March 10th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

Sheesh it’s been depressing around here! I’m about to try to change that but first I need to thank you all for your sweet comments. My friend and his wife are doing SO well in spite of the horrible circumstances. It was a beautiful service on Friday celebrating the short life of their gorgeous little girl. I don’t often speak of my religious beliefs here, but is one of the times I can’t help it. I am so very grateful for the knowledge I have that my friends will be able to be with their baby again someday and that she will be able to watch over and protect their family until they can be together forever. It makes a tragedy like this so much easier to stomach.

OK enough with the depression and the likes. Moving on to a funny story.

I have the world’s coolest Grandparents and I try to spend as much time with them as possible. After the services on Friday I decided to drive the hour to their house and spend the rest of the weekend with them. I arrived in the late evening and we spent the rest of the night chatting. My Grandparents are total night owls and it’s not unusual to be up with them until 2 or 3 in the morning. We talk about all kinds of random things and these talks are some of my favorite things in the world.

At some point, late in the evening, I was wrapped in a blanket on the couch (my Grandparents have apparently, along with their hearing, lost all sense of temperature. It was FREEZING!) my Grandpa looks over towards me and says

“Katie, have you been losing weight?”

“Why yes I have!” And in my head I’m thinking “In fact I’m hardcore dieting and exercising and thank jeebus SOMEONE noticed!”

“Well I wouldn’t have said anything before, but you’ve really let yourself go over the past couple of years, so I’m glad to hear you’re doing something about it now.”

Eh. Er. Wha . . . SCUSE ME?

Now, I’m the first to admit I’m not the nicely toned girl I was in college, but LET MYSELF GO? Uh, not a chance. Sure I’ve gained a few pounds . . . sure I’m trying to get it off BUT I DID NOT LET MYSELF GO. Also, I was COMPLETELY WRAPPED IN A BLANKET. The only part of me that was sticking out? Yeah, my HEAD. My very well taken care of, night creamed, highlighted hair HEAD. Let myself go my butt.

I couldn’t really be offended by what he said. This is the man who can’t says stuff like this ALL the time.

“Katie, you were a real pain in the butt when you were young but you’ve turned out to be a fine young lady.”

Or, “You’re not fat sweetie, you’re just hefty.”

OR my personal favorite, “Big girls like you shouldn’t wear high heels. It’s bad for your feet and back.”

I don’t know if he’s capable of giving a real compliment. He was trying to tell me I look better than I did a few months ago, and for that I’m grateful but I was DYING laughing after his poor attempt. I had to cover my face with a blanket to stifle the laughter.

He’s lucky I have a sense of humor. When I left for my workout the next morning I left him a note on the counter that said “For fear of letting myself go again, I woke up early this morning to go for a run. Be back in about an hour!”