I absolutely cannot believe we're leaving for Florida one week from today. I thought this was going to be the longest six months of my life, and I think it was actually the shortest. Dear, sweet Chiquita has been gone for a month already, and I still miss her terribly, but we are seriously starting to think about bringing somebody new home within the very near future. My coworker Mike was right when he said you can't go for very long without a furry friend around, especially when you've been used to having one for so many years.
But anyway, back to the trip. One final look at the to-do list...
buy new camerabuy airline ticketsmake restaurant reservationsmake final trip paymentfind/get wheelchair cup holdersget new bathing suitget new adult size arm floatiesget new sneakers- lose those last stubborn
15 18 lbs. (6.5 left) - get wheelchair bag
get wheelchair tires fixed/replacedget new sunglasses
Obviously I'm not going to lose six and a half pounds in the next week, but I'm very happy with how far I've come and how close I am to my goal. I spent some time in front of the mirror last night, and I barely recognize myself. I have a waist again, something I haven't seen in a couple of years. And my hips have narrowed down considerably. And apart from being happy with how I look, I feel great, too. I'm going to enjoy all those delicious restaurants at Disney World without feeling guilty, and when we come back I'm going to finish working toward my goal weight. After that I will take some time off for the holidays, and then I'll start setting five-pound mini-goals for myself, with breaks in between. My ultimate goal is to try to get as close as possible to what I weighed in high school, but realistically I'll be happy with simply maintaining a weight in the healthy range for me (of which my current goal weight is the upper end).
The wheelchair bag is on order. I take full responsibility for dragging my feet on this one, and the consequence is that I had to pay $20 for expedited shipping to get it here in time for the trip. But that was more than offset by the tires. I mentioned last week that Chris was going to take them to the local bike shop for new inner tubes. He did so on Thursday, and it cost us a whole $12. That's it. $12 for new tubes and valves, and the tires are as good as new.
New sunglasses were not on my list, until the perfectly good ones I had were dropped on the concrete outside of work, and received a nice, deep gouge in one of the lenses, just in the right spot to make me go cross-eyed. So we went to the Sunglass Hut yesterday, and I got a pair of Oakleys which I already love more than my old glasses. The arms hug my head rather than hooking over my ears, and it's the first time in my life I haven't had to push my sunglasses up every thirty seconds. I realized later that I won't be able to shake them off of my head by myself like I could the old ones, but... oh well.
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