Weigh-in Thursday: Week 1 of 5

Hello lady friends and the few gentlemen who are following along silently. Yup, I'm a day late again and no, it's not because I need an extra day with my scale. Or maybe it is. But no, it isn't. Just been super busy preparing for our trip to Moscow in 2 more sleeps! We're headed to one of the most expensive cities in the world and we've already spent a small fortune getting ready.

In over a year, I've barely shopped for myself. Mainly because who wants to buy clothes that are a size (or two) bigger than they should be? urghhh. And the other reasons? Well I work from home so my wardrobe consists of jogging pants and old t-shirts. And we barely go out, so who needs high heels and high class? But I finally bit the bullet and hubby splurged on me. In fact, just yesterday he came home with the absolute best shirt in the world. I promise to post a photo of me in it at the fancy schmancy birthday party we're attending Saturday night.

Oh and I should also mention that along with the awesome lilacky pouffy shirt, hubby laid something very sinful on my keyboard when I wasn't looking. I opened the bag and there it was. A small "Sicilian Rocket", aka, the Canoli. I was determined to walk that phalic-inspired delicacy straight over to the compost bin. But then I thought to myself, "Self, hubby knows you're struggling with your weight and he never would have put this here if he didn't think it was worth it." So self ate it. And let me tell you Hyacynth, that DID taste as good as healthy feels. Now normally that taste of sugar would have sent me into a downward spiral. But I held it together and did NOT run for the cupboard. So yay me!

Now my main worry is how many kilos I'm going to gain while there. I mean, how best to show hospitality but with FOOD? And vodka of course. And then I'll be forced to eat carby food because I need to soak up the vodka. Damn. So I'm going in at 73.5. Now let's just see what I come back with for next week's Weigh-In Wednesday. Maybe I should get on Den's detox stat...you know, to cleanse the pipes before they get clogged up again.

The walking has been sporadic due to the weather and the fact that my walking buddy has made the leap to jogging. Yay for her! I promised her I would hit the pavement and high speeds once I can actually keep up with her in slow motion. Wish me luck.

Oh, I almost forgot. I bought a pair of leggings. I succombed to Swedish Style. Now I just need the short leather jacket, a pair of Converse sneakers and I'm all set. The leggings. Why do overweight girls insist on wearing them? Yes, there was a time, a week ago, when I judged them for taking such a bold fashion risk. I admit, I snickered silently. But they're so damn comfy. Like wearing jogging pants or no pants at all. I'm on the edge. You look. You look again. You wonder, "should she really be wearing those?" Leggings aren't really for big-legged girls. But if I pair them with heels and an ass-covering shirt, I sorta, kinda can get away from that 2nd look of almost disaproval.

When I post the pic of the awesome shirt hubby bought me, you'll notice that it will be paired with black leggings and you can judge me (as punishment for me judging others). Sorry God, you're the only One allowed to judge.

The other day we're in the packed grocery store and Little Man blurts out rather suddenly and very loudly, "Mama, I gotta make a POOOOOOOOO."

Have a great week everyone. I'll try to check in from my fabulously expensive hotel ;-)

The Social Butterflies

Went to pick up Little Man from school today but he wasn't quite ready, "Mama, I say goodbye to alla barnen (all the kids) first." So I stood outside the door while he hustled back inside, all business. He stood in front of each kid's cubby (where they wait for their parents to pick them up) to address each of them with a proper farewell, careful not leave anyone out:
"Bye Do: Yara/Gustav/Emilia/Jasmin/Halle/etc.."

Now "Goodbye" in Swedish is "Hej Do". But our Little Man flexes his bilinguality (made that word up) and says, "Bye Do".

When I drop him off at the park every morning, there's usually a fan club there to greet him, mainly consisting of females. No surprise there, especially if you know his father.

And the past two weeks, he has received handmade gifts from two female admirers. A painting of his name and a bead bracelet.

Yup, our little man is Mr. Popularity...ha!

And tomorrow we find out if we're headed to Moscow this Saturday for five days. You might remember me mentioning some great friends we met on a beach in Montenegro. There I was on said beach running around after my little 1+ year old, likely hollering something in English when a blonde approaches me to ask me something "touristy".

She's Russian and like most Russians in Montenegro, has just bought a vacation home. She has two sons, one now 3 and the other 6.

We started talking and well, we haven't stopped.

They've been asking us to come and visit for the past several years and as hubby turns the big 5-0 this year, he said of her latest invitation, "We're going. If we don't go now, we may never go." And if the Visa Gods are smiling, we'll get our passports back "approved" tomorrow and be on our merry way.

I've been very blessed to have travelled a lot these past ten years but I'm nervous as hell about this trip. Genuinely excited to spend time with dear friends and stay in the posh-est hotel in all of Moscow with a view overlooking The Kremlin but...

What do I wear? (Already spent a small fortune and still freaking out)
How do I speak? (Apparently Moscownians find Americans/Canadians speak too loudly and it's considered rude. We're loud talkers!)
How do I eat? (Fork in the left, knife in the right)
What do I wear? (Still freaking out about this)
What do I give? (Remember: Never yellow flowers and always in odd numbers)
How do I behave?(Moscownians will think you're crazy if you smile too much. We're a smiling people!)
How do I repay such kindness? These dear friends have already pulled out all the stops and we haven't even arrived yet!

Yup, I have a case of the social butterflies!