In the past few weeks my tummy has not been happy with my vitamins. It's the handful of vitamins I take in the morning is causing some yuckiness. One of two things happens after I take 'em. 1) my tummy churns and I feel yucky for about an hour or 2) I get the dry heaves and my body wants to reject the pills I just put in. Either way = bad!

My calcium doses sit fine. My bedtime vitamins are fine too. Just the morning stuff.

So, I'm sorry to report that because of this strange yuckiness I have been skipping my vitamins more often than I'm comfortable with. I might be hitting a 70% average and that's just not acceptable!

What am I going to do?

I'm not sure just yet. But I'm putting it out here in the open so I'm accountable and motivated to find a solution. Here are a few thoughts...

• The vitamins I take in the morning are essentially the same as it's always been. So no new stuff that might suddenly cause the issue.
• The only change is the Vitamin A that I'm taking - it's a different brand and type. The old stuff was just a normal pill but the new stuff is "quick dissolve" so it's disintegrating while it's going down. This is the only possible thing that might be at issue, but I can take it alone without a problem, so why would it be a problem when combined with others?
• I started taking glucosamine & chondroitin to help with my knee pain (and it seems to be working, btw) -- but I took that for several weeks before the pukey feeling started, so the probability is low on this one.
• Meals -- it doesn't seem to make a difference if I take the pills with or without food. But since I get the heaving stuff going on, I've been taking them away from food lately.
• I might need to spread things out. My morning pills include 7 different things... so maybe I need to just take 1 or 2 at a time over the course of the morning. Maybe.

So I'll play around with things and see if I can find a solution. If not I'll just have to buck up and do it and quit whining, right? It's medicine, not candy... so I take them whether I like 'em or not. Period.

~Pam

I keep my calendar appointments on Google Calendar. I color code the different categories of my life so I can see at a glance what's going on. Usually the days are filled to the max with stuff so as I look at the coming days and see blank space, it makes me happy. I've got my support group meeting on Monday, but otherwise there is NOTHING at all on the calendar.

Nothing. Pure bliss!

There are a few things that I want to do while I've got the extra time. I've bought 3 new books in the past week and will be working my way through them. There's a photography exhibit at the Flint Institute of Arts I want to check out. The Temple Theater in Saginaw is playing It's A Wonderful Life this weekend that I'm considering going to. I haven't been to Barnes and Noble in a while - I like to go hang out with a cup of Starbucks coffee and just browse the books. The Harvest Coffeehouse has live music lined up this weekend and if I have the time I'd like to go listen. So there's plenty to do. But it's all play stuff, so that's good!

I'll be working this week - Mon, Tue, Wed - then have Christmas Eve and Christmas off. Same for next week too. I actually like working these two weeks for the holidays because the office is quiet, phones don't ring and you can catch up on work or even bring in your own stuff to work on while all is quiet. It's nice and relaxing.

So my evenings will be filled with lots of nothing. Relaxing. Playing. Enjoying the season. Gathering the energy I'll need when the new semester starts and life gets crazy again. Life is good.

~Pam

I've been going through my photos from the past couple years to pick out some of my favorites. I came across this one that was taken about 2 months before my WLS. It's definitely a reality check to realize how far I've come...

I agreed to be part of a cookie exchange this year. Typically I avoid these at all costs because I never need dozens and dozens of cookies in my house! But this year I agreed. My grandmother is feeling down this year as it'll be our first Christmas without Grandpa. So my mom is trying hard to make this a special time for her and keep her busy with lots of Christmas activities. A cookie exchange was suggested.... and I agreed to participate.

The exchange is scheduled for Friday evening. Which means I've got some major baking to do this week! But before I can start baking, I need to actually figure out what I'm going to make. I've been printing some options from the net or making copies out of magazines - so I have a half dozen or so to pick from already. Plus I want to look through the cookbook that I put together of my grandmother's Christmas cookies and see if there's something in there she might not be making this year that I can bake.

My plan is to give away the cookies I get back in exchange. Or at least store them in the freezer and bring them out when I need to take a dish to pass somewhere. Yes, I'll indulge in some... but definitely NOT going to over indulge!

~Pam

1. Meditate
It took me a while to get into the groove this year, but I think I'm starting a good habit in the past month. I recently picked up a book called "8 Minute Meditation" and decided to give it a shot. So now each evening before bed I take 8 minutes to surround myself with quiet and calmness. The guided lessons are easy to follow and very straightforward. So often when you read a book about meditation it's about some huge higher-power, transcending experience type of thing. But Victor Davich's approach is simple. Just sit quietly for 8 minutes and "allow, allow, allow" whatever comes through your mind - recognize it, then release it - and let thoughts float by like clouds. I'm glad I found this book. It has helped me find an easy and manageable way to fit meditation into my day.

2. Declutter
I think this is one of those goals that are more like "life long" rather than something to accomplish in just one year. I've donated a TON of stuff to charity, sorted through a lot of paperwork that just needed to be trashed and tried hard to downsize as much as possible. But there's still a long way to go.

3. Buy less stuff
This is probably the one goal where I've failed miserably. I've bought a lot of high-ticket things this year (new cell phone, new freezer, new netbook, new desktop computer, new GoWearFit). And let's not even mention how much I've spent on textbooks and school supplies! But there's an area that I feel needs some serious attention and it's something to laugh about. I find that I over-buy at the grocery story. My pantry is full and overflowing. My upright freezer is nearly full too. My cupboards are full. It's not that I eat all the food I buy, I just seem to enjoy buying it. So it's something I need to examine more closely and figure out if there's an issue I need to deal with on an emotional level.

4. Take more photos
I have! And since I've taken more photos, I feel that my skill as a photographer has improved. Being a part of a photo club certainly helps. But also in the process of taking more photos this past year -- in particular the ones where I'm paid to do so or doing some type of formal photo shoot -- I have to decide if I'm going to limit what I shoot. I know I don't want to shoot weddings anymore - too much pressure to be perfect and a huge amount of work (16+ hour days). And when I've done photo shoots for people (ie: senior pictures) it just takes me a long time to find the time to edit and finalize the files - so then I feel pressured to get the work done. So for now, while my time is precious and short, I'm going to avoid doing shoots for other people where obligation comes into play with post-processing.

5. Go to school
Oh boy am I going to school! And it's kicking my butt! The Winter quarter is going to be a true test of my endurance though. In the past I've done 2 classes per quarter and often one of them was an online course. But for Winter I've got 3 classes and all of them on the campus that's 90 minutes away from home -- so class gets out at 9:45 p.m. putting me home around 11:15 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But if I can survive this type of schedule and continue doing it for the following 3 quarters, I'll be done (or nearly done) this time next year. I'm glad to be accomplishing this goal, but it is a LOT of work!

6. Knit this afghan
I bought the yarn. It's really pretty yarn too. I love the colors. LOL! But no, I haven't finished it. I started it a couple times, but I realize I actually need help with this project. Either I need to find another knitter to help me along or I need to take this to a yarn store and get involved in a knitting group that can guide me. It's a good afghan to knit as a beginner because it forces me to learn how to read a pattern and do different stitch variations .... but I think it's still beyond my extreme novice abilities. It's still on the list of goals and I have a picture of the afghan hanging on my fridge... so I'm definitely going to finish it. One Day.

7. Spend more time with friends
So this one I had to think about. Because of my school schedule my social schedule has had to take a backseat. I'm not able to attend all of the WLS support groups so I've been missing seeing those friends. And I haven't had many chances to get together with the Women's Dinner Club group although I'll see them this week. I try hard not to miss my Photography Club meetings, but come Winter Quarter at school, I'll not be able to attend those either. However, my own support group (the one I lead) I've been able to hang out with those gals a bit more than normal lately. We've done a couple field trips and this summer we did some 5K races together. I've been out to dinner with some of the gals regularly too. So all in all I think my social schedule has stayed about the same -- less quantity but more quality.

8. Renew love of scrapbooking
I tried. I really did. When I create a project and it's done I really enjoy it. But I seem to dread the idea of starting or even getting into the thick of the project while I'm doing it. So for now I'm going to let this goal fall by the wayside. My scrapbook studio room is still there and fully stocked with supplies -- and I'll work on small projects here and there. But for now I just don't have the desire to get back into the craft like I used to.

9. Continue Holistic Wellness Plan Goals
Financial, Spiritual, Emotional, Vocational, Intellectual, Relationships, Character. These are the main goals of my Comprehensive Holistic Wellness Plan. Guess which one I'm focused most on? Intellectual goals are going well as I focus on school right now. And that goal should slide nicely into the vocational goal since the ultimate goal of going back to school is to change my career path. I did some major overhauling of my finances a couple years ago and feel that I'm in a very good place with money (well, winning the lottery would help, of course). I'm still not dating or have any prospects for a romantic relationship, so that one's still on hold. I'm always working on my emotional well-being and hopefully once I get some answers on this whole weight loss thing I can move forward a bit with that. I think this new meditation process is helping some with my spirituality simply because it's giving me to the time to listen to my soul and the thoughts in my head. Long ways to go on that front though. Overall I think the Wellness Plan is going well and it will always be with me as I work to make myself healthier, better and happier. Not that I'm not those things now... but we're working on the "er" part.

So for the past two years I've done a list of goals to work on for the year. 8 Goals for 2008 and 9 Goals for 2009. But for 2010, I'm going to go a different direction. Right now I'm planning to (and this can change) do one of two things. Either set one goal to work on for the year or pick one word that will define my goals, actions and attitude for the year. Ali Edwards started the One Word idea a few years ago and I've tried it in the past -- the idea intrigues me and I'm kind of leaning in that direction. But I've got a few weeks to mull over the options and ideas yet... so I'll let you know what I decide.

How'd you do with your goals for this year?

~Pam