everything on my list

Let’s just say that even though Santa didn’t exactly pan out witheverything on  my list as requested, he really didn’t let me down either.  

•  That number on the scale?  Nope…didn’t get it…but in retrospect, that really wasn’t something Santa, his elves, or any of the reindeer could have pulled off anyway…probably more up “The Ghost of Christmas Past’s” alley...at least,...for now.
• The new gym?  Well…I live in a townhouse, so it wasn’t as if I could just add an extra room on!  ya know, the association formalities with rules and protocols and all…   Bah.  f’ing. Humbug. on them anyway…        (huh shelley?)
• New ipod…um yeah…got it!  Fully loaded?  Not so much…(Santa would have just put Christmas carols on there anyway)
• New metabolism? love for veggies?  Too soon to tell…will have to get back to you on those…I’m counting on it though…
• purses, perfume, clothes and gift cards abound not to mention a bunch of ipod accessories…there certainly was no sign that Ebenezer had any role in this year’s overindulgence

• and…. as for my revised list?  Well…like Tiny Tim, she is still sick…but with faith, courage, and prayers, she will be able to see for herself, “The Ghost of Christmas Future” for many, many years to come.

• Hope everyone’s Holidays were great!

can I just say...

…after complaining about my scale …an awful lot  recently …can I just say that I absolutely love it this morning…

162.

No shit.

Go figure.

and checking it twice...

IS IT really just 3 hours until the 23rd? 

So where did the time go?  I had a bunch of it…wasn’t stressing whatsoever…tons of time…house was decorated, tree was decorated, parties were attended, cookies were baked…and then all of a sudden…it hit me…I really am not quite done! 

There are still a few names of folks on my list that are going to be sitting in my living room in the next 36 hours…fully expecting to open some kind of a reciprocal gift from me once the shard paper remnants and ribbons have been discarded.  ….oh yeah, maybe they won’t notice their lack of personal involvement in the opening of all the festive gifts under the tree….(besides…isn’t it better to give then to receive?)  but just in case, I think I shall have to find my list and check it twice ...um... again…

And what about the food?  We are hosting a Christmas Eve brunch for 12 and Christmas Dinner for 20 the following day….and I am quite sure they will be expecting something fabulous to eat ….they’re funny that way…….. 

So tomorrow will be spent trying to figure out how to hit the grocery store, liquor store  and the mall plus clean my house from top to bottom… in the few hours of daylight that I will have available.  

Thank goodness there are boxes of chocolates and baskets of nuts and goodies under my tree that I can re-gift should the need arise.  (I plan to keep the Harry and David fruit basket though.) 

~note to self---remember to take off the TO: / FROM: tag before re-gifting this time.~

rude awakening...

So I knew it wouldn’t be pretty… and normally I wouldn’t put myself thru it…but after a late evening of dinner, drinks (and not to mention a very profitable night of hold’em) I had almost forgotten that my scale is the enemy.

 Maybe I was still reveling in the fact that some of those pesky lbs have recently managed to abandon my abs (taking with them a couple of unwanted inches) or maybe I was just getting a bit cocky with my recent success…but for whatever the reason this morning I thought I could handle it…

 Boy was I wrong…BitchSlapped in the face by my nemesis…166…whaaaah?  Yesterday it shared with me a very pleasant 163.5, and while I assumed it would probably be up a very justifiable lb…certainly not 2.5…yikes…!  okay…so I know there are many reasons why the scale lies, but still, I wasn’t quite ready to see this number TODAY!!!!   I  needed to tackle this thing head ON! 

So what did I do?  Get up? drink a gallon of water? eat a small healthy breakfast?  hit the gym?     um….no…

Nope, today was the day I needed to get up early to make that 5lbs of fudge and bake those 6 dozen cookies that I am committed to bringing tomorrow for our cookie exchange…whatchagonna do?  Oh well, it’s now done (sans 2 cookies) and the goal is to head downstairs,  box up the goodies, seal them in gift packs  and at least try to get in a walk…

But I’m wondering before I do…..would drinking a cup of boiling hot scalding coffee, with the intent to purposely burn my tongue and taste buds,  thereby limiting my ability to enjoy any remnants from this mornings confectionary creations,  be warrantable under these conditions?

~sigh~

Size matters

So about 2 months ago…I decided that the thought of facing my closet each morning in search of a pair of pants that still fit properly was a little more than I could bear each day. You see, my closet runneth-over with clothes, but almost all of them made me unhappy…walking into my closet was virtually like walking into a department store; a myriad of sizes, styles and colors to choose from. THAT.ALL.USED.TO.FIT!   There was that pair of INC size 8 black cords that I wore on Christmas in 04 tucked away in the corner, or how about my favorite pair of Lucky jeans that I haven’t been able to squeeze into for some time now.  Capris, skorts, pants, jeans….you name it…they were all there….So, I did the unthinkable!…I tried each and every pair of slacks on and divided them into 3 categories…

• pants that currently fit
• pants that I hope will fit me after I drop around 15 lbs
• pants that I hope to fit me SOMEDAY..

 So today…I decided to join the masses in the malls and go Xmas shopping but first, I needed to be clothed…herein were some discoveries I made…

1. The newly laundered jeans I selected to wear looked sloppy and baggy--not a look I was going for. ~sigh~
2. Tossing these jeans in a VERY hot dryer with a wet towel did not help the cause at all.
3. I again have a renewed love for my dryer; specifically the hot setting.
4. The stack of pants that I had labeled as “pants to be worn after I drop 15lbs, fit 2.5lbs. early.
5. I can no longer wear 14’s, lest I get mistaken for a rival gang member.
6. Despite evidence to the contrary,  I have not shrunk 4 inches in my height as well as my waist when I do….
7. Even though, many of my “retired pants” fit again, I feel that I have earned the right to purchase a brand new pair of jeans.    ~~~”Merry Christmasà brat”.~~
8. Assuming my current size 12 jeans were “just stretched out” was inaccurate…making a second trip to the dressing room armed with a new “skinny sized 10’s” was cool, but having to make yet another trip back for the 8’s --priceless!  Ok, I didn’t buy them afterall..they are probably still a couple of weeks away from being perfect..
9. Whoever decided to add 1-5% spandex to jeans, is a genius!
10. and that I am incredibly grateful for two things…

·         that my waist circumference is now 30 inches,  because

·        if it was still measuring 31…and I lived in the UK,  I might be faced with an Obesity warning label warning label on my jeans.

Seriously…31”??????

10 things I have realized along the way

Some more things I know …

1. Lose, gain or stay the same…the choice is mine…time will pass regardless
2. There used to be a time when I could easily slide into size 8’s.  Now the only 8’s I am wearing are purchased in the shoe department.
3. My husband always loses weight when I go on a diet.  ~ huh?~
4. I think I spotted my pic in the window of my local Costco with a caption below that read “have you seen me?”.
5. I don’t like peanut butter.  Except when I diet.  Then I can’t keep my hands off of it.
6. If I open a menu at a restaurant, I am doomed.
7. I will never look good in yoga pants
8. I suffer from EDD.  Similar to ADD except with exercise.
9. I rarely need food from the grocery store when I diet.  possibly explains #3 and #4
10. I always get what I deserve from the scale …I just don’t always get it when I deserve it. ~sigh~

10 Reasons I know my diet is beginning to work

1. The scale is starting to inch its way downward       s  l  o  w  l  y  .
2. I am getting up willingly and exercising in the mornings.
3. My belt no longer feels secure on its normal setting
4. There are no Snickers wrappers on the floor in my car.
5. My size D’s no longer have overspill
6. I am worried that I might be approached by Stacy and Clinton from “What not to wear” to identify me as a candidate for a future show based on my current wardrobe selection....although Nick and Carmendi's advice would always be welcomed...
7. My stats on mybodycomp.com continue to show a loss of  inches/body fat  even though for the life of me…I don’t see it….but numbers can’t  lie can they?…
8. My red dress slips over my hips without the slightest bit of a tug
9. I am beginning to opt for  vegetables/salads  choices even though I previously disregarded this portion on the menu. 
10. I decline when DH calls and asks if I would like him to pick me up something at **fast food restaurant here**
11. And finally because WW’r pal P, jazzercise junkie S. and friendly neighbor gal  S. all said and I quote…”hey, have you’ve lost weight?”

Dang…11 again…ok disregard whatever one you like…

puzzling

So maybe someone can help me out with this…I am baffled…

 I would no sooner come home from work tomorrow and say….

 “I don’t get it!  I worked so hard last week at   ***(my job)***.    I made a point of being on time each and  every single day without exception.  I didn’t call in sick.   Not.   Even.   Once !   At the end of each of my 15 minute breaks  you could find me back at  my desk and ready to tackle my next assignment (once I even came back 2 minutes early).  So  today, when  I passed my boss in the hallway, why did he just keep on walking to his office?   He completely neglected to give me either a Promotion?      Or. A. Raise????   Whhhhhaaaa?  But, I did everything right last week?????~~~eye roll~~~

 So then why is it that after 7 days of being “perfect” on my diet program do I get so darned discouraged when my scale fails to reward me in a timely manner?  Especially since we have already identified said scale as being a  little “slow”. ~~deep sigh~~

 Damn scale…you know someone could make a fortune by designing a scale that tells us just what we want to hear…

  Seriously!

christmas wish list

So with the house all Christmas’ly decorated, cookies baked,  boxed and given away (except those three with sprinkles on them that I ate),  packages that need to be shipped to far away lands  (like Ohio) shipped, it is time now to focus on the whole under the Christmas tree part.  As of now…it is quite bare down there…oh, sure there are a couple of unwrapped gifts strewn around here and there…but unless and until I get a last minute call that the “little princess” might be blessing us with a visit, those gifts will probably stay that way for another week or so…so today…I am going to focus on my very own Christmas list.

 Now if Santa had absolutely insisted that I submit this list four days ago it probably would have read something like this:

  What I want for Christmas:

   but since Santa didn’t ask for this list yet and there still seems like plenty of time to submit a revised edition, I would like my new letter to read:

that she doesn’t really have ovarian cancer,

or  a newly assigned oncologist,

or a calendar full of regularly scheduled chemo dates for the next 6 months…

  and …

that her previously unencumbered life can go back to exactly what it used to be... 

Just 3 days ago.    

Before she knew.   

Please.

someone noticed!

so...i am outside in my garage wearing grubby jeans and a tee shirt, glue gun in hand, glitter specs on my face, ribbon scraps spewn around on garage floor... trying my luck at duplicating  one of those gorgeous wreaths you see for sale in the department stores...when my neighbor pulls up and hollars,,,"hey, have you lost weight?" 

Saaaaaaweeeeet!!!!   Now I know I have only lost 10...and that even I can't feel it in my clothes yet or anything...but hey...I'll take it...

truthfully, I didn't expect any comments until at least  20 lb down...(cept maybe the occasional hair club comment...where they KNOW something is different..but assume it's your hair cut/colored or styled differently...)