Week Thirty-Four - Thursday I Waivered - Just a Bit...

I gave myself a waiver for Thursday. Why? Because my friend Susan, who had been very sick and in the hospital and who was now getting better, was home and I promised her I would take her out to breakfast.

We went to the Sundowner Cafe! 

She told me they had great pancakes! Besides, we were going to go here before only my dad got sick, and then she got sick, so this was a do-over!

Pancakes, you say? Why yes. Yes, indeed! They are something between a crepe and a pancake. Imagine something that is half as thick as a regular pancake with the chewiness of a crepe. OMG... just amazing! I ate one and a half. Plus one egg and two slices of bacon.

I also made chocolate chip cookies for my grandkids. Yes, I did eat one. It is all about quality control! This #recipe is one of my favorites. Mine always have walnuts in them, for the kids not so much. Why they don't like walnuts is one of the great mysteries of life.  Oh well, their loss is my gain!

Yes, these are the real deal.
My cookies...
In all their glory...

What did I eat the rest of the day? A peach and bacon. Not at the same time...

If I had fresh basil I might have eaten it like this!
I love sweet & savory.

My afternoon and evening were spent being a couch potato.

I feel like I have been running and running and doing and doing and not getting any "me time." I like alone time. It's what I'm used to. I even spent most of my married life alone as my husband traveled a lot.

How much is "a lot?"
He traveled about 9 months out of the year.
That is a lot.

Almost every day mom calls before 9 a.m. and wants to know what my plans are for the day. Today was no different. I said "no" to her plans but did tell her we would get together on Monday as I also have plans for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

So THAT is how my Thursday went. Here's looking forward to a great Friday and ensuing weekend.

…Lin…

Week Thirty-Four - How Was My Tuesday?

It was a good day! Bacon and eggs for breakfast; caprese salad for lunch. Sounds like my Monday, right? But then came The Happy Viking - as usual.

Captain had his usual beer, I had my usual Bloody Mary, complete with 3 olives and a pickled green bean. He wanted a quesadilla appetizer with chicken, so we shared it. Did you know one 10" flour tortilla has 36 net carbs? Holy smokes!!! I split it with him, so kiss 18 carbs goodbye for Tuesday! Good thing I can have 35 carbs for the day. I ordered wings with 'Bama White Sauce, which is a mayonnaise-based bbq sauce.  He ordered the 'strami burger w/bacon. Oh, and onion rings. I did not partake of his food, and he took half of my wings home.

Yep, it was a good day!

When we got home we had movie night. We watched Veronica Guerin...

Based on a true story!
Very powerful!

...and then for a little fluff to end the evening we watched two (yes, 2!) episodes of One Step Beyond!

Kind of like Twilight Zone, only based on true stories!

Now my night has come to an end. I will go swimming tomorrow. :) Hope your Tuesday was awesome!

…Lin…

Week Thirty-Four - Let the week begin!

Once again I have strayed from blogging. Sorry!

I feel bloated, I am itchy, and I am frustrated. My intentions are good, but gosh... trying to get back on track is tough!

So since it's Monday I decided to see if Mom wanted to go swimming. Surprisingly (no, not really - I'm being sarcastic) she said yes!

We avoided the class, which is really just a social gathering taking up space in the pool because the ladies don't really exercise. I chatted with a couple of ladies who were there doing their own thing. They gave me pointers on exercises; one exercises the knees, one strengthens the core, and I walk laps in the pool. Did you know 65 laps equals one mile? Gosh, wonder how long it's going to take me to get there?

I was rather pleased with myself today when it came to eating, also.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs and cheese.  Tastiness ensues!

Lunch was two hot dogs with chili and beans. No bun, though. Too many carbs!

Next time I will add more cheese and bacon. Why? Because it satisfies me.

Snacks were olives and some celery with  ranch dressing. Love the crunchiness as it makes me feel like I'm eating a lot! LOL!!!

And dinner was...

...a chopped caprese salad. Heirloom tomato, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and a few spices. Ah-maz-ing...

Now I am home relaxing. My knees ache from both the exercising as well as a trip to the grocery store. Walking on that much concrete really kills me, as does just standing in one spot. And I stood for probably 20 minutes when I ran into my friends Mike & Tanna because we spent time catching up on life and gabbing like school kids.

After all is said and done it's been a good day. I still want to lose the 10 lbs before Cape Cod, but I don''t think that's going to happen because we are leaving in 11 days.

I see the doctor on the 28th so I will let you know how I did. I do know that I haven't gained any since I've strayed. That puts a smile on my face. :)

Wishing you all a blessed good night. See you tomorrow!

…Lin…

Week Thirty-Two - Three Very Stressful Days

Can I tell you that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday have been crazy stressful???

 

So stressful, in fact, that it took me 3 days to write my blog about Monday!

In spite of all of the stress, I have managed to stay on my plan. This is what I ate:

Tuesday: Scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast; Asian chopped salad for lunch; cheeseburger (literally a burger with melted cheese on top) for dinner.

Wednesday: Bacon for breakfast; hot dogs, 1/2 peach and olives for lunch; cheese, nuts and a small glass of wine for dinner.

Thursday: Sausage and egg for breakfast; chicken cobb salad for lunch; 1/2 peach, bacon, nuts and a glass of wine for dinner.

Three square meals (well, square for me!) a day.

What has been causing all the stress, you may ask?

Dad and his blood pressure. After 4 days of his systolic dropping to the mid-80's (as in 84/52), he went to the doctor today. The doctor checked for everything - blood sugar, anemia, infection - and we kind of came to the conclusion that it might be the new diuretic his kidney doctor prescribed. He's only been on it 3 weeks, and his blood pressure started misbehaving starting about 2 weeks ago. By the time we got home this evening he was feeling better, his blood pressure was 128/62, and it had been 24 hours since he took the diuretic. Hopefully it's something as simple as that.

To say that my calendar has been screwed up is putting it mildly.

Had I known how sick he was on Monday I might not have gone to Calistoga.

Tuesday I was going to see my union friends and enjoy a lunch with the retirees. I cancelled. I had already changed my nail appointment.

Wednesday we met with the tentative housekeeper. They declined, but I stayed there all day because of how he was feeling.

Thursday I was supposed to get my nails done and my cousin, Mike, was coming for a visit. By now I moved my nail appointment to Friday; then Mike called to cancel his visit as he came down with a case of poison oak. Both were good things as the parents (yes, both of them) had a doctor's appointment today.

To say I survived is putting it mildly. So all I can say is...

Cheers! Here's to a better Friday and new, sparklie nails!

…Lin…

Week Thirty-Two - They Say Confession is Good for the Soul!

Well, not really a confession, just details of how my Monday went!

Captain and I made a day trip to Calistoga, and can you believe it - it was NOT for winetasting! Nope, it was to meet my penpal, Jenny, from Indiana (or thereabouts!). We "met" on a website called Just a Pinch. We started our conversation by talking about bread baked in a dutch oven! After a couple of comments we switched to messaging and finally ended up exchanging our real emails!

I was so excited to find out that her daughter was getting married in Napa in August and she and husband Weldon would be coming out! That meant we could hopefully meet face to face!

I got to Captain's house about 9:00 a.m. and we headed out for a quick bite of breakfast, as neither one of us had eaten. So we ran thru Der Weinerschnitzel and got a breakfast croissant sandwich.

Object appears larger (much larger) than it really is!

Not gonna lie... It was good. Small, though, which was fine because we were heading to Napa Valley!

The drive through Napa was just beautiful and so many wineries. A lot of names we recognized, some we did not. Either way we had lots of places in mind we wanted to eventually go to, maybe even doing an overnight road trip at some point.

Finally it was time!!! We texted our location and timelines to each other and then... then we met at the Cafe Sarafornia in Calistoga.  (They have the best oat bran pancakes with orange butter - and I don't even like pancakes!)

"I will make this place the Calistoga of Sarafornia!"
~Sam Brannan, 1885

As they couldn't check into their room until 1:30, we took our time eating and talking... and talking... and talking... and then a wee bit of window shopping. We all had a great time getting to know each other!

I admit it!

Did I have those pancakes? Why yes, I did! And they were just as good as I remembered. MMMmmm... I did not stay on track, and I really didn't intend to. One should not feel deprived on special occasions. Otherwise you get resentful. So I enjoyed my day.

One croissant, one pancake, one wine & truffle tasting, and two brand new, wonderful friends.

Thank you, Jenny & Weldon, for coming into our lives! We feel so blessed to know you.

…Lin n Captain…

Week Thirty-Two - And so a new week begins...

Yes, it's the first day of the week, a new beginning and another successful day.

My breakfast today was one basted egg and 3 slices of bacon, which I usually end up sharing with Maddie, so I don't really get all 3 slices of bacon.

My parents surprised me by buying themselves a new car on Saturday - a Ford C-Max. What a gorgeous vehicle!

Theirs is white -but it looks just like this one!
How gorgeous is that? 

Anyhow, this morning they wanted me to go with them to the car dealership so I could learn all about it - and in turn, teach dad everything about it. Overwhelming, to say the least!

When we were done there (and we really didn't get ALL done, but at least I learned the basics) we headed to Folsom to visit my daughter and her family. It was a beautiful day! The heat abated and a beautiful breeze was blowing. Jalen kept us entertained with his swimming abilities, and I must say that for a 4-year-old he is quite the fish. No fear of water!

A few hours later we realized we were all starved, so we headed out for Jack's Urban Eats.

I had their Buffalo Chicken Salad. It is fabulous! If you've never tried it, it has romaine lettuce with apples, celery, candied walnuts, shredded carrots, blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing, plus buffalo chicken strips on top!

Yumminess on a blue plate! 

We all ate like pigs and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was such a lovely day today - 4 generations getting together. Nothing better than that!

Four generations from left to right:
Me, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Megan
and the star of the show - Jalen!
Ta-Da!!!

Finally it was time to go home. Hugs and kisses all round, and off we go.

Unfortunately dad's blood pressure started dropping and he wasn't doing too well by the time we got home. He had a cup of coffee, so that helped bring it back up. I stayed with them for a while until he was feeling better and his blood pressure started to stabilize.

I finally made it home and Maddie was certainly happy to see me! Aww... I am loved! LOL!! It was too late to really eat anything, but I did pour myself a glass of V-8 juice.

I spiced it up with a bit of celery salt and Louisiana hot sauce. Yummy!!! And it gave me some veggies, even if it was in liquid form.

Then the munchies set in. I hate when that happens. Maybe it was because of the one (1) bite of mac n cheese that Jalen shared with me? The Trisha Yearwood chocolate episode on Food Network? I don't know. Whatever set it off, I don't know. But I do know I resisted with the help of a handful of nuts.

Then I called it a night. I have fun plans for tomorrow!  Until then...

…Lin…