Good Jewish Mothers

Meet the one man that can get me out in the rain, sleet, snow or sunshine and make me walk, walk and walk some more.  He also doesn't excessively watch sports, play video games, ogle other women (unless they're holding a tennis ball) or wear white socks with black slacks that are to short when he sits down.  This pooch is the perfect gentleman... minus the fur, slobber, lack of vocabulary skills and the fact that he licks his butt.  

This isn't my dog.  I house-sit for his family and have the pleasure of hanging out with him regularly; might as well be family.  This weekend I'm hanging with the pooch again (my cat is jealous) and getting 2 hours of walking in each day.  That's right, 2 hours.

This week I've been really good about exercising.  I've been using my elliptical each morning for 45 minutes and each evening for 15 minutes, enough to clear out my day's events yet not prevent me from falling asleep.  I've stayed on program and even survived a lunch out with a close friend and his extended family on Thursday at an all-you-can eat buffet in town.  I spent $8 on the equivalent of a side-salad, ate so slow that I took my last bite right before the rest of the crew took their 3rd trip to the buffet for dessert and... was absolutely VICTORIOUS.  My friend's father and brother-in-law kept trying to give me ice cream.  It went something like this:

Dad: "Joanna, you should get some ice cream."

Me: "No, I'm good."

Brother: "Aw, come on. It's good but it would be better if they had Oreo crunchies."

Me: "No really, I'm ok."

Brother: "What flavor do you want? I'll get you a bowl."

Me: "Please don't, I'm OK."

Dad: "Wanna bite of mine?"

Me: "No, thank you, it will make me sick."

Brother: "Really? Just a little bit?"

Me: "I like a lot of things, but a lot of things don't like me."

Brother: "Ah, you're lactose intolerant."

Me: "Sure, that's it.  I'm lactose intolerant."

The women in my friend's family didn't question me, never bothered me about just eating a salad, never mentioned dessert.... what's up with men? Are they all pre-programmed to be (as my mother states it) good Jewish mothers? 

Oh wait, and then there was the bank teller today.  In the drive-through to deposit my paycheck, with an empty car except for myself, I was offered a sucker.  The woman in the window held one up and asked, "Would you like one?"  I laughed a little bit and said, "No, thank you".  And then she said, "Are you sure?" What part of NO didn't she understand? And what the heck was she offering me a sucker for? 

Today I've decided that this world needs to remember what the meaning of NO is.  After someone says, "No" people ought to remember that follow-up questions and various statements meant to cajole shouldn't be thrown around.  Period.  

Speaking of decisions, today at my weigh-in I also decided that I really hate the scale.  I worked so hard exercising and staying on program this week and actually, again, gained one pound.  Seriously, my body has no idea what's good for it.  I'm so frustrated.

PS.  My bicycle is all tuned up and I'm making a goal to ride it to work next week at least twice.  Wish me luck.