WARNING: extreme grossness ahead, dainty ladies do not read!

I swear my child is the infectious incubator for the World Health Organization. He comes home with something new every week! This weekend it happened to be a stomach virus. Poor kid threw up all night Saturday then his Nana, who had been watching him at our house, threw up all day Sunday. His sister got sick Monday afternoon. Well, guess who was next? That's right - me.

I was really nervous about getting sick and how it would work with the band. I took Pep-to, Imodium, Dramamine all in an effort to stave off the nauseousness. I was freaking myself out wondering if I should go in for an emergency unfill or just try to struggle through it. Unfortunately, the puking started before I could make that decision.

I know we all have been sick prior to the band and that we learn how to PB gracefully afterward ... but let me tell you ladies - there is nothing like full-on vomiting after the band. It is an eruption of ground shaking proportions. All of that pent up yuckiness forcing its way through the tiny hole made by our band. It was so forceful that I actually peed every time I threw up. I told my husband that it can't get much more sad than crouching over the toilet puking while pee is running down your leg.

I'm going to call the doc this morning to see if he wants to make sure that my band is still in proper position. That would be the worst of it ... having to go back in to surgery all because of a stupid stomach virus!

NSVs when a SV isn't available

My scale is stuck. I've bounced around from 280 to 282 for the past week. Talk about frustrating. I try to tell myself that even the best of us have our bouncy times. With everything going on in our lives, I haven't had much time to exercise or make sure I get all my water. Hopefully, I can start back on the right track tomorrow. But alas, no scale victories (SV) for this week.

I did; however, have 2 NSVs.

First, I wore 22/24 clothing for the first time in 3 years! A dress to the wake which brought me tons of compliments and then 2 pairs of pants that I adore - all 22/24. Hopefully, I can fit back into my wedding clothes (didn't wear a dress) within the next few weeks and perhaps even wear them out to dinner on our upcoming anniversary (3/10).

Secondly, and also wedding related, I put back on my wedding ring for the first time in over 2 years. I've been wearing my engagement ring (one of my first NSVs) for about 2 months but my original wedding ring wouldn't fit. So, I continued to wear my maternity wedding band. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as my actual wedding band but at least it fit. On Monday, I tried on my real wedding band and was surprised that it went on. Now, it is still too snug to sleep in but I'm proud to say that it can be worn all day!

Perhaps the scale will decide to play nice at my Monday weigh-in and move along down the line. I'd love to be 279 again. It was the weight I started Weight Watchers back in Oct. 2006 in preparation for my 2008 wedding. Then I decided when we eloped in 2007 to forget about WW and concentrate on celebrating my marriage - aka - eating my way trough 2007.

Glad to know that I can still celebrate my marriage and lose weight at the same time.

non-band related, life and death

WARNING! This post is totally non-band related. WARNING!

We got the phone call at 1am on Friday morning that my stepkids' mom had passed away. She battled brain cancer for a long time and we knew we were very close to the end. The kids took it pretty well. I think it was actually a relief to know that the waiting was over and that their mom was no longer in pain.

It snowed on Friday night which is a rarity in this part of North Carolina. We woke up Saturday morning to a quiet world covered in white. I think it helped the kids so much to be able to put her death aside for a few days and just play in the snow. We went sledding and had snowball fights. I hope to get the videos up on facebook sometime today. There are some great moments. (sidenote: I haven't told everyone on FB about the surgery. I'd love to be friends there just don't mention it please.)

Monday and Tuesday were hard. I do think that the wake was much harder than the funeral, though. The kids seemed to do well until someone came up to them crying - then they cried. At the funeral, we kept them sheltered. Billy and I didn't let many people get close to them. We wanted to ward off a repeat of the previous night. It was a cold rainy day. There is an old southern saying "if it rains on the day of a funeral it means the deceased made it to Heaven." I don't know if that's true but at least the rain kept the graveside portion of the service short and sweet.

I am honestly glad that it is over. I couldn't imagine life for the kids if it dragged on any longer.