Three is a magic number

Yesterday was my 3rd rebirth-day, as my husband calls it. The anniversary of my surgery and the day my life changed forever. Changing for the better every day!

Erich and I went to Stratford and took a relaxing boat tour of the Avon River. It was a beautiful day and strolling around the water watching the swans was what I needed after a week of very intense work-related stress. Celebrating low-key.

My other re-birthday gift to myself was signing up for my first 10K. I think I'm ready for a new challenge. My knees - with braces on them both - held out pretty well for the Father's Day 5K. So I'm gearing up for the Minds in Motion K-W Walking Classic on September 23. Yes, I will walk it. For some reason, people tend to make you feel badly for not running. I'm taking baby steps here - my knees thank me for it. There was also a half marathon option but nope. Not yet. Sorry!!

I posted this picture on Facebook yesterday morning and had such an overwhelming response of support from my awesome friends and family. The photo on the left was taken in December, 2008 - two months before my first visit to the surgeon in Detroit. The pic on the right was taken on Father's Day this year during the 5K I participated in for prostate cancer awareness and research.



I've said it before, but I bear no ill will to the woman on the left. She was brave and strong enough to save herself and I am grateful to her. I'm not one of those people who cringe at my 'before' photos. I still don't really recognize the woman on the right. I know it's me, but it still doesn't seem like me.

Three years seems like a long time yet it also seems like yesterday. I've learned a lot. A lot about me and those around me. Here are the top three things I know to be true:

3. I am stronger than I think I am. Who would've ever thought I could do this? Certainly not me. I mean, I wouldn't have started it if I didn't want it but I have been successful beyond my own expectations and surprised myself with my fabulous-ness!!

2. Support is the most important ingredient to inspiration and therefore, success. When you think you can't go on, there will be someone, somewhere, to let you know YOU CAN. You will. You must. It could be your partner, parent, child, friend, a stranger on tv or in a magazine. Someone. Support comes from unexpected sources, let me tell you, as does apathy. You might learn who really has your back and who doesn't; I sure did.

1. The journey never ends. It just goes on and morphs into something different as time goes by. The new normal is you being healthy, positive, looking out for yourself. Taking care of yourself. Goals are important - maintenance itself can be a goal but for me, I'm learning I need new challenges. New reasons to push myself to maintain health. Hence the 10K signup.

Let's toast to Three. It's a magic number! :)

Three is a magic number

Well, I went clothes shopping yesterday. Kinda by accident. You see, I was just going in to "look". Mm-hm. Isn't that usually how it goes?

Actually, I went in to see what kind of sweaters they had. Yes, you read that correctly. Any of you who know me personally know Cindy is never cold. Never. But lately, I am freezing my ever-shrinking ass off at work in the air conditioning. My arms and fingers are numb. I'm thinking of wearing those fingerless gloves kids sport at the McDonald's drive-thru in January. I have one sweater and it's so big on me that it looks like it was tailored to fit Andre' the Giant or something. So I need a new one.

I haven't been to Pennington's (kinda like Canadian Lane Bryant) for a long time and it's usually a frustrating experience. I go in fairly optimistic; after all, it's a plus-size store. Ok. So. I've mentioned my usual pre-op shopping experiences in previous blogs. I would take a few items of the biggest size they carry (6x) into the dressing room and maybe come out with one. Mostly none. Everything is too short or doesn't fit right. Especially the cool stuff.

Why is it that old-lady clothes seem to be made "bigger" than cool stuff?? You take a huge-flowery-patterned caftan like Mrs. Roper would wear and holy hell it fits (or is too big)! A super-cool, rock-star-worthy trendy blouse in the same size and I can't get it over my left boob. It's a little infuriating. But I digress.

So anyway...all the sweaters in that place were $50 (!!!). Um, no. Not even happening a little bit. However, they're having a sale on t-shirts. EEEEEE! As I said before, I'm a t-shirt girl. Comfy is my motto. Now, these are not Hanes-style t-shirts. They are 'dressy t-shirts' as my husband calls them. Nice. I'm immediately drawn to a gold one. Also, I notice my eyes zero in on the "6x" tabs at the tops of the hangers. It's automatic and out of habit. In the past, I wouldn't even look at a style that didn't have that little tab. No point, right? Well, yesterday I had to stop and tell myself not to focus on that as I was sure a 6x would be too big. I would start with the 5's. Yes. I'm still not confident enough to say off the top of my head 'Give me the 4x!' although I probably should be at this point.

I know by now most of you are freaked out that I'm rejoicing in the 4x when you can't even imagine ever being that big. Well, lemme tell ya, I have 7x's in my closet. Everything is made differently, but yes. I do. So the 4 is goooood. Very good.

I keep looking and find another totally super cool, amazing t-shirt! The kind of t-shirt that should be worn to a rock concert or something! WHOO-HOO! I have coveted this kind of shirt for years. They have a 5x! WHOO-HOO again! It's made very small (as expected) but maybe...just maybe I can get into it. I take it and the gold shirt into the dressing room.

The super-cool shirt fits perfectly. WHOO-HOO a third time!! I am so happy because this shirt wouldn't have covered said left boob six months ago, no matter what the size tag says. YAY!

The gold shirt, however, is wayyyy too big. Like, clownish. Holy crap. I ask the saleslady to get me a 4x. Um....wow! Too big. I cannot believe what I'm about to say: "Excuse me, but can you get me a 3?" Even the 3 is plenty roomy, especially at the top. I'm tempted to try on a 2 but decide not to push my luck. This shirt has to be big for its size but I don't give a shit. It's a 3x - I have to buy it!

So I leave with both shirts. I call Erich and squeal like a dork "I just bought a 3x shirt!!" LOL! I haven't had a 3x shirt since my early college days. I was probably about 20 years old or younger.

I'm a happy girl today! Let's hear it for three! YAY THREE!!