Have a wonderful time NovaChild!

Jen, the problem is that she has curled up right against the screen door to my pool area. I would bring her into that area but I can't get to the door. She gets very agitated when she is approached. It just makes me sick. If animal control doesn't get here soon I will try and lure her away from the door with food then open the door.

Of course my dog is going nuts with her outside too.

Thanks, Laura!

Once I actually have some sort of grasp of what exactly is going on during my New York weekend, I may try to arrange some sort of dinner thingy for either Sunday or Monday night. Meet some NYCistas. Since it seems very likely I'll be living there in a few months, might as well start building bridges now.

Though a meeting with ANY Buffistas that doesn't involve DebetEsse would be so weird, after three different encounters (on two sides of the country).

I might need to re-think this whole Florida plan.

No!!! Long sleeved white garments to protect you from the sun will work. A parasol perhaps. The problem with Orlando is the lack of breeze. We are quite windy most of the time because we are so close to the ocean. Orlando not so much.

When I was in Colorado I was starved for oxygen most of the time. I had to sit down from the task of walking a few feet. Blah. People who are not accustomed to the Florida air think they need to use knife and fork to prepare it for breathing.

I'm not being encouraging am I? It will work out, we just might need to get some hunky cabana boys to spritz you with cool water and feed you frozen grapes.

Oh, poor puppy. I hope the puppy calms down enough for you to lure it inside.

Reason eleventy-four why I like my job: when I mentioned to my manager that I needed to leave early today, she said "I only came into the office to make an appearance. If you want to leave at 3, I can give you a lift home."

Hm, I just spoke to my dad. He is morbidly obese, and it looks like he's going to begin the consultations to get into a bariatric(???) program- stomach bypass procedure. Anyone know anything about this, or anyone who's done it?

I'm trying to imagine my dad as normal sized. Weird! (trying to remember if any of you have seen Big Mike at parties or other gatherings. He was at my 30th)

Nora, a very good friend of mine went through gastric bypass surgery. She documented the whole process here: [link]

Nora, a friend of mine had a bypass procedure, don't know the name. It was not the more minor one, but the big surgery kind. It pretty much saved her life. She has 3 small children and at her size she couldn't keep up at all. She was probably 300ish and now is maybe 120. She melted away in front of my eyes.

It is tough. Huge restrictions on what and how she could eat. More than worth the effort. She indicated 2 requirements. 1) This is a last resort when all else fails. 2) You have to really want to do this.

In short, she is very happy she made the huge effort.

My cousin had the surgery done recently. They did some kind of new procedure so it wasn't as invasive as it used to be.

She's doing great, as soon as she lost about 30lbs she started working out and going to Curves. I'm not sure what her total weight loss is to date, but she looks fantastic.

Anyone know anything about this, or anyone who's done it?

Herself just had this recently. She's written a lot about it in her LJ.

Nicole -- I'm going to second Laura's recommendation for an umbrella or parsol, I saw a lot of people using them last year around campus. Light colored loose fitting clothes are great. Dresses might be more comfortable as well.