at home away from home

They say the road to a friend's house is never long. It can be, however, crowded and torturous, particularly with a full bladder. I left yesterday almost a full hour later than I'd planned and paid the price by spending nearly another whole hour sitting in Bay Area traffic. What's worse, because I was coming into town, my niece and her mom had to suffer traffic themselves in order to come home and meet me when they might have otherwise gone out to see a movie. But I'm not complaining. I made it here safely on my fine bouncy new tires. No sooner did I get my stuff settled in then I ordered up some temptation (a bottle of two buck chuck) from Trader Joe's. Allegedly there's also pizza and carrot cake on the grocery list so I have a feeling my diet is slightly doomed this weekend. And by diet, of course I mean "life long plan for eating healthfully" for I know better than to believe in short term crash diets.

Yes, invisible internet friends, I have been eating healthfully behind your backs for more than a week now. It feels great. I'm still not wearing my wedding ring (but then again I never bring it to the ghetto) but I'm starting to notice a pleasant downward trend in my overall size. I know I can do it (return to a normal size) because I did it six years ago. I just don't exactly know why I undid it. I used to say it was stress from my promotion but that doesn't explain why I kept gaining after quitting my job. Oh wait, then there was the stress from the year of fighting cancer. And many therapy sessions involving gelato. But the year after that? I have no excuse... (Other than September and the whole cat death / LSAT thing...) I think I do know why I've been dragging my feet getting back to it, though. My 20th high school reunion is in 1 1/2 years. Figuring it takes about a year to lose the weight, by starting late there is almost no way I can be gigantic by then even if I have issues with maintenance. Sick, I know. But pragmatic, eh?

Anyway, in terms of gratitude, today I am grateful that my nieces still love me even though they have already hit puberty. I love their stories, their fashion advice, their generosity of spirit. Even as I savor their dwindling innocence, I look forward to knowing them as adults. What a gift a niece is...

I'm also grateful for warm showers and hot tea.

Another great thing about my home away from home (besides the family in it)? Real life city access to things like good food and free ringtones. I have finally downloaded the marine mammal center sound effects I've been craving for months. I faced so many barriers - at first it was my phone (wrong model), then my carrier (darned Verizon), and ultimately my county (no service). Now the stars have finally aligned.

And, of course, I am grateful for my best friend, now sister-in-law. My constant cheerleader who never has enough room in her life to get mad at me. She's off riding her horses now, a passion I fully support especially as I know it helped her get through her cancer. Tonight the niecelet's off to a party (gotta squeeze them in between softball seasons, I'm told) so it will be girls' night for us. At our age I'm sure that means something wild like staying up until oh, ten or eleven or so. I'm so looking forward to it.

And again I am grateful for my husband who has by now most likely had to scoop Monkey's litterbox.