Thursday, April 25, 2013

Triple T!!

Thanks to the gorgeous (and preggo) Laura Belle we have Ten Things Thursday!!


1. I am taking my kids on another field trip tomorrow. This time we are going to a park and having a picnic. The Rockstar is taking his class too. How cool is it that I am having a date day with The Rockstar while I am at work. Nevermind the fact that we will have 24 kids with us :)


2. Tonight I went to dinner for the student teacher I had at the beginning of this semester that was hosted by the university she attends. It is also the university where I received my bachelors degree. The food was amazing. It was some kind of herb crusted chicken. As everyone finished the servers took everyone's plate except for mine. I then realized that I leave so much food on my plate that they didn't think I was finished. At first I didn't give it much thought, but then I noticed everyone at kept looking at my plate (or at least I felt like they were). It made me a little self conscious for some reason. Usually it doesn't seem to bother me, but for some reason it did tonight.


3. I will be getting another student teacher in August. She came by the school yesterday to have me sign some observation paperwork. It was the second time I have met her. I'm not sure this one is going to gel with me as well. She talks nonstop. Now you would think that a chatty girl like me would be ok with that. But, I have a feeling she can out talk me any day.


4. The Rockstar is going out of town this weekend to meet up with some old army buddies. I have no idea what I will do with myself for a whole weekend alone.


5. I ordered a 2 piece swimsuit online and it arrived today. I felt pretty good in it. I think I may need to send the top back and get one size bigger. I may have lost 83 pounds, but I swear I'm not sure that I lost one ounce of that in my boobs. The top size of my swimsuit is double the size of my bottoms.


6. I had told y'all a while ago that I may not get to go on my girls trip to the beach this year because my bff's son was coming in from Japan that week. Well, I am happy to say that we worked it out. We had an extra bedroom in our condo, so I just suggested that her boys (both grown and can drive their own car) spend the week at the condo with us. They are old enough that they will want to go off and do their own thing while we lay on the beach and she will still get to spend time with him in the evenings while he is back in the states.


7. I have Kohl's cash that I need to spend by this weekend. They suck me back in every single time with that damn Kohl's cash. I go in thinking I am only going to spend this $20 in Kohl's cash and not a penny more. Yeah, right. I end up spending another $100 and then get more Kohl's cash. The cycle is never ending.


8. Only 4 more weeks of school and the it's summer break!!!!!


9. I am planning on going to the beach a few days after we get out of school. Then, a week after I return I plan to go to Colorado to visit my other bff. Then, my German son is supposed to come back to the states for the whole month of July. This is going to be an amazing summer :)


10. Grey's Anatomy is on and finally is a new episode....so I need to go watch it :)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Feeling fatty fat today and tummy tuck reveal



I am feeling fatty today. I shall stay in sweats all day and sulk about it. Just kidding...I stay in my sweats every Sunday any way :) But I won't sulk about it, it is what it is. I ate way to much crap this weekend, so feeling fat today is the price I must pay.

Friday I took my kids on a field trip out to lunch. We had been working on how to order from a menu, money skills, tipping, restaurant vocabulary, etc. So, Friday we went to a restaurant so they could transfer those skills from the classroom to the real world. Not a hard concept for most kids, but the kind of kids I teach have a very difficult time transferring skills. Any way, they did great and we all had a great time. I did, however, eat too much. We went to a place that has really, really good rolls. And yes I ate one. And yes, it was loaded with butter.


If that wasn't bad enough, The Rockstar and I went out to eat yesterday. I may, or may not (ok I did) eat a big portion of one of these...

 
 

It was so yummy while I was in the process of eating it, but I felt like crap the rest of the night. However, that didn't stop me from eating these...





Yeah, not the best choices this weekend. But I won't dwell on it. Today will be a better day :)


So I know I have promised some "after" tummy tuck pics. Well, I had not taken any. But I snapped a quick pic last night. Some times I think I look good until I see myself in a picture and then I am like "oh my God, what the hell was I thinking". So, I was thinking maybe this summer I would wear a 2 piece swimsuit. But then I remembered that the mirror sometimes lies to me and I had better take a pic so I could see what it was going to look like. I still haven't decided if I am brave enough to go to the beach in 2 piece, but I will definitely have one on in my own backyard. Anyway, here is the big reveal of the post tummy tuck pic (and please don't mind the unmade bed in the background)...


 

I am still a little swollen and the pic is a little blurry and dark....sorry, that's all I got for now :)



Have a happy Sunday!


 
 


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Swell Hell

You know how new bandsters go through bandster hell? Well new tummy tuckers go through "swell hell"...and I am right smack dab in the middle of it. In the mornings I am great. Full of energy, have a nice flat tummy, and feel on top of the world. At some time during the afternoon I start to lose my mojo, feel tired, and look a few months pregnant. I know it is completely normal after a tummy tuck, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

Today marks 1 month since my tummy tuck (if you go by weeks and not the date...4 weeks today). I feel so much better in my clothes. Even with the binder, my clothes fit so much better. I'm not sure how much longer I will have to wear the binder. I go back to the surgeon tomorrow. He said most of the time he wants patients to stay in it 6 weeks for 23 hours a day. I have followed that rule every single day. In fact, I don't really like having the binder off.


In unrelated tt news, it has been in the 80's here this week. I bought 3 new pair of flip flops over the weekend. I have been rockin the capri's and flip flops to work this week. Now that the piggies have been set free, they won't be contained again until at least October :) The Rockstar says I need an intervention for my flip flop addiction. I don't have room for all of my flip flops in one closet. They are spread out between two closets. Here is the unorganized mess of not even 1/4 of my flippy flops...

 
 
For those of you who have missed my duckface pics I will leave you with this...
 
Happy Tuesday Y'all!
 


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Rainy days and tanning bed shenanigans

It has been raining here all day. In fact, they were calling for very severe weather. I live in "tornado alley" and it is quite common for us to have tornadoes in April and May in these parts. The worst part of the storm was supposed to hit between 5-7 am...just when everyone would be going to school (my school starts at 7:20). So guess what???? We got a 2 hour delay :) I sure did enjoy that extra 2 hours of sleep! Oh, and thankfully there weren't any tornadoes close by.


It has been in the low 80's here this week. Flip flop and capri weather for sure. The only problem is that if I were to wear capri's right now I would blind someone with these pale white legs. So, I started going to the tanning bed yesterday. Usually by this time of the I have already been getting my tan on, but with the tummy tuck and all I had not yet been to the tanning bed.


For those of you who do not know about my tanning bed shenanigans you can read about them from last year here. It was a memorable moment. Although that didn't happen this time, I am quite sure it was just as comical to see me trying to get in and out of the tanning bed...remember, I am only 3 weeks post op and getting into and out of a lying position is not an easy task. The button to turn on the tanning bed is on the outside of the bed...so I have to turn it on before I get in. Since yesterday was my first visit I only stayed 5 minutes. By the time I was able to get myself in the bed and actually get situated, the bed turned off. No joke. I think that 5 minutes was wasted. Today I stayed 7, but again, it took me 5 of those minutes to get in there and get situated. And in case you are wondering, I am not laying in there nakey this year. I am wearing swimsuit bottoms so my incisions stay covered. And I also had a bandage over my belly button since there are incisions in there too.


Maybe by next week I will have enough color to wear my capri's without damaging too many eyes. Regardless, I will be sporting my flippy flops :) I saw on tv that one of our department stores has my favorite kind of flip flops (yellow box flip flops) on sale, so I see some retail therapy in store for this weekend :)

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Is it cheating???

So today I was casually walking down the hall at school and a coworker (who I don't know that well) stopped me and said "have you lost a bunch of weight since you started working here?" I told her that I had lost about 40 pounds since I had started working there and 83 pounds total.

I felt like a cheater when I told her that. At the time of my tummy tuck I had lost 75 pounds. The PS removed over 7 pounds....so technically, I didn't lose that, it was cut off and sucked out. Do I still get to count that??? I felt like I was being deceitful. I have not hidden the lapband or the tummy tuck to my closest coworkers, but to those I don't see often I just have no reason to bring it up.


Either way, I am happy to not have those 83 pounds on my body now...regardless of how I got rid of them. I have been thinking about posting some after pics for y'all...but I haven't taken any yet. I will NOT be posting the before tt pics on here. If someone asks for them individually I might consider that, but I don't want to put them out there for the world to see.


This week is going great. I feel like I am gaining more and more of my energy back every day. I am completely back to normal in the mornings, but after lunch I become very tired. I have also been going to bed about a half hour earlier.

Let's get ready for hump day and hopefully the rest of the week will be a breeze :)

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Be careful what you wish for....

Remember when I said I would be glad when I had an appetite???? Yeah, well, I take it all back. I have been a bottomless pit this weekend.

Actually, I am happy to have an appetite again, but seriously, there could have been some kind of in between wanting to hurl when I looked at food and clawing up someone's face if I didn't shove food in my mouth within 2.2 seconds.


I worked all day Friday (very exhausted) and then came home and got ready for The Rockstar's show. Just getting ready takes all my energy. It takes me about 45 minutes to take off all the bandages, clean everything, and bandage back up. But I sucked it up, and did it, and off we went to the show.

I had no idea I would have to stand outside in line for over 30 minutes when we got there. That was brutal. By the end of the day I am swollen and the last thing I want to do is stand up....outside....with a bunch of metal heads. But again, I sucked it up, and did whatever I had to do to be the supportive little wife I should be :) Most of the time I can use the whole "I'm with band" card and get right in, but this was a bigger show, with a very well known band, and that didn't fly this time.


I sat in the back of the venue away from everyone so there wasn't much chance of some random drunk guy falling on me and knocking me down. By the end of the night I was extremely uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get home to bed. The Rockstar did great. He was like a giddy teenager getting to open for his idol. Since I was in the back I didn't get many pictures of The Rockstar...and I didn't even care about getting pictures of the other bands...they aren't my idols.

 
 
 
 
After the show we went to eat. All of a sudden, out of no where, I was starving. I had an entire ham and cheese omelet and 3 pieces of bacon. On Saturday we ran errands, went grocery shopping, and then met a bunch of friends for dinner. We went to a sushi place. I don't eat sushi, but everyone else did. I had never seen so much sushi in my life....
 
 
 
 
That was just one person's plate. And yes, he ate it all....
 
 
 
 
Today I am just resting and doing some light housework (still not really supposed to be doing housework). The Rockstar is out mowing our grass for the first time this year...so glad I don't have allergies.
 
 
I am thinking about getting a spray tan this week. I still can't go to the tanning bed and I would really like to wear capri's without blinding everyone. I have never been spray tanned and I scared I will come out looking like an oompa loompa :)
 
I am saying a special little prayer today for my friend Cheri, who is having surgery tomorrow.
 
I hope all of y'all have had as good of a weekend as I did! Toodles!


 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Triple T!

Thanks to the gorgeous (and preggo) Laura Belle we have Ten Things Thursday!!


1. I can honestly say that each day I feel like I am getting better and better. I still can't walk fast, have to be very careful getting in and out of the car, and occasionally need help when getting up from a lying position, but I have a little bit more energy each day.


2. So I feel like my new belly button is a tad bit on the small side. Maybe I was just used to having a big ole stretched out belly button. Any way, I read online (on a tt site where plastic surgeons answer questions) that you can tape a marble in your belly button and the new belly button will stretch out a bit. This sounds a little strange to me, but I am going to ask my PS about it.


3. I still haven't slept in the bed. I mentioned last night that I may try it and The Rockstar had a mini meltdown. He was so afraid that he would roll over and accidentally hit me in his sleep. I knew if I slept in the bed he wouldn't get any sleep from being nervous about hitting me. I decided I would wait until Friday night...that way it doesn't matter much if he doesn't get any sleep :)


4. Speaking of The Rockstar...tomorrow night his band is opening for another band. The drummer of the other band is a very famous/well known drummer within that genre of music. The Rockstar has idolized this guy even before we got married (22 years ago). It is like a HUGE deal that he will be opening for this guy. The show doesn't start until 8:00 at night. I have to work all day...I will be exhausted just from having to work. Then, I will be at the show until midnight or so. I feel bad that I am almost dreading this...it is, after all, one of the biggest things of his musical career. I also don't even have a clue what in the world I will wear. There is no way in hell that jeans will fit over all this bandaging and the binder.


5. Finally, for the first time in two weeks, I had an appetite today. I took my kids to the bowling alley (we go every other week and bowl and eat lunch there) and I had a big ole salad. I never thought I would be happy about having an appetite.


6. My bff who I always vacation with told me yesterday that she thinks she is going to have to cancel on our yearly beach trip. Her son is in the Navy stationed in Japan and only comes in like once a year. She found out that he is coming home the day before we were going to leave for the beach. I am certainly not a bit mad at her, but I am very sad that I may not get my yearly girls beach trip. And it sucks that I would lose the deposit I have already paid on the condo.


7. Everyone is talking about some post on fb last night. I feel so out of the loop. I have no idea what everyone is talking about.


8. In case you didn't know, it is Autism Awareness Month. I have worked with kids with autism for 15 years. I can honestly say that some of the best people to have been part of my life in the past 15 years have autism.


9. It is going to be in the 70"s here this weekend. You know what that means......flip flop time!!!!!


10. Grey's Anatomy tonight....yay!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Just plum wore out

I went back to the PS yesterday. He removed the left drain.....I'm free, I'm free!!!! I feel so much better now.

I returned to work today. My kids were all very excited to see me...it has been 2 whole weeks! They knew I was out because I was having surgery. Of course they didn't know what kind of surgery, they were just told it was surgery on my tummy. One of my aides had talked to them yesterday about when I return she knew that they would be happy to see me, but they could not run up to me and hug me without asking because my tummy was still very sore from surgery. I was glad that she had that talk with them, otherwise they wouldn't have given it a thought to run up to me and throw their arms around me.

Although I was happy to get back to work, it absolutely plum wore me out. My grandmother used to always say "plum wore out"...not sure why the "plum" makes it seem so much more serious, but it does :)

I made multiple trips to the bathroom to make sure I wasn't leaking through the bandages at the drain sites. The Rockstar bandaged them up good this morning, so I made it through the day with no problems there.

My department gave me a get well card with a gift card in it. They said it was to go buy my new thongs. They all know what kind of surgery I had and I had jokingly said that I was gonna be so sexy that I may show up to work in a thong :)

Wanna know what the hardest part about the day was?? Of course you do. It was wearing regular clothes. I have been in sweats for 2 weeks straight. It was uncomfortable to have on regular pants on top of this binder. I have to tell ya...I don't mind wearing the binder at all. In fact, I hate the way it feels when I have it off to change bandages, bathe, etc.

I have feeling that I will sleep very well tonight. I may even try to sleep in the bed now that I can turn over on my side....I will let ya know how that goes :)