Hallelujah!

As we close out 2011 and look forward to a new year, I can’t help but be excited. I mean really, look how great 2010 was! I turned 40…and had a fabulous family and friends filled birthday party, I’m real real close to finishing up this PhD, I’ve reconnected with old friends, I had my stomach ripped out (in a good way), I’ve lost 63 lbs…and that’s just a synopsis since August!  If I could remember anything from before that I’d share it too (damn brain surgery).

So, as we look forward, I can’t wait!  Like I’ve said before, I know the weight is going to slow down…especially as I start eating “real” food (I ate a taco yesterday….or part of one…I was so excited!).  I’ve lost at least 5 inches in my waist…and that’s just from when I started measuring! It’s just crazy.  I have my New Year’s Eve outfit picked out and it’s a combo of old clothes that fit again and a new shirt that I bought that was too small when I bought it and fits now! Can you hear the Hallelujah chorus (watch the video below...way cool!)  right now??  Yep, 2012 is gonna be a great year! 

My resolutions for 2012: I will get this PhD in 2012.  It’s time. I’m over it and it’s time.  That is one of my biggest goals this year! The sooner the better in my book! I’m just ready!!!  And the best part is that I won’t have to get a plus size gown when I graduate!  Woo woo woo!!!  In the meantime, I’m teaching the “Intro to Autism” class at SFA (online) this spring, which I’m very excited about. I get to create the class from scratch! While this means more work, it also means that I get to do whatever I want! Rest assured that every power point will have videos from Big Bang Theory embedded into them!  Sheldon gives us a lot of material to work with!

As this will be my last blog of 2011, I just want to thank each and every one of you for coming here, for supporting me, and for being my friend!  I feel like I have my own little support group and cheering squad in my back pocket! I know that I can come here and say what I need to say for me and know that you guys are going to read it and be empathetic and entertained at the same time!  That makes me happy!  I’ve told several people that this blog has been therapeutic for me and it really has.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are benefits of heading to the support groups that the Dr. hosts, but right now this blog is the best support group I can have.  I don’t know that I’ve ever been this candid and honest.  Maybe because it’s in writing and I’m not having to say it out loud.  I can’t imagine sitting around a table with a bunch of other people, even those who are going through the same thing, and saying the things I say here.  I have so much to celebrate…and so far to go…and so much to bitch about…and so much to be grateful for…and clearly so much to say!!  Thank you all for listening…

I hope you all have a safe and fabulous New Years and I’ll see you all in 2012! (Wow…2012…that sounds so weird!)

~Stacey, The Incredible Shrinking Woman (as Alison at work calls me!)