Monday 31 August 2009: Here's 2009, 2007, 2006 and 2005. No 2008 from this particular day!

Today 31 August 2009.
By the way, I went to the "Obesitas Centrum" in Kortrijk today (could they have chosen a worse name other than maybe "Fat-People-R-Us"???!!!!) and I plan/hope to lose at least 9 kilos (20 pounds) by diet alone (and very light, back-friendly exercise)! Can I do it or can't I, folks? The race starts now! If you see me snacking, smack me!
My daughter starts the 5th grade tomorrow!!!!! So I'll have some 1st day of school photos for sure tomorrow. And I start my new job! The 1st of September is always a day of new starts! It's exciting (and scary) all at the same time!
Two years ago on 31 August 2007!
Three years ago on 31 August 2006.
4 years ago on 31 August 2005.

INTERMEZZO WITH HEIDI'S YMA AND SARAH'S AYLA - from 30 August 2009

YMA




AYLA

IT'S FACE THE DAY WITH HEIDI AND SARAH'S FOUR YEAR BIRTHDAY!!!!!! TAKE A LOOK AT THE LAST 5 YEARS IN A ROW!!!! MY HOW WE CHANGED!!! FUN!! FUN!! FUN!

There we are today, 30 August 2009 starting our 5th year at Face the Day with Heidi and Sarah! We may not keep it up as much as we did in the past as life has changed a lot for both of us but we do our best to update it now and then. It's fun for us to look back whenever we want!

There we are one year ago and one day on 29 August 2008 looking fresh and alive! Via this link you can see what we were up to back then. Life was very different. So much has changed!
And there we are two years ago today on 30 August 2007 looking shirt-haired and not that great! Use this link to check back to what was happening with us two years ago.
And there we are above three years ago on 30 August 2006 looking pregnant (heidi) and fat (me). Via this link you can see more about that day three years ago in our lives!
And there we are on our first day of this particular blog, 4 years ago on 30 August 2005 right after our other one that we had started in April 2005 got hacked and disappeared! We looked younger but we both think we look as good or even better today! Via this link you can see exactly where and how Face The Day with Heidi and Sarah began 4 full years ago in 2005!!! Now we can have flashbacks that will include 5 photos from the consecutive years every time! Even if this blog stops or changes, we promise to at least take a photo every end of August for as long as we can!

Saturday 29 August 2009: Sarah celebrates the last days of summer with a BBQ and lots of good food before the real diet starts!

Good food today at BBQ at my in-laws house. Yum! Monday I go to diet center so today's meal might have been my last caloric one and I enjoyed every bit of it. One must enjoy at least one BBQ in the summer and the summer is almost done so!

Can't remember if I already posted about my visit to the doctor. Anyway - he said to be careful basically. He said dieting / losing weight won't help my back problem but will help my knees later on when my back problems come back as the knees kind of take over when the back pain kicks in. Less weight is better for the knees so less weight I must have! I'll do my best. Anything to postpone further back operations! He said I can walk a lot and swim and bike ride but the minute I have lower back pain I should lie down a bit and rest and de-swell the painful spot with heat and anti-inflammatories. As fr as sitting at a computer all day for work, I just have to make sure to take breaks and walk around during them and stretch.

Friday 28 August 2009: Sarah's off to the back doctor for a check-up! Fingers crossed!

Went to see Inglorious Bastards last night. LOVED IT! But I left the cinema with lower back pain so I wasn't happy about that! I have to go to the back doctor today for a check-up. I hope I'll be okay. I also have an appointment Monday at the obesity clinic for advice on how to lose weight. We'll see how that goes! I'll report back!

WATCH THIS SPACE BECAUSE WE STARTED THIS BLOG THE 30TH OF AUGUST 2005, WHICH MEANS WE'LL HAVE 5 YEARS IN A ROW OF PHOTOS TO LOOK BACK ON!!! :-)

Thursday 27 August 2009: Another day passes as Sarah rests her back, tries to lose weight and dilly-dallies around before real life starts again...

Hieidi came by to cut Ayla's hair in the afternoon so we were able to get the above photo! Ayla loved her hair, by the way! Heidi does a great job! She's got talent! Monday will be the last time for a while that I can go to the Monday market with Heidi and then get soup for lunch. I'll miss that! It's soon back to real life for me! Not that this hasn't been real life - it just has been a different sort of life. It's been good! I trust the future will be good too! :-)
Another day... Not much to say about it. Pretty much the same as yesterday but hungrier! I contacted a center today at the hospital that exists to help people lose weight. I am waiting to hear back and to make an appointment. I am trying on my own and it is way too hard without exercise! I am hardly eating and only eating good stuff. At first I lost some weight pretty fast, which is what tends to happen. Then it slowed down and now it's just not doing anything! I am trying to be really healthy about it all. That's why I am seeking help with it. I just hope they don't suggest liquid diets and all that. I still want to be able to enjoy food! I will try to be open-minded and I will keep my fingers crossed that finally I will lose weight, which will help my back I hope! If it does, that will make the journey of it all healthy! We'll see!
I think the above photo shows the exact same initial weight loss as a photo like this a couple of weeks ago. Started well but now just stuck at same level. Story of my life of weight loss. One day I hope it all clicks!

Wednesday 26 August 2009: Heidi makes herself up for a day full of searching a job and Sarah prepares for next week...

Heidi says: glad to be that far already. Now I just need to find something. If I can't get a temp job because of my pregnancy, then I will try to do several courses to improve my general knowledge. Then I will at least be able to put that on my CV...

This is the last week of resting by back. Nxt Monday lots of paperwork and next Tuesday I start my new job. I'm preparing a bit! The days pass and I do what I need to but mostly I do a whole lot of nothing as I have to make sure my back is in good order for next week and for this new chapter! I feel good and without pain and even sat a lot today and felt okay so that's all good!

Tuesday 25 August 2009: Sarah is hungry!

Just got my eyebrows done and now am waiting for lunchtime! I am HUNGRY!!! I am eating so little and at first it showed but now it's all going really slowly. I'll do anything to avoid back pain at this point so I really look forward to dropping pound after pound. It's about time! The question is if I will be able to lose some weight and then keep it off. I have cut all bad things our of my daily eating with the occasional cheat here and there. It's good but I am feeling really, really hungry today! It's time for lunch!

Monday 24 August 2009: HEIDI IS PREGNANT AND DUE MID-FEBRUARY!!!! Big news at Face The Day!

Heidi has a baby on board and Yma will have a little sister or brother as of mid-February!

CONGRATULATIONS HEIDI!!!!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday August 21, 22 and 23 2009: Sarah has a great weekend at home and in Kortrijk with friends...

That's me above on Sunday the 23rd of August! Just had brunch at my house with Steven, Tilly, Hilde and kids. It was really good! I ate too much though for someone on a diet! It's a self-made diet though, which means some cheating will happen for sure because I don't even know the rules of the diet! All I know is that it will be better for my back if I weigh less - and better for my general health as I get older so now is the time and as I have got this time at home it has been kind of easy to control what I eat and to eat a lot less. It's weekends that mess it all up though and it's the going out into the real world where there is stuff to eat everywhere - ahhh! But I am doing okay with it other than the brunch. I just hope I can keep it up! Right now the fruit is fresh and the sun is shining and it is really easy to eat just a little here and there of all this fresh and very good for you food. But what happens when the rain, dark and winter sets in???? We'll see!

Above you can see me and Tilly on Saturday the 22nd hanging out at a flea market in Kortrijk. This time my back hurt a lot less, which is a great sign - and I sold stuff and got more than Euro 50! Last time it was about Euro 36. It's great to get rid of old stuff this way. We give a lot of stuff away too but for now we are holding on to some of the stuff to try to sell it. We keep the money in a go-out-to-dinner-or-the-movies fund. That makes the whole flea-market thing more fun! The weather was great and the atmosphere too and it's nice to just sit there with the kids and with friends. We have one more to go in Wervik on the 20th of September. That's Tilly's hat in the photo, by the way. Not mine.

I took the above photo of me and Laurent Lampaert at Tilly's birthday celebration Friday night. I put this photo on here just in case Ine is still checking this blog from time to time. HI INE!!! Anyway - Laurent is my friend Ine's brother-in-law and he's also a friend of Tilly's (see above photo of her and me an flea market). She turned 36 Friday the 21st and Laurent was there too. I had heard about him and even wrote about him once on here after Ine's baby was born because he made a fantastic birth card (like a lottery ticket where you scratch something off and under you find the name of the baby - via this link and scrolling down to birthcard you can see it). Here's a link to his website (Nookyalur) if you are interested in his design and website work.

Friday 21 August 2009: Happy Birthday Tilly! And Sarah welcomes Ayla to Face The Day as they have spent two nice days together!

That's me and the kid today keeping each other company and happy! It's kind of nice to have all this down-time with her. We can be lazy and not feel guilty as rest for my back is necessary. We also have a walk together a day and today did the grocery shopping with the help of my bike - hanging all the bags on the bike and wheeling it home as I can't ride a bike yet thanks to my back. But we are getting the stuff we need to get done, done - just at our own lazy pace. This kid of mine is a real joy to have around. I am enjoying every second of her. She'll start the 5th grade in one week and she's growing so fast! I am treasuring these times together as this year will also go quickly no doubt and then next year and then she'll already be in the next level of school and a whole new school and almost a teenager! I wish she could stay 10 forever! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TILLY!!!

Thursday 20 August 2009: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SARAH'S DAD!

Just another day over here in Belgium - a hot, hot day. I took a walk again today - this time with my daughter - and I do feel it in my hips and back and knee, which pisses me off! Oh why oh why oh why.... Anyway - I just have to accept it and deal with it and welcome pain back into my daily life I guess. At least I had almost two pain-free years... Yep - that's me you hear feeling sorry for myself... It will pass!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Wednesday 19 August 2009: Heidi cuts Sarah's hair!

Heidi stopped by and cut and thinned my hair today! It was needed. I had a mop of heavy hair to reckon with. Did you know Heidi completed her first year of hairdressing studies and has two more years to go? It's great having a friend come over to your house to cut your hair. She also cuts my kid's hair. We are Heidi's guinea pigs. I am going for the "rocker chic" style - a least that is what it is called in the photo I showed Heidi. Good work Heidi!

My friend Valerie also came over for a couple of ours today - so for me it has been a very eventful day! We went for a walk to the center of Kortrijk and had a drink on a terrace and I am happy to report that my back feels quite okay. I am icing it as I write anyway -just to be safe because there is a minor ache - but all seems well today so that is encouraging! It's good to have visitors and to take walks! Good for my mind and body!

Tuesday 18 August 2009: Happy birthday Toni! Sarah is feeling restless and bored and yearns for some action and activity! Watch this space....

I am bored! Bored! Bored! Bored! Long to get up and out and turn back on and be active and have activity! This afternoon I will go to Bio Planet! I can't freaking wait! It's just a nature food shop but it sounds like a dream vacation to me at this point! I feel okay though I have to say I do have some back pain still. I need to get strong and then stronegr for my new job that will now bgin on the 1st of September instead of today. I have to start taking a walk each day! I will start today!

Watch this space and anticipate shrinkage! It's a must and it's already starting! At least there's that goal to keep me busy and healthy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONI!

Saturday, Sunday and Monday 15,16 and 17 August 2009: HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICO!!!! Here's a shot of Heidi and Sarah together again!

That's me above today, Monday the 17th of August. As you can see from my eyes, I am tired and in some pain again! I went out for a few hours yesterday just to get outside as I have been stuck inside for more than three weeks now! It was great to get out and all I did was walk a little and stand around - but that was enough to make me feel tired, a little bit in pain and very defeated. You just want to feel better fast and then when you do and then all of a sudden you don't again after doing hardly anything, well, it feels bad! It's just a minor setback and I should know better as this point. Rest, rest, rest. As I said - basically all I did was rest yesterday - just in another setting outside. But maybe the chair I sat in for a while or the short walk I took was too much to ask of my stupid back at this point. I should know the drill by now! It just takes time. I want to rush it all along!

There above you can see Heidi and me yesterday, Sunday the 16th of August. I was in Kuurne at a flea market and Heidi was there too - so I grabbed a photo of us together while I could! My husband and kid sold a lot of stuff at the flea market. They liked it so much they will try at another flea market next week and again one in September. We put the money earned in an -out-to-dinner fund for me, Tom and Ayla. That way, when the three of us want a dinner out together, we can use that money! Money well earned! :-)

And that's me above on Saturday tha 15th of August longing to get outside! The sun was shining and I was getting so fed up with being stuck inside! This week I will take some walks outside? It's time! If I keep resting then it will be harder and harder to move. That's the feeling I have anyway! But it's wrong! I can still take walks and rest. Calm walks! I need a mix of both rest and movement! I need the right balance, that's all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HEIDI'S NICO ON MONDAY THE 17TH OF AUGUST!!!!

Friday the 14th of August 2009: Sarah is back at Face the Day after her longest time ever staying away due to back problems!!!

That's me up there today, Friday the 14th of August, feeling quite good after three weeks of terrible back pain - one that took place at my friend Erika's apartment in New York and one that took place at the hospital back in Belgium. This last one has been spent at home resting. Today is the 2nd day I am finally off the pain pills and you can see it in my eyes above. I feel awake for the first time in three weeks. I have some back pain but mostly neck and shoulder pain right now from three weeks of being imobile. I need to take it easy for two more weeks and try to keep the hernia away. It seems to be okay now. Really okay. I don't know what they did in the hospital those 6 days but whatever it was, it worked!

Finally! Heidi and I are back on Face The Day together after not being on here in so long! Heidi stopped by. It was so nice to see her! At the hospital I didn't want to see anyone because I felt so weak and bad. Now I am in the mood to be human again! I have had some nice visits since I have been home. I hope to get a photo of Heidi and me on here together every now and then! The one above was taken on Tuesday the 11th of August I think or maybe Monday the 10th. Can't recall anymore. All the days have blurred into one!

Felt tired and in pain above. Probably right after I got home from hospital around the 12th of August. You can see it in my eyes.

Ice and pills helped but there was no stopping that pain! It was a whole lot better after the hospital stay though. That was sure a relief! I was so afraid that something went wrong with my prostheses between my L5 and S1. Instead it was just a hernia above in my L4-L5 that we knew would cause trouble eventually but only expected to be a bother in about 10 or so years from now. It came a little too soon. But now I know the warning signs, the things to avoid and what to do if this happens again. If it were to come back, there is pretty minor surgery available that can be a real help. I hope I can avoid that because I know down the road, when I am older as my back ages - that I'llneed other, more serious back operations so I would really like to avoid them right now!

The picture above is from the ER on the 1st of August, 2009. I had pretty much just had the worst planeride of my life - 7 terrible hours of sitting after a week of not sitting at all. I got home from New York and went straight to the ER. Soon after I got two IVs with pain meds...

I feel so much better now!

I had a great time in America and will post some photos of the trip one of these days though my family and friends got links to the photos already and those of you on Facebook can see photos there if you are interested!

That's all for today! Time to rest!

Sunday 9 August 2009: a swell party this was

Heidi says: Very last minute, we needed to Dj on Benenwerk for Radio Modern in Bruges this night from midnight to 2. It was a very nice party with lots of happy dancing people. And another occasion to dress up. I love dressing up!!!! I love the 40s, 50s and early 60s. This dress I am wearing is my Joan-dress. I named it after the Joan-character in Mad Men.