So we flew out on Wednesday evening and I was doing very very well if I do say so myself on the flight. Remember how I said I was terrified of flying, well here's why: About an hour and a half into the flight the pilot came over the speakers and let us know that we were about 90 miles south of St. Louis, so we would be starting our descent. Great! We're almost there...not so fast. He also said, and I quote, "is an ugly evening in St. Louis...light rain showers and 47 degrees". No big deal, right? WRONG! The sky immediately got eerily dark and cloudy and the plan started rocking back and forth and side to side and doing things that should be physically impossibly while 40,000 miles in the air. I have no idea how that plane stayed up, it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I had to put my head in Scott's lap (thank the Lord he was there with me!) to keep from tossing my cookies and I'm pretty sure he'll have my fingernail imprints permanently etched in his bicep. It was lightning and pouring down rain all around us and I could tell that everyone else on the flight was getting really uneasy as well. This is usually how I gauge the severity of "airplane situations". If everyone around me is cool then I try to stay cool too, but the instant that I sense someone else stressing...it is all over. I seriously did not think I would ever step foot on the ground again! Finally those wheels hit the ground and I was SOOOOO thankful! One of the flight attendants then came on the speakers and asked everyone to give the pilot a round of applause for getting us safely to the ground. At that moment, I'd never knew anyone who deserved a round of applause more than him...so I gave it to him....for a really long time.
We got off the plane and I of course, Ms. Bladder the Size of a Pea, had to use the restroom. I was rolling a carry-on, toting my purse, and carrying a book and Scotty's magazine. This is a lot of junk to bring into a bathroom stall, but luckily they have those little metal shelves above the toilets in the St. Louis airport. So I crammed my carry-on in the stall with me, hung my purse up on the back of the stall door, and sat the book and magazine on the shelf. I didn't realize it at the time...but I left the darn book and magazine there in the bathroom stall. Merry Christmas to the lucky finder of those! I had just purchased that book, a friggin' $30 hard-back brand new copy of "Cross Fire", the latest Alex Cross book from James Patterson. Darn it...and I had only made it through chapter 13. This is very upsetting. Oh, and Scott wasn't very happy that I left his Muscle & Fitness in there either.
We made it to Scott's parents house around 12:00am on Thanksgiving morning. Unfortunately I wasn't able to spend much time there, everyone was pretty much asleep anyways. So I borrowed a car and drove to my parent's house, about an hour and a half away. Sometimes I think it is weird that we don't spend all holidays with each other, I mean we have been together for over 6 years. But it is just so hard to decide what to do when you live 13 hours from your family. Neither of us want to miss a family gathering, so sometimes it comes down to us opting to be apart in order to see our families.
Have you ever had Thanksgiving without turkey? Me neither, until this year! My aunt makes the turkeys and everyone else brings the side dishes. Well, she did everything like usual, but for some reason the little temperature gauge just wouldn't pop this year. We were supposed to eat lunch at noon and the turkeys weren't ready until 2:00. Obviously, we didn't wait that long. So I ate chicken and dumplings (exquisite! great job Aunt Trish!), green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (extra marshmallows please!) and a homemade roll. Delish...but Thanksgiving is just not Thanksgiving without 2 things, turkey and pumpkin pie. Didn't I mention that I had been looking forward to pumpkin pie for weeks?!?! Guess what? We didn't have that either! Someone was seriously skimping on the deserts this year. We had fruit salad (healthy yeah...but I can't really consider that desert), some sort of cherry/whipped cream thing, and some chocolate peanut butter cookies. Those were pretty darn tasty, but just can't take the place of pumpkin pie! After we ate we chatted for a while and then went back to my mom's house and napped and lazed around all day.
Friday I did manage to squeeze in a quick run on the treadmill, only about 3 miles, but better than nothing. We did a lot more of nothing, played some Mario Karts on the Wii and watched some TV. We also went to my Mimi's house and decorate her Christmas tree for her. See below. It was soooo pretty. She usually does it up in red and gold, but this year she added some lime green accents as well. It was gorgeous.
Friday night was more eventful. We played "house hockey". The teams were me and Jack, my 8 year old brother, and my sister Mallory and step-dad Bo. No matter what they might say, we beat them 2 to 1, and we probably would have played all night if Jack wouldn't have knocked a mug of hot cocoa into the floor, shattering the mug. Mom called the game after that one. That night my sister and I went and saw Burlesque. And I don't care what anyone might say about me...I LOVED IT. Christina Aguilera was great and looked AMAZING. The costumes and make-up were awesome. It made me want to put a lot of glitter on my face and dance around in a corset. Such a cute story. And my sister loved it too and she's not quite as girly as me.
Saturday me, Mal and Jack met Scott and my future in-laws for lunch at McCalister's deli. I had a delicious chicken cesar salad and shared some salsa and tortilla chips with my sis. We took Scott back to my mom's house with us and had another little get-together/party that evening. My mom and step-dad had a contest going. She made broccoli cheese soup and he made a pot of chili. The goal was to see who had the least remaining at the end of the night. Pretty sure my mom won that one. I love broccoli and cheese soup and hers was to die for. But shamefully, I will admit that I actually had a bowl of each...and a piece of cake. I did get another 3 miles in on the treadmill that day too...like that makes up for it! ha! We played video games until my fingers were numb and I fell asleep on the couch watching "As Good as it Gets".
Sunday we went to church and came home and had grilled hamburgers and left overs and watched football (Go Steelers...you almost blew it though!). Then it was time to head back to the airport. I sat in the front with Mom and Scott and Jack were in the back seat watching DVDs. I looked back there and this is what I saw.
The flight home was much less eventful, a little rocky landing due to more crappy weather, but nothing like the first one!
I didn't want to get out of bed today...not enough time to catch up on rest. But I did. And I was running late as usual. I had to grab a package of pre-made peanut butter crackers...at least they are whole grain crackers I guess. I had to stop and fill up the gas tank or else I wasn't going to make it to work. So I also grabbed a banana and a string cheese at the gas station. I had the banana for a mid-morning snack and relied on old faithful for lunch...a whole wheat wrap with roast beef, lettuce, tomato, onion and black olives. I also splurged and bought a bowl of sliced granny smith apples and purple grapes, yum!
I can't even tell you how excited I am to get back into the gym this evening. I'll be doing 15 minutes on the stair mill to warm up, then an hour of spinning class, followed by upper body strength training.
Not sure what dinner will be, probably just a big leafy green salad. I'm still feeling like Shamoo from all the crap I ate this weekend. Well, hope that everyone out there had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I sure did...and now I'm looking forward to going back for Christmas! Yay! Ta ta for now!
Whitney
Love the tree! Have fun at the gym :)
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