My Husband Shrank My Jeans - REALLY!

Me and the DH in Dec. 2008, days before he shrank my jeans. Bad DH!!!

Two years ago my husband and I returned home to Ohio after our grueling Southeast/Midwest driving tour that is our holiday ritual. We find all the traveling we do for the holidays REALLY stressful, even though we love seeing our families. Still, going back to work after driving all over the South and Midwest is pretty exhausting, and I suspect a lot of people feel the same.

But when we got home, I was pretty miffed to discover that my favorite pair of jeans didn’t fit. In fact, I was stunned, because all my other clothes fit fine! Turns out the DH had somehow managed to shrink my jeans.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Self, Rebecca’s DH did NOT shrink those jeans – her butt got bigger!” You’d be partially right. My butt did get slightly bigger (maybe all of 2-3 lbs). HOWEVER, I got out the good old measuring tape, and sure enough, the inseam on my favorite jeans was suddenly 2 inches shorter. So I WASN’T imagining things! I’m now offering you that excuse for post-holiday snug clothes. If my DH can shrink my clothes, I’m sure yours can too! To be completely honest, it really wasn’t his fault. We learned later that my Mother-in-law was having problems with her clothes dryer, and I suspect that explains what happened to my jeans, which had to go to Goodwill.

But the shrinking jeans lead to an epiphany. I recognized that at 34 years old I probably needed to resume working out. Before I was married, I did step aerobics for a while, but it had been nearly 4 years since I’d worked out regularly. So I decided that my New Year’s Resolution that year was to work out 3 times a week. I picked several fun “dancy” workout dvds from Amazon and put my two left feet to work.  

Shockingly, I’ve maintained that resolution for the last 2 years! I’m proud that I’ve made working out a habit, despite the depressing realization several months in that I was going to have to work out at least 3 times a week for the rest of my LIFE. Yup, that was a real downer. Fortunately, there was plenty of chocolate available to help in my recovery. But I have to admit, being able to squeeze my butt into skinny jeans goes a loooong way towards easing the “this is the rest of your life” concern.

Since New Year’s Resolutions aren’t that big in my family, I pretty much avoid them, and the last few years I’ve cheated a bit by saying that my resolution is to maintain my workout ethic. I also tend to avoid yearly reading challenges, because I’m going to read several hundred books by the end of the year anyway. So I’m at a loss for this year’s resolution, other than continuing to work out regularly. I want to improve my writing, but that’s more of a life-long resolution than a yearly one.

What about you? Do you have any success stories about New Year’s resolutions? How about smashing disasters?  And if anyone has a fun resolution for this year, let me know!