Always Remember That

See this? This is Mallory, the instant that she saw Elmo come on stage at Sesame Street Live, when we took her back in 2003. I admit, when I saw how happy she was, how awestruck, I cried a little. I was just so happy, myself, that we were able to show her something that brought her so much joy. I know that our week in Florida (Magic Kingdom - Epcot - Universal Studios [Harry Potter!] - Disney Hollywood Studios - Sea World - Magic Kingdom again) will not be without its rough moments. It will be hot. The drive will be long. There will be fights over who sits with whom on the Haunted Mansion ride. There will be whining about wanting Mickey Mouse ice cream. We will get lost trying to find the Fastpass Station for Splash Mountain, or the bathroom, or Shamu. It will be hot. There will be one child, at least, who won't want to ride any of the fun rides. I will be tempted to yell, "Stop crying! We're having fun here!" (or, ala my dad ala Billy Crystal in City Slickers...

I did it. I lost fifteen pounds. (Fifteen and a half, in fact, and it's still a week before we go to Florida.) Woohoo for me! It has been strangely easy. Well, the first five pounds were hard, because it was a lot of effort for not-yet-noticeable results. Success became its own motivator after about eight pounds, when I could think to myself: Yes, you could have a cheeseburger for lunch instead of a salad, but that would undo some of the good you've done. Do you really want to start this process all over again? On the other hand, I've also made sure to give myself a break once in a while. If the family wants pizza for dinner, we'll get a pizza and I'll have two slices. I'm definitely going to have some of my homemade ice cream, or a slice of banana bread. What I don't do is turn every "treat" into a crisis -- Well, I ate an Oreo, so there's no point in eating right for the rest of the week. Forget this, I'm done. One thing that bugs ...

Tonight the girls and I went for a walk. We have recently discovered a series of trails winding through the pine forests surrounding our neighborhood; tonight we took an unfamiliar one, and ended up having to hike through a grassy meadow and cross a little creek and so forth to get back to the street. Phoebe was not pleased. "I'm hot and sweaty!" she said. "Is that poison ivy? Is that a bug? I'm so hot! I don't like all these plants and things!" "Phoebe, it's nature," Mallory said. "Well nature is icky and gross!" Phoebe said. The complaining did not stop when we regained the pavement. "My feet are wet and sticky from that creek!" Phoebe said. "I'm all itchy! I wish nature didn't even exist!" From down the street came the sound of a crowing chicken. Phoebe shook her head and muttered darkly: "Stupid chicken."

Mallory finished second grade! Chris and I had a lovely weekend away from the children! I went to Ikea! I've lost ten and a half pounds! I painted my dining room and it's beautiful and blue! We're going to Disney World in just 19 days! (Yikes!) Mallory has (possibly) strep throat again and yet is still asking to go to the pool every five minutes! Phoebe is contantly asking for snacks! It's going to be a long (but far too short) summer! *A few weeks ago Mallory wrote this email to Chris: "I miss you Daddy! I hope you are having a good day! I can't wait to see you tonight! I love you!" She read it over carefully and then said, "Will Daddy think it's dumb that I used so many shift-ones?" (Meaning exclamation points, of course.) Hee!