The Perfect Dress

I remember as a little girl - having the perfect dress - it would float as I twirled around - and it made me feel like a dainty, beautiful princess. OK, I admit it - for me, those days were actually few and far between. I was too much a tomboy to be dainty - too gawky to be beautiful - and way too clumsy to be a princess. (Picture the perfect Prince Charming / Beautiful Princess moment...under the stars, music softly playing in the background, they are both puckered up for the most special kiss, and OOPS, she falls flat on her backside in a mud puddle, ruining her fairy godmother dress. In the process, she knocks over a column with gorgeous flowers in an urn - which sets off a chain reaction that eventually causes a massive fire to the palace. She breaks her leg, trying to get out of the fire, and in trying to rescue her, the Prince goes through a series of mishaps...They don't write fairy tales like that!)

But yesterday, it felt like I had the perfect dress on. The friend who gave me the winter coat, also gave me a couple of dresses. I couldn't wear them at first, but kept trying them on "just in case." I finally was able to get both dresses on - although one is still too tight to look good, or to be comfortable. But the other...it fit perfectly. It was patterned in browns and earth tones. It was a lined dress, and the top layer was diaphanous (sorry, I've just always wanted to use that word about a dress I was wearing) - floaty and flirty - that hung perfectly, hugging the right curves and moving nicely as I walked. And the best part - it is a size 18 - with NO LETTERS after the number. My wedding dress was a 22 - 16 years ago - and I haven't been in anything smaller than that for even years before that. I had so many compliments - but I have to say - as nice as they were to hear, it wouldn't have mattered, because I felt absolutely beautiful.

Officially, I am down 149 pounds. I have held pretty steady for nearly a week now. Several people have said when they hit this kind of plateau - they went back to the liquid diet for a couple of weeks, just to "jump start" things again. I'm seriously considering that option. I'm not unhappy with my progress - not by a long shot - but I would like to get back on the losing side, too.