At Monte Vista Elementary we took class pictures in two lines, one seated on blue benches and a standing line behind. Our names were listed from left to right underneath the printed photograph. I'm not sure if this was a replacement for a yearbook, but I do know that a yearbook at that time in my education would have been pointless. I don't remember most of those people and I think we could barely write.

In my kindergarten or first grade photo I'm seated front and center. I'm adorable! My full, shiny head of STRAIGHT hair is braided and still somewhat neat, it must've been toward the beginning of the school day. I'm wearing a white shirt and capri outfit with large, red hibiscus flowers all over, courtesy of my mum and her sewing machine. I think I was seated next to one of my best friends Stephen Espinoza, and to his right a girl, I think her name is Jessica, with a cute white shirt and black skirt is demurely seated. I remember staring at the photo as an adult and noticing that my calves are markedly more muscular than Jessica's, probably even than Stephen's, lol. It was at that point that I realized I was never really small. I was never made fun of for my husky build, in fact, I think maybe some of the boys were jealous! 

Fast forward 23 years, give or take, and husky has turned into obese. My friends and I enjoy a tennis game once in a while and today was the first game in over 6 months. After 20 minutes of "rally" I was exhausted. You know those weightloss TV shows where the trainer gets in the fatty's face and tells them to "man up", "give me more", "you can do it"? Yes well, I think I reached that point after the rally, but my awesome friends were ready for a best of seven tournament, really guys? Personally, I was ready to stop at best of three. In the end we worked out for a good 40 minutes...20 minutes past my quitting time if I were on my own that day. 

Great friends encourage you and don't let you give up on yourself...even when they don't know they're doing so much for you :) Thanks be to my soccer team!

snore alarm.