whirlwind weekend

5 days never went by faster.

I had a wonderful time in Texas, and it is the first time I left thinking "I wish I still lived here". Of course I'd hate the weather and traffic in .02 seconds, and I'd miss the mountains and my friends here in about .01 seconds...but while we were walking to our terminal in the airport, I think i would have traded Denver for Texas in a heartbeat.

Mostly it was hard for me to leave Mimi. I only got to drive to Dallas for a few hour visit - I spent more time en route there and back than I did actually with her, but it was worth it. We watched the Cowboys game, which is always a fun past time to do with Mimi, then went to our traditional Mexican restaurant. As usual, I got choked up as I thought of leaving her and wondered when/if I'd see her again. I get so angry to think that my cousins and uncle live so close to her, yet she hardly sees them sometimes. She has seen me more than my younger cousin so far in 2007 - and that's just sad! But, I'm planning to fly down for her 90th birthday party next month, so I was able to look forward to that rather than wonder when I'd see her next.

But on to the fun part...the calorie intake was incredible and unbelievable, and i enjoyed every minute of it. (didn't enjoy SEEING the calories in the mirror though) When we arrived in Houston we drove to College Station for food tasting at Johnny Carinos to decide on the menu for the rehearsal dinner. There were 5 of us there...and we finished 8 (well, 7.5...the lasagna wasn't that great and wasn't finished) plates as well as 3 desserts. The food was AMAZING and it was almost an impossible decision on which dishes we wanted! I was pretty proud to say I was the least full one of all of us, but then again that wasn't saying much. Then it was dinner for the stepdad's birthdays...when none of us were hungry yet, we went and enjoyed some great TexMex. It was nice to have time to spend with both of our parents - we're always so busy when we're down there that we don't get much parent time. Friday morning we HAD to have kolaches...and of course we couldn't just have one, after 9 months of not having any it had been a long sad road :) Then lunch when we weren't hungry...and of course Whataburger for dinner just because how could we not have Whataburger? And so the calorie count just continued to grow all weekend, eating full meals when we were still stuffed from the last one...from delicious food at the showers, to all our favorite Texas food crammed into one weekend. Needless to say, I didn't eat a bite for dinner when I got home last night, and the motivation to make it to the gym today is skyrocketing :)

And of course...the point of the weekend...our wedding showers! HOW FUN! At first it was very surreal, and almost odd, that they were for me. Being the one who everyone wanted to talk to, rather than just waiting for my moment to talk to the guest of honor was just odd. But it was a blast! I'm so glad that everyone who came was able to make it, I loved seeing everyone and catching up.

So...now its the home stretch. Less than 2 months away is the wedding, and I can hardly believe it. With how busy we're going to be, its going to be here in the blink of an eye! I better get to working...haven't done much of that since I came in this morning :)