Yikes.

Last night was Vicky's first Homecoming Dance. She's been pretty low-maintenance about it; she only decided to go a little over a week ago when she discovered that her homeschooled boyfriend could go. It wasn't quite as simple as if she was going with someone from school; The Boyfriend had to provide a photocopy of a photo ID, and there was paperwork to be filled out. Welcome to school, post 9-11, I guess.

I think I've mentioned here that Vicky looks like me. She looks so much like me that when she was little she called herself my clone. People get our names mixed up. Every now and again, though, I look at her and it scares me how much she looks like me. I was drying her hair for her and looking at the back of her head slammed the realization into my chest; she's even got my cowlicks. There's no way I can deny that kid.

Anyway, I remembered to take pictures. Here's Vicky and The Boyfriend (pointedly NOT holding hands),
















And Alex, Vicky, and The Boyfriend. I know, Alex looks a little like a body guard.



They grow up way too fast.

Body Clutter book review

It's all Jean's fault. She mentioned reading Body Clutter and writing in the same sentence, and I figured if it helped with her writing, maybe it would help me! Jean, I'd love to know what they said that helped with your writing, if it's not too private, because I sure didn't see it.

Let me start with a disclaimer. I'm not overweight. Yet. I could be without much effort. My family's legacy includes cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, both types of arthritis, and diabetes. I'm also at risk for osteoporosis and melanoma. Denial doesn't prevent any of those conditions, and being in my 40's now doesn't help either.

Body Clutter really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I don't have 'comfort food' issues; my food issues are more hormonal--cravings and such. It did tell me what I already knew in a different way, from a different perspective. They emphasized FlyLady's Baby Steps and renamed exercise "Blessing Your Heart", which is hilarious when you consider that FlyLady lives in North Carolina. In the Carolinas, if you say, "Bless your heart" to someone it generally means, "Poor thing, you don't know how stupid you are." Maybe both can apply equally in some cases!

Even though I really didn't learn anything new, it was worth the effort of buying and reading. I kept thinking of people to recommend it to. They use such a logical approach--almost a "Well, Duh!" approach. I think what struck me the most is how they kept saying, "Don't let perfectionism get in your way." I never thought of myself as a perfectionist until I started seeing a psychologist for alternate ADD therapy. Apparently my perfectionism was so deeply rooted that I didn't know it was there, but it stalled me in several areas of my life. Making the shift from "If you can't do it right, don't do it at all" to "Good enough for government work" has improved the state of my health, home, and mental well-being. FlyLady and Leanne reinforced that and had a few suggestions to help, too.

Bottom line: You don't have to be unhappy with your body to benefit from this book. It's an easy read with a lot of common sense and concepts that can be applied, literally, to anything in your life.