Tickets, Money, Passport!

Whenever I'm preparing for a trip, as I'm heading out the door, I cry out, "Tickets, money, passport!"

It's a quote from one of my all-time favorite shows, "Absolutely Fabulous." Eddie Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders, at left) is leaving for Morocco and is heading out the door, then comes flying back into the house screaming these words because she's forgotten all three important things. I say this so often my husband now sometimes rattles off this checklist before we leave the house.

I've lost my passport. I was sure I had it in our safe with our other important documents. Everything else was there -- Social Security card, birth certificate, marriage license, etc. -- but no passport. It was due to expire next year, but still, it would have been nice to find it. I'll probably find it six months from now in some crazy demented place. Oh well.

So, before I ventured to my new Pilates class, I went to AAA to get a new picture taken, then to my county Prothonotary's office to fill out the paperwork for the new passport.

Did I mention it looks like I'm going to England? SS sent me an email saying Virgin Airlines has a fantastic deal ($311 from Washington DC to London) in the time frame we want to go. It's hard to beat that and seems like a sign that I should not miss this opportunity.

So I told Hubby yesterday I was leaning towards yes on this trip. Let's just say he is not a happy camper about it. In fact, our discussion even got a little heated, with him coming up with a multitude of reasons why I shouldn't. But none of them were really legitimate, and he knew it. He finally grudgingly relented, but I know he is still against it. I'm steeling myself for the fallout that I know will continue to come.

Anyway, about my Pilates class. There were about six of us, I'm guessing in age from 30s to 60s. Some were regulars, some of us were newbies, and a variety of shapes and levels of fitness/flexibility. The instructor gave us a background and history of Pilates, then ran us through some very basic warm up exercises and focused on breathing and posture.

While it was different from the Winsor Pilates tapes I was doing at home, some of the basic principles were the same, so I didn't feel totally inexperienced. The yoga work over the past month helped me keep up, I think, since I haven't done any Pilates since May.

The great thing about doing Pilates is that through the rest of the day I kept pulling my navel to my spine (any Pilates people out there will know that phrase) and adjusting my posture. Even after an hour it really starts to effect me and gets me more in tune with my body. I'm very happy about this, because this has been lacking in my life recently, and now I have both the yoga and the Pilates to help.

The food/eating has been okay. Not fantastic, but definitely a lot better than the past two weeks. There hasn't been any all-out binging, the secretive hiding of binge foods has decreased, and I don't feel compelled to overeat to the point of misery. I've caught myself several times wanting to eat more but recognizing that it is a mental desire, not physical hunger, and that stops me.

If only eating and the sensations of the scent, tasting, chewing, etc., weren't so damn pleasurable! I realize that it is this what I'm addicted to, not necessarily the sugar or the carbs. It's the physical act that draws me in. It's a distraction from the thoughts in my head and an escape from stress, boredom, etc. That's why things like cross stitch, yoga, Pilates, etc., are so good for me; they are another kind of in the moment activity but are so much more positive, productive, and let's face it, less fattening!

So I must say, a week into this "revamping," progress is being made. I can't ask for much more than that.