It's been a great few days.

I'm so happy the audit is done and I can refocus my attention on what matters to me: My family. I am able to spend time with each child individually; Ian when I pick him up (because Roo naps then) and then Roo when Ian goes on the computer after dinner. I make sure he and I do something "fun and educational", like yesterday's project which consisted of getting a calender and marking all the important days. We marked each holiday and discussed them, and then for family birthdays we put a picture of each person on the calander. He loved it!

My diet is going well. I've gotten compliements from my MIL, from people I work with and, it might be unrelated to my weightloss, but I was feeling pretty good yesterday because someone hit on me while I was dropping Ian off. I didn't get what was happening (I guess I'm out of practice?) until he, after about 5 minutes of talking about his daughter and his divorce, he said, "Oh, I just saw your wedding ring. I guess I won't hit on you anymore." I was a bit uncomfortable, but then I decided to take it as a compliment and not try to justify it/mininmize it as I usually would by thinking things like, "Oh, he's just lonely," or, "He wasn't really hiting on you. Why would he?" I enjoyed it for what it was.

I went away on business this week. A lot of the time was spent in the car, so I thought ahead and packed snacks. I packed celery, string cheese, Laughing Cow cheese, some Edamame... I was proud of myself because I stuck to those snacks while on the road.

When we ate out I made smart choices like salad, sauteed veggies and such, and coffee at Starbucks made with skim milk. I was pleased because even when my co-worker ate nachos and had creme brule (my favorite!), I stuck to my choices and ate smart. WooHoo!

However: I learned that you have to be careful what the foods are cooked in, and you have to be just as careful about ingredients within the foods as you would be about cooking the foods yourself.

I gained a pound on this trip and I am pretty upset about it.

I didn't realized that Starbucks syrups were loaded with sugar and calories (I started getting the sugar free syrup half-way through the trip). The veggies I had at the cafeteria (there were only 3 choices of meals there) had corn and peas in them. The sloppy joe (which I ate without the bun) was, I'm sure, loaded with sugar. The sauteed spinach and mushrooms I had were drenched in oil. The salad dressings probably had a lot of sugar in them as well.

I am annoyed that I was "so good" only to discover that I really hadn't been. I cheated without knowing it, and now I've slid backward. This has made me more mindful though, so I'm very aware of the food around me now. :-)

I am so happy to be home! We drove 1,000 miles since Monday evening and only got 5 hours of sleep the first night and 6 the next. I was in some pretty depressing places, talked to some people who's lives wore me out, and even had to deal with some crisis situations back here while doing it all. I do have the next two days off though, so it was worth it!