Thank You, 2010...Welcome, 2011!

Wow, we had the most fun New Year’s Eve ever! The food at the VFW was mediocre, but the band was great and the drinks were plentiful. Hub was designated driver, so the rest of us imbibed with abandon. And even though the men weren't that interested in dancing, the ladies danced up a storm. Men, who needs them?...to dance with, anyway. lol.

As I said, the food was not very good, my meat and vegetables were like rubber (I took the meat home to B, he loved it), but I ate both my own twice-baked potato and my friend’s too. You can keep your bread, pasta and rice...but I just love Love LOVE potatoes. It's hard to screw up a twice-baked potato, I guess. Then the dessert was red velvet cake with an inch-thick cream cheese frosting. I know they didn’t make it there at the VFW. I kind of wish I knew where it came from, but then again…better to NOT KNOW! It was delicious and decadent.

I woke up with a bit of a hangover on New Year’s Day, so I drank a huge glass of water, took B to the park, and then worked out. I felt much better after that. And right then and there I got back to eating healthy and working out.

I have been thinking about Roxie’s New Year’s Eve post “The Final Weigh In” in which, rather than focus on what the scale says, she told us what she’s “gained”…what she’s learned and the positive changes she made in 2010. I hope she doesn’t mind if I copy cat her.

In 2010, I was blessed. With the help of a wonderful therapist as well as many other loving people:

• I gained knowledge about my past, and an understanding of how that past contributed to my bouts of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. As a result, I was able to lose some of the fear, grief, and anger that has held me back from living my life to the fullest.

• I gained experience in handling my mother’s criticism. I learned that she doesn’t always see the world in a sane way, so her criticism of my weight and my appearance is not valid.

• I gained a new loving voice to respond to the mean voices in my head, the self-hating ones that constantly told me I wasn’t worthy of love or of enjoying life.

• I gained (some) ability to be more realistic about my weight and how others see me. I still have a long way to go, but I’m definitely better.

• I gained a better understanding of the fact that food is not my enemy.

• I gained some very special friends through the blogging world, most (too many to name) I’ve never met…one I have met…and one I'm planning to meet in March!

• Most of all, I’ve gained a sense of self-worth that I never had before. I learned that I’m a smart, capable, valuable, attractive human being, even when I’m not the thinnest person in the room.

So… Thank you, 2010, for being the best year of my life... so far! I'm counting on 2011 to be even better.