Celebrated with a Margarita

Today was my 6 month surgervisary! Yes, 6 months ago today I was given the greatest gift. I changed my life and was given a second chance at life, at health, and at my future. The last 6 months have gone by so quickly. I am amazed at how different my life is now that I'm a "loser" and it was a joyous day to have made it this far in the journey.

I celebrated today by doing one of my favorite activities - I got my nails done. There are few things that have been a constant in my life with all of the change, but since June of 2008 I've religiously gone and taken the time to get my nails done. I love it! I love feeling pampered and I used to love that my nails looking good made my hands feel "less fat." Now, I just love getting them done. I'm more gutsy now...I put color on my nails and don't just do the classic french now that my hands are much much slimmer. I was always scared to put color on them before as I thought it made them look "heavier."

I also celebrated by cleaning. Yes, you read that right. I cleaned my house and I celebrated that I could move easily to clean, it wasn't such a chore to move furniture to vacuum, I could bend and stand easily and best of all I wasn't exhausted when I was done! 6 months ago this would not have been possible. I am blessed to be able to take care of my house how I want to do it rather than doing small itsy bitsy cleaning tasks with breaks. Such a great feeling!

Tonight I also celebrated by giving myself a pedicure. Now why didn't I let the nail salon take care of me? Well, I used to have to go get pedicures. I couldn't reach my toes to paint them or scrub my feet like they do. It wasn't always a "want" to get my feet done it was a need. I did this for years and only last year admitted this to my husband. Now I can reach my toes. I can bend and sit and do all the stuff that needs to be a good contortionist to paint my own toes. So tonight, I gave myself a pedicure because I CAN!

Finally I sat down and I am ending my day with a margarita! Now don't fret it doesn't have any alcohol in it. It is total gastric bypass friendly - thanks to crystal light! They came out with a number of flavors and it makes me so happy. I've wanted the taste of a margarita over the last week or so and can't have one, but my lovely hubby found the new flavors at Kroger. Now they probably don't compare to the taste of the real one, but for me on this special day I am loving my taste of my WLS friendly "margarita" while I sit on my laptop and do some homework.

This week has been one heck of a week with revelations. I realize more and more as I process this journey that I love myself and I love my body though I might not like how it looks right now. I love that I am thinking about fashion and that I want to go and try things on...though I'm still so scared. I love that I put on a shirt that I've had for years that I can finally fit in and I'm proud as heck that I am wearing and XL tshirt and a size 18 regular pants from old navy. I am excited about the next 6 months and the next part of the journey. I am excited about life...and though life might hand you a ton of lemons and it feels like I'm swimming in them - I'm glad that I've got my splenda in one hand and my crystal light margarita!