Good News Everyone!

I was at the delicious barbecue restaurant Hickory Park in Ames, Iowa the day after Christmas to have lunch with some of my dad's side of the family. My mom and I got there early (yes my parents are divorced and I was having lunch with my dad's family with just my mom--don't ask) and we were wasting time waiting in the big lobby of this kitchy restaurant.

One of the numerous crazy-crap-on-the-walls-style items they had sitting around was an old scale that, if you paid it a penny, it would tell you your weight. It was obviously out of service, but it did give me one very happy surprise: according to the little sign on it, per Army standards at whatever time this scale was put out, a 5'10" man (my height) should weigh 165 pounds (my weight). This is fantastic news!

In case you didn't know, until I moved back to Minnesota in the spring of 2007, I never weighed more than 145 pounds. When I was at shool in Boston I walked everwhere, and this helped faclilitate my consistant slenderness, despite what was obviously a vast reduction in my metabolic rate.

This resulted in me putting on 20 pounds and having a slight jiggle belly for the first time in my 22 (at the time) years. I felt fat. So it is quite reassuring to know that in fact I am not fat. I am simply normal.

Although, I'm sure the Army expects those 20 pounds are muscle. let's just not bring that up, how about.