Lent ended just two weeks ago.  For six weeks I went without chocolate, which for me pretty much equals going without sweets.  If there's no chocolate involved, why bother?  I also have been fairly diligent regarding exercise.  I didn't run all winter because running in the cold has only lead to injuries the last few years.  So I put away my running shoes and I've been doing pilates and aerobic dance with the Denise Austin cd's I've got.

I feel that Denise and I have developed a fairly close relationship.  Her insane grin and soft encouragement has gotten me through some rough and boring, but also hilarious workouts these last few months.

In addition to Easter and all it's attendant chocolate, my birthday was a few days ago.  My sister in law gave me a solid dark chocolate shoe.  The stiletto came with a matching purse.  All in all, ten oz of rich, dark chocolate.

Add that to the six oz of milk chocolate Easter bunny in my basket and that's a lot of chocolate.

But I'd been going without for so long that I'm really not on my A-game.  Under normal circumstances, I could put away that much chocolate in a few days without breaking a sweat.  Now, however, I'm sort of in the habit of eating what's good for me and really not chowing down on the goodies all day.  And because I'm so unused to the caffeine, I've discovered that if I eat chocolate after seven at night, I can't sleep.

Here it is, ten days since my birthday and I've only eaten half of that shoe! 

I'd be embarrassed if it weren't for the fact that in addition to my own chocolate bunny, Zack gave me his to eat and then Jay left town, which meant his bunny was also up for grabs and you know how that turned out...

Bottom line; I'm just not eating that much chocolate anymore.  I could only eat a few bites of  shoe after lunch today.

On the other hand, I look pretty good.  I feel great.  I've started running again since the snow is all gone and my legs haven't hurt since the first day.  I still do core exersizes almost everyday and baby, my core is strong!  I feel almost like an Olympic gymnast, sticking the landing after an awesome beam routine every time I manage to do that swingy thing on one leg that Denise makes me do in the Pilates Challenge. Almost.   My balance has improved.

While all this has been going on, I've also stopped coloring my hair.  It's been five months since the last treatment and I've had two haircuts since then.  It's almost completely silver.  I like it. 

And I'm not the only one.  There was a UPS guy emptying the box outside the front door of the bank this afternoon as I walked up.  He glanced at me, did a double take, gave me a broad grin and said "Good Afternoon!"

I replied in kind while thinking to myself "I haven't gotten a double take like that in years.  Nice."

I had to stand in line for quite awhile at the bank but the young man behind the desk was pleasant and when I was done with my transaction he asked me if I knew Katie.  I told him I was her mom and he laughed in surprise.  I know; I look way too young to have a grown daughter!  We chatted for a moment but I had to go.  I was already late to pick up Josie.

When I got back to the car, I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror.

I had chocolate smeared all over my face.

 

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