Hola from Mexico

We arrived safe and sound two days ago!! It´s been fun & I´ve learned some spanish words. Don´t have a lot of time to update... $3 for 10 mins on the internet. Just wanted to say gracias for all of the support thus far. Tomorrow is the big day and this time tomorrow I will be on the loser´s bench. Very excited to say the least!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying this fabulous sunny day.

Much love
Laura

Weight Loss Comparison!

Your weight loss =

1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg
5 pounds = a Chihuahua
6 pounds = a human’s skin
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year
11 pounds = an average housecat
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs
16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain
20 pounds = an automobile tire
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
44 pounds = an elephant’s heart
50 pounds = a small bale of hay
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!)
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11”)
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4”)
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony

T-Minus 10 Days

10 days until surgery; the first day of the rest of my life. My re-birth.

I really hope I'm doing the right thing here. I just spoke to someone who had her surgery in Michigan and it was covered by OHIP. OHIP denied me. Not once, but twice. I don't think I could go through that again.. it was so heart-wrenching.

I leave for Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday. My mom and I are going to enjoy three sun-soaked days before I go under the knife. I am really excited about this in particular... I've never been to Mexico!

I haven't heard back from Stephen in about 9 days now. I hope he's having a great time in Russia.. I know he's due to land in China sometime soon, too. You can read about his adventures at: http://barathadventures.blogspot.com

And I'm out.

Laura

Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated.

There is nothing more miserable in the world than to arrive in paradise and look like your passport photo...

I look pale, fat, lazy-eyed and just all-around ugly. It could have been worse though.. I could have ended up with a shadow above my lip that looks like a mustache (Hahha mom!)! :)

If I had to rate today, I would rate it a 4 out of ten. The printer took forever to print the applications, we were late leaving the house, my picture looks like death, my dentist took an hour to get around to signing the guarantor part of the application/photo, we didn't have 'proof of travel' so that made it difficult to apply for express passports and thennnnn I find out that even though I reported my last passport damaged, I have to fill out a bunch of paperwork and have it signed at the city hall tomorrow. So I couldn't even get my passport. Gahhh!! Today could have been worse. much much worse. But I feel like being a whiner because, when it comes right down to it, that's what I do best.


On the flip side... surgery is in 15.5 days! Flight to Mexico in 13 days! YEEEAAHH! I'm excited! !!!!11!1!!

"The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach."

Stand Up

"....Ever notice how fashion models are more often portrayed lying on their backs with legs open, rather than standing and participating in some productive way to make the world better? When will equality rather powerlessness appear sexy? Check out Media Watch, a non-profit organization working to challenge racism, sexism and the growing mounds of glamorized violence."

T-Minus 20 hours.

Now counting down until my flight leaves for Ontario. I've only been back in Edmonton for less than 3 weeks but I already miss my family.

I had a pretty teary goodbye with a few of my work friends last night, though. I promised myself I wouldn't cry... but as soon as they lingered in the foyer on the way out.. the fact that I wasn't going to see them again really hit me. We'll always have communicator, I guess.

Not much else to report, really. I lost 5 lbs already from this liquid diet which is pretty damn awesome. Only 165lbs to go.

Thank you for calling the Weight Loss Hotline. If you'd like to lose a half pound right now, press "1" eighteen thousand times.

You don't drown by falling in the water.

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water. Blood contains 83% water, body fat contains 25% water and bone has 22% water.

When you look at the amount of body fat on the average overweight person you realize that we are literally drowning ourselves in our own bodies. Maybe if I hadn't of stayed where I was for so long then I wouldn't be drowning. Right now I'm struggling not to stay, struggling not to drown.. struggling to get out of this pool of weight. Hopefully this surgery serves as a life raft so that I can work my way back to safety.

Update

Today is July 3rd... only 24 more days until surgery and I am very excited.. but also very stressed out. I have so much to do before any of this can be done! I'm flying back to Toronto next Wednesday and I haven't even started packing yet (woohoo procrastination). Since Cameron left I am having to take care of all of this packing myself which is tough.. my back isn't very good so it will be pretty challenging trying to lift and pack things.

Aside from that... My friends are all getting together to have a going away party for me on Saturday which I am looking forward to.. I am going to miss them a lot more than what I thought I would.

I don't even think I'm forming proper sentences right now. I am so exhausted and overwhelmed.




In other news, I am fairly certain that I know where I want to travel to next spring!.. We're going to fly from Toronto into Amsterdam, take a train from Amsterdam into Brussels then on to Paris and Bern... after that, I've decided that I REALLY want to visit the salt mines east of Salzburg and then go to Vienna and finally Budapest. I think it will be a blast and Stephen said he would love to go.. we'll just need to figure out the details when he comes to Montreal in late September.

That's all for now, I suppose!

Laura

Ps.. I love this picture.