Letting Go....

Twice this week I have felt pretty weepy at having to say goodbye to some of my material possessions.  First, I packed up some of my XL T-shirts.  I have recently lost around 25 lbs. and they are way too big to wear now.  Well, all of my Jimmy Buffett T's are XL and I almost cried having to give them away.  But I quickly reminded myself that I DID NOT want to be able to fit into them again, ever.  So I wouldn't back out of the donation, I took them to Goodwill immediately.  They are gone and surprisingly, I don't miss them (well, maybe my Fruitcakes and Carnival World T-shirts).  I have gone to Goodwill a couple of times to see if I could reunite with my old T's, but they are not to be found, which is for the best.  Out of sight, out of mind!

Then today, since my husband is out of town, I had the pleasure of dealing with 109 U-Pull It man (you know the jingle-I know you are singing it out loud right as I speak).  He came to haul off my husband's 1990 Ford Bronco II (he bought it in 1990 and met me in 1991 so I was pretty attached to the old "black bomb" also).  I gave him the paperwork my husband left for me (title, keys, and a list of all the things that were wrong with the truck-not that the list mattered since they were buying the truck for parts).  But making the list helped my husband with saying goodbye to the truck.  Since he was not here for the ceremonial moment, I videotaped the adventure.  And believe it or not, I got weepy.  Oh I tried to look cool behind my glasses, but having that old truck hauled off touched me also.  Because that was my history leaving as well.  We had a lot of fun in that truck (especially the time my back glass got shot out in Greensboro-a story for another time).  But I am reminded that we can't hold onto "things".  My memories are not enveloped in the "things" in my life, but the people that shared the "things" with me along the way.  I will miss my T-shirts (because I LOVE Jimmy Buffett and I will miss that old truck, but Jimmy's music is still here to make me feel good and so is my husband (bless his heart-ya'll know what I mean).  It's all good!

My Weight Watcher journey

Well, I have been carrying around this baby weight now for 13 years so I don't know if I can accurately call it that anymore.  But I am tired of not being able to tie my shoes without passing out.  So a friend of mine had been telling me about Weight Watchers for weeks so I finally told myself that I was ready to commit to this.  And the journey began. In the beginning it was sort of easy and the pounds started coming off.  I cheated occasionally and my weigh in showed it.  After 4 months, I lost 21 pounds.  I felt pretty good.  I felt pretty invincible for a 48 year old chick.  I was skinny woman, hear me roar!  I was also being lead into temptation.  By what you ask?  Cake, vanilla birthday cake.  25 points per slice, homemade frosted buttercream cake (I only get 28 points per day).  And not just one slice, no!  But 2 slices per week.

It is so hard to be a Southern girl and lose weight.  Our entire culture is about delectable, homemade, finger-licking, deep-fried, "suck the bone dry" good food.  I can't even read without something crunchy to munch on.  Food and books go hand in hand for me.  They are my two favorite loves.  Due to my most recent temptations (and a crazy schedule), I have not weighed in lately.  So the time has come to jump back on the weight loss wagon and "git-r-done" as they say in the South.  My goal is to lose 60 more pounds and it will happen eventually because I never back away from a challenge.  I may get sidetracked but I always find my way back.  Hey, pass me the pork rinds, please!

One of those days!

Do you ever have one of those days where you have great aspirations to finally tackle that jungle that lives in your basement?  And this time you are GOING to follow through?  What's in the jungle you ask?  The boxes and "stuff" that you can't live without that has been sitting down there for 20 years.  Yes, 20 years!

Why, my family has been so gracious enough to burrow out a small path for me to walk through when I have to venture into "the jungle".  I have to side step the laundry waiting to be washed, the perpetual Goodwill pile that keeps growing daily, and yes, my abundance of books.  They seem to multiply almost overnight.  But that leads me to another small problem.  I am a book hoarder.  YES!  I AM A BOOK HOARDER!  There, I said it out loud,  I have books that I didn't even know I had and books I know I have, but can't find.  Oh the irony of it all.  If I would just follow through and finally tackle that "jungle" of a basement.  But I always seem to get sidetracked by that book upstairs that I'm in the middle of reading.  Thus the jungle must wait a little more.  At least until I have finished this book.  Yes, I am a book hoarder.