MY LAST DIPPED CONE

I was cleaning out my wallet a day or two ago.

There was the receipt for August 29, at McDonalds for a dipped cone.

I'm quite sure it was my last, before I returned in the next day or so to see that they had taken them off the menu.  (I blogged about that earlier -- they will forever be the food that symbolize the height of my sugar dependence in the Summer of 2013).

I will treasure that little receipt, and that date for the gifts they are:

1) I knew I was feeling frustrated and not in a good place with my obsessions with them.  I knew I was reaching a point where I had to deal with it.  That receipt will serve as a reminder of the dependence I had created ... going ahead and buying/eating even when I knew I didn't really want it and that it was far more hurtful (more psychological and spiritual, probably than physical) than anything one would ever consciously choose.

I will mark the date and celebrate my anniversaries of being dipped-cone-free by that date.  By Memorial Day, when they return to the menu, I'll be able to say, "I've been sugar-free for 9-months!  Long enough for something really WONDERFUL to have been born!"

I will cherish the feeling I had when I looked at that receipt and recognized how far I have come in the past couple of months, knowing that I could NEVER and HAVE NEVER done this on my own before!

I am eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ ... and have a new understanding of their love and care for me -- not for just my physical well-being, but for my peace and happiness that go with not being a slave to some silly frozen treat.

MOVIE NIGHT WITH THE GIRLS

We have several dear single friends that join us for General Conference.  They bring all kinds of yummy stuff.  In October over our General Conference feast, it came out that we were launching the "sugar-free" month.  The dearest most generous friend in the world who had brought the Blueberry pie and stopped at her special place for frozen custard said, "Well, I didn't get the memo!"  I had a tiny taste of the frozen custard to be polite, but quickly managed to move away from it all.

So at our quarterly movie night last Saturday night, they all came with the usual movie night goodies:  More of the fantastic frozen custard with candy to top on it, a crunch mix of caramel popcorn and chocolate clusters, leftover mini Halloween chocolate candy bars (always my favorite) ... and some hummus and pita chips.

"I know you don't eat this, but we brought it anyway!"  they said.

I was SO glad!  This is how I want it to be.  Quietly IGNORED.  No big deal.  Everybody else do whatever you want, it's not a choice I'm insisting that others take on, nor will I ruin a fun social evening with something that's important to me andMY choice.

So HOORAY! They all enjoyed theirs.  I had the hummus, and a little pile of dried cranberries, that's still more sweet and more calories than necessary -- but it was my chosen treat, and well it served me!

Interestingly, I observed that those frozen ice cream/custard bowls with the candy toppings lasted all of about 10-15 minutes ... such a short period of time for such an indulgence!

Wow -- MORE THAN ENOUGH TO THINK ABOUT ... and when they all went home and took every last sugary treat with them. We had had a GREAT time!  I had had a great time.  My abstinence was of NO consequence to them!

The food was no biggie.  I wasn't tempted, tried or feeling obligated to please anyone.

Just comfortable and "ME" -- without the goodies.

This IS THE NEW ME, and I have to say, it feels comfortable and A-OK!