Buds, Birds and Confessions

Spring is in the air in this northern city of snow and I finally got off my butt and went for a walk outside. Here in Ottawa it is sunny and the sidewalks are clear. It is still nippy but above freezing (going to a high of 10C/51F today) and I must say it is so nice to get outside again. This is my third day walking and it is amazing to watch nature wakeup from it’s hibernation. The other day, I saw geese flying north and today, the buds are on the trees. A bit early but with our mild temperatures, I guess they decided to wake up. I am so looking forward to green again. I remember driving down to Florida at Christmas one year and marvelling at the green trees at a rest stop in Georgia. I think we forget that feeling of new life.

I am back to work on Monday but not looking forward to it. I know some of you only took a few days for the lapband surgery, but I milked 4 weeks medical leave out of it. No one at work knows why I was taking leave although most thought it was stress leave! I told a few I was having a hiatus hernia repair (true) but will never tell anyone at work about the band—most of the people I work with are male techie morons. I’m glad I took the extra time as I only started feeling energetic this last week. I guess with age it takes longer to bounce back. I have been sleeping for 8-10 hours every night—a wonder since I used to sleep poorly from gastric reflux, all but gone. Now it's back to waking up at 6:00 am. At least I have another week before we “spring forward” to Daylight Savings Time and lose the extra hour we got last November. And soon it will be my birthday (15th) and then the Spring Equinox (20th). Can you feel the excitement of someone who suffers from S.A.D. and needs the sun! Last year on this exact day we were leaving Sydney, Australia after our 3 week trip downunder. I wonder—do you guys in N.Z. and Oz think of coming to North America as taking a trip downunder too?

Now to eating and confessions of a bad Friday. I think it is cool that Jen suggested we do a Weekday Dish and record what we ate for one day in our blogs. One of the blogs (that will remain nameless) mentioned eating a small York Peppermint Patty. I guess this became imbedded in my brain as I strolled through Walmart because I thought “why not buy a bag and eat one or two when I really want some chocolate”. WARNING: do not buy a bag of anything chocolate or sweet even if they are wrapped separately. I can’t tell you how many were in the bag (maybe 20?) but each was 50 calories. There are three (3) left. I was all alone yesterday so ok, it is out in the open—I ate almost the entire bag. By the way, peppermint patties melt and flow right through the band. The sugar high brought on cravings so I had to eat dinner early, then later ham & cheese on a hamburger bun with no restriction whatsoever. Now after 3 ½ weeks post surgery I can eat almost anything. I now know the definition of Bandster Hell. Buddy (my band) is taking it easy right now. I envision him lounging around waiting to work his magic, probably on March break right now with a glass of bubbly in his hand. I’m not sure why my band is a he—maybe it’s because I will have to motivate him, like DH, to get him to start working. Thank god, I have my first fill on Tuesday. Maybe then I will see some results.

Thanks to Jess, Gilly and Band Goupie  for my Sunshine Award. I will work on Passing it Forward to my other blogger friends in an awards ceremony tomorrow. The Sunshine Award is a good name—I now have a bouquet of flowers blooming until my own pop up in a few weeks.

PS-the last three peppermint patties are now gone—Me bad!

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