Other than the fact that they closed the Parkway East--making for an extra 2 hours in travel time coming home (when we were within 30 minutes of our house!)--the weekend was very nice but very quick. The traffic tie up was neither. As a matter of fact, it was rather painful. For more reasons than just the detour. Let's just put it this way---I am a faithful water drinker. The result? Not fun! Despite all of that, I refuse to complain. The weather was incredible, my son's apartment was actually very clean, we enjoyed some wonderful meals at a few new-to-us restaurants, I bought 2 pair of shoes, and we laughed a lot. It was a fun celebration weekend that went way too fast but wetted our appetites for the next time we will be together.
Speaking of appetites--I just have to comment on how Lap band friendly my family has become--in such a short period of time. For example---on Friday evening, we called Vince from the road to arrange for him to meet us for a late dinner. He suggested we meet him at a small pizza place near his apartment. I agreed. Carmen's first question to me when I got off of the phone--"what will you eat?" I assured him I'd find something. And, I did. Then, on Saturday morning, as we were researching restaurant menus online--looking for a nice place to have a special birthday dinner--Vince put extra effort into finding places that had a wide variety of foods so that I would have lots of things to pick from. Although I always tell my family that my Lap band does not prevent me from enjoying most foods and I can eat anywhere, I am quite sure they never want a repeat performance of my infamous episode from our first dinner on the cruise when I had to tell the waiter that the reason why I was vomiting into my huge cloth napkin was because I was sea sick. Can't blame them. But, honestly, families are funny. You can tell them something 200 times and they will never learn it. But, vomit into a napkin right in front of them while they are eating and the lesson is learned. Clearly...drama, inconvenience and grotesqueness are wonderful teachers. Anyway....that's how my family became Lap band friendly. I am so proud of them....
Yes, the weekend is over. And, so is the summer. I woke up to a new week and a new season. Last year, as I bid farewell to my last fat summer, I couldn't have imagined what that really meant. But, now I know. The word fat has been knocked out of my vocabulary. For so many years, fat was the way I felt. Fat. Fat. Fat. When I said good-bye to my last fat summer what I was really saying was good-bye to that word that pained me. Fat is no longer a word that defines me. Of course, I'm not skinny. And, I still want to lose those lingering pounds. But, I'm not walking around thinking fat or feeling fat. Because fat is not my word....anymore.
Time goes fast. But, as it's whizzing along with lightening speed, we're learning. As I touch down to a new week and a new season....that reality presents itself to me. Sometimes all it takes is a lull in the action....like a detour....to remind us of how far we've come in such a short period of time.
And, the journey continues....
Note: This is the tree that has served as my "Autumn Clock" for many years. I see it each morning as I approach campus and every evening as I leave. It's a perfect reminder of how things change. Even beauty changes....with each passing hour, each passing day, each passing week...
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