Weigh-in Wednesday

Today is un hodgo podgo. That's a hodge podge for you English-only speakers. We'll be traveling to Miami today, so I'm getting you in the mood.

Let's get the numbers out of the way. If you were here yesterday, you won't be surprised to hear that I didn't miraculously drop 5 pounds overnight. In fact, the water weight just keeps creeping on . . . this morning I was up 2 full pounds from last week.

It has to be water weight, right? If I'm eating the same way and exercising the same way I did the previous week?

Let's move on. (It's funny how I don't care to discuss my weight on Weigh-in Wednesdays that don't show losses. Humph.)

I do, however, want to say that I'm not feeling entirely dismal today because I tried on some old pants, and they fit! Wooo-hooo! Here's the deal. A family member is getting married next month. And Eloise is the flower girl in that wedding, so I've been spending a fair amount of time figuring out what dress she'll wear, finding shoes, hair accessories, etc. Suddenly, it dawned on me that, um, I am going to need something to wear, too.

So I started perusing the usual haunts for inexpensive dresses, but I wasn't feeling it. I really don't want to spend even $50 on something like that now. First, if things go according to plan, I'll only be able to wear that dress for this particular summer, right? And, second, the reality is that the chances of me wearing it again in the same summer are probably about .001%. I live in yoga capris. There just aren't many occasions on my social calendar that call for dressy dresses.

I actually wasn't thinking about any of this (the wedding, needing something dressy) when I decided to take a gamble on some stuff in my closet. I was, however, thinking about how I need some warm weather clothes that fit. And about how I do not want to spend the money on an entirely new wardrobe this summer. My weight has yo-yo'd so much in the past few years that I've had to buy new things in almost every season. That gets expensive. And depressing.

So when I dropped into the next decade last week (no longer there, thankyouverymuch, Aunt Flo!), I started going through my stacks of capris from summers past. Lo and behold, I found things that fit! Smaller things! And then the wheels started turning, and I realized that I had a bunch of clothes hanging there that I'd purchased for a trip to South Florida in 2007.

We had Eloise baptized in Miami, near Paul's family, right before Christmas that year. I was bigger than I'd been in years thanks to eating my way through the first, stressful months of new parenthood. I weighed more when Eloise turned four months than I did when I gave birth to her. So I'd bought a week's worth of new, warm weather clothes for the trip. I felt so huge then, which is weird because I now feel good about being lighter than I was a few months ago, and I must be about the same size that I was 2.5 years ago. (Did you follow that?) I remember being so ashamed of my appearance. I wouldn't share the pictures with anyone. And now, here I am, all excited to show you the pants that I can fit back into. Life has some strange turns.

Here I am at the baptism. Do you think that outfit looks dressy enough for a June, afternoon wedding? Because . . . it fits again! (The cream-colored pants and silky top. I'm not anywhere near thin enough to wear my sister's purple dress.)


Now, granted, I need to use the next four weeks wisely. I could stand to have a little more room in the waist. And I'll be armed with a solid pair of Spanx, for sure. But, when I tried those pants on and saw that they weren't too far off the mark, I felt, well, elated.

And looking back at those pictures, I don't think I look awful. Not my best, but not nearly the hideous creature I imagined myself to be back then. I wonder why I don't feel a little less hideous now? Maybe I need to spend more time looking at those pics. (Or maybe I need to go back to blonde!)

One last piece of podge in the hodge today.
And it's the most important one . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TITA!!!
We love you!

From the afternoon of Eloise's baptism.

We hope you're smiling all day today!