Forty-Second Step

Time to say goodbye to the mountains that I barely explored, and the river that I never jumped in. Maybe next time. The rapids and freezing temperatures were a little daunting this time around. Traveling went well, although I was just surviving and not being natural (got a drink on every flight in those plastic cups). I had a 1.5 hr drive to the airport, then 3 takeoffs and landings, and then the drive back home from the airport. All in all, a 12-hour travel day. And yes, I was swollen like a marshmallow woman. But a good night's sleep did the trick. Thanks for a great visit, Karin and Mokey! (and Mom for the free ticket!)

Fourteenth Step

Fourteenth step was all about unpacking and restocking the fridge...the clothes, laundry and suitcases are still in disarray, but I rescued recyclables from the van and loaded them with other recycling into the back, and went to the store. Also decided not to waste packaging and money on junk food at the store--no nutrition, wasteful and so expensive. Dave Ramsey would have said I should just get rice and beans anyway, if that's what we can afford. I did get more than that, especially some yummy fresh produce because we were running low on everything after a week long trip. Here is a picture of my staple produce items I try to always keep on hand, so if I'm out of one I just automatically get it at the store even if I have no immediate plan for its use. I know, this is utterly fascinating!!

Spinach: salads, green smoothies
Romaine: salads, juicing, crunchy goodness (this is my lettuce of choice this pregnancy)
Carrots: a recipe, soup and salad staple, juicing, carrot sticks
Baby Carrots: when I'm too lazy for carrot sticks, kids' lunches
Strawberries: another pregnancy favorite, and kid favorite too. I usually can't cut them fast enough for us all.
Celery: recipes and salads, juicing, celery sticks
Broccoli: our weekly broccoli salad, recipes, throw in crockpot with some chicken & seasonings
Green pepper (and other color if on sale or get the 3-pack at Aldi): pepper sticks, salads, juicing

Thirteenth Step

Thirteenth Step was doing gluten-free on the road...at the Indianapolis Children's Museum we had cafeteria-style options, which was worrisome to me at first. But I found a kids' deal where you "choose 4" and I picked grilled chicken bites, hot dog bites, green beans, and potato smiles (wasn't convinced they were gluten-free so I didn't sneak a bite). Then I had a Cobb salad that was pretty good and had lots of protein on top. And for dinner at the Outback Steakhouse, I was pleasantly surprised to find they had a gluten-free menu!! Complete with a FLOURLESS BROWNIE! I was really floored...really felt like Jesus was giving me some special treatment. I appreciate simple things more on the road as a gluten-free traveler, like finding that Fritos or M&Ms are GF--but to find GF brownies at a restaurant is just unheard of. It just seemed like God was showing me He cares about the little things too. And we only had fast food once this week, which is astounding and so satisfying because the only real choice is a burger without a bun unless it's a Mexican place.

Here are some cute pics from the Indianapolis Children's Museum--the biggest children's museum in the world! It would have been impossible without Daddy--he kept us together. Since we've all been reunited, me and the kids are all still tottering toward him like zombies with our arms out chanting, "Daddy, daddy...we can't get enough of you!"

Twelfth Step

OK, in a traditional 12 step program I would be all done now! Except in Celebrate Recovery, we learn that it's not "12 steps, 12 days, I'm done." Average time for real change in peoples' lives = 18 months. Soooooo, you are stuck with me for a while. We are taking one day at a time with these baby steps in healthy living...so my twelfth step involved being proactive and not being codependent with our travel plans. I was excited to go downtown on Saturday with Roberto and the kids, but we just could not do it with the mental and physical energy we had. We had trouble figuring out an alternate plan, but most of the options involved giving up going downtown. So I prayed and spent some time with God and was disappointed, but tried to figure out what reality would be like if we went. And realized that I would be feeling like it was all on my shoulders to "make it work" and figure out parking, what we were doing, where we were going because I'm from Chicago area and am more comfortable with the city. And if things started to go wrong or kids were stretched too far, I realized I would feel responsible and also guilty if we ended up spending more money than we planned, etc. So it was good to see that I was taking on too much responsibility for the whole trip and did not need to be responsible for making sure Robert didn't get stressed out because he's not a city boy.

Putting the whole situation before God and saying, "What's your will for today?" was hard because I had such a desire to go get the "feel" of the city, my fix for the year. I had been looking forward to going downtown all week, but ultimately it would have been too much for me too after a busy, tiring (but good) visit. We decided to rest, let the kids take a nap for only the 2nd time that week, and pack up to go the a hotel in Indianapolis area. Then go to the children's museum there before we drove the rest of the way home. It was good to admit I couldn't handle it, and that I would have felt immense pressure to make the whole downtown thing work out well to prove we (I) could do it. Facing reality and the truth of what I could handle was humbling, but I am glad that God stopped me in my tracks. It's His protection, really. Plus I think He really wanted to provide a day of rest because the kids and I are still fighting (old) colds.

My other breakthrough was realizing the way I like to travel. I don't like not having an idea where we're going to stay along the way (especially when we told Clarissa the hotel would have a pool), so I researched online before we left and had 2 options based on how far we could maybe get. This was good, because there was no way we could've gotten to the further option. And the hotel was perfect!! Pool, jacuzzi, free breakfast, big fridge for all our cooler items, and 2 QUEEN beds. None of this double bed business. Robert would rather wing it and assume it will work out, but I was able to say, "No, I like the security of having a couple set options and the phone numbers with me (since we don't have a blackberry or any such device for on-the-road research), so I'll take responsibility for what is important to me and research before we leave." I know it sounds lame, but this was a big step for me. And I called on the way to make sure both had several nonsmoking rooms. I'm not an over-the-top planner, but I think planning is peachy when it gives me peace of mind. And Clare had been excited about a hotel stay all week (I had hoped it was going to be a Chicago hotel, but laid that down), so she was happy as a clam to be there.

Seventh Step

I am fighting the guilt...the past couple of days have been so basic I know. But I have had waterbottles sitting on my counter for a couple of weeks waiting to be refilled, and I rush through and maybe fill one and tear through it so fast in my pregnant dehydrated state, and never have the patience to fill them all, and don't want to open any new ones because I have these to refill (Note on refilling: filling with filtered water is usually done from my fridge because it has the smallest "stream" and is already cold, but it takes a lot of leaning over staring at the crumbs on the carpet and waiting waiting waiting). I know #1 plastic is not to be used over and over ideally, but as long as I watch them not being in a hot car or going in the dishwasher, I think it's okay until one gets a significant dent that keeps it from standing up. Then I recycle it. I don't have a regular "water bottle habit" where I pop open a new one each day or week; they are usually acquired in random ways, slowly over time. But as fascinating as this topic is, I find it necessary to expound even more. I grow attached to certain ones, and finding the dented one that is causing them all to fall over like bowling pins can sometimes be sad. "Oh, the Dasani one. That has a good top, not so thin that you can barely screw it back on again" (I know, they're conserving plastic at least). Well, it had a good life. But here's my big step for the day: For our trip to Chicago, I filled the graveyard of empty ones ALL up to the brim. Nice cold, abundant, refreshing water--luxurious and plentiful. We drank them ALL dry in the van. But I am parched. Going to get some now.