Still Waiting....

Word from Iraq is that Ben is still en route homewards. He left his "base camp" for the out-processing station on Tuesday, and due to weather and other delays, we're looking at possibly a Monday ETA. Poor guy hasn't had a shower since Tuesday because of water shortages in the place he's staying.

I expect at the moment (Saturday evening) he is either in the air, or has landed in Kuwait, and awaits his paperwork and briefings before boarding a flight to Germany.....maybe late tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll run into some extra water while waiting overnight in Kuwait. :)

Violet and I are staying mostly sane.....I'm cleaning everything in sight, buying tons of food for my poor starving husband, and we both break into spontaneous song, and spend time talking about "Da-Da" and pointing to, stroking, and kissing his picture.

I wanted to insert here that I've reached a major milestone in my Quest for baby-weight-loss. I have reached my pre-wedding weight of 130 pounds!! :) :) The last 8 pounds were super-tough to get off, but they were the difference between not being able to wear my favorite jeans...and BEING ABLE TO WEAR THEM! :) I'm pretty happy, and feeling quite healthy. Credit where credit is due, however. The exercising and healthy diet only took me so far in my post-pregnancy Fat War. I was strong, healthy, and still a bit chubby in the waist. When I got really desperate at 137 pounds and just staying there, I started taking Hoodia, an herbal diet pill that "tricks" your hypothalmus into thinking you're just not hungry. The reason, I think, this was so key for me was that while breastfeeding, I ate like a horse, was always hungry, and consumed about 5 meals a day. One I quit breastfeeding, it was nearly impossible to just shrink my diet back to a normal, not-very-active person's diet.

The hoodia helped to keep me feeling full on reasonable portions of healthy food, and once I quit taking it, I was able to keep my plate from overflowing (and my waistline). It just helped me over that impossible transition from "breastfeeding eating habits" back to normal eating habits. So, for those of you out there who are dealing with baby flab, too---give hoodia a try. There were absolutely NO side effects, and I felt totally satisfied, not jittery or faint with hunger. I made sure that I put something in my mouth 3 times a day (if only a piece of toast, an apple, and some milk), whether I felt hungry or not, and was very careful especially not to snack after dinner at night, as it has that specific warning on the package.

Anyhow, here I am, happily thinned out, ready to fatten up my husband in a couple days when he gets home. Now, if only he'd get here......