A very wonderful day

This morning did not start as a very wonderful day. I woke up tired and by the time E. and me were on our way to sunday school, my head was killing me. After sunday school (which was WONDERFUL), I headed home - stopping at the store for a few minutes to grab a few things and then immediately started turning a few-days-old loaf of Challah bread into a ginormous batch of french toast. The house smelled like coffee, maple syrup and bacon and yummy french toast and my three advil started to work and by noon the day was absolutely wonderful.

After a quick weekly meeting in-world with the SECOND TIMES crew, I grabbed my purse and raced off alone to the mall for some retail therepy. One of my favorite stores was having a 40% off sale - on EVERYTHING in the store. I picked up some great things there - ran into my mother and the saleswoman who my mother always visits with was so excited to see me - I hadn't been in there awhile. "I didn't even RECOGNIZE you Stephanie, you look incredible" - *BEAM* Then I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in awhile and she said "OMG, you look amazing - how much weight have you lost now??!!"... it always feels SO SUPER to get those little emotional boosts...and it always feels incredible to try on every single thing I like and have it fit - and then to have to decide which things I want versus which things I can afford - NOT which things fit. :)

I grabbed a few more things at another store and went by the salon on the way out for some waxin', some clippin', some stylin' and YAY - the cutest new hairstyle ever! I have been growing my hair out for SO LONG and now it's the most wonderful little A-line curly cut, stacked short in the back with super-healthy roots and ends and it feels and looks just terrific. There's just no comparison to prim hair and pants I have to double-click on to wear. There's just such a sense of pride and joy I have to look like I do now. :) I look at pictures of myself from a while ago and I just feel so good about the changes that have happened in my life. I just love me...I love how I look. And it just keeps getting BETTER. That's the most wonderful part.

I stopped for a coffee on the way home and just smiled and smiled. I came home and threw the shopping bags on the bed where they are STILL SITTING and then started cleaning like a crazy woman - which included folding about a zillion things of E's while Berg the dog sat in my lap and licked my face. I think he liked the taste of the hair products from the salon. Tomorrow starts full time at work and I have to work even MORE things into my packed schedule.

After a late dinner, I am about to head into my closet for a while and try and get some outfits organized in time for tomorrow morning. I am SUPER sleepy and just ready to curl up into a ball and hibernate for hours. This song brought me a lot of comfort over last summer when I was losing weight so fast that I almost didn't recognize myself from day to day when I looked in a mirror. I am so much more proud of who I see staring back at me these days...even more than I was a few months ago. It's a long road still to get where I want to be - but WOW, what a wonderful journey. My reflection is really starting to show who I am inside. :)