Hello! I'm Jenn, and this is my blog. I'm 25 years old, I'm a wife, lover, mother, friend, freelance writer, blogger, photographer, and so much 
So Dan and I took in a stray cat. Or should I say, I took in a stray cat, and Dan agreed to us keeping him. But he was the one who initially found him, last night. He went to take some trash out the front door (rather than the back, because of all of the damn snow) and found the cat on the other side, standing on his hind legs, front legs outstretched, paws on the screen door, meowing to get in. He called me over and I tried to coax him inside, but Leah and Max kept coming over, and he wound up running off (even though he was definitely interested in coming inside!). Well, this afternoon I was in my kitchen when I heard some incessant meowing. I opened up the back door, and there he was, standing on the railing behind the door. I did the standard “psst, psst, here kitty” coo, and right over to me he came. He let me pick him up, and I brought him inside and put him in the bathroom with some food and water.
Anyway, his name is Ares. Dan chose the name, based on something-something-something with the god of war and the planet Mars and the fact that the cat is an orange tabby… I forget. I’ll ask Dan to repeat his story of inspiration tomorrow, and then let you know. Heh. I’m not sure how old he is, but based on the length of his legs and general gawkiness, and the fact that he’s alive (most strays don’t live beyond three years of age), I’m guessing around a year, maybe a little younger? He’s relatively clean, though he has some flea debris in his fur (I’m going to bathe him after I get him vaccinated), and Dan found a thorn in the bathroom sink, where he spent most of the afternoon sleeping. He’s not neutered, so that’s definitely something I’ll be taking care of ASAP. He’s very friendly, and took to myself and the kidlets right away. When Dan came home from work he was more than happy to receive several pets and a chin rub from him, too. And wow, can he purr!
I’m going to take him to our veterinarian this week for a quick microchip scan (even though I’m 99% certain he’s a stray, and not someone’s pet), vaccinations, and neutering. I’ll then bathe him, so he’ll be nice and clean and smelling like the other cats and the house.
So we’re up to five cats (all boys), one dog (female; when it comes to cats I highly prefer males, but with dogs I’m all about the girls), three hermit crabs, two water frogs and a snail. Throw in the four of us, and it’s seriously like a zoo on some days!
I weighed in this morning at 231 lbs., which is exactly 100 lbs. less than the 331 lbs. I started at last April. To say I’m feeling good is an understatement. I feel like I’m floating on cloud nine. I’m still a “fat ass”, as someone recently called me in a comment on That Fat Chick, but definitely not as big of a fat ass as I was this time a year ago!
CRAP. So I was sitting here eating a gummi bear, and was just about to start writing out a blog entry when I noticed something crunchy in my mouth. As it turns out, it was a part of a tooth. To be specific, one of the molars on the top left side of my mouth. The same one that chipped on the outside four and a half years ago. At that time it was cleaned out (the filling from a cavity that was repaired when I was nine years old had dropped out, which caused both an infection and the chipping of the tooth) and re-filled. I’m not sure what made the tooth weaken and chip on the inside, but it did. It doesn’t hurt, but I’m seriously freaking out here. 
I’m calling my dentist first thing Monday morning so I can get this fixed, ASAP.
Anyway, tooth drama aside, I am seriously tired. It has been a LONG week, and me and my polarized sunglasses have been on the run every single day of it. On Monday I picked up Jason and took him to the hospital for his surgery, and spent about seven hours waiting until he was out of surgery and recovery, and conscious enough to see his family and I. Later that evening I ran around and did a few errands with my mom. On Tuesday I did some more errands with my mom, picked up my contact lenses from my optometrist, and then Dan and I went over to the hospital to spend some time with Jason. Wednesday: more errands, and several more hours spent with Jason. Thursday: went over to my mom’s house to enjoy a 2-hour “home visit” with my brothers, was then asked to take them back to their foster parents — an hour away (grr). Did another quick errand, met up with my youngest brother’s foster mom to drop off a toy car he had forgotten in my car, and then dragged my tired self home — at 8:30pm. Friday: bank, lunch with Dan and the kids, a quick trip to the mall and to the grocery store, over to the hospital to pick up Jason and take him home, home with the kids for dinner, then back out to pick up Dan from work (I dropped him off today so I could have the car; my car went from perfectly-functioning-brakes to you’re-braking-against-the-rotors-stupid), over to Jason’s apartment to pick him up (it’ll be better if he spends a few days with us while he’s recovering), a quick run into Giant for the necessary ingredients for tacos (for tomorrow night), a quick stop at McDonalds, and then home.
Whew. So yes, it has been a long, long week. I apologize if you have emailed, DMed or IMed me and I haven’t yet gotten back to you. Needless to say, I haven’t spent a lot of time on my laptop this week!
And with that said, goodnight! I look forward to waking up tomorrow morning, since it’ll be the start of a weekend that I fully intend on spending at home! 
Three months ago today I had my gastric bypass surgery. It was Wednesday, November 18th, 2009, and I was nervous and excited as hell. I was able to sleep for a few hours the night before, popped up at 4:00am and was ready to go within a half hour. I cried before we even left the house. After that I kept myself together, but according to Dan I started panicking when they wheeled me out of pre-op and took me down the hallway to the operating room. I don’t remember that, thanks to the oh-so-awesome anti-anxiety meds they doped me up with, but I do remember entering the OR, transferring to the operating room table, and tearing up when my surgeon leaned over me and gave me a hug. I begged to be put out, and all I remember after that is the oxygen mask being placed on my face. When I next opened my eyes, I was in recovery, and it was all over.
I weighed 286.6 lbs. on the morning of my surgery. Today I weigh 233 lbs.. I’ve lost 53.6 lbs. since surgery, and 98 lbs. altogether.
In pre-op.
The next day.
One week post-op.
Two days ago.
I have exactly 73 lbs. to go until I reach my goal weight of 160 lbs.! Whoo!
Right now I’m eating a bit of a chicken enchilada as fast as I dare (no need to tempt the stomach gods into causing an uprising, literally) while I wait for my mom to get here. She’s picking up Alyssa, Ryan and I, and then the four of us are going over to the hospital to visit my lover best friend, Jason. He has been having major low platelet issues for months, and after speaking to a few surgeons and doctors, opted to have his spleen removed. His splenectomy was yesterday morning. I was up at 4:45am so I could pick him up at 5:45am and get him over to the hospital by 6:00am. He was in surgery by 7:30am, and out by a little after 11. He was in recovery for about two hours, and then transferred to the ICU. His mom, dad, sister and I spent the seven or so hours waiting in a large waiting room (complete with free & reliable wifi! And comfy chairs! And a spiffy conference table! Can you tell that I spent the morning working? LOL), and then we were able to see him around 1:30pm. He was pretty groggy and grumpy from surgery, but I don’t think anyone is at their best after anesthesia and abdominal surgery.
I spoke to him last night and twice this morning, and he sounded a million times better. Of course, having water and a pain pump definitely helped with that! I would have gone to see him early this morning, except I was so tired from running on just 3.5 hours of sleep yesterday that I crashed last night at 9:00pm, and slept until 9:30am this morning. Then I had to wait until he was moved from the ICU to an actual room, since kids under 12 aren’t allowed in the ICU, and Dan is working today until 7:30pm.
Anyway, my mom just called my cell, so she’s either here or almost here. Bye!
