First Monday Weigh-In....

I lost a 1.4 pounds!

And I have to give a shout out to Weight Watchers for those weekly flex points that allowed me to basically binge eat Saturday night at a dinner with friends as well as ALL DAY SUNDAY! I thought my flex points started over on Sunday, so I went hog-wild Saturday night. Then, with all my shiny new points, I went hog-wild on Sunday at the lunch the men held for the women (more on that in a sec) and then at dinner with the whole family. I'm talking cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake, brownie, quiches, pinwheel sandwiches, creamy pasta salad, marshmallow in a chocolate fountain, something other than WATER to drink, etc. It was glorious! And then I found out, as I was doing my very very best to estimate the points I had bolted down, that my new week starts on Mondays.

So today, the REAL beginning of my week, I went to calculate how many points I overate yesterday so I could just take them off this week's points, and I found that I did NOT go over! I ate every last point and not one more. How relieving! And since I also lost weight, it is basically a modern-day miracle.

Back to the Sunday lunch. I do not know who had this magnificent idea, but I was SO IMPRESSED by what the men provided for the women yesterday. Usually on Mother's Day, we receive a small, thoughtful gift. Maybe a flower, a CD of inspirational music, some chocolate. I love all of that, frankly. This year, however, the men arranged to fill every woman's calling during the 3rd hour of church so that we were all free to go to a lunch they provided in the gym. And it was an incredible lunch! The tables were decorated. The food was delicious. There were pitchers of water with lemons on every table. There was a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN with fruit and stuff. There were baked goods, salads, sandwiches, fruit. AND AND AND: all we had to do was VISIT! They didn't even make us listen to any sort of presentation or anything! The men served us, cleared our places, refilled our drinks. It was so classy. It was so thoughtful. It was so loving. IT WAS SO FUN!

I was particularly impressed because I know what it takes to run the children's Sunday school as that is what I get to do with a bunch of other awesome women each week. And those men took it on and carried it off. They did the singing time, even providing a pianist; they did the lesson time; they did the classroom teaching. My son came out of there with a battery-operated light that they had made. It was fabulous.

So I am VERY grateful to each of those men, including my husband who made 104 delicious sausage and cheese kolaches, for that lovely treat.

Andy also made me breakfast in bed as well as the kids' breakfast along with those kolaches all before church. And after church he made two delicious salads for the family meal. It was awesome. Thank you, Andy.

My gifts were the very best artistic efforts of my children, which is my most favorite gift of all time, as well as Sherlock Holmes Season 2 on AppleTV. Hurray! And all the hugs and kisses, giggles and smiles that my kids can squeeze out of their tiny bodies every second of the morning. And that is a TON, my friends. It is the greatest start to a week. I love my family. I love the opportunity I have to be a mother. I love the women around me who teach me how to mother. I love my own mother and her incredible example, friendship, humor, patience, forgiveness, and enduring love. I love her company. I love her voice. I love her handwriting. I love how she has a different pair of drugstore glasses for every activity. "Bring me some glasses so I can look at these pictures. No not those; those are my computer glasses. No, those are my game-playing glasses." It's wonderful! I'm grateful to all the women in my life who have raised me and nurtured me, inside and outside my family.

With that, I feel totally geared up for the week!