Good Morning. Hit the road, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan.

I got to ride through my home town yesterday to see all the changes that have been made in the last 10-20 years or so. It's no longer a village, really. The outskirts of town have mushroomed into looking like suburbia everywhere. Leading in to town is very much like it was due to people owning the big old homes on either side of the road. The church where we got married was expanded almost beyond recognition and the surrounding area is all different and more urbanized. {sigh}  My memory is still of the town from the 1960s and 1970s. That imprint on my brain of the college town will likely never change. I was one lucky kid to come up in that town during those years. 

We went to a party at my brother's last night and I got to talk to my mother's friend who had WLS about 4 months ago. She has a ways to go but seemed to be doing pretty well. We didn't get to talk about vitamins but we talked about protein some. She brought tofu square to the party and they were good. She dressed them up in Greek spices and olive oil. I could have eaten a lot more of them than I did, they went down so easy.

We hit the road today heading home to my oh so familiar rut...I can hardly wait!

Happy New Year, Lightweights!

--gina

I grew up until 5 in Ripley Tenn and haven't been back there in 50 yrs at least.  I spent most of my youth in Gainesville Fla.  which back then, was a little college town.  Yep, I could ride my bike anywhere and take the bus across town to pool by myself.   Now it is huge and I have no desire to go back.  No family there anymore so really, no reason.  Even this area, we moved here in 91 and the growth is unbelievable. 

I had brocalli from the garden last night, kale in my eggs this morning and am cooking collards to take to the traditional southern New Years lunch.  I guess there is something good about global warming.  My garden is still being good to me.

Happy New Year, everyone...

Glad you had a chance to at least touch base with your mom's friend. And even if you didn't talk vitamins, you did let her know that you are open to her if she needs some advice.

My hometown was never small...Greenville, SC, it has gotten mushroomed in the last 2 decades...it was massively changing when I left when I got married. I haven't been back there in a few years but with family really close and moving back into that metro area (sortof), we will be seeing it more often.

Liz

Happy New Year to you all!

I grew up in a small town on the island of Oahu in Hawaii called Ewa (you pronounce the "w" as a "v" sound in Hawaiian) Beach.  When I grew up there, from 1979 to 1991, it was all sugar cane fields surrounding all of Barber's Point NAS, West Lock (Navy weapons depot), Iroquois Point and Pu'uloa Naval Housing areas.  You had to drive through the fields to get to the heart of Ewa Beach.  While I haven't been back since my parents' left in February 1992, my sister did go back with her late husband about 10 years ago.  She said that what had been cane fields was now houses and businesses.  The talk of a second city to Honolulu, called Kapolei, actually came into being.  The high school my husband and I had graduated from has doubled in size too.  While I still long to go back to visit, I highly doubt I'd remember anything.  I do still have close family and friends still living there.

I didn't get much sleep last night.  Stayed up with the boys to watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV and finally turned in at about 1 AM.  Then my mind started racing at about 3:30 AM and I've been up ever since.  I'm just going to make the most of it and grab a nap when I can.

Happy New Years ladies.  I am feeling better today. I have gotten 50 grams of protein in for breakfast.

Glad you are feeling better today!

You might want to spread that protein out. Your body might not absorb all of that at one setting plus spreading it out keeps your metabolism burning. 

I'm glad you had a nice time. Even with the growth it was probably far more relaxing than where you live now.

We live in a small town and the changes that have been made have been for the better. Main Street is still lined with old buildings (a lot of empty ones) that are in dire need of repair but when friends visit they love the old look.  When Walmart moved in there were a lot of people who boycotted it for awhile but now it is so busy I hate to go there. We only have to travel about 35 minutes to an area that is growing really fast.  That's where I do most of my shopping. 

Channing Tatum just shot a movie about 15 minutes from our place because of the landscape and barns.  The woman in our town went crazy stalking local restaurants but they actually rented my friends little country church because it had a parking lot for their food truck and campers. 

I grew up in a big town, Flint, and what has happened it it is the opposite of my places.  Instead of growing, it has been shrinking since the GM boom went bad and most of the plants left.  There are places where the plants were that are now just vacant lots.  All the businesses around them are closed too.  It's really pretty sad to see.

Now - where I raised my kids - Traverse City - is a resort community and has doubled since I moved up there.  We used to go camping there for 2 weeks every summer and the changes since then are phenomenal.  But - the changes have been (mostly) for the good.  It's a very culturally rich place that has something for everyone.  And it's beautiful there with the water.  

I'm coming back on Thursday and not really looking forward to it- but it is what it is.  I really miss my place here while back in VA.  

I guess it would help if I had a plan of when I'll be back, but I don't.  

Hope you have a good trip home.  My parents and sister still live in the town I grew up in so we go back about 4 times a year.  It was a pretty good size town and is even larger now.

The town we live in is small and most everyone knows everybody(and their business)!!  I think I like the small town better.

We have to go to a visitation tonight for a fireman that is the same age as me that passed away Saturday night.  The service will be tomorrow.  It is so sad.  The fireman services are always very moving.  I'm trying not to stress eat.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Linda