Home Again

Oh I have been away from my computer for way too long!  I don’t think I’ll really be able to catch up on commenting on your blogs, but I have checked around and am glad to see everybody seems to be doing well.  I’m so very glad to be home!  The doggies all did very well while I was gone, although Sophie (who has also been designated  ‘Queen of the House’ by my babysitter) did get into a little mischief while I was gone.  She figured out how to move the very heavy exercise pen fence that I use as a doggie gate to keep her and Monk in the kitchen.  And she wouldn’t always go in her crate, or go outside… Pretty much she did whatever she darn well pleased.  Just like a queen.

Keeping everyone in line is exhausting work for a queen.

Anyway, it was a great trip.  I came home with almost 200 pictures of quilts.   And only 3 or 4 of the beautiful scenery in Tahoe.  And, ummm, no family pictures.  Oops.

I’ll share about the quilt show in a day or two.  Family time was fun, if a bit stressful.  My dad had a wonderful time.  And that is always very gratifying.   He wanted to take a trip to Virginia City, which is an old time mining town in Nevada.  Kind of a tourist spot.  But also very authentic OLD buildings, and wooden sidewalks.  The weather, which was predicted to be stormy for the three days we were in Tahoe, cleared up, and it was really really beautiful.  Here is a picture of the area surrounding Virginia City.

And here are some of the aspens that I saw on my walk this morning.

Okay .   For the food and exercise report.  I’m gonna say I did okay.  I only walked for exercise.  Except this morning, when, for some unexplained reason, I finally decided to do some body weight exercises.  I had packed some food, but the hotel I was staying in did not have a microwave or a refrigerator in the room (boo!)  So I had to be a little creative.  For lunches at the quilt show, I brought an apple and walnuts, with a couple of lo-bars.  Or I stopped at Safeway, and brought some Fage yogurt  (I brought a little ice thing to keep it cold,)

One of my most exciting discoveries was that Jamba Juice has steel cut oatmeal for sale!!!   220 calories for a cup, and it was excellent.  You could get it with bananas on top for 280 calories.  This is a great discovery for me for travel because there are Jamba Juices on every corner practically.

Here’s one of the funniest things that happened to me.  Before I go on a trip, I am obsessed with food.  Where am I going to eat?  What am I going to allow myself to eat?  When will I be hungry?  How many times can I eat frozen yogurt in one week?  You get the picture.  So I google various grocery stores/restaurants/eateries, and then I do mapquests to see if they are convenient to the convention center or the hotel.  So one night, after I left the quilt show, I decided to go to an ‘upscale shopping area’ because they had a Pinkberry there, and I thought, this will be my one meal out.  Well, I got there, and it was VERY upscale.  And very crowded.  And not anywhere to park.  It was too much for me.  So I left.  And now I was hungry AND tired.  As I drove out I saw a mall across the main drag.  I can probably find something there, I thought.  And then I thought, hey! I think that’s one of the malls I mapquested because there was a Red Mango Frozen Yogurt shop there!!!! Sure enough.  I was at the  right mall.  I parked, and started consulting those mall maps.  Unfortunately, this was a mega mall, and I was at the exact opposite end from where the Red Mango was. That’s okay, I thought, more exercise. I walked and walked, and then I walked some more.  I consulted several mall maps.  I backtracked.  And finally, I reached the holy grail.

Red Mango no more.

I walked dejectedly back towards the other end of the mall, and what should I stumble upon but a little ‘Yumi Yogurt’ stand.  It did just fine.  I got my usual ‘Original Tart’ with the classic toppings of walnuts and a few chocolate chips.

When I went with my family to Tahoe, we actually rented a cabin that had a very nice kitchen.  So we were able to fix healthy food there at least part of the time.  I even fixed protein pancakes for everybody one morning!  When we went to Virginia City, I knew I didn’t want to get a junk food lunch, so I took some cottage cheese/pineapple/walnuts combo.  Its really pretty easy to pack something like this.  I just put it in a plastic container, bring along a spoon, and put the whole thing in a baggie with some ice cubes.  When everybody stopped for some pizza, I ran back to the car, enjoyed my cottage cheese, and then rejoined them.

I don’t want to give the wrong impression.  I didn’t always make the best food choices.  I ate too much (past full) and that really drives me nuts.  But overall, I am comfortable that my healthy lifestyle is here to stay.  I have no desire to overeat, or to eat processed foods all the time.  I am very glad to be home, and to be in control of my food choices.   Back home today, I had my usual veggie craving.  BBQ chicken salad did the trick.

I know this is something of a ramble, but wanted to post, and tomorrow I have to go back to work.  Have a great day everyone.  Its great to be back!