big news

I have some big news to share!

But first, let's talk about my weight.  It's steadily going down.  I'm at 146.  :)  My current goal is to be 142 by my birthday in about 3 weeks.  Once I hit 142, my BMI will be "normal," at 25, as opposed to "overweight," which is where I currently am, with a BMI of 25.9.   Even if I don't lose another pound, I'm so happy to be where I am.

This surgery has changed my life.  I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER.  I can run around with  my kids.  I can run up and down the stairs as many times as I need to.  I can crouch down to button my 3 year old's pants.  I can crawl into the back of my SUV to buckle in kids.  I can MOVE so much easier.  I can do anything I want to do.

And all of this, without feeling like I'm starving and that if I eat as much as my tummy is telling me to, I'll gain it all back in five seconds.  It is SO HEAVENLY to go through my day without rabid hunger.

I kind of hate it when I see weight loss articles that say to "pay attention" to your hunger signals, and that if you just do that, you'll lose weight.  It kind of implies that it's impossible for your body to tell you the wrong thing.  When I ate as much as my body told me to, I got huge, despite the fact that 80% of the time, I was eating the "right" foods.  Even a banana has 100 calories!    It's decent advice for me NOW, now that I've had surgery.  

Now all I have to do is:
1.  Eat when I'm hungry.
2.  Make good choices 85% of the time.
3.  Eat protein first, then veggies, then fruits.
4.  Drink water.
5.  Stay away from carby snacks because my sleeve doesn't seem to stop me from eating things like cookies, crackers, etc.  I could easily overdo it on those items if I'm not careful.

Anywho!

Now for the big news.

Drumroll.... (is that one word or two?)

We are MOVING!

My husband got a job in Temple, TX and has a tentative start date of 3/26.

We will miss Pittsburgh TERRIBLY.  We've made good friends here and because of them Pittsburgh will always hold a special place in my heart.  Plus, this is where our boys were born.  We'll treasure all of the memories we made here.

There's a song with a lyric that says, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."  I can't remember who sings it, but that's the phrase that keeps running through my mind.

Temple is about an hour north of Austin so we have big plans once we move there.  We want to go to at least one Texas football game (Longhorns) per season.  We'll be about 2-3 hours from Houston so we want to take the boys to a few baseball games when the Pittsburgh Pirates are in town.  Right now the Pirates are as sorry as the Astros, so it should be an even match.  AND, My husband loves the Buffalo Bills so he's already planning on going to a game when they play the Dallas Cowboys.  Yep, big plans, I tell you.

The next few weeks will be busy.

We are going to D.C. this weekend because my cousin's baby is turning one.  My aunt, uncle, and other cousin and his family of 5 are coming too and we are ALL staying in a rental house together.  ELEVEN people!  Let's hope it's a mansion.  (I can dream, right?)

The following weekend, we are driving (yes DRIVING, I'm crazy, yes I know) to Texas to look for a house.  For those of you who are familiar with the Temple area we are hoping to find a house in Belton near the lake.  Not ON the lake, but within a few miles.  We've seen several on-line that we like so we're hopeful that we can find something to move into by mid-late March.

Once we get settled in, I'm hoping to go back to work (I'm an occupational therapist).  I'm hoping to find something part-time or PRN. I might even be able to set up an interview when I'm down there.  So much to do though!  I've got to get a license to practice in Texas, which is a bit of a paperwork nightmare.

So. Much. To. Do.