OK People. Stop it.

There are blogs that I read that I love. There are blogs that I read that I like. There are blogs that I read that I sorta like and sorta not, but I read hoping it will get better. There are blogs that I hate. I read 1-2 posts and quite frankly they turn me off. I won't go into the details on those as it is either here nor there.

If you are reading this, I may read your blog everyday. If I don't follow you, it may be because I've not discovered you yet. I love having a lot of blogs to follow. That way even when some of the blogs are slow, I always have something to read.   I read all the blogs in my reader every day. Pretty much with the occasional break.  Most of the blogs I follow I've found by people leaving me a comment or reading a comment on someone else's blog.

I comment when I feel like it. I comment when I have something to say.  Sometimes when I comment it is to say "Good job." Sometimes it is to answer a question, medical or otherwise. Sometimes I comment because I am particularly struck by what I read or see. Sometimes I feel sad or angry or frustrated by what I've read because I care about the blogger I am reading and that leads to a comment. I do not comment to start a fight. I do not comment to hurt someone or insult them.

I never comment on the style of writing. I never comment on the language used. I never comment on political or religious beliefs because that's not what I'm after with these blogs. I'm trying to lose weight. I am trying to get healthy. I'm interested in blogs and bloggers who are on the same journey.

I've never emailed another blogger to tell them what they should be doing or that they've offended me or that I don't agree with them.  I've never emailed to let someone know I think their plan isn't right.  WHY? You might ask. Because.....I HAVE SHIT to do. I am too busy freaking reading the blogs that matter to me OR exercising OR planning healthy food OR logging my food OR living my otherwise busy life. 

Allan is a blogger I happen to like. I KNOW you all know who I'm referring to. Not everyone digs him. Not everyone gets him. Not everyone understands his humor. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says or does. HELL, I don't necessarily agree with everything I DO.  But, I will say this. If you don't like that he is crude or talks about poop or puke or piss or uses foul language, don't read his blog. If you don't like the rules of his challenge, DON'T ask to join. If you don't like that he is judgmental and straight forward or just plain in your face, WHY put yourself through the emotional turmoil of reading him only to get upset. Stop it.

Let me tell you a secret. Allan loves when you email him and taunt him. He loves when people not losing weight criticize him about his plan. WHY? Because he IS losing weight. Talk is cheap people. We can write and plan and type all day long, but if you aren't showing results, what you are doing is not working. No matter how badly you think you are trying. No matter how badly you want it to. The scale doesn't lie.

And it's not just Allan who gets hassled. Many bloggers experience this kind of stuff.  Don't email or comment just to be an ass. AND stop with the anonymous comments. Have some balls. Speak up. If you have something to say at least own it. If you don't have a blog, that's fine. But realize it takes time and energy and honestly, a thick skin, to get out here in the blogosphere where anyone can see you and read your thoughts and feelings. Putting yourself out here is scary.  Give us some credit. We're not some "author" writing an op-ed piece. We're just people like you sharing our ideas. If you don't agree or don't like how I write, move on. There are lots of us out here. You'll find someone you like, enjoy, bond with. It takes all kinds.

To those of you who read my blog, thank you so much. I hope I bring some value to your day. I hope I help you in some way. Just knowing you are out there reading helps me more than I ever imagined. Those who comment mean a lot to me. A lot. Most of you are people like me trying to get better. Dealing with life. Losing weight. Not perfect. But, making an effort everyday. Learning from mistakes when we make them. How cool is it that we have this wonderful tool to help us in so many many ways?

OK. Sigh. I feel better.

Yesterday ended up great. I drank 5-32oz glasses of water, plus my 12oz Diet Mountain Dew. I didn't get to work out yesterday. Freakin pissed me off. But, husband had a flat tire. Son forgot his French horn and I forgot that the little chick needed cupcakes for today because today is her birthday. So errands and life prevailed. However, I went home and dragged all the Christmas decorations out and down the stairs and started with decking the halls.  The tree is up and I'm almost done with the interior stuff. That counts in my view as I had to lift and haul 5 huge boxes and lift all that crap and climb on the ladder multiple times up and down.  Calories yesterday were 1171.

Today, I am rocking the diet. I ate less than I thought at breakfast because I switched choices last minute. I had 2 pieces of low cal wheat bread and 1/2 cup egg whites and coffee. 217 cal.  Lunch was left overs 200 cal. I had an apple for a snack. 

I went to TKD at lunch sporting my brand new yellow belt. We did 100 crunches, 20 push ups, stretches, etc. I learned a whole bunch of new stuff which had my head swimming. I learned a new kick-axe kick. Totally fun.  A great workout as usual and I'm pretty sure my legs will be sore tomorrow.   Overall a great day so far.

I have to get the decorating done, probably tonight. Little chick's bday is tonight and I got cupcakes for the kiddos. I won't be partaking, but there is a small bowl of the fat free cherry frozen yogurt with chocolate chunks that has my name on it (90 cal per 1/2 cup and I usually have 3/4 cup=135 cal.). Not sure on dinner, but I know Nanny is cooking.  I know they'll be salad and veggies and I think fish, but either way I'll be eating healthy and in my calorie limit.

Hope you all have a good night.

Holy crap 235!

Well, I had a great few days off. I just spent most of the time with my family. We cooked. We played board games. We ate.  We saw a show. We visited. We watched football. What I didn't do was really spend anytime at all on the blog. For that I am sorry and yet not. It was nice to relax a few days. Spend it in the moment with the kids. But I opened my reader and I have 235 unread blogs. Holy Moly! You people are either really busy or I follow A LOT of blogs. I think it is the latter.  So I will spend some time today catching up on blogs. I have A LOT of reading to do so I may not have time to do a lot of commenting. Just know I'm out here and thinking of you all.

I had a great holiday and although I spent a lot of it recovering from my illness, otherwise know as evil virus, I did well with my eating. Not so much with the exercise. Other than housework and there was a lot of it, I didn't get much in. Also, the rolling around and chasing of children and a couple of walks.  On Friday I didn't leave the house except to run to the grocery store. I didn't partake of the shopping except on line. I looked through all the ads. I didn't see a single thing to motivate me to get up and out with the crowds by 4am.

Saturday morning I took the girls to see Disney Princess on Ice. They loved it, of course. They went all dressed in their princess outfits and tiaras.  I'm sure glad they loved it because it cost a fortune between the tickets, souvenirs, cotton candy, snow cones, pictures with the princesses and the like. By the end they were covered in sticky and tired. Fell asleep in the car. SCORE!  I was quite proud of myself as I didn't eat a thing at the show, just a coke zero. Although if I'd had my way I'd have had a nice beer. My mother thought sloshing it up at a kiddie show was somehow not appropriate. Whatever. I think it would have made the experience much more tolerable. On the bright side, I saved those calories.

Yesterday was spent cleaning house. Again. Geez. I'm almost glad I'm back at work today. Also, we finished up the tree. Our tree is......well a 3 day project. It is 12 feet tall. It takes me 1 day to get it up and fluff it out. Another to get the lights going and garland on. And yesterday we did the ornaments.  Tonight I have to finish the rest of the house so that I can do the outside lights on Friday when I'm off. I took off Friday for Big sister's Christmas party. I KNOW already and I'm supposed to read to her class. We're also doing Little Dude's birthday party Friday night and Little sister's party is Sunday. Yep. That's my life. Busy.

I'm tired this morning as I didn't sleep well. Also, I stayed up WAY too late watching TIVO. We are totally hooked on this show on FX, Terriers. If you aren't watching it you are missing out. The story is great. The acting is great. And We just couldn't stop watching it. This is the danger of TIVO as you can keep going show after show and the story got so good we couldn't stop and NOW we have to wait until this week's to see the finale. Cliffhangers. Love 'em. Hate 'em.

So I weighed this am and I am down 1/2 a pound. I feel this is pretty good considering the holiday, the illness and the laying around I did all week when I didn't feel well. I also didn't get all my water in last week. I tried to, but my throat was sore and I was just not able to guzzle it the way I had been. So today I am already back on track and plan a work out at lunch. Even though I am sooooo tired. I am getting back to it. I made an appointment with my trainer for next Monday. I haven't worked out with him in like 8 weeks and I HAVE to make sure I am back at it with the cardio or I'll be screwed.  Probably screwed anyway, but it'll be worth it and I HAVE to get back at it, even though a little part of me dreads it.

And so, I hope all of you did well with your holiday plans. The only blog I read was Allan's a little and I see he did great and a bunch of you did also. Sometimes I feel like a major under achiever even when I've come sooooooo far from a year ago when I ate and ate and ate and gained lord knows how much this time of year.  And so I will, for once, be happy with MY work and try not to compare myself to others. That is extremely self defeating for me. But, also honest with myself and know I can do more. I can do better. And realizing this, I'm off to do just that. Time for a refill on the water.

Have a great day, all!

Thanksgiving: The Rodney Dangerfield of Holidays

Hello on this wonderful Day of Thanks.   I missed posting yesterday. Sorry about that. I was home with the kids all day and boy is that tiring. Between the trip to the store for the last few items I needed and cooking and entertaining the kids, there wasn't much left for me.

I am feeling better. But, still coughing and wheezing. No more fever, sore throat is better. This week I haven't gotten as much water in. Still getting the minimum, but this week with feeling sick, I haven't been able to drink it without feeling like puking. I also haven't been able to exercise so I haven't seen a loss yet this week. I just don't burn calories when I'm sick the same way. But, I'm really not worried. I'm staying the course. I know things are working because yesterday I wore a pair of size 14 shorts that I couldn't button a month ago. (Yes. Shorts! It was 80 degrees here yesterday. The kids were outside barefoot in short sleeves.)

I am staying home today and I'm cooking which is great because I have complete control over the menu. We're having turkey breast and dressing. I have a salad and a cranberry salad.  The cranberry salad is made with apples, oranges, pineapple and sugar free jello. I left out the sugar that the recipe calls for. I am roasting the sweet potatoes this year with splenda brown sugar instead of the mashing them with sweetened milk, tons of cream and sugar like usual.  I already made my sugar free fruit pies. They have cherries, pineapple and pecans, topped with fat free cool whip.  At 180 cals per slice that's a dang good dessert option. The boys wanted my rum raisin apple pie. So, I am making it as a crisp. Avoiding the calories and carbs of the double crust. I don't like apple pie much, but this recipe is good, make with only fresh apples and raisins cooked and marinated in rum. With the oatmeal crisp topping it will be many fewer calories.

I've always loved Thanksgiving. It is so great to hang out with family all day. I have the luxury of time to cook for them. And to top it all off, there is plenty of football.  As a kid Thanksgiving was always a lot of fun.  I have very vivid memories of waking up on Thanksgiving morning. The kitchen was already full of grownups and filled with yummy cooking smells.  I always got to help with the cooking until us kids started getting in the way.  Then we'd be shooed out to watch the parade.

When I was a kid the parade was more like a parade. Now they spend so much time on Broadway shows it's more like a variety show. I remember watching the floats and the giant balloons. All of us would be oohing and awing. The best part was seeing Santa at the end of the parade and knowing that Christmas was finally coming.

At lunch, we would say the prayer and dig in. This was one day I could eat what I wanted, even dessert. We would visit over dinner and catch up with each other. I didn't even mind sitting at the kiddie table until I was like 14.  After dinner, we would hang out and play cards or board games. If the weather was nice, we'd go outside and play frisbe, toss the football around and even play volleyball.  There was no schedule, just lots of fun and food.

Nowadays, the Christmas stuff arrives in the store before the Halloween candy is gone. Thanksgiving has been squeezed out of our schedules. Now it's more like the Day Before Black Friday than THE Day of Thanks.  On the news they've been talking about the shopping ad nauseum. They haven't done any spots on people volunteering or food pantries needing help or the like.  Plus, I got ads in the paper yesterday saying many stores will be open today.

When I was a kid, Christmas decorations and lights and lists were started the day AFTER Thanksgiving.  It was like a lovely quiet island before the hurricane of the holiday season began. No hustle or bustle that day.  The stores weren't open. There was no where to go. Nothing to do, but be forced to spend time with your family.  AND what exactly is wrong with that anyway?

Christmas has a WHOLE month for build up and excitement. Between parties and concerts and shopping and wrapping and cards and photo shoots and church activites, don't we have enough going on? Can't we give ourselves just one day to reflect on what really matters in life, on gratitude, on what Thanksgiving really means? 

I am determined to give Thanksgiving the respect it deserves. I am determined to show my kids what Thanksgiving means.  Therefore I NEVER bring out Christmas stuff until after. There are people in my neighborhood who will be eating Thanksgiving dinner surrounded by Christmas trees, ornaments, Santa figurines and wreaths.  To me that means Christmas has weaseled it's way in and distracted us from focusing on gratitude.

So today, we are surrounded by Pumpkins and Cornucopias and fall leaves. We will take this day to pause and be a family before the craziness starts.  We will spend time talking about the first Thanksgiving. And although I know it wasn't exactly like I was taught in school with Indians on one side of the table and pilgrims dressed in black hats with buckles on the other, my kids don't and they don't need to yet.  We'll talk about the Indians and how we have Indian blood in us and the bad things that were done. We'll talk about the Pilgrims and why they were brave enough to squeeze onto those little ships and sail across the ocean.  We'll talk about people who are less fortunate than us and how we have so much to be thankful for. Yes, we'll eat. We'll eat very well. Thanksgiving in our house will be about giving thanks.

I'm Sick and a Little Doctor Rant

Fever, chills, headache, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, wheezing, body aches, no appetite, nausea, fatigue.....

Fabulous. People always ask me how I don't get sick being around all these sick people all the time. The answer is....I just don't. Most of the time I'm perfectly fine. But, about 1-2 times a year I get sick. Why it needs to be on a short week where I'll be off after tomorrow I don't know. I get my flu shot. I take my vitamins. I take my allergy meds. My asthma stuff however...not so much. Naughty patient.

Yesterday I came home at lunch to rest. I had some soup which was too tasty and then proceeded to lose it afterward. I didn't eat anything else the rest of the day except 4 wheat thins. I tried to drink water, but I had to drink it slowly so I didn't get in the high volume of water I had been drinking. On the bright side, I was way under my calorie limit.  Needless to say no workout yesterday and none today is on the docket. Luckily I just have to make it through today and then I'm off. Of course I have to cook and get to the grocery store to get the last few supplies. But, it's just us so at least I can not stress about it and even not cook if need be.

Let me just state this for ALL the family docs out there and well...any docs at all. Be courteous. WE are humans too. We like time with our families. We NEED sleep. If you are not bleeding, running a high fever, having chest pain, puking uncontrollably, can't breath or having some other SEVERE symptom, DON'T have us paged at MIDNIGHT.  I was paged last night for a refill on a med for a fever blister. That's right. Someone after listening to the message that says refills have to be done during business hours and this is the EMERGENCY line only decided that the fever blister needed attention STAT and had me paged.

I love my job. I do. I really feel like it is a calling. I love helping people. And for the most part I don't mind getting calls after hours. It doesn't happen that often as most of our patients are considerate. But, there is always that one jackhole in every crowd. You know the one. The one who drives down the shoulder to cut in line on the highway because apparently HIS time is more important than others. The one who sends his food back at the restaurant for any little thing. The one who yells at the little old lady for taking too long to find her coupons in the grocery line.  Words of wisdom, "Don't be the jackhole."

Being a doctor is a scary job. Sometimes the responsibility is more than I can bare. Those of us who really care really do worry because we try to do the right thing. Yesterday I found out a patient was in the hospital after overdosing trying to commit suicide. I saw the patient last week for depression. Here's the sad part and the part I am frankly a little ashamed about. My first thought was, " Did I document everything so I don't get sued or if I do I'll be protected?"  It's a sad world we live in. The next thought was is the patient OK? Are they getting taken care of?  Luckily the answers to all those questions is yes.

I have been sued. Yep I said it. It is a reality. A fact of life for almost all of us. But it is like the nasty secret. No one wants to talk about it. It's like the fact that you know your parents have sex, but you don't even want the thought to enter your mind, let alone speak it out loud. It is a terrible experience. It is just awful and it changes you. Unfortunately no matter how hard I try, it changed me.  It was years ago. It happened because I took care of someone without insurance. That person didn't follow my advice and then ended up with a bad outcome and huge medical bills. The patient sued me and the insurance settled, no fault to me. But, it makes me sick that the patient ended up with money.

It has made me very nervous about treating uninsured patients. That makes me very sad. Before, I felt it was my duty to help those less fortunate. Give something back. I still see those patients. I still give them discounts and try to provide them with free medications. But, I am worried every time. It is sad.  Those of us who are trying to do the right thing get screwed. It makes you jaded. You have to really try hard not to let it affect your relationships with your patients. It takes work.

And, I'm not going to stop doing the right thing. Even though I know it puts me at risk. That's why I get so tired of people blaming everything wrong with health care on the doctors. Those "rich doctors".  Rich doctor? Ha! I'm driving a 2004 Toyota Minivan. My partner's husband works for UPS and makes more than I do. There are easier ways to get rich. The system needs an overhaul. But, starting with cutting physician reimbursements while at the same time requiring more work and responsibility and more risk is ludicrous.  All this from someone who wants to see universal coverage.  That's the end of my rant for today.


So.....today I'm thankful that tomorrow I don't work. I am thankful for those patients that appreciate me. The ones who see the value in having a real relationship with a physician that really cares about their well being. The ones that don't treat my office like the freakin drive thru. That understand that if I'm behind it's because someone down the hall needed a little extra attention. The other day we had to call an ambulance because a patient was having a heart attack in my office. Some bunghole down the hall yelled at my assistant because he had to wait an extra 30 minutes. And even when he had been apologized to several times and told we could reschedule throughout the ordeal, he was still yelling. He will be finding another doctor.  I am thankful that owning my practice gives me that right. 

If you have a family doctor that treats you like a person, really cares about you, is willing to listen to you and work with you to decide on what's best for your health, be thankful. If not, keep looking. We're out here.

Sniff Sniff.....An Emotional and Happy Day

Thirteen years ago today, my beautiful umm....I mean HANDSOME baby boy was born.  I remember being pregnant.  I loved being pregnant. Why? Was it knowing my baby was growing inside me? Yes. But...it was also knowing that I was fat for a reason. That's right. I could walk into a restaurant and order what I wanted without worrying about skinny-chick waitress thinking badly of me.

I could walk down the street with my gut hanging out and not care one bit. I could have my picture taken, belly showing even, with no guilt at all. I could wear clothes that made me look fat and not worry. In fact, I preferred clothes that showed my belly obviously. That way people would think I was fat because I was pregnant. I wasn't of course. I was a fat person who happened to be pregnant. Yes, these are things I thought about when I was pregnant. How sick and twisted were these thoughts?

Now I realize that I am happy with myself because I am ME. No one else is like me. I am special. I am brave. I am intelligent. I am good at my job. I am funny and I am well liked.   AND I am a great wife and mother.  BUT, being happy with myself doesn't mean that I don't need to lose weight and want to be healthier, look better. For a long time, that's how it was for me. If I started down the road of thinking I needed to lose weight, I got depressed. Now I know that is because I wanted to be thin. I wanted to look like everyone else. BUT, I wasn't doing anything to make it happen.

Now....I just want to look like me. A healthier me.  And I am doing what I should. I am exercising. I am eating right. I am losing weight. And I am finally proud of myself.  One of the reasons I am proud is that I am teaching my children to be healthy and happy with their bodies. I am teaching them all the things that I didn't know as a kid. At least, I am trying to.

My son is entering a critical time. His teen years. He is so far ahead of where I was at his age. He is an easy going kid. He makes friends easily. He's one of these kids who just doesn't worry about what others think. He's smart and school comes easily for him with the exception of writing. I am so very proud of him. Part of me is terrified at what the next few years will bring. The rest is just excited and curious. He has his Mom's sense of humor and his Dad's incredible brain for math. He is a great conversationalist.  He is really a joy to be around.
 
Today I am a little sad to lose my baby boy. But, I am also very excited to see the young man evolve. Deep voice and body hair and love of classic rock music and *gulp* growing interest in girls which has led to a growing interest in his hair and clothes and cologne. Texting and you-tube and  computer games, PS 3 and Xbox and Ipod, the constant growth in his ear.  Emerging sports fan, addicted to good books, fan of "guy" movies, french horn player. But, still my silly boy who laughs at silly jokes and fart noises. I love you, little man. I am so proud of you.

I did it!

Well it was scary and tiring and fun. I got my yellow belt!  At first I felt really totally weird. There were all the parents with cameras pointed at us. I was the only grown up testing. I thought, "All these parents are laughing at me." But then, I just focused in on making sure I did everything right.

I was sweaty. I was tired. I was wheezy. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. A whole CROWD of people were watching me work out. Jogging in place, jumping jacks, stretches, kicks. I just prayed I didn't look too fat and stupid. And then I said to myself, "Screw it." None of these people are up here or have the balls to be out here. Screw them.

I made it through the test. The kids thought it was too cool to be watching Mommy. My husband was there.  At the end, I got all worried that the yellow belt wouldn't fit me. I thought "what if they didn't get one big enough? That would be sooooo embarrassing." But then it fit perfectly. Better than the white one which was probably too big.

After the test, we took some pics. The kids came running to give Mommy a hug and everyone there told me congratulations and that they thought I was amazing for being out there and that I should keep it up. It felt great. I was sore and tired and sweaty. I came home and my hubby watched the kids while I took a nice long bath. Then I had some fat free frozen yogurt.  And I'm still hungry since I didn't eat much before the test. I've had two 32 oz glasses of water since the test so I'm gonna have another small snack now.

Hope you all have a good night!

 Kicks

Oral Exam

Getting my belt

Triumph!

Wish me luck! AND Hot 100 Update.

I am so glad it is Friday! Woo hoo! Despite the fact that my ass hurts. That's right. You heard me. My. Ass. Hurts.  I've been practicing and working hard on my TKD for the test tonight. All this kicking and jumping and what not has made my butt sore and my legs sore.

Yesterday, I got up and did about 20 minutes of practice. Believe me it is a workout. I sweat and my HR gets up pretty damn quickly.  Breakfast was an egg white omelet with Canadian back ham(? according to one commenter from up north) and cheese. For lunch I had 1 cup of pasta left over from a couple days ago dinner. And salad. Dinner was Chicken enchilada casserole and salad and a 1/2 cup black eyed peas. I was pleasantly surprised that my girls ate it up, for a change.   Total calories for yesterday was 1245.  I drank 6, yes SIX, 32 oz glasses of water, plus my coffee in the am. I cannot believe how much I love my water. I think I am just more in tune with my body and when I need to be drinking now. 

I had TKD class yesterday. An hour of hard work. For warm up we did: jogging in place, jumping jacks, a million stretches, kicks, punches, 30 push ups, and....are you ready?......150 crunches. You heard me. That was the warm up. No wonder I was a wheezy mess. I had to puff a lot yesterday as my asthma was a problem.  Then, I got lucky as the other white belt in my class wasn't there. One on one teaching. Sounds awesome and it was, BUT it means there was no down time for me. No waiting my turn. I did a zillion kicks.  I did my form many times. Now you know why my ass hurts.

Then last night, my kids wanted to see my stuff. They were quizzing me, they wanted to practice so I did about 30 MORE minutes of practice. I got up this morning and I had planned on running. BUT....I have the test tonight at 7:30 and I was worried that if I ran my legs would be too tired to do well. Instead I did about 15 minutes of practice and review.  I'll run in the morning. Assuming my ass cooperates.

To be honest, I'm a little nervous about tonight. Not because I'm afraid of messing up. I know the material. Not because I'm afraid of not being able to finish, I know I can. But, I'm having a bit of that old "fat-girl" fear. I'll be the only adult white belt testing. I'll be with a lot of little kids. That means a lot of parents watching and video taping and STARING at the fat lady in the giant white belt. Sigh. On the other hand....I'll be doing shit they can't and haven't had the guts to try to do, so FUCK THEM, right?

Plus....I think I might get to break my first board. AND...I'll make one of my Hot 100 goals. And, my BFF and I have always had the motto, "embarrassment is the spice of life."  It's fun to be silly. It's fun to GO FOR IT. I've always believed it and I don't really care what other people think.  They can't criticize me if they don't have the balls to do it too. So over all, I'm excited about tonight.

Hot 100 Update:
1) Be 199 pounds:  Thanks to all the water and tracking of calories and exercise, I've lost 2 pounds. I am 205. That's the lowest weight yet. And that means only 6 more pounds to meet this goal. I know I can do it.

2)  Be a size 14, in a "real" store. Well, I measured earlier in the week and I am continuing to lose inches. I haven't tried this yet, but I can comfortably wear my 16s from Kohl's. And my 14 jeans from Lane Bryant I'm wearing today and there is plenty of room.  And I wore my new size 14 sweater the other day to work. I'm wearing my T shirt from my first 5K last weekend and it is a....get ready for it....  LARGE. A LARGE! Hell yeah! I hope to make this one, I'm on my way.

3) Get my yellow belt: SEE ABOVE. Wish me luck tonight and pictures will be posted either tonight or tomorrow.

4) Run a 5K:  SINCE I'm wearing the T-shirt today, you'll note I actually did one. A real race. But, I didn't run the whole thing. My running took a step backwards with the whole, "I had an organ removed" thingy. But, I did walk/jog it and I finished AND I wasn't the last one across the finish line. I'm working to increase my running so I can get to the point I can run the whole time.  But, I'm very proud I had the balls to enter and do a race.... finally.

How're your goals coming along? Are you making REAL progress?  What do you need to DO to get those goals DONE???