Social Workers

Love you guys, (OK, maybe not love per se) but I will be so happy when we don't have to have monthly visits for Bit-Bit as well as quarterly visits by our R&C worker. I look forward to these monthly visits just about as much as I look forward to my period. It's just inconvenient. You have to stop everything you are doing. You have to clean up more than usual. It stinks.

See, it is like getting your period.

Bit-Bit's worker visits tonight. There's not going to be any news as TPR isn't until April 29th, so this visit is especially inconvenient.

I swear that Cookie thinks babies come from social workers. :)

10% of Me is GONE!!

That's right, I got my "10% weight loss" award at WW yesterday, but I did even better than that. My total weight loss is now 25.2 pounds!! So, I got my 10% key ring, and a 25 lb. award to hang on it. I have gone from 245.2 down to 220 since the beginning of the semester...and the semester isn't over yet! This is really quite an exciting venture on my part, and so far I've been more successful than I ever remember having been. A part of it is knowing I'm going to post my results here, a part of it is having a husband who is cooperative (and joined WW too and has lost 15 pounds himself), and a family who is supportive. Clearly I have quite a ways to go. But the good news is that I really don't think about the HUGE number I had to loose. "Baby steps on the bus" is how I think about it. And now, 25 pounds doesn't seem like "baby steps" at all!

My next goal - get into the 2-teens range on the scale - by next week, that second number is no longer going to be a 2!!
Goal #2 - get my 30 pound star sticker!
Goal #3 - loose as much weight as Cookie weighs - about 32 pounds I figure
Goal #4 - (long range goal) Get below 200!! It's been at least 7 years since I have been below 200, so when that goal is accomplished, I will have lost another 10% of me, and Michael will not be able to keep his hands off me.
Ultimate goal - OK, WW says I have to get to 155 in order to be at the top of my weight range and stop paying and become "lifetime", so I figured I'd at least let everyone know what the ultimate goal is. Once I am there, I am planning on trying to become an instructor. It doesn't really pay, but that's the only way I figure I'll be able to keep this off forever.

Oh, and for those of you interested in "sizes", here's how I've progressed: I was in a 22W in jeans at my peak, at Christmas I was wearing 20W...now I just bought those Lee Riders at Wally World in 16W and they are baggy. Now, they ARE "relaxed fit" after all. Oh, and I have no dress pants that fit now. All too big. I think I am heading to Burling*ton to see what they have out. That's about all I can afford, and I don't want to buy in every size knowing in a few months they will be too big again.

Oh, and my boobs..yeah, still the same size bra. Which we all know means one thing...I had really been smooshing those puppies into their house!!

Happy Easter!

4 Years

Wed. and Thurs. of this week marked 4 years of marriage for Michael and I. All together, we've been a couple for about 7 years. It's pretty amazing to think about what we've accomplished in 4 years of marriage: we each moved to new states with new jobs, fostered 5 children, adopted one with another adoption in the works, bought a new house and our first new car together, and still managed to come out of it in one piece!

It hasn't been an easy 4 years, but it's been adventurous. I can't imagine having spent it with anyone else. I'm the most "provided for" woman I know, despite the fact that we make less than others. If there is something I need, or even want, Michael seems to find a way to make it happen. In fact, most of the time I don't even have to ask. That's pretty amazing.

Michael is the BEST father I could have even dreamed up. He's attentive, nurturing, compassionate, and playful. The things I discover that he has taught the girls are endless. They are crazy about him, and watching them together is a joy.

In 4 more years, both girls will be in school, and life will likely have taken on entirely new perspectives. My feelings on that? Bring it on!

WW Update

-22.2 pounds as of Monday!
2 more pounds and I will have lost 10% of my body weight (and I get a nifty keychain at the meeting, too). :)
So, my avatar over on the right is still dancing!

We Have a TPR Court Date!

April 29th...our courts must be backed up as it seldom happens that you are assigned a date that's more than a month out. Still, we are rejoicing at how quickly our second adoption from foster care has moved along. We are fortunate we live in the state we do. I know many others are not as fortunate and deal with very outdated models of foster care and adoption. I'm beginning to wonder what it would take to become a lobbyist.

WW Update

-19.5 pounds
Wow, I can hardly believe it.
Still, my boobs seem to be the exact same size. *sigh*
I think this pretty much accounts for all the weight I've gained since Cookie came into our lives.
Another 20 pounds and I'll be down to what I weighed when Michael and I hooked up 7 years ago.
Astonishing, really.
I have a very long weight loss road that remains ahead.
My biggest fear is that I'll give up at some point like I always have.
As an undergraduate, I got down to 125. I think I stayed at that weight for 2 weeks. It was grueling to keep my weight down.
But I started WW this time weighing 245.2.
That's a lot of excess weight.
At least now I am in the 220's. I needed to admit that here, for some unknown reason.
I know I am a food addict. I self-medicate with food. I obsess about food. But now my addiction is under control. But I will always be an addict.

Snowed In!

This was my little helper who INSISTED on helping me shovel the driveway this afternoon!

The Most Beautiful Bathtub Ever

Free Bit-Bit!

I think that should be the caption for the following pictures:


My Bit-Bit is now 7 months old and pulling up to her knees on everything she can find!