Tennis, Anyone?

   I have officially signed Boy 1 and Boy 2 up for tennis lessons. Secretly, I'm jealous that I'm not the one taking lessons.  Boy 1 didn't want to do it. But, I told him that his school has a tennis team, and he's on it, so he had better learn to play. Miraculously, that worked. The truth is, there are no try-outs for sports at our little school, so he totally can be on the team - in about six years. By then, he should be awesome!  Maybe this awesome... ?

   On another sports-related note, we drove 2.5 hours last night to watch our team play football. It was SO worth the drive - one of the best games I've ever seen. Boy 1 and Boy 2 actually watched 4 or 5 plays before they went off to roll in the grass like two retriever puppies. And, that's exactly what they looked like - rolling, wrestling, play fighting, knocking each other over, etc. Good times were had by all.

   I hope you all have a super weekend.

My (Soon-to-Be) Patented Weight-Loss Plan

If I could write a book or get this patented or whatever, I could make a billion dollars with my new weight-loss plan. Are you ready for it?



Go get a job teaching a couple of high school classes.



That's it.

Here's why it works: Who wants to stand in front of a room full of skinny little 15 - 18 year old girls and be the biggest girl in the room? I know I don't. This gives that old phrase "the elephant in the room" new meaning. For years, I've been searching for the motivation to finally lose the 10, ok 15, alright 20 pounds of baby weight that never just fell off me like I wanted it to. I have discovered it.

I thought that my 20th high school reunion would be the perfect motivating factor. It wasn't though. The problem is that I've seen enough pictures of my old classmates on facebook to know that (with very few exceptions) they don't look any better than I do.

Also, even with my extra weight, it has always been a rare situation that I was ever the biggest girl in the room. So, I suppose I never felt self-conscious enough to do the hard work. NOW, however, I am ALWAYS the big girl in my class. It doesn't matter to me that I'm the teacher and they are mere children. These children are as tall as me and, in my mind, I should not be this much bigger than them.

There's also this: I'm old enough to be their VERY YOUNG mother. This realization was the final straw for me. Just because I'm old enough to be their mother, doesn't mean I want to look like their mother. (Not that there's anything wrong with their mothers. The ones I've met are really cute.) I AM, however, okay looking like their VERY YOUNG aunt or their MUCH OLDER sister. This is a compromise I'm willing to make.

I am happy to report that I put on a pair of jeans that I have not worn since last spring, and they buttoned just fine with no bulging over the top - at least when I'm standing up. Ya-hoo. This is real progress. I really don't care or know exactly how much I weigh, I just want my clothes to fit.


P. S. I give all credit to The Princess of Sarcasm for reminding me that I don't want to be the elephant in the room. You'll have to visit her blog to know what I mean.

Here Comes a Busy Weekend

Until our house is built, one of my favorite pastimes is finding ways to avoid our rental house. I am so excited to say that this weekend will be perfect for it. Tonight, we will travel to some small So Georgia town that I've never heard of to watch our high school football team. 

 Go Crusaders!

Saturday, after sleeping late, we will go to the seemingly unavoidable Wal-mart to find a gift for Boy 1 to take to a bowling birthday party. Parties at the bowling lanes seem to be quite popular here. There are not a lot of options, and the kids seem to really enjoy it. I imagine we'll probably have one there in December for Boy 1. Boy 2 will insist on playing a few arcade games before we leave to run errands. Afterwards, we'll pick Boy 1 up from said party.

Image via Wikipedia

We will visit one of Mr. Perfect's aunts for a while. They are all so sweet, and his parents, sister and niece are driving over, as well.
Somewhere along the way, I MUST catch at least part of the UGA v. So Carolina game. Here's hoping the Dawgs crush the Gamecocks!

Image via Wikipedia

Finally, I'm going to a Pampered Chef party at a new friend's house.

Image via Wikipedia

I've never been inside her home, but I have been to her pool for a party, and it's absolutely lovely. So is she and her entire family - especially her beautiful, sweet little girl who I think Boy 2 is a little sweet on. (He's far too young for that now, but in a few years I'll be thrilled if his taste in girls is still that good.)


I'll be actively ignoring the fact that it's still hot as stink here and clinging to the knowledge that cooler weather will be here soon.

Image via Wikipedia

Any-hoo, I hope you all have exciting plans for the weekend. What will you be doing?

Friday Night Lights

Last night, we went to our second high school football game of the season. This one was an away game. The boys are still too young to enjoy a good road trip, so the 45-minute drive was pretty boring and uneventful. Unfortunately, our guys lost. BIG TIME. It really did break my heart. About half of them are in  my classes, and they tried to be so positive at school. But, I don't think they had a really good feeling about it.

The more interesting happenings last night were not on the field, however. The elementary and middle school students were doing some serious socializing during the entire game. We want so badly for Boy 1 and Boy 2 to love football as much as we do. And, I think they will one day - but not yet. The second we sat down in the stands, Boy 2 says, "Can we go play with the other kids?" They did, and played HARD until the end of the game. At one point, the same-aged kids from the home team came over to our side, too. For a minute, it looked like that scene from Westside Story when the two gangs meet up. (That's the only part of that movie I've seen; I hate musicals.) They all sized each other up and then started playing together.

Our kids were much sweatier and dirtier than this.

On a weather-related note, I did not sweat at all. This is really saying something. It wasn't exactly my ideal football-watching weather (jeans, sweaters, hot chocolate...), but it was quite pleasant. BTW, I've now started judging the weather by how much I sweat. Sounds gross, but it's really the most practical way here. It can be 80 degrees and cloudy, but if it's really humid, you're going to sweat.