Wish me luck

There's nothing like an up-coming medical procedure to create a period of introspection.

For those who don't know, in less than a week I'm having a total shoulder replacement. There are several websites that discuss the procedure, like this one, and this one has an annimation. There are others out there but you'll get the idea.

Anyway, I decided, after working late this evening on the huge project we are in the middle of (and will be for a few months), that I should take myself out to dinner. I haven't done that in a couple months (or more) and have discovered increased savings. (I have also discovered that not buying fiber [yarn] also increases one's monetary holdings.) Ironically, I was also reading a book called Half-Assed, a weight-loss memoir, by Jennette Fulda. She also has a very nice blog.

Her book is incredibly easy-to-read and thought-provoking. A friend had told me about Jennette's blog months ago when we were discussing our mutual weight problems. I looked at the blog a couple times but wasn't that interested in it. It was a slow-motion study of Jennette's weight-loss program. I mean, I don't expect many people to be interested in my blog. I certainly can't be expected to read everyone else's blogs religiously. (Well, there is the yarn harlot. But that's different.)

I teach tai chi chuan at Chinatown Tai Chi Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, and at first it was a weight-loss program of sorts. I lost a little and gained a lot of muscles. But then I figured out how to eat enough to make up for it. Then a couple months ago, the most wonderful young woman started taking classes. She bicycles 20 miles every day (or something like that) and we got to talking about weight loss. She's lost 50+ pounds since January. I mentioned Jennette's website and the book I knew Jennette had written. Turns out my student bought the book and read it in 2 days! And, she let me borrow it.

I'm inspired. I don't know how well I'll do at weight loss. I have no idea how much extra weight a stainless steel arm bone will add. But I've been eating more healthy food for some time and now it's time to pick up my feet and get moving. Wish me luck.

But first, the surgery.