Chapter One

…And so begins a new chapter in my life. It may not be as I would like it, but it’s what I have to do. I’ve been trying to figure out what in the world to do with myself since for the last sixteen years I’ve been on “mom duty”, running here and there, getting this and that, trying to keep up. Now? Nothing. I don’t HAVE to do anything except go to work and come home. The problem with not having to do something (anything) is driving me crazy.

I’ve thought about writing a romance novel, or taking a yoga class, or painting my bedroom…but what I have done is made flower beds in front of the house with my Hero. We bought some of those decorative concrete border blocks from Lowe’s. What a sport that was! Both of us are perfectionists and so we both took turns standing back looking to see if each row was nice and even and level…it took about eight hours! My poor bottom and knees hurt from being worked (and I might add here that I don’t work out. I sit on my toosh in an office all day and when I come home I sit it on the couch until it’s time for bed!). Even though the next day, my body complained with every move, it felt good to do something that had a pretty reward. I’ve been trying to decide which plants will best suit each side of the house and I’m happy that I have two good months to dedicate to it.

Together, my Hero and I have also decided to change the way we eat. We lost our appetites over the summer anyway, so we decided to continue to reduce our calorie and fat intake. So far my Hero has lost 10 lbs! Me? As a rule, I don’t weigh myself. If I’ve lost any weight at all, I will not know until my clothes don’t fit anymore. So far they still fit great (dang!). This evening after work, we went for a walk instead of sitting on my rump in front of the TV. I’m hoping that we can continue on this streak of doing things that are good for us and make us happy.

My Princess called me yesterday to tell me that she was asked to a homecoming dance at her new school. I’m excited that she gets to experience the Utah tradition of being asked out in a fun and unique way, but I’m also pretty sad that I didn’t get to be there to be a part of her excitement. At least she called me to share the experience with me. That meant the world to me. I’m also super sad that I won’t be there to scrapbook her Junior Year and all the fun dances and activities she will participate in, but I can’t dwell on that. I’m just trying to get through this the best I can.