By Necessity

It is a week past Thanksgiving, all the left-overs are gone and I bravely faced the scales the night before last. Normally I would have continued to ignore the silly thing until after the holidays, but I had a bit of a reality check Tuesday evening. When I tried to put on an outfit to go out with my husband, it was too small. This same outfit fit only two weeks ago. So I got on the scales to ascertain the damage.

I have blood sugar issues. With diabetes on both sides of the family, gestational diabetes diagnosed during my last pregnancy and other signs of a present problem, I really do know better than to eat sweets. But Kurt suggested cinnamon rolls for breakfast Thanksgiving morning and he asks for so little. So I made them. Homemade cinnamon rolls. In addition to homemade pies. And ice cream. Once it was in the house, I had no ability to resist. I can usually resist store bought stuff, but I am helpless in the presence of homemade treats.

All tap dancing aside, my little confrontation with my scales revealed a 15 pound weight gain in less than a week. Now I know most people simply cannot gain this much weight in so short of a time eating a normal holiday diet (i.e. I truly did not over eat, well not much, really). I am different. I really do gain weight like this when I eat sugar. It is real. It will come off over the next couple of months if I am very careful and if I am not careful, it will attach itself permanently. Of course Gregory turns 12 on Saturday and wants a chocolate, homemade cake. And then there is Christmas. And then Kurt and I both have birthdays in January. . .

I have a problem in the short term. I have no decent clothes to fit me at this weight. (I lost almost all of my clothes in the hurricane and then ended up pregnant a couple of months later. Literally 70% of the clothes hanging in my closet are maternity clothes. After my pregnancy I never quite lost all the weight I wanted and never bought clothes as a result.) Bottom line? I have to go to church this Sunday and literally have nothing to wear.



Yesterday I came to terms with my problem. Today, I cut out the fabric for four new skirts. I have some turtle neck shirts I can wear still and with some new skirts, I will be able to manage for awhile. As long as I do not repeat my Thanksgiving mistakes I will be okay.

I've been knitting for consolation. (You'd think I'd exercise, but instead I engage in more sedentary activity.) After my last sock issues, I thought I'd do some real basic socks for a break.



These are for a friend of my husband's. I won't finish them until I have my husband's feet for measuring. I also cast on another pair of socks to keep me from mindlessly allowing the others to grow beyond human dimensions.



I started some mittens for Christmas awhile back and haven't touched them since.



The patterns are different on front and back.



I had intended them for Christmas for my daughter. But after she threw all the hand knit woolens I made for her last year into the washer and dryer and after Gregory lost the hat and gloves I knit for him last year, I told my kids they would get no more hand made presents from me. Now I have to decide if I mean it.

In the meantime, the house is strewn with half done projects and I just got a call from the real estate company telling me someone wants to see our house on Monday. Uh-oh.