Know When To Walk Away...

...Know When To Run.

I got hijacked by May and a bit of June. There was much to celebrate and close out. I could be discouraged that my weight loss has been at a standstill for three weeks now, but I’m over it. I didn’t gain either, so if I just drink Dr. Oz’s green-forest-algae-in-a-cup beverage for the next three hundred meals, I should get that scale moving again. 

May and June have been a blur so far, but I must tell you about one moment that rose above them all. I think you’ll all like this story since it's not only short, but because it’s about a card game.

Last week, we had a raucous family poker gathering with my dad, my teenaged son, his girlfriend, my husband and my 7-year-old daughter. Our card game was backlit by the lyrics to “The Gambler” but only I could hear them, because there was a party in my head.

While I was in the middle of counting cards (I suck at poker and cooking, so I use any advantage that life offers), my 7-year old informed us of a recent conversation she overheard.

"Mom, guess what? Do you know what this one boy called another boy in our class? He said, 'Shut up, stupid ass.' "

Me: "WHAT did you say?" as the air got sucked from the room and I swallowed my tongue.

Uh oh, thought my little one. But in the desire for accuracy, she barreled forward to take the sting out of her words. "Wait, he didn't say that. He said 'Be quiet, stupid ass.' "

Since “Shut up” is taboo in our house, I’m certain she didn't want me to think too poorly of her classmate.

I’m not really sure when the drywall cracked in my head or when my transmission fell in the street, but earth stood still for a moment.

It must have been all pent up inside her for weeks and just waiting to come out, but I saw she was a little worried she had let the horse out of the barn. She noticed her correction didn’t really improve the situation, as it was still on Red Alert status.

The air patiently waited for someone to say SOMETHING as we all were dying to laugh, yet trying to look stern and calm on the outside. Everyone’s eyes raced and zig-zagged around the table to each other’s face. Fierce little electric visits, trying to assess mood, reaction, how will we deal with this one?

I don’t even remember what I said to salvage the moment. I’m disillusioned enough to think that I said something classy and full of guidance for her, like how one shouldn’t use those words even when quoting someone. But I’m pretty sure I said out loud, “Yabba Dabba Doo.” Who knows?

Aside from hearing about the gentleman that my daughter goes to school with (!) I learned something. One of the funniest things you can witness, is the shock in a room upon hearing that phrase come out of an innocent child’s sweet mouth; a mouth full of mismatched, missing, sideways and loose teeth in an angelic face smeared with cheese and bean dip.

Why do I tell you this in my weight loss blog? If you said it's because cheese and bean dip smeared on the face reminds you of how I used to eat, you could be right.  But the real answer is: these are pretty close to the words I littered the street with, as I took my Very First Mile Run This Morning.  Yes!  Did you catch that? My shoes finally met pavement.

But don't worry, I slung all these blue words under my breath, addressing them to no one in particular. Every ache, pain, cramp and stitch got their own 'special' label, because it just had to come out somehow as I worked out the months of rust and caked grease in my gears.

That, combined with an awesome playlist on my iPod, propelled me step by step. Eight weeks after I started this blog, I finally overcame Team Reluctance, and took my body on a little tour because my body clock woke me up this morning and said, "It's Time."

And in the words of "The Gambler," I knew when to run.

More to follow.