Okay, I promised

As Feburary comes to a close, I'm finally making good on my promise to blog more often.  I'd like to take a moment to give a tiny recap of Q4 2009.  September was a life altering month for me.  Labor day weekend to be specific.  I experienced some of the lowest lows and highest highs, and my life has forever been changed.  As of today (23-FEB-2010) I am four and a half weeks from fully entering the Catholic church.  I think everyone experiences God in their own way to their own degree.  I'm just glad He was there with me this past September.

October was the end of a disappointing journey with ART (assisted reproductive therapy).  Nothing came of it except for cysts, weight gain, and stress.  I left the comfort of a really great job in the utility industry to explore the medical industry.  It was very scary and exciting.  I was afraid that I wouldn't be good enough, because I don't have any medical background...but, as it turns out, I'm holding my own, turning heads, and proving they made a good decision to take the risk by hiring me.

November was thanksgiving and thankful was I. 215lbs thankful.  I woke up that morning wondering what I weighed (hoping it wasn't very much) because I really wanted a plate full of mashed potatoes and I wanted to feel like it was okay to indulge.  Instead, before we even left the house, I decided no matter what I was only going to have 2 spoon fulls max of everything I wanted.  Turns out that will still overfill a plate! But it was good and I wasn't miserable.  When I got home from that weekend, I had lost 4 pounds!!  That started me on my "be a little more healthy" kick...baby steps.  I started counting calories by cataloging everything that I ate.  The good, the bady, and the OMG that was way too many calories for one meal...helped me to understand what I was eating when and why.  It's been 4 months, I've lost 10 pounds and kept it off.  Right now I'm bouncing between 202-205, but that's about to come to an end too!  I've signed up for a sprint triathlon and I'm about to begin training.

December was great!  We had the most wonderful family Christmas at our house, with just the three of us.  Christmas eve, we made sugar cookies for Santa and even decorated them with Christmas M&M's. We left a platefull and a fairly large glass of milk.  Chris got up before me (I had gone to midnight mass the night before and didn't get home until 1:30am).  He said Kelby was sitting in her bed wide awake waiting for someone to come and get her. She had been told over and over again, that if she got up Santa wouldn't come.  We opened all our presents, layed around for a while, and then went to the car show in Indy.  Chris had shoulder surgery just before the end of the year, so he has an excuse, but I don't.  I slept through yet another New Year's Eve ball drop.  I may just set an alarm for next year...we'll see...

January has been pretty crazy at work for me.  I'm working on the biggest money saving project in the plant.  It takes time, which some people just don't understand, but it's going great and I'm pretty sure it will be complete by the end of the year.  I will be busy all year long, especially starting around summer time (that's when my tooling is supposed to arrive).  Then I'll be moving as fast as I can to get all the boxes checkmarked to complete the validation.  Kelby also graduated to pre-school at daycare.  She knew all of the flashcards they used for class time and seemed to get bored.  That led her to fidgiting and getting in trouble for bothering the other kids.  I was a little nervous for her to move up, but now that she's there it's much better.  I can't hardly believe she'll be starting kindergarten soon (not this fall but next).

February has been pretty funny.  I got an iPhone when I changed jobs, and I absolutely love it.  On my fitness kick, I decided to get a calorie tracking app.  It's really great and it links to facebook, so now i'm accountable to anyone who looks at my profile.  Later, I decided to get the "water me" app.  $0.99 was all it cost.  I put in my weight and it told me to drink water and lots of it, so I did.  The very next day, over the course of 3 hours, I uncontrollably wet myself 6 times.  Made it to the doctor a week later, and found out I had an over-stretch injury to my bladder.  He gave me antibiotics to prevent infection...it just killed all my good bacteria, gave me terrible runs, and a bacterial infection.  A script for live cultures and I was on my way to better health.  So, two days off work, two doctor's visits, and two prescription later...let's just say it's cost my much more than $0.99 to fix!  I'm currently fighting a nasty sinus / upper respiratory infecton, and I almost have it licked.  Back on antibiotics, but making sure I take the live cultures so I don't get in bad shape again. 

I have also registered for a sprint triathlon this summer in bloomington (13-JUN-2010).  It's called the Hoosierman (http://www.hoosiermantri.com/).  It's 1/4mi swim, 10mi bike ride, and 5K run.  I haven't sent in my check yet, so I'm not fully registered yet.  I did however go to The Running Company (http://www.erunningcompany.com/) in Indy and got fitted for some great shoes.  Thanks to my sister, I got a great deal on a pair from http://www.holabirdsports.com/ (with free shipping!!).  So, I've lost a little weight, got the shoes, printed the training program, registered...lick this cold, and I'll be ready to go!

Now, I started this blog with some Jesus talk, and I'd like to end with some.  This past sunday, I went to the Cathedral in Indy for the Rite Of Election.  Last sunday at my parish I went through the Rite Of Sending.  My sponsor testified to my growth and faith journey, and the church community gave their blessing (to send me to see the Archbishop).  I wrote my name in the book of the Elect.  That book was taken to the Cathedral and my name was read.  The Archbishop was sick, so the Monsignor did the ceremony.  Again, the sponsors confirmed we were ready.  The community confirmed they would be supportive, and we (the Elect) confirmed we were ready.  I am Elect now.  I have the scrutinies to go through and then baptism at Easter Vigil.  Kelby will be baptized with me.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry.  She's very excited.  I'm nervous and excited.   I'm nervous, because a little part of me is not so sure I know enough to be a good Catholic.  I'm excited to share with the community my faith.  I'm so very happy and proud that Kelby has taken this journey with me, and I look forward to continuing our journey together.