VSG Maintenance Group
4th of July, Thursday
Back on the porch with my sf latte and newspaper. DH is in the kitchen fixing an uncooperative cabinet door. (I swoon when he gets to something before I even put it on the honey do list). He also said something about making breakfast. I think it's going to be a fine day.
I am grateful today for the many freedoms our bill of rights and constitution provide, and to the service men and women, veterans, and public servants who fight to guard them. I am also grateful for the personal freedom WLS gave me, by freeing me from my fat prison. 7 years ago I had no idea just how many new adventures were coming my way.
Quote: Pay attention to ordinary things, it's the key to an extraordinary life.. ~ Ruth Reichl
Happy 4th!
I have read most of the posts but usually in most recent post mode where I can't like. DianeS, I seemed to have missed updates on you brother/sister (one of them an in-law) and I hope they are doing as well as possible. B150, nice to have you back! I'm excited about monarch butterflies. I didn't know that milkweed was their source of food, our Iowa farm had tons of it and monarchs.
Family will start dribbling over her soon until everyone arrives for dinner. We are combining with our neighbors for extra company and food. Since I am on oxygen, I can't be out with the fireworks which is aok with me. Those of us who don't love fireworks, will stay with the dogs and binge watch Stranger Things on Netflix.
Gosh, tho I am out on medical leave, there are tasks everyday. Yesterday, we did family photos which I was thrilled to complete, everything went as well as possible including Tink and Busters' behavior. (What good kids!)
I am still going to avoid much health stuff here on the board, but everyone (including those at work) now know.
Do you remember the pictures below? This was from a hike on nearby Tiger Mtn in March 2018. It felt like a cleansing hike, the light just sparkled the whole time. I felt comforted and whole. My MIL had passed away about 2 weeks earlier and I felt like a weight lifted on this hike. When I took these two pictures, I was just curious what taking a picture of sun through trees would look like, I didn't see anything else there.
Well, there was someone visiting the house who has a background in Reiki and "sees dead people" so I couldn't resist showing her the second picture. She didn't stumble around for an explanation. The top heart shape is an angelic being. The figure below she called a visitor, definitely female and someone who "loves you" She firmly believes the visitor knew, even in March 2018, that I would be coming soon and this visitor (probably a relative) would be there to take me for a loving transition. She described the whole process so beautifully. She asked if I knew who it was and I said that I did not feel like it was MIL. Maybe a friend who was like a sister in college that has been on my mind a lot lately. Or, maybe a Grandmother. She again said, this is someone you LOVES YOU. She says that these visitors exist in light (or are light???) and wasn't surprised I was shooting directly into sun.
The first picture was snapped first, the bottom picture second.
Have some fun today. Love you all.
Shel
HW:361 SW:304 (VSG 12/04/2014)Mo 1:-32 Mo 2:-13.5 Mo 3: -13.5 Mo 4 -9.5 Mo 5: -15 Mo 6: -15 Mo 7: -13.5 Mo 8: -17 Mo 9: -13 Mo 10: -12.5 11/3/2015 Healthy BMI Reached! Mo 11: -9 Mo 12: -8 12/27/2015 Goal Weight Reached!
on 7/4/19 10:12 am
I remember when you shared those pictures, Shel. They gave me goosebumps then and now. I am not a terribly religious person, but it's hard to imagine that souls as beautiful as what humans have been given don't live on once our fragile bodies wear out. Love is powerful. Powerful enough to give you a sign that you aren't now and will never be alone. 
The Reiki Master in me saved that screen shot when you initially posted it, with the label "Shel's Spirit". You are loved and ?? cared for forever !
Age: 64; 5' 5"; High weight: 345; Start weight: 271 (01/05/15); Surgery weight: 218 (05/27/15); Pre-Op (-53); M 1 (-18); M 2 (-1.5); M 3 (-13.5 ); M 4 (-13); M 5 (- 8); M 6 (-12) M 7 (-5, Xmas); M 8 (- 9) Under surgeon's goal and REACHED HEALTHY BMI 12/07/15!! (Six months and one week.) AT GOAL month 8. Maintaining at goal range (139- 144) ~ four (4) years !!
I do remember those pics! What a trip. I love the Reike master's interpretation of the images. I remember when my mom was ill with pancreatic cancer a few days before she passed I had a dream that my grandmother (my mom's mom whom I had never met because she died when my mom was 18) came to me to deliver a message to my mom. It was simply this: Mutti wartet. The translation is simple: Mama is waiting. I think there is a lot we miss out on every day because we are not attuned to what is beyond the tangible world.
