Roll Call! Good Morning!

Good morning, Everyone! ONE MORE DAY TILL I CAN SMOTHER THE HECK OUT OF MY BOY!!! Whoo hoo!!! Okay...here is today's roll call...it's getting really challenging coming up with questions. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to email me. 1. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? 2. Is there anyone from your past who you would like to run into now so they can see the new you? If so, would it be more like "oh it would be neat if they could see me now" or "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!"? Hee hee. 3. What is the best *material* gift you have ever received? Why was it the best? 4. Do you tell people that you have had this surgery or do you keep it to yourself? 5. How would your friends describe you? And finally... 6. Are you looking forward to anything? If so, what? Love and hugs, peeps! Jersey Mom

Jersey good questions but boy are they hard! 1. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? My sister told me her kids were being sexually abused by her husband (their father) It was not true but I didn't know and made her have them checked out or I was reporting it. That was 12 years ago and they are still together! 2. Is there anyone from your past who you would like to run into now so they can see the new you? If so, would it be more like "oh it would be neat if they could see me now" or "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!"? Hee hee. There are a few people and I would be Ha ***** look at me now! 3. What is the best *material* gift you have ever received? Why was it the best? I have a mother child necklace and I absolutely love it and wear it everyday! 4. Do you tell people that you have had this surgery or do you keep it to yourself? I shout it from the roof tops! 5. How would your friends describe you? As honest loyal, sensitive and someone *****members everything! And finally... 6. Are you looking forward to anything? If so, what? We are going to the Dominican with the kids and my Mother in law in March...... Hugs and have a good day.........Weekend! Chris

Here are my answers... 1. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? ~Aside from giving birth and surviving crippling post-partum depression, the bravest thing I ever did was get married in India. Prior to doing that, I had not been out of the country. The only place I EVER went to on vacation was Disney (which says worlds about my personality prior to marrying my husband). I went to a very strange, third-world country to meet in-laws who I could not converse with...alone. None of my family came with me. I should REALLY write a book about that experience because it was a wild one (good and VERY bad). However, I came home from that trip with the first-time knowledge that I was a grown-up woman who could handle any challenge that comes my way! 2. Is there anyone from your past who you would like to run into now so they can see the new you? If so, would it be more like "oh it would be neat if they could see me now" or "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!"? Hee hee. ~I would like to see my best friend from when I was 18. Out of the blue, she just dumped me when we were in our early 20's (well, nothing is out of the blue, I know, but obviously something snapped in her and she wanted me completely out of her life...to this day, I still don't know why and, at the time, it HURT). We were both heavy in HS (I was a bit heavier than she but was also, to be perfectly honest, much prettier). Right before she dumped me, she lost a lot of weight. I would love for her to see me and it would definitely fall into the category of "Hey, BIATCH...look at me now!" I would also like to see a boy I dated in my 20's. He picked me up in a bar and I was very attracted to him (he looked like a lumberjack...full beard, etc. I normally dated pretty boys). His voice sounded like Kermit the Frog but I focused on the lumberjack look. He got drunk and, one night on the phone said to me, "I like you so much but don't know if I will stay attracted to you because of your weight." I am ashamed to say that I did not break it off with him that night. I ignored him for two weeks but he cried and begged me to take him back. I dumped him shortly thereafter but, yes, I would love for him to see me now. 3. What is the best *material* gift you have ever received? Why was it the best? ~ I should probably say my engagement ring but I am going to be honest here and say that the best gift I ever received was a diamond and emerald ring from my parents. It is beautiful and I just love them so much...they have been SO good to me. 4. Do you tell people that you have had this surgery or do you keep it to yourself? ~ You know...I used to tell people but now I really don't. Well...that is not strictly true. The people I work with now know about the surgery but I did not tell the people in the other buildings I worked in. I just tell them I did a protein diet (not a total lie ). However, if I get into a discussion with a stranger and they are overweight, I always tell them. Because I want them to know that they do not need to live life that way. The last time I got my hair done, one of the girls in the shop was raving about the weight loss. The woman sitting next to me was very overweight and asked how I did it. And I told her. Mostly, though, I am mum about it now. 5. How would your friends describe you? ~ I don't know...they would probably say I am indescribable. And finally... 6. Are you looking forward to anything? If so, what? ~ Oh, you know I am! I get my boy back tomorrow! I am also looking forward to hitting goal weight because I KNOW I will do it! Have a great day!

Good Morning Everyone, It is a good day at the Johnson house. Everyone is happy, healthy and full of energy. Here is a funny for today. I was in the office and went back into the family room to find Nathanial and Grace breastfeeding. Nathanial was feeding spiderman and Grace has a regular baby doll. They both proudly proclaimed they were feeding their babies from their boobies. 1. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? Became a foster parent. - Soon to be an adoptive parent - yeah! 2. Is there anyone from your past who you would like to run into now so they can see the new you? If so, would it be more like "oh it would be neat if they could see me now" or "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!"? Hee hee. I think it woul dbe neat for my pappy to see me. He was always on me for my weight. Once, while I was in high school, told me if I would just lose 20 pounds, I could find a nice college man.(my husband is a college graduate) At that time I was 5'6" and weighed about 155. As my weight exploded over the years, he really worried. He would be happy that I am healthy and my weight is not sooo out of control. I think he would still want me to look like a waif though. 3. What is the best *material* gift you have ever received? Why was it the best? I have my mother's engagement/wedding ring (it is just one ring that is a band of diamonds) and my grandmothers engagement ring. When the two of them are worn together they look like a set. 4. Do you tell people that you have had this surgery or do you keep it to yourself? I probably tell tooo many people! 5. How would your friends describe you? Loyal, dependable, trustworthy. And finally... 6. Are you looking forward to anything? If so, what? My sister and I are planning to go see my bro in Wisconsin. I have not seen him in 3 years since right after Grace was born.

Good questions!! 1. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? ~ I moved to Vienna Austria with my (now ex) husband. He was Austrian and was only here in the USA on a work visa. One day, he packed up all of our belongings and told me that we were moving to Vienna! I spent 3 months there then came home to think about the whole thing and decided not to go back. Also.. when I was 19 yrs old, I took a trip to Japan by myself. I spent 4 weeks living in Osaka with a Japaneese girl who I became friends with when she was a foreign exchange student here in the states. At the time, I had never even been out of the state of West Virginia. I had never flown or traveled!!!! 2. Is there anyone from your past who you would like to run into now so they can see the new you? If so, would it be more like "oh it would be neat if they could see me now" or "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!"? Hee hee. ~Not really... 3. What is the best *material* gift you have ever received? Why was it the best? ~ Just a few weeks ago, my Aunt Judy who had terminal breast cancer gave me an Emerald ring. She said that she wanted me to have it. She passed away on Saturday....and I will forever think of her when I wear it. Which is most everyday..... 4. Do you tell people that you have had this surgery or do you keep it to yourself? ~Any one who asks me how I lost weight,,, I tell them the truth. I cut out sugars. I cut back on carbs. I started exercising and I had WLS. 5. How would your friends describe you? ~ ?? I dont really know.. I would guess that they would say that I am Nice... And finally... 6. Are you looking forward to anything? If so, what? ~Not really looking forward to any thing soon....except for next summers annual trip to the Outer Banks area! Tootles! Cathy

1. Making the decision to leave my abusive 1st husband was by far the bravest thing. Having this surgery and the body lift are a close 2nd. 2. Maybe a couple of old boyfriends from highschool? And probably a combination of "wouldn't it be neat" and "HEY BIATCH!!!". LOL 3. I can't think of any one material thing that I that precious to me, I'm not really a material-minded kinda girl. 4. Depends on who it is. I don't keep it a secret, but I don't freely blab, either. 5. Very very wacky, scattered, talky and a lot of fun. 6. I am not looking forward to any one particular thing. I would love to have the next year speed by, as my oldest daughter is in the middle of some pretty challenging medical issues and will be having major brain surgery in June of '08.

Ok now that I felt stupid yesterday about being so honest about being stupid lets see what I can get myself into trouble with today ... 1. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? My WLS and then the Plastics. 2. Is there anyone from your past who you would like to run into now so they can see the new you? If so, would it be more like "oh it would be neat if they could see me now" or "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!"? Hee hee. Oh yes !!!!!! the 2nd statement for sure !! 3. What is the best *material* gift you have ever received? Why was it the best? Always the homemade stuff from my children they are my most prized possessions 4. Do you tell people that you have had this surgery or do you keep it to yourself? I keep it to myself now, but there are so many people I would like to tell I am just not sure how to, without saying hey I see your fat well I know what can change your life. 5. How would your friends describe you? Happy creative, caring loving good at what she does. And finally... 6. Are you looking forward to anything? If so, what? Thanksgiving and Christmas my favorite times of the year before summer .... HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND TORI

Hey Tori: Please don't EVER feel stupid for being honest! Trust me...I cannot believe some of the stuff I post here sometimes. But I feel as though I am amongst family members so it is okay. I laughed at your answer #4. I SO KNOW what you mean! There are times when I see people at the store...or at my job and I want to go hand them a calling card with my surgeon's number on it, you know? I SO want to approach them, but, yeah, really...what are we supposed to say? "Hey there...I see you are, um, fat but, I..." Yes, that just would not go over well, I'm sure! Have a great day! Jersey Mom

Jersey, I soooo LOVE you for doing this, you're the best! 1. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? that's a tough one...my first reaction was WLS, because it was a very tough decision to make and I was scared to death of having complications, but now that I am going through this mess, the decision to walk away from my unhappy, unhealthy marriage despite how hard I knew it would be for me and Hanna was far more difficult. I still have days when I see how much Hanna is hurting and I wonder what I am doing to her, but quickly realize I made the right decision for both of us. 2. Is there anyone from your past who you would like to run into now so they can see the new you? If so, would it be more like "oh it would be neat if they could see me now" or "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!"? Hee hee. oh definitely I love getting a reaction from people I haven't seen in years, but can't think of a person in particular. I definitely like the "HA - BIATCH...LOOK AT ME NOW!" approach 3. What is the best *material* gift you have ever received? Why was it the best? most recently it was the $500 in cash that my dad gave me, not because of what it was, but because he could see how much I was hurting and how stressed I was and just "dropped by" to hand me an envelope with cash in it ....he's that kind of dad. I love him so much. 4. Do you tell people that you have had this surgery or do you keep it to yourself? I usually tell people. 5. How would your friends describe you? nurturing, motherly, good listener(the good side) and maybe a bit moody, withdrawn and stubborn. And finally... 6. Are you looking forward to anything? If so, what? I have SOOOOOOOOO much to look forward to. Currently at the top of my list is being divorced from the loser I spent the last 7 years being miserable with, then next would be graduating(FINALLY) next December, getting married again to the most amazing man alive, and having more babies.....but that's all

I'm home recuperating from my Inter-Stim placement (stage one). Other than nausea on the way home, a killer headache from no caffeine and pain when I sit, I'm doing ok. I just hope (and pray) that it works. The urologist is very optimistic. 1. The bravest thing I've ever done is to come to Pittsburgh (by myself). When I stop and think about what I did, I still can't believe it. 2. Oh yeah, I'd love to see a couple of the people I used to work with....it would definitely be, 'LOOK AT ME NOW'...... 3. The best material gift is the leather and fox coat that my husband got me for Christmas a couple years ago. I love that coat..........unfortunately, it is WAY too big now....... 4. I tell EVERYONE. It doesn't bother me to talk about it. 5. My friends would say I'm a good listener.......and that my intentions are good; but my follow-through STINKS...LOL 6. I am looking forward to seeing my dad during the holidays. My dad and I are very close and I miss spending time with him. Rose from PA