I Have No Pithy Title For This One

That title presumes all (or most) of my previous titles have been pithy. What a presumptuous little title.

So check THIS out. Today, both kids were FINALLY well enough to return to school. And I was FINALLY well enough to get out the door and resume my daily lunch time walks. About freakin' TIME. I will tell you that I was partially motivated by Pokemon Boy periodically poking my still sizable belly and saying things like, "You should exercise more, mom." You should invent teleportation, kid, but you don't see ME pokin' YOUR tummy about it, DO you!!

But he's right. Litigator, personal stylist, personal trainer. Why didn't I get one of those kids that could care less?

Anyway, today I got off my duff and walked. Which is going to be hard to maintain. The new work project I'm on is made up of people I've mostly worked with before. They're the kind that start work at some unheard of early hour and are usually still logged on as I disconnect. They are the kind that see no problem in scheduling lunch meetings. They're the kind that book my programming resource time at about 120% on a regular basis. I'm working 100% on this one phase and I found out today I've been lent to the next phase at 50% resource time. As a former math major, I can clearly see that isn't likely to work. Granted, I dropped out of college. But I'm still pretty confident that those numbers don't quite work.

Wow. I am Tangent Girl today!

Back on point: I walked today. Weeeee! I headed out that door with a vigor and excitement. And in the 60-something weather, I just wore 2 shirts and no jacket. Ok, you wise guys, I wore pants and shoes, etc. But no jacket is the point here.

I wasn't ambitious enough to tackle my old hour-long trek. Not yet. I have to work up to that route. So I walked over to the high-end outlet mall that I like to think of as being in my front yard. IKEA would be in my...I'm picturing a map....my side yard, I guess. So I walked to the outlet mall with some cash in pocket thinking I might treat myself to a little sum-sum.

I got to the mall with that burning itch to spend. I hate that itch. There needs to be a cream for that itch. I usually come home with more toys my kids don't need. So I thought, well, I need to get new shorts for summer because my old size 14s will fall off this size 12 frame! Yeee HA! But thennnnnn...I thought about it. If I'm gonna get serious about this walking...why box myself into size 12 shorts. Why not see how serious I can get with this. And then buy shorts when I really NEED them. And maybe...just maybe...maybe I could get...size...TEN! No that's just crazy talk. Nuts. But then...who knows...

But it made sense not to go nuts buying 4 new size 12 shorts before knowing exactly what size I'd be when the hot weather hits (which down here will be soon). So I'll keep you all apprised of this.

Having dodged a spending frenzy in the first store I encountered, I figured, well, let's see how far I can walk through this mall without spending. Dudes...do you know how hard that was? But I figured, hey, I'm gonna exercise my body AND my will power! [I'm a dork.] Let's see if I can just keep my money in my pocket. Along with my debit card.

I walked around that big ol' mall two whole circuits (it's big) and only bought one ID case. That I really did need. Because as I was checking my cards in my ID case (which is well over 5 yrs old - maybe even over 10), it fell apart and all of my gift cards, license, debit cards, credit cards, pictures of the boys and other cardish sundries went willy nilly (whoever he is) all over the mall sidewalk. To which I announced to no one in particular, "Well THAT was lovely! Nice. Very nice job." This happened right next to a place that sells purses and wallets and such. In other words, a place I would never normally enter unless such an event forced my hand. So now I have the cutest litte red suede ID case with all my cards tucked neatly inside.

But that's it. I walked past the Vans store (looooooove their sneakers). I went in the Disney store but purchased nothing (don't tell my boys). I walked past the high end ladies' clothing stores that made me think of my initial impression of Trish. I walked past the chocolate stores, Starbucks (ouch) and all other purveyors of all things snacky. I also passed the Converse store but those red plaid high tops were calling me. I easily walked past the Bose store as I don't have an extra $500 to toss away on very tiny sound components. I did wish I had my camera with me as I gleefully noticed that the Lane Bryant store was situated right next to the Petite Sophisticate Outlet. I mean, come ON. Did they plan that so I could send it in to David Letterman??? And who named that store? The Petite Sophisticate? Why not just call it The Tiny Snob Outlet? Seriously. I highly doubt they had size 12 of anything in my shortness.

Again. I digress.

So I spent a little under an hour walking around this mall. I made no food purchase. No expensive coffee purchase. No impulse buys. No new clothes. No toys. You need to know the inner workings of my addiction to know how huge that was. And then to add to that that I WALKED for an hour? It was a good day, people. A good day.

So I think that, for a while, I will end a blog or two every week with a notation of my progress. And it will deal with my size. Weight doesn't usually matter to me. I wish I had a tape measure. I'd rather chart my shrinkage in that way. But since I was just at the doc office this week, I happen to know that I'm down to 174 lbs. While that places my 5'3" frame in the "obese" category to some twisted and evil magazines, keep in mind that I was topping 200-210 back in 2006. And was a size 16 (and I recall a couple of size 18 items, too).

Today I am:
174 lbs
Size 12 jeans

But I kept almost all my money in my pocket or my bank.

T'was a good day. (Leans back in chair w/ hands behind her head) A good day indeed.