Good morning world!
Tonight I'm going to Weight Watchers...period! I don't care what enchanting offer comes up during the day, come 5:30 pm I'm going to step on the scale (with my shoes on) and start being accountable for my weight and health.
My motivation is coming from various sources, but especially a lovely lady I met on Sunday night at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in Lancaster. I was there with my mother-in-law, Morag, who is over from Scotland visiting Morton and I for a month.
As we pulled into the theater I looked at the lovely gazebo where Morton and I had our pictures taken back in 2007 when I weighed 250 pounds after bicycling up the coast of America. It felt like it was a million miles ago and I'm felt that familiar feeling that someone who struggles with their weight always does, "Why can't I lose weight?"
Thankfully a whole group of fuzzy bunnies jumping around the place caught our attention and I set off to enjoy the evening of watching "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" - which is a play or movie I have never seen before.
It has become a tradition since 2008 when my in-laws have first started coming over to visit us each year, that Morag and I go to a dinner theater while she is here. We leave the guys at home and have some fantastic "girl time" that is really special to both of us.
So there we are, in the theater, enjoying the buffet, I am not going to lie and say I just had one plate, thought that WOULD be true...one plate of salad, one plate of something hot, one plate of dessert and the finally, as my stomach was near bursting, one bowl of ice cream. As I said, the bicycle trip felt a million miles ago.
The show began and we were both delighted with our table for two right at the front of the stage. It was fantastic seating especially since I had just booked the tickets that afternoon!
As the show opens (which I highly recommend seeing by the way!) the actors, costumes and sets transported us all to another place and time. We were in the Rockies, then on to Paris, Monte Carlo and back again to the Rockies.
There is an intermission about halfway through this two hour spectacular. That is when my magic moment happened.
A lady came up to our table and asked if I was Priscilla. My heart skipped for just a second that something was wrong at home, but her face was so kind and smiling I knew there was nothing wrong. Just the opposite actually.
This lovely lady had followed our incredible journey and in less than a minute I felt all this incredible motivation, determination and discovered once again the true reason of what I had been doing living on a bicycle for over six months. I had never met her before, but she really did change my life without even knowing it!
As we chatted I made the excuses, told her how busy I was looking after my grandchildren five days a week, had gone from 250 to 360 to about 320-ish at the present. Yo-yo should be my middle name.
While we were talking in my mind I was thinking how fantastic it would be to have another adventure. The bicycle was still willing and I know that if I had been able to peddle it 50 miles a day before, surely I could do it again. But alas, reality sets in.
The show is about to start, we hug, the lovely lady returns to her seat. I sit in the dark as the lady who is playing Molly Brown springs, sings and never stays down for the rest of the show. She was after all, UNSINKABLE!
As we are leaving I'm scanning the crowd looking for the lady who had just pushed me in the right direction again without even realizing it. She was lost.
The next morning, Monday, I went to my daughter's house to be with my grandchildren. I kept my dreams about going on another great adventure quiet, still my family doesn't know them...YOU dear blog readers are the only one I'm sharing this with, but inside I was yearning for the time that I'll be able to get on the bicycle again, or walk or do something to have a BIG adventure.
This thought melted away with kisses, hugs, arts, crafts, playing dragons & dinosaurs, playing doll babies and come lunchtime, there was no adventure BIG enough that would ever have me spend one second less with my enchanting grandchildren.
But then it happened. My daughter sent me a text they were both coming home for lunch and they had something to tell me. Again, my heart jumps and I ask if it is "Good, bad or ugly?" she texts back that it is all three.
Thankfully I didn't have to wait long to learn that for the next three months, my son-in-law is going to be at home with the children for MOST of the week. Now as they were saying this, my head was flooded with doing the math on how many miles I could cover in three months. I saw myself walking the hills of Italy, riding down the west coast of America and so many other adventures. But it isn't a solid three months, I'll still be needed one or two days a week.
There are going to be adventures to come. I'm going to spend today mapping and planning out my first in my head while I walk around Lancaster county with the in-laws, don't over eat and step on the scale tonight at Weight Watchers!
Pictures, reports and ADVENTURES to follow...come along and lets bring the whole world with us!
Priscilla