My salmon dinner last night was great. I grilled it in a pouch with fresh dill and lemon slices and served it with steamed broccoli. DS had chicken and I was nice enough to make some mashed potatoes for him. I don't think DH is remembering the whole "portion control" thing we were supposed to learn from Nutrisystem. Four servings of mashed potatoes, of which I probably had half a serving, meant we should have had leftovers. Nope, DH finished them off. Oh well, its not my problem.
allison, the salmon sounds delish! I can sympathize with your DH; controlling portions of mashed potatoes is incredibly difficult for me. Come to think of it, anything potato-related is trouble!
saef, way to go with navigating between the food boulders of the conference! Must be good to hear some positive feedback on your weight training efforts. You're smaller, stronger, and setting yourself up for a healthy, mobile later life - what's not to love?
Swam 1200 yds last night; got out before anything started to hurt besides my lungs. Water aerobics starts tonight, Tues and Thurs for 3 weeks. My goal is to make them all.
Major financial pressures looming on the horizon, ugggh. The plumbers start work on my hall bath next week, which is great and will be a huge step toward getting that project moving. However, we NEED to replace two big sliding doors (gee, thanks, Anderson), and it's time to pull the trigger on re-siding the entire house from T-111 to cement composite. It will wipe out our cash reserves, which absolutely freaks me out. This, on top of DS's final big tuition bill for 8th grade (July), his trip to France with his class (winter), and our river cruise plane tickets (next spring). Plus, DH wants to build a pole barn/chicken coop out back. Time for a cash-flow diagram and to see what options still exist out in the financing world.
This trip may yet work out okay. I have another dinner to get through tonight. I think I can influence the choice of venue to a seafood place. That might help.
Although I do understand the concern, I hope never again in my life to think of a meal as something I have to "get through."
allison, the salmon sounds delish! I can sympathize with your DH; controlling portions of mashed potatoes is incredibly difficult for me. Come to think of it, anything potato-related is trouble!
Potatoes used to be a problem for me. I'm pretty good with them now. My biggest problem is bread and cheese. Together. I succumbed to it this morning. I had several slices of leftover baguette on which I piled cheddar and nuked for a few seconds. Yes. I ate five of them (which, since they were thinly sliced probably amounted to less than two regular slices of bread, but still).
Bread and cheese have been banished from my house, rye bread or a tortilla with a little cheese in the microwave a few seconds, yum ! Every once in awhile I want an egg sandwich and remember I have no bread. I've got to do something to get those last 5 pounds off, they just don't seem to want to leave.Bread and cheese GONE !!
ICU (Becky?)-- good luck with the financial stuff. It is always a challenge. Last week I was having a panic attack when two back to back VERY high AmEx bills hit. Then my car wouldn't start and I had to get it towed. It was the battery which wasn't covered under warranty-- $180. When I picked up the car and talked to them, they decided to "comp" the charge-- it almost made me cry!
Today/ this week I'm having many non planned food challenges. I invited three of my best parent volunteers out to lunch today and one of them suggested a restaurant that I haven't been to before. The menu looks like I'll have some fairly good options but it is still "off-plan" for me. Then one of my co-workers brought me a "thank you" Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks this morning. I haven't had one before-- delish. But I googled the calories and was dismayed to see they are over 200 for a tall and she got me a grande. Not sure I'll drink it all. My weight is already rising the past several days for no apparent reason unless it is delayed from the weekend (possible) or a side effect of my antibiotics (??possible??).
Bread and cheese have been banished from my house, rye bread or a tortilla with a little cheese in the microwave a few seconds, yum ! Every once in awhile I want an egg sandwich and remember I have no bread. I've got to do something to get those last 5 pounds off, they just don't seem to want to leave.Bread and cheese GONE !!
for me, this makes all the difference in the world. go bargoo!
Although I do understand the concern, I hope never again in my life to think of a meal as something I have to "get through."
Well, it's partly because last night I was dining with three other people, including my manager and her manager -- and the latter chose someone else for a junior management position over me just over a year ago. The fourth person is the new hire whom everyone in the department tacitly agrees was a major mistake, as she's required hours & hours of extra training. Her social skills aren't good, either. So it's rather fraught to have her sitting with two levels of management. But she kind of invited herself along when the rest of the dept. intelligently opted out of this one.
Tonight there will also be lots of managers and coworkers, though no one who manages me directly. My other issue is, there's a faction in this crew that likes imported & craft beer, and will choose the venue based on the availability of beverages, rather than the menu items. And maybe I don't want a hamburger.
With me, it's never just about the food. It's always mingled with other issues of self-presentation and judgment and performance.
Well, it's partly because last night I was dining with three other people, including my manager and her manager -- and the latter chose someone else for a junior management position over me just over a year ago. The fourth person is the new hire whom everyone in the department tacitly agrees was a major mistake, as she's required hours & hours of extra training. Her social skills aren't good, either. So it's rather fraught to have her sitting with two levels of management. But she kind of invited herself along when the rest of the dept. intelligently opted out of this one.
Tonight there will also be lots of managers and coworkers, though no one who manages me directly. My other issue is, there's a faction in this crew that likes imported & craft beer, and will choose the venue based on the availability of beverages, rather than the menu items. And maybe I don't want a hamburger.
With me, it's never just about the food. It's always mingled with other issues of self-presentation and judgment and performance.
Another perk of my job - dinner out with management means me alone. Going out with my "co-workers" means having brunch with 3 other dogwalkers who have become almost friends over the years. Lots of chat about dogs, poop, and everything else under the sun.
I can see how you would see yourself as being "on stage" saef and how that could be a really stressful thing. And I think we all respond to stress with doubtful food choices sometimes. Again I am fortunate in that I behave really healthily while out in public. It's when I get home that all the "stuff" comes out, sometimes leading to really poor food/beverage choices, often bought while arguing with myself on the way home.
Hope your dinner this evening goes well. Tonite I have to impress my two cats (and I've given them dinner already so they're pretty pleased with me so far).
Dagmar, your post about chatting about dogs reminds me of a listing I saw on Petfinder for adoptable dogs. One dog was described as looking like a stuffed animal that breathes, eats and poops.
Odd how much of my life has been spent in fear of my dad's bullying. He's now a trembly little old man who I could break in half but I still get anxious every time I have to "talk" to him. You'd think I would be over it by now.
I will not have to look over my shoulder today when I pick up/drop off the dog who lives across the street from him. I feel like I can breathe for the next 3 months.
And I might be able to get a "slightly used" ONeill wetsuit today for $75! Keeping my .
And it's going to be and comfortably cool for the next 5 days.
Another sleepless night, I finally got up and played computer games for a couple of hours. Today will be a balancing act, if I sit down for a few minutes my body will want to take a nap,if I give in to that there will be no sleep tonight.
Now my words are coming back to haunt me, I told somebody once " if I ever start discussing my sleeping or bowel habits, slap my face'" . I see I have started in on the sleeping habits.....groan.
I'm somewhat out of sorts today. I don't think I mentioned it here, but we had an incident with our neighbors last weekend. We don't have a fenced yard - well not fully. The neighbor to the left has a fence, the neighbors to the back have one. The neighbor to the right does not. We've been having trouble with their son and his friends playing in our yard for months - their yard is small, has a concrete drainage grate in it, a trampoline and a row of border trees that they just put up about 8 feet inside the property line. Not much room for ball. So they come fully into my yard to play. I've asked them not to do it, they keep coming back. I would be liable if they got hurt and I don't like that.
This Saturday night they had a party. A boy and his dad were fully in my yard playing football. Right next to my garden, which is only 10 feet from the back of my house. They had a spare ball lying on my concrete pad, so 12 feet from my back door. We asked them to leave and got some pushback from other people at the party - some "they are just kids playing, what's your problem", some cursing and posturing from one of the party goers, etc. Well - it is my yard. They didn't ask to be in it, they were just there. I don't care if it is just kids. Which it wasn't - one was an adult.
So now I want to fence the other side, and I wonder if I'm just reacting in anger, etc. I would have let them play in the back half if they had asked, but they were 12 feet from the back of the house.
Is it wrong of me to expect people to stay out of my yard in a subdivision? I would never just go into theirs.
allison, cheese can make me pretty crazy too! I appreciate the good thoughts on the cash flow. It's not a hard thing to do; it just requires concentration and it's not something I like to do.
bargoo, you're a strong lady. I wish I had the option to banish the stuff that causes me the most trouble, but there'd be a mutiny in the house. Sending you positive thoughts for a great night's rest tonight!
michele (yes, I'm Becky), thanks! Credit cards are great, up to a point - I love the tracking and the convenience and knowing they're a buffer of last resort. We occasionally leave 5% of a bill to lay over to the next month, as it's surprising how that improves our credit rating. Very odd. Good luck navigating the rest of the week!
saef, sending you good wishes for your having a chance to relax and enjoy the company and the food. I can relate to the balancing act of it - I often have a sleepless night after something like what you're describing.
dagmar, good to hear that your major stressors have eased! Comfy cool is predicted for us also - I have lots of work to do outside, so if this holds over the weekend, I may actually get some real work done!!
Shannon, good fences make good neighbors. Tell them you're planning to get a pet and you don't want it intruding in their space, because that would be incredibly rude and might strain your relationship. I've seen your garden and I'd get protective over it too!
I'm pleasantly stiff today from last night's water aerobics. What a great workout! The July 4 challenge is going well; I'm on day 16 and the downward trend is definite; I cracked the 150 mark again finally.
Water aerobics starts tonight, Tues and Thurs for 3 weeks. My goal is to make them all.
today when I pick up/drop off the dog who lives across the street from him. I feel like I can breathe for the next 3 months. 
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and comfortably cool for the next 5 days. 
I've seen your garden and I'd get protective over it too!
