February 20 - Scale said 119.8 today. I realize that's down from last week but when I weighed myself on Monday, it said 117.2 at which point I freaked and started eating like there was no tomorrow. So, I'm happy that it's back up a few pounds. Both Toby and JBB have told me that I need to start loading up on carbs, which I guess includes pasta and bread. I've eaten about a pound of mac and cheese over the past 2 days. I also had an egg salad sandwich, yes an actual sandwich with 2 slices of bread and everything, the other night! I made it a bit on the runny side so that there would be enough moisture to swallow without too much of a choking hazard. It was yummy! I'm going to eat another one for lunch today. Yesterday I tried a bagel with cream cheese. That was an epic failure. Thank goodness I just had my CPR training again last week. With all the experimenting I'm doing, I might just need it one of these days! Tonight I think I'm going to do up some spaghetti. I had tried it a month or so ago and it didn't go well but that was then, this is now.

So, it would seem that with rapid weight loss comes loose, saggy skin. It's kind of gross. I did some Googling the other night. I guess it takes 6 months to 2 years for your skin to catch up to rapid weight loss and reform itself over your new shape. I then surfed to see if there was anything that can be done to speed things up. Yoga is on the list which I thought was kind of cool. Other helpers: hydration, collagen cream, sea salt scrubs, weight training.......going to have to start working on the list and see if I can improve my skin elasticity before I'm in a bikini situation!

And as much as I worry about my weight, and as miserable as I am with all the other side effects of this cancer adventure, I have to say, the weight loss has been a godsend. I've been noticing the dumbest things like how I now run down the stairs in the morning instead of plodding along one step at a time, and how easy it is for me to bend in half to paint my toenails now when it's been such a struggle the past handful of years. I know they seem like really silly little things but I'm noticing them daily and they're definitely a perk to my quality of life amidst all the bad crap that's going on!

So, I need to continue tossing food down my throat because exercise is definitely ramping up. I had running homework on Monday, yoga last night, running homework both tonight and tomorrow, and yoga again tomorrow night since I missed last week. At this rate I should be in kick ass shape in no time!

I had previously mentioned that the NoBo training ends with a 5k on 4/28. Well, the Rochester Meetup that I'm a member of recently listed a posting for the Color Vibe 5k on 4/20. JBB had told me about these. They sound like a blast! So, I couldn't resist and signed up for that one too. Hopefully I'll be able to manage two weekends in a row, running a 5k! I was talking to the manservant last night. My goal is to run (not walk) an entire 5k. So, as long as I manage that for the Color Vibe one, I'll be a happy girl, even if I have to walk the Flower City one due to sheer muscle exhaustion. As an added bonus, I had sent an e-mail to Patilda with a link to the Color Vibe race, telling her that I had already signed up for a second 5k before even running my first. The next thing I know, I get an e-mail from her telling me I'll need to pick up her packet for the race too when I pick up mine. Say what?!? She signed up to do it with me!! How bleeping awesome is that?? I was so delighted with that show of support in what I'm trying to accomplish, I may have shed a tear or two! Don't tell anyone though. I don't want to be thought of as some sappy, emotional chick. ;-)

This nasty cold thing that I caught is lingering. Actually, I say it's lingering but I have no idea how long colds usually hang around for. It's only been a week so maybe it's just running it's normal course. Meanwhile, I have to run to Walmart tonight to buy more tissues because I'm using them up like a crazy woman!


Improvements:
- 40% of food tastes meh, 50% of food tastes okay, 10% of food tastes rank.

- No Improvements:
- Sporadic sleeping still happening. (I was up from 2:30 - 3:30 this morning, just because.)
- I still have thrush. (It's been a week since I took the latest Diflucan dose, mouth was still bleeding this morning, and even I noticed the white spots on my tongue today. <sigh>)
- Back of tongue still swollen. (Although even I have noticed that's it's gone down even more!)
- I'm still not producing spit.  (Sucking on mints and citrus candy really is helping though!)
- Garbled talking. (Still improving daily. I think I'm even laughing without covering my mouth every single time.)
- Bullfrog effect still going on. (Some days this is worse than others. I think it's dependent on salt intake as well as other factors.)
- Hair is still falling out. (I can totally see the bald spots where I would have sideburns if I was a dude. On the bright side, I can also see fine, baby hair growing in.)

That's it on the health front. Ready for some fun stuff? The Brewfest was a blast! I made two new friends, Beth and Jhewels. We all headed over to Dinosaur after the fest and listened to some blues played live by Joe Beard. Good stuff! There was some crazy, young kid from Buffalo at the bar who had us all out there dancing with him. So much fun! Patilda really was sick so I didn't end up getting to see her. She's supposed to be in Rochester this weekend though so she might be popping over on Sunday to give me a hug and say 'hi'. That's actually my only plan for this weekend. I was hoping that I was going to get a play date with my new, 6 year old friend, Dimitri but I haven't heard back from his mom, Amanda yet. I don't want to push her either because I don't want to come across as creepy, childless chick! Ha! Oh! And of course I'll be seeing my cutey patooty, as Patilda refers to him, on Friday night. Hmmmm......just in case he reads this I might want to swap out cutey patooty for stud muffin or man candy or Captain hottie.............