The Prodigal Daughter Returns

I'm baaaaaack! Had a great week on Maui, but am glad to be home. Caught a red-eye home last night and disembarked the plane with a cold so just woke up from an 8 hour nap. Where did the day go? Couple of highlights from the trip... Sometimes I forget where I was 130 pounds or so ago and this trip reminded me of what a blessing surgery has been for me. It was a trip to Aruba and an ugly diving incident that made me absolutely certain that wls was the right thing for me. This trip to Hawaii sort of brought it all full circle. I was with a small group of snorkelers off of Lanai Island and getting in and out of the boat was a breeze, nobody had to help me haul myself up and down the ladder. I was able to swim all day and kept up with my 23 year old son with no problem. We had the resort book a helicopter tour of Maui for us. As the hotel staff member was booking the tour, she asked each of us how much we weighed. I thought nothing of giving my weight... right out loud in front of God and everyone. My real weight! On the way to the heliport, the morning of the tour, I'm reading the instructions on the tickets out loud, "Each passesnger must weigh in on a certified scale before boarding the helicopter. If their weight is greater than previously stated, they may not be able to board the helicopter." The van goes silent. When we got to the heliport, everyone ran for the bathroom before getting on the scale. I realized as I climbed up on the scale and my weight was exactly what I said it was, 4 years ago, I probably would have stated my weight at least 40 pounds less than it was and suffered the embarassment of not getting on the helicopter. Luckily, everyone in our group was able to fly that day and it was a beautiful trip. An interesting thing happened after the flight... everone started following the Connie in Maui eating plan. I don't know if it was a coincidence or if the weigh-in trauma had something to do with it, but everyone was ordering an appetizer for their meal or sharing a meal after the helicopter tour. Maui is damned expensive and I wasn't about to spend a fortune to leave a plate full of food behind so most of the time I ordered an appetizer for my meal. When appetizers cost as much as 18.00 each, you can imagine what the cost of a meal is so I certainly wasn't going to waste 40.00 worth of food a couple of times a day. So I'm back and life is good. Even the cold is a mild one. If you've got to have a cold, let it be a mild one. Spent too much money and ate too much food, but what the hell. You've only got one life, right? Now it's back to the bike and back to the grind. Hugs, Connie

Hey, Glad you got back safely & at least AZ has cooled off some since you left!! Hang in There!! & Thanks for the update. Sounds like it was a great trip!! Ladybug Marilyn

Missed you, glad you're home. M.

Wow!!!!!!!!!! Rennie new pic. Looking nice.

Welcome back P.D.! It's great to see your smiling face. I'm glad that you had such a fine vacation. You've certainly earned it with all of the ^$%@#&%$ that you've had to deal with lately. Mike