The Plane...The Plane!!

Okay, I'm back from my weekend in New York, where I had a wonderful time and found that I can't eat waffles. (even a quarter of one...)

I was worried about fitting in the seats on the plane.  Unless you're in first class, no plane seat is very wide.  (And trust me, I can't afford first class!)  So when I boarded the little jet out of Raleigh and saw the little seats with an armrest in the middle, I was worried.  But like most worries, it was needless.  I sat down, buckled my seatbelt and felt comfortable--even with the armrest down.  My seatmate was a friendly girl of nearly 22 who told me she was going skydiving on Monday for her 22nd birthday!  We chatted throughout the short (1 hour) flight to Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC.  

When I got to Reagan, I had to walk down two BIG flights of stairs to a bus and then on the other side of the terminal, I had to walk up two big flights of stairs.  My knees and stairs do NOT get along, so I'm hurting--even today!  I had to take additional stairs up to the plane--no jetway here and again in Philadelphia.  Ugh.

By the time I got to Phillie, I was wiped.  My plane disembarked at Gate F33, and my connecting flight was *supposed* to be at Gate F17, which wouldn't have been too bad, even as exhausted as I was.  However, I was very unhappy to find it had been moved from 17 to 4!  There was no way that I could have, at that hour and after doing all those stairs, walked the distance between those gates, so I went and asked if there was a ride available.  I waited less than five minutes for the "golf cart" which took me to my gate.  Yay!  I got into Binghamton around 11:00pm, and by the time I got my rental car and reached my mom's house, it was nearly midnight.

My mom was very happy to see me (as I was to see her), but it was late.  I don't think she fully processed how much weight I've lost until the next day, when she said to me, "I keep looking at your face--it's so different! It's like you're a teenager again." Um, thanks, Mom, but my wrinkles and grey hairs belie that statement!  Still, I know what she means.  I look in the mirror and see a face I haven't seen in a very long time (if I squint and ignore the wrinkles...lol!).

I had a great--if short--visit with my mother and managed to see my aunt and uncle while I was at it!  Everyone has been so supportive of this decision, and it was great to let them see proof of its success!  My mom and I went out to eat, like we usually do, but I ate a LOT less.  Red Lobster has the best kids' menu around, by the way--grilled fish, grilled chicken, popcorn shrimp.  On Monday, Mom and I went to a local diner that has great breakfasts.  She ordered the "half waffle special" which we then shared.  So I had a quarter of a waffle--and it made me sick.  I think it was probably the syrup--I can't eat sugar like I used to--but whatever it was, it sent me rushing home to the bathroom!  I won't do that again!

On the way back, I again doubted myself when it came to plane seats.  I was hoping to be on a little jet out of Binghamton, but instead, it was a propeller plane with ONE seat on one side and two on the other.  Again, I thought the seat looked too small, but I sat down and buckled the seatbelt without trouble.  Yay!  Gotta celebrate those victories!