Thursday, July 21, 2011

Road Trip = Mind Trip

Tomorrow one of my California nieces will promise to love and cherish her darling soul mate in front of family and friends.  I am blessed to be going to see the wedding but a bit nervous for the trip itself.  My hubby's family is, large, Italian, loud and lovely.  How my newly formed tummy will adjust to the confusion, hustle and bustle will be interesting, I am sure.  This will be my third trip since my surgery but the first one that includes family in the mix.  I traveled home from Mexico four days after surgery, and at the four week mark I took a day trip to California to pick up my lovely new puppy, Annie.  That was 13 hours to accomplish and mostly went well.

We will head out at 4 AM which for those of you that know me and my abiding friend, Insomnia, know that this is an unreasonable hour to be sure.  My DH gets up every day at 3 so for him this will be just another day.  I usually manage to fall asleep by 1 or 2 AM so good luck to him, dealing with my less than pleasant mood.

This trip will be my first foray into, "you lost weight" or "something is different" or maybe no one will notice at all.  I did not do the surgery for outside comments, opinions or observations but certainly they do weigh heavy on one's mind. Many people that know me might misinterpret my outgoing nature as one of confidence but they would be mistaken. I have always wanted, yearned to be the wall flower.  Blending in has been my steadfast wish from as long as I can remember.

Being a nobody was a matter of survival from a very young age, walking the tightrope of never being naughty enough to be noticed to never too outstanding enough to bring attention.  It is a chore that I continue to foster to this day...not a day goes by that I don't allow myself to shrink.  As a child this skill was perfected and made easier by having a brother that always got in trouble and siblings that were smarter, prettier, more talented and clever than I.  Blending is easier when you have built in camouflage like that.

Now I find that the cloak of fat that I wore needs to be revisited, it will disappear and what will take it's place, how will I find my way without this companion of mine?  How will I answer the questions that certainly will come this weekend? Will my facade of confidence serve me?  Will others see the real me, will they see the scared, shaking, shivering child the abides just under the surface?  Would they like the me that I am when no one is looking?  Will my wall crumble this weekend, next, or will it fall at all?

Got to finish packing...