New Beginnings - August....

   I love the month of August ... anniversaries... birthdays and awesome reasons to celebrate .... In another 4 days I will also celebrate my 5 years 6 months anniversary of my surgery date ... I will celebrate being married to the awesome man I was blessed with second time around and also the birthday of my awesome DD ... 

I will celebrate life each and every day ... every awakening is a miracle ... some less fortunate did not wake up this morning ...I will be forever grateful ... 

These are snippets from my journey away from morbid obesity  ... one day at a time... one choice at a time ... I have captured it all in my empowerment/digital journal that I called A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away...

Last night I revisited another canvas that I had started and had tossed aside ...because it was not as pretty as I wanted it to be ...  it was a *****allenging because I am not a painter of animals but of people ... with the challenge I tossed it ... and I realized I did not WORK IT! to my best potential ... just like I work my journey ... I will not give up on my weight loss/maintenance journey however I did not hesitate to toss that canvas (and several others) in a corner .... just like the heap of half-sewn or cut dresses that I started and then halfway decided I did not like either style or fabric or both or let's face it I screwed up and did not want to pick out ... 

I realized that in tossing the canvas I had given up and decided then and there to give it another try ... a new beginning ... after all it is a work in progress ... pretty much like we all are.... each day...  

Last night and this morning I had awesome fun working on this piece that is still A ROUGH DRAFT .... but I did not give up on it ... and I am glad I could just get back on track and start over ... 

I took my brush and my palette and my artist's acrylics and I painted...
 

in the end I had a ROUGH DRAFT that I could work with ... and will continue to do so with more washes when this is dry by the time I get home tonight...
 

then I took a picture for my digital journal .... wearing a two piece XS ensemble today ... I left for work dressed like this and still sporting my jacked up bangs thanks to my dearest son LOL...
 

WLS has been the best gift I gave myself.  203 pounds lost from my highest recorded weight and maintaining for 5 years and 6 months on 8/5/2012 .... I love living with health and mobility ... with 5 co-morbidities in full remission my 50's are feeling better than my 30's....

Thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread....

I love your posts. Thanks for sharing. I've been plagued with some "stinkin-thinkin" this week that I need to shake off. I am so thanful for all the blessings in my life and need to remember that when I'm feeling down. Plus August is my birthday month, so it's time to celebrate me!!

August is an AWESOME birthday month to celebrate you ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!! my daughter celebrates the entire month go figure...

I am with you with the shaking off the 'stinkin-thinkin' ..sometimes it is easier said than done but I do it all the time ... just remember that whatever it is that we are going through it came and it will pass ...  

Thanks for your support and encouragement.

*Edit typos* typing on the run...

You always write the most uplifting and encouraging posts! Thank you for that :)

 I write mostly to encourage myself and maybe someone else on the journey .... I have been so distraught about my very own sister and her diagnosis I was painting like crazy to calm myself down...  then we got awesome news that she is responding well to her treatment ... so I am going to keep on painting while I celebrate the good news also....   Thank YOU for allowing me to share my goofy threads ....

 I love that print dress. That might be my favorite dress of yours.
Deb ****ching the fashion parade

 Oh my ... it is sooooooooooo AWESOME to see/hear from you Deb ... how are you and your kidney faring? and the wife and the awesome DS? It always makes me soooooooooooo happy to hear from you ... Al is always asking ... his kidney is working like a champ.... I am actually wearing two pieces ... top and skirt with the top tucked go figure ... Are you still working nights? My friend insists it is the best shift ever...

 I'm still not working. I'm having a little trouble with the tacro and having tremors and some memory loss. They are decreasing the tacro so it's getting better. I hope to go back to work in October. My mother died last month so it's been a blessing to not have to work and go through this stuff. We are actually going back to her home next week to pick up a big ole lincoln that she left me...oh and possibly her diabetic poodle (long story)
My creatinine is 1.4 My body loves my new kidney Tell Al hello!
Deb

I am so sorry to hear about your mom (((((((hugs)))))) ... it is a good thing that you have this time to take care of things.

It is too bad you are having problems with the tacro ... Al experienced some toxicity issues with it and they put him on Prograf and he has been doing fine on that for years ... along with the Renagel and Prednisone all we worry about it controlling is blood sugar levels ... hard to do at time with him having been born with diabetes ... Your creatinine level is awesome.... I shared your news with Al and he sends big hugs and says to rock on that kidney!!!