Achieve a Goal & Reward Yourself

Mini–Goals Rewards Set small goals that can be achieved in 1 or 2 weeks. Reward Range: Free up to $10

• Deposit $10 into the “Big Goal Reward” Fund to use later
• Movie Tickets
• Spend time with friends
• Adopt a pet
• New cookbook
• New candles
• Candlelit bubble bath
• Lazy guilt-free day
• Be a kid for an afternoon. Go fly a kite, buy a bunch of balloons and give them away as you go, get a yo-yo and practice all those silly stunts again. Go swing on the playground or slide down the slide.
• New lipstick or makeup
• Day at the Beach
• Road trip, sight-seeing
• Spa treatments at home
• Goodwill shopping spree / new clothes
• Daylong photography excursion
• Spend the day playing at your hobby
• Buy a copy of your favorite magazine
• Order a “Skinny Latte” from Starbucks and spend the day relaxing with a book or laptop at the café`
• Buy movie or music from iTunes

Mid-Level Goals Rewards Set mid-level goals that can be achieved in a month or two. Reward Range: $10 - $40

• Deposit $40 into the “Big Goal Reward” Fund to use later
• Workout clothes Running shoes
• A massage
• A manicure/pedicure
• A book, CD or DVD
• Dumbbells, medicine ball or resistance bands
• Heart-rate monitor watch
• Teeth whitening
• New item of clothing
• Subscribe to a fitness magazine
• Spruce up a room in the house w/ paint
• Buy tickets to a play, sporting event or art show
• Craft supplies
• Jewelry
• Take a class
• Get your car professionally cleaned
• Take a "personal" day from work
• Adopt a pet
• Sexy lingerie
• Glamour Shots
• Flower arrangement
• Perfume / Cologne
• Buy a hammock, set it up and spend the day lazing in the sun
• Go camping!
• New purse
• Candles or home décor`
• Day at the beach

Big Goals Rewards Set big goals that will take hard work, perseverance and dedication for the long haul. Reward Range: $50 and up

• Vacation or weekend getaway
• Cruise
• Jewelry (Big Stuff!)
• New clothes
• Makeover
• Workout equipment
• All Day Spa Treatment
• Hire a maid for 1 day
• Nice piece of furniture for the house
• Electronic gadget or toy
• Get a tattoo
• Buy tickets to a play, sporting event or art show
• Craft supplies
• Hire a personal shopper to help you buy a new wardrobe
• Buy a new kitchen gadget or appliance
• New car
• Adopt a pet
• Weekend hobby retreat / trip
• Spruce up a room in the house with new décor`
• Landscape your house

100 Ways Wednesday

I'm joining SignGurl in her quest to list 100 things that have changed in her life since she lost weight. So every Wednesday I'll list 10 things that have changed in my life until I reach a list of 100. Here's my first 10: 


1. I'm sleeping through the night without waking up 6 or 7 times to pee. 


2. I'm off my high blood pressure meds and my BP is perfectly normal now. 


3. I've shrunk out of all the clothes in my closet and none of my old clothes fit me anymore. 


4. Goodwill has become my favorite shopping hot spot. 


5. I can cross my legs and love sitting that way - it's so comfortable! 


6. Even though I miss my morning coffee fix, I feel so much better without the caffiene in my body. 


7. I no longer take an allergy prescription and I'm more clearheaded than ever. 


8. I no longer take an asthma prescription everyday, still use the inhaler but not nearly as often. 


9. I had to move the seat in my car forward. 


10. My feet are shrinking and I now have to wear socks with my dress shoes instead of nylons.

Powerful Beyond Measure

I watched Akeelah and the Bee this past weekend. In the movie she reads a quote about fear. I found it compelling and wanted to share it with you all.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,talented, fabulous? 

Actually, who are you not to be? 

We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. 

And as we let our own light shine,we unconsciously 

give other people permission to do the same. "

Easter Woes

So the family got together at my parent's house for the traditional mid-afternoon Easter dinner. Mom, Dad, Sis and her kids, Brother and his family, Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle... all 14 of us crowded around the table to enjoy each other's company and the feast my mom put together. I started my day out just fine with my typical protein hot cocoa and a light lunch/snack of soy chips before heading over to help mom at around 12:30. I remembered to take my camera, so actually got some cute shots of the nieces and nephews (of course they're still on the camera, so I don't have any to post with this message). The kids had their Scavenger Egg Hunt where the Easter Bunny leaves a clue for each of the kids and they have to find the next egg on the trail. Each egg after that has a clue stuffed inside telling them where to find the next one. Eventually they get an Easter basket at the end of the scavenger hunt. Everyone had a great time. Dinner was delicious, but somewhat of a disaster for me. I had a couple bites of ham, a couple bites of cheesy potatoes, roasted veggies and homemade noodles. And suddenly I realized something was very wrong. Not sure if I'd eaten too fast, hadn't chewed enough or if something just didn't agree with me -- but I was feeling very sick. Of course, true to form I never actually vomit immediately when I feel sick or when something feels stuck. So I quietly sat at the table being miserable while everyone continued their meal around me. Eventually I got overheated and needed to go outside to get some air. Still no vomiting. Sat back at the table and waited for everyone else to finish. Then helped clear the table and clean up the kitchen. Still feeling yucky. Overall, besides dinner, Easter with the family was good. It was nice to see the kids have fun with their egg hunt and get some cute pictures of them. So later at home it was about 8:00 p.m. and I knew I needed to eat something for dinner. But my tummy wasn't really agreeing with that sentiment and didn't want anything. After calculating my calories and protein for the day on FitDay I knew I didn't have a choice - I needed to eat. So I settled on another protein hot cocoa - figuring that it's normally soothing and easy. Oh No! Not this time. Within 30 minutes of drinking it I was feeling yucky again. Sorta felt like I had something stuck and sorta felt like I was dumping. So I gave up and just went to bed to sleep it off. It took me a while to get to sleep and I even pulled the trash can over close to the bed since it felt like puke-city. Hate that! In fact, hated that feeling so much I was crying as I laid in bed feeling miserable. And for any of you who know me, I simply don't cry very much at all. The next morning I felt much better but still a bit leary of what my tummy would be doing. So I stuck with soft foods and liquids most of Monday. Now that it's Tuesday things seem to be back to normal again. Thankfully! So --- isn't that an exciting story of how Easter 2008 went for me?! ~Pam

Increasing My Fiber

Without going into the whole Too-Much-Information area of this discussion --- I need to increase my fiber intake. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure we all could use a bit more fiber in our lives. Join the fun and increase your intake too! I've been averaging about 10g of fiber per day but I really need to be getting about 25g-30g per day. So I've done a bit of searching for a list of high fiber foods and came up with a resource from the World's Healthiest Food website. (I printed the chart they have listed there and will hang it on my refrigerator as a reminder.) Here's a few things from the list I plan to add to my grocery shopping list: Romaine Lettuce Cauliflower Broccoli Spinach Lentils Black Beans Split Peas Barley Whole Grain English Muffin Whole Grain Bread or Tortilla Shells Apples Avocado Edamame Raspberries Sounds like I need to make another pot of 15-bean and ham soup and maybe a fruit salad, huh? ~Pam

The Calcium I Take

EDITED TO ADD: I've written an extensive list of available Calcium Citrate brands including chewable calcium, liquid calcium and pill-form calcium. You can view it here: My Calcium Recommendations.


It's VERY important that after RNY that we take calcium citrate.

This form of calcium is the most soluble in a non-acid environment. After surgery there is no longer any gastric acid in our pouches - or very little, and what is there is often suppressed with acid blockers for the first year after surgery. (I'm taking Prevacid per my surgeon's orders.) The cheaper and more readily available form of calcium - which is carbonate - requires gastric acid to be broken down within the stomach and absorbed by the intestines.

There's a medical condition called Achlorhydria - which is when a patient has no stomach acid (hydrocloric acid). By studying this condition we can learn a lot about how we as post-RNY patients should be treated by our doctors and which medications and supplements we need to choose.

In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by R.R. Rekker the calcium absorption rate of achlorhydria patients was studied. After giving test subjects a dose of calcium, the bioavailability (absorption of the dose) was measured. His finding were:

Calcium Carbonate Absorption = 4%
Calcium Citrate Absorption = 45%

So it's clear that after gastric bypass surgery we MUST take calcium citrate in order to have a chance at having healthy bones and teeth.

So here's what I take - yes, I really do use all these forms of calcium. I take 4 doses per day, so I like variety and choices. 

UpCal-D ---- this is a powdered calcium citrate with Vitamin D3. In each tiny scoop I get a dose of 500mg of calcium citrate and 250IU of Vitamin D3. I mix it with my protein shake, plain water, food or whatever - it's tasteless and dissolves very easily with anything. I've even started to just pour the dose on my tongue and take a swallow of water - kind of like a Pixie Stix. It has a slightly sweet taste, not yucky or medicine-y at all.







Bariatric Advantage Calcium Chews -- When you want your calcium to taste like dessert! These little two-bite candies might taste sinful or naughty, but they contain 500mg calcium citrate, just what we need.  You can get them in chocolate, lemon, raspberry.
















Bariatric Advantage Calcium Lozenges -- These wafer-type chewable calcium citrate pills are great for getting your calcium. They've recently redesigned the formula, so each pill has 500mg. They are chewable and the Wild Cherry tastes like a sweet tart. I'm not sure where the term "lozenge" came from, because that word seems to imply a hard-candy like thing you'd suck on. But these aren't hard candy at all, it's a chewable sweet tart like consistancy. I love the Wild Cherry flavor but there is also chocolate & cinnamon. 








Citrical Regular Calcium Citrate -- with 630mg per dose (2 pills) these are an economical and easy way to get my calcium. You can buy the Citrical Petites - they are a smaller sized pill for easier swallowing but each pill has less calcium per dose, so check the label and adjust accordingly. 














The ASMBS recommends RNY patients get 1500-2000mg calcium citrate per day, in addition to any calcium we get from our diet.

Because I'm on a form of birth control that tends to leach calcium from bone (Depo Provera), my GYN has recommended that I increase my calcium intake above the normal range because Depo Provera tends to leach calcium from the body. So opt to dose at the top end of the recommendation scale and I take 2000mg per day.

Here's my calcium schedule:

Pre-Breakfast Protein Shake --- 500mg
After Lunch -- 500mg
After 4:30 Snack -- 500mg
After Dinner -- 500mg

It's best to take calcium with food because it will absorb better. However, if your meal is very high in iron (green leafy veggies or beef) then you might want to avoid a dose of calcium after that meal and find a different time to take it. Iron interferes with the absorption of calcium. That's why I take my multi-vitamins at different times than I take my calcium because my vitamins have iron in them.

If you have any questions about calcium, feel free to ask. I'll do what I can to shed some light.

~Pam

Tortilla Pizza

It's all Michelle's fault. I have found the perfect replacement to my pre-surgery pizza obsession. These tortilla pizzas are amazing and oh-so-good for you! You want one, don't you?

Here's how you can make your own ...

Turkey Pepperoni Tortilla Pizza

6" low-carb, whole wheat soft tortilla
1 teaspoon pizza sauce
Hormel turkey pepperoni
sliced cherry tomatoes
Pizza blend shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On the stove top heat tortilla in a small frying pan until slightly crispy (I use a tiny spritz of canned olive oil spray). In the meantime, slice your tomatoes (I usually add mushrooms too but didn't have any tonight). When tortilla is slightly crispy, put it on your cookie sheet and assemble your ingredients. Bake until the cheese is melted and golden.

Calories: about 260
Protein: about 24g

You are gonna love it!

~Pam

I bought new jeans!

I walked into the dressing room wearing baggy size 26W jeans. I had optomistically taken in a couple pairs to try out.... size 22w and 20w. The 22w fit pretty good but were too long (oops, grabbed a tall). So I thought I'd check the length on the 20w that was 'average'.

To my surprised the 20's fit! They fit!!!! Holy Moly They Fit!!! And yes, I did a little jig in the dressing room. (And took a picture!)

Be VERY careful when ordering at a restaurant

I learned my lesson the hard way today. And oh boy is it bad!

I was running late for work this morning so I skipped making a protein shake at home. Instead I stopped at Tropical Smothie Cafe. I've got one of their menus in my car, so picked out what looked the healthiest and felt good about my choice. I normally pick off the "Splenda Menu", but decided to change it up a bit today. I went for the Peanut Paradise Protein Shake. Half a banana, peanut butter, low-fat yogurt and whey protein. Sounds healthy, huh?

I drank most of it this morning over the course of an hour or so. It's 24oz, so I skipped my normal breakfast and just had the shake.

Just about the time when I got near the end of the smoothie I started to feel shakey and my tummy started to rumble. Bad feeling. Very very bad. Made a trip to the restroom. Still feeling bad and shakey. Like my hands were literally shaking and apparently my face is flushed because a few people asked if I was alright.

So I called Tropical Smoothie Cafe and asked for the specific information on the Peanut Paradise. The guy said: "It's just a half banana, peanut butter, low-fat yogurt and protein powder." So I questioned him some more about the yogurt asking if he'd check the sugar content of the yogurt and how much was added. He went to find the "nutrition sheet" and came back saying that the sugar content wasn't listed. I asked him to check the actual yogurt container. He went to find the container. He came back to the phone finally and said it wasn't listed. I questioned him again saying... "there must be sugar in that smoothie, I'm crashing I need to know how much sugar there is." His reply?

"Well there's a cup and a half of sugar in it too."

OH MY STARS! Actually my response was "holy shit!" He also mentioned that there's 810 calories in the smoothie. (Guess that uses up my entire calorie count for the day!)

Right now I'm not in full blown dumping. Tummy rumblings, gas, shakey hands and a bit light headed but not the full blown stuff I hear about where you're curled up in a ball wanting to die with extreme cramps, explosive diarrhea, sweating and pain. Hope I don't get to experience "late dumping" in a couple hours. I just want to feel better and be done with this.

I've been really careful to not test my sugar limits since surgery. I didn't want to know if I dumped or not. I wanted the fear to be securely in place and not play around with that knowledge. So now I guess I know I can sit down to a bowl of 12 oz. pure sugar and eat it up with a spoon and only have minor ramifications.

Damn it! I didn't want to know this information.

~Pam

Can Non-WLS Folks Understand Us?

Before I had surgery I thought I understood what my sister and mother had gone through in their WLS journey. They ate smaller meals and had to limit the “bad food” and lost weight. It was just a strict diet, right?

I learned a bit more as I was going through my research phase for my own surgery. I learned more about the mental and emotional side of the surgery. Read about the struggles other post-ops went through and in my mind knew the “right” answers to all those questions about head hunger and food addiction and no longer being able to use food as a comfort or companion. I knew there were struggles to be faced. I also knew that I was strong enough to face them.

But when I look back to my understanding before surgery of those struggles I realize I knew very little about what was about to come. About what I would really be facing.

So if I, as someone who spent 18 or more months researching this surgery and lifestyle change, am surprised at the magnitude of the struggle. How can I expect someone who hasn’t had the surgery to fully understand?

Can anyone really get it unless they’ve walked in our shoes and had to live through the struggle themselves?

Oh sure, I could treat it as “just a strict diet” and stop worrying so much about the mind games and trying to improve all areas of my life. But if I don’t deal with the mental aspect of what got me obese in the first place, I’ll just end up at risk for regaining the weight and falling back into bad habits. Do I really want to go back to being the person who stops at Domino’s after work to pick up dinner – and eats the majority of a medium pizza alone? No. Do I want to go back to being the person who is bored at home on a Sunday afternoon so bakes a cake and eats a third of it before bed? No. I don't want food to be a controling force in my life. I don't want food to be the first thing I think of when I'm trying to find something to occupy my time.

I want to deal with the emotions and demons that made me do things like that and figure out some alternative way of dealing with my boredom, laziness, happiness, sadness or whatever other emotion that causes people to eat instead of face the emotion and deal with it without food. And the only way I can do that is to face those demons head on and fight them to the death.

But for someone who doesn’t struggle with those demons…. they probably won’t ever get it, will they?

I want my life to be a certain way. And in order to achieve that I have to work really hard to make the changes I want to see. What other time in my life will I ever have the perfect opportunity to get healthy in ALL areas of my life?

That's why I joined that group therapy session. To develop a plan for changes I want to make in every aspect of my life. Not just my physical health and the food I eat. But also my spiritual health, my financial health, my relationship health, my vocational and intellectual health -- everything. WLS seems like the perfect springboard for those changes.

This journey is more than just a strict diet. It’s about getting in touch with who I am and what I’m about. Figuring out how to love myself despite my flaws while still working to fix as many of those flaws as I can. I’m not sure anyone can really understand what that’s like until they’ve gone through it themselves.

~Pam

Today's Eating

Every evening on OH, there's a thread called "Eating Good in the Neighborhood." It's a place where everyone can post what they ate for the day to keep ourselves accountable. I like it because it lets me see my entire day's food all together in one place and let's me analyze my calories and protein intake for the day. I thought it would be interesting to post some of my entries here as well. So here's today's post... Commute -- protein hot cocoa Breakfast -- carb master yogurt Lunch - Eggy's chicken casserole stuff and a salad (yum!) Snack - cheese stick Dinner -- beef stew Calories: 708 Protein: 82g Water: still working on the last glass Vits: done

The Bariatric Community Loses Dr. Obeid

Dr. Obeid was my first choice of surgeon when I began my WLS journey. But before I could have my surgery he suffered a stroke. I didn't realize he was also suffering from a brain tumor. I'm so sorry that the bariatric community has lost such a wonderful, spiritual and caring man. I was immediately drawn to him because of his great compassion and his belief that his talent was given to him from God and placed such great faith in our Lord. He touched my life in the short time I'd known him. --------------------------- From the Flint Journal - 3/10/08 FLINT, Michigan - Dr. Farouck Obeid, the surgical and spiritual foundation of Hurley's Bariatric Center as well as a teacher and mentor for the next generation of trauma surgeons, died Saturday. He was 58. "His personality, demeanor and way with people made such a difference in the long run. He was the kind of person that encouraged everyone around him," said Dr. Jim Wagner, a fellow surgeon and now director of trauma services at Hurley. "He encouraged everyone to be a better person, be a better surgeon." Obeid was the director of trauma services and the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center at Hurley as well as a senior staff surgeon at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit at the same time he led the Hurley Bariatric Center to be one of the most respected in Michigan and with one of the lowest mortality rates. He also helped elevate the trauma center to Level One status. Obeid worked until about six months ago when he became ill from a brain tumor. Obeid also was a professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, Case Western Reserve University and Michigan State University until his sickness. And, he did it all with his own personal touch that made him popular among staff and patients. "He was a compassionate man," said Hurley spokesman Larry Daly. "He really touched the lives of his patients." Obeid also was a Hurley Pinnacle Award Recipient in 2004 and the Physician of the Year in 2002. He authored 64 articles and seven books pertaining to the medical field. Obeid was born in Syria and graduated from the Damascus University School of Medicine in 1972. He worked at the DePaul Hospital in Norfolk, Va., before coming to Michigan. He'd been at Hurley since 1999 and began leading the Bariatric Center in 2005. Obeid's funeral is 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. George Orthodox Church, 2160 E. Maple Road in Troy. Visitation is from 2-9 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. until the time of the service Tuesday, also at the church. Obeid leaves his wife, Gloria, and four children, Nadia Obeid, Nabeel Obeid, Leila Obeid and Nicholas Obeid. Contributions are being made to the Dr. Farouck Obeid Memorial Fund.

The Emotional Journey is Tough

The crazy thing about WLS is that the doctor does surgery on your stomach and intestines. He doesn’t touch your brain at all. But the hardest part of this whole process is dealing with the emotional issues that go along with everything else. Head Hunger Emotional Eating Trigger Foods Relationship Issues Balancing Stress Hormonal Imbalance And that’s just the tip of the iceburg. Who knew that so much of our eating, exercise and hunger issues were tied so closely to psychological issues! It was a tough weekend for me in this department. For the past few weeks I’ve been dropping weight pretty steadily. About 3 pounds a week and probably another 3 on my weigh in day tomorrow. And with every pound I lose the hormones that are stored and produced inside my fat cells are being released into my system or being moved to different production spots. So I’ve got that crazy emotional PMS feeling and it just seems to be getting worse. This is the first time since surgery that I’ve really noticed a prolonged period of time when my emotions have gotten in the way of life. I argued with my best friend for no good reason at a time when he was hurting and needed support. I was grouchy with my family because they didn’t do what I wanted them to do at the time I wanted it done. My car needs a repair and I’m stressed about the cost and whether or not it’ll be worth it to fix the car or call it dead and shop for another. I bawled all over the place when I got an email from a dear friend struggling with her battle with cancer. I felt a bit depressed and just wanted to hibernate and be left alone. Then this morning while driving to work (got lots of thinking time with my long commute) – I started thinking about my behavior and mood over the weekend. And suddenly realized the advice given to so many new post-ops. It’s the crazy hormones that are doing all this to me. I’m not losing my mind after all! I’ve also reaffirmed my initial analysis that I am not a stress eater. When things get rough for me emotionally I actually don’t turn to food for comfort. In fact, I turn away from food, it seems. Meals this weekend were weak and very simple and I only ate because I knew I had to. Instead of having a real meal yesterday for lunch, I had some soy chips instead. High protein snack, but not exactly a well balanced meal of protein and veg. But the soy chips were easy and didn’t require thought or planning. It supported my hibernation mood. I suppose this is just as unhealthy of a behavior as stress eating for comfort. Who knows. So yeah…. Been an emotional weekend (and part of last week too). Maybe now that I recognize what’s going on, I can deal with it better. ~Pam

My Trip to Trader Joe's

The ladies over at OH are always bragging about how wonderful Trader Joe's grocery store is and listing all the great things they bought. Lots of healthy, organic type foods that you can't really find anywhere else. I don't have a TJ close to me ... so I decided to make a trip into Rochester Hills after work last night and check it out. Wow! What an awesome store! It was smaller than I expected, but it was jam packed with so many great things. Here's a run down of some of the things I got: - Soy Chips (all 3 flavors) - Soy & flax seed tortilla chips - Fresh salsa - Black Bean Dip (to make some of the quesadillas they had samples of) - sugar snap peas - dried or freeze dried or something - for salad topping or whatever - Fiber apple cranberry muffins (Umm.... these taste like I'm eating a twig LOL!) - mini mozzerella balls & grape tomatoes (I'll make a salad later with italian dressing and basil) - crab stuffed flounder - stuff salmon (3 different kinds) - spinach & artichoke dip so I can make Eggface's casserole recipe - Fage yogurt - Tomato Basil Bisque - chicken sausages (roasted garlic one and mango one) - olive oil - and more stuff I can't remember right now.... I checked out the b12 sublinguals, but I'd just bought 4 bottles a couple weeks ago on sale, so I skipped it this time I have a feeling this is a place I'll be making a detour to more often. Lots of great products that I've never seen anywhere else before. ~Pam

A Photo Update - 62 pounds lost!

Grazing

I've found myself grazing lately. Eating small unplanned snacks that are not exactly in the "healthy" category. It seems like it's more difficult to control this bad habit on the weekends when I'm at home for most of the day.

I'm not hungry, necessarily. But I think I'm giving into head hunger or cravings. Or maybe I'm letting emotions like boredom take over without consciously putting a stop to them.

Even with the added snacking, I'm still recording everything that I'm eating in my food journal (www.fitday.com) and I'm still coming in within my calorie range like I should be. My protein goals (70-100g/day) have been hitting the low side lately and I'm sure that has to do with my increased intake of carbs with this whole grazing thing. Although sometimes the grazing is done with protein-forward foods like a cheesestick or apple & peanut butter.

So I'm going to work hard this week at recognizing when I'm snacking off schedule (I have 2 scheduled snacks per day) and put a stop to it. I'm also going to work on increasing my protein intake so I'm consistently getting to the higher end of my protein goal scale.

~Pam

Checking in on my New Year's Resolutions

Remember my "8 for 2008" goals for the New Year? I do. And I've been working on them faithfully - one at a time. So I thought I'd post an update about my progress.

1. Continue on my Journey to Health by following my surgeon’s rules, being smart about my food choices, exercising like a crazy woman and focusing on my emotional well being.
I've been doing a good job of following the rules and staying on track with my food choices and emotional journey. I need to do a better job of "exercising like a crazy woman" though.

2. Follow my Retirement & Emergency Savings Plans (which includes a savings account for a trip to Italy for my 40th birthday!!!)
On track with this as well.

3. Learn to knit
Wow! I learned to knit! Thanks to YouTube and a couple online written tutorials, I learned how to knit in a single afternoon. The first project was a mess of dropped stitches and uneven tension/gage, but eventually things got better. I've fallen in love with felted bags. I'll need to take a few pictures and show you my creations.

4. Develop my photographic skills and immerse myself in the hobby of photography
Haven't really started on this one yet. I hate the cold and snow, so as soon as things warm up here in Michigan, I'll be out and about with my camera.

5. Go to more events – movies, plays, concerts, museums, productions and shows. There are tons of opportunities all around me and I'd like to do more this year!
This is an amazing goal and I'm so glad I set it. I'm writing to you today from The Harvest Coffeehouse where there's live music this afternoon. Last night I went to the State Theater for a concert by The Young Dubliners. In January and February I went to two different plays by a couple different local playhouses. I also have been going to the Sunday afternoon independent film presentations at the Temple Theater. The Temple is an old restored theater in downtown Saginaw that is so elegant and beautiful -- marble or plush carpet everywhere, chandeliers in the ladies room, immaculately restored architecture and ornate appointments all around. Before each Sunday's film there's an organ ovature played by expert organists on an antique pipe organ. Who knew I'd love all this culture! I set up a Google Calendar and listed as many events as I could find for the rest of the year (and it continues to grow) -- so I always know what's going on and what's coming up.

6. Get your butt back to school
Still haven't registered for classes and probably won't make it for the Spring quarter, but I'm hoping things work out for Summer quarter. I really want to finish my degree.

7. Purge the clutter. (Storage room cleaning project begins next week!)
Slowly but surely I'm working my way through the overcrowded mess. My storage room needs serious intervention. I've got a pile (er... mountain) started in my dining room of boxes that are packed up and awaiting this summer's massive family yard sale. I'll be glad to have all the unneeded stuff out of my house. Everytime I pack up a box, I feel lighter and lighter.

8. Make new friends, but keep the old. (One is silver and the other gold.... sorry, couldn't resist.)
I've joined 2 additional WLS support groups where I'm meeting new friends all the time. I am also making some new friends at my weekly Group Therapy sessions (most are also part of the support groups). And getting out to the cultural stuff in town is sure to help me find more people to meet.