Yuck

Yuck,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

With the implant removed, the aliens will have to come up with another way to control this human.

Actually, a few months ago this lump sprouted on the back of my neck. Well, actually, the lump has a been a tiny cyst that's been there for years...minding it's own business. No big whoop. Then it decides to grow and, I don't know, make a bigger presence on my neck and, well, it just had to go.

I've never had surgery before, let alone be given anesthesia. What a weird experience. I remember them carting me into the operating room, climbing on to the table, getting comfortable -- which was a bit hard because I had to lie on the table face down -- then I remember waking up and wondering...should I be awake now? Seriously, it was a weird loss of time. I was expecting them to do what they do in the movies...count backward from 100, etc. Nope. Nothing. Just waking up.

And, you ask, was I suppose to be awake yet? Well, I sputtered out the question to which they responded...she's talking. Not the answer I wanted so I repeated the question with a little more strength. Should I be awake now? To which, I got the answer I wanted to hear...yes, the operation's over.

Okay, now the second question...should my arm be hurting like this? Yeah, for just having someone cut into my neck, my arm was hurting like hell. Hmmmm....should I be worried about that? Well, apparently, the IV slipped and instead of depositing whatever's in that bag into my veins the went into my muscle. Painful.

Luckily, 30 minutes and a warm compress helped resolve that situation. And while I was waiting I got to get a look at the diamond chunk of skin (which was connected to the cyst) that was removed from my neck. I looked like a piece of fatty steak in jar. Too bad Chris wasn't there. He would have really wanted to see that.

Well, now I'm left with the stitches -- cyst free -- with, soon, only a crease on the back of my neck to remind me of my lumpy pal who had been a part of me for so many years but unfortunately had to be offed when he made a play for more territory.

On a side note, the operation wasn't the last I heard of that cyst. They did tests on it. In the end, it was not malignant nor was it an implant. Just a nuisance.

Body Fusion

Take it to the limit! I just had to post this because I know it'll make Geoffrey laugh out loud. :o)

I guess I should write about trying to lose the baby fat. Two years after Parker's birth and I'm still 10lb over what I weighed before I got pregnant, which was 10lb over what I preferred to weigh. Hey, I spend all day typing at a computer. With deadlines and other obligations, it's hard to find the time (or at least remember) to get off my butt and walk around. That became blatantly clear when I bought a pedometer.

It all started when we were in Tahoe and I saw this Frontline epside on losing weight called "Diet Wars". It was surprisingly pretty interesting and boiled it down to this...no matter the diet, if you want to lose weight you need to limit your calories and exercise. DUH! Simple. And yet people spend millions of dollars to do just that. You'd think if you ate less you'd spend less and more.

And exercise...all we need to do is, yes, get off our butts and walk. Basicly, we need to count our steps. People who have lost weight (and have kept it off) take at least 10,000 steps a day. The average person takes 4,000 steps. Me...and this is where the pedometer comes into play...less than a 1,000. EEK! I'm a slug!

So my inital goal is to just match the couch potato 2,000. That's tougher than it sounds but walking to my food (aka, lunch) helps. Another thing is relying less on IM to ask questions and take a walk. I guess I'll eventually have to use the gym membership (yes, part of the millions of dollars spent).

I guess this is where I layout goals for myself. Hmmmm... Well, how about this. Let's be generous and say I'm at 1000 steps a day right now. I aim at upping those numbers by 500 steps a month and by July I should be on par with the average 4,000. I pledge to check in with you guys again in a couple of months to let you know how I'm doing. In the meantime, you should trying counting your steps. The results could be a surprising wakeup call.

Well, in the meantime, I just happen to have a couple of pencils here so I guess I can throw in a quick low impact workout.

WOO!