————————————————————————————–
 Starting weight:  285.2
 Weight Last Entry:  236.0    Weight Today:  236.0  bmi:  44.59 
 Change today::  -+0.0 lbs.         Loss-so-far:   49.2 lbs.    
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Hey y’all.

Yep, I’m still alive ‘n kickin’.  This past week has just been crazy, a catch-up week between (business) trips.  Tomorrow I leave for Washington D.C., a trip I make every January.  Oh my I’m not looking forward to the C-C-C-COLD!!!

Last weekend for no reason at all I gained more than two whole pounds and that bummed me out, and then it took all the rest of the week to lose ‘em again.  AND I haven’t been in ketosis this whole time and I can’t seem to stick to induction long enough to get it back.  I haven’t gone more than 30-40 carbs on any given day but that’s not low enough to flip that metabolism switch.  I’m right back where I was when I last posted.  *Sigh.*

And now I’m leaving again and sometimes when I travel it’s really hard.  Not impossible, just hard.

Hey I got a new haircut - did anyone notice that my mullet is gone?  LOL don’t blame the hairstylist for that last cut because it’s what I said I wanted.  I still like it short in the front and long in the back but shucks no one else does so I went ahead and got the length chopped.  I also colored my hair a lighter color blonde, which is funny because it came out darker.  Weird. 

So here are all my haircuts in the past year!

Oh, and all my hair colors, too.  Ha!  It’s neat, though, that I can see my face changing.  I took my glasses off for this last picture because I just couldn’t avoid the glare from the computer screen - and it made me miss my contact lenses.  I think my reward when I hit onederland will be a new contact prescription and a year’s supply.  =D

Today was my niece’s wedding.  I wore an outfit that I had in my closet forever and had never worn it because it was too small for me.  Now here’s the weird thing, the last time I tried it on was Christmas Day, and the blouse was so snug over my boobs and belly that I couldn’t possibly wear it.  Just one month later I only weigh five pounds less, yet that same blouse slipped right on and it not only fits, there is room to spare.  Very strange! 

I did my measurements this past Wednesday and was pretty pleased with the results.  The last time I posted about my measurements was on December 19, and at that time my total inches lost was at 29.5 inches.  Now my total inches lost total 32.75, a change of 3.25 inches, woohooo!  Apparently those 3.25 inches came off my boobs and belly, hehehe.

I’m gonna try to post while I’m gone on my trip.  I’m definitely gonna be using the hotel gym while I’m up there - so I hope I come home with a loss like I did after the last trip!

Hugs to everyone!

8261

————————————————————————————–
 Starting weight:  285.2
 Breakfast:  strawberries w/whipped cream
Lunch::  2 eggs, 2 bacon, 1 sausage
Dinner:  garlic knots, chef salad, broccoli soup, bites of pizza & fettuccini
Snack(s):  mixed nuts, chocolite bar
Today’s Exercise:  30 min. elliptical 
 Weight Before Trip:  237.4    Weight Today:  236.0  bmi:  44.59 
 Change today::  -1.4 lbs.         Loss-so-far:   49.2 lbs.    
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Woooohoooo I’m back from my work-trip and I lost over a pound!!!

Actually I mighta lost even more than that because I didn’t weigh myself until I got home today at 5:30 pm and so it’s not the first-thing-in-the-morning weigh-in like I usually do.  I was so happy!!!!!  I’ve been really good eating-wise, been exercising most every day (yep went to the hotel gym and used their elliptical!) and woohoo I haven’t been logging my food!!!  What a relief that has been, to just let that daily chore go!  I have found out that I actually DO trust myself, and I can actually be a little lenient with myself sometimes and it doesn’t mean that I’m off the wagon! 

Like tonight, Hubby and I went to our favorite favorite restaurant in the whole world, a little Italian place that’s been there forever.  I ordered a big chef salad and a cup of broccoli soup (omg that soup was amaaaaazing).  But.  I allowed myself small amounts of other things that I love - things that I would, in the past, have ordered and eaten a LOT of.

I had three garlic knots (totally not allowed on a low-carb diet but so so worth it they are so good).
I had three bites of Hubby’s pizza.
I had three bites of fettuccini alfredo.

I have NO IDEA how many carbs that all added up to and NO IDEA how many calories I ingested today.  And guess what?  I don’t care!  I know that I was careful even when I was being “lenient.” 

On the other hand, if I stall again and stop losing weight, I’ll be back logging every mouthful, yeahyoubetcha!  =D

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My trip was good.  I had to attend a meeting in Tallahassee and there were a bunch of people there that I’ve known for years and years.  One of them pulled me aside and I’d like to share the conversation we had…

     She said to me, “Wow, Eileen, you’ve lost weight.”

     I know I gave her a big smile as I said, “Yes!  Thanks for noticing!”

     She said, “No I mean you’ve lost a lot of weight!”

     So I said, “About 48 pounds, yup!”

     “Wow,” she said, “that’s wonderful, congratulations!”

     I said, “Thanks!”

     She shook her head and said, “I’ve known you for what - ten years? 
    This is the thinnest I’ve ever seen you.  You look really great.”

     “Wow,” I said, “Thanks for saying that!”

Well, it’s not the thinnest I’ve been in ten years, but I thought about it and it very well might be the thinnest she’s ever seen me, I don’t know.  I only see this woman maybe twice a year and my weight has see-sawed between 200 and 250 for the past ten years and then after I quit smoking (Dec. 31, 2006) I shot up to 280.  The last time I was actually at 200 was right about ten years ago.  Thing is, I avoided weighing myself most of the time.  I didn’t wanna know how much I weighed.  I do know that I was about 235 when I got married - and that was in September 2000.  Over eight years ago!  I dipped down to about 230 once since then - I think that I have been closer to 250 most of the time ever since.

Now I’m curious.  I haven’t tried on my wedding dress since I wore it in 2000.  I was afraid to try because I figured if I couldn’t put it on I’d probably cry.  Now I’m thinking I should pull it out and try!!  By the way, I would be upset if it didn’t fit because I was too big for it but I will be totally okay with it when it doesn’t fit because I am too small for it!  That day will come, too!  Ha!

Maybe sometime this weekend I’ll pull it out of storage and try it on.  Maybe!

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Woohoo tomorrow we’re going to pick up our clawfoot tub!  We’re buying it from an individual who started the process of refinishing it and then decided she didn’t actually want it after all.  We’ve already found a refinisher guy who will finish the job!  Including the tub, refinishing, and hardware (which costs more than $250 new), our refurbished tub is gonna cost us a grand total of … (drum roll) … $365.00!!!!!!

If any of you have ever bought or even PRICED a new or refurbished clawfoot tub then you know YOU KNOW that this price is OUTRAGEOUSLY LOW!!!!!  WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

Besides the price, the OTHER thing that I am SO excited about is:  Since we’re having it refinished, we can pick ANY color combination we want!  SOOOOOO our tub will be bright-white on the inside and a deep burgundy on the outside!  With the brass feet and hardware it is gonna be one really SASSY bathtub!!!!

Here, this is close to the color we picked.  THIS IS NOT OUR BATHROOM, LOL. 

Now imagine that tub with brass feet and hardware… and without that (ugly) shower curtain-thing, ha.

I can’t wait!!!

8062

————————————————————————————–
 Starting weight:  285.2
 Breakfast:  one minature chocolate bar
Lunch::  low-carb meat loaf, salad, green beans, cauliflower
Dinner:  chicken-tacos-in-a-bowl, salad, low-carb biscuit
Snack(s):  low-carb danish, popcorn, chocolite bar
Today’s Exercise:  30 minutes elliptical 
 Weight Yesterday:  238.0    Weight Today:  237.4  bmi:  44.86 
 Change today::  -0.6 lbs.         Loss-so-far:   47.8 lbs.    
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I have to go out of town for work, I’m leaving tomorrow around noon and I won’t be back until Friday.  Soooooo I cooked for my men!  Last night I made enough spaghetti with meat sauce to make four meals for hubby and then tonight I cut up and cooked over four pounds of chicken to make chicken tacos for my son.  Geesh!  Have I mentioned lately that I hate to cook?

Because I hate cooking, I love eating out at restaurants.  I might have mentioned before that my hubby and I have a favorite restaurant that we go to, usually at least three times a week.  It’s a family-owned restaurant with staff who have worked there for many years - and they all know us.  They know that my son and I are on diets and that because of that we order special stuff.  They know that he’s lost over 30 lbs. and I’ve lost almost 50 lbs. and they seem to feel proud and invested - we’re losing weight while eating their specially-prepared food! 

They make a salad for me with grilled chicken, feta, and greek dressing which is SO good that I could eat it every single day!!

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I just wanted to also mention that I’m loving my heart monitor!  I like how it tells me when I’m “in the zone” and it’s very cool to be able to monitor how many calories I’m burning! 

7926

————————————————————————————–
 Starting weight:  285.2
 Breakfast:  low-carb apple-sauce muffin
Lunch::  grilled chicken, salad, green beans, cottage cheese
Dinner:  2 domino’s sandwich innards (no bun) & a salad
Snack(s):  low-carb apple-sauce muffin, chocolite bar, peanuts
Today’s Exercise:  3+ hours walking / shopping 
 Weight Yesterday:  238.0    Weight Today:  238.0  bmi:  44.97 
 Change today::  +-0.0 lbs.         Loss-so-far:   47.2 lbs.    
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This morning I woke up and went out into the living room to enjoy the peace and quiet and snuggle with my cat.  I was curled up in the chair with a blanket over me and the cat on my chest - when I got the most horrible charley-horse in my right thigh.  Poor cat went flying off my lap as I struggled to stand on the leg, hoping to alleviate the muscle spasm which was making me do a weird dance in the middle of the living room.

My 16-year-old son, who had spent the night at his friend’s house, chose that moment to walk in the front door.  “Hi Mom.”  It took him a moment to realize that I was acting a little strange.  “Mom?  You okay?”

Oh yeah.  I’m fine.  Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!!

Every time I push myself on the elliptical, I end up with a charley-horse.  In my calf, in my foot, oh and this time in my thigh.  Geez why won’t my legs just get used to this already?!  Okay, I know that I haven’t exactly kept at it every single day but I’d think by now it would have gotten easier.  I’d think.

I did notice today at the flea market (yes it’s part of our tub-market-research, there was a tub-refinisher guy there that we needed to speak to) that I was able to walk comfortably for more than THREE WHOLE HOURS.  It wasn’t that long ago that my legs, knees, ankles, and feet would have been *screaming* in pain after only an hour or so of walking … and today I didn’t really even think about it until we were headed for the car at 4:20 pm and we’d been there since before 1:00. 

Also, I didn’t get all swollen after walking that long.  I used to swell up after the shortest exertion.

Cool!  =D

I also noticed something else today.  It wasn’t that long ago that I would go out in public and I would always always meet disapproving looks.  Some people would look at me like they were disgusted by me.  It wasn’t my imagination, I know disgusted when I see disgusted.  Well today … it wasn’t there.  I met the eyes of many many people while walking up and down the aisles of the local (and very busy) flea market and not one looked upon me with that particular brand of “ewwwww.”  I’m still overweight, I’m still fat, I’m still obese - but somehow I’ve dropped below whatever threshhold that exists for certain people out there.

How about that.  I’m not sure whether to be pleased or not.  The people who have room in their hearts and minds for disgust towards another human because of their weight - I don’t really care what they think.  But pleased or not, I found it interesting.

7842

————————————————————————————–
 Starting weight:  285.2
 Breakfast:  low-carb apple-sauce muffin
Lunch::  salad w/grilled chicken
Dinner:  2 tacos-in-a-bowl (no shell or tortilla)
Snack(s):  low-carb apple-sauce muffin, soft taco
Today’s Exercise:  34 min. elliptical - 216 calories
 Weight Yesterday:  237.4    Weight Today:  238.0  bmi:  44.97 
 Change today::  +0.6 lbs.         Loss-so-far:   47.2 lbs.    
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Whew!  It’s been a busy week at work!  I’ve been working 15 and 16-hour days and now it’s Friday (yay!) and I’m finally getting a chance to relax.  I think I’d better enjoy it tonight because I don’t think I’m gonna have all that much chance for relaxation this weekend! 

I have so much I wanna write about, I don’t know where to begin!  =D

First of all, I’ve made a huge change in my diet / eating plan.  It’s something I said I didn’t think I could do, but I am.  I did it the whole time I was gone and I’m still doing it now.  What am I doing?  It’s not really what I am doing, it’s what I’m not doing:  I’m not tracking every mouthful of food on FitDay. 

It’s weird.  I wrote, back on December 23rd:  “How liberating it would be to just trust myself to make good choices every day and never actually log in my food to find out!  Thing is, I guess I don’t trust myself.  Logging my food makes me accountable.”  It really bugged me, after I wrote that.  I kept thinking about that one sentence:  I don’t trust myself?  Oh yes I do!  There was a time when I didn’t trust myself, but I’m in a totally different mindset now. 

So I’m gonna try this for a while.  I’m not going to count calories.  I’m not going to count carbs (well except to keep sort of a running tally each day in my head, I can’t help doing that).  I’m not going to look up and log every ounce of my food intake.  I am going to stay with the same foods I’m eating now (low carb).  I am going to listen to my body and stop eating when I’m full.  I am going to eat between meals if necessary so I don’t feel hungry.  So that I still feel like I’m somewhat accountable, I’m going to keep a general list of my meals here in my blog.  Eventually I may stop that too.  If this works for me.

I am going to make it my goal to have at least 30 minutes of exercise each day.  Mild, moderate, strenuous, whatever - as long as I get my butt up and moving.

I was right with what I said about this before - it IS liberating!  I sure hope it works for me because I sure don’t miss spending all that time logging all my food. 

Next topic!  My bathroom still is not done!  We got the new toilet in on Christmas Eve and then the day after Christmas we left for NC, so we haven’t had a chance to return to it and finish the work in there.  In the meantime, Hubby and I talked and made a really exciting decision (exciting for me anyway!):  We’re going to change out our “regular” bathtub for a clawfoot one!  OMG I am SO gonna love this change!!!!  It’s a small bathroom and this will make a huge difference in making it look and feel more spacious - and besides, I just love the look (I want a slipper-style, one with the back higher than the front)! 

Clawfoot tubs are significantly more expensive than regular tubs - but we are resourceful shoppers… ha!  We’re going out tomorrow to do some “retail research,” and I’m hoping that we will find what we’re looking for.  Got my fingers crossed!

Anyone got experience with installing a claw-foot tub?  LOL, my husband (who I’ve mentioned hates plumbing) got some expert advice from my brother (who is a retired plumber) while we were in NC.  Brother gave Hubby specific instructions but his overall input was, “Installing a clawfoot tub is a pain in the ass.”

Lovely.  Ha!

Okay I’ll stop, I think that’s enough blog for one day!  =D

7788

————————————————————————————–
 Starting weight:  285.2
 Yesterday’s Calories/Carbs Goals (limits):   1928  / 40.0
 Yesterday’s Intake:  Calories & Net Carbs:   I wasn’t counting yet
Yesterday’s Exercise:  None - recovering from the long drive!
 Weight Yesterday:  236.8    Weight Today:  237.4  bmi:  44.86 
 Change today::  +0.6 lbs.         Loss-so-far:   47.8 lbs.    
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WOW thanks for all the really nice comments!! What a wonderful welcome back!

I’m sorry that I haven’t gotten around to catch up on blogs yet - yikes it feels like I haven’t sat down for two minutes since I got back!  Had to pick up our cat from my brother’s house yesterday and then today I had to take him to the vet.  Poor baby, he had an impacted colon and had to be roto-rootered.  This is the 4th time we’ve had to take him in for this problem.  Apparently he’s going to be at risk for this to recur for the rest of his life.  I now have two prescriptions for him: one for a daily fiber additive and one for a daily laxative.  Oh joy.  =D

Grabthebull asked what waterfalls we’d visited in NC and also asked where were my pictures.  I have a kazillion pictures (hubby was in charge of the camera, he always remembers to take a bunch) so it was tough but I narrowed them down to post just these:

This is the view from the top of the steps - there’s a sitting room on the top floor that overlooks the livingroom and dining area.  That sitting room is right in front of the master bedroom which includes a huge walk-in closet and a full bath.

Here’s my daughter looking out at the view.

Yeah, and here’s the view.

Our cabin was on a mountain high above the city of Murphy, NC.

The first waterfall we visited was called Whitewater, and at over 4,000 feet above sea level, it’s the highest waterfall in the eastern US.  This was a view from the top of the mountain where the falls are.  The mountain we were standing on was in NC, but the lake was in SC - it’s that close to the border.  It’s also not far from Georgia - we had to go through a little corner of GA to get to the mountain.

There it is - the Whitewater falls.

Another neat waterfall, this one man-made.  Near Highlands, NC?  I don’t remember!

Down the river a bit.

And then here we are on New Years Day at this cool Trading Post place we visited.

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Okay, totally unrelated, I have to share this:  I got the heart monitor I wanted for Christmas!  Ha!  I sent my “Dear Santa” letter to my husband a couple weeks before Christmas and he was able to order it for me.  I haven’t actually tried it yet but woohoo I’m so excited to have it!!!

Oh, and PS for GTB:  A half-cup of cauliflower is only 2g net carbs (and about 40 calories) - and if ya mash it up like potatoes, it makes a great starchy-like-base for stroghanoff or spaghetti sauce.  I’d never even thought of replacing spaghetti with a pile of cauliflower - but honestly, it was awesome!  It’s just so nice to have an alternative that’s FILLING! 

7655

————————————————————————————–
 Starting weight:  285.2
 Yesterday’s Calories/Carbs Goals (limits):   1928  / 40.0
 Yesterday’s Intake:  Calories & Net Carbs:   Absolutely no clue!
Yesterday’s Exercise:  15 hours of driving
 Weight Before Vacation:  242.0    Weight Today:  236.8  bmi:  44.74 
 Change today::  -5.2 lbs.         Loss-so-far:   48.4 lbs.    
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I’m home!

The cabin in the North Carolina mountains was FANTASTIC!  Even better than the pictures.  We absolutely fell in love with the house!  I was not, however, particularly fond of the DRIVEWAY leading to the house.  OMG I’m such a flatlander - this driveway went straight up!!  It scared the bejeezus outta me every single time I drove up on it (oddly, it did not really bother me on the way down).

Overall we had a very nice vacation getaway and made lots of neat memories.  Overall.  Yes, overall.  We did have some drama during the trip centered around my 18-year-old daughter but then there’s always drama when she’s involved.  *Sigh*  It’s sad because my husband and both my sons did not want her to come along but I insisted that it was a “family” trip and it would not be right to leave her out of it.  She has several challenges (she’s visually impaired, has OCD, ADD, and an autistic-like lack of social skills) and I think she doesn’t mean to make things difficult but somehow she just can’t help herself.  There were definitely moments during this vacation, though, when I wished I hadn’t insisted she come along.

Please don’t judge my men too harshly for not wanting her there.  She really is a handful and can singlehandedly ruin pretty much anything she sets her mind to.  Being her brother or her step-dad or her mother has been a day-to-day challenge for all of us for many years.  Last summer after she turned 18 she moved in with her grandmother (my mom) and life has been quite peaceful and serene for all of us ever since.  I don’t blame my men for not wanting her to influence (and potentially detonate) our vacation trip.

Anyway…  I’m thinking perhaps I should just delete those last two paragraphs.  The drama we all experienced was definitely unpleasant but made up maybe 15% of the whole trip.  The other 85% was very, very cool.  =D

I thought I’d try to recap the days from the perspective of FOOD intake, like food is the center of the universe.  Sigh - isn’t it?!?  Sometimes it feels that way.  During this vacation I went off-plan-on-plan a couple times and worried with every “illegal” bite that I was sabotaging all the progress of the last six months.  If you happened to actually read the stats up above then you already know… WOOOOHOOOOOO I WENT ON VACATION AND LOST FIVE POUNDS!!!!!  LOL, I can’t tell you how EXCITED I was when I stepped on the scale today (praying over and over please-let-it-not-be-over-245-please-let-it-not-be-over-245!) and not only did I see two-thirty-something but holy crap I saw two-thirty-SIX-something!!!!  YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWW!!!

Ahem.  Okay I’m back under control.  Here’s my recap:

Friday, December 26, 2008.  I stayed OP with food as we ran around like chickens without heads trying to get stuff done so we could get on the road.  The plan was to be on our way before dark but that didn’t happen.  We dropped our cat off at my brothers house and headed out of town at 11pm, drove until 4:30 am, then stopped at a hotel and slept for five hours.  Incredibly, at this, the very start of our vacation… my body decides to start TOM!!  Aii-yi-yi!  I was hopeful, though, because usually after TOM, I show a weight-loss.  After twenty-two days stalled, I would do anything for a loss!

Saturday, December 27, 2008.  I stayed OP with food even though we spent most of the day in the van and our eating choices were difficult at roadside-diner-type-places.  We were supposed to go grocery shopping but got to the cabin after dark and I navigated that steep driveway for the first time without being able to see where I was going.  I was NOT going back down and up again.  So Kevin and I ate low-carb food we had with us and for the non-dieters there was a package of tater-tots in the freezer.  Yummm, LOL.

Sunday, December 28, 2008.  We slept in late and managed to get down off the mountain in search of sustenance (we were all pretty hungry!).  The only restaurant we came across was a KFC with an all-you-can-eat-buffet.  Kevin and I decided if we were eating there, we’d go OFF plan for the day.  I had a little bit of fried chicken and filled up on salad and broccoli casserole and mashed potatoes and gravy.  I definitely did not leave hungry.  After lunch we went to my brother’s house (a little over an hour away) and after visiting a while we all went out to Pizza Hut for dinner.  Kevin had pizza (with crust, wooohoo!) and I had their pasta alfredo.  It felt so decadent to eat PASTA!  We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to our cabin and bought more than $200 worth of food!  It was seven days of food for five people - much cheaper than eating out 3 times a day (at least 40-50 bucks a meal for us all to eat out).

Monday, December 29, 2008.  Back on plan!  We had plans to meet up with my brother and his family and go exploring NC waterfalls.  My kids helped me to prepare a big picnic lunch for everyone with lot of choices: ham, smoked turkey, egg salad, tuna salad, and ham salad sandwiches (Kevin and I used low-carb tortillas for ours).  It was a really cool day.  The hiking for waterfall-viewing was a good workout, no doubt!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008.  Spent the day exploring the town of Murphy, NC.  Went to the local historical museum and the library, and strolled the downtown.  Stayed OP the whole day - Kevin and I were SO thrilled that we found an ice-cream shop with low-carb ice cream!  Just 3 carbs per scoop, woohooo!!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008.  Our friends from South Carolina joined us at the cabin (Wendi, her husband and their 13-yo son).  I had promised them beef stroghanoff for dinner and Wendi made cauliflower for us to have ours over (she low-carbs too).  It was incredible!!!  I am now a cauliflower lover!

Thursday, January 1, 2008.  Wendi and her husband brought their own special spaghetti sauce with them to share with us on New Years Day.  While everyone else had their spaghetti (and Kevin ate his sauce in a bowl like chili), Wendi and I had our sauce over cauliflower.  Again, it was a spectacular substitute for starches!  We played card games, talked, laughed, and had a great time.

Friday, January 2nd, 2008.  Wendi and her family stayed for breakfast (did I mention that I made pancakes for everyone two days in a row?  Regular pancakes and low-carb ones - so yeah, I stayed OP!) and then packed up and headed for home.  My family spent a relatively quiet day exploring the mountain our cabin was on.  We couldn’t believe it was the last day and our trip would be over.  I had an incredible workout coming back up the mountain. 

Saturday, January 3rd, 2008.  It took all morning to pack up and clean up.  We all worked hard to leave the cabin even cleaner than we found it (which was basically immaculate).  It was a little after noon when we piled into the van and went down that steep driveway one last time.  Kevin and I had decided the night before that for the drive home we were going off plan.  We stopped at the Cougar Den Restaurant in Copperhill, TN and had the best home-cooking a person could ask for.  I opted for a grilled chicken sandwich that was cooked over fire - it was delicious!  We all walked out of there groaning because we’d indulged in home-made apple cobbler that was hot out of the oven and to DIE for!  OMG if you ever get to that corner of TN, ya gotta eat at that restaurant.  We had dinner at Cracker Barrel - I had a yummy chicken-broccoli-cheese skillet thing and green beans.

We got home this morning at 3:30 a.m.  I slept in until 10:30.  We had a wonderful trip but it’s great to be home!

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