Sounds deep, doesn't it?  Well it is in big and small ways.

Abandoning Art

In small ways – I've recently falling in love with a movement started by Michael DeMeng and his wife Andrea Matus DeMeng called ART ABANDONMENT.  There is a group on Facebook for it.  http://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtAbandonment/.  The idea is to make a piece of art and leave it to be found.  Here are a few pieces that have been sprinkled about my town.

a 9×9 mixed-media canvas/collage with watercolors and Pan Pastels:

a 9×12 canvas board mixed-media hybrid collage with colored pencil acrylics and enamel:

a handmade journal:

the last piece shown hanging from a little tree outside of the library.

The idea is to print out a little tag / note with it that says something like this…

This is a gift secretly placed among everyday items
simply for you to discover and enjoy.

Let us know you found it:

ArtAbandonment@groups.facebook.com

Art Abandonment encourages artists to leave art in various
locations around the globe for a person, like you, to find.

I don't really identify myself except for posting my abandonments on the FB group.

It's that simple.  Join in the fun!

Abandoning the Weight 
In big ways my life is changing too.  My kids are growing up.  Middle School and High School this year.  How did that happen?  In all the time I've had the kids though, I've always been overweight.  It wasn't always this way.  Here's a Madonna moment for you – back in the 80s…

Yes, that is me.  And although I know I will probably never weigh that much again… it sure would be nice if it were recognizable.

I have tried every weight loss diet and gimmick I can fathom.  And nothing works.  I'm always hungry and I never feel full.

So I decided to focus on making small health changes first. 

Something lifestyle for me was kicking the caffeine habit.  I made the switch from Diet Coke to Caffeine Free Diet Coke.  Doesn't seem like much, does it?  But believe me it was.  And then I thought, why not kick the diet soda habit altogether?  I mean, what is really the point of Caffeine Free Diet Coke?  Seriously?!  So out it went.

I gave up on my vanity and made an eye doctor appointment.  I'm now the proud owner of a pair of lineless tri-focals.  I can see!  This makes a huge impact on my jewelry-making abilities.

You don't know this, but seven years ago I was denied by my insurance for weight-loss surgery.  It was devastating.  I didn't get it.  And it actually made me give up in a way.  And the weight gain just kept happening.

Then my sister passed away unexpectedly in October.  And I pretty much pulled in the reins and focused on my nest.  I kept thinking about how I was spending my time.  Precious time that I have to live my life.  It was time to make some changes.

I got my studio in order.  You can see it here!

I became a soccer Mom in every possible sense of that word.  I got into my kids activities and became more present in their lives.  But still, I wanted to lose this weight and it wasn't working.

So I lucked out.  They say that people are put in your life for a reason.  A friend paved the way for me.  She told me that she was having a weight loss surgery.  And I listened to the different options that she was looking at.  A procedure I had never heard of before – Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, sounded like the most perfect solution I could have ever hoped for.

VSG is different than a gastic bypass (or RNY).  They don't re-route anything and it isn't mal-absorbtive, so you get all the nutrients in your food.  Essentially they remove a large portion of your stomach, and the remaining stomach resembles a sleeve in its shape.  A large portion of the stomach is removed, and this portion is responsible for making the hormone, Ghrelin, which I actually call 'Growling'.  It is the hormone that signals, "I'm Hungry!".  And for me, getting rid of it would be great.  I'm always hungry and I never feel full.  These two problems are solved by VSG.  No more annoying hormone production and a smaller stomach to fill.  Voila!

Fast forward to several months of visiting with a nutrionist, my doctor, lots of blood work and physicals, EKG, chest X-ray — you name it.  I'm basically very lucky.  I'm a healthy girl, but I'm very overweight.  My heart and lungs are working for two people.  My back and joints are complaining about it too but not loudly, yet.

Lucky for me my insurance agreed this time around.

So I've been on a pre-op diet for the last two weeks and starting a clear-liquids diet today.  I've never had a problem sticking to a diet for a couple of weeks.  But beyond that?  Never worked for me. 

I'm going in for my surgery on Monday morning.  Do you know what it feels like to look forward to a Monday?  Now I do.  Because I have hope.  I know this is going to work.  And I feel in control for once.

That's the plan. 

I wasn't sure that I was going to share this part of my life outside of my immediate family.  But then I thought about what would have happened if my friend hadn't told me what she was doing?  If I'd never heard of this procedure?  And that made the decision something that I had to share.

Thanks for reading.