There's No Place Like Home

[fenchurch]

I pulled into the driveway a bit after 1:30 this morning (Tuesday) and stayed awake long enough to drag at least a few things in from the car before collapsing into The Most Comfortable Bed in the World (aka *mine*).

I ended up not napping at my mom's after all... mostly because it took me so long to get out to her place, but also because I couldn't pass up the chance to sit and gab for awhile. My mom and step-dad have finally moved out to the property they bought a few years ago and it's waaaaay back in the mountains... it's absolutely gorgeous out there. I don't know that I could stand to live that far out in the middle of nowhere, but I love that I have places like that I can visit easily (my dad's farm is actually quite similar in a lot of ways). Their only source of power right now is a generator (as they build their house, they'll be putting in solar cels and a windmill), there's no phone, the cellular reception is quite spotty and, worst of all, there's no internet access at all (they're considering getting satellite access... but Elgin, the nearest town, is supposed to be going wireless before long so they'll be able to check their email in the mornings when they head in for breakfast with friends).

I finally managed to eat something other than chicken noodle soup last night... I finished a cup of beef and barley soup and had the incredibly weird experience of starting out not feeling hungry at all and actually feeling hungrier the more I ate. Just for the record, the Flying J truck stop in La Grande officially has the BEST BEEF & BARLEY SOUP EVER. Okay, so they used ground beef, and ordinarily I probably wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, but oooooo... my first non-chicken soup food since last Thursday. My mom kept trying not to laugh at the expressions and sounds I was making.

I was going to get a second cup of soup and commented to my mom that I should have just ordered an entree, so she offered me part of her hamburger (she'd already cut it in half, so she cut off a quarter) and it smelled soooooo good. Oh my word, that was the BEST HAMBURGER EVER (are you sensing a trend?). Food with TEXTURE. It was practically orgasmic and I really had to work at not making a spectacle of myself. I managed to almost finish the bit she gave me and had yet another weird experience of going from absolutely ravenous to so stuffed I couldn't even take a swallow of water between one bite and the next. Yep, my most filling meal in nearly a week was one cup of beef & barley soup and 1/4 of a hamburger. Yum.

Today, I seem to mostly be back on a nearly regular diet... though I'm finding I can still only eat incredibly small portions. I've decided to look on this as a "gift with purchase" (as Anya would say), hoping that if I can manage to keep everything small and light, my stomach will stay fairly shrunken. Although it probably wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that I had the BEST COBB SALAD EVER for lunch at the BEST STEAK EVER for dinner (actually, the latter may really be true... it was a fresh, organic steak from Trader Joe's (we've had them before and they're just divine)).

I love being home... back to my husband, my bed, my cats, my desktop, my wonderful well-equipped kitchen... back to substantial and moist air, greenery everywhere and temperatures at least 20 degrees cooler. *happy sigh*

And HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Comments

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

The only positive thing about stomach problems is the joy you get from the smallest bits of food when you can eat them again. I wish you luck in trying to maintain your eating at a healthy pace from now on. I'm always so pleased to be able to eat again that I start craving everything!

And please pass along some of that 20 degrees cooler air. It's disgusting around here!

Happy Belated Independence Day!