taking the ring off

for years i couldn't get my wedding ring off. now i take it off every day.

when min and i first got together i was a size 6. living on macaroni, hot dogs and working 3 jobs plus full time school will do that to you. i always said i'd marry a cook, so i didn't need to learn how to do it myself.

and that's precisely what i did. min is a fabulous cook and that first summer we were together, neither of us worked. so we had fun in the bedroom, fun outdoors, and fun in the kitchen. before long i had ballooned up quite a bit. i'll leave numbers out of this but suffice to say i hit clothing sizes i never expected to. min could care less, actually said she loved me more, and so for the most part, so did i.

i'd guess six months or so after our wedding (which was march 15, 1997), i noticed that my ring finger was bothering me. oh hi. my ring was stuck! after a good half hour, using a variety of tricks, i finally got it off. and it stayed off for a full day so my little cells could breathe.

i tried to make a point of taking it off every few weeks but after another couple months it was ON. no amount of wheedling would entice it off.

and so it was, until last spring, when it came off relatively easily. huh? i'd noticed my pants were a little more comfy, but whatever. we didn't have a scale yet, but after min's stomach surgery we got a scale to track her progress.

well even though it was for min, of course i couldn't let that scale just sit there. it kept talking to me everytime i went into the bathroom. fine! so i stepped on...oh. nice! i'm down 10 pounds! from the last time a doctor pushed a weigh-in on me that is.

it's been a little over a year since i stepped onto that scale at home. at this point i am just shy of having lost 75 pounds. this morning min happened to come into the bathroom as i was getting ready for the day, and she was admiring some new clothes of mine. this led to a brief discussion of weight (weight loss=new clothes) and then when she figured out how much i'd lost, she practically squealed: you should be so proud of that! good job!

and i am...it feels good. but like jennie said the other day (about her own transformation), it also feels odd at times. stopping eating when i barely begin to feel full? choosing healthier foods because i *want* healthier foods? exercising because if i don't, i feel out of sorts the next day?

um. who is this?

incidentally, min now she says she likes me this size better, if only because it's so nice to be able to reach all the way around me, and be more limber. i agree. i also like the new clothes. min has a pair of camo pants she bought that shrunk, so she can't wear them. i have been eyeing them for months, and last week i finally got them on! they're not comfortable enough for *me* to wear, but if this trend keeps up, i should be able to wear them in a month. just in time for fall!

i don't expect i'll ever get to a size 6 again, and i am totally ok with that. i'd *prefer* to lose another 30 pounds or so, but if i don't, that's ok too. all i really want is to get into those pants. :-D

oh and the ring? i have to wear it on my middle finger now. flies right off my ring finger. i actually lost it for a few days, a few weeks ago, because it *literally* flew away while i was brushing off the bed. even with all the trouble min and i have been having, this ring means a lot to me, and i love having a symbol of her wrapped around my finger. well, most days. :-)

ps. i started this entry months ago, but finished it today, courtesy of clearcase. i love you, clearcase!