Boy did I eat.  I went crazy!  I ate like there was no tomorrow!  Mom made 3 different turkeys, a ham, a bunch of sides and people brought PIES galore!  Yes, I got a slice or 2 of my precious pecan pie…it’s like crack for me! lol  Came back home and didn’t gain a pound!  YEAH!!!!!!  Don’t know how I did it, but I managed to keep it off.  I guess, as long as you don’t do it all the time, an occasional over-eating session is cool.  Everything in moderation!

My hometown (Johnson City, Tx) has a huge lights display that they put up after Thanksgiving.  Its pretty impressive and they’ve been doing it since I was a kid.  It’s one of the things the town is proud of and it’s touted as one of the biggest and best Christmas attractions in the state of Texas.  We were lucky enough to be home for the opening weekend and my daughter Erin had a BLAST looking at all the lights.  So much fun!  My brother and his family came down and we all went to the lights display.  Mike (my brother) and I haven’t been seen together in our hometown for a long time.  We ran into a bunch of people from school and at some point I turned to Mike and said “Wow, these people sure got old, but we’ve seemed to age well”.  It was true.  Between my brother’s job (construction) and my new health/workout regime, we managed to go into our 30s looking pretty decent.  Not being egotistical, just surprised to see how the world had put a beat down on some of the people from my past.

Among the encounters was the one that many of us dream about.  There’s probably 100+ songs written about it and millions are made from books and movies about this subject. (cue the music from “The Notebook”) 

I saw her.

Yep her.  The girl that you compared everyone to. 

The “first”…..THAT GIRL!  Had not seen her in a solid 10+ years.  Always wondered how she was….how she looked.  You know what I mean.  She aged pretty well.  Mother of 2-married a guy we went to high school with.  We talked for a few minutes and introduced our spouses and kids to each other.  Ok, I’ll just say it….IT WAS GOOD TO HAVE LOST 35LBS BEFORE I SAW HER.  Not that I have any feelings for this girl in that way anymore.  It’s just felt good to know that she saw this version of me.  The first she’d seen of me in 10+ years and I weigh the same as I did back then.  I’m sure that woman dream of this moment more than men do.  At least that’s the way it goes in movies and books.  (cue the scene where Rachel McAdams gets out of the car and sees Ryan Gosling on the porch). 

Call it vane.  Call it whatever.  I was given that one opportunity to leave a potential lasting impression on “that girl” and I did.  The moment meant more to me that it did her I am sure, but it’s one of the few times in my life where I walked away from one of those life moments feeling confident.  Like most of us, those moments are few and far between.  It’s like having the world greatest comeback line at the perfect time (not 10 minutes later when you kick yourself saying “why didn’t I say that!”).  For the ladies, it’s like wearing that one dress that made that guy’s jaw drop.  I had one of those moments.

I may not see her ever again…..it may be another 10 years.  All I know is that for just a few minutes of time, when it mattered, I felt and looked good. 

For that, and many other things, I am Thankful.