UP week 3 (kinda)

I could write about my Canada visit - the celebration of life for Granny Gillam, the visits with our son and my dad, the rescheduled 1st Birthday of our niece and our flight back to the US but the details of that 4 day trip aren't particularly relevant as to why I missed last week's post. I was sick last Sunday, COVID Round Two took over our house. Totally different experience compared to January 2021. I started feeling better on Wednesday, never had a fever and I felt great on Thursday but I didn't want to push it. On Friday I went back to work. Saturday (yesterday), I went to work in the morning and then went home to clean and cook because it was my Portuguese Dance Party! Luckily, I had tested negative that morning and since my symptoms were zero as of Thursday, I had to make a quick decision - mask or no mask, party or no party 🤔

Back in 2019, our first summer here in Myrtle Beach, I was very nostalgic for the Portuguese culture. At that time, I knew roughly 10 Portuguese people (4 of those people were my brother and his family). I had my mind set on having a Dance Party for my birthday so I found a local DJ that was willing to get all the music I asked for and play it for me at our warehouse. I had my brother, my husband and our son, move ALL the fitness equipment to the outside perimeter of the warehouse, giving me enough space to call a 'dancefloor'. It was a success! (minus the lack of air conditioning at the end of June 😅) That's the history of Melissa's Portuguese Dance Party but due to COVID, I could not have one in 2020 or 2021. In that hiatus, I met a customer who introduced me to a Facebook group called 'Portuguese People of Myrtle Beach' 🤗 I couldn't hide my excitement; I immediately joined and told the organizer (Maria, is her name 😂), that I not only want to be apart of her group but I would like to throw another Dance Party and invite everyone to join me. Yesterday was my 2nd Annual (three years later) Dance Party.

The symmetry is beautiful, good and bad things happen, history repeats itself and we all live through the give and take. Risk and reward is how I see it. We take risks these days not just by driving, flying and working day-to-day but we had never considered family functions, cultural traditions or funerals to be threatening. Thanks to the hard-to-ignore-in-your-face Pandemic that ravaged the world, whether it be the flu, RSV or COVID our realty is, being social and creating face-to-face memories is no longer as safe as it used to be. In order to show or receive affection and provide comfort through a hug or a kiss on the cheek, we all have to consider germs and virus transmission. I couldn't imagine a world with no touching, no hand-shake, not even an embrace, or a dance. Today, I weighed in at 200lbs, those of you following my weight loss journey (Unpleasantly Plump, now shortened to UP) now know since I started (4 weeks ago) I am down 4lbs. I would like to reiterate that I DANCED all night long (for 3 hours)! At 200lbs, in chunky heels, I was a force to be reckoned with💃🏻. My only regret about last night was singing over the speakers, my voice sounds like its been through a cheese grater 😂. I would have loved to see a smaller number on the scale, and I was a little surprised that I hadn't broken the 200 mark yet but there's always next week.

Now for the photo part - I hate taking a picture of myself but I said that was going to make the difference in this search of a healthier way of life - I have to be accountable and as consistent as possible, if not for anyone else, than for myself....

Its a jogging pants kind of day, the bra came off as soon as I put the phone down.

I hate the photo and how it looks but its pretty funny that I feel good about my body overall.

I am happier than I was a few weeks ago.

I usually wear clothes that are loose fitting and hide my belly fat, I decided not to do that today,

this is me 💁🏻‍♀️ in all my glory. Happy Sunday!