Part 1: First leg Bos to ATL
This message is being brought to you from the friendly skies. Despite pre-trip preparation and organization, the morning rush to get out of the house to the airport was chaos as usual. My daughter has decided to choose the past two weeks to go on one of her sleep strikes, just in time to travel and visit numerous grandparents. Hopefully by the time we arrive the troll I left the house with will be all but a distant memory and my normally agreeable, albeit stubborn and strong willed, child will have returned. On travel days I try extra hard to ensure Little Miss Food Hater ingests something substantial before we go into the abyss of airport food. No such luck this morning. Apparently sleep and eat strikes go hand and hand. After watching her push a few soggy Blueberry Mini Wheats around her bowl I gave up knowing I did not have time to finish the battle.
I also opted to forego my morning cup of coffee. When I’m traveling solo with the tyke (which is 85% of the time) I try to minimize trips to the bathroom. Especially while on board. Aside from trying to cram way too many pieces of carry on and gate check equipment into a stall, I like to reduce exposure to the more offensive germs which I imagine like to hang out in bathrooms. So, you can imagine my hazy like state right now. But all is well. The electronic glow of the portable DVD player has my daughter mesmerized for the time being. Hopefully that will last. I am taking the opportunity to write while waiting for the Diet Coke to roll by (probably the only thing that is free on the damn plane!). I think one can of soda will hang out in the bladder until our next stop, the Atlanta airport (although we only have an hour layover so my bladder may have to suffer all the way to Mississippi).
The last time I traveled it was solo (by solo I me just me) en route to San Diego. Everything is so much easier without a toddler. I can’t complain because we are blessed with a WONDERFUL traveler. It’s just the incremental parcels, pit stops, and attempted food breaks that make the trip more cumbersome. I stopped at my Mecca (Dunkin Donuts) figuring I’d get my daughter a treat for now/later…whenever the mood to eat struck, and some water. For some odd reason she didn’t want any donut, thank you thank you thank you! However, standing there watching everyone order egg & cheese sandwiches and giant coffee concoctions was torture. Usually being in an airport is license for me to eat piles of crap and pseudo fast food (DD or Pizza is about as far down the fast food scale as I go). However, I am trying to be extra good knowing that giant piles of temptation are only hours away. Furthermore, I know that I tackled the airport with complete and total success upon my last trip. Really, there are no excuses.
What is difficult is that I packed half of my pantry for my daughter, and those goodies are sitting inches away from my feet. She has already woofed down and industrial sized bag of Goldfish crackers. Her interest in the movie is waning at the moment for some odd reason. Please dear lord, do NOT chose now to lose interest in television! I know I’ll have to whip out another snack soon. Rice Crispy Treats? Granola Bars? Dried Blueberries (I know, I could eat some of these, but despite being more on the healthy scale, they are pretty high in sugar). I should have packed myself a responsible snack, however, I ran out of time to restock my “tide me over” items, like those Kashi Bars I discovered at the airport last trip. It was crap or nothing. Nothing won, and I hope that I don’t break down during travel.
Luckily there will be no time in Atlanta for anything other than a trip to the potty. Then I just have to make the hour flight and I’ll be home free. Until I hit the in-laws house. Basically I’m hoping the heat gives me some sort of “food” stroke that makes me not want to eat anything other than diet food. I predict that I’ll be so damn hungry from airport starvation mode I’ll eat just about anything that is lying around….maybe even dog food! OK, that remains to be seen. Stay tuned for Part 2 to follow later today!
Part 2: Second Leg ATL to JAN (Jackson, MS for those of you who may not recognize the call sign)
Longer segment done, shorter flight in progress. Toddler crack (aka the DVD player) ceasing to captivate interest. We abandoned the movie presentation ¼ of the way in and proceeded to do stickers and TALK the entire way on leg 1. I once again ventured to ask if the princess would like to watch a movie. Due to her response I didn’t even bother taking out the machine. She doesn’t want to color, eat, or nap. Basically it’s turning into a big long line of “No’s and stop it’s.” Thank God this is only an hour flight. Her feet are now poking at my PC screen. I am trying to ignore that. I’m pretty sure if I were a better parent I would not be writing at this moment and would have thought of some amazing game to play whilst 30,000 feet in the air. However, as mentioned earlier I had no coffee this morning. The tiny cup of Diet Coke on leg 1 sure didn’t jump start the system. Luckily, while the little one’s fuse is short and she has no interest in doing anything that I don’t consider mildly annoying things, she hasn’t had a meltdown. I’m pretty sure she is saving her best stuff for the end of the day or perhaps the next.
Oh, as an added bonus we are seated next to the toilets. It’s only a 50 seater. I’ve done this flight enough times and pretty much know the layout of the plane. Prior to having a child I used to be in the front of the plane. Since giving birth I’ve been demoted to the stink seats. I’m sure there is logic and I would appreciate it if my child used the bathroom in flight. But she went in the airport. And now instead of taking advantage of our location, I have to endure the stink of other people’s excrement masked by that antiseptic smelly disinfectant.
The beverage cart is here. Not that the flight is long enough for a real snack service, but I’m pretty sure that the bathroom odor would be enough to curb the once vivacious appetite I had a short while ago.
I’ve had a handful of Goldfish crackers, 12 mini pretzels and a bite of bagel. I just ordered my second bag of mini pretzels which will bring the grand count to 24. Wow. There are only 45 calories in a pack so I’m pretty sure I’m OK to date. Oh wait, I lied. I also had a tiny bite of what Delta likes to call a “cookie.” I’m sure most of you have had them before. They’re brown ovals with the words “Delta” embossed on the top. They taste like burnt cinnamon and have the texture of baby teething biscuits. Not really sure what qualifies these as cookies, but none the less my daughter is having a fabulous time ingesting some, and breaking the rest into tiny crumbs across her tray table (which of course was fastidiously wiped down with antibacterial wipes prior to any skin contact!). I must go eat my joke of a snack so I don’t pass out when I have to drag my bag, my daughter’s bag, and the car seat on wheels as she hitches a ride through the sweltering airport. More to come upon arrival at the in laws. I hope despite the length this isn’t boring you all to death.
Part 3: The Eagle has landed
In conclusion I have been in Mississippi for a few hours. To set the record straight, I was not greeted by piles of meat. There were no sticks of butter handed out with cocktails upon my arrival. There was not a 16 course meal made with bacon grease for dinner. Phew. We all ended up having dinner at the yacht club which allowed me to opt for a salad dressingless salad and blacken tilapia tacos. I even halved the tortilla which is a miracle for me to give up a bread product. The heat is, well, hot…but not over powering enough that I cannot breath. So all in all I’d say (without having actively counted WW style) today was a success. I don’t feel like I’ve eaten too much. I’m still thinking I need something to finish off the night. I will go to sleep tonight knowing the true test begins with breakfast tomorrow. Both my father in laws have a propensity towards highly caloric breakfasts…but I will not get ahead of myself. That will be a post in itself.
This wayward traveler is signing off for the night. Until tomorrow, happy, healthy eating to you all, and to all a good night!
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