Where's Grams?

In the dim and distant past
When the tempo wasn't fast,
Grandmas used to rock and knit,
Crochet, read, and babysit.

In those days of gracious living,
Grandmas were the ones for giving.
When the family was in a jam,
They could always count on "Grams!"

Today you'll find her at the gym,
Walking and cycling to keep trim.
Nothing these days seems to stop her,
Now that Grams is "off her rocker!"

I laughed and laughed when I read that little poem. It's so true and especially true of me, "Grams" to many. Maybe I'm not just an oddball. Maybe I'm more the "norm" than I realized.

I have been working on getting back in shape after a few years of "falling off the in-shape wagon." I walk on the treadmill and cycle every morning, doing at least three miles. I'm still watching very carefully what I eat. I'm almost at my goal I set way back in the middle of January. It hasn't been easy.

It was so hard to get in the "groove" of doing the above, that now that I'm "on a roll," I don't want to quit. A few people are now saying, "Okay, quit losing. You've lost enough. You're getting too skinny." Music to my ears. I haven't heard that in forever. ;-)

The downside of this is sometimes funny. I didn't realize how some clothes will not fit now. I recently went on a business trip to Atlanta and took my business suits. When I put the pants on of one suit, I couldn't keep them up! They just fell right off. My thought: how did this happen? I had no idea my shape had changed this much. Hmmmm. . .

So, I've had to buy clothes that fit. I had given away all my clothes of smaller sizes because I thought I was too old and I probably would never get back down that small. I found a sale at one of my favorite women's shops, close to the office, and they had a 75% off sale, then recently they advertised 25% more off. WOW! And I love their clothes. A clerk there helped me and I got clothes that fit. Now for the Herculean task of cleaning out all my old stuff. I'm such a packrat, and a "what if I need it later?" type person that this will take some time.

I've also been tanning so that this summer I can wear shorts and wear dresses without hose. (I hate those things.) Another funny thing: I saw some lotion at the drugstore that said it was a firming lotion and gave your skin a slight "glow." My thinking was that I would use this lotion and keep my skin looking good, so I was slapping that stuff on. One day at work I looked between my fingers and glanced down at my feet/ankles. Yikes! That lotion has a lot of that sunless tanning stuff in it and I was looking quite yellow, and perhaps orange in the crevices. Bummer! I had worked so hard on a real tan that trying to keep it looking okay had ruined the whole look. Well, get over that! LOL

Now, lest you envision me as a thin, shapely, tan, mature woman, be sure to emphasize the "mature" part, and you'll be close or at least in the ballpark if you leave out the word "shapely." Before I started all of this, I jokingly said to Paul, "Would you rather have my shape be 'flat belly and small boobs' or 'larger boobs and a full belly'?" And that seems to be the choice. Another bummer. Paul's response? He said, "I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole!!" Smart fellow. LOL

One of my daughters said to me recently, "Mom, not fair! You weigh less than I do." Then she asked me what size I wear and she replied that she wears smaller sizes than I do but weighs more. My response to her was that she's still young and has her weight in all the right places. The conclusion is obvious, LOL.

Morals of this post:
If you're calling "Grams" to babysit, cook, or knit, NOT!! ;-) This Grams is truly "off her rocker."
If you're a Grams-aged person, do what you can with what you have and just don't look in a mirror too often. ;-)
Life is good!!
MB