T.S. Eliot Got It Wrong

It's January, not April, that's the cruelest month.

So I took a little break from blogging. I've also taken quite a break from many other leisure activities in the last two weeks, most notably knitting. I've been doing some reading, but nothing too serious. Instead, I'm fighting a serious case of the January blahs, blues, and don't-feel-like-its. I'm embarrassed to admit that my television consumption during this time has skyrocketed, which may be a symptom of or a treatment for the January ickies I've contracted the last few years.

I'm hoping that a weekend trip to see my chum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, will be just the thing. We've got plans for facials, good fun cooking in the kitchen, and all the laughter we can pack in.

I haven't been completely without occupation, however. Back in November, I started an official build-a-better-Julie program along with the husband. We'd talked about it for a long time but realized that talking about getting into smaller pants hadn't made it happen. I'm happy to report that after some significant lifestyle changes, particularly in what we eat and how much we eat, I've lost about 13 pounds. I haven't decided what my ultimate goal will be, but it will probably be somewhere around 40 pounds. I'm optimistic that I can continue to have as much success as I've had already (and which even includes the nearly all-cookie meal plan I adopted for two weeks around Christmas).

So I may not have been knitting or writing or doing a lot of anything else lately, but I have been watching my midsection steadily decrease in size. I've also spent a lot of minutes in front of the mirror working at trying to produce a double chin. My elation at its difficulty is almost enough to supersede all the January doldrums.