Time warp and family issues

 Holy shit! I have not posted since 2020. 5 years and lots of changes. 

I’m not going to go through everything, but hey, I’m back. 

It’s almost Christmas. 

Family issues as normal but this year I am putting up boundaries. 

I am no longer the mom that can be told I raised them wrong. What I want to say is- you are an adult. I stopped raising you a dozen or more years ago. Time to face reality that who you are is because of what you have done. Not because of how I raised you. You turned out ok as an adult. You were fed , clothed, had shelter, and not beaten. Was I a perfect mom, no, but who the fuck is?

Time to face your reality and now I get to move on. 

The fight this year, ewe do a traditional Christmas Eve. One child wants to do Christmas Eve with her in-laws and wants us to attend. Um, no. Our tradition is to be here. We love you, we will see you on a different date. We will not travel on that day. You are welcome at ours, or welcome to do your own. We are good and no hard feelings. 

This became  a mild battle within what I am calling the family war. 

However, I am not participating in this battle. 

We will have finger foods, desserts, movies, and games. 

All are welcome. If no one attends, Sarge and I will be full and having fun alone. 

Why am I posting this? So people know that everyone has family issues. 

The holiday bring out even more. 

Remember, you can cancel your subscription to the drama of others. 

God bless and merry Christmas to all. 

Coggie

Sugar free easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Sometimes you just need a comfort food fix.
Even with being bariatric, I sometimes crave something sweet.

These cookies are quick and easy. Not for everyday, but an occasional treat is okay.





Sugar free easy Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup softened butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup sugar-free brown sugar (I used Sukrin Gold 1/1 ratio)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup Bisquick (I use gluten free)

1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used lily brand)

Blend Butter, vanilla and egg.
add all other ingredients (except chips) and mix until smooth
add chips and mix by hand

Heat oven to 350

On cookie sheet with parchment paper, place tsp size cookies 2" apart.

Bake for 10-15 minutes
Cookies will look moist as they are removed from the oven.


Allow cookies to cool. They will firm up.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Covid 19 face mask- crochet

Worsted weight yarn- I used Caron simply soft. I do suggest washable yarn.   

G hook

Firm gauge 

Leaving a 6” tail, Chain 90

Row 1-7- In 2nd chain from hook, Sc. Sc in next 9 chains, ch1, turn

Increases:

Row 8- 13 ch 1, 2sc in next stitch Sc in each stitch across to the 2nd from end. 2sc in next stitch, Sc in last st of row. 

Should be 19 stitches. 

Begin rounds- 

Row 14- Sc in 2nd stitch from hook, Sc across all stitches. Chain 19. Slip stitch to opposite end of same row. Chain one. Mark beginning of round. 

Single crochet in each stitch for 24 rounds. Stop at marker. Remove marker, turn.

Decreases:

Row 38: sc 1, decrease by sc2tog, sc to last 3 stitches, sc2tog, sc 1, ch1 turn

Repeat row 38, decreasing 2 per row until 9 stitches remain.

Next row: sc even for 7 rows. 

Chain 80. 

Attach both ties at the opposite side of same end forming loops that can be tied behind the head.

Weave in ends 

Fold so the pocket is able to hold a filter of a folded blue shop towel. 

Decorate the front with embroidery as desired. 

Information about blue shop towels for filters in face masks 

Covid 19 face Mask- knit

Adult size: 

Bulky weight yarn- I used Color made easy by LionBrand

(Can use dk held doubled)

Size US 9 circular needles (you will be magic looping in the middle of the project I used 40” but you chose)

Gauge: firm fabric

Kid size:

 dk-worsted- single strand

Size 5 to 7 circular needles depending on what gets you a firm fabric.  

1 marker
Blue shop towels - info on using as filters

Cast on 89

Cast off 80, k8 (9 stitches on needle)

                                            Row 1- P across (ws)

Row 2- K across

Rows 3-7- Repeat 1& 2 

begin increases. 

Row 8- K1, m1, K to last stitch, m1,K1

Row 9- purl

Rows 10-17- repeat 8&9 (19 sts on needle)

Row 18 k to end. Cast on 19 stitches 

38 stitches on 

Begin magic loop-slip marker as you come 

to it.  

Separate for 19 sts on each needle 

Join for the round  attaching to the opposite 

side of the mask, with next stitch. 

                                               Row 19- 42- K1,sm,(p1, k1) 9x, k19  

Row 43-starting 1 stitch before marker, 

                                                k1,remove marker, bind off next 19 stitches.   

                                               K19 (19 sts on needle)

Back to flat knitting- Decreases

Row 44- purl (ws) 

Row 45-k1, k2tog, k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1

Rows 46-51 Repeat 44-45 until 9 stitches

Row 52-  purl across

Row 53- knit across 

Rows 54-59- repeat 52-53

                                           60- cast off 9 stitches,

Cast on 80

Cast off 80. Sew ends of ties to the opposite side of end it is 

attached to. 

Weave in ends. 

Sew a face if you like. 

Use Blue Shop towels folded as filters.  

Pepper Beef

Pepper beef has become a favorite of our family  the pressure cooker allows for a quick cook too. 

Ingredients:

1 roast- you decided poundage- I like about 3 pounds as that is good for leftovers. 

1 jar yellow peppers- mild

1 packet brown gravy mix

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Italian seasoning

 

Mix the juice from the peppers with the gravy mix

Put meat in pressure cooker. Set to cook well done (mine is 1hour)

Sprinkle meat with garlic, onion, and Italian seasoning.

Add peppers to meat and pour gravy mixture over. 

Close lid on pressure cooker. 

Let it cook and depressurize naturally. 

We like to serve with garlic mashed and a salad. 

Enjoy! 

Two years In the making.

Two years ago I wrote a list of things I hoped to be able to do once I had gastric bypass surgery. 

I will mark, in bold, the ones I accomplished in the order in which I wrote them. 

1. Tie my shoes without hassle

2. Touch my toes

3. Sit in an airplane seat without an extender

4. Feel comfortable sitting in the back seat of a car

5. Play cars with the grandcubs on the floor

6. Ride a roller coaster. 

7. Go down water slides

8. Wear size 10 pants

9. wear a medium top

10. Buy calf boots that fit and zip

11. Purchase clothes from a regular size store

12. Go hiking

13. Walk a 5k

14. Ride a bike

15. Walk up a flight of stairs without panting

16. Walk fast enough not to hurt my hubby

17. Walk the boardwalk and pier

18. Climb a pool ladder

19. Go horseback riding

20. Be told I'm tiny

21. Fit in a restaurant booth

22. Take an Amtrack trip

23. Easily cross my legs

24. Sit Indian/crisscross style

25. Wrap a bath towel around me

26. Pull the car seat forward

27. Wear my husband's clothes 

28. Feel pretty

29. Walk a corn maze

30. Build snowmen in the yard with grandcubs

I'm only missing 6 out of the 30 NSV's I wrote when I began this journey. I plan to finish this list this year. 

Things I did not write down like working a full time job and finishing my college degree…wow. So many more that are not mentioned. 

22 months out

22 months ago I had  bariatric surgery.
Yes, I have lost weight.
No, I have not met my personal goal.
Yes, I am very happy.

It is a day by day challenge.
In the last two months, I have graduated college

Started working full time

And just yesterday, completed my 2nd Coast Guard Festival 5k.

With the best hubby/fulltime support person ever.

I have an amazing doctor

Great friends

The route map

My number and medal 

Official time 

That is 6 minutes off my time from last year. 

I never knew my life would make the turns it has, but I am not complaining about where I am now.

I'm Wanty not Needy

I only made a few purchases this weekend.
Well, if you count skinny pop, diet Snapple or beef jerky, then I made lots of purchases, but you came here for fibery goodness.
Almost a year and a half ago, I was given two Corriedale fleeces. Shannon had taken them Up North to have them processed at Stone Hedge Fiber Mill. I love the way they clean and prep. 7 pounds of dirty fleece became almost 5 pounds of yummy roving.

While we were at the Tip of the Mitt Fiber Festival, I picked up Grellow Fiber from IceMelon. You see it here in singles form. I need to ply.

Also pictured is some laundry butter (new to me) and a skein of Washtena Wool Company fingering in Wolf. I see it as Hedwig and will be making something owlish from it.

My lovely hostess, Shannon, knows that I want to learn to sew better, so she gave me this book to increase my skills. I didn't think anything would fit, but I am within the scale of the measurements on the patterns. Happy dance and big NSV.

I think the biggest want for the weekend was just to be with my hubby. We are together a lot, but there is nothing like a road trip to get us talking. I think we both wanted/needed this.

Road Trip

We headed Up North for the weekend.

Started out at 530am on Saturday. 

The sunrise was beautiful! 

We were headed to Tip of the Mitt Fiber Festival.

We made it to Boyne City about 10:30 and met up with Shannon. We headed to the festival about noon where we met with Shirley and little man after dropping Sarge at the rifle range. 

There would be pictures of the festival, but my phone decided it needed a reset at that point. Not impressed...neither was I. 

After stopping for lunch and then picking Sarge up, we all headed back to Shannon' s house to relax. First time meetings for our hubby's. I think it all worked out. A few naps,  lots of laughter, and then bedtime. 

Sunday I think we all slept in a bit. We had brunch, the men napped and us women chatted, knit, spun, and laughed some more. 

Sadly we had to say goodbye. 

Sad to go. Miss them already!

Sarge and I headed out on the road again for a quick stop to see his friends in Grayling. 

We stopped for dinner then arrived about 730p. As I said, it was a quick stop, about an hour.  Then we were off for home. 

We arrived about 1 am and crashed out about 2am 

It was a fun weekend. 

My question: 

When did giving someone advice from experience become judging? 

Who fucking knew?

For 47 years I thought I had straight hair that often was frizzy.
I had a really good hair cut in January and the stylist told me to find non silicone mousse and try scrunching my hair. A friend at college who is also a stylist told me to look up the curly girl method. I have ordered the book and read up bunches. I also asked friends for input.
It's going to be a long process.

Today, I am super happy with my hair.

This is without curling iron or blow drying. 

I'm still learning. 

16 Months

16 months post RNY Gastric Bypass

HW: 315

CW: 217.4

Exercise routine: 

100:

Crunches

Push-ups

Windmills

Squats

Cardio: 

5 miles on Recumbent bike at setting 3

I took 3 days off while recovering. 

I will change it up for February and add hand weights. 

NSV's

Seeing collar bones

Smaller wedding ring

Noticing more shrinkles

Shoveling snow

Able to pull off knee high boots without unzipping

I had a esophagus ablation last week. Everything came out ok. 

I'll have a biopsy in 2 months and another ablation a bit after that. 

It leaves me with a husky voice and need of a liquid/soft food diet for a bit. 

I'm not as far as I want to be but each day I get a bit closer. Sometimes I get discouraged because I have not met goal. I have to remember this has not been a straight path for me. I have had procedures since the main surgery. I just need to keep my sight on my goals. Failure is not an option

Rambles at the beginning of 2017

Welcome 2017!

Yes, I know, I'm late. January is not over yet, so all is still good. 

We woke up to 2017 instead of ringing it in. It was a quiet day and we are good with that. I believe in "start as you wish to go on", so I cast on a new knitting project and Sarge ended up cleaning his pistols. Things we both enjoy doing and hope to do more of during this year. We had Black eyed peas and ham for dinner for luck of the new year. Other than that, it was movie day. Nothing fancy. 

The last couple of weeks have been a bit stressful for us. Transitions with college for me and job for him. Hopefully, soon, I will be in that job place so I can take the stress off him. Between us though, I think we are stronger than ever. 

Any major event can put a strain on a relationship. We have faced huge moves, job changes, deployments, and my weight loss surgery. Every time, we talked our way through it. We have had our ups and downs, but by communicating along the way, we stay on track, together. Each time we are told by someone that the act is statistically supposed to break us apart. I think huge changes in life can break some people apart. I also think that their relationship was not strong before the change and therefore could not withstand that change. If you are able to see the change, communicate about it, and see the positive in it, then you should be able to come out the other side much better than you were before.

We have survived.

Hopefully we will continue to survive.

When I met him, back in 1995, I never thought we would be together this long. In two weeks, we celebrate our 15^th wedding anniversary.

I would say yes all over again.

I hope you feel the same about the one you are with.

Stay positive and communicate!

Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve! 

The presents are wrapped and the stockings are ready to be filled. 

I talked with a friend yesterday. I'm still not feeling great about how the RD treated me, but I need to not take it personal. 

I am going to refocus. I need to start eating on a schedule again. 

3 meals at certain times- same every day. 

If I am hungry in between and have had my liquids, then I can have a snack. 

I'm going to keep the meals to 50% protein/veg mix. 

Snacks need to be protein rich like a Greek yogurt or cheese. 

I'm going to get popcorn back to being an occasional thing. 

Water and teas need to become my main drinks again. 

I'm going to try to stick to Whole Foods as much as I can. 

1000 calories... I'm not worrying about hunger, as I really don't feel that. It's being more mindful when I am eating. 

I can do this

Week 64: The one where I'm pissed

Saw Doctor Foote today. I have to have ablations done to my esophagus. He also told me that by no means should I be at 1400 calories. He has never seen loss of weight to meet goal over 1000. He wants me to drop back down and do what I was doing at 6 months out instead. 

My feelings, I am pissed and hurt. My dietitian knew that I had been frustrated. I did not understand why she was bumping up my carbs. I have lost faith in her and will not be taking information from her anymore. I know I have to see her because it is part of the plan, but I am not going to be sabotaged. I guess I should be thankful that I now know my range to maintain is 1200 calories. I just feel that I have wasted 6 months of my golden period with a dietatian who does not understand RNY surgery. 

I am slowly dropping back to 1000 calories from 1400. I will see the whole team in March and I hope to be in the 100s by then. 

My macros are 1000 calories. 60-80g protein and under 60 carbs. The rest should fall into place. 

Exercise: I just finished a 21 ab workout I am pushing to 31 days. 

I am starting a 21 day butt work out. Squats are my downfall but my ass needs it! 

The ladies at the retreat bought me a recumbent bike. I love it! My goal is 5 miles 3x a week. I also need to get back to the treadmill. I want to put 2 miles 3x a week on it. So the routine will be:

Daily:

100 crunches

100 squats 

50 push-ups

M-W-F: bike

T-Th-Sa: treadmill

Sunday- total gym. 

I want to bring in the gym more, but I need to work back up to it. 

I'm going to try to channel the anger I feel into my workouts and push through. 

I'm hurt that I cannot trust someone that is supposed to have my best interest, and my health,  at heart. 

The ablation scares me but the doctor told me how easy it is and that I will have a few follow up procedures to make sure it is all taken care of. I do trust him. 

Side note: 

I gave Dr. Foote a pair of hand knit socks as a thank you and Christmas present. 

I gave the team hand knit cowls and scarves. 

Week 60

I got into my husband's jeans

Fully zipped and buttoned! 

This is a huge NonScale Victory!! 

I guess I should say why this is important to me. I bought my first pair of Levi's in 8th grade. They were a mens 40/32. Back then, they stamped the size on the back waist patch. I was happy to have jeans, but embarrassed of the size, so I cut the waist tag off. The jeans I have on here are smaller than my first pair of jeans. These are 36/34. 

Getting in my husband's pants, or more to the point of getting him out of them, has never been a problem. Getting into his jeans has long been a goal. I've never been able to wear a boyfriends or husband's clothes, like most girls just take for granted. It's all new to me. 

One year

One year follow up

I'm not sure what scale to use. Mine said 215 this morning. The bariatric clinic's said 218 and the sleep doctor's said 220. I think it all has to do with the water I had. Ugh! 

Official weigh in is 218 down from a start one year ago at 315. I could have been heavier before that. I hadn't weighed in except at my yearly appointment in years. 

I talked to a behaviorist, basically a phycologist. She seemed happy about my progress and where my head is after this year. She agrees that it is a mental mind fuck and eventually it will even out. I need to work on my journey and stop seeing everyone who has hit goal and comparing. I will get there eventually. I'm actually happy where I am. 

I talked to the exercise therapist about my worry over my legs. She advised I see my doctor about shin splints or possibly stress fractures. (I have an appointment on Monday) and then she advised me to only go to a 2 incline on my treadmill. She also suggested I get a bigger exercise ball to work out with and gave me a bunch of exercises that won't hurt my legs. I'm also to use that for balance. Cardio 3x a week, Strength 3x a week, balance 3x a week. This will be my routine after I am checked out by the doctor about my legs. Until then, I am to rest, ice, compress, and elevate (RICE). I ordered a ball and pump from Amazon. 

Next, I talk to my dietitian. She is a hoot and has the cutest new baby girl! Awe!!

My macros have changed to 1200 calories, 35% carb, 35% protein, 30% fat. My carbs and fats have been too low. She is going to check on me in two weeks to see if I have gotten more even with my macros. Lately I have been all over the place and I need to even out. Buckle down and get my shit together. It's hard...very hard. I haven't gained since June, but I haven't lost either. 

Finally, I talked to the NP I see every visit. She said I'm on track, just need to keep going. I do take my vitamins regularly and everything looks good. (She had me up my iron a couple weeks ago). When I see my doctor, I do need to ask about getting my hormone levels checked. Other than that, I need to have an upper scope (November 17, 7am) to check my esophagus for Barrett's Disease  http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/guide/barretts-esophagus-symptoms-causes-and-treatments 

After I saw everyone at the bariatric clinic, I saw my sleep disorder doctor for a check up. My cpap is now fully auto instead of pressurized at 9-12. This is the last step to hopefully being off the machine in about a year. I know it's a process, I hope I will get there. 

My one year date is on the 30th. 

I've come so far and way too fast. 

The best is yet to come!