Holiday weekend!

I have the weekend off.. awesome!

I am working some overtime on Saturday though.. it won't be all day. I can't take 10 extra hours.. maybe 5-6. The money will be nice.

On Sunday, I am headed to visit my parents and I am also getting together with a friend that I knew in high school and college. She randomly sent me a message on Facebook.. it will be nice to catch up.

Monday, John and I are going to Natasha's for a BBQ.

We have decided that Tuesday is our day to stay home and catch up on organizing and cleaning. The summer has been busy with the move, trying to do fun things, working, and getting a new car. We need to get the house back in order. We have been going to do fun things and neglecting our chores. Bad, bad. Haha.

That's about all for now. Nothing too exciting, right? I have my visit with my PCP on Tuesday for my problems with headaches and my appointment with the surgeon on the 9th for my "3 month" checkup even though it is more than 4 months since I had surgery. Maybe they meant 3 months from my last appointment at 6 weeks out? I dunno. I just got my lab work done today for the surgeon's appointment, so I am hoping it will be done and to their office for my appointment on the 9th.

First dress and second dress.

My niece, Heather, is getting married on 9/20/2008. We are very good friends as well as being family. We are close in age.. I am just 6 years older than her. She has asked me to be in the wedding (among others). She decided on black and white for the colors as well as a splash of lime green because that was her daughter, Veronica's, favorite color when she was still with us.

There are 3 ladies standing up with Heather - me, her friend Danna, and my GMIL who is 94. We are all getting black and white dresses.. not necessarily matching. Deb had an amazing sale on prom-type dresses. The first one.. I loved it the minute I saw it. It does fit me.. but it is TIGHT. After getting it home and trying it on again, I was a little leery about it. I am only going to be losing weight at this point.. but I didn't want to have to wear that skin tight dress all day and be uncomfortable. Heather's friend Danna ended up taking it, and it does fit her better. She is more comfortable in it. The second dress, I got it at a different Deb store. It is MUCH more comfortable, and I really am looking forward to wearing it now!

Dress #1. I paid $15.80 for it. Not bad, right?

Dress #2 and what I will be wearing.. I paid under $20 for this one.. I think $19.88 or something. Still an awesome deal. They were both marked down from well over $100. This mostly black one is far more slimming than the white of the first one. You could see every ripple of my body - NOT cute. This one has a white sheath type dress underneath and then the black satin over which makes everything smooth. I just love it!

Pictures of the Trailblazer.

As promised.. pictures of the new bus.. I mean SUV.. we bought on Monday.

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I didn't get any more sleep this morning before work. We were discussing and rediscussing things regarding Heather's wedding. We want to have it at the house, but the more we think about it.. the less we are feeling 100% sure about doing it at home. It's a lot of people, and we plan to serve alcohol. That could lead to a whole host of problems.

We booked a park out in Dutton. We get it from 7am until dusk for $50 for the day. Not a bad price. Let's hope for some stellar weather that day. Keep your fingers crossed.

Migraines. Blah.

For the past couple of weeks, I have had 2-3 migraine headaches per week. I used to get them all the time when I was younger.. but it's been years since I have had a bad one. I was prescribed Compazine and Benadryl, which does work very well.. but it makes me DEAD tired for like 12 hours. I can't function like that. I need to be able to work and carry out my daily life. I have an appointment to see my doctor about it on September 2, 2008. I am hoping she can start me on a maintenance dose of something so I don't have to worry about a headache coming on when I am working or in the middle of driving.

I then have my followup appointments for 3-month followup for MMPC on September 9, 2008. That is an all day thing with 3 appointments with the nutritionist, the PA, and the exercise physiologist. If it were up to me, I would cancel with the nutritionist. I don't get any benefit from those meetings. They don't cater to the DS patients.. it's very RNY based.

I need some more sleep for a long day of work.

Not a bad deal..

If you are a regular reader or you have caught up and read back on posts, you know that we just recently bought our first home. We have been getting offers for refinancing our car as well. We decided to go and look to see what is out there and what they could do for us as far as paying off our current car and all.

We previously bought from a local Chevrolet dealership in Wyoming, MI. The guy that worked there who sold us our Impala works at a Saturn dealership in Holland now. He sent us a letter not too long ago to offer to see what he could do for us. Keep in mind, it has only been 2 years since we bought the Impala.. not very long at all. We did in fact go out to the Saturn dealership but we made it there on an evening when they happened to be closing at 6pm, so we decided we would go back another day. In the meantime, some things happened as far as personal and family issues, so we really didn't talk too much more about the car for about a week.

This week, we decided we would head over to the Chevrolet dealership on 28th Street here in GR, Berger. Again, we really had no intention of buying a car.. we were just exploring options. We got there and met a fabulous salesman. He was patient with us, and we actually test drove 3 different things.. a Chevy Uplander (a van), a Buick something SUV with 3rd row seating, and a Chevy Trailblazer. We loved the Uplander instantly. It was the van that we wanted and the space we have been missing since we downgraded to a car a couple years ago. We obviously don't have kids of our own yet, but we are always doing something with family and friends.. most of them DO have children. Not having to take 2 cars everywhere was our main motivation.

We were about to head into the dealership when I saw this awesome.. AWESOME.. Trailblazer. It was huge but gorgeous and has 7 passenger seating. We test drove it and loved it even more. It is loaded with a CD changer, DVD player, power everything.. you name it, it has the option. It was considerably more than the Uplander, but we were expecting to take on a higher payment if we were going to go with something bigger anyway.

We went into the haggling process for the Trailblazer. We weren't even sure at that point what they were going to give us in trade for the Impala. Like I mentioned, we still owed a lot on it.. so we were wary about hearing what they were going to offer. At first, he tried to get us to agree to a payment of $544 a month. I was speechless. That would have been almost doubling our payment. WOW. Yeah, no. He was also asking for a $2,000 down payment. We were about ready to just leave right then. We were calm though and just said that none of that was going to be possible. We talked him down some more and also got quite a bit taken off the price of the vehicle. They are taking crazy low prices on SUVs.. with gas prices the way they are, people are not buying them. It's not as much of an issue for us.. the Impala got about 28-30 MPG and this gets 23-25 MPG. That would be a huge difference for somebody who commutes a lot.. but I have no commute at all, and John uses our other truck to go to work. We also got the Impala paid off with only a small portion needed to be tacked onto the new loan. The interest rate wasn't bad either. A funny coincidence.. the finance specialist at Berger used to work at Courtesy Dodge and helped us get our van about 8 years ago. We had no idea it was him until we saw him. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be where we are now with our credit. When we bought again, we had gone back to look for him, but he didn't work at Courtesy anymore. Now we know why.. he was over at Berger. Ha.

We are now the proud new owners of an awesome 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer. We just love it.. I think I mentioned that already.

This had to be the EASIEST car purchase ever. I think maybe because we didn't NEED a car.. we were more relaxed and had an easier time of things. We got to the dealership at about noon, ran some errands in the afternoon, and came back to sign everything at about 5pm. By 6pm, we were on the road with our new vehicle. Very quick and painless. Honestly, I didn't think we would get the deal we did or the financing. I mean, we just financed the house.. so our debt to income ratio is high.

The night we got it, it started making some horrible metal on concrete noise under the passenger side of the front end. We took it back to the dealership.. of course, it wouldn't make the noise while it was there and they had it. They had it all day, so we were driving a 2007 Grand Prix as a loaner for the day. Nice car.. small, but a nice car. It did have over 55,000 miles on it.. for a 2007? Someone must have been crisscrossing the country with that thing. We have the Trailblazer back now, and it's been perfect with no noises at all. It was documented though, so if we have a problem at some point, they will be taking care of it.

That is the end of the new car saga. I will get some pictures to post soon while it is still shiny and new!

My new haircut and finding a dress for my niece's wedding!

I went with Gwen to get my hair cut on Saturday.. it was fabulous! I love how my hair turned out.. it's easy to take care of and feels awesome too. Gwen's turned out so cute as well. She got highlights that I am now contemplating as well. They looked so cute. I am a hair color virgin though, so that's a big step for me.

After our cuts and lunch, I left Gwen and went to meet my nieces, Heather and Amanda, for dress shopping for Heather's wedding. Heather and Ken are getting married at our house, in the yard, at the end of September. It's actually on Veronica's birthday to sort of commemorate and remember and for them to have a fresh start. I am standing up with Heather, her friend Danna, and my GMIL who is 94 will also be up there with us! Heather's sister, Amanda, is going to be wrangling the kids in a wagon down the aisle and keeping them together. John is walking Heather down the aisle (so sweet), and my BIL is actually becoming ordained for the occasion so he can perform the ceremony for them. Definitely a family affair, as usual for us!

So, since I am going to be in the wedding, I needed a dress. In the past, this has been a sore subject for me.. clothes shopping. I didn't fit into normal sizes.. of course.. and sometimes not even the plus sizes that some stores had. Most of my shopping has been online for years. Heather had gone with Danna on Friday to Deb and they found some decent dresses for very cheap so we headed back there on Saturday for Amanda and myself. I had no idea what size I was.. I am finally actually dropping sizes, so it was going to be a trial and error thing. The colors for the wedding are black and white.. and Deb had a HUGE selection of black and white dresses. They must be doing some kind of clearance of maybe last year's prom dresses or homecoming dresses. Ones that had been marked at over $100 were now $25, $20, and sometimes lower.. PLUS another 25% off THAT. Where can you find a very formal dress for less than $20? Deb! Haha. I tried on a few dresses.. and there was one that I had not tried on yet but I just LOVED it. I was sure that it would not fit though. They were 20s and 22s. I haven't been that size in years. Heather talked me into trying it on.. and it fit! I will admit, the midsection was snug.. but I am only losing sizes and weight in the next 5 weeks until the wedding, so we figured it would be okay. I LOVE the dress.. and I only paid $15.80 total for it!

After getting home and getting the dress on again.. I rethought things. Although I do LOVE that dress.. I mean it's gorgeous.. I was not comfortable in it, and it showed. Sunday morning, I talked John into going to a couple of the other Deb stores in town to just see what they might have. Sure enough.. they had more CHEAP dresses. I ended up finding a different dress that I like even more. I am actually comfortable in it too! It's the same size and brand of the original one, but it's a different cut and style.. and it just flatters me more. The one that I had originally gotten, I couldn't take it back. Since it was so heavily marked down and is a "special occasion" dress, they don't allow returns. I ended up giving it to Danna.. and she is going to wear it in the wedding! I love that dress.. I am happy that someone is going to be wearing it. Heather was excited when she saw me in the dress I picked out with John.. it does have a very flattering style and makes me look slimmer. That's always a plus, right? I am seriously happy with the choice of dress now.

I have pictures of both dresses that I will post.. but they are on another memory card. Photos to come later!

Migraines? Hello.

I haven't had a migraine headache since I was in high school.. or should say HADN'T had a migraine since high school.

Last Friday, on 08/08/08, I got a doozy of a headache. It had been kinda coming on for a few days. I tried taking different things, but nothing seemed to help. Finally, on Friday morning, it started to get REALLY bad. It was the worst headache of my life, by far. I called my doctor's office in the morning, and they took forever getting back to me. I finally was able to find out by late afternoon that my doctor wasn't even in the office that day! Augh. They sent me to the ER.

I made the decision not to go all the way across town to the hospital where I had my DS surgery and instead went downtown here which is like 5 minutes from our new house. They had never even heard of the duodenal switch there.. ever. I also had the wonderful experience of not only being seen by a resident.. but she had ANOTHER doctor with her who was also a resident. It was his FIRST DAY EVER in the ER.. he was nice enough to inform me of that. Wow, are you kidding me right now? I can barely function with this headache, and you are sending me this guy? Greaaatttt. I guess everyone has to learn sometime. Ugh. He was nice enough.. and he did clearly go to the MSU College of Human Medicine.. so points for him there.

They were actually worried about something called pseudotumor cerebri that can happen after weight loss surgery. It happens when pressure builds up and causes the intracranial pressure to also be higher. The cure is a lumbar puncture. ACCKKK. When they said that, I was instantly even MORE stressed. John wasn't with me.. my niece Heather was. That is definitely the next best thing to having John or my mommy with me.. but I seriously wanted John there with me at that point. They also wanted to get a CAT scan. Fine, I am a pro at those now.. and skinnier so I am not all worried that their machine is going to break.

They ended up trying a combination of Compazine and Benadryl to see if it really was a 'common' migraine headache. Thankfully, the CAT scan was negative.. and the medications made the headache go completely away. I was SO relieved. They put me to sleep almost instantly. I hadn't slept well as it was with the headache I had been having for days.. and finally with the relief of the headache, I was OUT. Heather had to leave to go pick up Ken from work, so my MIL came to sit with me until I was done and took me home. They gave me a prescription for Vicodin to take in case the headache came back.. I was just informed today that Vicodin actually can cause rebound headaches! WHAT?! No wonder it hasn't been working!

I called my PCP again today, and she ended up prescribing Compazine and Benadryl for me to take at home to see if I will get the same relief. I am hoping so. I started to get a headache today again as well. It probably doesn't help that I am also dealing with this sunburn. I will be waiting until this evening to try the Compazine/Benadryl combo. I can't work while taking that stuff, for sure. Vicodin, I can muddle through with it as long as I don't have to drive.. but that Compazine is some serious business.

On another note.. I made an appointment today for Gwen and I to go and get our hairs cut on Saturday morning. I am looking forward to a change.. and I am tired of seeing all my long hair falling out. I will post pictures afterward!

Beach Day 2008

John, Heather, and Ken packing the coolers and the cars at our house.

Our family tries to make it a point to get together and have a beach day at least once each summer. August 12th was the day for this year! We all met up at our house and set out at about 10am. I had made sandwiches in the morning, and we even bought a new cooler (holds 90 cans woowoo) from Sam's Club for the occasion. We had snacks, drinks, and got some sand toys for my niece Genna.

We stopped at a grassy park and had lunch first.. since we had all been so busy we didn't eat in the morning. Oops!

After lunch, we headed to the water. It was not packed yet. The water was COLD. I mean.. icebox status. We could dip our feet in and that was about it. Once it got a little later and the sun was out longer, PARTS of the water got warm. The shallow parts were warmer.. the deeper parts not so much.

Ken, Heather, and their daughter Genna went with us. Trace was also there with his 3 kids. Zach had just had ear surgery so he wasn't up to going to the lake. Amanda and Tim were working, and Kerry was watching Amanda's kids.. so they couldn't make it either.

We had a great time. In past years, it was such a hassle to go. We always made it a point to go and do it, but I would be EXHAUSTED from just walking down the sidewalk let alone the 1/4 mile to find a spot, carry the stuff, get all situated.. THIS YEAR THOUGH.. I am leaner, spryer, and full of energy. I wasn't even out of breath after trekking across the sand. It was an awesome feeling. We stayed quite a long time. We all had sunblock on.. something I usually forget to do. Nonetheless, Heather and I got BURNT.


That's a small peek of the damage, just to my shoulder.. and you can see that it is way red up by my face as well.

If you know me and want to see the many, many pictures that I take, you can request to be my friend on Flickr. If you have a yahoo ID, you can use that for Flickr as well. I have them set to friends only because I certainly do not agree with flaring around a bunch of photos of kids all over the internet willy nilly. My Flickr ID is shinystereo. You can request me on there or send me an email and I will send you an invite.

Off to get some things done.. slowly.. since my skin is burnt to a crisp.

Short post. Whining today.

I am going bald. I knew it was going to happen, but it's so much worse now that it is here. Srsly. On a more positive note, doesn't my profile look so nice and skinny? Haha.

I am really sad over the hair loss.. but it will pass. I know that. Today, I mourn the loss of my hair.