Happy birthday, Baba!

Today is my grandfather's 81st birthday. We call him Baba all because of me. My mom's parents are Hungarian but speak mostly German at home, and the German word for grandfather is Opa. Since I was the first grandchild in the family, it was my responsibility to say "Opa". And of course, I didn't. It came out as "Baba". Here we are, 31 years later, and he's still Baba. Oh well.

So my Baba is 81 today. And when I called to wish him a happy birthday tonight, my grandmother put him on the phone and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Happy birthday, Baba!

Baba: What?

Me: Happy birthday!

Baba: What?

Me: Happy birthday!

Baba: I heard what you said.

My grandfather is such a jokester. Always has been, always will be. And I'm so glad that even at 81, he's still got some left in him.

Happy birthday to the best Baba ever!

I am not the dentists' favorite.

I went to the dentist for another cleaning today, and I swear I was just there last week (at least that's what it felt like). When she told me that my last appointment was in August, I gasped. I was flabbergasted at how fast the time had passed.

Anyway, once she starting poking around in my mouth, she found a dark spot, which was not a cavity, but something ON TOP of a cavity. If my tooth had a face, it would look like this:














I'd forgotten how unpleasant a cavity is. And she hit it twice during my appointment - once with the little air gun thing on purpose (WHY do they do that?!) and then with the cleaning solution (not on purpose). Yikes. I guess that's my punishment for not flossing as frequently as I should be...again. Although I told her the plaque that was there was sparing me the pain of the cavity, so in this case, it worked in my favor not to floss.

She didn't think it was as funny as I did.

So I'll be going back at the end of April for a filling. And in keeping with my New Year's resolutions in not making things harder on myself, I am NOT going to worry about this since I've been through this before and it's not a big deal.

At least it won't be until the needle comes. Then it will be a big deal.

Defeat of the sugar monster.

What a difference a week makes. I'm still struggling a little bit, but it's getting easier and I'm so, so thankful. And my clothes are fitting a whole lot better, which feels really awesome. I'm tempted to keep this up once Lent is over, since every time I eat sugar, I only want more.

Then I remembered that these are here again:







I love love LOVE these. I usually get a few on Easter and I cannot wait. But one or two of them won't push me back to my old habits.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

An ugly discovery.

So I made the realization today that sugar is apparently my caffeine. Take it away, and I can't function as well as normal. I've been crabby all day and a little on the hungry side, even though I ate tons of fruits and veggies. I also had a bean burrito for lunch (to get that protein in) and a Boca burger for dinner (meatless, of course), which I thought would take care of the hungry part, but sadly, it did not.

Now my challenge is to find snacks that are either high in protein or high in fiber, since my normal high fiber granola bar snack has been kicked to the curb (10 grams of sugar per serving!).

I realized this afternoon at work that I feel just like I did during my first week of Weight Watchers - constantly thinking about food and looking at the time to see if it's time to eat again. But I soon felt better when I remembered that the feeling went away after a few days and I completely adjusted. So by this time next week, I should be feeling a lot better. I've just got to get through these next few days.

Wish me luck.

Yes, I am serious about the no sugar thing.

I had my last piece of chocolate and last Fiber One chocolate granola bar today. I also had a small little chocolate cakey-thing with chocolate sauce on top as a last hurrah. And to prove that I'm serious about this, I went to the grocery store after work and bought the lowest sugar-content cereal I could find (Special K) without eating twigs for breakfast, and I also bought Egg Beaters so I can do without cereal some mornings to go even more sugar-free.

One of my co-workers said I'll be amazed at how I'll feel after all the sugar has left my system. And I know she's right, since I've done this once before. It's just that these next few days are going to be...well...a little rough. Especially since eating chocolate is my stress reliever. I'll just have to turn my energy toward more exercise. Or I'll start another book.

I'd just better figure it out before tomorrow afternoon when I get home from work and really want to eat that piece of chocolate. That's all I know for sure.

A question of sacrifice.

The season of Lent begins again on Wednesday, and I've been giving a lot of thought to what I'll be giving up this year. I went back and forth between a couple of different things, and after a weekend of overindulgence (again), I've settled on abstaining from refined sugar. A few years ago, I did it for a month right before I started Weight Watchers, and was able to do it just fine. Even though it was a bit of a struggle at first, I made it through and even lost a little bit of weight. What made my decision easier for me was this past weekend, when I tore into the Girl Scout cookies I bought without thinking twice, and then devoured a Milky Way bar right after that. That's not normal for me, and I felt really physically awful after I ate all that. So I thought about it a little more over the last couple of days and came to my decision today, after I woke up feeling miserable and having not slept well again last night because I ate too much sugar yesterday.

Lent is also a time to reflect spiritually and prepare yourself for Easter Sunday. I'm also planning on doing that over the next 40 days, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to come out a more positive, relaxed person.

Tomorrow will be my last day of eating a piece of chocolate when I come home from work, so I'll savor it just a bit more than usual and then say good-bye for 40 days. It will definitely be a journey of temptation and sacrifice, but it will build character and will make me a stronger person.

I can't wait to see what I'll be like on Easter Sunday.

RIP, Socks.

Former First Cat (that makes me laugh a little) Socks passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 18. Quite a long life for a kitty, but it still makes me sad whenever I hear about an animal passing away. It sounds like he was well cared for and had a wonderful life with Betty Currie, Clinton's former personal secretary.

I told my kitties to say a kitty prayer for him (I know, I'm a sap and a little weird).