National Champions!!!!!

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet -

UNC won the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!

WOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!

There are no words to convey my excitement :) It was a great, great, great season. I'm going to miss Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington, Green, et. al. but I know we'll continue to be great. I had so much fun watching them this year. I held off on ordering any new UNC gear until I could order National Championship stuff and it paid off! I have two shirts (size medium ;) ) that proudly declare UNC the 2009 National Champions!

I even got Abby in on the excitement...

GO HEELS!!!!!

6 month follow-up

It's hard to believe it's been 6 months since my surgery! But it has, so I went in to see Dr. Elliot today. I had my blood work done for the first time as well. Dr. E. said everything looked good - all of my vitamins and such were looking good. Apparently my albumen (?) which measures protein was good but my pre-albumen (?) was just a little low, so he said I could try to get a little more protein in. He said it would be ok if I did a shake for breakfast every other day or so, since that's the time when protein is the hardest for me. Overall, he was pleased and said everything was going well.

So my total weight loss is now at 120 pounds. I have about 40 pounds left to go, although Dr. Elliot says I've lost enough to consider the surgery a success and get the health benefits of it. He says I could possibly go as low as losing another 55 pounds, but I've set my goal at just low enough to get my BMI to say a normal weight. That's hard to imagine :) To see how my life is different now, you can click here. I'm not going to rehash all of that stuff, although I'm sure there is more that I could add :) But because I'm crazy - really because I always like to see other people's - I'm posting some of my "along the way" shots in honor of my "surgiversary" was the WLS community calls it :)

Well, Blogger isn't liking uploading my pictures for some reason, so if I have another brave moment I'll try again another time!

P.S. - Carolina has a chance to redeem themselves tonight against the College of Charleston. It doesn't start until 9 and it's not on tv here. I'm REALLY REALLY tired, so I probably won't make it up for the game which is, in and of itself, rather shocking. But GO HEELS!

HA!

I read many UNC basketball blogs (I know you find this hard to believe since I am neither - pronounced with a long i, not a long e - an internet addict nor a UNC fanatic, but it's true). One of my favorites is Carolina Water Cooler. Those guys are seriously funny AND know their stuff. It's awesome. Also, it's not blocked by Henrico County. Hooray!

Anyway, the point is in their preview of Wed. night's epic matchup against the College of Charleston, they referred to TEATS, which they indicated by an asterisk meant "The Eight And Twenty Season" I cracked up. I refer to that dreadful time in our basketball history rarely - and our coach at the time even more rarely - and it steals a little piece of my heart away every time it comes up.

But this is awesome. I am keeping TEATS in my vernacular for sure. Because it's not something that any true UNC fan is likely to forget anytime soon...

The mini-debacle

I haven't posted much about my TarHeels this season because they've been good beyond belief and I've been busy. They've been a unanimous #1 and although they've looked not as good as they should have the last few games, they were clearly the most dominant team in the country.

Until last night.

When they LOST. To BOSTON COLLEGE.

(Who, in case you were wondering, was picked to finish #11 out of 12 in the ACC this year)

I'm calling it the mini-debacle, because the big debacle was, of course, the disastrous Final Four game against Kansas last year.

There was no defense last night. None. I'm not sure the boys even remembered what a rebound was. And the shots just weren't going down. We shot something like 38% for the game and only like 55% from the FREE throw line. At one point, clutch time, near the end of the game, we had three completely wide open 3-pointers in a row (on one posession) and bricked them all. It was physically painful to me.

I've said all along I wouldn't mind us losing an early season game to get that undefeated talk out of the way and make the team realize that they aren't invincible. But this was a CONFERENCE game. Our conference opener, in fact, which makes it more painful.

But we learn and move on. It's not the tournament, and we still have a great shot at being national champions. I am not going to be depressed about this, I am not going to be depressed about this, I am not going to be depressed about this...

(Why I take basketball so seriously and what needs to be done about it is clearly an issue, yet a topic for another day)

Wednesday I have my 6-month follow up with Dr. Elliot. I'll have blood work done at that point, so we'll see how everything is coming along. This whole constantly needing new clothes thing is really wearing on me, although I know it's a good thing and not something I should be complaining about. I'll let you know what he says!

A tired, grumpy Gus

That's me. It was such a long day today. I ate all 3 of my meals at meetings - now tell me that doesn't just scream FUN to you!!

Tomorrow is a parent workshop that I've been working on and it's causing me major stress. I'll be happy when it's over with. Then Friday I have a Title 1 meeting all day long which always makes me feel more stressed - so I'm just holding on until Friday afternoon.

Today I got an email which made me so mad that I cried. I have been trying to get the answer to a procedural question - which really should be a fairly routine thing - for over 2 months now. I emailed the girl for the 4th time on Monday and today I got her reply. Not only did the answer not make any sense and only added to the confusion, she added "In the future, you should ask this question earlier." I just keep reminding myself - I have been forgiven for so much, I can forgive others. I make a lot of mistakes, too. By the grace of God, I did not slap anyone today. I will continue to pray about tomorrow...

Which brings me to this point - when I get mad, I always cry. Does anyone else do that? Then I get madder because crying is NOT the reaction that I want to be having. I'm MAD and I want people to know it!!! So then I just cry more. It's pitiful.

To add to my frustration, Tyler Zeller - a very talented freshman who we were really counting on, especially with Hansbrough out - is out for the season with a broken wrist and I won't get to see the next game on Friday night. And I'm not losing weight anymore, apparently. I guess my body got tired of that game. Plus my cats will not stop walking on me no matter how hard I throw them. I'm getting dangerously close to taking one of my dad's suggestions on how to deal with these creatures.

Not to mention that I can no longer eat my frustrations away. Which I suppose I should be thankful for. And may be someday. But for now I just want to spend money instead. I almost bought a Wii tonight. Just because. But honest to goodness when would I play it? Plus, apparently all of my money is going towards buying pizza for the workshop tomorrow night. Ok, we are NOT going back to that issue. No. We are not.

I could go on because my life's frustrations are multitudonous. (I am a Master of Reading. If I say it's a word, it's a word) But I suppose I'll stop. Because that way I can go to bed.

What 100 pounds looks like - Sarah style

I've been in one of those vicious cycles where I keep thinking of things to write about, then I don't, so I feel like there is more that I have to write about so the task becomes overwhelming so I don't do it, and then there is more stuff to write about so it's more overwhelming... know what I mean?

Anyway, I've realized that it's just a blog. About nothing but me. So I can relax a bit. Speaking of the "about nothing but me" part - I feel like I owe you (the great collective "you" that is out there reading this) an apology/explanation: This blog is completely, totally self-centered. That feels very self-absorbed of me. But I really only started it as away for me to have like a journal of my experiences after WLS. Of course, now I write about other things in my life as well. And I'm glad that so many of my friends read it :) But that's why it's only ever about me. Sorry about that.

I can't believe I'm doing this on this very public internet, but here it is. My "before" picture (I could have at least fixed myself up a little don't you think?) and my "I've lost 100 pounds" picture. I've been taking pictures all along (definitely something I would encourage you to do, by the way, if you are considering or have had the surgery) (or are losing weight another way), but always considered them very private. But for some reason I'm feeling brave enough to show them to you tonight. So here they are:


Can you tell which is the before and which is the after? ;) (I'm kidding, of course. Even I can see the difference there). I've been doing these with the self-timer on my camera and they haven't been coming out great. My friend Laura took the most recent one last night, though, and I think I'm going to get her to do them all from now on because I'm pretty sure I look skinnier in that picture than I do in real life :)

The greatest time of the year is upon us, people. That's right - CAROLINA BASKETBALL SEASON HAS STARTED!!!!!!!! My Heels opened up their season with a 15-point win over Penn yesterday which I, much to my everlasting consternation, did not get to see. I realize that a 15-point win over Penn is not very impressive. Especially for a team that is ranked unanimously #1 by everyone who does these things and is bombarded by talk of the "undefeated season". (I hate that talk, by the way. Absolutely, positively, hate it. I'm going on record right now as saying that I won't be completely devastated if we lose an early season game - before conference play starts of course - just to shut that up. ) But our injury list reads like a top-1o team all on its own. Hopefully we should get most of our major players back soon. Next up - Kentucky on Tuesday night in a game I actually get to see!!!! Kentucky is obviously a pretty major game. Don't let the fact that they lost to VMI at home fool you. Even though that's horrifyingly embarrassing, this is Kentucky. Luckily they will have my excellent from-home coaching to help guide them through.

I had a fun weekend celebrating my BFF's 30th. Happy Birthday Julie!!!!!

Her dad told me this weekend that I seemed different. I pointed out that I had lost 100 pounds :) He said no, my personality seemed different. He thought that I had become more confident and extroverted without so much extra weight. I don't know if he's right, but I've been thinking about it. I did just post a pretty embarrassing picture here...

What I really, really wanted to post was the video I made of my super-awesome kids at our dance party on Friday. Those kids are hysterical. But I've tried all weekend and can't get the video to upload. I did get it uploaded to my Facebook page, though, so click here to see it.

Ok, I have been lazying away my Sunday afternoon (which is what they are good for) but since I don't have any lesson plans done for this week I guess I better get on that!

Oh, Coach K....

you just make it so easy for us to hate you! Seriously, this man is an idiot. Check out this story.
Better yet, check out what one of my favorite UNC bloggers had to say about it.

In case you don't read it, good ole Coach K threw a little hissy fit because there were empty seats in Cameron. For the exhibition game last night. The exhibition game. Against Lenoir-Rhyne. Yeah, right there's a quality coach for ya.

A long, long night...

I do not think that the tarheels performance last night is even worthy of me writing about. Except to say this: If you played like that all the time, I'm pretty sure that my junior high girl's basketball team could have beaten you. Pitiful. And now, no more basketball until October. I hate this part...

So I TRIED to go to bed right after the game - around 11:00 - but couldn't really sleep and ended up not falling asleep until around 12:00, but still waking up several times. Not a good thing. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm posting this at 5:30 a.m. What am I doing up, awake, and posting you may ask? Glad you asked. Let me tell you.

Around 5, I was awakened by a loud crash and the sound of water running. I don't know if I have ever mentioned before that I have 2 cats that are basically the devil in disguise. They are completely wild and crazy. So I figure that they have somehow turned the shower on and freaked out. I get up to discover that it's not the shower, they have somehow sprung a leak in the hose leading from the toilet to the wall. There is water spewing all over my bathroom floor, making a deeper puddle every minute.

First I try the always-handy duct tape, which only succeeds in making the water spray in a different direction. Then I go to get a bowl to catch the water and the phone, thinking that as much as I feel bad about it, I'm going to have to call the apartment complex's emergency number and get someone over here before my whole place floods (this is an advantage to living in an apartment!) Finally I realize - DUH! - that right in front of me this whole time was a knob to turn the water OFF. So I turn it and the water stops spewing.

So the immediate problem is solved and I'm left with a flooded bathroom and no toilet (which I really need to use - this is my only one!) I mopped up the bathroom and went down to the office (I have a 24/7 code because the hot tub and "gym" are in there) to use the bathroom. I figure I'll call the maintenance guys in the morning (yes, in the morning. I'm going back to bed!), but now I feel like my bathroom has to be clean before I call them. So I guess I'll do that first.

*sigh* Can I please move back in with mom and dad?

UNC 76, puke 68!!!!

Once again, we have spoiled Senior Night in Durham!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we did it without Tyler Hansborough taking a single free throw. Amazing. Ty Lawson was back in fighting form, and Danny Green came through again.

This means that we have wrapped up the regular-season ACC Championship and probably the #1 seed in the East for the NCAA tournament! We will finish the season at #1 in the polls which makes sense since we are, obviously, the best. (That might not be quite right. They might do another poll a week from Monday, in which case we would probably have to win the ACC tournament to stay #1. But since I have complete confidence in our ability to do just that, I'll stand by my statement)

Some notes from the night - I really, really, really, really can't stand Dookie V (Dick Vitale, for those of you uninitiated) I have to just turn the sound off so I can't hear him cheering for dook.

And, something I thought I would never, ever say....they profiled a Cameron Crazy from a few years back and I liked him. I'm embarrassed to admit this. They called him "Speedo Guy" and he jumped up out of the crowd wearing nothing but a Speedo and did the funniest dance. And now he's a preacher with this cute little blonde wife (she was in the segment, too - she was dating his brother at the time) And it made me laugh I couldn't help it. But, naturally, just when I thought they had done something actually funny Coach K told them it was unacceptable and not to do it again. That man really just does not have any redeeming qualities that I can find. I'll keep looking, though. Ok, that's not quite true. I'll keep trying to want to look. That's all I can do.

Here was my favorite non-basketball moment of the night: dookie V is raving about DeMarcus Nelson, Duke's senior star (since it was Senior Night) and showing his mom and going on and on about what a great job she did raising him and what a great kid he was. While he's talking, the camera is close up on Nelson's face, and he clearly says f#@%. The very next shot is of some guy trying to be "Speedo Guy" but he's not nearly as good and he flicks off the camera, for which the ESPN announcers have to apologize. Yep, dook sure is a classy place.

Halftime: UNC 42, dook 31

To say more would jinx it. Stay tuned....

UNC 90, Florida State 77

Typically, Florida St. hung with them for most of the first half before Carolina pulled away.

Ty Lawson's going to have to be better for us to keep winning. You can definitely tell - even without Billy-The-Idiot-Packer telling us - that he was not back up to 100%. We can overcome that when playing Florida St., but it's March, baby! Tournament time!

I LOVE winning on Senior Night. Surrey Wood got in and scored 4 points on 2/2 shooting! His parents were tearing up and SO cute! And Q definitely deserved all of his credit - I know that Tyler has been phenomenal, but we would not have survived the loss of Ty Lawson without Q stepping up from third string point guard to starter. And I love that Roy put them in again at the end and then pulled them out so they could get their standing ovations!

Off to watch The Office - that show rocks!!!



P.S. - Check out the top video of Abby on the right. It's only two seconds long and she says "uh-oh" - her first phrase! It's so incredibly cute!

UNC 90, Boston College 80

It took my lucky hair ribbon and a phone call to my lucky sister for my TarHeels to come back from 18-points down. They had to overcome an amazing 46 points from Tyrese Rice (34 in the first half!) I am sure that Roy putting the blue team in and letting the starters have it - at the same time I put the hair ribbon in - had much less to do with it than the hair ribbon itself.

Also - welcome back, Ty Lawson!

We remain #1 in the conference and should be #1 in the country come Monday....one last home game against Fl. State on Tuesday and at Duke on Saturday and it's tournament time!