Cleansed

I finished the Cleanse. I have learned many things about myself.

I will not kill anyone for chocolate. The thought only crossed my mind during the first three days.

I was a habitual coffee drinker. Decaf Vanilla Chai is my new baby.

I do know how to cook. I have prepared many meals over the past few weeks.

I actually feel better without sugar and caffeine through out the day. Prior to the cleanse, this statement was a vicious rumor.

My energy and strength levels have gone up. I can do more at the gym. Watch me jinx myself.

I have no idea how to maintenance is going to work. Friday is dinner and drinks night with friends, emphasis on the drinks.

The cleanse did not interfere with my ability to write- work did. Working on writing more.

A Weekend off

Last week was hectic. At work I am in the middle of a reorg and all that goes along with it; meeting my new boss; working with new personalities... Just could not goof off and post.

In light of last week and the four weeks prior of never having personal time to relax, I did absolutely nothing this weekend. I had three glorious days to be bummful. (I did rearrange my living room, but I was getting ansy doing nothing.)

A box full of my grandmother's letters, written by my grandfather, arrived last week. I need to open and find a place to store them. I am not sure if I am ready to read them. I read some of their love letters in December and cried. I don't think I am ready to go there again.

The box has some papers in it declaring the end of WWII and President Kennedy's assassination in the Saturday Evening Post; the picture by Norman Rockwell. I am not sure what to do with these. I know they must be preserved somehow. I guess plastic sleeves?

The ads are funky: Ribs in a Can, Old Grand-Dad 100 Proof Bourbon.

For now, I am putting the papers back in the box.

Resolutions

I don't have any resolutions this year. I really haven't thought about them until I read Kaply Monday.

About a month ago my coworker and I decided to go on a cleanse diet. Good for your liver, etc... Since there was no way we'd accomplish what we'd need to with the holidays coming up; we put the diet off until after the New Year.

Clincher: No Coffee. No chocolate. Expect major whining from me over the next three weeks, how long the diet lasts. Not having any chocolate is going to be the killer. I feel it. I've gone without coffee, but.... YIKES!

This week, I am gearing myself up for the next three. I have cut myself down to a cup of coffee a day. I haven't succeeded without the chocolate yet. How do you cut down on MM's? One handful from two? Sigh...

Tiff is in a race to lose thirty five pounds. I'll think about losing weight after I get through the next three weeks.

Do you think I'll have any friends left when I am through?

Not as Planned or my version of Blizzard 2, Denver.

My plan, this Christmas, was to spend a quiet fun holiday with my mom, aunt, and uncle in Raton, NM. My aunt Jean and uncle Omer were to pick up my mom and I at Denver airport and drive three hours to Raton.

I arrived on Christmas Eve planning on meeting Jean and Omer at baggage claim. My mom was to be an hour behind me. As I was waiting for my luggage, my aunt phoned to let me know mom's flight was canceled because of mechanical difficulties. She was booked on another flight two days later because Denver's airport was still catching up on flights; in other words, all Denver flights were booked because of Blizzard 1.

Jean and Omer booked a room at a hotel near the airport where I met them. We spent Christmas driving around the Rockies and having fun.

The next day we spent in downtown Denver looking at different shops.

We picked Mom and made the trip to Raton. The next morning we had Christmas and then wondered around the town.

Omer had two appointments in Pueblo Thursday morning. We decided to drive on into Denver and stay at a hotel in order for me to make my morning flight the following day. Blizzard 2 was coming in and I wanted to be in a position to make any flight home.

The drive was increasingly difficult from Pueblo. White out conditions began to set in. In Colorado Springs I took over the driving. Colorado interstate signs warned chain laws were in effect, commercial vehicles are required to put chains on their tires. Many semis were stopped in the middle of the road on Monument Hill putting on chains. (At one point I asked my aunt to yell out the window to a trucker, " What is up with you people? Put your chains on on the side of the road." Jean refused my request for some reason. Shrug.)

We got into Denver eight hours later. My flight the next morning was canceled, but American booked me on an afternoon flight when a lull in the storm was forecasted.

The next day my flight was delayed two hours. My mom flew out an hour earlier than I did. My aunt was stuck in Trinidad, CO for three days, 17 miles away from her home.

Even though I spent more time in Denver than Raton, the holidays were fun and spent with some of the people I love most.