Chuck’s Home World

It was good to see everyone and I was able to see all my nephews & nieces and their children (with the exception of one nephew who was not available).

I broke the trip down into two pieces and was able to spend a good bit of the day visiting sisters before heading over to the beach. I first made it into Florence, SC around 10:15AM and met up with sister Joy. We had a Shoney’s breakfast, which was very tasty. It was my first real break away from the diet. After visiting with Karen (momentarily because she was off to work) I spent the afternoon visiting with John & Chris, then Rhonda and family once she came home. This was Wednesday. I was at the beach sometime around 6:30 PM.

Thursday, I made it back over to see Karen & Rhonda again – going a bit earlier so I’d have more time to spend with Karen.  After Karen went to work, Rhonda and I made our way to the store to pick up a few things for our Saturday dinner. I wanted to get a bit more healthy so we picked up fruits and veggies along with the other things we needed.  I was able to return to the beach again around 7PM or so.

Visited with Jim and Ann, Jessica, Larry and Christian at the beach on Christmas eve and Christmas morning. Had lots of food and saw Uncle A. B. and Aunt Bonnie before heading over to Joy’s for Christmas night dinner (yummy steaks) and presents exchanges. Slept pretty good that night as I was a bit tired.

Saturday, Joy, Bill, Ashley, Derrick (or Darrel as I called him!), Kelsi and DJ headed over to Karen’s for our Christmas time together.  I drove on while Joy met up with Ashley and entourage. We had a wonderful time and even Jessica, Christian and Ann came in for a while. It was good to see everyone (only wished Jim would have come too).

Anyway, I made my way back to the beach on Saturday arriving sometime around 9:30 PM. On Sunday, I saw Lester, Zac and Michelle, my favorite cousin Donna, and left around 3PM to head over to visit with Karen, Rhonda and family once again. Around 7PM I was on my way home again. I in the night in NC a few miles south of the VA border and made it home on Monday around 12:30 PM. (My car’s navigation thought it would be fun to take me through DC, on 395, but it wasn’t fun at all!)

Anyway, it’s good to be back home! And even though the scales provided bad news when I got on them today it was worth visiting and eating all that wonderful food.

I didn’t take that many photos, but took a few and will posts some when I get the chance.

I’m heading home a little bit later today. For now, I’m having some coffee, waiting for other to awake. I’m so glad I was able to come home for the weekend; I just wish it would have been for more time! I was hoping to find the time to visit Jessica and her family, but its just not working out that way. (Jessica, we’ll just have to visit more on Facebook.)

The car has behaved great. I’m definitely loving it. On average I have been getting around 53 MPH, but I have been trying to drive very conservatively. Today, as I drive home, I’ll see how it goes.

My sister Joy and I were able to visit my other two sisters and their families on Friday. It worked out great because Joy was able to take off early. Rhonda fixed some hamburgers and Joy and I picked up a few items at the store. It was great seeing everyone. I missed seeing Rufus’ kids, but hope to see them at Christmas.

My nephew Chris is still in TN wrapping up his Masters in Chemistry. He’ll be heading to Syracuse, NY in a few weeks to work on his doctorate. I’m so proud of him and can’t wait to see him at Christmas.  His parents will be helping him move in August so it looks like they may be stopping by for a night on their way. My house is not far off the interstate and is about 2/3rds to Syrucuse from where they live, so its a convenient place to stop.

My diet has really been blown, but not too far out of proportions. Its been tough to follow my own schedule of eating, but that’s OK. I’ll be back on the tight schedule starting Monday. For now, I’m having tastes and a few things I won’t let myself have regularly.

This trip has really been a great self-moral booster. Everyone can see the weight loss that I’ve been able to acheive and even though I know I still have a ways to go, its been great getting the feedback. By Christmas, I hope to be in even better shape and pretty much in maintenance mode.