KateMalcolm
My name is Kate, I am 39 years old and live in the Tampa Bay Region with my husband Chad (43) and our son Quinn (8). I am the youngest of five children born to my parents who are still married today. I grew up in a very small town in Vermont and then moved to Burlington to go to college. I obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Spanish Education with a broad field minor in Sociology from the University of Vermont. I met my husband when I was 24 and we were married 3 years later. Three years after getting married we had our son and bought our first home. I returned to work in early childhood education and brought Quinn to work with me for the first two years of his life. We decided to move to Florida to live closer to my parents when Quinn was 2. I took a job as a social worker in the Florida Foster Care System. I worked at this job for four years and then left to work for a private agency. My husband has been working as a special education teacher for grades kindergarten through 2nd grade and Quinn is now in the 2nd grade at a private Catholic school. Generally, my life is how I want it with the exception of my weight. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be one of those stay at home soccer moms who I see at my son's school in tennis shorts and a t-shirt in their luxury SUV's coming to pick up their 4 or more kids after having a day at the spa with their friends, but I am able to be happy with what I've got. My weight has always been the one thing about my life that I would change without question. I have been overweight most of my life and it has determined who I am in so many ways that someone who has never had to struggle with their weight would never understand. I am pursuing WLS for hundreds of reasons, the most important is to be healthy, but I so look forward to defining myself as who I am, who I REALLY am on the inside, rather than going along with the definition that has always seemed to catch up to me, no matter how hard I try to loose it. I have always been the short, fat girl. From here on out, I am redefining myself as the short woman who values being a mom above all else, who is a dedicated wife who honestly believes that marriage is forever. I am the advocate for children who works hard to ensure that children know that someone cares about them and that they have the potential to succeed. I am the perfectionist Type A personality who is learning to let go of the small stuff. I am the crafty and creative person who is inspired by green and organic living. I AM KATE!
