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.