The Substitute Fluffy Girl

Happy Monday...what is left of it that is..Sorry for the late hour!!  Today was another busy Monday.  I am trying to stay healthy...people in my office are dropping like flies!  Flu, colds, the crud...I must have washed my hands 25 times today! I do not typically have a germ phobia but I must admit...I do NOT have the Flu on my schedule!  I walked into the public restroom on our floor at work today and a woman was in the rest room....on her knees...yep you guessed it...puking!!!  I walked in and turned around and walked right back out...I felt kinda guilty...I could have asked if she was OK...but instead...I ran like the building was on fire!  So much for a compassionate heart.
 
Other than that my day was rather uneventful and just plain ole busy!  I struggled a bit with food..strangely...I only felt like eating protein...no veggies, no carbs...just protein.  I felt hungry...but not!  Not sure what was going on...but I did not eat a particularly balanced diet today. 
 
Tonite, I was invited to Donna's house to sub in her Bunco group.  I am assuming that most of you are familiar with Bunco...but if not, simply stated, it is a dice game played typically by a group of women...once a month.  It is more about hanging out and laughing, than anything else!  I found  this little pic online and thought it was cute.



Oh and to answer the above question...I do! LOL!!!

Anyway I digress...I have subbed for Donna before...actually a couple of years ago.  The last time was enjoyable...I knew a couple of the ladies in the group but generally did not know any of them well.  Like I said, it was an enjoyable evening.  But funny enough...tonight was different.  Now...again, I knew a couple of the ladies and had met the majority of them 2 years ago. 
Truth is...I can sometimes be a bit of a wallflower...I am not a true extrovert and in fact, can be quite introverted at times.  But...once I get warmed up...I am usually off to the races.  Typically, I cannot keep my mouth shut too  long!

  Of course, I worked all day and did not have time to go home and "freshen" up...but the good news is that I was at my best friend's house and was completely comfortable with doing any freshening there! 
 Now here is what I will tell you...my life, to some extent, is completely different from these ladies...not a bad thing..just different.  Most of them are married or have been married, have kids, jobs, houses...etc...I am single (at 45), no kids, no husband, live in an apartment...and gratefully I do have a job!  At least I got that going for me!! LOL! 

Seriously though, it isn't really like any of that truly matters...but for me, I sometimes feel a bit awkward in a setting where I could easily not "fit in".....not to mention that I am the only non-member of the group..I am the Substitute for the real member of the group.  Now...I don't want to make this some overly dramatic representation of the evening...truth is...I did not feel particularly awkward...everyone is incredibly friendly in the group and most of them have NO idea...that I am a single white female (ok...they probably figured out that I am white)...who lives around the corner from their neighborhood in a 2 bedroom apartment with my sweet Momma and a little white dog!

The night was fun...laughing, a little food, a glass of wine and lots of conversation.  But here is the cool part for me...I got to share my Journey with some of these ladies.  Not in great detail...not my life story....but a fun, honest conversation with a few of them about the Fluffy Girl and the fact that I am trying to drop 120lbs in a year. 

But something quite remarkable happened. One of these ladies REALLY  heard me...She got what I am trying to do...She got it that this Journey is about so much more than losing weight.  She got it without me having to explain it...justify it...make it flowery or particularly funny...and I felt that!  In my heart!  She was kind enough to tell me she got it...to take the risk of sharing with me, the stranger, that she GOT it!  You guys may think I am crazy...or maybe you would have had to have been there...But I knew that God was in that moment.  What a gift! 

 This Journey is about Inspiration...it started with unexpected inspiration...It had too...that is how God planned it!  It continues to be about Inspiration...the inspiration of a great conversation with a complete stranger-completely unplanned...no pretense...completely honest and an absolute Joy! 

Take it from me...in a world where we are so "connected"...email, texting, Facebook, Twitter, all of which are great ways to reach out..to stay in touch and to manage our relationships...there is something so precious about a conversation...a real, face to face conversation.  There is no Substitute for it...

Goodnight...sleep tight! Jaime