The Lighter Side Cafe 2/11-2/17

Hi all,

I will go back and read the weekend posts since I was AWOL all weekend.  Book Club went great.  The baked seafood au gratin and appetizers were a big hit. I sent nearly ALL of it home with my friend who has two adult children living at home along with an infant grandson.  My good pal made a fabulous chocolate tart which was not too sweet. That, too, left the house after the party. I did enough damage just eating and sipping wine, but we had a wonderful time and the gathering ended after midnight. I am so glad I had the day off to prepare! The house was "presentable" - not perfect but cozy and warm. 

On Saturday, the plumber arrived at 8:30 to do more work on replacing all the sewer pipes in the basement which is a big job. Our house is over 60 years old so needs routine maintenance.  The cast iron pipes ended their life and the new stuff arrived.  They worked all day and will be back on next Saturday to finish.  I went out for errands Saturday - had a pedicure and good thing as I have two ingrown toenails that needed care.  When I came home, our small lavatory on the first floor was nearly demolished. They need to get at those pipes as well so DH helped by removing all the drywall and exposing all the pipes.  The sink is gone and now the good part is we'll have a new lavatory when it's all done.  DH will do the work.  We were busy shopping online for a new sink and toilet.  It's a very small bathroom and we think we'd like a pretty glass vessel sink that can be wall mounted on a "shelf" rather than the pedestal sink we have now. We'll see once we get going.  

Yesterday was just laundry and I caught up on This is Us on Amazon Prime.  I missed nearly the whole season.  So, it was a lazy day. I had a grocery list to make more new recipes, but then decided to foucs on eating up some of what we have in the freezer this week. DH bought F&Vs on his Home Depot run. lol I took out stuffed shells from the freezer and had sauce as well for dinner.  Even though it may be pointy, I am concentrating on my portions so I had one shell and half of an Italian sausage.  My coach and I talked about my own self sabotage and she wants me to focus on why I do it.  Well, I told her it's due to loving to eat and food being so readily available. I will plan and shop and make healthy meals and then wind up blowing it by snacking. My goal this week is to stick to my meals and healthy snacks and keep moving.  Any tips you all have are very welcomed! 

I am going to send you three a private message shortly so be on the lookout!  

Good Evening, WW Friends ~

Happy Monday!!  It was good to get back to our routine at school today. Unfortunately, we have another storm coming overnight with both snow and freezing rain.  Consensus is that it wouldn't surprise anyone if we have another snow day tomorrow.  Yikes!!  We may never get to have a Summer vacation!?!

Ann ~ So glad to hear that you had a good time with Bonnie.  Good for her to know herself well enough to keep her life comfortable for herself.  She is so lucky to have  you guys!!

Judy ~ Glad to hear your Book Club went well. I must admit, though, that my mouth still waters every time you mention the Seafood Au Gratin casserole :-)  I just know I would love it!!

Pam ~ You're right, of course, about the amount of energy expended keeping up with little ones. I'm glad I only work part-time with our kiddos at school. At least I come home with still some energy.

I had yogurt & berries breakfast, a HB egg snack at school, then a Premier protein shake for lunch. I came home ravenous so I finished up my leftovers from the Italian eatery the other night (about 1/3 to 1/4 serving) so I have to track that.  For supper I had put a turkey breast tenderloin in the crock pot and made some Stove Top stuffing and warmed up mashed potatoes with turkey gravy with a side of baby peas. Now I am stuffed!  But it feels good.

We'll be watching the America's Got Talent Champions tonight as we've been following it.

Make a great night!!

Good Morning, WW Friends ~

As predicted, our schools are closed (again) today. Right now it is 30 dg with freezing rain falling. We actually got the notification about 9:30 last night, so I was able to stay up later and sleep in this morning.  We had snow overnight, then freezing rain on top of it. It remains to be seen what will unfold as today goes on .... but the weather advisory is in effect until noon tomorrow.

Nothing on my agenda today except for a few things around the house. DH cooked breakfast of Egg-Beaters and cheese, with a fruit bowl and half English muffin for me with a smidgeon of peanut butter. Wonderful!!  He is out and about braving the elements now, so I am wishing him well.

I will have a light lunch today (maybe limas?) and may grill some salmon for tonight with a big salad.  Otherwise I will curl up in my reclliner and read and listen to music until DH comes back, which will probably be more earlier than later.

BBL.  Make a great day!!

Good Morning!

It's a rainy 57 degrees this morning. I have doors and windows open while DH sands the "mud" on the sheetrock. It creates a very fine, white dust, which I will spend the rest of the afternoon trying to mop and dust up. Even with plastic over the door, the dust still seeps through. It's an aggravating, but necessary, step in the renovation process, which will have to be completed at least one more time. Sigh.

I managed to get laundry done yesterday, as well as taking my friend to her doctor appt. in BTR. With an hour+ drive each way, an hour+ for the appointment itself and stopping for a VERY late lunch, that took up most of the day. I was still happy to do it, as she really should not be driving herself anywhere, much less in BTR. We had a good visit, though she stays pretty wrapped up in her various health conditions, most of which stem from Chiari Malformation, a structural defect in the skull and cerebellum, which allows the brain to press on the spinal cord. It causes imbalance and a variety of other issues, including severe pain. She has had a couple of surgeries, to help mitigate symptoms, with varying results. She was heavily medicated for years, but has recently gotten off most of the pain medications now that the prescriptions are so hard to get and just lives with the pain. Due to her long-term use, her teeth are literally crumbling, resulting in lots of dental costs. She lives a tough life, so I try not to judge.

I was supposed to be at DD1's by 6:00AM to get the DGDs up and to school by 7:10 while DD takes DGS to the science fair at LSU. Apparently, DSIL anticipated being rained out at work (he owns and operates a dirt work company), so I was let off the hook last night. Depending on DSIL's schedule, I may still head to town at 4:00 to pick up Anna from art class and Abby from the babysitter's. There's not much else on the agenda for today, though I may do some online training for SMP (Senior Medicare Patrol).

Judy- I'm glad to hear your party went well and you were able to enjoy some downtime with your fav show. I am keeping DSIL in prayer.

Sue - I know you are ready for spring-time, lol. I have tried grilled salmon several times, but can't say I really care for it. I guess that's what comes of being fed canned pink salmon as a kid. I still love it. Maybe it is that the caliber of fresh salmon I'm able to buy here is not very good and I don't care for the frozen.

Ann - It is so kind of you and Carl to make time for Bonnie during these early days of grieving. I am sure it is a tremendous help to her to know she is not alone and to be able to share memories of her DH with those who knew him.

I'm not sure what we will be eating today--not a good thing. I'd better get to planning. So far, I have boiled eggs to used for breakfast, snacks and in tuna or chicken salad and had cheese grits for breakfast. I was over on calories by 600+ yesterday, thanks to a late lunch at Popeye's, so need to rein it in today.

Hi all, 

i made an “executive” decision and stayed home today based on the forecast. Good thing because it’s been snowing hard since a little after 12 pm. They released everyone at our college at 1:30 but it would have been a terrible ride home. I am at the age and point in life where I’m just not comfortable driving in snowy traffic jams. It scares me. Work is also not productive because everyone spends the day looking out the windows worrying when storms start midday. I did get up early and go to WW. This usually small meeting was packed again due to the snow predictions. I’m down 1.5 lbs so happy about that. Afterwards, I headed to Trader Joe’s to get some things.. I’m making a roast pork tenderloin with fingerling potatoes and then will also make moo shoo pork with half of it with a WW recipe. I also picked up a few ingredients to make another 🍕 pizza. 

I hope everyone is staying safe in snow and other weather. I’m anxiously awaiting news about my SILs surgery today in Boston. She’s so amazing. She spent the whole day yesterday babysitting her 9 month old DGD since she won’t be able to pick her up for two months. She’s inspirational and strong. Never feels sorry for herself. 

Take care all. I’ll bbl.

Good morning all. Slept well just not as much 'shut eye' as I normally get. Carl is already out there dealing with Mother Nature. It's supposed to rain today...hopefully the temps stay above freezing.

Going to have a coffee as I plan my day!