The wedding is less than 2 weeks away!

As mother-of-the-bride, I am in stress mode. I have the bridesmaids' jewelry finished and all I need to do for my daughter's jewelry is attach earhooks to a pair of earings. I have started jewelry for me but need a sunny day to check to see if the colors go well before I finish.

Weight loss has slowed even more. Only 2 pounds this month.

Last Sunday was bittersweet. The church where I've been a member for 29 years closed. We voted to close in January and had several votes to confirm that decision, but last Sunday was the final service there and it was very hard not to completely break down, but I held it together pretty well until the end of the part of the service that was held in what is now our former church. for some reason I get very emothional when we sing the hymn "Borning Cry" and that is when I had trouble. We went to the new church (the one we merged with) today. We will be received a members ther on May 17. It is a little strange since this was the church I left 29 years ago when we moved, but in many ways it is not the same church. I guess time will tell. So far everyone seems very friendly.

Saturday one of my aunts and cousin came for a visit. I haven't seen this particular aunt in several years so I was very glad she was able to come. She is leaving for Spain this week so she won't be at the wedding.

Just to keep things interesting I broke out in a very bad case of hives that itched like crazy that required a late night trip to the pharmacy for Benadryl. Thank heaven it worked.

This week will be another busy one. I have several appointments plus some shopping to get done. At school we have a field trip, assuming it does not rain on Tuesday or Wednesday. There is also all of the end-of-the-year stuff that needs doing.

Need to get with the program

It seems like I have forgotton about my poor blog. I'll try to get here and post more frequently. My daughter's bridal shower was last Saturday at her future mother-in-law's home. I finished one bracelet and one necklace for the girls to try on before making all of them. It seems that I will need one more strand of small lavendar pearls and possible more ivory pearls to complete everything. I'm still working on my daughter's jewelry. I'd like to make mine as well and I still have a little to do to finish the veil. Her first fitting is next Thursday so I guess I need to get with the program in that department as well. My sister doesn' know it yet, but I am going to ask her to do the place cards when I get all the response cards back.

Weight loss has slowed down quite a bit, but I am getting there. In four more pounds, I will no longer be overweight!!!

With everything that has been going on I have really let my shop on etsy slip. Of course, with the general state of the economy, I'm not sure how well I'd be doing anyway.

Stinky mess

My poor sister. Her sewer backed up into her basement last weekend. She had one company come out and tell her there was nothing wrong. So she ran water and more "stuff" came up. She had another company out and they sent a camera down and said she had a crushed pipe and that what she had was mostly mud (sure didn't smell like plain old mud) but they couldn't do the work, So she had another company come and they dug up her front yard to replace the pipe. Turned out here pipe was cast iron and not crushed. There were tree roots growing in the terra cotta pipe ubder the street. At first she was afraid they would have to dig up the street, but they put some root killing stuff down and reamed the pipe clean and they put a place to access the pipe from outside the house. It cost her over $6000.00. I went up after my doctor appointment and helped her clean up the leftover dried up sludge.

I saw the dietician and surgeon

Another update--I had my 3 month follow up with the dietician and my surgeon and I have been declared the poster child for bariatric surgery! My sister was upset because she was told that she was the poster child. I've lost a total of 64.5 pounds; 39 have been lost since surgery. I was on the "small" side for surgery, meaning that I just qualified, they were pleased because the average loss 3 months out is 40-60 pounds. My goal now is to lose 19.5 more pounds before I go back on May 22. My surgeon assured me that I will continue to lose. I thought I'd be in trouble for not journaling my food, but as long as I am where I am supposed to be I don't have to.

Mother of the bride dresses.

Keep in mind the dresses are a bit tight because I bought 10's, figuring I'd be down at least 10 pounds by May 16. The first one is for the wedding. and cost $27.50. Ken is not the best picture taker, but there is some beading on the hem of the sleeve. The neckline is draped and the back drapes lower than the front. The second one is for the rehearsal dinner and was a real bargain at $15.00. The last one is because I thought I looked good in the dress. This was the expensive one at $60.00. I guess that was because it was an Evan Picone. BTW, that is my ankle bracelet part way up my leg. I guess I need to take it apart and shorten it. I must say that shopping for a dress to wear was depressing at first. There was nothing in the mall. I went to a local bridal shop and told her I didn't want anything extravagant and she showed me a black dress. A black dress for the mother of the bride??? She said he dress was simple, but elegant. It cost $630! I wasn't planning to spend over $200 and she said she had nothing. I went to a small bridal shop in town and they did have some samples. The one I like best was $215 (they said they'd "work" with me, bit it would need alterations. The only thing I might need to do is hem the underlayer of the top (it is a 2 piece dress) since it wants to peek out. I'm hoping that 10 pounds will take care of that. Even if it doesn't, I can do that myself.

Here is a pic of my highest weight

This was taken 2 weeks before I started the program. my sister took pictures the day before my surgery, but they are still on her camera. By then I'd lost about 25 pounds, but I was still unhealthy.

I am so HAPPY!!

The first picture is from August of 07 and not my highest weight. The second picture is from June of 08 and not my highest weight.

The thirs picture is from October of 08 about 3 weeks after surgery. The last picture is from the first week of Nov. of 08 and is the most recent I have available now. Currently I am about 15 pounds less than when that picture was taken.

Now, why I am so happy. Although they are a tiny bit snug, but I am sitting here and breathing in a pair of size 8 jeans! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get into a size 8, and I still have 22 pounds to go until I am no longer overweight. I decided that size 14 held up with a belt will no longer cut it.