OK, I admit it. It's now been almost two weeks since I even set foot in the weight room at work. I know......I know........but things have been really hectic and some days I don't really take a lunch break therefore, no time to work out. So.....I psyched myself up to head to the weight room yesterday, bracing myself for the pain and torture that was likely to ensue.
Now the thing is, when I workout, I always start with 50 sit-ups. It was about on sit-up #20 that I realized how hungry I was. It was about sit-up #30 that I started reciting all my favorite foods while I counted each sit-up. Shortly after that, I started adding in foods that I've never even tasted, but totally wanted to now that I was in sit-up torture. It went something like this.......31-mint chocolate chip ice cream, 32-food from Sonic drive-in, 33-Pioneer Woman's Risotto, 34-Pioneer Woman's Veggie & Cheese Bagel Sandwich. You get the picture. It wasn't until about sit-up #50 that Chicago Deep Dish Pizza popped into my head and it was at that moment that I realized I'd forgotten to tell you two very important stories from my recent Chicago/CHA trip!
So the first story happened at 6am when I was waiting at the gate at the airport for my flight to Chicago. I'm sitting there minding my own business when I hear my name being called over the loud speaker. Now, I've never had my name called over the loud speaker at the airport before, but I think most of you would probably join me in thinking that when your name is called over the loud speaker at the airport, it can't be good. You've been bumped off your flight. They oversold your seat. They ran out of pretzels. Something -- but it 'ain't gonna be good'! So, it was with some fear and trepidation that I stepped up to the counter at my gate (a whole 5 ft. away from where I'd been sitting). There was a man standing next to me at the counter and the airline lady was behind the counter. Ms. Airline tells me that this gentleman will be sitting in the back of the plane (you know, where I'LL be sitting too) and his wife will be sitting in first class. However, she'd rather give up her first class ticket to sit in the back with him to help with their children, and so......would I mind trading her my ticket 'in the back' for her first class ticket???? I think I blinked at her for a second and then said, "I would not have a problem with that." :) I made my way back to my seat (3 steps away from the counter) and that's when my hubby called, so I told him what had just happened! Now, I have to tell you that he thinks this is the jip of the century because he and I have traveled A LOT together and here, the first time I travel without him, I get to do it in style in FIRST CLASS! Heehee!! All I can say is that I was wishing that flight was longer than an hour and 10 minutes! Did you know that they serve the drinks in REAL glasses in First Class?? Not a plastic cup in sight! Such luxury.
Ok, so the other story I wanted to tell you involves my trip HOME from Chicago. I have to back up just a tad and tell you that my last meal in Chicago was at Gino's pizza with the girls. Once I knew we were going to Gino's I made up my mind that I was going to bring a pizza home to my hubby like he's done for me before. Gino's will 'half-bake' a pizza for you, so that you can take it on a plane or wherever, and then you just refrigerate it when you get home, and when you're ready to eat it, you just finish baking it the rest of the way. Genius, right? It's very cool, actually. My sweet Bartley has done this for me a couple of times now, when he's had to travel to Chicago without me. And so, this being my first time there without him, I knew I wanted to return the favor. However, as soon as the server walked off with my half-bake order, it occurred to me that I'd not really thought thru just HOW I was gonna get this pizza home. So I sat there in a half-daze because I'd only gotten about 4 hours of sleep per night (and let's face it - I'm usually an 8 hours kind of girl) and began to formulate a plan for how I might get this pizza home. One thing I wasn't counting on was the fact that the pizza had to have weighed like EIGHT POUNDS! And let's not forget that I have a suitcase, a carry-on (the pull/wheely kind with NO shoulder strap), my purse AND the ten-ton pizza!! So, I'm literally sitting at the table thinking about how in the world I'm gonna manage all of this when I leave my hotel, and when I get onto the shuttle bus to the airport, and when I get TO the airport, and when I get on the plane, and when I get off the plane........are you seeing where I'm going with this?? At some point during all of this planning in my head, I realized that I couldn't even go to the bathroom at the airport because, what on earth would I do with the pizza??? Leave it on the sink? Heck no! Put it on the floor in my stall with me? Are you KIDDING?? Gag! So, I made up my mind to avoid any and all restrooms till I got home........at midnight.....
Thank the Lord that at O'Hare, once you do the auto check-in thing, they take your big suitcase right away. So now I'm off to go thru security minus one giant suitcase and I feel light as a feather........till my arm (that's hauling the ten-ton pizza) starts to ache and burn. While I'm standing in line to get thru security, I decide that I can sort of precariously balance the pizza box on the handle of my rolling carry-on, however I must be careful not to allow the box to push in the button on the top of the handle or this will send the handle and my pizza in the direction of the floor and fast. However, I manage it carefully and I'm thankful for the brief reprieve from this major workout I'm getting, just transporting a pizza home to my husband.
I get up to security and the guard looks over my documents and thanks me for bringing him a pizza (yea, hilarious) and he sends me over to the x-ray machines. Now, let me just explain to you what this process is like. First, I had to set my pizza on the x-ray belt, then put my purse in a gray tub, then heft my carry-on up onto the belt, but while they're sucking it toward the x-ray machine, I must quickly pull out the laptop (which has to go in a separate gray tub) before the machine eats my bag, and I also need to get my shoes off and put them in a tub with my travel documents which are still in my hand. Then I can run thru the security thingy for humans, and try to grab up all of my belongings and get them all back into place before the x-ray belt dumps my ten-ton pizza on the floor. Can I just say that I was sweating like a pig by the time I got thru this process????
So now, I see my flight on the board and I head to my gate, but the farther I walk the more I realize that I still have approx. 10 more miles to walk till I get to my gate. And I don't think I'm gonna make it. But then I see a Starbucks sign and I can almost hear the angels singing. All I can think about at this point is that I need a mocha frappucino. NEED it. And fast. Only one problem.......how am I gonna carry it??? One shoulder is hauling my purse, one hand is pulling my carry on and one hand is carrying the ten-ton pizza. (And by the way, my arm's about to fall off.) At this point though, I don't even care. If I have to carry that frappucino on my head, I'm getting one and that's all there is too it. So, I order my drink, I manage to pay for it without dropping anything and when I picked it up, I realized that I could use the pizza as a drink tray, to get me to my gate. Genius!
Let me interrupt here and say that I know what you're thinking. Why on earth didn't I just park it somewhere, suck down my frappie and then head to my gate??? Well I'll tell you why. Because my brain was fried! Hahaha! All I could think about was getting to my gate and sitting down and never getting up again......well, till it was time to get on the plane anyway. Can't you just see me schlepping all of my stuff thru the airport looking like the chic world traveler that I am?! HA!!! Yeah right! FINALLY, I reached my gate and plunked down in a chair and put ole' ten-ton down in the seat next to me. I drank that frappie like there was no tomorrow.
I managed to juggle everything onto the plane and off again and in and out of a shuttle bus before finally getting to my car. It all worked out in the end, and I must say, that Chicago deep dish never tasted so good as when we sat down to dinner on Monday night after CHA and enjoyed the fruits of my labor......and yes, my hubs was extremely grateful for my valiant efforts! :)
Just FYI, I'm working on a post for you for tomorrow, that will hopefully answer all of your monogram questions. Don't worry - no big surprises revealed or anything like that. But we'll get to the bottom of this whole monogram thing because I know you girlies are just itchin' to do some monogramming of your own! ;) Stay tuned...
And as for tonight, I'll be back in a jiffy with some eye candy for you! Sit tight!
