What's on your Thursday Menu, RNYers?

Good Morning! How are we all doing today? I am still slogging through this cold... I made it through a full day of work, but I felt so foggy and slow. Thank god that I have the greatest coordinator on my team--he is super smart, super quick, and he's kept me on track all week :) Feeling a little better already this morning, so I hope I can tackle a little more today.

Accountability: Great. Skipped my yogurt during the day, and when I came home, Grim was kind enough to make me chicken, so I skipped my French toast chaffles (will try again tonight!). I walked 3.5 miles to work, but opted for the bus on the way home.

QOTD: Where are the first and last places that your body loses fat? I always notice my lost weight fastest in my face. And the last place I ever lose weight is my thighs/knees. I have always had super thick legs and even at my thinnest, my legs are always proportionally way too big.

Exercise: 3.5 mile walk to work. I am already getting sad to think it will be too cold for this walk, soon... Its my favorite part of the day!

Good morning all! Went to bed earlier last night, but still didn't want to get up this morning. I've just been so groggy all week. Then yesterday I found out I have company coming this weekend so that means I'll be cleaning my house Friday after work. It's not that my house is even dirty, but It's just something I get very ocd about when I have guests over. And it's hard to keep a presentable house with a long haired cat who sheds every 5 seconds. So no rest for me. Then next weekend is going to be busy as we will be celebrating my moms and my brothers girlfriends birthday. Hopefully the weekend after that I can just relax and do absolutely nothing! Stay in my pj's and drink coffee all weekend. Now that's my kind of weekend! Lol

QOTD: The place I lose weight the fastest is definitely my face and neck. I'd say the slowest would be my thighs and stomach.

B: premier shake

B2: coffee and splenda

L: turkey and cheese roll up

D: leftover salmon and Brussels

Yesterday I was right on track except I did have a banana for an evening snack.

Sigh.....now I gotta get my cat out of my lap so I can get ready for work. He always wants to snuggle when I have to be somewhere. When I have nowhere to go he wants nothing to do with me. That's a cat for ya! Lol

My cat is the same! I could call him for hours when I have the time to snuggle and he acts like he is deaf or can't be bothered... He knows when I am on a time-crunch, though, and can't get enough lap time.

Yep, that is my Chester too! Or if I try to pick him up to put him in my lap he acts like I'm trying to kill him and will squirm and try to bite until I give up! It's their terms or nothing at all. Lol

Good morning, everybody!

Robert Hunter died Tuesday. In his obituaries he is described as a lyricist, but poet is a more accurate description. Not all of his writings have been set to music. Although there are exceptions, most Grateful Dead songs were either composed by Jerry Garcia with lyrics by Hunter or written by Bob Weir with lyrics by John Perry Barlow (who also died this year).

Hunter was born Robert Burns and claims to have been the great grandson of the Scottish poet Robert Burns (Auld Lang Syne). I don't know whether that is true or not.

This is a poem that I have thought about a lot the last 18 months or so as I have undergone my WLS journey. The title is The Lady with the Fan and its part of Hunter's Terrapin Station Suite, parts of which, musically became Terrapin Station.

Let my inspiration flow, in token rhyme suggesting rhythm
That will not forsake me, till my tale is told and done
While the fire lights aglow, strange shadows from the flames will grow
Till things we've never seen will seem familiar

Shadows of a sailor forming winds both foul and fair, all swarm
Down in Carlisle he loved a lady many years ago
Here beside him stands a man, a soldier by the looks of him,
Who came through many fights, but lost at love

While the story teller speaks, a door within the fire creaks,
Suddenly flies open, and a girl is standing there
Eyes alight, with glowing hair, all that fancy paints as fair
She takes her fan and throws it in the lion's den

Which of you to gain me, tell, will risk uncertain pains of hell?
I will not forgive you if you will not take the chance
The sailor gave at least a try; the soldier, being much too wise,
Strategy was his strength, and not disaster

The sailor, coming out again, the lady fairly leapt at him
That's how it stands today. You decide if he was wise
The story teller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice
His job is to shed light, and not to master

Since the end is never told we pay the teller off in gold
In hopes he will come back, but he cannot be bought or sold

The poem starts with Hunter asking the muses for inspiration to be able to tell whole tale. This is a common incantation in classical literature. More recently, think of Dante's invocation of Beatrice at the beginning of The Inferno. It is not a coincidence that Hunter begins his poetry suite with a device of the ancient poets - Hunter read broadly as a child and his adoptive father was a publisher. Ripple has a similar beginning.

There is a timelessness to this poem the always amazes me. A soldier, a sailor, a beautiful woman ("eyes alight with flowing hair, all that fancy paints as fair"), a countryside inn in England. Was this set in the aftermath of Agincourt? The Peninsula campaign? Yorktown? Waterloo? Dunkirk? Nobody knows, but the themes are universal.

The actual story of the lady with the fan goes back to at least 1750's France and has been retold in poetry and song since then. The King of France kept a den of lions outside his castle, and the original story is of a courtesan who casts her fan into the den telling her suitors that if they really want her they will venture in amongst the hungry beasts and retrieve it.

But rather than simply a tale of a demanding lover, this is, to me, a story of risk taking vs. fear of failure. Both in romantic love, and in all areas of life. Which of you to gain me tell, will risk uncertain pains of Hell? The Soldier has been hurt in love before and is unwilling to risk that a second time. The Sailor gives it at least a try. As it happens, the sailor does win the girl and Hunter asks us to determine if the end was worth the risk.

QOTD: Sailors all of us, we lay down on that operating table and faced those uncertain pains of hell. Like the soldier, we knew that things could go wrong. For some of us certain things did go wrong. Outside of WLS, do you think like the soldier or the sailor? Are you willing to venture forward for reward, or are you much too wise?

Naturally, I am cautious but I try to be conscious of that and try to be like the sailor sometimes.

JB's QOTD: I also lose in my face first. I lose in my abdomen back and chest last.

Breakfast: Sausage

Snack: Protein Bar

Lunch: Ahi Tuna salad

Snack: Jerky

Dinner: TBD

Have a great day, all!

Jim, you could have been a troubadour in the old days, getting paid to tell the stories! This is a lovely post this morning!

I have a fairly high risk profile so would put myself in the sailor category.

Hope today is a better day for you than yesterday!

Jen, you were one of the first Sailors I thought of.

Glad I had a little time to absorb all this this morning. And to answer your QOTD I will use a quote I live by. Love many trust few always paddle your own Canoe.

Thank you for the thoughtful post.

Good Morning JB and Menuers,

The substitute yesterday was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l! The kids were much better and no one yelled at me. There is still plenty of stress but hoping things will settle into a nice routine very soon. I have to take DH to the dentist after work because his wisdom tooth is bothering him. He thinks it will have to be pulled. Tomorrow we are leaving for a long weekend of camping.

Accountability: not great

QOTD: I lose fast in my face, neck and shoulder areas but super slow around my belly.

B: egg

MS: PP chocolate shake

L: leftover tortellini, sausage, peppers and onions

AS: banana

D: Unsure at the moment because of DH's appointment

Focusing on the positive: still getting in 100+ ounces of water, vitamins and a 2-mile walk with Max daily!

Have a great Friday-Eve!