Well, it's been quite a month! Back to school, getting back into a routine, starting to learn the names of all of my 200 students that I have this semester... never a dull moment! Things are going well. For awhile I was struggling with keeping solid foods down, but things have been good the past week or so- let's hope it keeps up (er, well, down). :) Thanasi is still job hunting, right now he is working at CVS here in Portland on Forest Avenue as a Pharmacy Tech (which I think is a really cool job, but it's not programming, which he'd like to be doing). He's been sending out resumes and having interviews for a few different positions, all in the Portland area. Hopefully he gets something soon, I hate to see him so unhappy. But... we have to be patient... things will happen all in God's time. :) Like I said, school has been busy, we've had two full weeks already (not counting the first few days of school the first week). We've done fire drills, Open House, school pictures, issued the laptops to the 7th graders... and Friday was our first meeting of the "Literary Club" (faculty get together, usually at a bar, we drink and eat and talk instead of read anything, but the "Get Blitzed Club" didn't sound so sophisticated). So the school year has officially begun. The staff at shcool has been fantastic. The ones who I've told about the surgery or the ones who have heard from others have been nothing but supportive. It's gotten easier to talk to others as time goes on, I've found. I guess I was really scared of being judged or interrogated about my choice, but everyone has been really encouraging and helpful. It's nice to know that they are supportive and even more so that they trust my judgement and knowledge. I mean, if anyone would know about the surgery's good and bad points, shouldn't it be the Health teacher? :) So my experience at school has been great so far- I've gotten a lot of questions and coments about what it was that they did, why did I go to Louisiana, how much can I eat, what about the future, that sort of thing- but all the questions are honest and sincere- no one has tried to convince me I made the wrong choice or anything like that. And since I travel, I get to see many of my colleagues a lot during the day, and they are so kind- asking how I am doing, if there's anything that they can do for me, telling me how great I look. They are so amazing. I am so blessed to have them in my life.
On the weight loss front: I've lost a total of about 30 pounds so far, Thanasi and I went shopping yesterday to lane Bryant at the mall because my clothes are starting to not fit (nice, but very frustrating when you always feel "frumpy") and Wal-Mart had nothing tall enough for me. He gallantly waited while I tried a billion different pants and tops, and we finally left with a pair of black pants and a ribbed turtleneck top (which I love despite the fact that everytime I say "ribbed" it makes me think of a giant condom). I wore them to church today (the pants and top, not a condom) and got lots of compliments about how nice I looked, which was great. On the downside, I overhead one of the ladies telling another about the surgery I had had done, and the one being told started talking about how I should be listening to Dr. Phil (from Oprah, I assume) about my "eating issues." That's the first time I've ever heard anyone say anything negative about this, about me having it done, and it really made me sad and frustrated and angry. But before I could jump in and say anything (probably something I would have regreted) another woman who was with the two ladies started explaining how it was a "valid" option, and recommended by my doctor, and it really was the right choice and no amount of Dr. Phil was going to fix it.... that was nice to hear. Especially since it came from someone I don't know too well- it was nice to know she understood and was sticking up for me. It made me feel so much better. I love how God surprises us with things like that- it reminds me that He really is here, with me, thinking of me, helping me, guiding me.
I have been frustrated that I haven't lost more weight, but, as Thanasi says, 30 pounds isn't nothing! And it's more than I've ever lost before in my life. I've been taking pictures and my measurements to track my progress, that has helped a lot to see what I started off as. As difficult as it was to take and post those pictures and numbers, I'm glad now that I have them. And I also have to keep reminding myself that I haven't been allowed to do any sort of exercise yet, and I will drop more weight as I begin to exercise. We're looking into joining the USM gym, it's only 150 dollars per person per year if you are a USM alumni or the spouse of one :) not a bad price at all. I've been getting exercise during school, having to walk a lot- to each of my classes, etc. And now I can walk downstairs with almost no pain. I can manage to walk up one flight of stairs so far, but that is about it. Any more than that and I really hurt, never mind being totally out of breath!!! I can't wait to get to the gym and start riding the bike again. Thanasi and I are trying to work out some sort of workout schedule between me working, him working, and who gets the car. I've walked from school to CVS once so far (one of those not-so-great days where I just COULD NOT wait 3 more hours for him to come get me- I needed to get out of school RIGHT NOW!) and it was okay. I was sore for a day or so afterwards, but other than that, it was fine. And I actually sort of liked it. It was nice to get out and just walk- something I never liked doing before! I'm also working on starting up a Health & Fitness Club at school for the students- some of them have expressed interest in it, and I think it would be great to get something started. The principal agrees with me, so now we're just waiting on funding and other stuff like that to come through.
I think that's about all that's happening in my life right now. Sorry I haven't posted anything before now, but life has been SO busy lately. Until next time...
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