love can make you happy

If you look closely at Meg's hand in the photo above, you'll see a beautiful brand spankin' new engagement ring on her finger! At our wonderful Easter brunch at The Peabody Hotel
yesterday, Hunter proposed to Megan and she tearfully accepted -- it was a joy-filled moment for the whole family. No date has been set yet.

We like Hunter a great deal and are so pleased and proud that our daughters have done such a good job in selecting their husbands.

chantix: another month bites the dust

Family obligations have kept me a bit busy lately but my narcissism will permit me to pop in and pat myself on the back in recognition of my third month quit-smoking anniversary. If only the first weeks had flown by as breezily as the months do now.

I've actually finished my required 3 month Chantix run, however, my doctor told me that studies show that hard-core long-term heavy smokers (like me) have a better success rate staying on Chantix for 6 months. I'm not going to argue with what obviously seems to be working.

All along I've said that I don't have any of the negative side effects that so many folks seem to experience. Granted, I have about 5 minutes of nausea if I take my morning Chantix on an empty stomach and some of the worst gas I've ever had in my life ..... but otherwise I've pretty much sailed through. However, I'm actually starting to re-think some of that.

As a life-long dieter, I'm familiar with hunger -- I'm quite certain that I've experienced it in all of it's possible permutations. There's one type of hunger -- a grinding, gut-churning hunger -- that I hadn't experienced often but I paid attention to it when I did -- I always felt that it was my body's way of telling me, "I'm not screwing with you: eat something now." I actually call this type of hunger "core hunger" because it seems to go beyond the routine "Is it time for dinner yet?" hunger I experience daily while on a diet. It's extremely uncomfortable and makes me feel very antsy.

Ever since I quit smoking, I've been experiencing that type of hunger on a daily basis. At first, I attributed it to my quit -- the body adjusting, the addiction demanding attention, the brain demanding a distraction -- and I either gave into it or fought it. I kept telling myself it would get easier. But I'm three months into this and I'm still experiencing this extreme hunger on a daily basis -- even when I haven't been dieting strenuously -- and I'm starting to wonder if it doesn't have something to do with the Chantix. We know it affects the digestive system -- perhaps it creates just enough havoc in my stomach that regular hunger feels like "core hunger?"

Either way, it makes no difference. I'm in this for the long-haul, hunger or not.

my guy(s)

My son, Morgan, had his first heady taste of the limelight last night -- he was prisoner John in his middle school's production of "The Lady Pirates of Captain Bree." Here he is with his proud Dad. Arrrrr, matey!

i hear a symphony

I look forward to American Idol every year even though it's largely a crap-shoot for me. If I get into the current season, I get really, really into it (bordering on obsession). If I don't get into it, I could truly care less about who wins and that's always a disappointment to me.

I think that this year is going to be in the former category since I'm already half in love with 17-year-old David Archuleta and I haven't even seen the Top 12 women perform yet. This kid is an incredibly talented seasoned performer AND an awkward teenage manchild and the combination is charming beyond belief.

happy anniversary to me

I'm a member of the great quit-smoking community QuitNet and this morning they sent me a happy reminder that it was two months ago today that I quit smoking. I plan to celebrate my "smobriety" today.

I can vividly recall that first week, when each hour felt like a full day and I couldn't begin to imagine being two months into it. One sign of progress in this very long process is that my not-smoking time goes by much more quickly now -- I know that I'll be at three months smoke-free before I know it.

One small additional achievement for me is the weight issue. I've battled a weight problem all of my life and having recently lost 30 pounds (with 10 more to go to my goal), I was scared to death that I would gain it all back when I quit smoking. Since I quit on December 19th when the house was full of Christmas goodies, I did initially gain 10 pounds (yikes!) but I've already managed to lose 5 of that. I'm anxious to lose 5 more so I can just concentrate on maintaining until my smobriety is easy enough that I feel up to tackling the final 10 pounds.

A nice thought: I weigh 25 pounds less than I did a year ago today AND I'm a non-smoker as well. That feels good.

all you need is love

Happy Valentine's Day!

good golly miss molly

My youngest daughter turns 17 today -- when she left for school this morning, she discovered that her friends had snuck over during the night and decorated the car for her!

This age milestone means it's just one year before she takes her first fledgling steps out into The Big World.

Molly is a force of nature. She's smart, passionate, stubborn, tenacious and beautiful -- there isn't anything she can't accomplish once she sets her mind to it. I hope The Big World can handle her.

Happy Birthday, Mollster!