Tonight, I finally tried a tall, skinny, cinammon dolce latte from Starbucks and OMG!  Yum! 

The whole experience came at the right time.  I have had a delightful week for the most part.  I have been warm (we won't discuss the weather I am going home to) and I am tanned and relaxed.  I have also been constantly around people all week.  So after a not so good dinner experience (apparently meat and lobster warmed up in the microwave the next day leaves it very dry and I get it stuck.  Once a piece is stuck, I am over eating it, even once the wayward bite goes down.) I decided it was time to try Lacy's hot beverage of choice, especially since at lunch yesterday, Megs also gave it an excellent review.  So, I got in the rental, the Kia which I love, turned off the AC in the car, rolled down the window, found my kind of radio station and cruised down the 192 as happy as a clam to Starbucks.  The whole experience was simply a perfect end to vacation.

Still cannot believe the week is over already.  One more week until The Brit's surgery.  I just realized tonight what a stressful year this has really been with insurance requirements and surgeries and learning to eat and worrying about The Brit's transition.  I think once he is recovered, I'll be ready for another vacation!

Can't really believe that tomorrow is our last full day in Florida.  I'm warm, I'm happy, I'm hoping my sunburn turns to tan with the help of Vitamin E and today I met Meg for lunch!

She is sweet and charming and looks freakin' fabulous!  She brought me two protein shakes to try and some protein bars to try with the warning of "I thought they tasted like tree bark, but you might like them."  I'm so glad we were able to meet for that hour today as it is so rare to be able to meet our internet buddies because we come from all over.  Meg, I'll see you next May!

We took the kids to Wonderworks today and we all had a lot of fun.  We bought the laser tag package for them but poor JJ was unable to wear the vest due to the sun blisters on this shoulders.  So Aaron got to play two games and we gave JJ some extra money for the arcade. 

Again, pictures forthcoming but I'm not going to download anymore until I get home.  I am so not a fan of typing and working on a laptop, so if it weren't for Blog 365, you wouldn't be getting blogging this week!

So today I am a little bit crispy as I enjoyed the sun so much today that it enjoyed me right back.  I don't think I'm so badly sunburned that it won't be way better by morning however.

So, yesterday was Busch Gardens and I haven't downloaded the photos yet, so you'll have to wait.  We didn't get home until after midnight, so it was a very long day.  Today was relaxation day as I didn't even get out of my pjs until after noon and then it was just to switch to a bathing suit and head down to the pool.  We did a chinese buffet for dinner and I had a little crab, shrimp and scallop and a few bites of fruit.  The highlight of my day was Downtown Disney and the cup of coffee I finally found! 

There are stories to tell but I'm going to wait to get the pictures download and resized, blah, blah, blah. Hopefully tomorrow, I can meet up with Meg depending on her schedule and then on Friday, at some point, we're heading to the flea market.  Can't believe the week is nearly over, though it has been delightfully relaxing and wonderfully warm.  I'm really hoping all the rain that Maryland has been having is over by Saturday or it will be a horrible wake up call!

11:00 pm.

On the road coming back from Tampa.

Will not get home by midnight.

Can't miss a day of Blog365.


Obviously I need a life.

Will update properly tomorrow.

Okay, so it was a little on the expensive side, but well worth the money for the hour ride. 

I had just said yesterday that I had not seen an armadillo since we were first here in 1998 and we all wondered where they had gone.  We used to see them walking along the side of the road.  But today, while waiting for our airboat, JJ found these little guys.



Three of them total under the deck and what blew me away was how friendly they were!  I'm thinking they were pretty young, though we didn't see a mama.





Of course, I was freaking out, afraid one might attack him, but I was vetoed by the rest of the world.

We did see some gators:



And some birds:





And a mama Moor Hen with babies:



As well as some beautiful scenery:



A good time was had by all:



There are more photos and I'll get them up on Flickr when I get home, but I thought I'd give you all a taste of beautiful goodness of today!

Okay, so I really didn't spend much time in the sun today.  Of all things I started the day in The Walmart because The Brit forgot to pack my sneakers and I was not about to be doing any amount of walking in my sandals.  I'm generally a Rebok girl but as I recently bought a new pair, we went with Wally World shoes for this week.  I also needed to pick up a couple of tops as a few of the ones I bought at Goodwill, were a smaller size than I normally wear and I guess I was feeling a wee bit optimistic.  I brought them with me without trying them on and they are a bit snug.  So, I did get two on sale today and bought another Disney shirt at a gift store. 

I shopped a bit with the inlaws this afternoon and then tonight we went out in seach of a Tony Romas, but it closed and if there is another one, we couldn't find it.  So we opted for a steak house and I was really nervous about not ordering a meal.  It just doesn't pay when your stomach is the size of an egg to order my own dinner.  But the waiter asked no questions when The Brit told him we would be sharing a steak and a sweet potato.  I managed about 8 or 10 small bites of the steak and one tiny bite of the potato.  The Brit saved some the steak for me to bring back to use for another meal and I had to do the same with the potato as the bite I had was yummy.  I tolerated it fine (unlike the chicken I had for lunch where I got a bite of it stuck.  Ouch.). 

I also tried Meg's EAS protein drinks and they just taste awful to me, though the carmel flavor I could not find.  Maybe it tastes better than the chocolate fudge which just tasted like every other chocolate protein drink to me.  It is currently freezing in a cup, because I am under the delusioin that maybe the taste will change if it is frozen.

Tomorow morning we head to the pool for a bit, then to Boggy Creek for an air boat ride, then to Disney Village in the evening.  Tuesday, we are planning on driving to the coast so I can see the ocean as it has been so long for me.

Meg, I think we are looking at getting together more towards the end of the week if that works for me.  Oh and we aren't really in Kissimme but closer to Winter Gardens.  We're near the end of the 192 going west, near the junction for US27. I'm thinking there may be a place in the middle we can meet for lunch or whatever works for you!

So we are here in delightfully sunny and warm Orlando.  It is so nice to be warm for a change, even though The Brit is less than pleased by the warm temps.  It takes me forever to get winter out of my bones each year and it hasn't gotten warm enough yet in Maryland to rid me of the chill.  This week should do it for me.

We stayed in DC last night and took the kids sightseeing after dark, which left us not getting back to the hotel until about 11:00pm.  Then, The Brit and I were sharing a double bed which was tight quarters, so I wound up actually moving to the floor to sleep as I could not get comfortable.  It wasn't the best night's sleep I'd ever had, but I figure it was at least somewhat better for both of us to have some room.  Needless to say, today I am exhausted and we are still waiting for the inlaws to arrive. 

We didn't do much today other than fly, lunch, swim and grocery shop.  Eating has been interesting for me but seems to be going okay.  I ordered a chicken parmesean sandwich for lunch today after confirming that the chicken was not fried.  I didn't eat the bread of course, and managed to eat about 1/4 of it and brought the rest home.  I did buy my healthy foods once we hit the grocery store, but again, I know I am not getting in enough protein and am not sure of how to rectify the situation as I hate the protein drinks.  I can eat such tiny amounts that I'm sure I am nowhere near 60 grams of protein a day.  The choices I do make, I try to make sure are fairly high in protein, but still I know I am not nearing the numbers.  How did you post-ops handle this?  Were you getting it all in this early in the game? Should I be concerned?

Okay, there is your update for today as I'm sleepy.  Robyn, hope all my critters are doing well and give my Micah-Moo some special loving for me!

So we've decided that we are going to drive to DC tonight to stay in a hotel close to the airport for two reasons.  One is that our flight is at 8:55am and to leave from home would mean getting up at around 5:00am.  The other reason is that our hotel will allow us to leave the car parked there all week and they will shuttle us to and from the airport.  Works for me.

As of this morning I am down 22 pounds, though I really need to stay away from that scale everyday!  Thankfully, this week I will get a scale vacation too as I don't want to weigh in on any other scale besides mine, so it will be interesting to see how much I lose on vacation!  Usually folks gain on vacation so this will be my first losing trip!  I haven't decided yet when to do before and after pics.  Two months?  Three?  I just don't think one month is going to SHOW that big a difference and to show Afters, I have to show you the dreaded Before shots and the thought of that makes me cringe!

Meg and I are planning to meet up at some point in Florida and that should be exciting.  I'll be sure to take pics! 


Many of you know that I am a fan of Karen Kingsbury's books, especially the Baxter Family Series.  In her book "Summer" the topic of the death of an infant due to anencephaly was dealt with.  Anecephaly is a neural tube defect that is always fatal and at best, the infant may have a few days before being called Home to Heaven. I read that chapter in the book with tears streaming down my face and trying to hide behind the book itself as the Brit kept kept giving me odd glances. 

Anyway, I was poking around Karen's site today to see when the last book in the series was being released and I read one of her journal entries about her reader's reactions to the anencephaly storyline.  It touched the hearts of many women who had lost babies, but my favorite was this YouTube video.  Though sad and you will probably cry, it is such a celebration of life, no matter how short that life is.  That was what touched my heart; the way this family chose to celebrate the life of their son.  It's truly beautiful and reminds me that all life is God given and all life is a gift.

Ya'll know that I love me some American Idol and this season has been fabulous, IMHO.  I have been a big fan of Jason Castro's from the beginning, though I never thought he should win.  But I loved his style of music and Brooke White's as well, and I was a huge fan of the dreds, the sweet smile and those blue eyes.  

But the last few weeks, since about the time Carly went home, I have seen a huge change in him.  He hasn't seemed as well prepared and he didn't look like he was putting his heart into it.  I longed for the days of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Another Hallelujah" as the likes of those performances blew me away.  I had mentioned to The Brit, Paula and Kirk that I really felt like he wanted to go home.  I thought that he knew the teeny bopper girls were keeping him there while someone of Carly's calibir was sent home before her time.  Each week, he seemed to get a little bit worse and this week, in his final performance before being eliminated, he forgot the words to his song, which he has never done before.

When Ryan Seacrest was giving out Jason's numbers, Jason mouthed something to the camera, which at the time, I paid little attention to, until Ellen Degeneres pointed it out today on her show.  It appears Jason mouthed the words "Don't vote". 

Now some say he mouthed "Vote, vote" but I disagree after watching this video a couple of times.  AI fans, what do you think the former contestant is requesting??

So I went out to the mall tonight in seach of a new purse/bag/whatever you call them in your corner of the world.  I walked the whole mall, just taking advantage of the time alone to window shop and poke around in a few clothing stores.

In one store, I ran into an old friend who is now about 1/4 of her size when I last saw her several years ago.  Turns out, she had RNY in 2005 and lost about 160 pounds.  We chatted and she knew about my surgery as we know mutual people even though she and I had not seen each other in a long time.  I asked her if she was glad she had done it and she was very much, hands down, absolutely.  She did tell me that before surgery she was someone who "loved to eat" and that now, overeating, made her feel so bad that she no longer felt that way, but that she wouldn't trade the way she feels physically now for any amount or kind of food in the world.  This surgery obviously changes the way you look at a lot of things.

I left Mindy and popped into American Eagle, a store I love and have never been able to shop in because I am just too big to fit into their clothes.  I found a delightful bag in there and bought it and for some reason was just giddy with happiness at being able to buy something in that store.  I'm guessing that part of it was the knowledge that one day soon I will be able to buy much more than a purse in AE and knowing that makes me smile.