Of Treadmills and In-laws

It snowed... a lot. I've kind of been wishing for a nice big snowfall all winter, and I guess I got my wish. I think we got somewhere between 12 and 14 inches. It was kind of fun being snowed in all weekend, but I did start to get a little cabin fever later on Saturday. There was a level 3 snow emergency and a blizzard warning, so the coaches had to reschedule our group run to Sunday. My workout for Saturday was about 2 hours of shoveling snow, which makes me realize just how much upper body strength I lack. When I get back from my trip I definitely need to do something about that. I would like to work out with a trainer a couple times to see if they can help me get into a good routine.
So, I was stuck home on Saturday, which did not help me avoid obsessing about the upcoming trip. I knew I absolutely had to get a workout in some how. I knew the group run was rescheduled, but roads were still not going to be very good. The treadmill was the only option left. This time, I opted for the one at my parents house rather than the gym. At my parents house, I was able to pick out a movie to help keep myself entertained, and I didn't have to feel guilty for being on a treadmill for 2 hours. All I can really say about it is that I set it at 6.0, put on Legends of the Fall, and ran. It wasn't a good time, but I managed to do 11 miles. That is my personal treadmill record. I hope I never have to break it. That is waaaay to long to be running in place. Only Brad Pitt's face was enough to keep me from quitting.
The trip is coming up so fast. We leave on Thursday afternoon for Atlanta. Then from Atlanta we fly to Buenos Aires. We leave Atlanta at about 9:00 p.m. and arrive at about 8:00 a.m. the next morning. Overnight flights suck in general, but at least with this one, the time zone difference is only two hours as opposed to 6 if you go to Europe. We will be there for about 2 1/2 weeks and are staying with his family. With the two of us included, there will be eight people in this house with one bathroom. I'm seriously wondering how this is going to work out, especially because the city shuts off everyone's water at 10 p.m. Leo's mom and sister came here twice when we got married, but I've only met his brothers and father once, five years ago. My memories of his dad are good. He's the opposite of my mother-in-law. He is quiet with a kind smile. That is all I really remember about him. I remember his older brother, Sergio, as friendly, into yoga and sports and macrobiotic diet. His younger brother, Emmanuel, is another story. Emmanuel has some sort of mental illness. Every time I try and get more details, I get a different answer. I think it may be some form of schizophrenia. I only met him once briefly, so getting to know him now should be quite interesting. I've already been warned that I shouldn't take anything he says to me personally. Okay...
My mother-in-law, she is special. From an American point of view, she coddles her children way too much. She still treats them all like babies, but its a cultural difference that I've come to terms with. What I haven't come to terms with is that she and Leo's sister (okay, most of the family) all have this total obsession about food and eating. They have all these strange beliefs about combining foods and how much time you have to wait between eating certain foods or eating and sleeping. They think all certain vegetables aren't very good for you because they are too "yin." Yes, I think its all crazy macrobiotic diet stuff I don't understand. The obsession about food translates into an obsession about weight. On the night before my wedding, my mother-in-law asked "You're not going to get fat, are you?" Now she wonders why I don't just love her to pieces. I also think its strange that she openly admits that Leo (my husband) is her favorite child and is extra special to her. She loves to remind me when we talk that I'm so lucky to have him here with me. It takes all my strength not to say "Yes, he is an adult, and he chose to be here with me. I didn't TAKE him from you, so stop insinuating that I did."
I know I'm making it sound dramatic, and his family really is dramatic. I think that may be a cultural thing, too. They are all super loud and talk over each other all the time. They have weird communication issues (i.e. just last night Leo asked me not to mention to his mom that he drinks coffee. WTF? He is 34 years old, if he wants coffee, he should drink it, and his mom can get over it.)
So, those are my crazy in-laws, in brief. I don't hate them at all, but they're not easy to deal with. Also adding to my feelings of distress about the trip is my experience on our prior trip. We went to Argentina in 2004 to meet Leo's grandmother. (I'm very glad I got to meet her because she passed away about 4 months later.) On that trip, almost everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Our bed and breakfast was infested with roaches, my sister got food poisoning, we booked a trip to the beach only to find out that our bus tickets were for the wrong date, and got into an argument with Leo's mafioso uncle, so I let his birds out of their cages on the day we left. Oh, and the garbage collectors were on strike so there were giant mountains of garbage all over the place.
So, maybe after reading this you will have a slightly better understanding of why this trip is stressing me the hell out. Not only do I hate flying, but my last experience there was not the greatest. I plan on doing my best to keep up with my training while I am there. That means I have a 15-16 mile, and 11-12 mile long runs while I am down there, and I want to run at least once during the week also. I have a feeling I might need to sneak out more often if we are stuck in that house the whole time. We shall see.
I'm trying to have a positive outlook about the trip (though you probably don't believe that after reading this post.) I have one more group run on Wednesday before we leave. We're meeting at the store and there is a happy hour afterwards, which should be fun. This is probably my last post until I get back, and then I should have plenty of exciting stories to tell. (Hopefully all end well.) Until next time, think of me down in the southern hemisphere!