It's been a while...

It's been a little over a year since my past post, and what a year it has been.  I think this has been the most difficult year of my life in many ways.  The school year started with many changes that stressed me out and continued throughout the year.  

Then, Sandy hit.  Most of you, I'm sure, know that our house was flooded.  I left with the dogs, and came home to this:

This is about 9 hours after the storm had passed.  I couldn't drive to our house, because the roads were only passable by boat (not joking!).  I had to park a few blocks away, and trudged through the water to get to my home.  It was surreal.  I wish I had thought to take video of me making my way home.  It felt like a war zone.  You would drive down a block and eventually hit a tree, power lines, or water, and would have to turn around and find another way.  It was like a huge maze, you had to find the one clear path.

Our house, luckily, is built up on our property, but the historical storm surge was just too much.  The water only came in about an inch or two, but that was enough.  Between the corrosive salt water, spilled water tanks, sewage, etc., we knew it was going to be a mess.

The rest of the year was spent arguing with insurance companies, banks, and contractors, and we're still not done.  The silver lining is that our house will be pretty much brand new, but I haven't been able to see that positive aspect yet.  Maybe when we are done with everything, I will be able to breathe.

Between work, the storm, and life in general, I can honestly say that I became depressed.  A few doctors suggested that I go on medication, but I didn't because I'm stubborn.  I probably should have.  I didn't want to be social, I ate lots of crap, and just shut down.  And I didn't care.

This all brings me to this week.  I knew I had to wake up, I knew I gained a lot of weight, but I really just didn't care enough to do anything about it.  Until now.  I finally got on the scale yesterday, and I can't believe how much weight I put on.  For the first time in my blogging journey, I am not going to post my weight, because I'm just so embarrassed.  

Instead of further beating myself up about it, I'm going to use it as incentive to get my butt back in gear!  Back to the gym I went, and out to the grocery store right after.  I forgot how much less it costs to buy healthy food then processed garbage.  My cart was full of produce and lean proteins, and I was sure it was going to be another $80 trip to the store, as many of my pasts trips have been.  It was half that, $40!  And so much good food!

To my friends who stood by me during this difficult year:  Thank you!  Thank you for understanding, helping, and supporting me.  We will be having a big party once the house is done!!!

So, the adventure begins again.  I'm back!!!