Taste Like Chicken + Weekend + 10/23&24

Thanks for the start, Chele. Good luck with Mr. Lemon. I know he gets to be more of a handful every year. Hope you didn't bring in any critters with him. Every time you move him back in, I'm reminded of the scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when Clark cut down the tree from their yard and brought in the squirrel with it. Does Iggy keep it pretty well trimmed so it doesn't get out of control? What's on your weekend agenda? Are you expecting rain this coming week? We're predicted to be in the 40s and 50s for lows and 50s and 60s for highs, with up to 2" rain total, so fall is definitely here for us, and sounds like it is for you as well.

Kathy, major congrats on the loss. What did you change? I imagine your plan involved giving up evening snacking because you identified that as a problem. Congrats to your Knights. I figured Memphis would not be a problem for them. But then I thought that one year when they played the Vols and got a surprise. You're right about how the meats often are at group functions. The best meal I think I ever had at a work function was at a conference at Disney there in 2007 when they served tofu, polenta, and a veggie medley that was amazing. The vegetarian entrees often look fresher than the non-vegetarian ones, and frequently the meat eaters remark that they wish they would have ordered that instead.

Thanks for the link about Discovery of Witches, Linda. I was sorry to read in this article that the final season will be coming up. The craft fair was going well when I left, but quite a bit smaller than usual. We get most of our money up front from vendor fees, so we've already made our profit for the year. However, I hope the vendors do well so they will join us again next year. How are you feeling today? Is your weather warming?

Liz, I hope you're feeling more normal today. This has really thrown you for a loop. I hope the next one will be much easier. Get some rest and snuggle with the pups. How are they doing?

I slept well, but I think I woke up as tired as when I went to bed. In triathlon terms, I believe I have "hit the wall". Dale helped me take off the sheets and put clean ones back on. The bedding is in the dryer now. I also had to fix eggs and butternut squash for Arya. That's done but I need to take the squash out of the skin. The koshari has a lot of ingredients, but it's pretty easy, with most of it being cooked in the IP other than the pasta, which will be stovetop. It has both chickpeas and lentils in it, so lots of protein and fiber. Maybe it will help me recover. I had planned to weed, relocate the fig trees that are in pots with the elderberries, and plant garlic this morning. Hopefully I'll be able to do all of that tomorrow after Dale gets back from running errands. Definitely not enough energy to even think about doing it today.

Waving to Becky and Denise! Hope you're both well.

Chele, thanks for the start. We're still on warm days and cooler nights, but I'm not complaining. Anything under 90 is good. I hope Mr. Lemon behaves himself and doesn't bring any friends inside.

Karen, I think it was planned to do 3 seasons of Discovery of Witches since there were 3 books in the series. There is a sequel that focuses more on Matthew's son and I heard they might make a series out of that. It has all the main characters in it, so I hope they do. The best work lunch I remember was when they had mahi mahi. They had some money to burn by the end of the year and they went all out on that lunch. They even had live music.

I've been following Corinne Crabtree's No BS Weightloss program. I haven't eliminated evening snacking, but I've cut way down on it. The plan doesn't involve tracking points or calories, but you do make a meal plan each day. It uses some of the principles from intuitive eating, but has some different things too. I wasn't getting anywhere with WW, so just needed to try something different.

I just signed up for a month of Vidgo for $10 so I can watch the FSU games for the next month. FSU is playing UMass now and it's 52-3 in the 3rd quarter, so I don't think they'll have a problem with this one. I've had to change the score twice just while I was typing this! The month will get me through the end of the season except for the UF/FSU game. I'm assuming that won't be on the ACC Network since it's at UF. What's on your schedule for today?

Linda, thanks for the link on Discovery of Witches. I guess I'll have to find a way to get AMC+ again.

Liz, hope you have a restful weekend and feel better.

Waving to Becky and Denise.

Linda, that's awful that Grantchester got so dark. I thought about watching it, but never got around to it. Sounds like that was just as well. Hope the allergies improve.

Karen, the weight chart does make it really obvious, lol! I can blame the person responsible for the extra stress, but can't blame him that I ate through it. It was mostly a gradual gain of about 1/2 lb month, but added up over 4 years. I can definitely go shopping in my closet although some things are getting old. I heard about the Penn State game. That was crazy! Yikes, I didn't realize Pitt was that good this year. I would rather Clemson win or they'll be taking out their frustrations on FSU next week. FSU had it easy this week.

Never mind. Don't look!

Kathy, thanks for the attempted warning on the Vols game. We did watch a bit early (when they were holding their own) until baseball started. Looks like the Q4 got really ugly though. They just can't seem to be competitive for the entire game, but they are improving. I guess you saw that Clemson lost (again). I wouldn't count FSU out next week. At this point, I hope Clemson wins enough games to make it into a bowl. They should beat CT (probably homecoming) and SC, putting them at six wins, so they'll get something and they do draw a crowd. I'm not holding my breath on Wake Forest or Louisville, so six may be as good as it gets .

We are having a beautiful Sunday, Linda, thank you. I went out to pull everything but a couple of tomato plants out of the straw bale garden, weeded some, and moved 3 large potted figs to better locations where they won't be shaded by elderberries. I also deadheaded most of the oakleaf hydrangea but can't get to some parts of it until Dale cuts down a black locust that we've been trying to kill for years but it won't die. Is your weather warming up? Did you have a quiet day?

Dale went to Lowes for a new shower curtain rod and did a little grocery shopping this morning. We are still without NBC, even on the NBC app on Roku, so I called Dish while he was gone. Gigantic waste of time. Of course it's not their fault. They are sending us a free indoor antenna that may allow us to pick up the missing channel but I'm not holding my breath. They are also giving us a $5 credit on our bill. Big Deal! I still couldn't get a good explanation of why we are getting blocked from everything and not just local content. We can get things after the fact on the NBC app but nothing live. I don't really think $5 is adequate compensation. If I have to call again, I will be demanding they provide us with another NBC affiliate, probably the one in Chattanooga is the closest. It's going on three weeks and they are still playing the blame game. Dish filed a complaint with the FCC claiming the other side is negotiating in bad faith, so we'll be lucky if it only goes on for a month. There has to be a better way.

Waving to the rest of the crew. Hope everyone is having a good Sunday.