4 T 4

A couple of weeks ago I celebrated my forty-fourth birthday.  Along with the self-planned celebration, I also got treated to a Cracker Barrel breakfast by my sweet Mom the following Monday and a week later had the traditional Sunday lunch celebration with the Wood clan.  RubyDooby always puts her candle art skills to work, and this year she outdid herself.  I present Exhibit A:

I've been living the 4T4 for 14 days now and have been negligent to bring you all the fascinating details.  Let's get caught up, shall we?

First of all, my boasting about not gaining any weight back was a little premature.  It's true I ate a lot and exercised almost never over the Christmas break without the pounds reappearing.  But the Olive Garden/Gigi's Cupcake/Cracker Barrel/RubyDooby's lunch/Red Velvet Cake diet did me no favors.  Despite exercising almost every day for 2 weeks, the 4T4 Celebrations packed on a few of those hard lost pounds.  And so now I'll be spending the next two weeks in grilled chicken & fish/roasted vegetables/no dessert/no bread/working out with Jillian everyday purgatory.

While I wasn't eating, I was working.  Being back at school has reminded me why I let this blog go for so long.  Even though I only work 3 days a week outside the home, the other days I spend inside the home seem to consume the time I have left.  And plus, most of the good stories I want to share with you about my life involve children or teachers who probably wouldn't appreciate the excessive sharing.  I do plan to write a book one day about working the car line though.  People have NO IDEA what an excruciating job that is.  They also don't realize how much can be gleaned by spending 10 seconds looking inside one's car.  Oh, the stories I could tell.  But not here.  And not now.  But someday.



The one thing I can talk about is TV.  In a past post I claimed to only watch a few shows.  What I didn't realize was all the shows I really want to watch weren't on yet.  For instance, Downton Abbey is back.  As is The Biggest Loser.  And since Duck Dynasty is in reruns I'm allowing myself to add to my weekly line up. 

Speaking of TV, I can't tell you how relieved we are not to be watching American Idol this year.  Yes, Schyler auditioned again and yes we will watch her parts online as they become available.  But there is no way I'll subject myself, much less my daughter, to even 5 minutes of Nikki Minaj.  My family loyalty ends right there.

As I'm thinking back to the past 2 weeks, I'm compelled to share my commentary on a few of the biggest headlines.  Here are my thoughts:

The Miss American Pageant:  Sad the roller skater didn't make top 15.  Sad every singer that did make it was epically awful.  Sad that Miss South Carolina lost.  Sad that Miss New York thinks protecting school children the same way our President's children are protected is fighting violence with violence.  And even sadder to learn she's actually from Alabama.  Other than all that, I really enjoyed it.  Of course, Little Ocho watched it with me and had the best commentary of the night.  When Miss Texas came out for her talent carrying 3 batons, I was giddy with excitement.  Ocho said nothing.  As we watched her twirl and spin and throw and catch I commented on the tricks I could once do and the tricks I would have never attempted.  Ocho still said nothing.  Then at the end, when she finally put all 3 batons in the air with relative ease I clapped and oohed and ahhed.  It was then Ocho finally spoke up. "They're not even on fire."  Wow. 

The BCS National Championship:  I didn't watch the whole game because by the end of the 1st quarter it was evident there would be no point.  And as an Alabama fan married into a family of UT alums and faithful followers may I take this opportunity to say  "Roll Tide".   As for the girlfriend controversy, I will admit I was a little skeeved out by Brent M.'s comments but I thought Miss Webb handled it all with class.  And she seems to have made out like a bandit so, good for her.  My favorite commentary on the whole thing had to be this pic I saw on Facebook.

Enough said.

Lance Armstrong:  Because I have a husband who love cycling, I've followed Lance's career and life story.  Handiman and I were talking about it all when he shared what a friend told him once.  After Lance beat cancer he took all the credit and claimed to have healed himself from the disease.  This friend commented that he didn't believe God would honor Lance with another Tour de France victory.  As it turns out, he did win again.  And it was that win that did him in.  It was interesting to listen to our pastor preach on the destructive affects of pride on Sunday and then watch such a vivid illustration play out in a man's life the following week.  I pray Lance finds Jesus before it's too late. 

So, I guess when I look at how the past couple of weeks have gone for others, I've fared pretty well.  I didn't lose any Nike endorsements or get caught in a web of lies that span almost 15 years.  I didn't embarrass myself by fawning over someone on national TV young enough to be my grandchild.  I didn't find out Handiman was a figment of my imagination.  And I didn't make anybody's ears bleed with my rendition of "My Wish".

I just gained a few pound and got a little cold and wet in the car line.  And in a couple of months, all of that will be a distant memory.  I'm ready 4T4.  Bring it on.