Sisterhood of the Shrinking Pants--Flying the not-so-friendly-skies

May 22nd of this year marks my 1 year anniversary of having lost 140 lbs. I’m happy to say I’ve kept it off, too! Yay! In some of my previous blogs here I’ve talked about about Janice Taylor. She is a weight loss success story too who sends out weekly newsletters of inspiration and motivation.

This week, she wrote a little blurb about United Airlines…..here is a little bit of it..

“United Airlines is the latest airline to penalize their overweight passengers by charging them for two seats should they not fit "comfortably" into one. They say that they are doing this because they received 700 complaints last year about overweight passengers.

I have a few questions for United Airlines and the other carriers who have adopted this two-seats/two-faced policy. What other complaints have you received in the past year, and how many? Has no one mentioned the delays, cramped seating (no matter your size), or poor food choices? I'd like to see a full report on complaints.

You penalize overweight people yet you offer no real healthy choices when distributing your peanuts, snack bars, and cookies. Why not offer fresh fruit? Instead of adding to the problem, creating even more of a stigma for those who are overweight, why not become a part of the solution? Offer frequent flyer miles to those who create healthy lifestyles. Dedicate a section of your flight magazines to health education. Step up to the healthy plate and make a real difference.”

HA! BRAVO, Janice!!!!!

I will say though that I pack my own food for flights now because I don’t touch cookies or crackers anymore, but why can’t they offer a fresh fruit selection as an alternative to the high sugar, fat and carb stuff…..the same stuff that keeps overweight people overweight. Janice's final line says it all---"Step up to the healthy plate and make a real difference.” Yes!

Dreaming of vampires....

I am a Twilight freak. I have seen the movie many times, I’ve read the books (um, all four of them in 1 week!) and now I am truly obsessed with the saga. “Hello, my name is Morgan and I am a Twilight addict.” Oh, I'm not asking for help or intervention. I am completely enjoying this! I am a giggly 16 year old again…..

But here’s what I found out about the Twilight series that just blew me away. Do you know how Stephenie Meyer, the author of these great books, came up with the idea for the Twilight saga---this super, duper multi-million dollar franchise that is the biggest thing since…..I don’t know what…..and still has 3 movies to come so more massive hysteria and money will roll in for years to come--where did the idea come from??

She dreamt it. DREAMT IT! From her own website, stepheniemeyer.com, here’s what she says about that very fateful night---

“ I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while B) the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately.”

Are you kidding me???? How many times have you woken up from a dream—whether it was freaky, scary, sexy or whatever and just dismissed it as ‘well that was different?’ and moved on with your day? But look at what she did. She took it and built it into one of the biggest book series ever. Now, I’m not saying that every dream you have can be turned into a Twilight…..but next time you have that dream that keeps your head reeling all day, maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it. Stephenies one dream that night spun into gold. That was a God-given gift to her. How many of those type of gifts and opportunities are we passing by everyday? It makes me wonder what opportunities I’ve just ‘shrugged’ off. Makes you think, huh?

All I have to say to Stephenie is, keep dreamin’ girl. Oh, and please go back and finish Midnight Sun. We have read the partial draft but we would still love to read it completely finished….believe me!

You, Bella and the entire Cullen clan have rocked my world and I love it!!!!

Re-living my life....

I was watching a movie the other day called P.S. I Love You. It stars Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler and Jeffrey Dean Morgan—he played the gorgeous ‘Denny’ on Grey’s Anatomy some seasons ago. Anyway---the movie started out kinda ‘meh’ for me but it picked up after that pretty quickly. The plot eventually took ‘Holly’, Hilary Swanks’ character, to Ireland. The gorgeous scenic shots of Ireland brought my trip there last August right back to the forefront of my brain. I got all warm and gushy over that beautiful country all over again. So I went to my computer and started looking at my photos of my trip and the lightbulb went off that I need to scrapbook them.

I’ve fallen so far behind on all my scrapbooking. My daughter is in 5th grade and I’m only up to her 3rd grade pictures, there’s a ‘seasons’ scrapbook that Cass suggested that’s on the backburner, I now have this idea for a Twilight scrapbook being that it’s my latest obsession. Sometimes I get so many of these ideas floating in my brain that I get overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.

Well, because of that P.S. I Love You movie, I decided to start with my Ireland scrapbook. That’s what I was doing yesterday afternoon into last night. I was a little rusty to start with, but it didn’t take long for the creative juices to start flowing. As of today, I’m about halfway through my trip and it looks great. It has given me a chance to re-live that beautiful trip. In this instance looking back is a very good thing.

Peeps and Easter...

So this is Easter week. I am anticipating great, tasty things from the Easter Bunny this year, thank you. I can’t eat any of it, but it’s the thought that counts, right?! My daughter and I spent last Sunday putting out our Easter decorations. There are colored eggs, Easter bunny villages and flowers everywhere. It’s so cute….. I can’t let “Peep” season go by without you seeing this. Each year the Washington Post hosts a Peep Diorama Contest and here is a link to the top 37 winners. I consider myself a pretty crafty person---I can do amazing things with anything and a hot glue gun—but I am AMAZED at what people can do with a Peep! Click here to see the photos……

Now….as a Christian, Easter has a whole different meaning for me. I love the bunny and egg hunts, the Peeps and the chocolate, don’t get me wrong. But I do view this weekend with all the reverence it commands and deserves. The whole thought of Christ living his last days, knowing how he was going to die. Sitting at the Last Supper trying to explain to His disciples what was to come. The excruciating beating and humiliations he endured. Being nailed to a cross and hung there to die a slow death. All for me. I am sooo not worthy, but clearly He thinks I am and I thank God (daily!) for that sacrifice. And all He asks in return is that we love one another like He loved and continues to love us. So little for such a HUGE sacrifice. *sigh*

I hope you have a very blessed Easter weekend---Peeps and all. But give thanks for it all. I wish you, my friend, a very happy, happy Easter!!!!