Complicated

Fri 7:30pm:

This is a weekend that I need to flow without too much drama.  Apparently, that's not to be.  At least, it's not without the threat of drama.  I've already put plan B and C and D into action.

I flew from Charleston to Grand Rapids, MI yesterday to speak at at an event at wonderful Grand Valley State University today.  The topic was about inclusion and access in Sports - something near and dear to my heart.  I came to GVSU a couple of years ago and it was great to be back, except for the 40 degree rainy weather.  It was admittedly difficult to leave record 85 degree warmth in Charleston yesterday for the potential of snow but here I am.

I purposely scheduled a late flight to Iowa so I would have time to work out this afternoon.  Up to that point, everything went great.  The conference was wonderful - thanks to everyone who made it happen.  The athletic facilities at the university were amazing.  And by 2:30 I was in a plastic top on an elyptical trainer sweating up a storm.

That's when United called me to tell me that my flight this evening was delayed, so I'd miss my connection in Chicago.  I called them and, to my dismay, found that there were no options.  There were no flights that would get me to Iowa tonight and, in fact, if I get stuck here there are no flights tomorrow either.  Not good.

So, I decided to take my chances that when I get to Chicago my flight there will be delayed too.  If so - everything is ok.

If not, I'm scheduled on a 7am flight which means that I'll need to spend the night in Chicago.

If that doesn't go for some reason, it's a 4 hour drive from Chicago to Cedar Falls.  It doesn't leave much time to deal with any last-minute weight issues but we'll cross that bridge when/if we get there.  BTW - I weighted myself on a bathroom scale a little earlier and was a pound over my limit.  That's GREAT news.    I've had some soup and something to drink so we'll see how it looks tomorrow, but I'm very relieved about that.

Anyway, all this uncertainty adds lots of extra drama to an already drama-filled weekend but that's just the way things go, I guess.  Anyway, as I type this I'm in the Grand Rapids, MI airport waiting for my delayed flight to arrive so we can board and leave.  We'll see how it all works out.

There's really not much more to say.  I've lost 10 pounds since Monday - freakin' crazy.  I'm skinny-winny.  I'm a bit drained from it, but I'll survive.

My plan is to get down to weight tomorrow, weigh in at 4, and by 5 I hope to be at Olive Garden filling my face with salad, bread sticks, and pasta.  It'll be time to carb-load to get some of that energy back.  But one thing at a time....let's actually get to Iowa first before making plans for dinner.

Why do things that should be simple need to make themselves complicated?  Dunno.  Sometimes they just do.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that my next entry will be from Cedar Falls, that I'll have made weight, and that I had a decent dinner.  What happens between now and then?  Dunno about that either.  It's still complicated....

Sat. 8:30am

Well.  It's morning, and all seems to be well so far.

I'm in Iowa.  My flight was delayed but as I had hoped so, too, was the connecting flight so I arrived into Cedar Rapids at 10ish last night.  I got a hotel nearby and got a pretty good much-needed night sleep.

I weighed myself this morning (yes, I did bring a scale with me).  First thing this morning I was 1.5 pounds over my limit.  That's a relief, as well, as all week long I've envisioned stepping on that scale and being 4 pounds over at this point.  I have no idea how I've lost as much as I have other than to say it has been a constant effort.  I'm actually feeling ok despite being as light as I am.

I've had a bit of morning coffee and a hard-boiled egg (brought those with me, as well) so I'm getting ready to lose 2 or 3 more to put me were I need to be.

Plan for the day:  (1) put on plastic suit and go down to the fitness center in the hotel for an hour (2) clean up and pack up (3) drive the 90 minutes from here to Cedar Falls (4) register and verify weight on the test scales (5) medical and weigh in starts at 3 (6) Olive Garden!!!  Then - chill, and watch basketball to get ready for tomorrow...

Little fire-drills in life like what happened yesterday are tests of creativity.  I'm glad things worked out as they did, but I'm pretty confident that all the plans I had in place were safe contingencies just in case.  Today seems calmer.  So far.  :)