I don't mind the rat race but I could do with a little more cheese.

We have officially reached the hair loss portion of the post-WLS process. Yay. I try not to stress too much because I do have a fair amount of hair even though the individual hairs are on the thin side. Sadly, I am ceasing the pinking and purpling until I feel confident that the bleaching process won't make the rest of my hair fall out. If I can't live without unnatural color streaks in my hair, Ulta carries various non-permanent potions which do not require bleaching before application.

The weather threatens to be absolutely gorgeous this weekend. Had I a crystal ball, I'm sure it would foretell of a bike ride or two. Maybe even three. And now that Hubbyfink's cleared for almost all physical activity, I can drag him along for a "short" ride.

Speaking of the Hubbyfink, we'd planned on zipping out to Colorado Springs this past March but surgery schedules got in the way. Why the zipping to CS? Well, back in September I got a bee in my proverbial bonnet about moving somewhere that wasn't so dang hot and humid as the DC area and CS looked fantastic on paper. The change-averse Hubbyfink warmed up to the idea a day later and was ready to move RIGHT THEN. We cooled our jets, though, and calmed down enough to realize that we really should scope out a place before picking up stakes and heading west. (Of course, I hadn't considered the possibility of something like the horrifying wildfire currently destroying the surrounding area... all those unfortunate people... it makes me want to cry.) So, we're flying out for a visit over Labor Day weekend and will see if it is just as good in real life.

Other locations on our short list of Places to Live After Fleeing DC include the Florida panhandle (preferably right on the coast); New Orleans (which, obviously, is even MORE hot and humid than DC but I've become sensitive to cold after this past miserable winter; Hubbyfink is not on board with this idea); Asheville, NC (again, himself is not quite on board); Austin (his entry; as appealing and vibrant as Austin is, I simply can't with Texas); and Columbus, OH (yes, really: my work team is there, the city is beautiful, and it gets four distinct seasons; Hubbyfink doesn't want to live in Ohio). We've got some negotiating to do.

In reverse order:

** Tonight I'm flying to New Orleans with three girlfriends for a wild weekend in the Crescent City. I went down there for Memorial Day weekend last year and such a blast that I had to go back. Before last year's trip, the last time I'd spent more than a couple of hours in NO was 1992 during one of the many late night trips from U of Southern Mississippi. I'm looking forward to seeing Holly and Wombat and kids while the girls enjoy a jazz brunch at Court of Two Sisters (buffets are wasted on my tiny pouch...).

** And speaking of Wombat, he's been in town this week on one of his usual business trips and because of terrible weather his flights to Boston were cancelled last night. I booked it over to Dulles and rescued him from having to sleep on an airport chair. He was grateful and we were happy to finally save him from an airport after all the times he's gotten stuck in a DC-area airport due to inclement weather (usually snow storms).

** Before the rescue mission, I got my hair rebobbed, repinked, and added some purple streaks as well. The only complaint I have about the new highlights is that I want more More MORE. I love the purple and it will be a learning experience to see how long the highlights last.

** Before the hair appointment, I saw my torturer orthodontist who installed a new upper wire the size of a high tension power line. He apologized for the pain, but I didn't feel anything because I think my teeth were in shock. Boy oh boy did I feel it later. I couldn't chew my planned dinner of leftover Peruvian chicken and wound up sucking out the innards of a bean burrito so I could get some protein in my system. I could barely chew my calcium supplement. And the sucky part is I can't take NSAIDs anymore. I'd thought about taking one of Hubbyfink's Tylenol-3, but figured it would knock me out and I'd miss getting my hair done.

** Before tooth torture, I saw my pshrink who asked lots of questions about my gastric bypass and Hubbyfink's brain surgery. She'd been concerned about the both of us (she's Hub's doctor, too) and was very happy to hear that all was well.

And back to today: I didn't get to bed until after 1am and awoke around 7am because I heard our houseguest stirring. Now, I'm an at-least-8-hours-of-sleep kind of gal and I very nearly fell asleep during a conference call. Plus, I still have to pack. Thank goodness I'm AR enough to have pulled out outfits last weekend and left them hanging on the closet door. Most of my toiletries are packed as well. All I need is to fill my cosmetics bag and throw everything in the suitcase so I'm not panicking too, too much.

It'll be a fun weekend. I just have to get there.

Tomorrow afternoon pirategirleee and I jet off to New Orleans for the holiday weekend. I haven't spent more than a few hours in the city since college and she's never been there. We shall nibble on beignets at the Cafe du Monde. We shall experience delicious cajun cuisine with Holly and Paul. We shall boogie down Bourbon and cha-cha up Chartres. We shall tour a cemetery or two. We might even get our drink on and behave like coeds.

I spent two and half hours last night digging through my closet to come up with four suitable day outfits and something suitable for the evening. The sad part is that half of the components were fresh purchases yesterday afternoon. There will be a severe scouring of the wardrobe in the near future because so much in my closet is "meh". Happily, some of that stuff still had tags attached and can be exchanged for better fitting / more appealing clothing.

But I think that what I've assembled will be suitable for two and half days of fun, sun, and humidity. I'm even packing my swimsuit for a quick dip in the Mississippi. I kid. The hotel's supposed to have a nice pool. Maybe we'll even have a little bit of down time to enjoy it.

I do believe this is my first ever girls' getaway vacation that wasn't an SCA event. I am so psyched!