We're Back. (Now give me a salad!)

We made it back yesterday about noon. Many were torn as to if we wanted to leave or not, but once we got to the airport and on the plane, we were all grateful to be headed back. It was a very long flight. And our four hour layover in Chicago didn't help. Once you're in the same time zone, you're really anxious to get a move on. However, our flight ended up being delayed in Chicago.

Everyone had big smiles once we hit the Chicago airport though. I heard many comments about the blessings we have by living in America; Not the least of which was that we didn't have to use Purell on our hands every few minutes, the toilets all take toilet paper, it doesn't smell bad here, and everything just looks cleaner. The best probably was that we got to have ice in our TAP water, we could brush our teeth without using bottled water, and soap and water meant our hands were clean, not just that we had knocked the dirt off and we still had to sanitize. We all went out for breakfast at Wolfgang Pucks in the airport and posed with our ice water glasses. We're happy to be home.

I have never been so happy to see salad in my life. Over there, if you can't peel it you can't eat it raw. So other than the occasional orange the only raw fruits and veggies I've eaten has been bananas – lots of bananas. So last night rather than the steak I thought I would crave, I went and had soup and salad. Lots of salad. Today for lunch I also had salad. Tonight, I may just have more raw veggies or fruits or both – probably with more salad. And come to think of it, I might have to throw in some Haggen Daz - black raspberry chip. Mmmmmm. My trainer is probably glad to hear all of that (except the Haggen Daz!)

I've also never been so happy to see my own bed in my life. the three inch thick matress pads on top of a board didn't do much for me when I was gone. I did not sleep that well while I over there (until sheer exhaustion took over), so my first night home I slept somewhere between 12-14 hours. Six hours later, I'm already yawning. I also had my first shower without wearing flip flops in more than two weeks. With LOTS of hot water. And I had a real cup of coffee today at my local Dunn Bros. It wasn't instant coffee and it was delicious. It's funny the things you miss and the things you appreciate when you're gone!

We all made it back safe and sound. Thank God for that one. We're all happy to be back and I'm sure you'll hear all the stories in person. And since I think the group took a total of some 20+ Gigabytes worth of images, I'm sure you'll be seeing lots of photos, too.

Thanks for all the prayers and support! And God Bless.

-smc