My reunion was a lot of fun. The weekend itself was fun, but I wound up being more sleep deprived than I thought I would be. Too much to talk about, I'll write about the reunion itself later.
I arrived Friday night, 6:00 p.m. at the airport. I grew up in Southern California and was there until five years ago. Frequent visits often remind me of the differences between Boise and Orange County, but Friday night traffic jarred me into reality. I puposely did not take the freeway but streets to my Mom's house, looking for changes since my last trip a year ago, and was thrown into a a sea of humanity I was unprepared for. My drive took me through both affluent and less than affluent areas, and I noted that among the changes I saw (and there were many) was that those differences were more pronounced. I saw more and more fancier cars by South Coast Plaza, and more shady strip malls, liquor stores, and graffiti down by First and Bristol. It was hard to take it all in.
Went to dinner with my Mom and brother, my best friend and her Mom, and another girlfriend and her friend from out of town. Sat in the restaurant for three hours, just catching up and talking, enjoying a grown up dinner without "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom", "Mom, I don't like this cheese on the plate," etc. I rarely drink in front of my kids, had a nice apple martini with dinner and got to enjoy that, too. It was really nice to be single and grown up again for a few hours.
Stayed at my Mom's on Friday night. I don't have a room there any more, so my brother gave me his bed and he slept on the couch. He and I stayed up for a few hours talking about half a dozen things, going throught the latest acquisitions to my Disney pin collection, and about his new job, but I called it quits around 1 a.m. (2 a.m. in Boise), because I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Apparently had no problem four hours later, when my body alarm clock told me it was 6 a.m. and time to get up. I stayed in bed but couldn't get back to sleep, and felt the headache coming on. Headache or hangover? Off one stupid drink? Just goes to show you -- I'm a tequila, rum, brandy kind of girl, the vodka must have thrown me for a loop.
And the best part of the weekend -- doing the girlfriend thing with my best friend. She wasn't going to the reunion, had something else going on in her life. I had to buy a new purse and some stockings. So she picked me up Saturday morning and we went shopping and had lunch. I miss being able to do that. I've got new friends here in Boise, and I enjoy my life here, but I miss my close girlfriends, the ones I've known almost my entire life. And it wasn't necessarily the shopping, but just being able to talk without interruption about all those girlfriend things, easily the best part of the weekend.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Friday, October 22, 2004
80's here I come...
In a few hours, I'll be heading out to the airport to catch a plane back to Southern California. My 20th high school reunion is tomorrow night and I just can't resist the lure of seeing formerly fit football players (too much alliteration, sorry) now balding and thirty pounds overweight, at least that's what I'm hoping. I've known about this for at least six months, but now that it's here, I'm trying to reconcile all these mixed feelings.
I'm the only one making the trip. David is at his Dad's this weekend. Had he been here this weekend, I probably would not have gone since I don't like to give up my time with him. Mackenzie and Dad are going to hang out all weekend here, they're taking in a hockey game tonight and decorating the outside of the house for Halloween tomorrow. So Mom gets a weekend by herself with her girlfriends.
It feels strange not to travel with the family. No "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom", no "Mom, I'm really hungry now", no last minute misplaced items, dropped bags of snacks, dawdling through security, it might actually be a calm, pleasant experience. And while I'm looking forward to that, it's been so long since I had that for more than a few hours, I'm kind of nervous about it.
I've been running around like an expectant mother all week. Trying to clean the house, finish all the laundry, make sure the bills are paid before I leave, the normal stuff I do, but I'm short two and a half days to do it. I told Keith last night that there was something about the fact that he was still going to be here while I was not, like anything incomplete or unfinished would be showing my flaws to him because I wouldn't be here to fix it. He gently reminded me he sees my flaws all the time (love that man!)
I'm off to pack. Yes I know, my plane leaves in six hours, and I'm leaving the house in three hours (trying to get more running around in before I actually leave) and I'm starting to cut it really close, but I'm assuming since it's a weekend trip I won't need all that much! Stuff to do, and never enough time!
I'm the only one making the trip. David is at his Dad's this weekend. Had he been here this weekend, I probably would not have gone since I don't like to give up my time with him. Mackenzie and Dad are going to hang out all weekend here, they're taking in a hockey game tonight and decorating the outside of the house for Halloween tomorrow. So Mom gets a weekend by herself with her girlfriends.
It feels strange not to travel with the family. No "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom", no "Mom, I'm really hungry now", no last minute misplaced items, dropped bags of snacks, dawdling through security, it might actually be a calm, pleasant experience. And while I'm looking forward to that, it's been so long since I had that for more than a few hours, I'm kind of nervous about it.
I've been running around like an expectant mother all week. Trying to clean the house, finish all the laundry, make sure the bills are paid before I leave, the normal stuff I do, but I'm short two and a half days to do it. I told Keith last night that there was something about the fact that he was still going to be here while I was not, like anything incomplete or unfinished would be showing my flaws to him because I wouldn't be here to fix it. He gently reminded me he sees my flaws all the time (love that man!)
I'm off to pack. Yes I know, my plane leaves in six hours, and I'm leaving the house in three hours (trying to get more running around in before I actually leave) and I'm starting to cut it really close, but I'm assuming since it's a weekend trip I won't need all that much! Stuff to do, and never enough time!
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
The weight of it all
I recently decided to go back to Weight Watchers. I was on it once before, about two years ago, lost almost 50 pounds (something like 49.6 pounds) and then plateaued. Couldn't move the scale to save my life. Tried different things to jump start the weight loss, including a bad go around with Atkins, and have s-l-o-w-l-y gained the weight back. Not all of it, but more than half of it.
So this summer, we're planning next summer's vacation. And we've decided to take a Disney Cruise with the kids. Cruise. Food. Swimsuits. That was it for me. The gym became important again, but the fascination with the number on the scale is still there. So I walked back into Weight Watchers three weeks ago. I've lost 4.4 pounds since I went back. Not exactly earth shattering, but 4.4 pounds less than I had three weeks ago.
I like WW. It's not particularly difficult for me. I like fruits and vegetables, I can drink the water, I can even watch the portion size and not eat enough pasta for six and just eat pasta for one. None of that is my problem. WW works for me because I have to show up every week and step on the scale. I know I have to do this every Monday morning. Someone else is going to weigh me, and I know that person is waiting for me every Monday morning. Do I own a scale? Bought one during the ill thought out Atkins period of my life. Doesn't matter. There's something about the accountability of the scale at WW that makes me stop and think about what I'm going to eat, or makes me rethink the not going to the gym today, that my scale doesn't. And let's just not go down the "Well, I'll just have Keith weigh me once a week" road, shall we?
I've got two kids to keep up with. Diabetes runs in my family, like a straight line with all the women ahead of me. I hate needles, UGH! And I don't think I'm a cow (no offense to cows, wherever they may be), but I'm not a size four, and I'm not looking to be a size four (no offense to any and all size fours out there).
Last night I caught the end of the new reality show, "The Biggest Loser". OMG! Large sized people on TV, who would have thought? The show appeared to be a cross of Survivor and the Apprentice. The people involved are on teams, they have medically supervised diets and exercise each week, and at the end of each week, they get weighed and see how much each team member lost. Somebody got voted out at the end of the first week, and it was because (you're not going to believe this!) she DIDN'T lose enough weight and they thought since she wasn't as big as the rest of them, she wouldn't have the overall weight to lose to keep her team winning?!?! They kicked her out because she wasn't as heavy as the rest of them. Does that make sense? The show is promoted as helping these folks with their weight loss issues, but then they kick someone out and leave them on their own. Yikes! It's bad enough that "overweight" people are made fun of, and often treated differently than "thinner" folks, but to supposedly help them and then humiliate them on national TV is a new low, even for reality TV. Won't be watching that show anymore, the ten minutes I gave it last night was too much.
Lean Cuisine anyone?
So this summer, we're planning next summer's vacation. And we've decided to take a Disney Cruise with the kids. Cruise. Food. Swimsuits. That was it for me. The gym became important again, but the fascination with the number on the scale is still there. So I walked back into Weight Watchers three weeks ago. I've lost 4.4 pounds since I went back. Not exactly earth shattering, but 4.4 pounds less than I had three weeks ago.
I like WW. It's not particularly difficult for me. I like fruits and vegetables, I can drink the water, I can even watch the portion size and not eat enough pasta for six and just eat pasta for one. None of that is my problem. WW works for me because I have to show up every week and step on the scale. I know I have to do this every Monday morning. Someone else is going to weigh me, and I know that person is waiting for me every Monday morning. Do I own a scale? Bought one during the ill thought out Atkins period of my life. Doesn't matter. There's something about the accountability of the scale at WW that makes me stop and think about what I'm going to eat, or makes me rethink the not going to the gym today, that my scale doesn't. And let's just not go down the "Well, I'll just have Keith weigh me once a week" road, shall we?
I've got two kids to keep up with. Diabetes runs in my family, like a straight line with all the women ahead of me. I hate needles, UGH! And I don't think I'm a cow (no offense to cows, wherever they may be), but I'm not a size four, and I'm not looking to be a size four (no offense to any and all size fours out there).
Last night I caught the end of the new reality show, "The Biggest Loser". OMG! Large sized people on TV, who would have thought? The show appeared to be a cross of Survivor and the Apprentice. The people involved are on teams, they have medically supervised diets and exercise each week, and at the end of each week, they get weighed and see how much each team member lost. Somebody got voted out at the end of the first week, and it was because (you're not going to believe this!) she DIDN'T lose enough weight and they thought since she wasn't as big as the rest of them, she wouldn't have the overall weight to lose to keep her team winning?!?! They kicked her out because she wasn't as heavy as the rest of them. Does that make sense? The show is promoted as helping these folks with their weight loss issues, but then they kick someone out and leave them on their own. Yikes! It's bad enough that "overweight" people are made fun of, and often treated differently than "thinner" folks, but to supposedly help them and then humiliate them on national TV is a new low, even for reality TV. Won't be watching that show anymore, the ten minutes I gave it last night was too much.
Lean Cuisine anyone?
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