This blog is my own personal Wayback Machine. I re-read the entries from my first week in Paris last April, and it was an eyeopener. I won’t be bringing my down coat or raincoat or black mohair vest. Only one hat (wolfie) and a pair of mittens. No fancy Cole Haan walking shoes, though they are adorable. Just two pairs of chucks, in B&W and pink.
I pulled out my clothes – one pair each skinny black, gray, and blue jeans and two hoodies, plus teeshirts. More pattern in the tees this trip, less black. Pops of bright pink and bold socks. I remember getting so thirsty for color last time.
As I pulled my prospective wardrobe out, I tried things on. Wanted to be certain I could squeeze into it all. I’ve been living in yoga pants and loose long sleeve teeshirts. Painting and exercise are the main reason I get out of pajamas, and neither activities require dressing up.
I might as well admit I’ve been on a diet and exercise binge since January – in training for galloping around Madrid and climbing those notorious hills in Lisbon. Plus, being able to tell whether my bellybutton is an innie or an outie because my teeshirt is so tight is not a good look on a lady of my mature years.
Well, dang if it didn’t pay off. Everything fit. Even shirts that I couldn’t wear last summer because they clung too tightly to my midsection fit just fine. This means I get to wear my Voodoo Doughnut tee (Worth the Weight) 
and my Aloha Cowboy tee and red Gunshow tee (Defend Southern Food). 
So fun! It boosted my morning mood from pleasant into giddy-with-glee territory.
This afternoon my daughter came by to teach me and her dad how to wrangle the Google Hangout app, so we can text and video chat and not drop a fortune. I’ll cut off cellular access and restrict myself to wifi at the end of the day. For years. travel meant I basically went off the grid. I’ll kind of miss being utterly unplugged, but the blog is worth it. It’s more like the journals I kept in the 80s and the long emails I used to send to Robert than killing time chasing butterflies on the ‘Net.
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