CHANGING THE THOUGHT PROCESS

We were up early yesterday morning.  We were headed to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Estate.  We saw online that you could get discount tickets at AAA; and for as expensive as they are, we took advantage of saving a little money and stopped at the local office on our way.   I just love the mountain views of this part of the country.   We got to the Biltmore around 10:30 and it didn’t seem to be too crowded which was what he were hoping for.  We took a self-directed tour of the house and when we were about halfway through the over 50 areas of the house, we decided to take a break for lunch.  We had lunch in the old stable and I looked hard and long over the menu, ending up with the rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes …. Better than a burger or the BLT.  After we got through the house, Gary wasn’t feeling well and sat on the huge porch while I visited the gardens … or should I say some of the gardens as there were many of them but I knew Gary was waiting.  It was a lot of walking and climbing up and down steps.  I certainly got in a lot of exercises for my lower extremities and my lungs. When I got back to the porch, Gary was ready to go.  I was wanting to go to the Village to do some shopping but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.  I have a friend making the trip in November with her sisters, so maybe I can describe to her what I want and she can get it for me.  As we were driving Gary stated THAT meaning The Biltmore Estate was a girl thing.  It's some place that I've been wanting to visit for a long time and I thanked him for taking me.  I can’t wait until Gracie and Katherine are big and then maybe all five of us girls can take a GIRL trip together to places like that.

The depressing thoughts started seeping in and changing my mood.  I hate when I start thinking that way.  How could my thoughts be so self-centered,  I could see that Gary didn’t feel well.  We had a free room at the Cherokee Resort through our Player’s Club with Harrah’s.  It was a beautiful complex and our room was in the new tower.  I thought for sure Gary would want to take a nap but he was anxious to hit the casino floor.  At this point I was trying to shift my mood.  I suggested that we earned some ice cream from all the walking we did at the estate.  I’ve heard so much lately about it being important to eat your extra earned exercise calories.  All I saw in the food court was Johnny Rockets, so we decided to get shakes.  Once we had ordered, I saw that the booth next to it had hard ice cream … oh well, wonder which would have been my best choice. 

I wasn’t having any luck on the machines and was tired, so I decided to go back to the room.  Gary came back shortly after and we watched Survivor before going to find something for dinner.  I couldn’t find my player’s card (I must have left it in a machine) so on the way to get another one, we walked past the buffet but the price was a little steep so we thought we’d see what else was in the food court.  When I got my new card, the gal said I had $18 on my card for food and Gary had her check his and he had $22, so we headed back to the buffet.  While still not in the best mood, I told myself I wasn’t going to medicate myself with food.  As I was thinking that, I saw a sign over the food section that said “Comfort Food”.    I told myself that my body is responding just fine to the way I’ve been eating and my mind would just have to make do.  I may have eaten a little more than I should but it definitely wasn’t a binge on the wrong kind of foods where I’d be waking up with regrets in the morning …. Tomorrow is a brand new day.