Yes, I am a "fat bottomed girl". I was waif-ish as a child due in large part to extensive, bone-breaking orthodontics. Once those nasty suckers were outta my mouth and I was able eat...I ate. Along comes the babies and well...I now bear a closer likeness to the Stay Puff marshmallow man than a supermodel. I openly admit to stress eating. I learned early on that I can't freak out and scream or cry or throw tantrums when upset but I can quietly eat the stress away. Well, if I'm being honest it doesn't take the stress away it just stuffs it down to a place where I don't have to deal with it. I think a lot of overweight folks can relate. It's very common from what I read.
Today was one of those crappy, eat an entire bag of Doritos and sit on the couch all day, kinda day. My car, which we thought was fixed and running is not. I had to call off work yesterday which I hate doing. Even though Mr. Awesome got a new job making good money we still need my income (tiny as it is) to get caught up. It's been a frustrating ride for us. We have struggled since day one. When we first married I'll admit we were both stupid with money and got caught up in the joys of eating out and shopping and golfing (Mr. Awesome's guilty pleasure). Things only got worse with the addition of our second Oompa, followed shortly by the tragic events of September 11th which led to a lay-off from an awesome job in manufacturing. It took almost a year to recover then along came Oompa number 3!!
We struggled greatly for the next 3 years. When we moved from the city to a little house in the country things turned around. We were able to do more and go places and afford things. The savings account grew a little but there always seemed to be a hiccup that would drain it or at least come close. We were able to buy a nice "forever" house with a little land. We had begun to relax and feel like we'd finally made it. Then, last October when Mr. Awesome lost his job we thought we were done for. I had lost all hope. Our battle was the largest we had faced to date and we had no weapons at our disposal. Thankfully, Mr. Awesome landed a good job and started work this week. I know it was Pollyanna-ish of me to think that this great new job at Honda would magically slay all the demons we are facing. I'm just so tired of fighting. I'm plain wore out. However, with three children who depend on me, quitting is not an option. Which leads me to the title of this post.
My childhood was good, probably better than most when you block out all the crap my sister inflicted upon the family and some of my fondest memories are of riding my bike all over the neighborhood. My first bike was a pink and white Huffy with a huge pink banana seat. It was tres cool!! I so desperately needed to shed these awful feelings and shrug this terrible weight off my shoulders, even if only for an hour. So tonight, I dug my bike out of the shed, oiled up the chain, dusted off the seat and rode. I rode with my kids, laughing and feeling the wind in my face and enjoying the freedom. I rode with no destination in mind, no check list to complete. I rode for me and for my sanity which is ever so slowly slipping way!!
I rode.....because Fat-Bottomed Girls, we make the rockin' world go round!!!
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