Georgia on my Mind

My weekend in Georgia was here and gone in a flash, but I still feel like I am recovering from traveling, plane trips, sleeping in a strange, uncomfortable bed with pillows that were too full, and a crazy eating schedule and much sleep deprivation.  Add to that, a lot of emotions.  My mother only eats once or twice a day and I was getting so sick of eating unsalted cashews and protein bars to make up for the amount of food I normally eat. It was a really good trip though, getting to be around my cousins whom I have not met yet, and celebrate the life of their dad, my own dad's oldest brother, was really emotional.  Then one of my cousins allowed me to open the paperwork that authenticates our family's Coat of Arms and I was crying, it was really meaningful.  Then that same cousin learned how to play the bagpipes out of pride for our family heritage, and played for us.  At the end when I was saying goodbye to him he said, "This was so great, but it sure makes saying goodbye extra hard."  It felt to me like I found long lost siblings instead of cousins, and he was right, saying goodbye was tough.  But now we can keep in touch and they are going to come visit soon too. 
I had pre-planned to not stress out about food while I was there, but I really didn't have too much stuff that was all that crazy, except for a cookie on the airplane and some apple-cranberry brown betty at the party.  Oh, there was a little alcohol (3 drinks all weekend) and definitely some Diet Coke but all in all I didn't come home feeling all bloated and heavy, so that's pretty good. 
I haven't had trouble going back to a planned diet now, but I still always feel like I want to shake things up a little with flavors.  This week I am having a "cheeseburger salad" with meatless crumbles, pickles, tomato, onion, lettuce, ketchup, mustard and mayo.  It really tastes like a cheeseburger, it's really good!  I have been taking a break from salads lately and it actually feels nice to have the juicy crunch of veggies again. 
Short on time for now, I will write more soon because there's a lot of things I am trying to work through in my mind right now but I also have a lot of stuff I want to get done and not enough time.  C'est la Vie, right?