Baldness, naked Firemen, and Gus the Wonderdog (Pics incl)

I recently hit two of my personal goals: I hit Onderland and have lost a total of 75 lbs. I’ve lost 37.75 inches and 55% of my excess weight. Yeah me! Both of those happened during my 5^th month. I will be six months post op on 10/7.   Despite the successes, I have begun to go bald. Yes, the hair loss is so bad that I leave a trail of hair everywhere I go. My hair is naturally a dishwater blonde with liberal strands of gray and that is the only reason my scalp doesn’t shine through my hair. I have never had really thick hair, especially on my crown (the hypothyroidism and a past history or using volcano temp hot rollers for many years took care of that long ago) and I’ve always been a shedder but it’s getting really thin now. It happens in spurts—just when I think it’s going to stop, I’ll lose another handful. I knew it would happen but didn’t expect it to be so dramatic since I’ve been very diligent about my protein and taken all my supplements from day one. Despite that, I’m shedding like a long haired cat with leprosy and going to be bald as an onion if it keeps up. Oh well, if I get too bald, I’ll do a Britney Spears and shave it all off. I’ll be one hot bald chick!   Other people are really beginning to notice my changing figure and commenting on it. A couple of months ago, I accompanied my husband to a retirement party for one of the guys on his crew. Adult beverages were plentiful and when you put a few off duty firemen together, chaos ensues. I sat with the other wives and girl friends watching the guys frolic in the pool. We did this because the pool party portion of the party was impromptu and none of us ladies had suits. This, of course, did not stop the guys. I quite enjoyed watching about 15 buff firemen, ages 21 – 48 in nude and semi-nude states trying to keep the pool water out of their beer while dunking each other and generally indulging in horseplay. Everyone was so complimentary of my weight loss and as more alcohol was consumed, the compliments on my weight loss got more flowery. Only a couple of my husband’s co-workers and their wives knew about my surgery. That’s pretty good since firemen tell each other everything and no topic is off limits. Firemen also have no modesty or shame (hence the nude and semi-nude status in front of me, the boss’ wife). Anyway……the topic of my diet came up. I explained that I ate high protein, low calorie, low carb and lots of water.   We also discussed the issue of getting in the protein and the use of protein shakes. Well, firemen, being who they are, latched on to the topic of “protein shakes" with comments like “I’ll give you a protein shake" or “Hey Chief, do you supply enough liquid protein at your house or do you need another hose man?", etc. One wife even chimed in and asked if it counted if you didn’t swallow. I calmly responded that I didn’t know since I was not a spitter and despite the large quantities ingested, it hadn’t affected my weight loss. My hubby said that I got adoring glances from some of the guys and a few glares from the wives. He got some pats on the back. Imagine the chagrin of the guys when I explained that: 1. No, the Chief doesn’t need any back up; and 2. Semen is not high in protein.   You would’ve thought I had told a bunch of little boys that Santa AND the Easter Bunny are not real. Dead silence, mouths hanging agape and beers forgotten, they just stared. Then they all started arguing at once while we, the wives, sat rolling our eyes. It was like their manhood had been questioned. I could also see some accusatory glances being shot from some of the younger wives and girlfriends. I had remembered DrHollywood’s post about protein in semen and even pulled up the post that included the nutritional content of semen on my Blackberry to prove it to them. This began a discussion of proving it by providing specimens and where could we find a microscope at midnight on a Saturday night? Needless to say, we distracted them with more alcohol, grilled hamburgers and potato salad. They were drunk enough that they had attention spans like a flock of gnats so they were easy to distract. Here they all came out of the pool, and began to either strip off wet shorts/underwear or dry off their nakedness to dress in dry clothes. It’s pretty entertaining to watch a bunch of inebriated wet guys try to get dressed without falling on their faces.    Gus the Wonderdog did not get to go to that party with us but he does go with us to quite a few. It is getting harder for me to control him if he decides to take off since I now only outweigh him by about 25 lbs. Luckily, he is well behaved and does well on a leash. He doesn’t usually pull or try to drag me but if he gets spooked, I’m in for a bumpy ride. He still sleeps with us and it’s getting difficult sometimes because he has a tendency to lie on top of me. After losing 75+ pounds, I can’t let him do that anymore because I can’t breathe. Gus loves to eat people food if allowed but we found out that he doesn’t like protein shakes. I accidently spilled one on the kitchen floor and he ran over to it faster than a blue streak and was lapping it up before I could nudge him out of the way. He got the funniest look on his face and then began pawing his snout and snorting.  He had his tongue hanging out as he ran to his water dish. Needless to say, if he sees me with my protein powder jug out, he clears out of the kitchen. No begging for that stuff. He may be a cheese-***** a chip monger, an apple lover, an ice cream lapper and counter grazer for anything he’s not supposed to have, but protein powder is not on his list of num-nums.   I promised not to post pics of the party on Facebook or other public domain but I can post pics of Gus. (Sorry ladies!)   Here he is at my grandson’s soccer game watching my granddaughter play with friends (he didn’t want “the baby" to get out of sight)      And here he is after a full Saturday of a vet visit, soccer game, trip to the pet store, a bath, a nail trimming, teeth brushing, ear cleaning and playing outside while I mowed grass. He hadn’t gotten his 8 hour “nap" that day.        I HATE pics taken in the mirror but here’s one of me after 75 lbs gone.     Here’s me with Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Gabe the day I left the hospital.
Here’s me getting ready to leave the hospital with my Sleeve Sista Holly!

 

I want to come to your parties!!! hahahaha

None of your photos are showing up for me :( Boo

no pics showing up for me.   Fingers crossed you have nude fireman pics.  LOL

Darn!  The pics are showing up on my screen.  Not sure what the problem is.

Nope.....no naked firemen!  Those are in my private collection.  I promised that those would'nt be distributed.  The guys didn't care but the wives/girlfriends did!

1.  Congratulations on the onderland/weight loss
2.  Love you dog stories
3.  Please oh please may I come to the next pool party.  I will bring my suit and anything else you need if you provide the single buff fireman!

 You had me at naked firemen....lol

Congrats on meeting your first goals!!   Now.....I absolutely refuse to believe there were randy, naked firefighters unless I see pics.  Really I refuse.  Must see pics.  Really...pics........please.