this girl could cry about plastic wrap

From my inbox:

Here’s a note from Shel about reaching Day 100 (she’s now on 106):

Shel: When I looked at that number 10 next to my name — and numbers 20, 60, 90, 200 next to others — I felt like I had so far to go!  It seemed like so much work and so much struggle for just barely a two-digit number.  Then something amazing started to happen, I got so involved in living my life that I forgot to count every day. I remember how surprised I was when you congratulated me on day 65. I was getting closer and closer to 100.

During the last 100 days I have had many firsts:
*Attended a party where I was the only one not drinking (that was a real eye opener.  Like your glass wall blog)
*Had 2 sober holidays
*Turned down bazillions of drinks offered (amazing how every thing revolves around drinking)
*Had great chats with my hubby, BFF, and parents that I can actually remember
*Drove after 5pm
*Actually enjoyed my food at an overpriced restaurant instead of worrying if the waiter would be back soon to fill my wine glass
*Stayed up past 9pm every night
*Discovered that I really am a patient person
*I get so much more done every day
*Realized that I now look different than the other over-drinkers: my skin has improved, no more puffy face, no more tired looking eyes, no more bloated feeling, now I have a sparkle in my eyes and a spring in my step
*Lost 6 pounds just by not drinking

In the 100 days I have learned that I like the non-drinking me WAY better! Thank you for being there for me! ~Shel

From me:

As I am nearing the end of my time in North America, i was surprised yesterday by a very touching gift from Mr. Belle’s dad. He had a box prepared: “Just a few gifts for you,” he said. He’s a man of very few words (as is his son). And what was my present? An industrial sized box of plastic wrap (you know the big roll with the slicer thingy), a giant box of tinfoil, a big package of parchment paper (he didn’t know what it was for, but was sure i could use it), and two boxes of 50 medium ziplock bags. “It’s for your job,” he said. “I know you’ll use it every day.” Oh i was so excited, I was literally the happiest girl you’ve ever seen. And really, I’m so easy to please! But he’s so thoughtful. he’d picked up on a tiny comment i’d made two weeks ago about buying supplies here, and so off he went to the bulk restaurant store to see what he could get for me.

In the car after we left, Mr. Belle said to me “at least i know he loves you.” 🙂 I’m a bit of a handful for these in-laws.  Mr. B is an only child, and his parents don’t speak English. I’m older than their son, and we didn’t have kids… oh yeah, and we moved away to Europe. I talk, they don’t. And OK, i’ll admit it, I’m highly enthusiastic about plastic wrap! Well, i could get all teary just writing about it, but the gift was very sweet. And thankfully Mr. B and I both arrived with virtually empty suitcases so that we can truck this stuff home.

Oh yeah #1, super great unforeseen bonus of being sober? I now pack very lightly. No more ‘packing for every eventuality’. For this 15 day trip, i packed 5 pairs of underwear, 5 t-shirts, running gear, one pair of shorts, one pair of jeans, and 2 books.  And we did laundry every 3 days. Packing light is DIVINE-ly relaxing and stress free. And anyway, doing laundry in a north american washer/dryer is like a fucking vacation in itself! So Fast! So Fluffy! Liquid Tide!

Oh yeah #2, last night we finally got to have corn on the cob.  That means we’re ready to go home now (very hard to find corn on the cob in Europe, it’s considered farm-animal food…).