SATURDAY MORNING ALREADY

Hi all!  Wow, lots going on in OFF-ville today.  Spring cleaning seems to be in the air.  I'm working on the closet under my staircase.  Oy vey!  What a stacked up, piled up mess is in there!  I need to throw about half of it out.

My clothes closet sure looks empty now that I've taken all my winter fat clothes out of it!  Some of those things I barely ever wore, or didn't wear at all!  I just kept outgrowing things faster than I could wear them.  I'm boxing them up and I'm going to send them home with oldest daughter who is in grad school and on a very limited income.  She can take them to her local resale shop.  Anything she can get for them, she can have!

It's a little scary getting rid of my big clothes.  What if I need them again?  And it's a little scary wearing clothes that are more fitted today.  Makes me feel even more fat than when I was hiding under large tent-like clothes.  My philosophy has always been "Cover it up!" 

So, I don't have much left in my closet, but I think it will be enough to get me through the next 30 pounds.  I really don't want to spend any money on new clothes at this point.  Of course, I will have to break down and buy some things before our vacation in June.  We are going to the Canadian Rockies!  I've never been there and I'm looking forward to it so much. 

Got our hotel reservations made for our trip to Houston in two weeks.  Hubby has an appt at MDAnderson to assess why his prostate cancer has recurred.  They told us to plan to stay 7 days!  I can't imagine it will take that long.  I went ahead and booked a suite with a full kitchen.  Expensive, but I will do so much better if I can manage my food on my own, rather than having to eat out all the time.  Besides I think the cost of eating out 3x's a day is more than the cost of the room! 

Now I have to think about if I have enough decent looking clothes left to wear to the hospital every day for a week!  I think the hotel has a washer/dryer.  I might have to do some laundry.

Ecuador sounds like a paradise, and I do love to garden, but I'm not sure I could adjust to being an ex-pat.  Hubby once worked in Brazil (Sao Paolo) and we had friends there who lived like kings.  She had 5 servants, including a full time gardener!  But I had a toddler and an infant and I wouldn't make the move.  Then Hubby and I fell in love with St. Maarten in the Carribean, but the cost of living there is outrageous.  So I guess we'll just stay put here in Texas. 

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

Vickie

Passing on my fat clothes (expensive stuff cause I had to dress for work and fat clothes cost lots of money) made me feel like a snake. Shedding those clothes was so theraputic. I was a 3X, size 32, 48F body always covered up to conceal the 330 lbs...ha ha. Now I was still working after my WLS and still had to dress. I was very careful about what I got and didn't spend alot of $$$ on new stuff, cause I was being successful on my journey downward. After the PS and swelling went down, I began getting clothes. Daring clothes for me. Went I went thru my drunken days, I lived in junk. Inside junk and outside junk. Now the junk days are gone and I am getting daring, fun, stuff for me. Totally inappropriate for a 63 yr old women with fleshy fat arm and legs but I don't care. I wear bikini's halter tops, shorts, little sun dresses. Hey I am sitting here in a red, halter, knit dress from Walmart that cost $3 4 yrs ago. Very sexy and clingy. I even wear this out without the traveling bra. Last night I wore my new Newport News gold and white bikini ($26) to the hot tub, feeling good. Hubby likes to hold back and then watch the men and women watching me as I go by. I think he makes this up, but it makes him happy.
I discovered Old Navy at first and then even Walmart for new clothes as I lost weight and inches. Don't over by, save up for when you are at a weight. Shop the thrift stores, many good buy. Good luck, continued success. Monica

Well, I think your new clothes sound adorable!  And if I had new perky boobs, I'd wear halter dresses too!  I hope I can have PS one day, too. 

I have a bunch of XL stuff that I saved from my work days.  I can't wait until I can wear some of it again.  Right now I'm in between a 1x and 2x.  Just don't have a lot in my closet in that size range.

I gave all of my 3x work clothes away when I retired.  You're right, that size is expensive!  I gave mine to a Women's Group here that helps poor women dress for a job interview.  They get help with their resumes, job skills, and one new outfit to wear for the interview. 

What I'm getting rid of now is just stay-at-home clothes.  Nothing fancy, but someone might can use it.

You hang in there, pal!  You're doing great.  A little waterworks never hurt anyone.  You needed to get the stress out. 

Vickie

Vickie
Are you driving through the Rockies?  I hope that you see Lake Louise if you are.  It is so beautiful that it is surreal.  Jasper is nice, too but not as beautiful as Lake Louise.
My ex and I drove through several years ago, and I will always remember the beauty of the Rockies.  Hope that you have fun.
Margaret

Hi Margaret!

We are flying from Houston to Calgary, and then we'll be staying in Canmore.  I had originally thought we might stay in Banff, but holy cow!  They are too proud of their reputation there.  Hotel prices were out the roof.  Canmore was much more reasonable!

Anyway, we plan to spend a day or two at Banff, and we do plan to spend a day at Lake Louise.  I have watched the Travel Channel specials for years.  Another friend recommended making the drive to Jasper, but I'm not sure.  Aren't there supposed to be glaciers there? 

What we really like to do is watch the wildlife.  We're not big hikers, but we do like to be outdoors.  Any recommendations for fun activities while we are there? 

Hi Jan and my OFF family:

Wow, you get up late and there's three pages here. You guys are chatty this morning.

I wasn't sleeping well either. I went to bed, read for awhile, was sleepy, then after 15 minutes got up with a hot flash and had to go for an ice pack. So I read for awhile more, got sleepy, cooled off, went back to sleep ... repeat ... this went on all night. I wanted to get up a little earlier because I was going to bake my birthday cake to bring into work ... well, I made it anyway, but I still didn't get out of bed until nearly noon. It didn't take long because it's just a German chocolate cake mix and a tub of frosting. The cake took a bout 10 minutes to mix, put in the pan, stick in the oven, all done. I'll bring it into work, I'll get to have a piece but others can eat most of the rest.

Well, not much else ... got my car title in the mail yesterday, Thursday got my handicapped exam OK'd so now I have to go back to the DMV and get that so I can get my tag. (I have the Michigan hang tag if nothing else.) I need to get off the computer and into the shower so I can have lunch ... need to get to work by 3 today.

Have a good one.