Fitness Friday: Our Stories Edition

First of all, some good news ('cause I'm not so sure my measurements are going to BE good news this week!) Look what I fit into this week:

Yeah! I got it on and off. It's still a bit tight to be comfortable. Add the fact that I'm not used to wearing it anymore...anyway, I'll give it another week or two and I'm sure I'll be back to wearing my wedding ring full-time. I can't wait!

Now. I was 7 pounds, 14 ounces at birth, which was fairly big back then. I was bone skinny growing up, much like my Sweetheart is now. In 4th grade, my friend's father nicknamed me "Stringbean." It fit. I don't have them available, but the pictures of me roller skating down the sidewalk? Makes you wonder how my legs didn't snap in half. I was really skinny.

As a result of my excellent metabolism, I ate all the time. My dad used to tease me that I didn't have a tape worm, I had a tape snake. I never had to practice self-control and so I never really learned it. When my eating started making the pounds come to visit and stay...I didn't adjust properly. Enough psychology.

I was 5' 6" in high school and weighed 110 pounds. (And for lunch every day I ate nachos, a Grape-Ade, and a large chocolate chip cookie. Every. Day.) Looking back I don't think I properly appreciated that weight! When I got married I was 5' 7" and weighed 132 pounds. One day after I had been teaching a few years, Glenda, one of the cafeteria ladies where I taught said, "Mrs. E, you're pickin' up." I had no idea what that meant. It meant I was picking up weight. Thanks for pointing that out, Glenda. I can't fault Glenda. She once confessed to me that her boobs weighed X amount of pounds. How did she know? She threw them up on the scale in the kitchen!!! Oh that woman was entertaining.

I was between 140-150 pounds when I got pregnant with Sweetheart. That pre-baby weight was really a good weight for me, by the way. I'm not really happy to say that I packed it ON during my pregnancy. I got up and ate breakfast sometimes at 4:30 in the morning because I was starving and then ate breakfast again when I got to school. I know my gain was over 50 pounds that first time. And now my favorite quote ever:

"He was a beautiful baby boy but, sad to say, he did not weigh 60 pounds. That is what I had gained and that is what I had to lose." --Barbara Bush

I so hear you Barbara. But the thing is, I didn't lose it. Four years later along came Little Bit. And I gained some more that I didn't ever lose. But I still thought I was skinny. CONSTANTLY I was surprised by photos of myself. Do I really look like that?

But it didn't end with babies. Oh no. After Little Bit was born I quit work and lived in jeans and sweat pants for a year. It seems that jeans and sweatpants don't give you a really good idea of your proportions. Imagine my surprise when none of my old work clothes fit anymore. Huh. By then I had already begun telling myself that it wasn't so bad. And I didn't care. Then, that fateful e-mail to Karly and BOOM! Fitness Friday was born.

Boy I'm getting motivated again just writing this! And that's good because my motivation was waning this week Ladies. I could have done a whole lot better. But still, I'm doing better than I was a month ago. That's for sure.

My end goal in all this (for now) is to fit into a size 12. I think for my height a size 12 is a really good size. And I think that goal is achievable. Right now I'm a size 16 and I'm happy to say that there was a lot of hitching of the pants this week. They aren't falling off yet, and I'm not thinking I would fit a 14 YET...but they were loose. Loose is good.

Wedding rings are better!

Have a great Friday everyone!

The Person I've Become

I am amazed lately by the fact that I graduated high school nearly 20 years ago. And even though I live right where I always have, I never run into people from school. Which leads me to believe that everyone moved away except me. The only person I can honestly say I've kept up with over the years is Derek. And that doesn't count because he's S's cousin.

I didn't even attend my 10 year reunion. I know. I know. You're supposed to go to those things--kind of like prom, right? But our 10 year reunion found me 9 months pregnant with Sweetheart. Plus the tickets were like $60 each. I couldn't see spending $120 to go see folks I was fairly sure I could live without seeing only to go into labor and waste our money.

So not only have I not kept up with people, but I also don't know that I've aged. Well, I mean, I'VE aged, but everyone else I still picture the same way they looked last time I saw them. One day when Sweetheart was about 2 years old I was shopping at Academy. She was sitting in the basket while I wheeled around the clothing section. This man kept staring at me. I was starting to get uncomfortable thinking he was a perv or something. Then he walked up to me and asked, "Are you Brenda (my maiden name)?" OH MY WORD! That MAN who was staring at me was John, and we had gone to school together since Kindergarten. How did he get to be 30 years old?

So it's amazed me to locate old school friends on Facebook recently. It's interesting to get caught up with someone's life over the last 20 years in a few messages. I tell them the basics---who I married and how we have 2 kids and I used to be a teacher, yada yada yada. But I'm not sure they would believe the person I have become. I was a Christian in high school, but I was a weak one. All too often I kept my mouth shut and laughed along with jokes and talking that I shouldn't have even been listening to. My witness? Not so good now that I reflect on it.

Still, how do I explain to someone who I have become? Who God has made me to be? And I'm saddened by more than one life story that I've heard from old friends. Oh, how people need the Lord. Wishing now I had been more of a witness to them. Would that have even been possible? Should I have been in public high school just to witness to my friends? Was I ready for that? Or should I have been in an environment where I could have grown into a stronger Christian? I know how I feel about it when I think about my own children...but it seems different looking back at my high school experience.

I don't think my strength as a Christian would have persuaded any of them to live their life differently. How many people come to know the Lord because some girl in their 6th period class is a Christian? Aren't the adults in their life more important of an influence?

All I know is this: children in public school need our prayers.
I'm not planning to send my daughters off to high school as missionaries.
The number of lost people is staggering to me.

And God can do amazing things in a person's life. He certainly has in mine. It makes me look forward to what else He has in store!

Homeschool Update

I am beginning to be blissfully unaware of the public school calendar. Last year I thought my body was just hard-wired to that schedule, as I had followed it for 11 years as a teacher....well, and 12 years before that when I was the student. But this year I can honestly say I have no idea how many days we've been in school. I have no plans for how many days we will take off during the holidays. We just keep going day after day.

Sweetheart is learning about horses lately. It's amazing to me to watch the transformation in her attitude when we are doing something she is very interested in. She'll learn more from this unit than I ever plan for her to, simply because she wants to. It's nice when school doesn't feel like pulling teeth.

We've set the math curriculum aside and we are using Math in a Flash* to memorize her math facts before we go on. My friend Carrie loaned it to us and I am loving it! I've tried just about everything to get her to memorize the facts and this is finally doing the trick.

*While searching for a link for this I discovered there are several others products called Math in a Flash. The one I am referring to has undergone a name change apparently. The website, which is here, now calls it Math N More Flash Facts. Here is the page.

After I feel she has a better handle on her math facts we will pick back up in the math book. It no longer stresses me out that we won't "finish" by the end of May. I don't even really plan to quit school for the summer at all. (But I do plan to slow down!)

Little Bit continues to amuse me with her school strike. I have discovered that I can get her to do anything as long as it doesn't take place at the school table. It's psychological. And very odd to me because there was NO stress involved with school for her. Except my stress at not being able to find enough stuff for her to do! She's going to talk herself into wanting to learn to read one of these days. She vacillates between believing she's actually read a book, to asking me, "did I really read the real words?" (Sweetheart informed her one day she was not "really reading" and it planted a seed of doubt in her mind!) But every single time we sit down to read I notice her learning something new. She is so interested in reading--and doing everything by herself! I would rather have that than a kid who wants to sit and complete work at the table any day.

Well, it's late and this is the most boring and rambly post ever. Even the title bores me! God bless you if you made it this far. Good night!

The Walk

My dad called the other day because he had gone to his high school reunion and forgotten to pack his medication. He asked me to take it over to my aunt and uncle's house as they would be going to the reunion the following day. No problem.

"Girls! Come on, we have to run to Uncle H and Aunt N's house real quick!"

Of course, as they put on their shoes, the girls were full of questions. Why do we have to go over there? What did Grandpa forget? Are they home? As we walked outside, Sweetheart saw that I was unlocking the car.

"We're driving?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," I answered.

Her reply? "But, it's just up the block!"

Now here is where I must pause and tell you that my aunt and uncle's house is NOT just up the block. It is very close by, but you must drive out of our neighborhood, across a busy, four-lane street, and into their neighborhood to get there. It's more than just a hop, skip and a jump, especially when it's getting close to supper time.

She continued to try to convince me that we should walk. So I told her, "I'm driving. If you want to walk, feel free." She waited at the end of the driveway while I got Grandpa's medicine and as I was climbing back in the car I told her, "You better not wait--you've got a ways to go. Better take off." She didn't even pause. She turned on her heel and started walking.

Little Bit wanted to walk too but I reminded her she had been sick (plus she's 4). I told her not to worry because sister would be back in the car in a few minutes once her feet got tired. Of that I was sure.

So I drove slowly alongside Sweetheart to the end of our block. I yelled "Stop!" when she got to the busy intersection. She knew--it just didn't look like she was going to stop. She looked both ways and we crossed the street together--she on foot and us in the car. I knew I couldn't follow her slowly on the main road out of our neighborhood, so she walked one block over. Little Bit helpfully yelled, "Do you want to get in the car now?" every few minutes. I was amused to see how long this would go on.

When we got to the end of the 3rd block it occurred to me that she was going to do this or die trying. She had no intention of getting back in that car. I couldn't drive slowly enough even riding the brake so every now and then I would drive ahead a few yards and wait for her. She was trotting, practically jogging beside us. I kept telling her to slow down--we'll wait. There's no hurry.

There were SO many obstacles along the way! Things that I usually watch out for, she now had to take notice of on her own. A car was getting ready to back out of the driveway. Would she notice? (I hollered out of the window before she got there.) The sidewalks are old and tree roots have kicked them up in places. Would she remember to look down so she didn't trip? A big dog came charging at her. He was behind a fence, but she took off running anyway because he startled her. A few houses were decorated for Halloween. She was kind of spooked and walked faster. Some places didn't have sidewalks--was she watching for ants in the grass while she walked?

I was RIGHT BESIDE HER and yet I felt very far away. She looked very big and very little all at the same time as I watched her catch up in the rear view mirror. We talked to each other through the rolled-down windows the whole time. And yet I wasn't really there to help her. If she tripped and fell I couldn't catch her.

The whole thing was an analogy of growing up.

I will tell you that when she got to the church on the corner of the busy street and stop light, I made her get in the car. I drove her through that intersection and to the first side street and let her back out. She made it all the way there. I have never seen such determination and pride in her face. We got in the car later that night and hit the trip odometer. It was exactly 1 mile.

The challenge we face (this coming from a mom who believes it is my job to protect my children) is how to teach them, train them, and then let them practice while we stand close by, so that one day they can do it without us. That walk made me realize all the little things I need to train her on before she is ready to walk alone--and also how very proud I'm going to be to watch her when she does.

Fitness Friday Assignment

This week I want us to share our weight timelines. What I mean is, start with your birth weight if you like and take us on a journey of your weight (good and bad) hitting the important stuff that has affected you along the way. You don't have to go into details of every year of your life...just give us the overview of the major events.

End your story by sharing what your end goal is. I think we have all come to the conclusion that this can't just be a little "project" or a "blog thing" that we participate in for a time. This has to become a healthier way of life. So, what will be the indicator for you of satisfaction? You know, people who suffer from anorexia don't have an ending point. It's never enough. Perhaps it's your blood pressure numbers, your cholesterol, your ability to run a certain number of miles, your jeans size...whatever. What will be the point where you can say, "There. I like where I am."

Whew! That's a lot to think about, isn't it? Good luck and see you next Friday!