Unforeseen Blessings

I think all five or so of you who follow our blog know this already, but I started teaching early morning Seminary this week. (See above photo. Don't we look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?) Hoo-boy, when they say "Early", they are not joking. I took my first nap (first of two, and then I was in bed before 10pm--the last time I hit the sack that early I was pregnant with Ella) at 9:30 yesterday morning. I was attempting to study in my comfy chair and couldn't keep my eyes open, so I put some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on for Nat and crashed on the couch for an hour, then woke up STARVING because my body thinks it's lunchtime at about 10am. I am suddenly remembering why I spent all of high school snacking through science and sleeping through French. early Morning Seminary.

In addition to the wacky biorhythms, the last week or two have been emotionally exhausting. Extended family turmoil, an altercation with a neighbor over our guests' right to park on the (public) street in front of her house, a baby shower at our house at which a friend missed a step coming down the stairs and broke her foot... Did I mention that said friend is 6 months pregnant? The baby is fine, thank goodness, but the foot is broke. And yesterday my dishwasher went on the fritz. Come on! This is not the time for one of my hardest-working (and newest, might I add) labor-saving devices to konk out on me. It could be worse--I heard this morning that a friend of mine had a huge tree come crashing through her bedroom window at 3am. And she still managed to get her daughter to Seminary at 5:50! She is my hero today.

I get that doing the hard thing, the right thing, comes with challenges. But here's the thing--it also comes with blessings, often unforeseen. I went to the doctor today (routine check-up, nothing wrong) and I had an experience I have never had before. I stepped on the dreaded scale and the weight landed a full 7 POUNDS LESS than I was expecting. When does that ever happen?!?! I have had it happen the opposite way a gazillion times--pretty much every time, as a matter of fact. I questioned every medical professional in the office as to the validity of the scale, and they all swore by it, saying that people constantly complained that it was too heavy, not too light. I said, "I know! I am usually one of those people!" The ridiculousness of the situation did not escape me--I have been working my tail off to lose weight and get in better shape, and when I finally see a major pay-off, I try to find someone to prove it wrong. According to the doctor's scale I have lost 19 pounds since December, and I am a pound BELOW my goal weight. Time to set a new goal, I guess. I am going to stop arguing and go try on some jeans. Ooh, and eat some chocolate chips!