Hello Friends!
I am at one of my favorite places, replenishing my energy. My neighborhood library.
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| This is me in my happy place - the library! And yes, I realize it looks like a tree is growing out of my head! |
The last weekend was a whirlwind. I literally just touched down in Portland 1 hours ago. My sweet man picked me up from the airport. I was only gone three days, but it felt like an eternity.
Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. As I type this, I realize that I did not wish him a Happy Valentine's Day!
We're really not mushy like that. Just realizing how much we miss each other when we are apart is enough for me. Plus he let me borrow the truck so I could stop at the library before I head to work.
This morning I feared I would not make it back in time to teach my students. I had set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. The plan was to get up and order a Lyft ride to the Greyhound station, catch the 5:00 a.m. bus from Twin Falls to Boise and then board the 11:30 a.m. plane from Boise to Portland.
I woke up with a start, heart racing. I actually thought to myself, "I wonder what time it is?" Then I bolted straight up when I saw 5:00 a.m. on my cell phone!
I slept like a rock! Rarely do I ever sleep so deeply. I am usually up at least every two hours, mostly to use the toilet!
Sorry if that is TMI. I believe I have a very small bladder. Plus I have been drinking too much Diet Coke lately.
Luckily, my son-in-law told me I could take the Jeep to his Grandpa's house where his dad was staying. Conveniently in Boise! In fact, on Friday, I flew into Boise and my son-in-law's dad picked me up at the airport. He brought me back to his dad's house, where the Jeep was parked. It had been sitting there since my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters moved to Twin Falls a few months ago. The plan was for me to drive the Jeep from Boise to Twin Falls so my son-in-law would have a work vehicle.
He did for three days. But now the Jeep is back in Boise. I told my daughter that perhaps we should consider the Jeep to be our Boise to Twin Falls shuttle for when Zma comes to town.
She rolled her eyes at me.
Plus, as a side note, I have a new nickname now. "A-GA!" My youngest granddaughter (the youngest of the twins) dubbed me that. I was trying to teach them both to say "Zma". The older twin (older by a few minutes and quite a bit larger), growled at me like a dragon and laughed. The younger, more feisty twin (she is crawling VERY QUICKLY now!) looked at me and shrieked "A-GA!"
And so it began.
I am Zma/A-GA!
It suits me.
I actually quite enjoyed the 2 hour drive from Boise to Twin Falls. It is quite a hoot to drive I-84 in Idaho. The speed limit for truckers is 70 mph. 80 mph for everyone else! Which means most folks passed the truckers at about 90 mph!
I found a few delightful rock stations "The Jack" and "The Snake", cranked up the volume and even rolled the window down for a bit. But then quickly rolled it back up. It's high desert, and was in the upper 30's on my way down.
Another pleasant driving surprise was that there was miles and miles of very little traffic - mostly me, myself, and I and a few truckers.
My son-in-law's dad kindly showed me the ropes with the Jeep and handed me $20 for the gas tank. Unfortunately, in my "born to be wild" moment, I didn't plan ahead. I realized I was nearly out of gas with no towns in site about a quarter of the way there.
Plus I had to pee. Urgently.
Luckily (So I thought), the town of Mountain Home came up when I was considering pulling off the rode and crouching behind a tumbleweed. I saw a sign for a Burger King, a McDonald's and a gas station. I hit the gas station first.
Side note: I have not driven much over the last 20 years. I don't think I have pumped my own gas more than a handful of times. Luckily I figured out the gas thing.
But the key wouldn't come out of the ignition! I was doing the pee pee dance by the gas tanks. I seriously did not think I would make it!
So I called me daughter and told her my predicament.
She sighed. "OH! I forgot to mention that thing."
She patiently (at first) told me to take the care out of park and put it into drive and then back to park. And then try to take out the key.
No luck. I seriously was looking for a bucket or even a soft drink cup in the back seat at this point. No such luck on that either.
Then she told me to start the car, turn it off and quickly try to remove the key.
Nothing.
She sighed again. "You're over thinking it", she said in a most condescending voice.
Argggg.
I tried again.
"I don't think you can do this", she sighed.
OK. That got me going! Suddenly the key came out!
I told her I was off to the races. Really I was off to the restroom!
But I did not want Burger King. I seriously hate their fries. Road trips and McDonald's are good partners in my book. So I set out down the road.
I'm telling you, I got a most eerie feeling driving in Mountain Home. Perhaps it had something to do with the Stephen King novel I am reading (Bag of Bones - REALLY good! Not nearly as horrifying as his earlier works when he claims he was so inebriated that he didn't remember writing some! Sobriety is a good thing.)
Anyway, I never found McDonald's and I was seriously feeling creeped out by the vibe in this little town. So I went back to Burger King and got a Junior Whopper and onion rings. I even got a Diet Coke, but vowed to sip it VERY SLOWLY, lest I have the car ignition issue again!
My visit with my grandkids was so wonderful. Three days sped by. And in retrospect, I'm glad I missed the Greyhound this morning. I mean, remember what happened on my last bus trip?
I got to spend a few more hours with my grandtwins (my oldest granddaughter slept in, but we had wonderful moments together this weekend).
The only glitch was the scale. My daughter proclaimed that she wanted to lose 20 lbs, the last of her pregnancy weight on May 18th, the twins 1st birthday. I chimed in that I wanted to lose weight too! I was, after all, lifting weight at the gym with my son!
So we made a new challenge. Whoever lost the most weight by May 18th would give the other person a day off to do what they chose when I visited. No baby duty whatsoever. Side note, my daughter had such a gleam in her eye, I think she REALLY wants to when this one!
But when we weighed ourselves I wanted to scream, pound the floor with my fist and cry!
I have gained 20 pounds since Christmas!
Confession time: My gorgeous male partner has one of those annoying male metabolisms. He can eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants, not work out and still be gorgeous and slender.
Me? Not so much.
The bag of Ruffles last night while I watched a series I had been binging on didn't help. And what was REALLY annoying, was it was a very BAD series. I got hooked on the first episode. I really resonated with the main character. By the end I was so angry that I ate the whole bag of chips, crunching angrily.
No wonder I didn't hear my alarm.
But all is well.
I am going to keep working out and go back to intermittent fasting and low carb. Lots of water and fresh veggies. No more junk food!
I should probably give up my Diet Coke habit too while I'm at it!
I had to share this all with you before I lost my will power.
And now I must rush off to teach piano to some wonderful young musicians.
Happy Monday. Happy Valentine's to you all!
Much Love,
Zita/Zma/A-GA!
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