We're going away to the hospitals again in April and I'm going to request a new hotel for our overnight in Gainesville. The hotel wasn't bad, but it was bare-bare bones in accommodations and there was nothing near it but the on-ramp to the highway. Luckily we were so tired it didn't matter this time, but in April we'll be at that hotel first so we'll be more apt to want to do something. We do have a budget (duh), so I have to be careful about what I chose to approach them with. I also don't have time to compare tons of hotels!

I did some searching today and I think I found the hotel I want to try and stay at next time. The Cabot Lodge sounds like something both my co-worker (who's about 10 years younger than I am) and I would both like. There's a complimentary 2 hour happy hour (yay!) and a free continental breakfast that offers a lot of choices for us. Both of those will help us to save money, that's for sure! The price is comparable at $90.00, so my company may just go for it! Of course there's also the Paramount Plaza Hotel & Suites which would be nice as well. The cost for this one is just $69.00 and they offer breakfast, a restaurant on site (which is nice if you're tired), and they have free high-speed wireless Internet. For about $70.00 we could stay at the La Quinta Inn which would be OK as well because they have free breakfast too. I liked the Days Inn University Gainseville because they have free Internet and refrigerators in the room, which is great because I pack my own food sometimes.

It's hard to decide on things like hotels. There's so much to consider and no two hotels are alike! I like hotel review sites to help me out with things like that, and my favorite is definitely HotelsCombined! I'm able to type in the city I'm interested in and they do all the work for me. Their site is easy to navigate, and the amenities and reviews are easy to access. I honestly was able to pick a few good hotels for our trip (my favorite one is either the Quality Inn Gainesville for $70.00 because of the internet, free breakfast, and fridges in the rooms or the afore mentioned Cabot Lodge) and I plan to present the list to my supervisor for approval. I love time-saving sites like HotelsCombined!

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!