Day 72...........sick of food!!!

I never thought I'd see that heading for my blog!!! But YES.....I'm sick of food!!! LOL In a good way however.

This weekend has been full of wonderful food! Every meal has had a menu already planned with extravagant food and I feel so foolish wasting any of it because I know the WWP has paid for it and it's so good! So I'm managing to get my shake in my coffee in the morning but the last 2 days it's only been one serving of Vi shake mix........I'm trying to only eat half  of my portions and not the entire meal so as not to overfill. I did make it to the gym yesterday and ran on the treadmill, so hopefully the excessive food will not catch up with me!

Day 2 was full of activities yesterday. I woke up at 4 a.m. and then at 6 and started getting ready for the day. We all went down as a group for breakfast yesterday morning to a restaurant in the hotel called Cascades. It was one of the best breakfasts that I have eaten in a long time. We spent about an hour eating and talking. There never seems to be a lack of conversation with this group of women, we have such a connection and share so many things that it's like we are trying to fit in years and months of hanging out with friends in just 4 days! After breakfast, we went up to the suites and met in our groups for a 2 1/2 hour counseling session. It was emotional to say the least. Everyone went around the room and shared their story of how their warrior got injured, who we were before we were caregivers and who we want to be. It was so hard hearing other women's stories and seeing the similarities. At the same time, I realized just how blessed I am for Damon's injuries to not be as bad as some of the other warriors. We don't deal with TBI's and PTSD but we still deal with our own issues. It was nice to break down walls and let go of some feelings that we have all been holding on to for a very long time. I saw a group of women that are so strong and so inspiring. It was simply amazing.

After group, it was time for lunch in Cathy's suite. I was still stuffed from breakfast, but again I did not want to pass up any food that they have offered us. I had some pasta salad, a little bit of a sandwich and a brownie!! GASP!!! It was the best piece of chocolate I have ever had LOL......Lunch was short and sweet as I wanted to hit the gym before my spa treatment. I headed to the gym and got on the treadmill and ran/walked a mile, mostly ran. It hurt but I know I can't stop working at getting fit, even when I'm away for the weekend. After my run, I headed over the spa where I was catered to at ever turn. This spa is amazing. I didn't even need to get ready in my room if I didn't want to. They had robes, towels, shampoo, razors, body wash, perfume, hair products, curling irons, etc.....if they didn't have they would get it for you. I undressed and went into the eucalyptus steam room. WOW. I have never been in one of those and that was probably one of the coolest experiences ever. Talk about sweating LOL.........I hope that I sweated off some of that food I ate. I could only tolerate about 5 minutes in the steamroom and then I was escorted over to the "relaxation " suite in my robe and slippers and given whatever I wanted to drink. Lights were dim, soft music was playing. I was in heaven.....then my turn came. I had a gentleman doing my massage. I wasn't weirded out at all, he was nice enough. I get in the room and he leaves so I can get under the sheets (totally naked LOL). The room was nice and warm, dim and some soft music was playing. He proceeded to give the best massage I've ever had. I got a little freaked out when the massage involved my thighs, but he was very professional and realized to let go, he does this everyday and he was never going to see me again. My massage was an hour long. I found myself drooling in the little face pillow when time was up. For the first time in a long time, my brain wasn't doing laps in my head. It stopped! It just focused on the music, the smells, and trying to absorb this entire experience so far. It was so nice.....

After the massage, I headed back to the steam room and met up with some of the other girls getting their treatment and we sat in the steam room until we were dripping with sweat. What a cleansing experience. By then it was 3:00 and it was time to head to my room to get ready for our evening out. I got all cleaned up, dressed up and we met back in the suites at 4:45 to head down to dinner at Jack Daniel's for some good southern cooking. Dinner consisted of potato skins and onion rings (on the table), then followed up by a lettuce wedge with bacon and tomatoes. The main course consisted of a piece of bbq chicken thigh and leg with 3 baby back ribs, potato salad, mac and cheese. WOW!! Then as a killer finale.........pecan pie with jack daniels in it! The first time I have ever eaten pecan pie and it was delicious. A little on the rich side but so good!! The alcohol was so strong in the pie I fully expected to get a buzz from it. Dinner was some what rushed because we had tickets to a 7:00 show at the original Grand Ole Opry. So we all loaded on this big coach bus and made the trip over. However it started storming so it was pouring!!! We made it in and it was so crowded and we were already running behind so I didn't get a lot of pictures of the Ryman theater. The Grand Ole Opry was awe inspiring. To know that so many famous country musicians had played there and sang there was overwhelming. We saw several great acts and it was an excellent show. The pews we sat in were rather hard on the rear, but it was a great time.

We got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. Several of the girls and I walked around and found a bar in the hotel called "The Falls" and we all had a drink. It was such a special occasion because for some of us, we have forgotten what it's like to go out with the girls and have a drink.....most of us have lost our friends due to what we go through as caregivers so this was a much needed drink and long overdue!! We again shared stories of what we have gone through and the stories vary and even though we share so much about our warriors and our lives, we still laughed and acted like silly teenage girls......we aren't used to talking about things we enjoy so sometimes it's hard to pull that out of them all, but by midnight we were all laughing like old friends. I have made some wonderful new friends and it amazes me that I will shed some tears for women that I just met on Friday!

So here I sit, an hour earlier than I was supposed to get up LOL because yet again the time change has thrown me off. I went down and explored again then realized the time and said to hell with it, I'm going to go blog before I forget any detail that happened this weekend. I miss my husband and I miss my kids, but I don't want to leave. I want to absorb and record every second of this weekend and cherish it. This has been an amazing weekend and today will be a full day of activities as it is our last day in Nashville before heading home tomorrow!