What an interesting day--and it's not even noon yet.

This morning I had another follow-up appointment for my cholesterol at the VA clinic.  (Because of injuries and illnesses I had while in the Army, I get free health care from the VA--praise the Lord.)  Well, my cholesterol has gone up, but it's still within the "good" range at 198.  Ideally it should be below 200, so I feel like I'm pushing it--especially since four months ago it was 168.  So, back to the super low-fat diet.

Here's the blow.  They weighed me in at 197.  The nurse was surprized and said, "I wouldn't have thought that."  But then she commented that I AM tall.  Then I told her I've been doing Curves and she totally understood.  She said I'm putting on a lot of muscle.  I feel like She-Hulk; I just wish I looked like her.

Next month Travis and I are planning on doing the Curves diet together.  I've been reading a lot of good stuff about it on the Curves message board.  I decided to wait to start until after all the holidays and our 10th anniversary.  Come on, ice cream is going to be in there somewhere.  And why would I want to sabotage my new way of eating?  In the meantime, we're not going to have the attitude of "Anything goes!" because that's just more that we'll have to combat.  We're just kind of maintaining until then.

So, after I finished up at the appointment desk, I headed into the waiting area to leave.  There was a table set up with all kinds of Christmas-y looking stuff and a whole bunch of goodies.  One of the ladies at the table said to me, "Don't run away," and handed me a Christmas gift bag loaded with stuff and an envelope.  "Happy holidays from the American Legion," she said.  I was dumbfounded.  All I could do was stammer "thank you" a few times.  I really don't feel like a veteran.  I mean, I didn't go to war--I barely went to the field!  But there they were handing everybody who had appointments today these Christmas gifts.

It was stuffed with nice little knit booties, all kinds of bath stuff, a large tube of toothpaste, toothbrush, Dove facial wipes, Nivea lotion, a comb, deodorant, and a big old word search book--obviously for an older lady, but I was still touched.  The kicker, though, was that I opened the card and there was a $5 bill in it.

Have you ever felt taken care of?  Or maybe cherished is a better word.  Every now and then I get reminders of how much God loves me and cherishes me.  Today was one of those days--and it's not even over yet!  I know it might seem silly to get all emotional over a gift bag.  But they didn't have to do it, and I really appreciate their efforts.

Gotta go!