What's on your Wednesday Menu?

Good morning,

It looks like the rain has passed for a while and it's going to be cool but clear. I have a busy day today, so I'm happy to be able to be out and about without worrying about getting caught in a down pour. I had a mostly successful yesterday and switched dinner up to a lasagna made with cauliflower sandwich thins. It worked out pretty well, and was very filling. I used a lot of cheese and added both ground chicken and ground pork that had be preseasoned to be like sweet italian sausage. Probably a lot of calories in the whole dish with all the cheeses, but I could only eat one ninth of an 8 x8 pan. Lots of left overs. Some are already in the freezer and some will be breakfast or lunch this week.

Today is walk, yoga, book club and then going to a friends house for dinner. I'm going to teach her how to roast a whole chicken and have a glass of wine.

QoTD: Come visit me and stand in my front yard around 4:30 every afternoon and watch the dogs arrive for play dates and the owners for a chat. We have a wonderful neighborhood and run into folks everywhere.

Menu seems to be:

B: piece of crustless quiche and side of harvest winter salad I found pre made

L: need to eat the insides of a left over taco and refried beans

D: roast chicken, parm potatoes, roasted carrots.

Peace everybody!

The instruction in how to have a glass of wine shouldn't be too difficult. I think she will get the hang of it after awhile.

Probably, she's a smart cookie. But maybe I might plan on having two with her to be sure she gets it...

Yes, Repetition works for me.

Your dog/neighbor party sounds like a good time!

G'morning all!

Nice job, QJB, on your quizzes. I hate math with a passion. When kids were in school I was in charge of their humanities subjects: history, English, etc, while DH was in charge of their math and science. Especially in hs when they were doing AP calc, it was way over my head. Back in college I liked stats and I was actually good at it.

QOTD: growing up I lived in the suburbs of a fairly small town (about 90,000 population). I was used to know everybody either because of school or my parents (especially my dad's job - felt like half of the town was his patient). Now I live somewhere with barely 7,000 population; during the years kids were growing up I felt like I knew everybody, because of school and all the committees I was on that were related to school. Now I see a lot of old acquaintances at stores or around town. Our neighbors are friendly and helpful when we are out of town, and we reciprocate the favor, but I wouldn't call them our friends. My close friends that I actually make an effort to visit with are my boys moms group (our boys grew up together) and my girls moms group (our girls grew up together). My work friends are too spread out to connect with in person, because I started WFH when DS was born, so that's about 20 years ago, and when you don't see people in person that often the friendships don't last much. Sorry long winded to say yes, I feel connected enough to my community but not in an invasive way.

My meals yesterday:

• Coffee
• Crockpot salsa chicken
• Chomp stick, quest chips
• Taco night, used cauliflower thins (the same that Lisa used for her lasagna) as my taco shells.
• E: 4.5 miles neighborhood uphill wog

Happy hump day!

QJB-Excellent job on the math quizzes. Do you know about Khan Academy? It is a free online math instruction website that is really good.

Last day of work before my mini vacation starts. I have checked in for my flight. I see where they are asking people to change their flights and get a voucher. However, that does not work for me since we have the rodeo to go to after we arrive. It looks like the weather advisory ends tonight at 5pm but will be in the low to mid 30s while we are there. I will probably leave early today to get in a workout and finish packing as we have the musical tonight and early flight tomorrow at O dark 30.

QOTD: We are not particularly social. While we know a few people who live near us, we don't know the bulk of our neighbors (even after 16 years). When we visit our hometown everywhere we go with my in-laws they always see someone they know. I envy that. However, my BIL thinks everyone he meets is his best friend, while DH and I are more reserved, and you need to earn our trust/friendship.

Accountability: Excellent

Same meals.

E: Leg lifting workout, 30-45 minutes aerobic exercise

usually I'm not in a position to take a later flight (and a voucher) because, like you, I have to be somewhere on the other end - or else someone is picking me up at the other end and can't come later. There are times when this isn't true, though - that I COULD take a later flight and enjoy whatever other incentives they're giving people to take a later flight (and sometimes those incentives are really good!), but those of course are the times when the flight isn't overbooked, so there's no reason for them to ask anyone to change flights. So I've yet to cash in on this...

Hope you were able to get everything done at work so you can enjoy the trip! Safe travels.

Good afternoon all and Happy Straddle day,

My classes started yesterday too. My pop culture sounds like it will be really interesting and engaging. However, the professor said that it should take 10 hours a week to do the papers. My other classes start tonight and that should give me a good indication of how I'll need to budget time every week.

Other than that, just trying to stay on top of life as it comes. It will be nice to either get in a groove or actualize personal free time soon.

QOTD - I definitely feel like I'm part of the community where I live. In my neighborhood, I attend CAPS police neighborhood outreach meetings, volunteer with neighborhood mutual aid, go to outdoor front porch concerts in my area, attend the annual block party, friendly with some neighbors, participate in my AA club which is a 1/2 mile away, etc, look out for the well-being of my block and address it if I can... However, it's a different feeling living in a densely populated urban area than other locations. I don't know all my neighbors simply because they don't return hello or pleasantries. Random strangers are fast paced & indifferent the majority of the time.

Good news - Since I've been so busy, my eating has gone from needs improvement to strict adherence without much difficulty.

B: Dannon Light and Fit Coconut Yogurt, Tangerine.

L: PP shake.

D: Costco Rotisserie Chicken, carrots.

S: mini bag popcorn