Hanna and Joey met Nickey and me at the apartment complex. It was raining and the sign-in area was outside, which meant we stood in the rain for a while. No worries, though--we had umbrellas and excited moods. Hanna finally made it to the front of the line and was told that HER apartment was not ready. There had been a leak that would have to be replaced before she could move in. She was temporarily assigned to another apartment. We asked when she would be able to move into her REAL apartment and were told that it could be a week... or a month.
Off to the temporary apartment we go. When we got there, we realized that we had been given the wrong key for the apartment, so Joey and Hanna went back for the right set of keys.
We had to make do and move all her stuff into the temporary space. Got a little exercise in doing this because we had to go down one flight of stairs and then up another to get to her apartment. I washed all her bedding, towels and washcloths and made her bed. There were several things we didn't bother opening or unpacking since she would be moving again so soon.
I did manage to unpack everything I needed to make my green smoothie at the apartment:
After we finished at the apartment, we headed to the Art Institute for Housing and New Student Orientations. Lunch was provided (which is normally a great thing, right?). However, lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich, a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie and a bag of Lay's. I peeled off the turkey and drank my water (and encouraged Hanna to take all the leftovers... I remember being a poor, broke, college student!).
After about four hours, we finally finished at the school and headed to Opry Mills, specifically to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get the rest of the stuff that Hanna "needed". While we were at the mall, Joey got a phone call that one of his friends had taken his life. Needless to say, that changed the tone for everyone.
Nickey and I were going to take the kids to dinner before we left to come home. We agreed that it would be some place in the mall, so we started checking out the menus that were posted. We wanted something where we could sit down and enjoy a nice meal together. No food court. We looked at Claim Jumper, but it was a bit pricey, although they did have stuff that Nickey and I could eat. The Aquarium looked fun, but we knew we'd be paying for the atmosphere, not the food. Moe's was where the kids wanted to go, but there was NOTHING on the menu for Nickey and me.
We ended up at Romano's Macaroni Grill. Have you ever tasted the warm rosemary bread they bring out before the meal? You know, the warm deliciousness you sop up the olive oil and cracked black pepper with? Yeah, I didn't have any. Nor did I have any wine.
Macaroni Grill has always been a top choice of mine. I love their Penne Rustica and Chicken Scallopini, but those weren't good choices for me, so I opted for the Grilled King Salmon and Roasted Asparagus (instead of the Sun-Dried Tomato Orzo which is usually served with it), which was really good. I was very proud of myself; although I was very tempted, I made wise decisions when it came to what I put in my mouth.
Hanna moved in, dinner eaten... it was time to go. Nickey and I still had a drive home ahead of us and it was after six. As we were leaving the parking lot of the mall, my car started acting funny. Then it made some HORRIBLE noises. Bessie laid down on us. Of course, the rain had started again. I started making phone calls to AAA and State Farm; Nickey and Joey tried to investigate the problem. Hanna didn't know what to do, but I'm sure she was QUITE embarrassed! What a comedy scene it must have been, although it didn't seem so funny at the time.
This was supposed to have been a simple overnight trip and here we were... out of state, needing a tow, we don't have a clue about any mechanics in the area so we had to rely on whoever we were sent to. Luckily, I thought to ask that we be taken somewhere that was open on the weekend since it was after 7:00 pm on a Friday night.
The tow truck finally came. We rode with the tow truck driver and tried to formulate our plan. After viewing our checking account online, we realized that we only had $80 in our account because Nickey's check that had been deposited on Wednesday had not yet posted. Thankfully, Joey's mother offered us a room at her house to sleep. Of course, we had the clothes on our backs and the dirty ones from the day before in my car. At this point, I was starting to allow the stress of it all to break me down. The tow truck driver had suggested the problem may be the rear end and hopefully it wouldn't need to be completely replaced. Yikes--that sounded expensive! I started trying to figure out how in the world I was going to pay for this repair to ole Bessie.
We get to Joey's mother's house and crash. Yes, I know I'm still supposed to do one of the four videos Abby had emailed me to do while I was gone. And I know I could do the core exercises I'm supposed to do as part of the 5 Weeks to 5K clinic. But I'm not up to it. I'm pretty much emotionally wiped out at this point. However, day 8 of my cleanse was still successful! Even after all I had been through for the day, I had not veered off my nutrition course!
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