How I celebrated

My friends took me out for dessert

By the way, Holly and Kiran, I look better with my hair bigger, in spite of what you say.

Spence got me flowers


My Mom made me a heart healthy dinner


My Mom got me 12 balloons, one for each month.
6 hearts and 6 pumpkins because she knows I love pumpkins.

I feel like this should be my second birthday.

Happy Anniversary Open Hear Surgery!

Today is my 1 year Anniversary! I made it! I am alive and ticking, literally. If you stand close enough to me you can hear my heart tick. I am celebrating too. Last night we had dinner at my parents house, tonight Spencer is taking me out to dinner, and late tonight some of my friends are taking me out for chocolate cake. I earned it!

Here is what I was doing 1 year ago from today.

September 15th 2008

I'll post more photos later, after Spence takes me to dinner and my friends take me out for cake.

Labour Day

For Labour Day we wanted to have a picnic in the park with my Mom. We were originally going to go to a park on Lacamus Lake, but we couldn't find any open tables so the park in Camus worked out just fine.

My Mom brought caramel apples. Auri was happy about that.

This is Max running down the hill.

He looks like he is being chased.

He's not, that is just how he runs.

Max and I started off the day by making granola. Max loves to cook with me.

Probably because it happens so infrequently.

I had to use the Halloween candy bowl because the recipe called for 10 cups of oatmeal.

Warren's First Day of School

you win scale.

Dear Cheap $20 Walmart bathroom scale,

I have come to you so many times begging for your approval, your compliments, your graces and your powers to give me hope and comfort, I have sought identity from you hoping to find the beautiful slim girl you showed to me 3 years ago. I have come to you through the ups and down looking for direction, but alas, you continue to fail me.

So I concede defeat. You win, you cheap $20 Walmart bathroom scale. If I were less of a woman I would be calling you a cheap whore right about now, but we both know that is not true. You were a worthy competitor, and to be fair, you were kinder to me than your cousins at the doctors office. You have stood your ground through many diets, "cycles", holidays, hours logged on the treadmill, elliptical, countless amounts of sit-ups and push-ups. But I give up, you win, you win, you win.

I'd like to say you won the battle not the war, but I am somewhat of a pacifist and I no longer wish to engage in either.

Maybe at some future date when my jeans concede victory to me, (and they are easier to concur if I do not wash them) we will meet again. But until then, congratulations on a monumental victory.

Contemptuously yours,

Hill

I'm torn

*********Warning this post is way too long, Holly, don't feel obligated to read it***********

This is a short story made long.

Lately, as many of my friends know, I have been on this honesty kick. I am not trying to be more honest with others, (I do way to much of that) I am trying to be more honest with myself. For example, I will have chicken, brown rice, and peas and carrots for dinner. I'll pick around the chicken, eating it the very last, and then I'll eat the peas and again picking around the cooked carrots eating them the very last. Why can't I just be honest with myself and admit that

I DON'T LIKE CHICKEN OR COOKED CARROTS!

Why do I go through this song and dance about how it is good for me, my body needs protein, yada yada yada. I don't like it, I'm NOT EATING IT! This honesty thing all started from 3 failed diets, 1. weight watchers, 2. the abs diet and 3. the 2000 calorie diet (you have to eat over 2000 calories a day, sounds simple, but try it, it was torture for me) So my loving and caring Dad, obviously noting my crippling depression over my weight, gave me this book called "I can Make You Thin" It has 4 rules

1. EAT when you are hungry
2. Eat what you want, not what you think you should eat.
3. Eat consciencely and enjoy every mouthful.
4. STOP when you are full.

That is it. Sounds simple enough, and it is, it is so much simpler than the afore mentioned diets. But it has caused me to think so much more and be so much more honest with myself about food. For example, on Thursday night I really wanted some kind of peanut butter, so I thought I better have dinner so I can have a little chocolate and peanut butter, well you know what forget it! (Rule number 2) I skipped dinner and took the peanut butter jar and poured chocolate chips in it and ate them with a big spoon. How do you like me now. Truth be told, I have been doing this "diet" for 3 weeks and I have not lost or gained 1 pound, but I no longer have to force myself to eat and I have lost a lot of the anxiety about food that I have.

Anyways, back to my original dilemma. Because of this honesty thing, I thought I should be completely honest about the things I do like and tell people I like them. So on Friday night while I was in my office listening to an NPR pod cast, I chose an interview with an author of the book "A Happy Marriage" The interview was remarkable, amazing, I almost cried. So, I decided to write the author a letter telling him how much I enjoyed his interview and the content of his book. Well, he wrote me back! telling me thank you for the letter, it was very nice, things like that. So Saturday morning I went to the Library to check out another book by him. The book is 704 PAGES! I started it on Saturday and it is excellent. Here is where my dilemma lies. I know the book is scary, I know that it is crazy scary and if you don't know me that well, I'll just tell you I can't even watch prime time tv dramas. They give me really bad dreams. So I am torn about what to do. Do I read the book, but only to invest 350 pages and then have to put it down and be scared for several days until I can get the images out of my mind, or do I just skip it all together. (but the author wrote me an email)

Anyways, short story very very long, I know my sister Holly will never read this post. But I had to put it out there. I am trying to be more honest and I am so happy someone was honest with me back. By the way, the book is at the top of this post.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

On Saturday night after our traditional Slurpee and Trader Joe's stops we decided to take the kids back to school shopping. It actually went pretty well. I can't tell if their shirts are cool or not, but I was torn. I don't really want them wearing "character" shirts to school, like Transformers, Batman, Wolverine, guys like that. They are actually kind of violent, most of the movies are pg-13 and Max goes to a very strict Christian pre-school. Nonetheless, the only other categories were sports and skulls. (What's up with skulls? Did I miss something cool in skateboarding? Where is this theme coming from) When we got home I had them try on their clothes and they kind of got in to it. All part of my master plan. -Get them excited about school, because I am freakin ecstatic!

Max in orange. I even found him a new pair of Sketchers, for only $18.

This was my favorite shirt. I wish I had gotten one for Max too.

Classic Max

I even got myself a new NIKE jacket. I kind of love it. It was a 50 dollar jacket that I got for 16. Like I said, it's the most wonderful time of the year!