REALLY! And yesterday, too! And Monday too! I am no longer depressed. DH & I did a lot of housecleaning chores Monday morning and then went to Regatta Point on Lake Quinsigamond (only a stone’s throw from our house) and did a brisk hour’s walk followed by an hour on our beach chairs, reading and soaking up some desperately needed vitamin D. The pound and a half weight gain must’ve been water weight, because it’s gone now, and my fingers, which were a tad swollen, aren’t anymore. Yay and double-Yay! We also did our walk & vitamin D absorption Tuesday, too. I stayed home from work again. Needed sun more than I needed to see my office. Worked Wednesday, but it was okay - I’m taking next Monday off so I can have a (reasonably) long weekend, and we’re going up to N.H. Good weather is predicted. I have been re-energized and rejuvenated…AND the tomato bushes that I’m growing out in the yard in urns are FILLED with little green tomatoes. How’s THAT for a complete turnaround in weather AND mood? Hmmmm. Supposedly, what they say about New England is, “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” Hah! More like wait a couple of weeks!!!! But, I’m okay, now, and along with my better frame of mind is a new commitment to eating right. No more nibbles of cake here and a few cookies there. I really don’t know why I did that - the HEALTHY food that I make tastes WAY better, anyway! Last night I made our favorite Taco pizzas on flat (lavash) bread (100 calories for each big rectangular sheet). I spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on the bread, and then on top of that, spread the “taco meat” - faux crumbles, that is. Morningstar brand. I dice (finely) a green pepper, a red pepper, a half of a large Vidalia onion, throw it all into a big wok-type pan along with the faux meat crumbles, add a package and a half of “original” taco seasoning and about 3/4’s of a cup of hot water, stir, and cook on medium/low heat until peppers and onions are tender and the water is absorbed - about 15 minutes. So, I spread that on top of the layer of pizza sauce, and then add a layer of Fat Free shredded mozarella cheese. Bake it for about eight minutes in a 375 degree oven, cut each one (I make two - one for each of us) into six squares and serve with salsa, Fat free sour cream and, if you like it, guacamole. DH is a real avocado aficionado, so we always have them in the house, and always have guacamole with our taco pizzas. Yum! Problem is, there’s never any left over for the next day! WAY better than cake or cookies - seriously! (So why did I nibble at that crapola, huh? Huh? Wish I knew….)

So, spent another day up in the beautiful Berkshires today - meetings from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM and then 2 1/2 hours home. Stopped at the market and picked up the stuff we’re planning to bring up to NH with us, and now I’m home - have pasta sauce simmering with turkey sausages and ground turkey meat, and of course the ever-popular chopped onions and red & green peppers. I’ll mix it all with *SMART* penne pasta (the high fiber, low calorie, low carb kind) and what we don’t eat tonight, I’ll pack in the cooler to take with us and share with the other odd-White Mountain-folk. Also some frozen spinach. DH & I love spinach mixed into our pasta, and we’ve trained the others to like it, too.

I didn’t sleep well at all last night - went to bed at 10:00 and was awake again at 2 AM, so I took a bath thinking that would be nice and soothing and put me back to sleep, but no luck on that front, so I’ve been up and running since 2:00. Auuuurgh, huh? I need to try to get a good night’s rest tonight, because I know that tomorrow night and the next night are going to be intensive discussion-fests and I hate not being at the top of my game with that crowd, let me tell you!

Well, off to do a little packing and what-not.

Hope you all have a nice, relaxing weekend!

Hugs,

Z