Re-entry complete

Nothing like being back at work and having a hundred total bullsh*t problems arise because of other people's awfulness and incompetence human mistakes to jolt one back to reality from the Nirvana of a mini vacay that was not only a blast, but spiritually grounding, informative, inspiring and loving.  When I posted yesterday, I was literally still walking around on Pink Cloud Nine (translate: better than just a pink cloud or cloud nine which are both pretty darn good) and feeling so filled up with WHAT I NEED that I was wondering if blogging would still be necessary to my optimal contentment and functioning.

Well here I am - back to it and happy to be here FOR REAL!  Loving your comments, thrilled that I got my first comment ever from blogging rockstar Miz!!!!! (Hi Miz, I didn't know you knew I existed!), and happy to have this slate upon which I can carve my reality as it unfolds a day at a time.  I do have so much to talk about after being filled way beyond capacity with energy and enthusiasm for AA, not to mention a zillion things I didn't know and more of that old time AA wisdom than I knew existed.  Don't worry, I won't write a 475 paragraph post boring you to death telling you the minutiae of the whole experience.  Rather I expect it will percolate up and out through my fingers over time.  That seems to be how I write...off on a topic that reminds me of something that sends me down another path, which then pries loose some other wannabe brilliant thing...repeat as tolerated. 

I'll recount one quick story of my life as a tourist in San Antonio where I'm glad to say I wasn't alone in the decision-making process of what we were going to do Saturday afternoon.  3 friends (with whom I hung most of the time) and I had gone to a huge AA meeting from 11:30 to 1:00, and had the afternoon spanning out full of promise and time.  We of course wanted to see the Alamo, plus the adjacent historic Menger Hotel where one of the gal's sponsor was staying.  Also on the agenda was a meeting we all wanted to attend at 3:30 (on Building Character, which turned out to be awesome!).  Time was tight, and there was the not unimportant matter of lunch that we were all Jonesing for as well.

We first went and zipped through the hotel, which was clearly grand and beautiful in its day but smelled of the stale and nasty smoke of the millions of cigarettes and cigars that had been smoked there over the 151 years of its existence, cough cough.  Just across the street was the Alamo, the grounds of which we entered through the side and into the back yard where there are beautiful gardens and lots of huge gorgeous old trees.  As we wandered around the to the front of the building, we saw 2 IMPORTANT things...a l-o-o-o-o-ng line to get into the actual Alamo, and a Haagen Dazs store on the opposite corner.  Enter SERIOUS TIME MANAGEMENT PROBLEM..  We were all hungry for real food.  We wanted to see the Alamo but the line was going nowhere.  Fast.  We wanted to go to the meeting back at the convention at 3:30 and it  was already about 2:35.  And Haagen Dazs. 

It took this group of 4 recovering alcoholics about 20 seconds to decide...Haagen Dazs first (we'd get real food for dinner), then walk back for the meeting and catch the Alamo next time in San An.  And it all turned out great.  We got a coveted table with 4 sticky chairs upon which to perch while we moaned in ecstasy as our various ice cream confections slid down our parched throats.  We ran into several folks from back home as we walked back to the convention center.  And as mentioned above, the meeting we attended was just incredible.  Victory scored for the Pennsylvania 4!  We laughed as we ate our ice cream over how once the Haagen Dazs had come into focus as we stood on hallowed historic ground, we each silently thought (and it turns out simultaneously) that we should just chuck the Alamo in favor of more fleshy pleasures...or flesh producing pleasures. 

Finally for today - I did get on the scale this morning and was 207.  I was 203.5 the morning I left for Texas.  So a 3 1/2 pound gain, part of which I likely incurred yesterday back on home turf.  Given my remarkable talent for packing on a ridiculous number of pounds over a few short days, this did not upset me at all.  I'm back on track today and glad to be.  The overall renewal with which the trip gifted me finds me feeling strong and solidly back to wanting to whittle away at this weight loss now.  So re-entry has been smooth, after a rocky start yesterday where I was emotional, tired, and not sure I was ready to be back.  Now I'm glad to be right where I am.