What a Difference One Percent Makes!

We're going on vacation tomorrow—a week at the lake. The Jazzman tells me it's a very casual environment, where the women's wardrobes consist of shorts and capris and T-shirts. I'm sad to report that I've put on weight since last summer. Significant weight. My doctor prescribed beta blockers to curb my headaches and decrease heart palpitations. But the side effect, for me at least, is weight gain. Therefore, only the clothes that were [very] loose (i.e. baggy) last summer still fit me this summer.

I have several pair of Not Your Daughter's Jeans® (NYDJ), which I wear almost daily. All are size 12 and fit me fine. My favorite pair of jeans were purchased in the Costa Mesa Nordstrom during the summer of 2007, and are a dream to wear. They're 12s and still fit me, so I should be able to slip on another pair of size 12 NYDJs with no problem, right?

I ran to the Beachwood Nordstrom after rehearsal on Wednesday evening and picked a couple pair of NYDJ cropped pants off the rack. To make sure they would fit, and not exhibiting any pride at all, I grabbed a 14 along with the 12. I looked at the labels first to make sure the denim was a stretch fabric with Lycra woven in. I was wearing my favorite NYDJ jeans at the time. I slipped them off and slipped on the 12s. Nope. Not even close to buttoning. So dropped them back on the chair and slipped on the 14s. What? Buttoning but not zipping? Size 14? If this is supposed to be funny, I'm not laughing.

The sales associate and I discussed the problem and starting looking more closely at the labels on several pair of NYDJ jeans. The labels we pulled said 99% denim, 1% Lycra, and 98/2, and 97/3. The pair I was wearing, and that I love*love*love, say 96% denim, 4% Lycra.

Would you ever have guessed that one percent of Lycra in a fabric weave could make that much difference?

I finally found a little pair of soft green crops that will go with a beige Chico's T that I love. They're not the most comfortable pants I've ever bought, but with my Nordstrom Rewards certificate, they were less than $20 and will be cool in the 85-90 degree temps under blazing sun that we're supposed to get on the lake next week.

While we're discussing clothes, I'll confess that I bought a new pair of white slides. I have a pair of Ecco white slides that I've had since around 1990. They're the most comfortable casual shoes I own, but a dog EEFFH and I brought home from the pound to please his kids in about 2002 chewed into them, and they look incredibly ratty. When Jazz suggested I wear them to a party last Sunday and I cringed, I realized they needed to go in the trash.

I received a catalog from FootSmart earlier this week. When flipping through it, I noticed that the Walking Cradles' Alva slide was almost identical to the Ecco slide. And, of course, the white was on sale. There's a new Top Shoe on my most comfortable casual shoes list now. The sole is cushioned, and the shoe is just a dream to wear. I think they will be on my feet for rehearsal at Blossom this afternoon!

My final shoe note is to show you this incredible shoe, which I found while looking for a picture for today's post. What a kick! Have you ever seen anything so wild?! That's the sort of outrageous shoe that my daughter-in-law loves to wear, and looks fabulous in.

And my final note on the weight problems is that I was ready to sign the gym membership papers yesterday when my doctor called and told me my left medial meniscus is torn and will require surgery. I see the ortho on July 29th. I am not happy.

I've been chiding Jazz for not shoving me onto the grass when he saw me start to fall on the pavement. What a perfect opportunity he had to release his aggression on me. Now he has to put up with my limping and complaining for another four weeks, then wait on me hand and foot while I recuperate from surgery.

Sounds like a plan, huh?

Hurrah for Water Pressure!

I’m a good girl.

Of course, every time I say or hear that phrase, I remember my daddy. Anyone who has read this blog for longer than, say, two months, knows I adored my daddy and he seconded that emotion.

One of my most prominent memories is of the summer when my boys were, I believe, two-and-a-half and one. That would have been 1976. My daddy had a lake house out near the back entrance to Walt Disney World where he would go from Saturday noon to Sunday night to fish and relax. The house sat on two lakefront acres and had lots of grass that had to be mowed regularly. That summer he was having heart problems again and couldn’t go out there every weekend. TJ and Tyler’s dad was working at WDW as an entertainment supervisor. Every Saturday morning we would pack up all the accoutrements two toddlers require and head out to the lake, 45 miles away, for the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon I would crank up the riding mower and mow the grass, which would involve about 45 minutes of riding around in the sun, heat and humidity. The result for me, every week, would be a screaming headache. As I sat on that mower, riding, turning, riding, I imagined my daddy whispering in my ear, “You’re a good girl.” He was one of only two people in the first 46 years of my life who made me feel I had any worth. To this day, when things are hard and I take steps to ease them, I hear daddy telling me I’m a good girl and tears come to my eyes. He was one of a kind and died way too early.

So why am I a good girl today? I was in the gym at 7:45 this morning. I walked a mile, then headed for the showers.

You will remember that since February 28, I’ve been showering in an 80-year-old shower. That shower is fed by 80-year-old pipes filled with 80 years of crud. And the shower head has all sorts of build-up inside, such that the water that falls on my head is more than a trickle but far less than a waterfall. Washing my hair, which I do every morning, takes a long time, even though I don’t have much hair (fine, thin, short).

I stepped into the shower at the gym without having to wait three minutes for the hot water to arrive, and was almost knocked down by the water flow. Oh My Gosh. Just my morning shower at the gym will make getting up and racing out of the house worth the effort!

I like ending each day knowing I’ve accomplished something. Today I walked into the office knowing I had already accomplished something with that mile walk and happy shower.