I’ve decided I’m not going to just let this blog slide (much, anyway) because I’ve reached my goal age. I’m still not at my goal weight, so let’s keep going. Today’s going to be a very interesting day, to say the least. To start it off…

Today’s Weight: 154.8 lbs

The scale said 154.6 lbs the first time this morning, and I was psyched, but then it climbed back up that extra notch every successive weigh in. That’s OK, though. I think the last time I hit 154 was two years ago around this time of year. This time it’s staying off.

Now what about today is going to be interesting, you ask? My parents are coming to town for a visit. This kind of situation can be weird, fun, and a little stressful even in the best of times, but what makes this quite singular is that my parents have never visited me before. They did come into town for a day to drop me off at college in 1999, and they also came back into town for a day to see me graduate in 2003, but other than those two days, nothing in all these years. I’ve lived in New Orleans for a little over 9 years now, and with a 3 year lay-over in Chicago, and they’ve never just come to see me and hang out. They hate the city and everything about it.

To be fair, I only tend to go home once every couple of years lately, since I happen to not believe in going broke to go on vacation to a split level in the middle of nowhere, with no activity around for miles and no car to get to that activity, even if there was something. In fact, I haven’t laid eyes on my parents for two years, so this is going to be interesting. They never did seem to be able to recognize me at the airport, so I’m sure it’s going to be another awkward reunion.

On top of this, my mother has never flown a commercial airline flight before. The last week was peppered with weird questions that most people in the Western world have known the answer to for years, like, should I put a lock on my bag? and, Why CAN’T I bring a drink with me? There was also a frantic last minute search on my part to make sure it was definitely OK to bring along homemade sausages for an in-flight snack. It turns out it’s not against the law to bring them, as long as they’re wrapped securely and go through the x-ray like everything else. I didn’t have the heart to bring up the fact that everyone within nose-shot was going to hate them for opening up stinky sausages in a closed space. It’s just so frickin’ weird when people bring along meals from home for their flight, not to mention how odd it is that a 2 hour flight would create the sense of desperation that they might starve. Are my parents hobbits?

They’re going to freak out at how little I eat in comparison to them. They’re also going to freak out about lots of things – people, cars, tall buildings, prices, loud noises, rude staff, no parking spaces, having to walk places…

I’m hoping this weekend will be good, but I’m very short tempered when it comes to listening to complaints. I don’t know if I’m going to hold up under the strain of both parents. I’m not that great of a tourguide. We’ll see. I’m hoping to get them out of the city for much of the trip.

The worst I’ve yet to describe, though. The worst? I’m introducing my parents to my boyfriend’s parents. Alone. No boyfriend – he’s away on business and couldn’t get home in time. The other set of parents is awesome. They live here, so they know how the city works (and doesn’t). They’re also used to urban spaces, having originally come from Long Island. They’re pretty normal in all the ways my parents aren’t. Not that it’s bad to be different, just that it makes it harder for me to figure out a common ground. I wish Dan was here, or that I could just not introduce them and wait for it to happen later. But it might be years before both sets of parents are in the same place again, so that just isn’t feasible.

Argh.

I’m going to go pour myself a cup of watery soy yogurt and an iced coffee, and get some real work done while I dread 11:40am.

Catch you guys on the flip side; wish me luck. I have a feeling I’m really going to need it.