My Vacation...

I left the house Thursday afternoon, looking forward to three nights in a motel. I had originally planned on eating lunch and dinner out, but packed a cooler with sandwich material instead. I'm really glad I did that. I was thrilled there was a fridge and microwave in the room.

So I had my breakfast with me, my weighed cereal sprinkled with Splenda, and I took a half gallon of 1 milk. Took a loaf of bread, sandwich meat and cheese and pre-weighed Baked Tostidos. I also took my fat free half-and-half creamer for my coffee.

Snacks I took were the 100 calorie microwave popcorn and Quaker Oats Breakfast Cookies. I didn't take anything good like veggies or carrots.

I am addicted to those breakfast cookies -- I love them, they're filling and taste great, but I would prefer to find a homemade recipe to cut costs.

Dinners: I ate at Taco Bell twice and Olive Garden once. I was thrilled, as I love both. I ordered the Olive Garden as take out because they had an hour waiting list, the place was packed, and I didn't want to sit there alone. That, and the temptation to order more bread sticks would have done me in. They gave me three bread sticks, and I resisted and only had two! Dressing came on the side of my salad, so that was perfect. A little dab goes a long way.

I had my puppy with me -- some vacation that is, taking a puppy with you! lol I had to carry his crate to the car every time we went somewhere. Back and forth with that stupid crate all the time--ugh. We took long walks, we trained in the motel's huge yard, and we played and played.

I went shopping, hitting junk shops, Kohl's, the bookstore and of course two pet stores so my pup could go with me. I bought three shirts and a new purse. The shirts are a size smaller than I would ordinarily buy. While they fit now, they're too tight around the big gut for my comfort. They're summery shirts so in another month they should work fine.

I needed a quiet rest and time to think. I have never done anything like this before, and my son is a teenager. My husband was surprised when I announced I'd be doing it again next year without a dog! lol

The best part was that the motel had a small lake behind it with a lovely walking path. The weather was warm for my neck of the woods (high 30s to low 40s) and it was beautiful. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and puppy and I enjoyed learning how to properly walk on a leash--a sustained walk, that is.

I thought through a lot of things. I am one who likes to do self-reflection a lot, and this was just what the doctor ordered.

I faced a lot of fears along the way. My anxiety popped up only once, as I was at the Olive Garden waiting for my order. There I was comfy in sweats -- my hair was done but I looked a little too, um, casual. There were people everywhere and noise and laughter and loudness--but I knew I'd be leaving shortly so it was just a fleeting anxiety, or more of an uncomfortableness.

Every time we go somewhere we usually take nasty snacks. My sin was a big bag of Peanut M&Ms. It was very weird not having that. The microwave popcorn fit the bill nicely when I really felt like munching. I didn't miss the chocolate as much as I thought I would. I decided it would be more important to be true to myself.

When I got home, I seemed to have a lot of energy. I immediately unpacked and put everything away. (This is a first for me!) Then I started cleaning the kitchen, because my guys just don't leave things the way I do. I had washed my kitchen curtains but hadn't re-hung them, so I did that. Right as I was about to wash the floor for the final touch, the phone rang and an old friend of ours was in the driveway. He was driving through our town and stopped to see us. We had a lovely afternoon visiting with him.

And that's it. Boring to everyone else, but lovely to me!