Ah yes, and then there's the...

Let me begin with stating - I love my mother. I am my mother 30 years behind.

But at what point to women sneak off to a training class, read pamphlets, or listen to books on tape, "How to make your daughter want to slit her wrists while keeping a smile on your face."

My mom and I were just talking about how I've lost weight (actually I believe she used the words "finally lost weight") after all the gym time and pain I've put in. In the same breath as giving me a compliment, asking if boys have noticed, are you dating anyone?, what about that nice boy so-and-so?, ....

Then she hit me with a knowing tone and asked "Is it the dark hair? What is the reaction of boys to the black hair? You used to have boys fall over themselves when you were blond."

That's how it goes with mothers. Compliment. Compliment. Compliment. Aaaaaand below the belt.

Pretend for a moment I'm Madden:
Let's see just what went wrong here. First she came in with the semi-compliment about "FINALLY" losing weight. But MB side stepped that one and kept moving forward. Then attacked from the side, MB is hit from both sides with the "single" comment AND the "hair" comment. Ooooh, that's gotta hurt. You just hate to see that happen.

(A little history - my hair was blond for about 24 years of my life. After a few "interesting" attempts at other colors I've always gone back to blond. But I have no intention of doing that again.)

So, let's just say -

Yes, I've lost weight. And yes, it's taken painful hours with a trainer and a treadmill. But I feel great and I'm healthy. That's all I care about.

Yes, my hair is black/brown. And no, I have no intention of going back to bottle blond like everyone else in Dallas. (no offense to my fabulously bottle blond friends)

I'm comfortable with me and I'm looking forward to the day when I can torment my own daughter.