Mornin' All!

I'm going to go to water aerobics this morning since they're calling for off & on thunderstorms today. I have a meeting at 1:00 out at the nursing home where my client lives - just the regular quarterly update. Then off to the vet clinic so two of my cats who get prednisone can get their kenalog injections so that DH doesn't have to worry about medicating them while I'm on my trip. Other than that, I may start packing - or at least figuring out what clothes to take.

QOTD: I don't really listen to standup comics, but Charlie Behrens clips often show up in my FB feed. He's from small-town Wisconsin and does Midwest humor. Some of them are pretty funny

I have to really watch the food today and maybe even take half a phentermine tablet. The last two days have been pretty atrocious food-wise, and the weather hasn't been very cooperative, so no long bike rides to burn some of it off.

coffee with half & half

Greek yogurt with fruit

protein shake

hummus sandwich?

hummus & baby carrots or more Greek yogurt

not sure about dinner - maybe 1/2 a veggie burger and vegetables?

have a great day, everyone!

P.S. I do listen to Jimmy Kimmel monologues sometimes on YouTube. He's hilarious. Forgot about him..

Mornin' All!

before I forget, QJB, I started listening to "Beyond All Repair" yesterday and binged through six episodes. Love it! (although I love murder mysteries in general - the "Bear Brook" ones you recommended a year or two ago were also terrific!). I'll finish that up today. Otherwise, I plan on making rye bread today (the type we're more accustomed to - with caraway seed - not the Danish variety) and some strawberry white chocolate cookies (the latter being for a party we're going to tonight). It's supposed to be a nice day weather-wise, so I'll get out and bike for a couple of hours, too.

QOTD: nothing is coming to mind. Although most of the places I've lived haven't been big enough that I had to rely heavily on public transportation. We have bus service here (which I often use to get to and from classes), but they come pretty frequently - and if I had to, I could call Uber or a friend to get home - or even walk (although it would be a pretty long walk...)

I need to really watch my eating today due to the party tonight. I always have good intentions to be "good" at parties, but it doesn't always turn out that way...

coffee with half & half

plain skyr with fruit

Loma Linda taco filling with diced tomatoes, plain Greek yogurt, and salsa

baby carrots with hummus

protein shake

"dinner" will be at the party. Usual self-imposed rules will be in effect (although I don't always follow them once I get there) - no store-bought desserts, load up at the fruit and vegetable trays, spend most of the evening with a drink in hand, chatting with people instead of hanging around the food tables...

have a great day, everyone!

Mornin' All!

it should be perfect bike-riding weather today (70-ish, no wind, no rain). I want to head out as soon as possible since a package is going to be delivered sometime today, but I need to wait an hour or two since it's still a *****illy out there. Although I suppose I could wear a sweatshirt and take a backpack along to stuff it into once it warms up. Not too much else going on here today other than I want to finish cleaning the master bedroom and bathroom.

QOTD: citrus flavors in general are fine. One flavor that I absolutely despise is fake banana.

coffee with half & half

plain skyr with fruit, rye crumpet with butter and cloudberry preserves

protein shake

the last piece of cheesecake-flavored yogurt pie with strawberries

hummus and baby carrots and/or Ratio lime yogurt with raspberries

roasted veggies with peanut sauce. Another protein if needed

have great day, everyone!

we replaced our in-need-of-major-repair deck with a screened porch about five years ago and are so happy we did it. We opted for storm windows (making it a three-season) and are really glad we did that. Not only does it extend our use of it by a month or so (longer if we use a room heater), but we don't have to schlep furniture/rug in and out if there's a heavy storm.

Mornin' All! And happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

we weren't planning on doing much today other than going over to my mother's apartment for dinner (I'm thinking of bringing a couple of poke bowls), but it's so nice out today that I might just have to get out and walk or bike (again!). I ate too much yesterday - stopped for ice cream midway through our bike ride and then went out for street tacos for dinner since I was too exhausted to make anything - but we biked almost 30 miles, so I'm not going to worry about it. I'm sure I worked off most - if not all - of it. I was originally thinking of making a Swedish midsummer cake today to take to Mom's, too - but I may just bring the poke bowls (take out) since I don't want to come home with 3/4 of a cake.

QOTD: not much. Tomorrow I'll go over to Mom's while an occupational therapist is there doing a safety assessment of her apt, since my mother will forget half of what the OT recommends. Then I have to take her to a dentist appt on Thursday. Wine & cheese party on Friday night, so I'll have to make something for that. I spotted a recipe for white chocolate and (freeze-dried) strawberry cookies - I might make those. I was originally thinking ginger snaps, but I can't get those strawberry ones out of my mind. Plus they seem more of a spring thing.

coffee with half & half

plain skyr with fruit

leftover street ta****hicken Tinga)

hummus and carrots

poke

have a great day, everyone!

Mornin' All!

One of my film groups meets over lunch today. I couldn't get into the film at all, so I qui****ching it when I was about 2/3 through. I didn't want to waste any more of my life on it. Luckily, this group has been together for YEARS and they're all good friends, so unless a film is really standout and the topic elicits a lot of discussion, they usually only discuss it for like 5-10 minutes before moving on to other conversation topics (politics, recent vacations, whatever's going on in their lives, etc). So they probably won't notice that I never finished watching the film. Whew. It's supposed to be clear most of today (although chance of rain this evening), so I'll either bike this morning or else bike over to the meeting at noon.

QOTD: I haven't intentionally eat ground beef in at least 20 years, so it's Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger for me. And it has to have "stuff" on it, such as a tomato slice. Also, it needs to be grilled. I ordered one a week or two ago at some other lunch meeting, and I think they microwaved the thing. Not great. Grilling them is much better - they actually taste like real burgers that way.

coffee with half & half

plain skyr with fruit

protein shake

the soup and salad combo at the restaurant (I'll get the minestrone and Caesar salad as my choices)

Greek yogurt with (more) fruit or else baby carrots with hummus

the roasted veggies with peanut sauce I've been intending to make for dinner this week but still haven't

as for yesterday's QOTD about steps, I'm the same as Jen - I only worry about them if I'm not doing some other kind of exercise that day. On those days, I aim for 10K (and usually make it..)

Mornin' All!

well yesterday they were forecasting rain off & on today, but now they're not - although it rained like crazy last night. I'll go out and bike as long as it's not too humid - and avoid gravel trails since they're probably muddy at the moment.

I have a meeting at 1:00 with one of the development people at the university. Their foundation is one of our two trust beneficiaries (since we don't have kids), and I emailed them the other day asking if I just need to fill out a new form to change some of our percentages (i.e, what percentage of our "gift" goes to what departments or units). He never answered my question and suggested we meet over coffee today. He's a real hard seller, so I'm hoping he's not going to try talking me into donating some huge amount of $$ to some current project (which he's done before). I don't mind giving smaller sums here and there, but I'd rather wait until I'm in my 70s to donate large amounts, since who knows what might happen down the road. We'd like to really beef up our international traveling while we can still do it (although at this point we need to wait until my mother is in assisted living), and we'd like to get into a really nice continuous care community at some point (again, since we're child-free). He's called me a couple of times in the past asking if we'll donate something like $10K to some new building project. Ah ...no. Not now. Anyway, at least I'm able to say no. But I've come to dread these meetings. I wish he'd have just answered my damn question.

QOTD: Like a few others, I also hate managing people and moving, but I think the one thing I'm good at that I never want to do again is tech support over the phone. It is SO stressful, especially when you have someone on the other end who has no clue what they're doing and doesn't understand what you're asking them to. How many ways can you explain it? There were times I finally said "can I speak to your tech support person?" - and they'd invariably answer, "I AM the tech support person". UGH!!!!(these were all at schools or public libraries, btw...usually someone like an assistant principal was assigned the role of tech support person, even if they had no clue what they were doing)

coffee with half & half

Ratio yogurt with strawberries

protein shake

cheesecake-flavored yogurt pie with strawberries

baby carrots with hummus

Loma Linda taco filling with diced tomato, a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, and salsa

have a great day, everyone!

G'afternoon, everyone!

I had to take one of the cats to the vet this morning (just his annual physical), and then I got absorbed in the updates re: the Trump trial. So here I am - finally. I'll be taking my mother to the doctor's this afternoon for HER annual exam. I think I'd better go in the room with her because I've discovered the couple of times I've gone in with her that she's not always truthful when she's in there. She likes to paint a rosy picture - and things aren't always rosy with her. Fear, I guess. Plus with her dementia, she may forget things.

QOTD: with my bad hip joint, I doubt it - but I'll try later and report back

coffee with half & half

plain Greek yogurt with 1/2 C mixed fruit

crumpet with butter and jam

protein shake

popcorn

(yikes - I need to get some exercise or I'm at risk of going over my limit!!) (well, I might go over it regardless - but I feel better about going a bit over when I've burned up a bunch of calories exercising. Too bad it's raining because I can't bike. I usually go for 2 or 3 hours and burn up a truckload of calories - so if I'm over by 100 or so, it doesn't really matter)

not sure what else today. Maybe Loma Linda Taco filling with diced tomato and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt - or else roasted vegetables with peanut sauce

have a great day!!

I've lost a couple of friends to glioblastoma (an aggressive form of brain cancer). That's a tough one.

Hi All -

I've gone biking three days in a row - 23 miles, 14 miles, and 22 miles, so I'm feeling pretty great at the moment. Didn't do much else today, although I need to put in my hour of Swedish death cleaning, since I never got around to it yesterday.

QOTD: I'd love to lose 20 lbs, but I've been saying that for over a year. I usually lose about five in the summer without really trying because I eat lighter foods, spend time outside, and do a lot of biking, but I really could stand to lose that 20. I look my best when I'm at about 150 lbs. If I could even get back down to 160, though, I'd be happy. I think my biggest problem is that I have a very active social life that usually revolves around food (parties, wine tastings, meeting friends for lunch, etc). I try to space these events out if possible - but it's not always possible. Back when I was losing weight I had tremendous resolve and was usually able to navigate these successfully, but more often than not, I blow it most of the time now. But I need to try. I know I can do it because I've done it.

coffee with half & half

chocolate "mousse" with raspberries

1/2 a breakfast sandwich and two forkfuls of cheesy hash browns, about 1/2 C of yogurt parfait

protein shake

might have Loma Linda taco filling topped with plain Greek yogurt, diced tomato, and salsa since it's Cinco de Mayo (we had lunch out (see above - breakfast sandwich et al (we split everything)), so we don't need to go out again)

have a great evening, everyone!

I'm OK at that one. Connections can sometimes be hard for me, though. Different areas of the brain, evidently.

I haven't had cable in about 30 years, but yea - there is TON on over-the-air TV now. I think it happened when they switched from analog to digital (and we had to pick up a couple of digital converters, since all of our TVs at the time were ancient). So much of what's on cable is of no interest to me that it's really no different NOT having it, other than I do like CNN, so there's that. But only that (at least for me). Other than that, I'm perfectly content not having it with all that's now available over the air.

Mornin' All!

took a big load of stuff to St. Vinny's yesterday - a huge load of clothes and some kitchen stuff of my MIL's that we'll never use, but also this little end table (or plant stand? Not sure) that belonged to my grandmother. I felt bad taking that, but it's not my "thing" at all, and it would have just sat in our basement for another 20 years. Maybe someone will fall in love with it, buy it, and actually enjoy it for the next 20 years.

I watched the first four episodes of "Baby Reindeer" last night - wow - terrific! I'll watch the rest tonight.

It's an absolutely spectacular day out today - 70ish, no rain, and very little wind, so I'll be out on my bike. I think I'll try one of my longer rides this time. I've been doing 10-15 mile rides to "warm up" for the season. These are 22- and 27-mile rides, respectively. Not sure I'm quite ready yet, but with a couple of substantial stops, I think I can do it. This evening we'll be going to a fundraiser for the culinary arts dept at the community/technical college in town. It's supposed to feature lots of appetizers and "mocktails". At least the long bike ride should burn up a lot of calories beforehand!

QOTD: Probably a 2. I saw the original when it first came out (I was in high school). I think I may have seen the 2nd, but I can't remember. I liked it at the time, but I have no desire to see that one again - or any subsequent ones.

coffee with half & half

plain skyr with cranberry compote and 2 T granola

I'll probably take a protein shake on my bike ride (in my usual water bottle, since I'll need some kind of fluid *anyway*). And probably a protein bar as well since I'm counting on 2-3 hours for the ride

cheesecake-flavored yogurt pie with strawberries

I'll have a L&F yogurt with a T of tahini mixed in or else a handful of pistachios this afternoon to really fill me up before we head over to the culinary arts thing (in hopes that I won't overdo it at the event. Sometimes works...)

have a great day, everyone!