Who, What and Why

Hello, My name is Melena.  My daughter Amelia helped me to start this blog. I have been thinking for a while about whether I had anything worth reading that I wanted to put out into the universe.  So now here it is New Years Eve 2012 and I have decided to put my toe in the water of blogging.

What I hope to accomplish is to give insight into two pieces of my world.  These things are Weight Loss Surgery and Texas Hold'em.   I realize these things seem completely unrelated, however they are both big parts of who I am. 

I chose the name for my blog based on both of these influences.

Queen 10 is my favorite hand in Texas Hold'em.  For those who aren't familiar with the game you are dealt two cards at the beginning and this is your starting hand.  A Queen and a 10 together are my "favorite" starting hands.  More later on what that means in the game and why not everyone would choose that hand.  I also have Queen10 as my personalized license plate on my car.  I love to talk about poker, play poker and read about poker.

Rises Again has to do with my recent weight loss surgery.  Two weeks ago today I had a Laproscopic Gastric Sleeve procedure to assist with a goal of 100 pound weigh-loss.  At my pre-op appointment I weighed 260 lbs. My husband Phil gave me new socks for Christmas that have a phoenix on them, I didn't get it at first and then he said because my new body will be rising from the ashes of my current one.  I loved the image of this and embraced "rises again".   I have been overweight since I was 12 years old and I have no idea what life will look like thinner and will likely experience many things along the way.  I love making and eating food, and talking about food and this will be my new outlet for that.

I hope you enjoy reading this and that I enjoy writing it.  That's the real goal. Welcome.