Bandster Conference????

I have seen a lot of posts about this, but where do I go to get the deets? I don't know that I'll definitely be able to do it as this has been/will continue to be a 'spensive year for me. But where do I find the who/where (I know Chicago, but are we meeting at a certain place?)/when of it all?

Hiking on a Mountain

While it is rumored that there is one mountain in Florida (in a state park in my county of residence, in fact), I've never seen it, so I'm a little skeptical. But, as most of you know, Florida is quite flat. We don't have the hilly trail thing going on like Gen does in Colorado. Thus, when I exer-ma-cise, I mostly do it on flat land (or some type of machine). There are some exceptions...a couple of pseudo-hills and such, but, by and large, there aren't too many variations in elevation. I'm sometimes a little jealous of those of you who get to take advantage of interesting terrains (although jogging/walking near the water is nice too--I guess we all just want what we don't have?).

Well, my guy and I went to Birmingham this weekend and, while we were there, we decided to hike to the waterfall at Oak Mountain State Park. The hike was a little scary at some points because of the steepness. There were even ropes attached to trees going down the side of the mountain so that hikers would have something to hold on to and not slip down the mountain. SCARY! But we made it to the waterfall (the bottom and the top of it actually). It was nice because I haven't seen a waterfall in a while (not many of those around these parts either). By the way, I found a picture of the waterfall online (below), but it doesn't at all convey how steep--or how long--the climb was.

And did I get a workout!!!! I had to stop and sit a couple times coming up just to breathe. My legs hurt too, so I guess I got some sort of benefit from all my puffing and panting :) .

****I hope everyone's week is starting off well!!!!

PB Annoyingness (at a Work Function)

Last night, all of the attorneys at my firm went out for appetizers and drinks. We did the alfresco thing at a popular downtown seafood place that sits right by the water. The weather was just perfect for eating outside. It was a beautiful view of the water, and we were right beside a marina too.

We were kind of limited on the types of appetizers though, but I thought I would be okay eating the Blue Crab Artichoke Dip...famous last thoughts, I know. Everything was going great until I got stuck on either an artichoke or the bread for the dip. Right after I determined it wasn't going to go down (I have only been wrong once or twice when I came to this conclusion), our managing partner proceeds to tell a really long story. There was no way to excuse myself. Not that I'm an advocate of PBing or anything (I HATE being stuck at all--it scares me--and I'm certainly not one to use my band for purposeful binging and purging), but when I'm stuck, I want it gone ASAP. I can't stand sitting there in misery. FINALLY I was able to head for the bathroom. Not pretty! But at least it was GONE.

Saying all that, I wonder if being stuck or PBing causes more harm to the band? I'm sure that neither are good for it, but I would still be curious to know. ???

Side note: I am watching the Blue Angels (Navy show planes stationed in Pensacola) practice over the bay outside my office window right now. My view is a work perk, I guess. I hope that isn't bragging or anything.

I hope everyone is having a great week and enjoying wonderful weather.

Work and WLS

At work, we sometimes get firmwide intraoffice emails from other attorneys to request knowledge from those more familiar with certain areas of law, to determine good investigators for specific geographic areas (our firm has several branches across the South), or to try to locate certain types of doctors for litigants. I won't go into too much detail on the specifics in order to maintain my anonymity, but, hopefully, that makes sense.

Well, it is no secret that I keep my WLS a secret from most--particularly those at work. Interestingly enough, yesterday I get one of these emails requesting a doctor who does gastric lapband procedures and who will accept a certain type of insurance (and some other requirements). Of course, I don't know if my own doctor accepts that type of insurance, meets the requirements, etc. ... AND, of course, it is of utmost import for me to keep my secret. It also wasn't clear which region the doctor was being requested for. I will not be sharing my information for those and some other reasons--I don't think you'd fault me either. Still, I thought it was interesting that I received this email within just a few months of beginning my job here.

Also, because I spend a lot of time reviewing medical records, I find it interesting how many litigants have had some type of WLS. Perhaps you could argue that it has something to do with the population of people with whom we deal, but really it is quite a broad cross-section of folks.

Anyhow, those are just some observations for this Thursday AM. I hope everyone is doing well and having a productive week!

Wearing Jean Shorts

I went on a picnic at the river on Easter Sunday with my wonderful guy. I put on some jean shorts because it was really nice weather on the coast that day. I hadn't worn any jean shorts in forever (although I'd hung on to one pair for several years, which was, of course, the pair I wore). Suffice it say, my guy was quite shocked when he saw me in them as he has never seen me wearing any during the entire course of our relationship. I am not saying that I rocked them or anything (in fact, probably quite the opposite since my legs are blindingly white), but getting them on and not bulging out was quite an accomplishment. I did feel a little naked though with the shorts and the...wait for it...sleeveless shirt, which I also haven't worn in forever (without a cardigan or some other cover-up, that is).

By the way, I still have pics to upload here, but things have been SO crazy lately, and I haven't had a computer at home for the last couple of months (long story). I am still planning to post them. I promise.