ONE DAY I WILL FIGURE OUT A WAY

I am doing this under protest. I really do not like having my picture taken, and I dislike posting it on the interweb even more. Yeah, I know I've posted more than a few here, but, in my defense, they were only to illlustrate events. I have now been convinced that losing 60 pounds IS an event that needs a picture posted. So, here's one, in illustration of the first time in close to 11 years that I bought a 'sweat suit' at a proper sized people store. Thanks to this picture I have discovered that I can not stand up straight any more. Oh, well, here I am 60 lbs. lighter.

The neckline of the top is a little crooked, but, then, so am I! Just try and imagine hauling around 60 lbs more. Scary, isn't it? There will be another picture coming along one of these days. It will illustrate the jammy bottoms I raided from my son's sister's closet, and the jammy bottoms are getting a little bigger! I am the world's champion spiller and there were coffee and soup spots on the thighs of the jammy bottoms, and I wasn't about to have a picture taken with those stains. I finally got them clean and am fast running out of excuses to not have the picture taken!
Nothing of earth shattering consequence has happened since my last post except that my son called, and they have another baby on the way. Ok, so, that isn't world shattering news, but it is pretty exciting to this gimpy old granny. I'm not sure when the new member of the family is due. I kind of forgot to ask because we got into the whole 'I do not want to know the baby's gender' thing My son's generation is used to everything NOW and just can't wait for much of anything. The sad thing is that because they can find out the gender in the early months, they will never know the delicious feeling of anticipation that parents of my generation had.I might be brain damaged and a little forgetful these days, but I do remember how much fun it was to wonder if it would be a boy or a girl and talking about names for either option. Back in those olden days, it was possible to find out the gender by amniocentesis(sp) but that was usually only done to check for suspected defects after an ultra sound or if there was a family history. Ultra sound was pretty primitive in those days and it was really hard to figure out what the baby would be. These days even a half blind person can see for themselves what it will be.That is good medically, but, it takes away all that wonderful anticipation. Yup, the NOW generation sure is missing out on one of the most wonderous experiences we of the 'medical dark ages' got to enjoy until the very end. Unless of course, you were married to my ex husband, and he was in the labor room with you. In that case the anticipation could last a little longer. When my son's sister was born, the baby catcher announced that she was a girl. Her father disagreed with that medical opinion and argued that, "No, It's a boy!" They went back and forth on that a few times until the poor, sore, wondering mother said that she'd go with the baby catcher on that as he has more experience in gener recognition! Poor Daddy finally figured out that, yes, it's a girl! Ah, the good old days. Of course I still like anticipating things. Just about anything. It's one of life's greatest pleasures for me.I wake up every morning thankful that I will be able to find out what the new day holds for me. Ok, sometimes I could be happier without some of the things, but, that's just the way it goes sometimes. Even then, I'm thankful for even those days.I just love being alive and able to function at all. Anticipation is, to me,one of the best parts of being alive. That, and curiosity.
I have a very close friend from early childhood whose bithday and old home phone number are indelible in my mind. I sent her an e card on her birthday and never got notification that she opened it. That got me to thinking that maybe I had the wrong e daay for her, and came up with the bright idea of contacting her through Facebook. It worked, and then, I found out that she had gone to Maine to help her mother who had broken her arm. So, yeah, of course I called. She had taken herself off to an interweb coffee house, so, wasn't home (duh). I did have a most wonderful chat with her mother. Boy did that ever take me back in time. It was a bittersweet reminder of my own mother, and after we hung up I got a little nostalgically weepy, but it was a very nice weepiness. Part of it was that she brought my mother and childhood back so clearly, and that I was talking to someone who had actually known me pretty much from the day I was born and my whole life history was pretty much known to her. It was wonderful, and I do know that my friend knows just how fortunate she is to still have her mother.I still ache all over missing my parents.But, I do still have my brother, and that's wonderful. I adore and admire that kid so much. And am ever so thankful that I still have him.