So, I am all chipper now and ready for Phoenix!
 
(Funny, I am not all chipper because of great sleep.  In fact, I said, “Fuck it” and got up at 5:30am the last two mornings.) 
 
It’s amazing what a little list and organizing can do for my spirits.
 
Specifically, I have:
 
1)      Determined which books I’m going to bring: L’Affaire, Waiting for Snow in Havana, and Old Man’s War.  The first two are from my grandmother’s book club; I always stock up on books when I see them.  And yes, my grandmother’s book club read L’Affaire, which I would not have thought was a book club type book but at least it means I get to read it without buying it myself.  I’m going to count Waiting for Snow in Cuba towards my non-fiction resolution even though it is technically a memoir and we all know how much fiction can go into those.  Old Man’s War is what TG read last time he flew and he really enjoyed it.  I think I’ve picked a good range of material and insured I will not get bored.
 
2)      Asked TG to watch the animals.  He is a kick ass pet sitter, and unfortunately for him he also lives the closest to my house of any possible pet sitters so he gets tapped a lot.  (I make up for it in payment methods, I swear.)  TG’s schedule is usually very up in the air, so I often don’t ask him until the last minute.  But this week he asked the skinny on the trip early and gave me the perfect opportunity to pop the question.  It takes a load off my mind to have that squared away.
 
3)      Determined which shoes I’m going to bring.  I am a light packer.  I could not tell you the last time I went on a trip and I was not the one with the least amount of luggage.  (Enough negatives in that sentence for you?)  But my one weakness is shoes.  I tend to over-do shoe packing for two reasons.  A) More shoes = more outfits.  I pack light in part by choosing clothes that I can dress up or down depending on footwear.  B) More shoes = happy body.  It’s an orthotic/shin/pain thing that just reads incredibly boring, trust me.  But this time I’ve settled on a mere two pairs – my sneakers and my most favorite sixteen dollar black sandals that have now lasted two years even though I wear them constantly.
 
4)      Decided to bring sleep aids for the flight back.  I know it doesn’t make sense to many people.  But it does for me.  First, there is no way I can get through a five-hour flight without some sort of downer.  I am just wound that tight and the consequences of making me sit still for five hours are not pretty.  (The flight there will probably be OK because it will be happy excitement and not stressed oh-shit-I-have-so-much-to-do-when-I-get-home)  Second, most people nap on flights.  I am not a napper.  I wish I was.  Many an afternoon I know that if I could just re-juice my evening would go so much better.  Chemically aiding the process is the only way I will get some shuteye.  And I will need some at least, because oh-shit-I-have-so-much-to-do-when-I-get-home.  T is afraid I will be too groggy afterwards to get shit done.  I seriously doubt it but that is not the worse thing to ever happen. 
 
Besides having some girl time, the thing I am looking forward to the most is food. 
 
I’ve been hitting the diet pretty religiously during these last few weeks, although I let myself relax a little on the weekends.  

When my family was in town that meant having some great dinners at a couple of my favorite restaurants.  But this last weekend between hurrying to the concert and having two weirdly timed non-food-eating dates, I ended up using the term “relax a little” to mean, “eat something quick and fattening.”

I’m all about the fattening and the quick.  But you’ll notice the word “good” wasn’t in there.  Not once did I eat something I truly was looking forward to.  And when I’m in major weight loss mode?  That doesn’t cut it.  I’ll gladly take a smaller creep on the scale for chocolate bread pudding.  For Domino’s cheesy bread?  Not so much.

But!  Dawn will be in Phoenix.  In general, Dawn has this awesome way approaching every little thing to get the most out of it.  Dawn will not eat a bad meal ever.  If I were heading to Phoenix without her?  I’d assume I was at the mercy of whatever was closest and cheapest.  But she and I have already had an entire IM conversation full of nothing but Phoenix restaurants. 
 
We’re not sure how close they are to things.  We’re not sure exactly where we’ll be at lunchtime or how many will be at the Saturday bash.  But this weekend is not about the quick.  It is all about the good.

And the fattening of course.  Can’t forget the fattening.