My Underwear is on Fire

I spent these last two weeks of December in Washington State with my family. I arrived on December 19 and the Hubs arrived on Christmas Eve so I was able to spend the first five days with mom all by myself (well…with the exception of my dad). I was away from my scale, most of my regular diet items (picked up a few things from the store to have on hand at the house), but I did not stress about it at all. Much like our trip to Walt Disney World in September, I gave myself permission to be a little relaxed with my diet. I still made good food choices but slipped in the occasional cookie…or two…ok, maybe three per day. Nothing tastes better than Mom’s cookies.

With most of my clothes nearly falling off, I desperately needed to buy new ones so I did not pack a whole lot for my trip. Before I arrived, we had already made plans to go to the Goodwill to find new pants. When you are dropping sizes every few months you do not want to shell out the money for brand new things all the time so the Goodwill is a great choice.

We started our first day of shopping at the outlet mall to get some new bras (something I was NOT going to get at the Goodwill). With a sewing machine at home, I had gotten pretty crafty with the only two I had that fit. I had taken the sides in a few times so I had NO idea what size I was. Bra shopping is never any fun and as much fun as it has been dropping pant and shirt sizes, bra shopping was still a chore. I found several that I liked and Mom bought four of them for me.

Our next stop was Ross where I found myself in that same predicament I was in at Disneyland a few months ago. I tend to head straight to the plus sizes and when I realized that I could shop in the ENTIRE clothing department I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the choices. We had to have a shopping cart to hold all of the things I wanted to try on and I had so much fun trying them on. I used to despise trying on clothes. I hated looking at myself in the mirror after squeezing myself into the largest pair of pants they had in the store. I hated how sweaty I got after stuffing myself into something and peeling it off after I gave myself a disgusting look. I have a newfound fondness of clothes and that is something I have never been able to experience before. My favorite outfits were a pair of blue skinny jeans with a black and white striped sweater and another pair of blue jeans (not skinny though) and a red sweater. Once again, Mom surprised me and purchased them for me along with a new belt (which was ordained with four small brass butterflies). I still think it is hilarious that I even need a belt. We closed out our first day of shopping with a trip to the Goodwill where I found three pairs of pants and two shirts for only $30.

The next day we went to JCPenney. I had some gift cards to use and decided to finally buy some new underwear. Since having my surgery, I had not purchased new underwear and after losing nearly 120 pounds, this was something I really needed to buy. Mom had a good laugh after I had showed her how far up my back my underwear went. She said I looked like Urkel from the old TV show Family Matters and laughed some more. I bought six new pairs there and picked up a four pack of good ole’ Hanes when we went to Target later that afternoon. Underwear that fit is amazing!

We shopped for two more days for various Christmas gifts and we had the best time. I don’t have anyone near me at home that can shop like Mom and I can. We can go shopping for hours and not buy a thing.
On Christmas Eve, I was downstairs getting ready to go to my Aunts house to spend the afternoon with my Grandma before picking the Hubs up at the airport. Mom walked down holding up one of her shirts and asked me if I liked it. I was not sure if she was asking me if I liked it for her to wear or if I simply liked it at all. I was not fond of it either way so I was not sure how to respond. She said it ran big for the size Medium it indicated and asked me if I wanted to try it on. I politely declined because it was a bit short for my taste. I still prefer to cover my behind with my shirts. I sensed a bit of disappointment in her eyes so I followed her upstairs and looked through her closet. I found a green sweater/cardigan top with an attached tank that looked cute. Again, she suggested I try it on. I hesitated but decided to try it on for size. I nearly fell out when it fit. It was at that second we both got a little teary eyed because I have NEVER been able to wear my mother’s clothes. She gave me the top and we relished in our “moment”.

Christmas Day came and went and the day after we went shopping again (yes, we are those crazy people that were at the store waiting for the doors to open at 7am). After Target and BestBuy, we made our way to the mall where I bought my very first pair of Victoria Secret underwear (well…OK, I bought five), something I have never been able to do before either. Five days later, I am still smiling over it. Yesterday, as I was packing our bags to come home, I tossed out all of my old underwear and the Hubs burned them in the backyard.

These last two weeks have been so much fun. Full of surprises, firsts, and moments I will treasure forever. As I close out this posting, I will leave you with a funny little story that is making me giggle as I sit here in the airport thinking about it. Totally, non-scale, non-weight related but makes me laugh and describes my mother’s personality (which I love and adore)…

As we left the mall, we were walking through Sears and my brother stopped to look at a really nice tool bench. It was stainless steel, had diamond plating on the drawer fronts, and a nice big light at the top. My brother reached up to touch the top where the light bulb was attached and it came crashing down shattering the bulb into a dust cloud. We (as in the entire store) stood there in silence for what seemed like hours and all you could hear was mothers little voice say “whoops”. We giggled and high tailed it out. I am sure there is a picture of us somewhere in that store with the words “have you seen this family” written above it…

Holiday Hustle and Bustle

I have been busy running amuck getting ready for Christmas these past two weeks and have not had time to blog but here is a quick update...

1. I went shopping for an outfit for my company Christmas party a few weeks ago and discovered that shopping for clothes has become fun again. I even bought one of the pieces from Forever 21, a store I have never been able to shop in before.
2. We went to Disneyland (our home away from home) this past weekend and no matter how many times we have been since my surgery, I am still amazed that I can run around that park now without complaining about my feet or knees hurting. At the end of the night (the VERY end of the night), the lines for the Tram were about 30 minutes long. Without hesitation, we walked to the parking garage and I didn't even break a sweat or get winded.
3. We were filming a new commercial for my office last week and as I was escorting the camera guy through our shop, one of the foreman, who I haven't really seen since my surgery, stopped me and said he had to ask his supervisor who I was because he didn’t recognize me. I do not want to sound like I am full of myself but I do not think I can ever get tired of hearing things like that.
4. We are heading home for Christmas next week and I am looking forward to spending some time with my mom and the rest of the family. It has been too long since we have had some good quality family time. In the words of Clark W. Griswold, “it is going to be a fun, old fashioned family Christmas” and I cannot wait.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!