BulgingButtons

Not bad for a fat girl

Category Archives: Other Thoughts


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Oh Those Jeans

Today I wore jeans to work. It’s Friday, and it’s ok to wear them where I work, in fact many of my colleagues wear jeans regularly. For me, it’s more of a special occasion kind of thing.

I was actually excited to wear them, since a few months back I had surgery that totally shifted my bulk around. After my surgery, even my biggest pants were a no go. I could only fit into elastic waists, which, like any fat girl, I already owned. I was less than thrilled with this prospect, but until the end of June I just accepted it. After all, the surgery was early in March, and it took a while to recover. In fact it took a long while. Longer than I expected.

jeans-clean-airDuring that recovery period I started to feel really discouraged. Sure, the surgery fixed the original problem, but now I had a gaping surgical wound (ew, I know), a new weird body shape (to replace the old, weird body shape), and limited ability to do even simple tasks.  I was fortunate though; I was surrounded by people who genuinely cared about me. A dear friend (who happens to be a  nurse) was actually excited about assisting me with my wound care, and my other friends at work insisted on aiding me with all sorts of tasks. They barely let me lift a finger. The children I taught were sweet and cooperative too, making my job as easy as possible.

Eventually, I healed, but it was  June before I finally got fed up. I was physically able to move more, and I had the time to devote to finally repairing more than just a belly scar. This blog was born, and I shouted to the world that it was time for me to move forward.

At the start of this process I could hardly button my biggest jeans. They are in the banner picture. Yes, that is really me. Well, today I wore those jeans to work. And it was awful.

You see, those jeans just don’t fit me. They have become too large. They sag and droop and all day long I felt like they were in danger of plummeting to my ankles. I was adjusting them and hiking them up all day long. Down they would droop again, hems dragging across the floor. They had turned into a great big annoyance. I couldn’t wait to get home and take them off. They dropped right to the floor, to be quickly and happily replaced by their next size smaller counterpart. Ok, maybe they squeeze a little more at the waist than I would like, but they don’t sag, droop, or fall down. I think next Friday they may make their work debut.


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Daily Prompt: Secret of Success

Today’s question to ponder is what do I consider to be successful blogging. Does it involve “likes” and “follows?”  Damn you, daily prompt, you’ve hit upon something with which I’m currently struggling . In my world domination post (tactfully called going global), I confessed that I would like to be read in every continent. I’m a realist, though, so I’m okay with Antarctica being left out. But now here you are asking about likes and follows. Dad gummit. Yes, okay, yes. I DO measure the success of my blog by those things. I know I shouldn’t. I know I should write quality content for my own self betterment and if the masses find it inspirational or intriguing or whatever that’s all a bonus. But I want to be read. I want to be followed. I want to be liked. There, I said it.

flags-globe3I am completely intrigued by the idea of sharing thoughts, ideas, and inspiration with human beings whose lives are so completely different than mine, yet have so many similarities. We live all over the globe, have all different types of families, come from different backgrounds and circumstances, yet we all share the human condition. We all have loves and losses, we all have struggles and triumphs. I feel honored every time someone visits my blog to see what my take is on this life and its ups and downs. I visit their blogs and gain insight into their worlds. Without those likes and follows I wouldn’t have a window into the world of the trainer in Greece or the artist in London. I would never have learned about the Polish girl living her dream in Turkey or the teacher in Switzerland. My curious mind loves learning about all of them, and when they come visit me and leave their calling cards I feel so honored.

My blog is all about transformation and all of the bumps along the way. It’s about being a fat girl in a not so fat friendly world, and about making myself the healthiest and happiest version of myself possible. It doesn’t happen overnight. It isn’t always pretty. In fact it’s rarely pretty. But it’s my life and my world and I want to share it. I want to explore what’s happening and my reactions to those things. By putting my thoughts down, it helps me to clarify them. It helps me to see where I’m doing things right, and where I need to make changes. Blogging holds me accountable, and allows me to shout my triumphs to the world.

So yes, those likes and especially those follows mean a lot to me. My blog is still new, and I’m still learning how to reach more readers. I make little goals for myself, like when I reach 100 followers I will do the happy dance. I’m not even halfway there, but I know I will get there. I know I have something to say, and that there is an audience for my writing, so I will keep at it, and keep learning about the real world though the world of blogging.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/daily-prompt-effort/


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No Whales Allowed

My sweetheart is not a swimmer. He never learned how growing up, and he’s just not that comfortable in the water. I, on the other hand, am a fish. Or, according to a major swimsuit manufacturer, perhaps a whale.

Here’s what happened. My sweetie was perusing a website looking for a suit. He knows I love the water, and I spend a fair amount of time in our backyard pool. On hot summer days he’ll sit out with me and bake as I enjoy the lovely feeling of being surrounded by soothing cooling water. I urge him to come in, but his response has always been that he can’t because he doesn’t have a swim suit. Uh huh.

http://www.jacketflap.com/megablog/index.asp?tagid=1393&tag=editors

From There’s a Whale in my Swimming Pool

He has gone to this website before. He has chosen his swim suit. He has said he will order it. He has not. Anyway, he was there again today and saw that they advertised plus sized suits for women. Being the wonderful man he is, he thought there might be a nice one for me.

From the other room he asked what size I wore. I didn’t know what sizing system this manufacturer used so I couldn’t give him an answer. Some go by dress sizes, some follow the 2X, 3X, etc. model, and some go by bust size. I joined him at the computer and we clicked on their sizing chart.

Okay, here we go. According to them a 14 is XL, a 16 is 2XL and an 18 is 3XL. Only a very few styles were offered in the 3XL (which, in the normal world is usually a 22-24). Hmmmm. It seems to me that while they are offering a few extended sizes the promise of plus sizes is merely a tease.

There is a whole world of fat women out there longing for quality products that fit. I just can’t quite figure out why manufacturers don’t want our business. Guess I’ll keep getting my Catalina swimsuits. They always fit and they are inexpensive. And the best part about them? They never make me feel like a whale!