doing the happy friday dance....

And it is a lovely Friday. Sunny and warm...and not lonely. I have three little friends here with me today. Mr. Jonathan still has an awful cough and cold...Miss Camille also has it. She really really wanted to go to school for Pajama Day and eat pancakes, but...she just doesn't sound good. And Char...she was NOT going on the bus alone. No way. So. Here we are!

They will go in and out of the house all day, playing in the leaves and swinging, enjoying the 75 degree weather. Right now they are playing house, they have baby dolls named Linnea and Sebastian and Davian. Poor kids, having to stay home from school sick.

Mali is also here this fine morning. She has a dr. appointment, then needs a ride back to the big city for a big test! She studies so hard but has a hard time with those tests. I feel like I am going through nursing school too, being anxious about a test I am not even taking. I am just hoping and praying she makes it through, she loves it so much.

This morning I saw a new number on the scale! Not that I used to weigh myself alot way back when, but I was heavier than I am now when Benjamin was a baby...and Ben is almost 24. I have been heavy for a long long time...so I was almost jumping up and down when I got on the scale and saw what I think of as a New Decade of numbers...It has been sloow going...I have only lost ten pounds in five months. But really, I have lost like a hundred, the way I lose a pound, gain two, lose three, gain one, up and down...with a slow downward trend...blah. So what am I doing differently now? If anyone really cares....I cut back my oats...no sugar in them anymore...either pumpkin and almonds, or peanutbutter still, with a little bit of Stevia. I am being super careful about avoiding the carbs...just fruits and veggies and nuts and meats, if I have brown rice, it is just a spoonful. I am still sneaking the chocolate chips, but more moderately. Yesterday for a treat when we went Walmarting, I brought along two of my pumpkin Paleo cookies, then got a coffee at TimmyHo's...just a large coffee with a shot of sugar free pumpkin syrup. Not bad at all. Being prepared for temptation is a good thing, both in real life, and in the spiritual:) Anyway. I do cheat occasionally...I had a Cookiewich at the Dome last week. A Cookiewich is amazing. Two chocolate chip cookies with soft ice cream swirled between them, frozen solid. 600ish calories. I made it my dinner. I know, not good. But, on the other hand, really really good. So...my love for food has not diminished, but I am realizing more and more that I am the boss. I get to decide. Just because I am tempted, doesn't mean I have to give in.

Anyway. Today is a beautiful day. There are beautiful dirty dishes covering what I am remembering as a beautiful countertop. But if I am going to take my beautiful daughter to her dr. appointment, I shall have to leave them for later...