Best of Times

Yesterday was somewhat reminiscent of Charles Dickens... It was the best of times; and it was the not- so-best-of times.

As victory is often fleeting; the laurel wreaths begin to wilt and the ticker-tape gets swept up, I would like to expand upon the best of times.

As some of you may know, my Lovely Bride and I were participants in a weight loss contest sponsored by our local newspaper. Called “Lighten Up 2013”, this program began in February of this year. It ran until the end of July, 2013

My initial blogs appeared under the Lighten Up blog site, and they can now be found in the older posts of this site. The reader may wish to take a glance at some of these, as they will provide a great deal of background, as well as a few giggles.

The criteria were the participants must blog once a week, and must have lost 5% of their starting weight by the mid-point of the contest duration.

Sixty-eight people began this trek....and soon began dropping like flies.

Some said “forget this”, others couldn't blog, and, sadly, some gained weight.

As the mid-point approached with the elimination weigh-in, we both had some nervousness.

Yours truly got eliminated, missing the required 5% loss by 18 ounces.

LB made it with room to spare.

She attended a charitable fund-raiser in our town, part of which was a Chinese Auction. Why this is called a “Chinese Auction”; I have no idea. For the reader who is not familiar with this type of event, this is how they function.

A person purchases a number of tickets. Displayed on tables are an array of items, from gift certificates, to wine baskets, to children's toys and so forth. One simply drops their ticket or tickets in the container designated for that particular item. At an appointed time, a ticket is drawn; and the recipient of that item is determined.

At this event, one of the items was a year's membership to a fitness center. Lovely Bride dropped her ticket in the bag, and went on to other items. Lo and behold, she was the winner of the membership!

This also included a complimentary session with a personal trainer.

When they met, LB told the young man what her motivation was; winning this contest. He put together a very concise, demanding, and affordable program for her.

This more than likely got her past the elimination weigh-in.

All the folks who cleared that hurdle received a free 3 month membership to our local Y. This was great news for my Lovely Bride; as the Y has a very nice pool. She took to the water exercise classes, the swimming classes, etc well, like a duck to water.

She worked very, very hard. Her discipline regarding diet was inspiring. Rain, shine, feeling great or feeling ugh.. she would keep going.

For my part, I did try to be supportive. Not once did I suggest a drive to the local ice-cream stand in the evening. I didn't bring in cookies, chips or other “junk” food.

In fact, one day, one of our grand-daughters was joining us for lunch. She really wanted Doritos.

Being the good grandfather I am, a trip to the convenient store produced a bag of Doritos. When our daughter stopped by to pick up her daughter, the remainder of the Doritos went home with them, at my insistence. I didn't want to trip up my Lovely Bride.

So... the best of times.....

Yesterday, the FINAL WEIGH-IN took place. This was for all the marbles. Well, not really marbles, as that would not be particularly motivating. Only three places could be earned, based upon percentage of body weight lost.

I watched as she nervously stepped upon Laura's Ultimate Scale of Truth. I peeked over her shoulder at the number being displayed, quickly entering it into the ap on my phone. My eyes popped wide. I couldn't believe the percentage displayed!

Thinking I had made an error, I entered it again.

As the figure was coming up on my screen, I heard Laura state the exact same figure.

Then... the announcement.....

My Lovely Bride... came in SECOND! She is now 3/4s of the woman she was back in January!!

And, second is what she wanted; as the prize is a family membership to the local Y, which she hopes I take advantage of.

I am so proud of her! She is tough, determined, and tenacious.

She succeeded in this endeavor through hard work, discipline, and staying focused on the outcome.

Now, she faces a greater challenge, which I am confident she will also succeed in.

If the reader is interested, go to www.news-herald.com. Perform a name search for

Cindy Quinn-Hopkins.

And, that is all I have to say about that.

☺