What's on your Thursday Menu?

I try to avoid nuts and trail mix because of the big calorie hit for the portion size but it is so yummy.

Morning gang. One more wee****il we're out of February, and I'll declare winter officially over. Time to get out the shorts.

QOTD. I don't think I ever had a favorite people watching spot. But wherever lots of people gather, I do like to observe. I like to make up their life stories for them.

B: chicken

L: Quest bar

S: Quest bar

D: ham

Ooh, I like the idea of imagining their life stories and enjoy entertaining myself. I may have to try that.

Good morning! The winds are over for now, but it's really chilly. I had a walk all planned out, but right now it's just too cold.
Yesterday's food wa**** and miss. I tried making good choices, but me thinks my dinner was soaked in butter. But goodness it was so good and I brought a lot home.

Today we are heading to Tucson to see friends. It's about 5 hours so we'll break it up with a long lunch stop and walk the dogs. We'll be eating leftovers out of the fridge so it should be ok. But once we get there I'm in dangerous territory. Tonight will be a food and beverage challenge for me. I will try to stay sane about it.

QOTD: San Diego Comic-Con. Hands down.

meals

B. Leftover 1/3 cheeseburger innards

L. Leftover chicken dish

D. TBD. My friend will be sure I have good options available, but will I be smart and take them?

Peace Everybody

Fun places to people watch definitely include places where people go to dress up as other people. Or have an excuse to be themselves or whoever they wanted to be. For that reason I'd also volunteer Renaissance festivals.

Comic-con people watching sounds amazing. Actually, comic-con has always appealed to me and I'd love to go in the future. I've been to a few Wizard Worlds in Chicago but that was 20+years ago. I also used to yearly attend the National - sports cards' biggest annual event. It was great for people watching and that was without people in costumes.

I love my time at the comic-conventions. People are incredible. My favorite one ever was the weekend Denver had comic con and pride the same weekend, it was the most glorious people watching ever!

Mornin' All!

well our part of the storm is supposed to be moving out of here by noon. We didn't get all that much snow (maybe an inch or so - but northern Wisconsin got slammed). It was more sleet and freezing rain here in the southern part of the state. Hopefully they've treated the roads so I can get out this afternoon and go to my friend's visitation. I'm sure the main roads are OK - I'm more worried about the residential streets as well as slippery parking lots and sidewalks. But we'll see... The rest of the day I want to focus on reading for my classes (I've done some of it the last couple of days, but nearly as much as I'd planned). I also plan to boil some sweet potatoes so I can use them in my next batch of protein muffins and, if I have extra, in a protein shake or two. And exercise. I'm getting tired of youtube fitness videos, but they'll have to do for now..

QOTD: oh the Wisconsin Union terrace for sure. We have two student unions on campus. The original one was built on the shore of a lake, and it has a gynormous terrace that's jammed with people spring, summer, and fall. It's the best place in town for people watching. It's esp fun on Saturdays when there are often wedding parties out there (the ceremonies are usually in one of the big rooms inside the building - but they have photos taken out on the terrace). We've seen up to three wedding parties in one day while sitting out there!

B: plain skyr with fruit, coffee with half & half

MS: protein shake

L: egg salad sandwich (on 35-calorie bread)

AS: I don't know if they'll be having food at the visitation, so I'll have a snack before going just in case they don't. Probably a protein muffin or protein bar

D: up in the air - depends on if they're having food at the funeral home or not

I'm curious to see if some of my former co-workers show up at the visitation today - I bet some will - those who still live in the area, anyway. Bob and I worked together (on campus) 35 years ago, so I haven't seen some of these people in decades!

this is a photo of the terrace at the Wisconsin Union - although it really doesn't give you a sense of the enormity of this thing. It extends pretty far right and left and front and back, and has several levels. But you kind of get the idea...

The Wisconsin Union terrace looks like a great spot to relax and enjoy the surroundings, inc people watching.

QJB and Menu Friends-

We also are having weather issues here. I wish I could have stayed home. 7 degrees this morning with gusting winds. I am actually p@#sed off about the cold weather since I am so over it! What happened to my mild winters? This winter has been dragging on and on and on... Enough of that. I love the smell of cooking garlic, it is so yummy. I think garlic is an essential ingredient in recipes. I have never watched more than a few minutes of YOU. I think I need to give it another try since QJB is singing its praises.

Today, I have a meeting that I am of the Chair for. It is a Wellness Committee that focuses on increasing frontline staff resilience, physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. We sponsor events to create wellbeing. I am really liking it. It is a new committee at our hospital, so we are paving the way for years to come. I like creating projects and pushing them through the system, which can be challenging at times. Especially as many healthcare organizations are restricting budgets as they try to recover from the pandemic. For example, my company has lost over $100 million in the past 2 years due to needing to pay for temporary nurses (they generally cost 2-3X what a permanent staff RN costs), increased number of nurses and staff leaving healthcare, the cost of hiring and retraining personnel, increased cost of supplies, etcetera. So as we attempt to recover, non-essential stuff is not in the budget.

QOTD: I like to people watch at large events like concerts, sporting events, etc. So much color and interesting people to see. The last concert we went to (My Chemical Romance) many of the people in the audience were dressed up emo. Emo clothing designate clothes of punk, gothic style. Often black in color, this aesthetic expresses a dark and mysterious beauty, and a

form of pessimism.

Accountability: Excellent

B: triple zero greek yogurt with berries, keto granola, cold brew with half n half

L: Asian chicken salad with light sesame ginger dressing

D: Berry Chicken salad with light poppy seed dressing

S: 6 squares sf chocolate, protein frosty

E: Leg day weights, 60 min yoga