Second Saturday

As I drove back from the grocery store with my old fashioned carton of oatmeal (you cook it on the stove), sack of navel oranges and loaf of 100% whole wheat bread, in my eco-friendly reusable bag, this song came on the radio and I smiled.

A million Saturdays ago, there is no way I'd be coming home from the grocery at 8 pm, because I'd be too busy getting ready to go out dancing and parytin' at 10pm. I would usually be meeting my beloved, Comic Book there (I've written about him before). One time we got into some hell-ish fight over probably I wouldn't eat the cow tongue he fixed or I just couldn't accept he really 'wasn't cheating' one me because THAT meant nothing, or the fact he was so jealous of my KC chum. OK, Comic Book and KC Chum hated each other..alot..and that will be another post...maybe, anyway-Comic Book and I weren't speaking.

Back to the song, the first bars blast from the speakers. Comic Book had been on the other side of the bar. He bounced over to me, took my hand and said, "I forgive you" and pulled me to the dance floor. All was love and kisses until about Monday, I'm sure.

Anyway, tonight as I drove home, I bopped my head to the beat of the music. Still a good song after all these years. I looked at my eco-friendly bag filled with stuff I never would've touched those million Saturdays ago. And I smiled.

These second Saturdays aren't bad at all.

41 Pound Weight

That's what's hangs on my hips. Thighs. Chin. Waist. You name it. The 41 pounds of weight is there.

You see, I'm a full sized girl. Zeftig. Rubenesque-Whatever adjective you want to use. I could say fat. Guess, I am. Yet, it doesn't sounds a groovy cool at zeftig. Sounds put downish, and I ain't nothing about being put down. The deal is, I've had this blog since 2008--right before I bought this house. Adventures along the way, yet at present, kinda stalled on the blog front. A friend asked me if I was going to keep up with it. I knew I wanted to. Life has alot of dips and such. But I didn't know what I wanted to write about. Doing this blog had become dull. I cannot tell a lie, however I wanted to continue.

Sure, there are things going on: politics, football, teen idol crushes from once upon a decade, could be commented on. But what is my blog's purpose? In my new favorite movie, "Julie and Julia" (starring phenomenal Meryl Streep as Julia Child) the husband of Julie (not Julia) asked her what was most important to her, when Julie asked what she should blog about. I sat in the theatre and had my 'A-ha' moment, which I'm sure Oprah would be so proud.

All of life is important to me. Yet the one thing, that hangs all over me is 41 pounds of weight. I've mentioned before my mitral valve replacement surgery in March 2006. In fact, I had a 6 months check up last week with my cardiologist. Such high marks I received. My doc was thrilled-alas, my blood pressure was a bit high. It always is, when I see her.

My weight. I'd recently lost a few pounds, but I never put my full weight on my bathroom scale. Denial. I've been back exercising-walking and treadmilling. And will do aerobics tomorrow. The truth is, I'd lost 70 pounds. Still a full figured girl. I was a 16/18, with a goal of 14, which is the average size of a woman. Around the time I bought the house, job went haywire, and my exercise regime fell to the wayside. As that fell, my weight climbed. I don't know if I actually gained all of the 70 pounds back. A good chunk landed on my hips though.

I do know I had to get over the denial and put my feet down. Both of them. So as of this morning, I'm 41 pounds away from where I was after surgery. When Movie Man first saw me in real clothes when he came to take me home from the hospital that chilly day in March 2006, "Where did you go?"

That's what this blog's new phase will entail. The journey we'll take together to lose 41 pounds. I want more--yet, let's get to where we were before. Why share it with you?

Why not? You'll keep me accountable. We'll help each other. I'm not into Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers (which I've done years ago) or anything else, however if you are and they work for you--then Do It! We can talk about it. You and me. I'm not gonna lie and say, "I will NEVER eat another onion ring or ice cream!"

Get real. Eat in moderation. Know what you're putting in your body. I did it before. I can do it again.

And I will still have something to say about Donny Osmond and any other teen dream I had, plus any current one. And anything else I feel like chatting about, but first and foremost, I'll tell you how the day went when it came to munching--like today, instead of my usual old fashioned oatmeal you fix on the stove, with a spoonful of brown sugar and sliced fresh strawberries, I savored a peanut butter sandwich on 100% wheat bread, which I've chowed for years, with whole fresh strawberries. See, you make me accountable!

Do I have a deadline? Sure, I'd love for this 41 pound weight gone by my next cardiologist visit in January 2010.

You just never know.

This is life.

Live it!