Happy Week-iversary

As of 10:21 this morning, it's been exactly one week since I quit Aspartame. The worst part is over. I feel mostly great. I didn't get all the aweful withdrawal symptoms I read about. My legs did feel heavy for a few days and I did have a headache. I get terrible cravings at 10 am and 3 pm everyday. I counter the 1o am craving with Coffee and the 3 pm craving with orange juice.

On a side note, I did a hill run tonight. I haven't run a hill (a real hill) for over a year...maybe. It was easy peasy. However, I noticed my hip muscle was sore on the way back. Its still aching. I took a bath in Epsom salts and took 5 children's Advil. Still hurts.

I forgot to mention that my little gymnast has packed in her gym career and became a dancer. I guess 9 hours of training a week was a little bit much for a 9 year old. She's done gymnastics for 3 years, so I thought the transition would be difficult. But no! Its so easy. Finally, Sage has a life and we love it. No more driving to and fro Kingswood 3 times a week, no more A535 rub, no more expensive fees, no more aches and pains. No more stress of 'not being perfect'. Gymnastics is a very demanding sport. It hurt to see the girls standing on the balance beam, tears streaming down their faces, being forced to back walkover after backover. Anyway, on to a much healthier activity. Sage is taking Lyrical Jazz, Tap, and normal jazz. Its only 3 hours a week and it's so much easier on her and on the family. Turns out she is a natural. The teachers have been buzzing about Sage since she started. Of course, she has all the strength, flexibility, and discipline from gymnastics and for that I'm thankful to the gym and her old coaches. With less hours training, she's been doing normal kid things like riding her bike with her friends, taking an afterschool sketching class at the school, and the cross-country running team. She's is home for supper (and no spending suppertime on a balance beam doing tricks) and she's sleeping better at night. All good things. Also Mercedes is in the same dance school, but in a different group of course. Both girls are excited to share a hobby for the first time!! Mercedes has danced since she was five. She is 15 now. She is taking Jazz, Tap, and Hip Hop. You know what they say, a family that dances together stays together! :-)

Next time I post, I'll write about Jackson and all his boy wonder. He's growing like a weed, going to be tall like his dad. He's the comic of the family. More next post.