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I hope everyone is doing well.  This week we have enjoyed the small miracle that is BabyCakes sleeping through the night THREE nights in a row!

The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, and I'm not craving near as much chocolate!

I'm looking forward to this week's weigh-in.  Feeling naively optimistic, I'm afraid.

If you've had a less-than-stellar week with regards to healthy choices (like snacking on fudge you made for your grandfather every time you walk past it), just start over right now.  No need to wait until tomorrow.

Until then, a little advice from a smart man:

WW Wednesday: 20 in 20 - Week 3

Hey there, I'm back in Carolina and ready to pick up where I left off in our 20 in 20 weight loss challenge.
How did everyone do with their goals this week?

I was out of town and around food a LOT this past week.  I didn't weigh-in last week because we left before my meeting. My in-laws didn't have a scale and the one my parents have was made during the Eisenhower administration.   Excuses, I know, but the fact is still that I didn't weigh-in.

Today as I approached the scale at WW I was a bit nervous.  I was afraid I was up.
I don't want to let you people down.  At the same time, I know you are my friends and understand that sometimes we handle life's difficult times by having a second (or third) piece of cake that is 10 feet away on the dessert table RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU.

So anyway, the weigh-in: I was down 1.2.   A nice surprise considering my past couple weeks but it means I am still behind overall for the past 3 weeks.  I'm down 1.6 instead of 3, but that's okay.  We're not "all or nothing" around here.  Hopefully I'll make up for lost time in the next month, anyway.  I'm one awesome weigh-in from the next "decade" of numbers and it feels a bit surreal.

Lesson learned this week:  Two pieces of cake doesn't taste any better than one.  It's just MORE.  Whether you have one or two (or three), you're still going to have to walk away at some point, so you might as well stop while you are ahead.

Goal for this week:  Plan my meals earlier in the week/day and incorporate healthier side dishes.

So, how was everyone's week???

Spit Bubbles and Barrettes

This morning Neighbor Emma came over to play for a couple hours while her little sister had a doctor appointment.

Mostly the girls played with the hair barrettes I stole borrowed from my parents.

BabyCakes of course had to bring the stinker.

Not quite the Toddlers & Tiaras type, is she?

I'm so glad BabyCakes has such a great little playmate right next door.

Mmm mmm. Those cheeks!  Those lashes!  Those curls!

Just like BabyCakes, she may look cute, but she can be a mess.

That's good, though. Spit-bubble friends are the kind you keep.

Pigtails and Party Planning

Today BabyCakes woke up with hair that was a frizzy, knotty mess. I really didn't want to go through our usual detangling battle, so I opted to let it be big for the morning. (And BOY was it big. Think blonde tumbleweed.)
It wasn't until this afternoon that I realized that I could try pigtails with her now straighter-than-normal locks.

Love it!

Can you believe BabyCakes is closer to her 2nd birthday than her 1st?

I've actually already started thinking about her party. I can't decide between a "Sock Monkey Second Birthday" or a "BabyCakes is Turning Two, Tutu Birthday."

She loves her tutu that she wore for Biz' 5th Birthday dance party, but her grandparents have started her a small sock animal collection and I could do that party with a vintagey twist.

Thoughts?

Thank You

A sick BabyCakes is coughing in her crib on the other side of the half wall in our smokey mountain hotel room.
BigBoy, teddy under arm, is sleeping right through it, as is J (thank goodness.  Someone has to drive).

The family decided to give me MeMa's pearl necklace.  I didn't feel worthy.  I will hold my head high when I wear it, though.

Neighbors back home have done everything from take out our trash to care for our hamster to hang up the wet laundry I left in the washing machine.  Not to mention guest-posting right here on my blaaaahg.

Friends sent well-wishes from 5 states and some even took care of the children this week.

This week.  It has been a hard week.  I've always been one to love with my heart wide-open.  That makes it easier to damage but it's how I'm wired, I suppose.
But all you people I love, who love me, have made this week just a little bit easier.  To say I appreciate your support would be an embarassing understatement.  For every email, phone call, card, blog comment, text, hug, prayer, pecan pie, word of sympathy, and selfless act of kindness my family has received -- I thank you so very much.
Again, Thank You.

WW Wednesday: 20 in 20 - Week 2

Today Melissa has been kind enough to take the posting reins in my absence.
Thank you so much, Melissa!
Without further ado...

I am honored (and a little nervous) to be doing this guest WW Wednesday post for Cayce. As you may have seen, her Grandmother passed away and she is traveling to be with her family and to attend her funeral. Cayce, your whole family is in my thoughts and I am so very sorry for your loss.

So, just a little bit about me - I started at Weight Watchers a few weeks after Cayce - she asked me if I wanted to go with her. I'd had a baby in August (coincidentally, today is her first birthday!). So we have been on this journey (I know how you love that word, Cayce) together.  I've lost 48 pounds so far, including my weigh-in this morning. I'm proud of how much I've accomplished so far, but honestly, this morning, I was disappointed. I was expecting a big loss. I jogged 15 miles this week in addition to some other exercise classes. I worked so hard and expected it to show on the scale. Instead of a huge loss, I gained .2 of a pound. This reminded me that there is much more to this journey (sorry, Cayce) than just the number on the scale. I'm more fit than I've been in my life, I'm wearing smaller sizes, and most importantly, I've got more energy to chase my girls.

My goal this week is to stop thinking about finally getting to 50 pounds and to just focus on how great I feel. The weight will come off with all of the healthy changes I've made. The number is just another indicator of that.

Can't wait to see how all of you are doing this week. Stick with it - there are 18 weeks to go. You will be so happy you did!  

A Heavy Heart

I knew this post was coming but it doesn't make it any easier --  my grandmother died this morning due to complications of Alzheimer's.

Ruth Pirtle became my grandmother when I was in elementary school.
She and my grandfather were high school sweethearts.  They went on to marry other people, live in different places, and have children of their own.  Later in life after their spouses died, they somehow reconnected and made a life filled with large portions of love, family, and faith.

From the moment she met me, Mema adopted me as her own.  I was very connected to my recently-diseased grandmother, and Mema, or "Miss Ruth" as I called her for many years, never tried to replace her in my heart.  I had a big, open heart and plenty of room for another wonderful woman in it, though.

Mema taught me about living with a humble work ethic and a cheerful heart.  She would prepare large feasts for her massive family until she was physically unable.
She worked for years in service as a nurse, one of the most thankless jobs in creation.
She believed in having a sense of humor about and taking pride in her work, her home, her life, no matter how modest or grande -- if only we could all thankful for our gifts.
A lot of who I want to be as a woman, a mother, is directly tied to her loving influence.

My grandmother may have died but she will live on in Heaven and in many, many hearts.