stuffing it all in (m)

Busy week last week.  Friends, family, work, etc.

Monday-Susan and I go to lunch to celebrate her birthday.  Grilled chicken, salad.  I took half home.  We were going shopping for a bit but she got a call on her cell saying she had to be at a meeting.  How ironic...she had been available while I worked for years and now she has to work when I'm available.  I felt lucky to have had some time with her over lunch as she is one of my oldest (since kindergarten) and dearest friends.

Tuesday/Wednesday-Abby comes to town.  She's down from Maine to pick up her daughter M at Logan on Thursday and built in some time to visit.  We saw my mother (it had been 16 years since Abby and she had last seen each other).  They both decided the other looked great given how many years had passed.  "She's still thin" is how my mother headlined it.  We met at my brother's house...the demented little dog threw up as soon as we walked in the house.  "It's the excitement," my sister-in-law said.  Phil crammed in 16 years worth of questions to Abby.  The house is not air-conditioned because my sister-in-law is a singer and she believes it affects her voice.  So...on a 90 degree day with high humidity... they offered us homemade chicken pot pie.  We politely declined and went into Harvard Square for dinner.  I had a garden salad and bread.  Abby had mussels.  We ate in 20 minutes so as not to be late for the movie (The Kids Are All Right).

Wednesday- T and I go to a meeting in town for a presentation.  A project I was working on.   The buffet lunch was superb...fresh cream of mushroom soup, vegetable soup, 4 types of pasta (mushroom ravioli, orecchiete with tomato sauce, fettucine alfredo, penne with butter), salad, chicken, fish, rice and vegetables.  I had grilled fish and some salad.  Could have eaten the entire pasta collection.  All of it.

Thursday/Friday- I take my mother to Maine to see her cousin who is celebrating her 80th birthday. The drive up was brutally long (4+ hours given lots of road construction).  My mother sits in the backseat (Miss Daisy style).  Here's a snippet of the running commentary:  How long has it been.... my legs are killing me... how the hell did they find this place? Talk about boondocks! This place hasn't even been discovered yet! Why do all these roads need to be repaired at one time? Look at that fat guy, he's sweating like a pig. I can't wait to go home tomorrow.   When I suggested we stop at Dunkin' Donuts for an iced tea/coffee, this is what I got instead of thank you: You'll never be thin...all you think about is food.

This is the family that customizes tee-shirts for every gathering.  They vacation together, too.  They are up to 26 people now (mother, father, five grown kids, 4 spouses, eight grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and 3 young adult guests who are "significant others"--plus 3 dogs).  The house was on top of a mountain at Sunday River.  Absolutely spectacular...swimming pool, movie theatre, pool house, playground, 5 gas grills, two hot tubs, two kitchens, 8 bathrooms, 8 bedrooms (one "barrack-style" room slept 5), etc.   My cousins made grilled chicken and vegetables, salad and rice.  I drank about 5 points of wine while enjoying the scenic vista.  No dessert.  No rice.  My mother and I shared a room at a nearby mountain lodge.  Free breakfast the next day-"eggs any style" (except egg whites I discovered.). Drove home via Freeport to pick up something at LL Bean for Sam.  Got stuck in traffic for over an hour because they shut down part of I-295.  Went the backroads until I could pick up I-95...ended up in a campsite.  By then it was almost 2:20 p.m. and I was starved.  My mother and I stopped at a roadside lobster place in between Kittery and Portsmouth.  We ate at a picnic table overlooking the ocean.  The food was excellent (steamed lobster, she got a fisherman's platter) .A gentle breeze, a sunny dry day.  Perfect.  I was just thinking this would be a nice, memorable moment with my mother when all of a sudden she said, Would it kill them to give us a few more napkins?"  Pop.  There goes the moment.

Saturday- T said he missed me all week and wants to spend some time together.   How about a day in Gloucester with some friends on their boat?  Picture-perfect day.  Sam, H and I first go to the Apple store to buy an iPad.  We then catch up with old friends. Sam joins us which thrilled me; Harrison goes with the Italian National Team (skating) to a pool party down the Cape.  Beautiful day.  Went to The Lobster Pool for dinner, overlooking the ocean.  Specatular sunset.  T, Sam and I took a family photo....the last time we took a picture at this spot, I was pregnant with Sam.

Sunday-Time to get serious about an outfit for my cousin's wedding next week.  I had my go-to outfit taken in.  The Chinese seamstress shook her head, "No more.  No more.  Get new clothes.  These too big."  Susan called and told me to go to Talbot's because everything was marked down twice AND then they take 50% off.  I brought you-know-who with me.  Walk into the store, head to the sales rack.  The sales woman was very nice, very blonde, very thin, very helpful.  Asks me what size I am.  I haven't a clue. I explain I've lost 66 pounds.  She goes on and on about how did I do it, how do I feel, I must feel amazing, etc.  I want to say please leave me alone, but something stops me.   I go into the fitting room and try on clothes.  Everything is bigger than I thought it should be.  My mother is sitting outside the fitting room.  The sales woman asks if she can help my mother who explains she's with me.  The sales woman (who's like a dog with a bone on the subject of my weight loss) starts in: "You must be SO PROUD of your daughter!"  To which my mother replies "Yeah, but she's got a LONG WAY TO GO".  I chose five tops (nothing for the wedding). Got to the register and Sam calls me on my cell.  The sales woman overhears me saying Sam's name and shrieks "I knew I knew you!"  Her son went to high school with Sam until he left to play hockey all the time.  She gives me an extra discount.  Five nice tops for $45.  Not bad.

Grilled chicken and burgers for dinner.  Took my mother home and the Aunties out for an ice cream.  Aunt X is all healed, but Aunt Y took a fall this week opening the drawer of nightgowns in her bedroom.  911 came and she was sitting there, under the weight of the drawer with a large gash on her leg.  She perked up when I drove in her yard.  Got the footstool for her..hoisted her in the car, buckled her in, put the stool and walker in the back of my car.  Got them all ice cream (and extra napkins) and drove through the cemetery while they ate their ice cream.   I had water.  Got them home and cleaned the car of  jimmies and chopped walnuts.

Took a long bath and reflected on the crazy-busy week.