Godd@mn F$%&ing Cookies!!

So on one of the weight loss boards that I read, one of the women there posted this recipe for crack Peanut Butter Cookies. These cookies are really addictive tasty, and if you've had your insides specially modified, like I have, they're healthy(ish). For the rest of you, beware the fat.

She posted this last night, and I was making cookies at 9:30 in the evening. What a bitch lovely woman to share her recipe. I'm going to be just as lovely (ahem!) and share it with you:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar (or sugar substitute, like Equal or Splenda for baking)
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix, drop by small spoonfuls onto a silpat or a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let them cool slightly before transferring to a baking rack. Try not to cram them all into your mouth at once.

Oh happy day!

Don’t you just love it when the weather’s beautiful – shining sun, singing birds, clear skies, and all that jazz? I had the most absolutely amazingly perfect day yesterday, and I feel compelled to share. Yesterday, I:

Woke up
Got dressed
Went to the Dunkin Donuts for breakfast with Miss Peanut
Ate and read the Sunday Paper
Went to the supermarket
Did the shopping (I didn’t go last weekend, so it was a big order this week!)
Brought it home & put it away
Put a London Broil in to marinate
Gave Miss Peanut her lunch
Loaded & ran the dishwasher
Refilled the dishwasher detergent cube tray
Washed a lot of dishes by hand (because the dishwasher was full...)
Washed 2 teapots & 8 teacups from this week’s Daisy Tea Party by hand
Washed, sliced, & sugared some gorgeous strawberries
Washed a bag of grapes & put them away
Gave Miss Peanut and the WCM a bowl of grapes each
Wiped down my counters
Cleared out all of the junk mail
Cleaned under the kitchen sink
Reminded the WCM to set a new mouse trap
Opened all the windows in the house
Did 3 loads of laundry
Pruned 1 holly tree and 2 trumpet vines that were hanging over the deck
Threw all the pruned branches into the driveway
Cleaned up the driveway
Swept the deck
Rearranged the furniture on the deck
Threw Miss Peanut’s plastic picnic table off the deck and into the back yard
Swept the deck again
Assembled the umbrella for my deck table & put it up
Scrubbed the deck furniture
Moved the grill
Shucked five ears of corn
Sliced tomatoes & fresh mozzarella
Minced garlic & made a chiffonnade of basil
Assembled these 4 ingredients along with salt, pepper, and oregano
Drizzled olive oil all over it & refrigerated it
Unloaded the dishwasher
Put all the handwashed dishes away
Went to Target
Hit Starbucks for a Venti Caffe Mocha
Dropped off prescriptions
Bought Miss Peanut some adorable summer dresses, a pair of jammies, & 3 pairs of sandals
Bought myself 2 bathing suits (one’s going back – too big), 2 pairs of shorts (both going back – cheaply made), a pair of jammies, and 3 shirts (keeping them all)
Drove home, making call to the WCM to start the grill and turn the stove on under the corn
Boiled the corn
Sautéed sliced mushrooms & minced garlic in butter
Poured tea into pitcher with ice cubes and sliced lemons (fancy!)
Set the deck table
Ate the most delicious meal (grilled London Broil with sautéed mushrooms, buttered corn on the cob, insalata caprese, and double vanilla ice cream with strawberries for dessert)
Watched in intense satisfaction as the WCM made today’s lunches and loaded the dishwasher
Surfed the net
Began reading a book
Had a visit from a neighbor
Supervised the bathing of Miss Peanut (she’s slapdash if you don’t check on her progress)
Put Miss Peanut to bed
Shower, shave, lotion, mousse, moisturizer, electric toothbrush, floss (damn corn on the cob!)
Watch TV
Sleep

Do you know that last year at this time, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish half of this list? That I’d have been out of breath after putting away the groceries, and would never have managed to get up and down the steps to do 3 loads of laundry in a day? It’s on days like this, days I wouldn’t have experienced otherwise, that I thank my lucky stars that weight loss surgery exists. I was so active yesterday because I was able to be active. I wasn’t (necessarily) lazy before – I didn’t have the energy or stamina to accomplish this list because it took so much energy to haul my body around.

And sure, I understand that nobody held the proverbial gun to my head and forced me to eat the food that put me within a hairsbreadth of 300 pounds. I also understand the statistic that only 5% of morbidly obese people will manage to take off their excess weight and maintain that loss through diet and exercise. I understand a 95% failure rate all too well, having lived through it for years.

You know what? I prefer living like this. Yesterday, as I was zinging through my chores, I truly felt alive. Slightly manic, but alive and able. I promise that I will never take feeling this way for granted.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, that's the feeling!

Sorry I've been absent - too busy enjoying the shit out of Spring Break! Here's a recap:

Monday - Girl day with Miss Peanut, Clo, her baby sister, and her mom. We spent the whole day at the King of Prussia mall. Literally, 12 hours of marathon power shopping. Miss Peanut blew her whole budget at the Build-a-Bear Workshop, where she built a new teddy bear and bought it a bikini. Ever seen a bear in a bikini? Ew. Clo spent her cash in the Sanrio store on a whole bunch of Hello Kitty loot. We had us some happy little girls, aside from a bit of unpleasantness at lunch (moody five year olds, anyone? plus a healthy dose of little-sister-envy on Miss Peanut's part). Dinner was at the Cheesecake Factory - a recipe for bliss right there. Chocolate martini, dinner, then Godiva double chocolate cheesecake for dessert? MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I had to bring the cheesecake home. I had it for 3 more nights for dessert.

Tuesday - drive to New York City to see my brilliant surgeon. The drive always thrills me - once I get to the Lincoln Tunnel, the adrenaline begins to surge and baby? It's on. Everything's good in my intestines, except I need more zinc. No problem.

Wednesday - home all day with Miss Peanut. Movies, Barbies, and vegging out were on the menu. Pretty damn perfect.

Thursday - Miss Peanut had a Bright Horizons day, while I went to therapy. Yeah, I've got issues. I'm working on it.

Friday - Miss Peanut wanted to go to Bright Horizons again, so she did. I vegged at home and made a ton of jewelry. Miss Peanut went to Nana's for the night.

Today - the WCM went fossil hunting, leaving me all on my lonesome. Internet surfing!

Tomorrow, a baby shower. I hunted all over creation for a dress, and finally found one in the first place I should've looked. Ann Taylor Loft. Love that store.

Grotesque

I swung from the glorious high of being "exquisite" to the murderous low of feeling grotesque - I have a sinus infection. This bastard laid me out flat yesterday, where I was conscious for all of four hours. I haven't been hit this hard - like a brick to the head - by an illness in years.

Wanna know something really sick, though? A part of me is really psyched that I've lost weight during this 2-day sick spell. How grotesque is that?

Exquisite

I was told this morning that my figure was "exquisite." I'm wearing an old black dress - very 1940s movie-star in style (low scoop neckline, buttoned up the front with white buttons, flared skirt, waist cinched in with a matching belt) and some gorgeous platform polka-dotted peep-toe sandals (dontcha just love Target?).

I'm not wearing any hose, as my sandals are open toed, so I'm completely bare legged.

There is no chub rub. My thighs aren't even close to one another when I stand with my feet 5 inches apart.

That, my friends, is what I call "exquisite."