Happy Thursday!!

As you can see, I pretty much slept through yesterday. That's one of the few downsides to my job, is when I work the night shift, there is one day where I am fairly useless. :-)

So yesterday's "task" from my 8MM book was to look at a future dream vacation, after I've attained my goal. My best friend (one of them!) lives in Norway, so believe it or not, that is my future dream vacation. Here we go...

As we step off the plane, we are amazed at the chill in the air. I knew we wouldn't be doing any swimming this early in the year, but I sure didn't expect to be cold! Thankfully, I know there's a stash of sweaters at her apartment, hand-knit, the best of the best. I grab my husband's hand and tell my son to hurry UP we need to get going. The brisk air feels good, and I'm so glad that we had a comfortable flight. Imagine, just a year and a half ago, I couldn't fit into an airplane seat very well, and now I have wiggle room!

At her apartment, we sit on the back porch, looking into the woods. It is so beautiful here, and so quiet. I have never seen greener trees, not even in the Black Hills. It must be the ocean air, it is definitely doing me wonders. Tomorrow we'll go to the ocean, and take a long walk. We plan on taking a combination train/boat/bus trip this week, too. It should be wonderful. I'm so glad we came here, and I think she can see it on my face.

Since I've never actually been to Norway yet, I had to go with what I have seen in pictures, and my words cannot do those pictures justice!! :-) That was yesterday's. Today's is that I am coming home from this vacation, and I bump into a friend on the plane who has not seen me after I reached my goal weight. Now, I have to admit, I may not be perfectly nice in this one, and it won't be a friend necessarily, but someone who has as much weight to lose as I do and came up with as many excuses as I did to not do it. Ultimately, we broke off the friendship due to a difference in opinions. While I do miss her, I will do some gloating, maybe...

Oh gosh, what a good vacation. I'm sure going to miss her, though. Next year she'll be back to the States to visit again, though. I can't wait. Gosh, this delay to Minneapolis is sure taking a long time. Finally, we're boarding!

As I walk down the tunnel, I see a familiar face talking to her child. Melanie? Gosh, I haven't seen her in almost 3 years. "Melanie? Melanie ********?" I see she's not sure who I am by the look on her face. "Heather. We used to work together?" Oh wow, I cannot believe the shock I'm seeing on her face. I know we parted on less than pleasant terms, but still.

"Oh my GOSH you look GREAT!! How DID you lose all that weight? Gosh, I wish I could, but you know, my thyroid and the antidepressants and 3 kids and work...." Ah yes, the same old excuses. I remember them well, although at the time it was only 2 children. "So, how did you do it? Where are you sitting? Neil? Neil? I'm going to sit next to her, OK?" Poor Neil, she hasn't changed much. The lady next to me is nice enough to switch, and I quick send my husband a text: If I put both hands behind my head and wave one, come tell me there's a problem with our son. Good thing we could keep the phones on until it's almost time to take-off.

As we settle into our seats, I buckle in easily, grateful that I can now. Melanie calls for a seat belt extension. I smile at my aunt as she brings it. One of the best parts of our vacation was that my last flight has my aunt as one of the flight attendants, and so we'll get to drive home with her as a guest. "So, tell me how you did it."

I have to smile a little bit. "Well, I get up at 5:00 each morning, do my strength training and then shower quick. My son and I each have oatmeal for breakfast, I like mine with chocolate chips and a bit of sugar. Good start to the day, and it really sticks. At 6:45 I take I him the bus stop, then drive down to Mitchell." "WHAT? Why? Is it that hard to find a good job you have to drive what is it, an hour?" "Well, 45 minutes, but I'm going to school full time down there. On my breaks between classes I work for an website editing company and do my homework. I get home about the same time my son does, so we take the dogs for a 45 minute walk. Although," I chuckle, "last winter we did more snowshoeing than walking! Then, while supper is cooking, I get our snacks ready for the next day. I finish up my homework while my son does his, and then I hit the yoga mat. Either yoga or t'ai chi, depending on how I feel. On weekends I work Friday and Saturday overnights at the hospital, and I get some walking and stretching in then, too."

"Wait a minute," she says. You work and go to school? I bet your husband does all the housework, then." I just have to smile. "No, I typically do a load or two of laundry a day, and vacuum just before I go to bed. My son does the dishes, my husband does the cooking. They sweep the hardwood floors upstairs and clean the bathroom once a week, also. We break it up as much as possible. We do a little everyday and maintain the house, rather than letting it build up. Sundays I sleep most of the day, but when I do wake up I get the bills ready to go out and work on the menu for the next week. I've found if it's done a week ahead of time, then on Thursday or Friday, depending on which one of us is getting paid, my husband and son will get the groceries and do the prep work. It's their thing, I guess, they seem to enjoy it."

I have to admit, I love her reaction. We used to commiserate together about not having time to workout or make healthy snacks. At the time, she was also in school, she wanted to be a nurse. I have no doubt she would make a good one, I wonder what happened? "Melanie, are you working as a nurse, now? Or do you have a year left, I can't remember?" The look on her face tells me all I need to know. "I couldn't finish. I couldn't study, especially after my third kid. I'll probably go back after they're in school. Then we can do our homework at the same time. At least, that's my current goal."

After that, the flight was quiet. I took a nap, I admit, dreaming of long summer walks. I'm not sure what happened to her after that, the original seatholder was back when I woke up, and when we got off the plane she didn't look at me once. I hope she makes it as a nurse, I really do.