Getting Slimmer

On January 16 of this year, I decided to make a final stab at losing weight. I was at my all time heaviest and had just had a family Christmas celebration where I could not participate in much of the festivities because I simply did not feel well.  My joints hurt, my body ached, and I tired very easily. 

In January, I joined Tara Oliver's thirty day challenge on Facebook.  Tara is a long time horsey friend who is also a health coach. She suggested that participants take some photos of themselves to use for comparison as their weight began to come off.

As I participated in the challenge, I learned about Optavia, a program that grew out of the old Medi-Fast diet, and after consulting with Craig about the costs, decided to take the plunge. 

I'm now down 80 lbs and feeling so much better. Lisa and I recently went shopping so that I could try on clothes as none of mine fit any more.

To my surprise and delight, plus sizes were way too big and I had to try on regular women's sizes.

This is a size small sweater!! I grabbed the wrong size and put it on, thinking it was a large. It was too small for me, but not uncomfortable. I bought it in a medium.

Lisa insisted that I try on these size 12 jeans. They are skinny jeans and supposed to fit close. The 14 fit better, but I was pleased that I could get a 12 on!

I came home with three tops, two pairs of jeans, and a dress. (I love that you can see Lisa in the mirror!)

At my heaviest, I wore a 22/24 plus size and a 2x and an occasional 3x depending on the cut of the item. To be out of plus sizes and wearing size 12-14, M, and L was a thrilling experience. It was also a sobering one - I had never thought that I would lose weight. I'd been trying for years, only to lose twenty pounds or so and then regain them again and again and again.

Last week I saw my doctor for a check up and asked her what she felt my target weight should be. Having had pancreatic surgery in August, I have been in recovery and was not able to diet. I was ready to resume (and very pleased that I had maintained my weight loss by healthy eating while in recovery. I had not backslid!)

Dr. Knutson looked at my BMI, bone structure, age and other things for a few minutes and then gave me her recommendation of the weight she felt would be healthiest for me. I was stunned that I was only 25 lbs. away from that goal.

I've already lost 80 lbs. Losing 25 lbs. is very, very doable. I left her office feeling light hearted and motivated.

My new goal is to have lost those last 25 lbs by January 16, 2020, a year from the date that I began my health journey. I suspect that I will hit that goal well before that.

I can do this!

Pam Green and Mary Dyson

In September, Craig and I went back to Champaign visit two very dear long time friends.

We stopped by the Institute, where Craig taught for twenty-seven years, to check it out.

He oversaw the rebuilding of the Institute - the Church took the original building down to the studs and built a more modern one with an addition and a second parking lot.

The main hallway.

Becky Pike, his last secretary there, was still in the office! It was fun to catch up with her.

Then we drove over to Mary Dyson's home and picked her up to take her out to lunch.

She had just celebrated her 94th birthday and still lives independently in her own home.

Red Lobster gave her quite a birthday dessert!

Then we drove across campus and over to Urbana to see my dear friend, Pam Green.

Pam had not gotten any of my texts or phone messages that I was going to be in town and hoped to drop in to see her. I took a chance and just dropped in on her. The look on her face when she saw me at the door said that I had made the right decision.

Pam is in the end stages of cancer - her breast cancer has returned in her lungs and thymus. She's seen doctors in Chicago in addition to those in Urbana and been told that she has had all the chemo she can ever had. They did try a new treatment that included heavy doses of radiation, but it did not work. There is nothing more that can be done.

I'd brought Pam her birthday gift and we had a lovely chat. She did not tell me that she was terminal, but I could gather that from the things she said. The "nothing more they can do" as well as "We want to move into a smaller house but none are available and we don't have time to build one" told me all that I needed to know.

Always a giving person, Pam took me upstairs where she had a bag of items that she had been saving for me. On her dresser were two pictures of us together.

 This one of us both in casts was taken at my Yankee Ridge staff farewell party in 2006. I'd had three different ankle surgeries, and Pam had fallen down her garage steps and broken her ankle. We had fun mugging for that photo!

This one is from a field trip that we took to The Feast of the Hunters Moon. Brandon Smith who also taught 5th grade at Yankee Ridge is the other teacher.  We three always had so much fun together.

I cried most of the way home.

Surgical Incision & Text/Email Chain Photos

Teachinmama functions as my journal, and so once in a while I put something very personal in it. This is one of those times - I am posting photos of my incision from my recent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy because I want to remember them.

Beware - if you are squeamish, this may not be the post for you.

 At home, three weeks post op. The steri-strips did not fall off on their own as they should have

 so I had to peel them off. The visiting nurse suggested that I take every other one off

 and work my way down my belly.

 The scar was raised a bit from the steri-strips having pulled it up, but that soon went down.

 Leslie wanted to see my scar (she'd just had back surgery), so I took a photo of my front and of my own spinal fusion scar from 2016 to share with her.

 It's pretty long!

While I was in surgery and in the hospital, Craig did a texting and email chain with our kids and my closest friends. Nancy Kelly volunteered to pass his texts on to some of my hobby friends.

Here's that video app that Todd was hoping for!

I don't think I said anything too loopy!

Once home, Nancy Sattler brought me a beautifully presented chicken salad meal.

 with a yummy chocolate pudding dessert.

Temple Drone

Craig and I arrive early at the Indianapolis Temple every Tuesday because we are both shift coordinators and have early meetings. Sometimes the grounds people are still working on the gardens or mowing, or other things are happening that are normally done before patrons arrive.

 A few weeks ago I spied a small white dot in the sky near the statue of Moroni as we pulled into the parking lot.

A closer look (and a buzzing sound) showed that the white dot was really a drone. I was concerned for a few moments that somebody might be flying without permission over the temple and might do some damage or something.

Then I remembered that Moroni had been hit by lightning a few weeks ago, leaving a large hole in his body and necessitating a swap out of statues.  This drone was inspecting the roof, tower, and the statue.

When you work in the temple, you get to see a lot of behind the scenes things that happen to make things run smoothly and reverently, but that's the first time I have seen temple maintenance on the outside like that!

Living History in Lisa's Classroom

When my children were younger, I sewed and sold period clothing to re-enactors. It was always fun to go to The Feast or other events and see someone wearing something I had made. I made myself several outfits, too, including this one (my mother made the fichu as a gift to me.)

Friday Lisa, asked me to come speak to her class about The Feast of the Hunters' Moon as she was taking her students there on a field trip. I dug out my period clothing and a few other items and spent an enjoyable afternoon back in the classroom and teaching again.

I had to go early in my street clothes while her students were at lunch because those stays (a forerunner of the corset) need to be laced up in the back and I cannot do that without help.

 I was so happy to be back in the classroom; I may be retired from teaching, but I still love being with children and sharing information with them.

My favorite part was explaining the reason why people, especially women, from the 18th century wanted to look heavier than they actually were. The students had some great ideas as to why that was the case, and one girl actually got the answer right.

Being heavy communicated to other people that you were wealthy and could afford more food than most.

 So, women would wear an undergarment called "panniers" that would make their hips look wider especially if they were single or widowed and looking for a husband.

The kids thought that that was pretty funny and had a lot of questions. I slipped out for a moment and slid my panniers out from under my skirts so that I could show them what they looked like.

 This boy volunteered to try them on.

He was a very good sport and took a walk around his classmates so that they could see them.

My sister, Leslie, has a great love of Hershey Bars.

When this girl tried on my panniers, I shared with her that Leslie stashes the candy either in her panniers or in another tie-on garment called a "pocket." (The forerunner of the pockets which are now sewn into our clothing.)

I told her to watch out for Leslie when she went on the field trip and to ask her if she might have some chocolate stashed away.

Then, she and I did a tongue-in-cheek practice on how to approach Leslie to see if she might share that chocolate.  

Lisa had a fun surprise -  the joke was on me! (She knows her Aunt Leslie well!)

 I passed around my hen basket for the kids to examine

and taught them a little bit of fan language at the end of the presentation. And then it was time for me to wrap up and head home. 

Such a fun afternoon being with kids and teaching a subject that I enjoy. And I really do think that I am going to make myself a riding habit for next year when Lisa will invite me back again to teach living history.

Melissa's Baby Blessing

Melissa Jean Isenbarger was blessed in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 2019. (Her middle name is my aunt Sissy's middle name. Sissy was thrilled and very honored.)

The baby blessing party - Craig is second from the left next to Kyle, and Ashley's parents, Lance and LuAnn are behind Ashley. Also present is Craig's cousin, Lynda Ramsey, and her daughter, Emily.

 Sadly, I could not be there since I was only a couple of weeks post op and I was not up to traveling or visiting.

 Ashley, Addie, Melissa, Kyle, Whitney, Corinne, and Braden.

Kyle and Melissa.

I still have not met Melissa; hopefully in a month or so we will be able to head down for a visit.