The Weekend Plan…What’s in Your Weekend?

I love the feeling of flying. I relish the moment the plane leaves the earth, the sudden drop of the stomach as you are set free in the sky. I love to fly. Today finds me on a last minute trip to see a best friend. I am flying into San Luis Obispo airport from Sacramento to San Francisco then to SLO. I’ll be greeted by her lovely daughter and whisked away to her house for a weekend of girl time. I would love to show some pics but they didn’t come out very well from the airplane window. Too blurry for a blog post but it was beautiful flying down the coast.
I am a planner. I don’t usually do last minute spontaneous trips on airplanes but when it happens on that rare occasion, I love it. I love it especially now that I can fit into the seats without feeling like I am oozing into the person next to me. And the seat belts fit me. I even had to tighten it. There was EXTRA seat belt. That hasn’t happened for over 20 years.
I went in for my post surgery six month follow-up yesterday, and I am at 224lbs. I have lost 135lbs since January. A WHOLE person gone from my body. I can cross my legs like I am doing right now at the airport while I type this. I can fit in an airplane seat. Someone pointed out to me that I move better and am faster than I used to be. I feel healthy, physically for the first time in years. Normally I would share a pic here but there isn’t a full length mirror handy. Next update, there will be pics.
The surgeon wants me to be at 200lbs in three months. I plan on doing better than that. Now that I can taste what it is like to be in a smaller body after having being in such a large one for the best part of 21 years, I want to keep losing until I reach an ideal weight for me. I have already had to raid the local Goodwill to pick up some clothes that fit me better. I can’t afford to buy new clothes every time I go down a size. I have found some awesome deals. The one downfall is the pair of jeans I just got are still too big. This never ceases to amaze me. Just the other day, when I was picking up my daughter from work, she didn’t recognize me because the structure of my face has changed so much. Here is a comparison between last year and this year.      
Now that I can fit in airplane seats, I want to travel more. I daydream about traveling to Ireland. It is my number one dream place to go. I collect travel itineraries and places to see on Pinterest just to be prepared for the one day I will be able to travel to another country. I used to subscribe to Ireland magazine just to get ideas and see pictures of the country. Oh, there are other places I want to visit. Italy, Germany, England, and France. But Ireland, a part of my heritage is my dream place. I have wanted to see it for years. Every time I look at pictures of it, I feel like I am being called home.
I am hoping that as I create a successful business that traveling will be a door that is opened up to me. Ideally, I want to take my kids back east first to see their family in upper New York State. They haven’t had much time to spend with them because we are so far apart and none of us is wealthy enough to travel all that often. I really want my kids to see their family again, so that is my first vacation priority. Then, it will be time to travel to other places.
The flight was so early this morning…leaving at six am that it was still dark outside. As I have sat in the airport typing, the sun has decided to come up and it looks like a beautiful day out there. When I fly, I sit by the window when I can just so I can look out onto the world. I seldom take stuff with me to read or watch because I spend most of the time looking out the window into the world.
The airport is a great people watching place for a writer like me. Listening to conversations, studying people as they sit, or walk, how they interact with one another. Whether they travel alone, in pairs, or in packs. People are wonderful to watch and pay attention to. I am also right next to the security gate so that is interesting, watching people gather themselves together to get their gate on time. There is the off-duty pilot on the phone talking about real estate nearby. A cool looking young man, listening to a movie on on his phone. An older woman, maybe seventy or so, playing with her tablet or iPad. There is a young woman, around twenty-five or so, in a white sweatshirt, smiling big and talking into her phone as though she is in a video chat. And many people doing whatever it is they do on their phones while waiting for a plane. the airport is abuzz with opportunity to observe.
I am just sitting here in the midst of it all, typing away, talking to you while I wait for eight o’clock and boarding to begin for my next flight, wishing the line at Peet’s coffee wasn’t so long. Thank goodness, I was able to hit a Starbucks at 4:30 this morning on the way to the airport, so I have had some. But coffee practically runs through my blood, so I need more. But I will wait patiently until I arrive in SLO and get coffee there.
I am looking forward to whatever happens this weekend, even if all we do is hang out inside her house. It is more about spending time together since we really get to spend time together about once a year. We live six hours apart and I don’t have my own car right now. It will be good to have a weekend to chill with her.
As I finish this post, I have now landed and have arrived safely to my friends house. It’s quiet here compared to my house which is all abuzz because it appears that the middle child has done something to her foot. Again. Last year she broke her right foot and now has some permanent nerve damage in it (during theater class). This time, She may have sprained or broken the left one during rehearsal for the fall theater production that she is in. She did it while dancing. Even when I am away the house is chaotic and I am trying to coordinate doctors visits and x-rays from here. Life with three kids is never dull.
As I go into the weekend, excited and, little worried, I am wondering what your weekend will bring you? I am wondering where you would love to travel? What is your dream trip? Do you like to fly? I am taking the train home which is another way I love to travel. It’s beautiful to take the train down through the coast of California. What other places would you like to travel to? Do you have plans to take your family somewhere during school breaks?
Have you had any health goals that you have achieved this year? What are they? There are no small achievements when it comes to your health. I feel that any health improvement that prolongs your life is important. Do you have any goals that you want to reach by the end of the year? I want to hit my 200lb goal by the end of December instead of January. That’s only fourteen pounds. Let’s reach our goals together. Share them here or on the Facebook page and we can hold each other accountable.
Start a conversation in the comments below. I would love to hear your thoughts. Have a wonderful weekend.