Parental alienation is Child Abuse

Have I ever told you about my husband Gary?  I met him online,  ten-years in February.

It wasn't his good looks that won my heart at first.... . 

Nor was it that he sent me flowers  'just because'.

The truth is, I fell in love with him the day I met his children for the first time.  We met them at the Cracker Barrel for dinner.

see picture-books on table. 

Athena was happy to see her dad and fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Did you bring your picture books with you?” he asked. She nodded and pulled out a small photo album from a box full of others. She handed it to me and while everyone else ordered dinner I turned the pages of a year’s worth of memories, painstakingly put together by her dad; time spent together; photos with captions, movie tickets and other miscellaneous memorabilia. If he’d been trying to sell himself to me he may as well have slapped a sold sign in the middle of his forehead at that moment because it was then that I began to fall in love with this unique and wonderful man.

Throughout dinner Athena clung to him, holding his arm close to her small face and watching him in admiration, and when the time came to leave she wiped away tears and squeezed him like she’d never let him go. His older kids, Stacy and Jason, hugged us and we said goodbye.

Forward - --  Almost ten years. 

Parental Alienation.

Not many know about this form of child abuse. If it is not in you're back yard you may not even know it exists.

 My last memory of Athena is of her crying  and asking her father if she could come and live with us.  That was four years ago.  She was drugged, brainwashed, bribed and hypnotised in an effort to remove her father from her life and her heart.  

She's no longer in our lives. 

Metabolism and Weight

Die-t.  Who thought of the word, and does it have anything to do with wanting to die while taking part in its absurdity?

I've been on every one imaginable, trying to keep at a reasonable weight.  (You don't want to know!)

I've been offered gifts of new wardrobes, contentment, peace and overall better health to just drop twenty-five pounds.  It was easy when I was thirty.  A week of eating nothing but M&M's on the 'm&m diet' was a guaranteed 7 lb. weight loss.

Now that I'm older I've learned the ugly truth about the over-fifty-metabolism.  And the importance of eating healthy.  (Not that being enlightened of these things help me to lose weight... uhhh uhhh)

I can go along great for weeks...  eating nothing but fruits and veggies, lean meat and no carbs and be graciously rewarded a one-half lb. weight loss. 

 Ugh! But hey...  going in the right direction!!

However....  one false move.  One piece of double-chocolate cake with buttercream frosting or any similar and wonderful intake will jack those scales up 2-3 pounds overnight.

So when I make my whole wheat toast with a smidgin of peach preserves and arrange it so invitingly on its plate adding a few strawberries and a dollop of fat free cool whip...

I wonder why I insist on playing this silly game when the results are always the same....

Gracie waits patiently for me to come to my senses and start eating normal again.  And so far, I always have.

My Obsession

I tried it once.  It became an obsession; I needed to stop.  I went 5-years without it… but it was always in the back of my mind…. Taunting me….  Reminding me of its wonderful-ness.  Yesterday I caved.  I even planned my strategy knowing all the while that it was something I should stay away from. 

1. I blew off work. Closed the office. Went on my mission with one thing in mind. I would be fulfilled for the summer. 

2.  Oh, these extra pounds I've gained.  Darn them anyway.  So I chose my rest-stop purchase wisely.  

3.  This antique market was soothing to my soul as my mind ventured back to a simpler place and time.  But no... it was not the fulfillment of my mission.  Not at all. 

4.  Beautiful Deep Creek Lake...  and what a pleasant day it was!  Oh.  But, no.  That was not the obsessive desire that I've tried to separate myself from all these years.  I mean, really.  What harm can a lake be? 

5.  Ummm...  the museum with all the old mining relics of yesteryear and a bearskin rug?  Oh come on.  No harm there... just some good clean fun.

But then it was on to the real reason...  

I've known it was there all this time.  But I kept telling myself, "No!  You don't deserve it!  It will just make things worse!!"

6.  The Creamery on Deep Creek Lake is the most sinful and awesome ice cream I've ever tasted.  It used to be when I worked in Oakland, I'd treat myself every night on the way home.  "Oh, just one scoop," I'd say.  "And could you make that scoop half chocolate/half maple walnut?  And could you put the chocolate on the bottom please?"  (I like to save the best for last).  That was over five years and under 20 pounds ago.  Hmmm.

Ok.  I'll be good now.