Happy Mother's Day 2012

From you to me!

 Good morning son!!! Let's just start off by saying that my hair is going to be a mess and will be hanging in my eyes all day today. And, it's YOUR fault! The thoughts have been absolutely running through my head so fast for my blog today that I did a half_ _ _ job blow-drying my hair so I could get in here and have our Sunday morning conversation.


What a glorious and beautiful Mother's Day morning it is today. The sun is out, the flowers in bloom, dad and Jamison are here. I have friends and family nearby and afar but I know they're all waiting to see how I handle today. It is after all my first Mother's Day without you. When you get a chance, let me know how they celebrate Mother's Day in heaven. I bet there's a rip-roaring celebration going on all day. Do they celebrate May with a May Pole dance? Never mind, you wouldn't know what that is and neither would anyone reading my blog. And no, cause I know you're laughing, it's not a "pole" dance as you know them today okay!

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's reading my blog. I hope you have an amazing day experiencing all the love and blessings of having children, enjoying them and laughing with them. May they continue to bless your lives as they learn and grow. Experience life with them. Share life with them. They are truly the Lord's gift to you and are on loan. Children should be handled with care and always be treated as the Lord's special gift to you. Children are the most valuable gift the Lord ever shares with you. Okay, now I can get off my soap box.

My "Mother's Day Bouquet"

Hi again son. Now that's I've taken my weekly side track. As I was saying, it's a glorious Mother's Day morning. I've been in a funk all week and have really wanted to stay as far away from Mother's Day as I possible could this week. I've just wanted it to slide by, out of my view and be over. What a waste that would have been; to miss this glorious morning. I've been watching the huge, bright pink,  rhododendron plant outside my living room window begin to open it's buds all week. Slowly and steadily one bloom would open and would encourage another to open, and another, and another. This morning the entire shrub is open and the sun is shining on it. It's absolutely beautiful. So as I whined to myself about not getting my usual Mother's Day flowers from you, I just want you to know, the Lord has taken care of it. Not only that, but there is another plant with it that are the most beautiful small white flowering plant that when mixed will make a gorgeous bouquet when I cut some and put them in my vase you sent to me for Mother's Day last year at work.

As I said earlier, I was in a "funk" yesterday. Bless dad's heart, on the days I'm like that I could get anything I want from him. He just wants so badly to be the one to make things better. Truthfully, he's usually successful. Sometimes it just takes longer and thankfully, I'm not that way very often. We had planned on going to a huge, and by huge I mean, acres and acres and miles and miles of antique sales and flea markets in Brimfield MA Brimfield Show  If you can believe this, I changed my mind and didn't want to go. I simply didn't want to be in a crowd. What a poop-head I was. He finally talked me into going to Hoosick Falls to the ERC Center and the Hoosick Falls Cafe. Now you need to know, it wasn't ALL about me. The Hoosick Falls Cafe has the most amazing biscuit,bacon & egg breakfast sandwich known to man! We had a great day in the sunshine and even stopped at a couple of amazing shops on the way home. Later, we went to Applebee's and had a late lunch, early dinner. Dad surprised me yesterday morning with a Double Delight rose bush to plant in our yard, a beautiful card and cash so I can pick out my own flowers for our front porch. I think I'm going with planters to hang on the railing this year instead of hanging baskets. Who knows, maybe both.  He couldn't have gotten me any better. Dad continues to be the most thoughtful man I have ever know. I am truly spoiled rotten and love every minute of it. Who wouldn't? I even ended the day with an ice-cream cone. Not such a bad day after all. 

So, now I want to share something with you that is going to be very difficult but I need to tell you because I need your support. You shared this struggle with me here on earth so what would make you think you're off the hook just because you're in heaven?  That struggle is our health. I've always looked at it as our weight but the truth is, it's really about our health. Just as you were beginning to get a handle on yours, you were diagnosed with cancer. I think that was one of the most disappointing things in life for you. Just as your life was finally coming together the physical part of it came to an end. You really wanted to see and experience the end of that struggle. I don't think any of us ever thought the solution would be that you'd loose your life. But, as I can hear you saying right now, "look at the bright side mom, I'm not fat any more!". I would say, "Stop saying that!". You would say, "What? That I'm fat?". To which I'd say, "yes". To which you would reply, "What do you want me to say mom, that I have large bones or a growth?". Little did we know how real that conversation would become as we laughed and laughed. Truth is, the weight problem for you is solved. How does that size small robe feel?



Well, having said all of that, my problem of , "being over-weight" as I choose to call it, instead of using the reality word, "fat", continues to be that albatross around my neck. I've tried everything, and in some cases successful, at least at loosing it. I've never been successful in keeping it off. Because of a book your very brave father bought me this last month, I'm seeing the process of loosing weight in a different light. The topic of weight, at least mine, has been a minefield during our life together, your dad's and mine. It's something I have expected him to stay away from and he was not allowed to talk about it unless I brought the subject up. Even then, it's always been a bed of egg shells for him to maneuver through. Not long ago as I was cruising on the Internet looking for something on Amazon and dad said, "I was watching something the other day and saw a book I'd like to check out called the "Joy Fit Club", would you order it please." So without a thought in my head, I ordered the book. When it arrived a couple of days later I opened the box and handed dad the book. Before reaching out to take it he said, very bravely I might add, "I'd like you to read it." Now, given our lifelong experience of my weight issue in our house, you can only imagine what courage it took for him to utter those words to me. It had to have been like realizing he had  stepped on a landmine and he knew what the consequences were going to be but the saving of a life, mine, was worth the price! I know I was furious because I always was when the subject came up. But,

Love of my life.

surprisingly, I agreed. What I actually was thinking though was, I'll take it and lay it on the table beside my bed and that will be the end of it. I'm not stubborn or have a "mind of my own" don't ya know. But when we went to bed that night I found myself opening the book. As I read I realized that it's not a book about diets and being overweight, it's a book about being fit, just like the title says. It's a book of success stories of people who are very over-weight getting fit and loosing weight in the process. It's not about loosing 100 pounds in a year. Some take four years to loose 100 pounds, but they are moving the entire time. They're learning about what works for them. They start small and they continue to move, work, eat right/healthy and the weight comes off in the process. The last thing in the world I need in my life right now is a diet. I can't even fathom the idea. But, getting fit? I can do that. It isn't going to be an easy journey, but as with everything else in our lives, the journey is the important part of life. When you meet me at the pearly gates of heaven (and as much as I miss you, I'm in absolutely no rush to get there) the last thing I want to have to say to you is, "I was lazy, didn't get my butt off the couch and my body gave up". I'd rather say, "It was just my time, now let's go kick some booty". I need to say "booty" rather than "butt" because if Josie reads this someday "butt" is a word she's not suppose to use.


So today, Mother's Day 2012, I'm embarking on a new life-long journey...with you in tow. Dad's along for the ride too, he just doesn't know it yet. It's a struggle for us, this food thing, because dad can't gain weight and keep his weight up and I have the reverse problem. It's gunna work though. I'm going to get fit and know I will loose weight in the process.

Plus the .8

This Mother's Day morning I weigh 273.8 pounds.....with my clothes on. Now, anyone who needs to get fit knows it's very important that distinction is made, that I have my clothes on. First of all,  someone weighing 273.8 pounds needs to have the assurance it's not all them! I currently wear a size 20/22 in pants and tops or a 1X/2X. Might as well get it all out there and be completely honest if I plan on success. If I'm not honest, I won't succeed. It's just numbers with which to begin a life-long journey.


I currently have no exercise program. I can't even say, "i currently have virtually no exercise program. Adding "virtually" to the sentence gives the reader the idea that there might be the slightest bit of exercise. Read my lips, there is NO exercise. I could give tons of excuses, I'm depressed, I'm tired, my knees hurt, my ankles are swollen, I don't have comfortable shoes, I could go on and on. It would all be true, but I now believe these shouldn't be excuses for NO exercise but reasons TO exercise.

I know you're with me on this and I know dad is. He really took a leap of faith when he asked me to read this book. He was right, it hit a chord with me. A good one. I think he can take his foot off the land mine now. I know he's going to try and over-feed me, that's just dad, but I'll just "give him the look" and he'll know.

As I talk with you each week I want the conversation to  revolve around the getting fit part, not about the weight part. I want to share what great things I have seen and done and how I feel doing it. Not so much what the scale says. I'll give it a mention once in awhile but I'm planning on living a long time. Humm, so did you though. Well, you know what I mean. What ever time the Lord allows me to stay here on earth I want it to be a time of enjoying the life He's giving me, not of sitting on the couch watching everyone else live it.

"This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom

Not my foot....yet!