Dance Dilemma & 30 x 5 Update

So how is Phase 2 coming along? I'm still plodding along on the elliptical, just waiting for Spring to show up, like a baby that's four weeks overdue. I want to be outside! Rain, rain, rain. It's time for an environmental C-section.

Challenges, challenges:

How's the approximate 100 cal deficit going? I'll be frank with you: I'm stinking at this, but I'm not giving up. For instance, the good news: today at Red Lobster I had only one Cheddar Bay Biscuit. The bad news: each biscuit is 160 calories, so if I had not had even one, I would have been truly better off. There is no nutritional value in one of those biscuits, just taste bud-heaven value.

Tomorrow, the entire church staff is taking all of the ministry assistants out to lunch for Secretaries' Day. I think we're going to Chilis. I'm going to have the Guiltless Buffalo Chicken Sandwich for 386 calories, Alex, but what shall I have on the side?? Steamed vegetables, yes? Good choice, as long as they're not smothered in butter or oil when they come out.

One tip I'll share: when I'm trying not to snack, sometimes I suck on a Halls Eucalyptus cough drop thingy because it's so strong, I don't want to eat eucalyptus-flavored snacks. You're welcome.

So keep at it, and if you haven't seen Greg's workout videos, you should go cheer him on. Go Blue Team! (Blue = Boy)

Dance Dilemma













I have a daughter enrolled in a dance class which is getting ready to compete after a whole school year of rehearsing one, single, solitary dance. I just saw the dress rehearsal and am uncomfortable with the costumes and some of the dance moves.

Just look at those pics. We always chuckle at the first one, calling it her "no neck" picture, although we think it's adorable. And then there are last year's pics, which are OK, just "dark." But at least big, baggy sweatshirts are modest. And at least the black thing on her face isn't a "666." (I'm always so able to see the positives in life.)

Oh moms of little girls, look away. No, you should probably looky here. For many of you, this is what's known in literary circles as "foreshadowing." Because you, too, may end up with little dancing girls who turn into bigger dancing girls, and you may find yourself fighting the contemporary culture, the secular world view, and you, like me, may feel like a middle aged catfish trying to keep your little catfish out of the koi pond at Hugh Heffner's estate. I have no idea where that image came from, except maybe from the same place that brought us "environmental C-Section."

You're probably thinking that the teenaged girl and I are nose to nose in disagreement over this conservative discomfort, but you would be wrong. We are actually thinking along the same lines, but I, of course, am more conservative than she is because at 16, she doesn't feel the need to protect herself, but I, the MOTHER, do feel the need to protect her and teach her not to ignore the discomfort, which is serving as a moral compass. You could say I "feel the need to heed" the Voice in me saying, "Uh, what is wrong with this picture?" But I don't want to be seen as that one dance mom who goes ballistic when she doesn't like something.

The dilemma, then, is how to handle this situation that completely frustrates me at the studio with grace and tact. I'll let you know how it all works out. (When I have the party where I burn the costume.)