THE LIGHTER SIDE CAFE TUESDAY DECEMBER 8

Judy I have heard that via connect and from other posts on this board. I am not surprised or shocked at the stance that Weight Watchers is forced to take. I shall always consider myself a weight watcher....I used to LOVE my meetings in Leominster Worcester and on occasion I also attended in Shrewsbury. I never cared for the one here in town, but went as it was more convenient. Even with the opened studio in Leominster it's just too far for me to travel and not a fan of zooming. I am free as a lifetime member with etools thru 4/5/2025. Not sure how that will work as I won't be doing the monthly weigh in that weight watchers requires of Lifetime members...so if they decide to take etools from me, so be it. It's certainly not the end of the world.

One good thing is that we can all 'stick together' here in the cozy little cafe to help one another along.

I DO get that weight watchers is a business....but to me it was also a CARING business not just about the $$$.

Yes the Worcester area got hammered with snow. We were spared. Every once in awhile I do see a 'flake or two' flying around....but nothing to write home about.

I am still debating whether or not to walk...time will tell.

In the meantime I'm all planned and tracked. I had my Turkish breakfast, will have a bowl of soup and a nuked apple with F1 original on top, and supper shall be roasted chicken potato carrots the rest of the cranberry sauce and I may make stuffing...not sure on the stuffing LOL.......I may just stick with the potato.....At times I just can't get enough carbs

I've seen the Dave's English muffins but never tried them. Are they as good as Bay's?

Will CBL

Hey again all! I'm back after walking the dogs in the very cold weather.  Daisy rolled around and frolicked in the snow. She cracks me up. She takes snow baths! Face first, too! They did their "business" promptly so we weren't out long. No coyotes this morning.

Eagle delivered the big 20' container.  The driver was awesome and so professional and skilled at backing it into the space.  They seem to really know what they are doing.  

I had another snafu detail to iron out with the home delivery in January and we think we figured it out with the builder.  Everyone wants this deal to close so hoping they ALL cooperate and do what they need to do.  It's juggling a million balls, but believe it or not, I like the distraction and challenge of getting it done.  

I have a frozen Cape Cod  Cafe pizza in the oven.  Not exactly on program, but I must eat up the remains of the freezer if I can! :-) 

Yes, I am disappointed that my sweet little Tuesday AM group will be disbanded and our leader Linda "benched" by WW until further notice.  Maybe at some point, the in person meetings will continue.  As you said Ann, we have this group and all of you are wonderful. I did not mean to sound so cranky, but I truly don't believe WW should be making these changes to folks during COVID.  I am okay but I saw many of my members who are very isolated crying with the news.  It's sad to break up successful groups. I'll switch to online only probably to keep up with my tools. 

It's funny, Sue, how compelled people are to eat out.  It's not that big a deal to me now.  Nice under normal circumstances but nothing I feel I am dying to do other than for the socialization of a visit with friends. But I enjoy house parties and dinners better even if they are more work. Oh well...hope everyone does their part.  

Ann, the Dave's whole wheat muffins are NOT as good as Bay's - no way, no how! LOL 

Off for lunch and then a call with my boss.  

Hi All ~

I am home with time to spare. DH came home early and did a chore that has been on my mind for me. Since the weather cooled, my tires have been showing at low pressure. Today he brought his air compressor pump home with him and got them where I want them. He was waiting for a call from the fella who was fixing his truck plus he hadn’t had lunch, so I started our supper early. While he was gone to get the air pump he got a call from a customer who had a freezer not staying cold enough, so he stopped to check on her. Unfortunately, since he was driving my car, he had no gauges or tools, so he told her he’d have to come back. We decided to go ahead and eat early so we would be free to go and get his truck and that customer would be right on his way home. We had just finished eating when his call came that his truck was ready (talk about perfect timing!) I dropped him off and then stopped at the Hallmark Shop that was right on the way home. I wanted an anniversary card for DH as well as a Christmas card. One and done!!

As I read your posts from yesterday and today so many things came to mind, now if I can only remember them?? First of all, we are very fortunate in that our local WW is still a franchise (and perhaps one of the last ones). We still have meetings, though they have become fewer and some of our centers have closed. My VBF and I go in during that half hour before a meeting for WI. I also value my LT membership and love the free eTools. I do hope we don’t lose them. During the early part of the pandemic, our WW let us WI at home and just report the weight. So many of our LT members are long-timers and I, for one, would really miss the data base and all my recipes that are stored in my app, etc. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Ann ~ You are really on a roll today ….. you crack me up with “father daughter dance”! I feel much better for having gotten out today also. My walk this morning was refreshing – and then tonight I drove half an hour (yikes!) and dropped DH off, then the same route back home. I feel like I’ve “been somewhere”. It doesn’t take much to entertain me anymore. So glad you hooked up with a nail tech so you can get even more beautified! Tomorrow I am meeting up with VBF for a coffee date. We will get our drinks at a drive-thru and then park our cars side by side and chat across the width of our cars with the open windows.  We figure that's the best we can do with distance and fresh air.

Judy ~ I have to agree with you that eating out is not such a draw for me NOW! But prior to March DH and I ate out quite often, and especially with his VBF. The three of us ate out several times a week (one being our standing lunch date on Sunday at his restaurant). I find that sometimes I still think of it wistfully because it was such a great social time! Oftentimes VBF’s kids would join and make it a party! I also think of it longingly when I draw a blank of what to make for breakfast and lunch and dinner EVERY day!! Hope you enjoyed your pizza!  Our pizza last night was a disappointment to both of us.  We decided tonight how we'd make that in the future.  I wanted ground beef liberally sprinkled on the pizza, but it was rather skimpy and dry.  So next time we get a hankering for that "flavor" we'll order a cheese pizza and I'll brown our own ground beef and add it when we bring it home.  That should do it!

Pam ~ You really scored on the poinsettia’s! The one DH got me is beautiful plus the pot is wrapped in a green foil with silver snowflakes on it. That makes it even more a joy to look at. I’m really not that brave about walking in ‘weather’ but when it’s low 30’s with no wind it’s tolerable. When it gets to snowy, blowy we’ll have to see ….. But I do feel better when I get out and shake the dust off. Thanks for the reminder about angel food cake, we love it too.

DH made breakfast this morning (his scrambled Egg-Beaters with cheese and a slice of Dave’s for me plus a fruit bowl of strawberries, pineapple and blueberries. For lunch I had the last bowl of my turkey noodle soup. I have a new container of veggie/bean soup thawing in the fridge. For tonight’s supper we had pork sirloin tip roast with Yukon Gold baby potatoes and baby carrots (done in the IP) and baby green peas, plus NSA applesauce. It was a delicious comfort-food supper!!

I still have SP left over so will probably have an ice cream treat with DH when he gets home.  We ate supper before 4 p.m. (are we acting like Senior Citizens or what?) so I think a bedtime snack will be in order. I skipped the evening news tonight because I wanted to catch up with all of you. Now that I have said some things that I wanted to say, I can send this off and feel lighter!

Sweet dreams, dear friends ......

Good evening!

I have had a busy, but uneventful day. I went to Mass at 7:00 and then had an English muffin and boiled egg for breakfast. Debbie is working and won't be able to walk until sometime Friday. I meant to go by myself, but time seemed to slip away.

I mended all the broken Christmas ornaments that I wanted to keep, including one from my college days that was a gift from a friend. I was pleased with my efforts. I was just finishing that when DH said, "Grab a cup of coffee and come sit in the Green Room". It was a beautiful, sunny day with highs in the low 60's so quite comfortable. We sat and chatted and planned for when he can get around and do things again. I think he's getting close, but it will be a while yet and he is getting impatient, not that I blame him at all. We have been fighting this battle since the end of July.

After a lunch of leftovers, I pureed the pumpkin I roasted last night and packaged it for the freezer. I plan to make something, though haven't decided between cupcakes, cinnamon rolls or cookies yet. They will be part of Debbie's Christmas gift. Then I cleaned out the fridge, tossing leftovers past their time, changed the litter boxes, hauled the garbage to the front for pickup tomorrow and wrapped and boxed all the mercury glass Christmas ornaments I don't use for the DDs. I am hoping that next Christmas, DD3 will be able to come and they can divide them up. I also put in several ornaments they made as children over the years that they may or may not want, but just don't fit on my small tree.

I made a soup with andouille sausage, potatoes, corn and spinach for dinner. DH says it's excellent, so I think I'll go get a bowl. BBL