Last year at this time...

I am having angst right now about showing my daughter's face on my blog. I haven't ever done that, but some of you do and I can guess that you haven't had any trouble, so I'm going to this once. I can always yank it if I still feel weird about it tomorrow.

We have a family tradition for birthdays. Everyone gets to pick their birthday meal, and everyone usually picks Red Robin. Every now and then, there is a Chuck E. Cheese thrown in, but we can usually count on at least a few trips to our favorite burger place each year.



The picture of us in black is from this time last year. The new picture (me in white) is just a couple days ago.

I've been losing weight this year, and I guess I didn't realize the transformation I've been going through until my daughter pointed these out to me. I've lost over 60 pounds (most of it from my face it seems, yikes!)

When I was younger, I just wanted to lose weight to look better in my clothes. This time around I was battling high blood pressure, borderline depression and I was one cookie away from being diabetic. It was all about getting healthy and staying alive. My dad died at 41 and since I am just a hop, skip and jump away from forty I decided I wanted to be around a little longer than he was.

Still, I sometimes can't get over the physical transformation I've gone through and am still going through. I love it. I feel great now that I don't have to melt myself down and pour myself into clothes that don't fit.

I am so very grateful to my friends who have helped me along this path and the steps that I have learned to become and stay a healthy person. Maybe blogging helped play a small, little part, too. Not that I'm pouring my heart out over here or anything, but I can come here and write a little and share some things about my life. So, thank you, too, friends.


So, I'm in a great mood! I'm feeling hopeful and thankful and ready for life.

Thanks for letting me share this triumph with you.