"Slip" Sliding Away

Game on!

I had a fabulous time at the ice hockey game last night, even though we lost. Hands down, the highlight was our seats. My seat, actually, which I fit into with lots of room to spare! Oh, I wish you could have seen how happy I was to slide into my seat with ease. No squeezing in, uncomfortable for the whole game, feeling horrible about myself the whole time. Oh no, now it's a pure delight to go to the game, knowing that I will be able to settle in a focus on the game -- the whole reason why we go to the hockey arena in the first place!

But...I did have something a little, err, "unplanned" crop up. To welcome back the fans after the long labor dispute this year led to the cancellation of a good part of the season, management was giving out coupons for a free Pepsi, hot dog and popcorn meal. Now, I didn't take one, but my husband sure did. As you know, he's pretty darn frugal and this was a deal he was not going to turn down -- even if he wasn't hungry.

At first, that insidious coupon didn't bother me, but oh as the game progressed...a hot dog sure would taste good, I thought. I haven't had a hot dog, hamburger or pizza for almost ten months. Then, I put it all into motion. Got the coupon, the popcorn and Pepsi for my husband, and the hot dog for me. And it was gone, as you can imagine, in three bites.

Now, the good thing is it was small. So this little "slip" was just that -- little. I did make a choice that made me proud: I was cold in the arena, but stayed away from the hot cocoa, having coffee instead. The cocoa looked very, very good, but I stuck to my coffee and was happy about it. And when the game was over, my husband and I had a longish walk back to the car and we walked very briskly for several blocks. So although it was kind of minimal, I did get some exercise worked into the evening.

I think perhaps the key thing for me is I am not feeling too terribly guilty about this. Certainly, this is progress! (It doesn't hurt that I actually, according to my scale this morning, lost a pound. This is unexpected. I don't know if it will hold, but it was a surprise.) I'm not going to let one little hot dog eclipse the joy I felt fitting into my seat. That was a truly priceless moment and I am so very, very happy about it.

Not fitting into those seats last year was the last straw for me, the rock bottom point I talk about so much. And here it is approximately one year later and I'm free of that burden. And it feels wonderful. Mr. Hot Dog, it was nice knowing you for about 30 seconds. Mr. Arena Seat, I look forward to developing a blossoming friendship with you for many, many years to come!