Rolf Danner

Did you miss me? Well, I missed last week’s column. Jeff commented a few days ago with a sharp “Aha”, when he looked at the date of the latest entry. Busted. Do I have an excuse? Not really, though many good reasons. Between extra work, a busy social schedule, and the last urgent wedding preparations, the column simply got pushed out. Together with a good part of my diet, though we do have the seating chart worked out and we are indeed all (I hope?) GO for the big day.

In the midst of all of this, my bathroom scale has seen some pretty wild fluctuations. By this morning I had reined in the worst of it. And in spite of the rather wild changes in weight, my waist size has inched closer to the goal. So there is more going on than just a simple reduction. There is also some redistribution. Excellent, of course, as this was precisely the goal. Fight the pull of gravity as long as you can! The next two weeks on the other hand should be clear sailing in terms of eating right. No enticing party food or an overabundance of free food at the office. For extra motivation I tried on the tuxedo pants. Doable right now, thanks to strong buttons, but I had hoped for a little more breathing room. I could do with another three to five pounds less before we walk down the isle. On the other hand, vest and coat of formal wear do cover up a lot.

Did I mention that one of the events on our social calendar was a wedding shower that my colleagues organized for us? When a (female) colleague first suggested this, I pictured cake and sodas in a conference room. That’s pretty much what we do for all of our social occasions at the office. But somehow it turned into an event at a local restaurant with beautifully printed invitations. I had no idea how much I would bond with my colleagues over getting married. Suddenly I’m swapping tales of guest list dilemmas and cake selection woes with people I had barely talked to. A colleague from who I would have least expected it telling me about his son’s “significant other” on Hawaii. It is amazing, eye-opening and great fun. Organizing a huge party with friends and relatives seems to be pretty much the same no matter who you are.

In short, I have good news on the social front, not devastating news when it comes to my weight. Of course I’m already thinking: “so if I don’t eat for the next ten days…” Where’s the miracle diet when you need it? Pineapple enzymes? Royal flush? Just say no? I’ll keep you posted.