Losing a part of me

I mentioned earlier today that I got to the airport several hours early, in light of my beautiful wife’s work schedule. That all of her morning meetings canceled, and that we could have spent an extra couple of hours together is not relevant to this story, other than to say I wish I could have spent more time with her, and that I love her and miss her already.

As expected, I was through Security relatively quickly, and had a few hours to kill. I could have sat down at one of the restaurants, but decided instead to take a 2km walk through the airport. Yes, I walked the length of the Dallas-Fort Worth B Terminal… twice. Once that was done, I decided to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. I also decided that rather than buying something to eat (as I normally would when I sit at a table near a food area), I sat with my coffee, and pulled out a meal replacement bar. Through two cups of coffee, this was my first smart move of the day.

On the airplane, I did have the proffered cookies and pretzels, with a can of Coke Zero. Yes, I should have eschewed the cookies and pretzels, but if that is my worst transgression, then I am already ahead of the game. Instead of asking for another pack of those, I opted form my next meal replacement bar. It was, by then, after 2:00pm Central Time, and the timing was about right. By the time I land, I will be three meal replacements into the day, plus an airplane cookie and bag of pretzels.

The problem with ‘when I land’ is that I am going back in time. I am landing in Pacific Time, so it will only be 2:15pm. Once I have my luggage and rental car, I am heading to Inglewood to have a cigar with a buddy. On the phone last night, he tried to convince me to stay for dinner. His wife Cecelia is a lovely woman and a fabulous cook, and I have enjoyed her cuisine before. I told Robert that I would have to leave before dinner, and that I would have to refuse their lovely and kind hospitality. We will have a cigar, but I will not eat. Yes, I might have to enjoy one more meal replacement bar on my way to Inglewood in order to give myself the strength to refuse again.

I expect that my buddy Tam (with whom I am staying this week) will want to order chicken in for dinner. As long as it is just chicken and salad, I will gladly accept. I will call him as I leave Robert’s house to confirm this is his intention. In the event he wants to do something else, I will have to discuss my weight loss program with him. He is familiar with my issues, so I do not expect it will be a problem. He and I will enjoy another cigar this evening. Cigars will be a very common thread throughout this week.

We have a little less than an hour left in the flight, and I suspect that I will not have any more temptations between now and then. If I do, I do have that last meal replacement bar that I was planning to eat on my way to Robert’s. I am trying to be good, and the fact that I did not pop into any of the stores to pick up a bag of chips or nuts or other snack at the airport is already a victory. Hopefully I can keep it up.