i realized that i shared this story with the century club, but not on my blog. i always say, you just have to laugh because otherwise we might cry.

my girlfriend marianne has an adorable nephew trevor. trevor is a big boy who just turned 5 and weighs 80 pounds. He is very tall and active but he is definitely overweight. They work very hard to help him lose weight. thankfully he has a wonderful disposition so he does well around other kids.

i got to know him pretty well at a party a few weeks ago and he took a liking to me. we were dancing and i was making him laugh. he heard my name wrong and began calling me grease (lol) instead of grace. I tried to correct him, but yanno when you get something "wrong" stuck in your head you just can't get rid of it? imagine a 5 year old boy?

the other night, he was over marianne's house and somehow they wound up talking about me. he was giggling because they were laughing at him calling me grease and gave up on trying to correct him just like i did. at one point marianne's husband asks him "oh so you like grace?" to which he replied with a big smile and his head tilted shyly (marianne's description of him as she recounted the story to me)"oh yes I like grease, the girl with the big muscles!" how funny is that!!! a 5 year old doesn't know the difference between fat flabby arms and muscular arms!!!! he got the "big" right for sure...omg, they laughed when he said it and i laughed hysterically when they told it to me...i am sure he thought he was complimenting me and didn't have any idea why everyone was laughing.

i didn't take it to heart, because it's a case of "out of the mouths of babes" and my arms are definitely my biggest trouble spot. i am already trying to work on toning them, even though losing 100 pounds first will go a long way.

well this story, brought a smile to my face. perhaps more so, because I am losing weight now. i might not have laughed so hard if it was 5 months ago. but I appreciated the humor now!

apparently though, children have been mistaking my fat for muscles for a long time. here's another story to brighten your day:

a few years ago, i was in a restaurant with my sister to celebrate my niece sara's 12th burthday. jamie, my youngest niece needed to go to the bathroom and she didn't want anyone else but aunt grace to take her. at the time she was 3 years old.

we went down to the bathroom, waited our turn and then entered a stall together. it was a busy restaurant and there were many people in an about the bathroom. she did her thing talking to me the whole time, asking questions like any curious 3 year old. when she was done I decided I might as well use the facilities since we were there already.

there i stood doing the female thing; balancing myself over the toilet without sitting while my niece stood right in front of me in a pretty pint-sized stall. needless to say she had a birds eye view of me. all of sudden she clasps her hands over her mouth and loudly remarks with a look of sheer surprise and delight: "aunt grace, your legs are so big and strong!" i could hear everyone laughing in the bathroom and of course I was too, because i also got the joy of seeing the look on her face. it was total innocence, but complete awe of my legs! i knew she meant it as a compliment but it was so hilarious! she was used to seeing my sister's body which is all of a size 6! everytime I think of that moment I laugh.

my luck, when I have real muscles some day, a little one will say "oh wow, you are so fat!" that's a chance I am willing to take. i hope my little stories brightened your day! life is good.

the photo: this picture of jamie and i was actually taken that night in the restaurant -- after our trip to the ladies room... do you think she has me wrapped around her finger?