Cockless

It's been a while since I have given an avian update. We are now down to four ladies, having given away the roosters to a nice older man and his wife who are starting a small farm. It was a strange call that I got while bowling with the church youth group. When I answered my cell, my husband simply stated "We are now cockless." Took me a minute to catch up with him on that one!

The ladies are getting big, and we think they should start laying around the end of August or early September. Fresh eggs - YUM! I may need to find a lot of egg recipes, though. If they each lay an egg a day, as we expect, that's 28 eggs each week! My neighbors may find some fresh eggs on their doorsteps...

Thin vs. Healthy

I often find myself torn between a strong desire to be thinner, but also wanting to portray a positive body image for my two daughters. I know that health should be my main motivation to exercise and eat nutritious food, and though my health is a big motivator, honestly it's not the biggest. I REALLY want to be a size 6 (or smaller!).

I recently read an article that clothing manufacturers are sizing clothes differently now than they used to even 20 years ago. Apparently a size 10 today used to be a size 14 back in the day. This does NOT make me feel better!

Once upon a time when I was a size 6, I was complaining about my stomach fat and some well-meaning friends said "but you've had a baby, you have an excuse". Um, no, I don't. Plenty of people have children AND flat stomaches. The question is: how?!

I feel bad for wanting to be thin, and I wonder how my dieting is affecting my girls. Sometimes I catch myself complaining about my weight, and I know I would not want to hear that kind of talk from Issy or Emmy. I shudder when I think about the diet pills I have been on, and the ones that are still in the cabinet leftover from my last prescription. I would hate it if my girls ever thought about doing that to themselves, and yet here I am doing it to myself.