1st off: Happy things

Things that make me happy #2. Being married. I love being married. Rick and I have been married for 7 years now and I have not regretted my decision one single time. It's wonderful knowing that someone is there for you at the end of the day. It's wonderful being awakened by snoring in the night because if that's happening, you know that you are not alone. It's nice to have someone you can count on no matter what. Rick is the most incredible husband and being his wife makes me very happy.


I have just returned from a week long trip to Florida. My dad had a heart attack and we thought we were going to lose him. He seems to be doing fine now, which is a relief. He will have a quadruple bypass next week. With my dad's illness, I've been thinking a lot about death and dying. It's morbid I know. But when faced with mortality, one can't help but consider things. My mom and I talked a lot about funerals, finances, what to do with his possessions, how life would be without my dad. I think it would be foolish of us to not talk about that stuff. The man runs on a blood pressure of 230/180 and a blood sugar of 400 or greater. I'm glad to know that if anything happens to my dad, my mom will be okay. She is prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. I have seen this week that she is stronger than I have given her credit for. My sister, on the other hand, is a basket case. I thought that my sister would take care of my mom if anything happened to my dad,but it seems things are the other way around. I'm a little surprised by that. My mom can be pretty tough.

My dad is not easy to live with. At the hospital, he had one day where he was in a good mood. I think that was the day that he realized that he could've died. The subsequent days, he was a total grouch. To everyone. Nurses, Doctors, Dieticians, us. It was so hard to sit with him day in and day out listening to his verbal abuse of everyone. I have told my mom that when he has his surgery, we would sit with him in shifts. I just don't think I could take being there with him all day every day again. He wore me down and made me cry once. I don't want to be in that position again. I love him, but sometimes I don't like him very much. I think that is often the case between parents and their children.

So, I'll keep you updated. I'm not looking forward to the surgery next week.

Things that make me happy

Happy New Year! This year I have decided to try to do something different. I've been doing a lot of soul searching since Christmas. Chanel gave me a memoir for Christmas that has really got me thinking.

The book is called, "Thin is the New Happy" By Valerie Frankel. This book was just what I needed right now. In the book, Ms. Frankel began dieting at age 11. Same as me. She was only mildly overweight then but kids in school teased her, her mom obsessed with her weight and pretty soon her whole life revolved around her weight and dieting. Same as me. Starting at age 11. Isn't that insane? Like Ms. Frankel my battle with my weight has gone on my entire life. I had convinced myself that I would reach some sort of Nirvana just as soon as I reached my goal weight. I constantly think about food, how many calories are in it, how many fat grams, how many ounces I am eating, how much I would have to work out to burn off those calories. I talk about it all the time. I know my family and friends are tired of hearing me talk about it all the time. I am constantly on the quest for true happiness in a size 8. But, like Ms.Frankel, I have come to realize that I am truly happy. Here. Now. With this 190 pound body.

In the book, she comes to this realization and decides that she is no longer going to let thoughts of weight and diet permeate her life. She just stops dieting. She makes a conscious decision to eat when she's hungry, stop when she's full and exercise 4 days a week. Guess what? She lost weight and she was much more relaxed and happy. She even stopped weighing herself. So that is my new philosophy: Stop dieting, be happy.

I have decided to focus instead on the many, many things in my life that make me happy. So, every week this year I am going to post about things that make me smile. I'm going to work on a happiness scrapbook that I hope to have completed at the end of the year with photos of the plethora of things that bring me joy.

So for today, one thing that makes me happy are these. Pink Converse Tennis shoes. Oh how I wanted these for Christmas. Leeann has some white ones that are just darling with capris and ever since I saw her wearing them I have been on the quest to have some pink ones. I received these from Chanel for Christmas and I just think they are so cool!

Have a great day!