don't even fly up to the height of my room.



Step Three: Every night I would plan the following day, making note of what I planned to eat.

Step Four: I would incorporate some walking into my daily routine. HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you ever felt like the Universe or some vigilant committee of guardian angels had such a close watch over you there was just no chance for error? I feel like that and trust me, sometimes they hear me grumble. Like this weekend.....when I realized that I had to walk twice a day, every day, over half a mile just to get from my hotel room to the convention center where I was working. No way around it. My hotel room was Point A and every day I had to get to Point B. And every afternoon I had to get back to Point A.  Honestly? What I had in mind was maybe 5-10 minutes of a brisk outdoor jaunt each day.

What I got was a daily forced march! And now that it's over I can't wait to answer my doc when he asks the inevitable question at my next appointment: are you getting exercise???? Well Mister, let me tell you about a week in January............and by the way.............food went fine. I chew, chew, chewed and drank a river of water in between meals. Never got stuck. No problems. Now that I've had a fill it's kinda weird how food gurgles past the band once I do take a drink...........but no problems.

Anyway. I'm home now and so glad to be here.
Cozy beds with six pillows and maid service are nice for a few days......



            .....but in my book, there is no place like home.

FIRST FILL !!!!

Ok, it's in !! My little band buddy is proud and puffy now. Just got home from my first fill which was no bigga-deala as far as the procedure goes. Needles really don't bother me so I can't say I was apprehensive about the fill itself as much as I am about how it changes the way I eat and drink this next week. It wasn't painful at all. From the time they swabbed my tummy to the time my doc removed the needle after the fill.........five minutes? Maybe? Probably less, although you know how time flies when we're having fun!!!

My doc was happy with my progress so far, happy I was able to hold my ground during the holidays with so little restriction. (Miracle, I don't really know how that happened, I know I've been increasing my portion sizes because I've been so hungry.) Personally, I would have loved to see the loss of a pound or two.....but I'm not complaining. Forward march!!!!!

Ahh well. This weeks challenge is to fly out on Wednesday, still on my post-fill liquids regimen, shift over to soft foods for a day or so....and then eat properly, chewing well and all that good stuff.......while having to dine in restaurants for a full week. I have a feeling I'm going to get to know the Marriott room service staff real well.

What???!!!!

Another oatmeal for Room 2216 ????

Let the Random Acts Begin.....

With a goal of accomplishing (at least) one random act of kindness each day in 2010, I had to get started right away. Also realized I need to do a little preparation to take advantage of opportunities. I pulled out all my old stationary and cards, gathered up a bunch of fun little trinkets and things that I love and found a bunch of little boxes along with wrapping paper, tape and scissors. We're ready!!!

First a couple of stories that led up to my goal for the year. A decade or so ago I had a bit of a rough year. I'd been a busy wife and mom for over 20 years, living in small town where I was busy and involved in everything ~ knew everyone in town, community volunteer, president of the school board. I was in it clear up to my neck. Great, wonderful years. Then my last child left for college, I divorced my husband, lost my job, had an emergency hysterectomy....seriously, all that in a couple months time. Brutal!!! I was so broke and so lost.

I carried with me one lesson that I learned from my mother very early in life ~ the best way to help yourself is to help someone else. I looked around me. What did I have to give? How could I help anyone else, I could barely take care of me. I called the blood bank. I figured I might not have money in my purse or extra food in my cupboard but I still had veins in my arms and plenty of time on my hands. I made an appointment and donated a pint. Then another. And another. I can remember walking out of the blood bank each time, thinking to myself.....I might not have much but I've still got great blood!! By the end of the year I'd donated a gallon and they gave me a special "donor's" t-shirt. I've gotta tell ya, it felt so great!!!

Fast forward to just a few months ago. I pulled into my favorite Starbucks and didn't see a car coming from a side street with the same intent. I pulled into the driveup and quickly realized when I looked in my rear-view mirror that I'd cut off the other driver, essentially I'd cut in front of her. That's not like me at all and I felt bad. So when I got up to the window, I paid for my coffee and paid for hers too. I asked the barista at the window to tell her, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut in front of you! Have a great day!!!" I pulled away from the window and as I melted back into traffic I saw the barista leaning out the window explaining to the other driver that her coffee was paid for. Man, I felt like a million bucks.

Just before Christmas I did the same thing for a kid in an old car who was behind me at the McDonalds drive up. I could tell he was just about my kids age ~ late 20's ~ and the car he was driving was older. Every 20-something I know is pretty much broke. The mom in me just wanted to run back and hug him. So I bought his lunch, paying for his order at the window as I paid for my own. As I pulled away from the window I said a little prayer that perhaps this little random act would inspire him in his life to do things for others. I'll never know....but it doesn't matter. That's what random acts are like most of the time ~ we never know just exactly how much they meant to the recipients but we hope they are like little sparks that light fires in others that start glowing all over the place.

I should interject here ~ I don't have lots of money. I have a good job but I also have a mortgage, a mountain of student loans to pay and I'm driving a 6-year old car that I'm still paying for. It took me forever to pay off my hospital bills from way back when. My employer is hanging on by a thread and I am pretty sure we're going to make it, but in the meantime we've all taken a 15% pay cut and will be working several weeks this year without pay. When I buy someones coffee or their lunch, it's not because I have wads of money to give away. Quite the opposite. For me it's really more of an act of gratitude to God for what I DO have. I have learned, the less I have the more I try and give away and God just continues to meet all my needs so I can keep on doing it. But random acts of kindness don't have to cost a thing. It's the act that counts.

Here's how I chose to begin this years series of random acts:

January 1      Gave my waitress a $10 tip on a $9.00 restaurant tab. I was a waitress decades ago. Hard work.
January 2      Sent a card and note to people whose house I pass on my way home from work every evening to let them know how much I loved their Christmas lights.
January 3      I wrapped up a bar of delicious smelling handmade soap that I bought at a farmers market this summer and left it in a mailbox with a "Happy New Year" note this morning. I have no idea who lives there but I've seen the lady walking down her driveway to get the mail many times. I think she'll enjoy it.

I'm off to a fun start!!!

Brrrrrrrr

Had to change my profile picture today to show the fun scarf/collar my daughter knitted for me for Christmas.......last night was a big "post NYE" party with the family and it surely came in handy ~ it was about 16 degrees below zero outdoors. WHO goes outside on a night like that!!!?? We did and that cozy knit collar kept me toasty all the way home.

It was a great evening, an ESPECIALLY great evening! My daughter was home on a quick visit from Tennessee and it was a chance to see her during the holidays. I had one beer and a small bit of food, sent my plate away from the table with the waitress when I was finished and just enjoyed the conversation which ~ MUCH to my amazement ~ worked very well. I've been worried about "evenings out" and was so glad this went well. I travel quite a bit and have to figure out how to make restaurant-eating work for me. My first fill is on Monday and fly out two days later to work out of a hotel and convention center for a week. My first out-of-town challenge! I've bagged up some of my favorite protein powder and there is always plenty of bottled water so I can sip all day.

We'll just see how it goes.
Very excited about the fill, I want to feel a little squeeze from my band buddy.