On Friendship, Weight and Muffin Tops

I promised you some flashbacks from the MO Baptist Convention I recently went to regarding Miracle Word, so here ya go! Debbie drove along with me, and I'm so glad she did. We had a great time getting to know each other a little better. I'm really not sure what we would have done without her, just Ethan and I. She helped to make our booth presentable and ran the PowerPoint. I guess Ethan and I hadn't thought about who would do that!

I had a wonderful 24 hours, visiting with other booth-owners at the convention, visiting with other convention-goers, hanging out with Debbie and Ethan, the whole thing!

We arrived Friday night and I shot this fine photo of Ethan's 'Yes! Got it!' look. We were going over the program that evening, but mostly just enjoying each other's company. I love that Ethan doesn't take himself too seriously and that he's so laid back. It's very endearing, not gonna lie.

Here I am just a few minutes before our presentation. I took a moment in the ladies room to show you my official convention nametag. I was extremely nervous and thought I'd show you what fear in my eyes looks like (in the ladies room--don't tell me you don't have any ladies room shots!) The presentation was fun...very small group, which worked for me. Public speaking in a group under a dozen...is that really public speaking? More like hanging out with new friends and chatting--LOVED it.

The best part of the whole day was worship. The messge was incredible, the energy was just right, AND Ethan got to lead the worship songs. I have to tell you, I've seen Ethan in front of our church hundreds of times...and I don't remember ever being as proud of him as I was that day. He was AMAZING--he bridged the gap between the younger jeans-t-shirt wearing crowd and the older suit and tie crowd. Not always a given that it can be done...but he did and he did it WELL!

And that takes me to my latest journey into the world of Weight Watchers. I saw a photo my friend, Debbie, took at me sitting down, ugh! I decided that yeah, it's time. So I called up my friend Pam and convinced her she needed to go with me, she could point and laugh when I got off the scale. She jumped at that, we went. I have to say, I'm pleasantly pleased that I'm 20 pounds less fatty than I thought I was. I'm a fatty, just 20 pounds less fatty. So, sigh, I will continue to gaze at my closet filled with clothes that don't fit anymore. Okay I can get 'em on, but the muffin top staring back at me in the mirror makes me very hungry. They'll fit again soon. I'm keeping my clothes.

I began gaining weight after I had a complete hysterectomy AND quit smoking, and know I have the metabolism of a turtle. It's not fair, but it is what it is, friends. I'm going to have to put brakes on the gain. So I'll be counting points and drinking water for the rest of the Summer.

And I know some of my friends don't worry about their weight, and I don't hate them. I'm very happy for them...until they mention they were born thin., that's a problem. Then, not so happy. And if you're like me, don't you want to go back to third grade and say 'Oh yeah? Well I can lose weight...whatcha gonna do about that face of yours?'. Is that wrong? Okay, it is. I won't say it. But thinking in my head, heck yes! I'm a mean fatty. It's how I am.