envy

am blogging soundtrack: Green Day
am blogging sustenance: Green Tea

For some reason I woke up this morning (after some pretty whacked-out dreams) wondering how today was going to ultimately compare to July 31 of last year. It's not as if today's date holds any particular importance. It's not my birthday. Not any kind of special anniversary that I'm aware of. Just another day in a long line of days. I don't even have any concrete plans for the next 24 hours. Nada. But because I have no way of predicting how 7/31/08 might turn out in the long run, I decided to look back a year and see what I was up against. Luckily, I am a fiendish document-er (in both my personal and professional lives) and had a plethora of sources from which to gleam a picture of amy:one year ago today. This is what I put together . . .

Exactly 1 year ago today I was sitting on a beautiful beach in Florida with the fam. Through blog accounts, an abundance of photos, and some actual honest-to-goodness (although likely margarita-influenced) memories I've concluded that it was a very good day in the life. Through the use of the same photos and also a sort of health journal I was keeping at the time I've come to the additional conclusion that I was a much more svelte version of the current me. I further recall being pretty darn excited about a new boy that I'd left back in Dallas. And, if memory serves, during that week somebody made me coffee each morning and tasty drinks every night. Not bad, not bad at all.

At first glance 2008 seemed to be in trouble.

This morning I had to make do with tea, that I fixed myself, because I forgot to buy coffee when grocery shopping yesterday. It's hot and steamy outside, with no ocean breeze for relief. And I'm gonna have to force myself to go out there for a work-out thanks to these extra pounds I've got hanging around. As far as I know, no one is planning on plying me with any tequila later this evening. And no new-boy giddiness. For quite some time, actually.

But, here's the thing. Last night I slept in my own bed, instead of the bottom bunk in the kids room of our beach house. And those pounds? They were hard earned. I went all the way to Ireland to drink way to much Guinness. All the way to Paris for those croissants and that daily overindulgence in goat cheese. And it was hard, hard work putting away that many margaritas in Mexico. Not to mention all the home cooked Mom meals I've had to deal with. Like I said, hard earned. Plus, last summer's Dallas boy? He didn't really turn out to be all that exciting. And let's not forget that in 6 days I do not, repeat: DO NOT, have to go back to work in the big M. There's more, too. I didn't gain a single ounce on my last travel adventure despite spending a significant amount of time at various dinner tables. I've got the makings of a great spinach salad in my kitchen. I've got a stack of books to read with no one to distract me from reading them. And it's still early yet.

So, while 7/31/07 was one hell of a good day, I think I'll take a risk and put my money on today.