Still reeling from the weekend!

Hello all, I just had to post and say that I had an absolutely wonderful time this weekend! Meeting so many of you and talking, sharing experiences, laughing, etc. was phenomenal. I am still on cloud nine - well, dh says 10 or 11 at least. I am also totally wiped out! I met the wild women from Ida Grove/Holstein and Francie at the Radisson Hotel Saturday night for some chit chat and lots of water with lemon and sweetener before we decided to go out. Then, boogied my butt off before spending some quality time with Jodi while she experienced her first dumping syndrome. (Jodi, I feel so close to you now after the special time that we shared ). Carol, Janet, Kelly, Jodi, I had a blast! You all are wild - only wish that ya lived closer! (By the way, Janet, we may be visiting you this fall, hubby is quite excited about the pheasant population and 500 acres on which to hunt). (Francie, wish that we would have had more time to talk. Believe me, I understand the time and attention that a four year old takes, though. Glad that you were able to make it.) The Carnie event was wonderful. I thought that she was so down to earth and caring. I even got a big hug from her when she was signing autographs. Dixie, Janie, Jackie, Patty, I'm sorry that we did not have more time to talk. I wish that we could have all just met and called it the Obesityhelp booth. I wish that you would have been able to come to dinner. We all would have loved to get to know you better. Jackie, (I think, it's you), I love your hair and will probably have the same hair cut soon. ****rtainly hope that I did not offend when I told you what my teenager called the style. I'm sorry if I did.) Malena, I'm glad that we met, albeit, briefly. Paula and your crew, I'm sorry that I missed you and hope to see you soon. I also seem to have missed Melissa Birriel, Lori Williams, Debi Davis and Cheryl Harksen. Sorry to you all. I tried and guess that I am not as organized as I thought! After Carnie, some of us were able to go to the Iowa Machine Shed to eat, nibble, whatever we do now. It was totally fun and included a wagon ride around the restaurant. I can't wait to see the pictures!! There were 11 of us there that had had surgery and we had a total loss of 1,132 pounds. AWESOME - boy, that is a lot of fat!!! By the way, if anyone understood the joke that the tractor driver told about losing too much weight to give your husband diabetes, please fill me in. I didn't hear the end and think it went right over my head. Carla and friends, it was so nice to meet you all. Carla, did you call your surgeon today? You need to get that checked out and I will relentlessly "nag" you till I hear that you have made a call. Hope that you all made it home safely and look forward to hearing what the doc said. Deb, you are a total hoot, girl!! I love talking to you. You are the only one that I know of that can pretend to be actively involved in a conversation while listening to staff on walkie talkies in an attempt to catch the STAR of the show (Carnie) while on her way to the stage. You are so full of energy and life that we aren't worried at all about you if you are having another set of twins. We're sure that you'll have plenty of energy for all of them!! 8-l Be sure that you keep us posted about your appointments coming up. Laurie, Lisa and Jesi - as always, you know that I had a good time with you both. Thanks for the support. Jes, thanks for wearing the ugly blue shirt with me! Oh, yeah, after eating and the wagon ride, some of us went back to the Radisson for some more water with lemon and sweetener. We talked and laughed so much longer that we were able to catch two news broadcasts of the event and even saw ourselves on channel 8. (I have been searching to find a link to the broadcast, but can't for the life of me find it. The news station is WQAD if anyone else wants to try.) If I missed anyone else, I'm sorry. Please let me know if you were there and chew me out. Ladies, this was the ultimate weekend of fun for me. I enjoyed every minute. Put it this way, I have done almost nothing today and haven't even put my contacts in or put on make-up. That is a real lazy day. Heck, I didn't even walk this morning. (Don't worry, I will be back on the ball tomorrow!) Here's to friendship, support, kindness and caring. That's kind of what this is all about, my friends, isn't it - well, that and water with lemon and sweetener? Thanks for being there for me and being part of a great weekend. God bless, Andrea

I had a blast too!!! I didn't get to party with you guys Sat night, but I still had a good time!!! Wish I could have been pole dancin' too Oh well maybe next time! I have a GREAT pic too......Some of us Iowa gals at our finest.....If anyone wants to see it, email me! I have a feeling if we all lived close together we could get pretty and have a blast...we are gonna have to get together more often! It was all a trip...Carnie was awesome....but I had more fun meeting friends! I too am tired today......didn't get home until after midnight! But it was worth it!!! Again.......I had a blast and can't wait to do it again!!! And I hope to hear from the gals from Dubuque too! Met a lot of new people and hope to keep in touch~ Take Care Jesi

Sweet Andrea....THANK YOU Soooooooooooo much for planning everything, meeting us, driving us around and for just plane putting up with us, we had a WONDERFUL time!!! I wish we could have stayed a week...LOL! It was sooooooooooooo much fun meeting everyone, Francis, Laurie, Jesi, Lisa, Deb (gf I wish I had your *****) and Carla and friends. We are so blessed..I hope we can plan more get togethers! Carnie was the greatest!!! She truly is human, I still can't believe I was speechless when I met her. My inspiration!!! Until next time, Janet Schmidt P.S. I could have danced all night!!!!

Hello, I also had a blast it was so much fun meeting everyone everyone was so much fun I wish I could of went out sat night with everyone but next time . I agree about all of us getting together again I didnt want to come home,lol carnie was an exllent show take care everyone Laurie

Andrea, I feel very close to you too now that we shared my first dumping.. I just hope I dont do it again too soon.... I had such a good time... I cant wait to get together with all of you again... You are all great.... I am still on cloud nine (especially from hugging Carnie, and what she said to me) IT WAS AWSOME... TOTALLY!!!!! I too was very tired today, we were up and on the road by 9am, we stopped to shop and Jesi's fav mall,, It was great!! I bought Carnie's book and her latest CD... and a frame to put her autographed photo in... I wished you lived much closer, you are an inspiration to us all... Thanks a million,,, Jodi

It was fun to meet all of you over the weekend. I laughed my butt off. OK, not quite, but you know what I mean. Thanks for letting me "hang" with you. Seeing all your before pictures, and how you look now, was good me since you are all (except Carolyn) a lot further out from surgery than I am. I wish I could have joined you Sunday night for dinner. Maybe next time... Someone said Barbara Thompson is speaking in Sioux City in Sept. Does anyone know when/where? Maybe we could have a reunion there...?! Francie

Hi Andrea: I just got back from vacation and scanned through the past posts because I knew you would write about the Carney weekend. I am so jealous(sp?) Sounds like a great weekend. I was also sorry to hear about your Taco Bell excursion and the stricture. I hope your recovering from it. I walked 4 miles a day in Minnesota, biked 4-5 times and took home my limit of Bass everytime I went fishing! However, my scale says I gained a pound. Not enough water, too much salt. Anyway, it's great to be home so I can get back into my routine. Thanks for the update. Eileen