21 pounds down!

Poor Keva had a huge splinter across the top of her palm. I noticed it early yesterday morning while getting her ready for school and promptly told Keith about it as he was getting ready to go to work. He then got right to work on it with his ensemble pieces of tweezers, exacto blades, needles and antiseptic.

Keith has always been very good at getting splinters out of little and big hands. He is very thorough. His thoroughness has to be one of his best qualities. I, on the other hand, tend to fly by the seat of my pants. I'm a perfectionist, but if it's not coming out right, I would just rather not do it at all. So our character traits USUALLY compliment each other.

Like with splinters.

I go run and hide. Keith attacks.

What was so interesting to me this time as he worked on Keva's splinter was that Kylie, of all people, stood over the proceedings with blatant interest. I sat on the couch reading the paper and pretending like nothing was happening while Kylie handed Keith instruments like they were on some kind of surgical team. Nurse or even doctor was the first thing that came to mind. Kylie was not at all squeamish. Interesting.

Today, since Keva stayed home with a light case of something, I slept in. I was very bad. I didn't even get out of bed until nearly noon. I only slept until about 8:30 and then made the mistake of "reading just a little bit." And suddenly, Kathleen is knocking at my door and coming in with a hangdog look, "Mommy, you really need to get up! Kristofer is teaching the little kids how to play RISK! Please, he's driving me crazy!"

Kathleen is known for her drama.

So I did eventually get up. First thing I did was weigh myself. I am now 21 pounds down. I've lost another TWO POUNDS! Ring the victory bells, everybody!

I think what I'm most excited about is that I know I can continue the way I'm going as a standard lifestyle change. Like deciding to get up at 6:30 instead of 6:35. Something that needs to be done and then gets done instead of put off for another day. For me, the changes have been relatively simple. I do not eat nearly as much at meals as I used to eat. And, I walk four or five times a week for an hour.

Now the thing is that I'm used to losing weight dramatically, 20 to 30 pounds in a month for about three months, if that. Then, I fall of the wagon, so to speak. I get tired of depriving myself, of constantly feeling hungry and of constantly planning and counting my calories. I still count calories, but at a much lower intensity. I don't write anything down. I just do it. Like the Nike commercial. So it occurred to me a week or two ago that I could actually just lose a pound or two a week and keep at it over the long haul instead. This is how all the diet gurus tell you to lose weight anyway, but -- those of you who diet may notice -- NONE of the diets are set up for you to lose just a pound or two at a time. They're all geared for quick weight loss.

I also thought about how much I love to hear people say, "Wow, Jackie, you've lost a lot of weight!" It's the drama queen in me. (Kathleen gets it from somewhere.) I love to be noticed. I'm a shy girl with exhibitionist tendencies. : ) But, I don't get that as I lose weight slowly unless people see me who haven't seen me in a while. However, another epiphany came in all its majesty. I don't NEED people to tell me how much weight I've lost. I know how much weight I've lost and I know how much better I feel. I'm not going to have a cheering squad all around me as I prepare meals every day. It's just me, eating what I'm supposed to eat and going out for my walks.

That being said, it is now nearly 4:00 and time for my walk!