baptisms, birthdays, and body images

this past weekend, david and i drove to michigan to be present at his niece’s baptism. the house was packed with family, and there was never a dull moment. in addition to events related to the baptism, we enjoyed the town’s annual christmas parade, which culminated in watching eight clydesdales pull two gigantic christmas trees (four horses per tree) down the main street of town. i wasn’t quite prepared for the cold and snow of the weekend, so by the time it was over, my feet had at their tips ten little toe-sicles, but i was having too much fun to care. much.

we intended to return on sunday evening, but the snow had begun to fall (there were seventeen inches already when we arrived on friday evening) and we were too tired to attempt a safe drive through the snow and the dark. however, the next morning, when we absolutely had to leave, the snow was coming down even harder. but there was little to no getting around it, so we left around noon and drove slowly and carefully through near-blizzard conditions until we reached the southwest corner of michigan, where the snow stopped and the roads cleared. indiana was dry and sunny, so we made up for lost time a bit there, and were back to chicago by four thirty.

it was perfect timing, as i had plans to meet with melissa, who had offered to treat me to a manicure; her way of saying “happy engagement” and “happy birthday.” oh, yeah, today is my birthday. david’s parents gave me a beautiful swedish candelabra, and his nieces and nephew gave me/us three pretty kitchen towels, a great new epicurean cutting board, and a fun wooden-handled, berry-colored spatula. so thoughtful.

my family will gather on friday evening to celebrate together by eating good burgers at hackney’s.

tonight we celebrate with my friend becca, who turns, um . . . six more than me on this day, followed by a viewing of a new cut of “say hello to clive for me” at a local dive, er, bar.

but back to the weekend. after david’s class last night, he stopped by my apartment for a couple of hours. during that time i ’fessed up that, even though i tell people that i don’t feel the need to lose weight, and that i’d be happy with toning up a bit before we get married, the truth is, i really would like to lose a good ten to fifteen pounds. i don’t think i’m overweight, necessarily, but i’m definitely softer than i’d like to be. even though he doesn’t think i need to lose weight, david can respect my feelings and said that he can relate. he then confessed to me that he would like to bulk up a little bit before next june. and it was then my turn to tell him that i think he looks perfect, but that i fully understand.

the biggest thing for me will be training myself to eat in a healthier manner. i love to snack, and i don’t always do a good job of making food that’s good for me. rarely do i cook a real sit-down-and-eat-it meal, and that’s gotta change. i’ve realized that, too often, i make excuses for why i don’t have time to cook. and that’s gotta stop. so, my pre-new year’s resolution, which i guess this is, is to eat better, exercise more, and just plain ol’ take better care of my body.