Updates galore!

Again, I'm not being really good about updating things around here. I should probably make a New Years Resolution about this, but seeing as how I haven't made any resolutions so far this year, I'll probably just stick to not making any, contrary person that I am. So I'll just ramble on here for a bit about things and try to divide it up coherently for y'all as best as I can.

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We've had good news on The Husband front. With the second opinion about the condition of his knees (i.e.: "Why in the hell are you in my office wasting my time and why aren't you out there living your life like you could be?") there was a bit of a kerfluffle at work. They didn't know if they could handle having two diagnoses that were at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Having one doctor say that he should never, ever do his job again and that there needed to be "changes" and "accommodations" made for him and surgery, and then a second doctor basically snorting at the first's opinion sent the HR department into a tailspin. There was talk about going to the legal department to see what they should do, getting a THIRD opinion, etc., etc. All of which stressed The Husband out considerably, worry-wart that he is.

But today his supervisor told him that HR is going to let the second opinion stand and they are going to "expunge" the request for accommodations from The Husband's file. Glory Hallelujiah! I think the lady in charge of the file was tired of it all (can't blame her there!) and just wanted to be done with the drama, seeing as how this was her last HR case and she was trying to move on to her new job. And I can't tell you how glad I am that she did that.

So, we now stand at no surgery (at least within the next 10 or so years), avoiding overdoing it on the knees if at all possible, and if not possible then knowing that pain medication is your friend and should be taken liberally. Not bad for a congenital condition, eh? I think The Husband is going to try to be more careful to avoid the pain, but he's not going to let it paralyze him into doing nothing. A compromise, as all of life is. Good enough for me. I'm still going to nag him about overdoing it, though. He can't get out of that so easily!

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I'm still a week and a half away from getting back the results of the CA-125 test, but I plan on picking up my lab results for Dr. K's tests either today or tomorrow so that I can get a gander on what's going on. I still need to actually call and make my appointment with him for my six-month visit and will do that today.

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On the "me and my body changes" front, the massive hair migration from my head has seemed to stop. I'm now down to normal shedding levels, but hair is very thin indeed - I've lost about half of the hairs on my head it seems. I'm going to keep up with the tea tree shampoo and see when the new growth starts coming back. I've added in a flaxseed oil pill three times a day to try and get as much benefit from that as I can. I know I don't absorb most oil, but doing it three times a day should increase the amount that I do absorb. I should probably add in some extra zinc as well and up my biotin. Every little bit helps, right?

Also, for the first time today I was able to use the belt that The Husband purchased for me to hold up my VERY saggy size 26 jeans. The belt came from Mervyns, which is notorious IMO for not having things that fit plus sized people at all in the accessories category. So now, my pants aren't threatening to slip off my shrinking ass, and I'm wearing an accessory that is usually purchased by normal-sized people. Hot damn! This weight loss thing really works! Heee!

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I am OBSESSED with getting a tattoo. It's bordering on mania at this point. I haven't gotten ink in over 11 years and have wanted to the whole time. But now with losing so much weight and hitting my "halfway to goal" point, I want to decorate myself, and I am determined to not let anything stop me this time. I have been trolling for sites on the internet, looking high and low for designs that interest me. I discovered the Deviant Art site and they have a gallery devoted to images their members have made for tattooing. As with all artwork sites that aren't moderated as to the quality of imagery that is uploaded to them, a whole lot of the stuff is utter dreck - but then again art is as art does and what one person raves over is not another person's cup of tea. Seriously, though, some of it is just plain bad scribblings. But some of it is good, solid artwork that would definitely work when transcribed to flesh. I've downloaded a ton of artwork that I adore and would love to adorn my body with.

In sorting through it all, there is a definite theme to what I like. I like flowers, curvy tribal-ish designs, and phoenixes. And everything that I like has a definite feminine feel to it. I truly believe that when a woman tattoos herself, it needs to be chosen as if it was jewelry. It IS jewelry, one that is going to be permanantly on your body, and I have a need to choose it as such.

But the problem for someone who is going through massive weight loss is this: Where on earth are you going to put it? Definitely not on my back because if I have a lower body lift I don't want to do something that would be changed/stretched by that. Same thing for the hips, thighs and buttocks. Breasts and arms are right out as well because of future surgery. (As a side note, one of my friends who had WLS and then got a breast lift/augmentation done after she lost all the weight had a pegasus on her breast. When all was said and done, the surgeon trimmed the tissue in such a way that my friend now has pegasus wings sprouting from her areola - the horsey part got cut away with all they had to take up. It looks cute, but is not something I want to deal with, you know?)

This leaves the left ankle, my calves, my wrists, and the back of my neck. I'm not feeling the calf or ankle placement at all. I would love to have a delicate bracelet, but I can't find a design that I like just yet. That leaves the neck.

I found a design of swirly long leaves and flowers that if tilted just right would start a bit behind my left ear, widen out and cover the back of my neck, and then swirl away down to the right and then back up to peek over my right shoulder and barely touch my collarbone. I love the design. I love the placement. I even went and showed it to a local artist and she was so excited about the design and its possibilities that she wanted to book me a date to get it done right then and there. But all I did was price it out and tell her that I would be back in February when I saved up for it from my mad money.

And now I'm having second thoughts. Is it about getting ink again? No. Is it about the artist? A little, but that's because I've never personally had work done by her before. It's the placement. As much as I forget about it because we are so casual in attitude and for the most part, dress, I work in a professional environment. Aside from the occasional ankle tattoo on the ladies, you never, ever see a visible tattoo around here. And the design that I want, that I love, has the possibility of peeking through my hair every now and again. Not much, but it's there. And I don't know how I feel about that, or how others will feel about that.

I mean, it's not like I'm wanting to get a skull and crossbones emblazoned on my forehead or anything like that. I'm just afraid of other people's reactions. And I don't know why, especially as this tattoo is being chosen in such a way as to be considered artsy/pretty by all except those who absolutely hate tattoos and wouldn't like it anyway. In reality, my shirt should usually cover the right trailing edge of the tattoo, my hair length would take care of the rest of it as I rarely if ever put my hair up. Even though I know that, the worry is still there. And that bugs me because I don't know if it's valid or just silliness talking. I guess I'll work it out eventually, especially by talking with The Husband about it. But dammit, I'm getting ink somewhere, and soon!

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After 13 years of marriage, I will finally be walking down the aisle. Yes, ladies and germs, The Husband and I are going to renew our vows yet again. Except this time I will actually get to PLAN out a wedding, instead of being surprised/eloping and getting stuck having nothing to wear but black. The first week of May will be very festive indeed for us. This will mean that we have anniversaries in April (original), May, June and July. Only eight more to go, and we'll have the whole year covered! I'm actually quite giddy with excitement over this - much more than I expected. I'm also kind of worried that this will seem dorky to some. But in the end, who cares, right? It's MY day! Heee!

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Anyway, enough of my rambling. Hope everybody is staying warm with this cold snap we've been having. Talk about funky weather! This El Nino is doing a number on everyone here in the states it seems. TTFN!