I flew into Washington Dulles to pick Mike up from his dad's in Virginia. The flight was Virgin Atlantic, which has proved one of the most reasonable and the most comfortable companies around. I have perfected seat selection to a fine science, situating myself at the end of a row, so that no person is sitting behind me; on the aisle, so I am free to get up as often as I like; near the restroom, so I never have to queue to get in; and most cleverly, I go see the flight attendant as soon as I enter the plane and request the pasta dish. They always sell out of the pasta before getting to the end of the row, and because I have now entered a 'special request' I get served first and don't have to wait 45 minutes for the trolley to reach me. I COULD order the vegetarian dish before flying, but the true vegan dish is reportedly quite vile (according to my friends in the sky (flight attendants). So, as you can see, I take all of this very seriously. It is all about managing my environment!!! :-)
My friend, Sue, picked me up from Dulles, and as always it was fantastic to get a chance to spend time with her. We went back to her house, which was basically completely packed as she is moving, and then we went out shopping. I bought a few new pairs of jeans, a shirt, and a pink sleeveless jacket for springtime dog walks. Clothing is much more reasonably priced in the US, and for some reason, I find it very hard to find clothing that fits me here. It seems there is a general lack of smallish waists paired with thunder thighs on this side of the pond, where it is pretty obviously a 'normal' shape in the US. All of my trousers here gap really wide at the waist. It looks ridiculous.
Saturday we drove to Charlottesville to pick Mike up. We met his dad and brother at IHops and had breakfast before driving back up to spend the night at Springhill Suites, where my mother was waiting for us. It was great to have a chance to spend time with her, as we haven't had much time together in the past few years, and even chatting on the phone has been near impossible while I was working. We got to stay in the same room that we had stayed in two years ago when we met up, which was rather odd.
The flight home was uneventful, it was pretty empty so I moved to another row and Mike sat alone. This was for sleeping purposes, but he didn't sleep anyway! We got home at 10:30, and Neil had already left to catch his flight to India. How strange it felt to be chatting on the phone--he updating me on his progress getting to Heathrow--and my updating him on our departing! After 24 hours of being awake Mike finally crashed, and he didn't wake up until noon the next day! (No school for him!).
We did finally get back into schedule, and we are happily back into normality now.
Neil's trip to India was pleasant. He was in business class and looked quite comfortable.
Unfortunately, it was truly a business trip, and he didn't have the opportunity to get out and discover what India had to offer. It was very nice to have him come home, the dogs were especially happy to see him. Lots of tail wagging and jumping around. He brought us back some souvenirs, Mike got a Ty Beanie Elephant, and I got a dress and some Russian nesting dolls (I have a strange liking of them).
All is back to normal in our schedule, we have a few boys joining us, and the dogs are enjoying getting out for their twice daily school runs. We haven't gone on our long walks yet, as it has rained nearly non-stop since we got home. It is still raining, and seems no end in sight!
Finally, we are removing almost all sugar from our diet. This comes after watching Sugar: The Bitter Truth on YouTube.
Its about an hour and half long, so don't bother watching if you aren't really interested! I went looking for sugar information after I realized that if I spent most of the day without added sugar (biscuits, sugar in coffee, etc.) and then ate something with significant sugar, I spent the rest of the day really hungry and craving more and more sweets. It just seems to me that that can not be normal.
So, now after much reading and thinking about it, I am on day 6 of 'no sugar added' living. I am not getting cravings, and I have noticed that when I do 'crave' it is because I had high carbs. We have decided to go to a high protein, low carbohydrate, no (or low) added sugar diet. There is no intention to NEVER eat chocolate or cake again, BUT this will be something that will be a rare occasion. Not a daily, or AT LEAST thrice weekly event, as it has been.
I'll update you on our success. :-)
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