Personal News

Hey everyone,
Enough of the Weight Watchers program, now for some family news.
Shannon and Dave are expecting their second child now. The due date is Nov 12, which should make the holidays interesting this year. Not sure what everyone's Christmas plans are this year since my mother-in-law passed away right after New Years. Guess it depends on weather and the health of the children (grandchildren).
Shawn is almost finished with another year of school. Bellevue University recently went to trimesters, so he will be out towards the end of May. Next August, he will be starting school at York College in York, Ne. York is about 1-1/2 hours west of Omaha. He says he is going because their education program is better than BU, but I think a girl is involved in that decision. Recently, he introduced his girlfriend to us over a dinner. She is from Kansas and is currently going to York College, she will be a sophomore next term.
Shane is still in Chicago. He is working and trying to fix things up so he can finish his schooling. There is some sort of fee problem he is still dealing with. He is doing well in the Army Reserves, so far he has done only his weekend drills. I imagine his one week stint will be coming up shortly. Not sure if his unit will be going overseas next year or not.
Shay is less than a month from Graduation from High School. The last one to finish HS!!! His future plans do not include College at this time. He is signed up to enter the Army full time, and leaves for Basic Training (in Georgia!!) on July 14th. One week before his 18th birthday. Hope he doesn't get razzed too much during basic. We will be celebrating his birthday before he leaves. In between graduation and basic, he wants to get a job doing lifeguarding at the city pools. He took a lifeguard training course recently and now just needs to fill out an application. He is looking forward to this summer a lot. We just need to prod him to get through these next 4 weeks!!!
Now for me. With Shay leaving home on the 14th of July and Shawn leaving for college around the 20th of August, I will be on my own with just Max to keep me company. At least that is what I thought earlier this year. I am seeing a woman now. Her name is Ann, and we have a very special relationship. From the first time we met in person (Valentine's Day), we both felt we had a special connection We have lots of things in common, from our love of the Packers to riding motorcycles. She doesn't have one but she loves riding on the back of mine. We are getting pretty serious now, we are planning on getting married next year. The time/date is still up in the air. Shawn and Shay have met her already, I am not really sure how they feel about her. They seem to like her. This next month, with graduation picnics planned, Shannon, Shane and mom will be meeting her too. Nothing would make me happier than having my children accept Ann as a friend. She is in NO WAY trying to be a replacement for Lee at all, and I would not have her try to do that. She just wants to become friends with my children (and grandchildren), like she wants me to become friends with her 3 grown children.
The Saturday after Shay leaves for Army Basic, we are leaving for a trip to a motorcycle rally in Billings, Montana. We will be traveling about 900 miles there and 900 miles back, not including whatever riding we do during the rally. It will be a fun trip, we plan to travel about 300 miles or so a day there and back. Then, on Labor Day weekend, we are planning a trip to LifeLight Festival in South Dakota. It will be me, Ann, Shawn and Sarah (Shawn's girlfriend). It will be Ann and Sarah's first time to the festival, as last year was my first time, and they are excited to go after we have talked about it to them.

Weight Watchers Update

Wow!! Just looked at when I posted last and didn't realize how long it has been. I won't bore you with the week-to-week details except that as of last week I lost a total of 26.2 lbs!!! I have lost 10% of my starting weight. Yesterday, I had gained 0.4 lbs back, but with the total weight loss my goal of 220 by summer seems more attainable now. And my ultimate goal of getting down to around 180 seems doable for the year. Time will tell. Just need to keep eating sensibly and exercise more.

Week 9

Good news on Tuesday - I lost another 2.8 lbs, bringing my total since Jan 27 to 22 lbs. I am 5lbs away from 10% weight loss, which I thought would be near impossible to achieve. Now it looks like I may reach that before this 12 week session is over in 2 weeks. There is a new session starting up in April and I think I may go to that also. I think the group support is helpful, the information is definitely a benefit to me. I just need to keep plugging away at it little by little.