Home Again

Washington DC was a great trip and I loved spending all the time with Martha Jr. and the other girls and moms who went with us. (There were 4 troops in all; most of the girls had parents with them.) I spent a lot of time with the leader who coordinated the trip since I wound up sitting next to her on the bus. (Once the seats were chosen we all stuck with them for the rest of the trip.)

I was worried about holding up with the fibro. I kept up until the last day, but I almost lost it when we were getting to the airport. The wait to check my bags was excruciating, then after check in the suitcases had to be hauled over BY ME to another area for x-ray, then after that another long wait to get through security. I hate that airport!! We had plenty of time but I still felt rushed and shaky, my back had started to hurt, and I was wiped out. Oh, and the suitcase I had to check was broken- a brand new Samsonite, no less. One of the two latches busted and it wouldn't close properly. Luckily my roomie mentioned duct tape, and I actually had some! I had it because of the trip to Europe with The Eldest in 2009. I read a ton of travel blogs prior to that trip and one of them suggested packing duct tape. It went into one of the travel supply bags I pack all the time and never came out until now. It was a small travel size roll, it was super difficult to unroll, and it wasn't enough to go all the way around the suitcase, but it was enough to hold the bag together on the bus ride to the airport. At the check in counter the airline had packing tape they let me use- whew! The suitcase made it back home and everything was inside thanks to the tape, but I returned that suitcase as soon as I could get it back to Costco.

At some point on the last day I noticed my ankles were gone- yep, I had cankles. The last time I had swelling like that I was pregnant. I guess I was as tired as I felt if that was happening. (Cankles- that word tickles me. It should mean something fun and flirty instead of swollen ankles. I walked around all day telling everyone I had cankles just because I like the sound of that silly word.) The swelling was gone after a good night's sleep so no worries. What was bothersome though was my back. I was a mess from half way through the last day and the entire day after we got back, then it felt better the next day so I over did it, and it flared up again today. I couldn't bend over at all; I had to take DH to the grocery with me to get items on the lower shelves. He wound up picking up all sorts of stuff I dropped or bumped off the shelf in the store; I'm such a klutz. He said I was just doing it on purpose but I promise I wasn't!

But back to the end of the trip. I finally calmed down when we got settled at the gate, I ate a snack, (Martha Jr. and I got the last pretzels at the Auntie Anne's) and I took some Tylenol. Then it was a matter of getting all of our stuff on the plane and getting home. I had a center seat which I normally HATE since I get a little claustrophobic on planes, but it was OK. I was in between the troop mom I roomed with and Martha Jr., and we all kept our arm rests up so it was like we were sitting on a couch. Since the troop mom and I are good friends, and I was able to move around a bit since Martha Jr. hardly took up any space at all (she's a little bit of a girl) I was fine. The other mom and I chatted a lot of the way and that kept my mind off things, plus it's not a long flight. Then it was over and DH was picking us up and whisking me off to a good meal (kale and potato soup- one of my favorites) and my bed. I slept like a rock but I was still groggy all the next day, and of course I had the back problems I mentioned earlier. Luckily I have a good heating pad and a tens unit; I think that's why I felt better the second day after getting home. If I had taken it easy instead of trying to return that stupid suitcase and get some other errands done... Well, anyway, it will get better.

All in all, the trip was absolutely grueling but absolutely fun, too. I'm so glad I went and got through everything, and that the fibro didn't flare up and stop me from living my life. Yes, I had a flare up at the end, but I got through all the fun stuff first- take that, fibromyalgia!

I'll blog about the actual trip and post pictures eventually, once DH gets them all on the computer for me. I took a ton of pics- gotta love those digital cameras!!