What's on your (PHOTO) Friday Menu?

Your answer could have been mine exactly. Like exactly.

Mornin' All!

Well yesterday I really overdid it with food and wine (two meals out) and I'm feeling it this morning. The lunch at the culinary school was of course, fantastic. $25 for a three-course wonderful meal (we've been three times - we order different things and share them). I was thinking of posting some food porn from that event this morning, but given today's QOTD, it'd be better to hold off (or completely skip!). Last night we were at a banquet. Typical banquet food (as in - ho-hum), but I ate too much of it anyway. Plus too many of the appetizers they were walking around the room with while everyone was drinking and socializing before dinner. I'm going to a wine-tasting tonight. If I weren't the co-chair of the group, I'd probably skip it - but I can't, because the other co-chair is out of town. I'll just take tiny sips and hopefully avoid (or eat very little) of the appetizers (which tonight's host insisted be more typical wine-tasting things, like breads and crackers - not all the fancy "appetizers" that people brought last time. Seemed more like a potluck than a wine-tasting (although we had both - but yea, I thought it was weird, too. But these folks are really into food as well as wine). I typically don't eat much of bread & cracker variety of foods - I like them, but they sit in my stomach like a brick, so that does help limit my indulgence...)

the home health aides we hired to help my mom out for a couple of hours a day came over to her apt yesterday afternoon for an orientation. A retired nurse and her two granddaughters, whom I'd guess were maybe in their late 20's. Loved them. I think they will be great. I think my mother liked them, too, but I know she's very worried about her $$ and I'm hoping she's not going to insist we drop them, because she needs the help. I personally think she needs MORE than just a couple hours a day, but this is about all she seemed somewhat willing to accept. Plus I've made some changes to her insurance coverage and got rid of the monthly "salary" she's been sending to my 58-year-old brother for years (why she feels the need to subsidize him is beyond me), and that should cover the cost of the aides. She's been telling people at her apt complex that her daughters treat her like she's crazy (word has gotten back to us). We don't think she's crazy - but she does get very confused at times. Probably pretty normal given her age, but still concerning. Not sure how much longer she can live alone - but at least this will help.

wow this is getting way too long, but I wanted to add that the film festival starts today! All I have today is one of the movies I picked out (us workers get "paid" in free tickets). This is a three-hour one. Yikes. I was a little tempted to skip it because I feel like crap (food & wine coma), but I'll go since getting to see movies for free is the major reason I decided to volunteer. Plus it means three hours away from my refrigerator.

QOTD: the first five months post-surgery were glorious because for the first time in my life, I was never hungry and couldn't give a flip about food. It was so liberating! I was so disappointed when my hunger came back - although it's not as intense as before. However, the food noise is. It helps to stay out of the house since when I'm busy doing something, I don't usually think about food unless I'm actually hungry. But dealing with all this is a constant battle.

coffee with half & half

I'll just have protein this morning since I've got that movie from noon-3:15 and the wine tasting this evening. I'm not hungry at all, though, so I'll hold off until closer to noon before eating. Greek yogurt, cheese sticks, protein puffs...something like that. Same for the break between the movie and the tasting.

have a great day, everyone!

Good morning. We've got a storm hanging out, so today will be mostly the six of us tucked in the rig. Some Yahtzee, some reading, some tv. And then the girls go home tonight. Just like that, spring break and our week together is over.

Yesterday was mostly successful but I eat too many carbs things when the grands are around. We did get in a bike ride and pedal boating (which I counted on my tracker as bike riding when it was my turn to pedal. That was hard work!)

QoTD: The first year I was perfect. The second year I was really damn good. Beginning of year four my hunger came back. But it's on a clock and as long as I manage my meal times and an afternoon snack I do really well. I don't have a lot of food noise or mind games around food. I keep our house stocked with good choices and on occasion make bad food choices and they are usually intentional . I do wish I had never gone back to drinking wine, and that's where I am putting my energies these days to try and step away from that bad habit.

A good week was had by all...

Peace Everybody.

Your spring break week looks so fun!

That duck pedal boat is too cute, you guys are the perfect grandparents.

G'morning all!

QJB - we felt your freezing commute on the west coast too. It was high 40s for us, which is unusual for April. But the wind made it so much worse. I was thinking of you guys on the east coast and Michigan area with snow.

One more day, and hopefully it will be a relaxing weekend. I gotta do some last minute shopping this weekend for few things my mom has added to my list of things to take to her. Nothing I can actually order online so off I go to the stores. I might even have to brave Costco on the weekend, but all is good and I'm excited to go home.

QOTD: the first 2-3 years the hunger was not an issue. After that I have learned not to treat it like an emergency. Honestly hunger was never my issue, not even before WLS. I see I want, so it's more a head issue and I'm still working on it. They told us in those workshops before surgery they can fix our stomach but not our head, I'm the head case.

I was very proud of my bariatric friendly creations (not my creations, I found recipes online) last weekend. One is a DQ frosty dupe. The other is brown sugar shaken espresso.

My meals yesterday:

• Coffee
• Egg bites
• Fluffy yogurt w/almond butter, jello, cold cuts with cheese
• Crockpot chicken and broccoli
• E: HIIT+ weights

Happy Fri-yay!

Did you find a skinny syrup that's brown sugar? I don't know if I have one of those!

Yes ma'am. The Jordan skinny syrups have the brown sugar, or brown butter toffee, and if I'm not mistaken a couple of other brown something variety.

Places order...(I was almost out of pistachio anyway)

QOTD- Right after surgery and for many months I had no hunger. I still don't really it's just a different feeling, I know if I've gone too long without eating. Mine is more head hunger and cravings.

We are changing software for drawing our jobs, going from a CAD based system to what I'm not really sure. They are just importing what exists in our current program into the new one without any validation. Our records are not that good, and we lose a lot of functionality with the new program. I had to stay late yesterday to attend a teams call on this. So now I'm 1-1/4 hours ahead for the week. There are trainings next week and of course they are after my normal end time, so I'm not sure how I'm going to do that. I usually work 6-2 and these classes start at 2:30 and last at least an hour. I'll figure it out, if I ever could sleep in I would, but my body rarely lets me sleep past 4. I'm just afraid this is going to be another disaster, like the last one when we changed programs and it still is a pain. That one gave me nightmares. We will also lose access to our old system the day after this cuts so there is no going back...

I am wanting to see the new Ghostbusters movie, it didn't do well on Rotten Tomatoes but it's all for fun. So I'll probably go, I was thinking this afternoon since I can take off early.

I found out that a really good friend of mine died last year. I had been thinking about him and had meant to call and now I can't. He was one of the smartest people that I have ever known, and I always had amazing conversations with him. One summer I spent a week with him camping on his property in Bonners Ferry Idaho. It was a beautiful place and a wonderful time. I need to see if I can find the pictures. He was also a writer, he taught screen writing and had a pilot picked up. That was his Hollywood phase, he lived in many different places and did many different things. I met him when we worked together at the phone company, at the time Pacific Northwest Bell, then US West and so on... He was smart enough to get out and not look back. I'm still working in the industry and have been for the last 46 years, just waiting to hopefully someday actually retire.

I ditched my Dish and I'm not sure how it's going to work during football season. The Seattle games are usually televised on the local stations, but I have not idea how the Big 10 is going broadcast. I'll have to figure something out.

Have a great day everyone!