I love my husband. I start out with that statement because I don't want anyone to think otherwise. However, I didn't get married for the first time until I was 38. Let's just say I'm accustomed to doing what I want when I want. That is the part of single life I do miss occasionally.
This week I got to pretend to be single for a couple of days. When I say that, don't misunderstand and think I was out prowling for men. What I mean is that I got to do what I wanted when I wanted for two whole days and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The teenager was off being a camp counselor and the hubby was traveling. The college student can completely take care of herself so she was on her own for those days.
Wednesday after work, I went to Max's Wine Dive with Heather and Kim. I would describe Max's as gourmet comfort food with fantastic wines. For instance they have mac & cheese on the menu but theirs is described as "Cavatappi pasta tossed in truffle cream with fresh mozzarella, Veldhuizen Farms Texas gruyere, and grana padano cheese blend." And the burger isn't just a burger it is "Yama Kobe Beef Burger - Yama Farms Texas Kobe beef burger with Belletoielle triple cream brie, in-house pickled jalapenos, Texas tomato and organic bib lettuce on Kraftsmen brioche bun, served with frites."
I went once with the same friends plus others and fell in love with the idea of having really nice wines with food you don't normally think of with wine. It also makes me feel better about the fact that I discovered the perfect French Bordeaux to go with a Pizza Hut meat lovers pizza a few years back. What can I say... I'm a visionary!
Last night, Heather was kind enough to join me out again for Coco's and the Tasting Room. Her boss/client joined us for some really great conversation and a wine that I really loved (Nigl Gruner Veltliner if you are interested) I had a wonderful time talking to adults for a change. With my husband traveling so much lately, my conversations are about who is "likes" who and how much fun hanging at the mall is. Love the teenager to death but need to talk to people my own age occasionally! I think I may have monopolized the conversation but I apparently I really needed to express myself last night. I thank both of them for the opportunity.
Since I promised a weekly update of my crepe adventures, will give a run down on the two we tried. I think I like going with other people so I can try more than one at a time. It speeds up my goal of trying them all. Heather ordered Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, Baby Greens, and Goat Cheese with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce. I ordered Spinach, Ricotta, and Oven Dried Tomatoes with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Sauce. Heather said she liked mine better and I personally liked hers more. However, I still love my first one best.
It was a very good week for me!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wife in mud
I have analytics running on my blog. This is mostly for my own amusement and ego. The ego part is to see how many different people from other parts of the country/world are popping in and also how many people per day, etc.
The amusement part was a more unexpected benefit of analytics. I find enjoyment seeing how people get to my blog through a google search. It has been mostly boring until lately. Let me share a list of my favorites:
Volvo jokes
i am not my wife's first true love
i don't like being a stepmom
mating peking drakes female goose (really? people search for that?)
what happens to the female ducks when it is mating season
ducks that bully
wife in mud
Apparently I'm a resident expert about mating ducks because that seems to bring me more traffic than anything (that and Coco's Crepes anyway). Not sure when I became a duck expert but seems like people come to me to read about duck romance.
Most of these searches make sense to me. I know which posts they come from except for the last one. Wife in mud? This is going to take some research. I'll get back to you on this one.
The amusement part was a more unexpected benefit of analytics. I find enjoyment seeing how people get to my blog through a google search. It has been mostly boring until lately. Let me share a list of my favorites:
Volvo jokes
i am not my wife's first true love
i don't like being a stepmom
mating peking drakes female goose (really? people search for that?)
what happens to the female ducks when it is mating season
ducks that bully
wife in mud
Apparently I'm a resident expert about mating ducks because that seems to bring me more traffic than anything (that and Coco's Crepes anyway). Not sure when I became a duck expert but seems like people come to me to read about duck romance.
Most of these searches make sense to me. I know which posts they come from except for the last one. Wife in mud? This is going to take some research. I'll get back to you on this one.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Impossible you say? I think not!
I may have mentioned that I have a picky eater in my house. In addition to the teenagers pickiness is her religious limitations that are even more difficult in my book. She can't eat any seafood that doesn't have scales. She can't eat pork either. This is even limiting when I buy frozen pizza! There aren't many without a pork product on it that she can't eat and if it does, it likely has a vegetable that she refuses to try.
I try my best to accomodate her because I do respect her beliefs but not having been raised that way, I often have to think twice... or maybe a hundred times about what I'm cooking for the family.
There is one major rule at dinner though... if you are allowed to eat it, you have to at least try it (this includes the hubby too but that is much less of an issue). Sometimes I feel like I'm feeding a toddler. The teenager will put off eating the things she doesn't like until the bitter end. At this point it is usually cold and doesn't taste as good as it did earlier so my rule is almost pointless.
Sunday (with the help of some unexpected peer pressure), I got the teenager to try something that I was never going to even attempt to get her to try. SUSHI!!! The same kid who won't even try spinach tried sushi!
The hubby and I were going to Tokyohana to have sushi which has become my hubby's favorite food lately. The teenager's friend heard that and commented that she had always wanted to try sushi. This wasn't unexpected since the friend is an adventurous girl. So because of this the teenager and the college student came along too. Keep in mind that I wasn't going to bother getting either to try sushi...
I was in for a HUGE surprise though! When I gave the teenager the other menu with the "normal" food, she announced that she was trying sushi! I nearly fell out of my chair in shock!
Don't think for a moment that the actual eating of the sushi was drama-free however. She picked up one that I thought she might like (Tiger Eye Roll - smoked salmon, cream cheese, and a slice of jalapeno). Nothing super crazy in that one so she agrees to try it. She bites it in half and says she likes it ok at first. Then she decides that one is too fishy and spits the other half into her napkin (see where the toddler reference comes in?)
Then her older sister (a.k.a. the college student) tells her that the other roll is super yummy. This one is called a Fuji roll. The Fuji roll also has smoked salmon but this one has avocado, green onion and special mayonaise. On this roll there are two items she doesn't like... onion and mayo. However she LOVED this one! I couldn't be more surprised but I will take every opportunity to use this incident against her 'cause that's what being a parent is all about!
As a side note, the friend had the Tokyohana roll which had shrimp and eel on it. She was pretty much game for anything that I said she might like. She loved her roll too!
I try my best to accomodate her because I do respect her beliefs but not having been raised that way, I often have to think twice... or maybe a hundred times about what I'm cooking for the family.
There is one major rule at dinner though... if you are allowed to eat it, you have to at least try it (this includes the hubby too but that is much less of an issue). Sometimes I feel like I'm feeding a toddler. The teenager will put off eating the things she doesn't like until the bitter end. At this point it is usually cold and doesn't taste as good as it did earlier so my rule is almost pointless.
Sunday (with the help of some unexpected peer pressure), I got the teenager to try something that I was never going to even attempt to get her to try. SUSHI!!! The same kid who won't even try spinach tried sushi!
The hubby and I were going to Tokyohana to have sushi which has become my hubby's favorite food lately. The teenager's friend heard that and commented that she had always wanted to try sushi. This wasn't unexpected since the friend is an adventurous girl. So because of this the teenager and the college student came along too. Keep in mind that I wasn't going to bother getting either to try sushi...
I was in for a HUGE surprise though! When I gave the teenager the other menu with the "normal" food, she announced that she was trying sushi! I nearly fell out of my chair in shock!
Don't think for a moment that the actual eating of the sushi was drama-free however. She picked up one that I thought she might like (Tiger Eye Roll - smoked salmon, cream cheese, and a slice of jalapeno). Nothing super crazy in that one so she agrees to try it. She bites it in half and says she likes it ok at first. Then she decides that one is too fishy and spits the other half into her napkin (see where the toddler reference comes in?)
Then her older sister (a.k.a. the college student) tells her that the other roll is super yummy. This one is called a Fuji roll. The Fuji roll also has smoked salmon but this one has avocado, green onion and special mayonaise. On this roll there are two items she doesn't like... onion and mayo. However she LOVED this one! I couldn't be more surprised but I will take every opportunity to use this incident against her 'cause that's what being a parent is all about!
As a side note, the friend had the Tokyohana roll which had shrimp and eel on it. She was pretty much game for anything that I said she might like. She loved her roll too!
It was such a momentous event that I needed to record it in photos. I'm so very proud of her bravery!
Tiger Eye and Tokyohana Rolls
The teenager and the friend doing a cheesy teenager pose
The teenager actually trying a piece of sushi! YAY!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Boot Camp Week 3
I actually don't have any clear memory of bootcamp last week other than pushing an SUV down the street. I think I must have been asleep for most of it. I have decided that 5 days a week of waking up at or before 4am is entirely too hard to keep up with. So I skipped on Friday and slept in. I am bad!
Another thing that has been bad are my eating habits. I truly believe that when someone tells me I have to cut something out of my diet, I will always rebel. Last Friday you could find my friend and I hunched over a very large and expensive wedge of cheese. We didn't finish it but we did try hard (I finished it before the weekend was over though). Then there was the day of crepes... sushi and wine later that evening. Sushi and wine twice over the weekend... the list of my dietary indiscretions goes on and on.
So without further adieu my weight loss is -2! That's right, I gained back a pound and added another for good measure! I can see this boot camp is working well for me! Maybe if I stopped trying to eat everything in the house... I'll try that this week. Other than the Coco's breakfast or dinner... eating cheese... drinking wine... Aw heck! I give up!
Another thing that has been bad are my eating habits. I truly believe that when someone tells me I have to cut something out of my diet, I will always rebel. Last Friday you could find my friend and I hunched over a very large and expensive wedge of cheese. We didn't finish it but we did try hard (I finished it before the weekend was over though). Then there was the day of crepes... sushi and wine later that evening. Sushi and wine twice over the weekend... the list of my dietary indiscretions goes on and on.
So without further adieu my weight loss is -2! That's right, I gained back a pound and added another for good measure! I can see this boot camp is working well for me! Maybe if I stopped trying to eat everything in the house... I'll try that this week. Other than the Coco's breakfast or dinner... eating cheese... drinking wine... Aw heck! I give up!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
I'm in heaven
After my truly evil bootcamp workout this morning that involved lots and lots of running, I decided to reward myself. The college student who lives with us told me about a really awesome crepe and coffee shop. It is almost on my way to work from the workout so I decided to stop for some breakfast.
I had the most yummiest crepe ever! It had smoked salmon, cream cheese, baby greens, and red onion capers on it. I was in heaven after every bite and mourned a little when it was gone. I think next week when I go back I will be getting the one with goat cheese, spinach and roasted red peppers.
It is called Coco's Crepes & Coffee (http://www.cocoscrepes.com/). If you are around downtown Houston, I highly recommend stopping by. I personally plan to go back every week until I've tried them all! A person has to have goals you know!
I had the most yummiest crepe ever! It had smoked salmon, cream cheese, baby greens, and red onion capers on it. I was in heaven after every bite and mourned a little when it was gone. I think next week when I go back I will be getting the one with goat cheese, spinach and roasted red peppers.
It is called Coco's Crepes & Coffee (http://www.cocoscrepes.com/). If you are around downtown Houston, I highly recommend stopping by. I personally plan to go back every week until I've tried them all! A person has to have goals you know!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Boot Camp Week 2
Did I mention throwing my back out in week one? I was hoping it would get better by Monday for week 2. No such luck! I missed a whole week and managed to keep my one pound loss. Hey, at least I didn't gain!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Boot Camp Week 1
It went really well all week. I was enjoying myself despite the 5am start time until Friday. Then it happened... yes, I have injured myself. And it's not a little minor thing that I can work out with. It had to be my back. During Friday's boot camp when she was making us do some sort of crazy monkey walk up a hill, I pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve or something. Doesn't really matter what I did to myself because I could barely straighten up the next day.
I was doing really well with the weight loss too. On Friday morning I had lost 2.5 pounds total. Great you say? Then the diet-busting birthday party happened. My wonderful friend, Rhonda, decided to celebrate her birthday by going to Cafe Adobe (my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant) and going to see Sex and the City with the girls. I was doing pretty good at first. I didn't eat many chips and had ordered the tilapia with a side of grilled veggies. Admittedly it all had butter on it but it was at least better than the cheese and white sauce soaked spinach enchiladas that I normally get.
I was so proud of myself for standing strong! Then the truly evil part of the party happened. I was thinking that we would have the restaurant bring out a dessert for Rhonda's birthday and I would just not partake in the calorie laden goodness because there wouldn't be enough. Oh no... this is not how things went down. KB decided to make a ding dong cake. Now most people know that I pretty much don't eat cake because I don't consider most cakes to be worth the calories. I would estimate that the massive piece that I was given to have approximately 10,000 calories and it was worth every single one. Did I stop at the one piece? No, I had to pick at the piece in the middle of the table that no one claimed because it didn't have the yummy filling. I picked at it until it was gone. I stopped short of embarrassing myself by licking the plate (I did think about it though).
After that orgy of calories and the inability to move, my net loss barely 1 pound. Sigh... maybe I will do better next weekend.
I was doing really well with the weight loss too. On Friday morning I had lost 2.5 pounds total. Great you say? Then the diet-busting birthday party happened. My wonderful friend, Rhonda, decided to celebrate her birthday by going to Cafe Adobe (my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant) and going to see Sex and the City with the girls. I was doing pretty good at first. I didn't eat many chips and had ordered the tilapia with a side of grilled veggies. Admittedly it all had butter on it but it was at least better than the cheese and white sauce soaked spinach enchiladas that I normally get.
I was so proud of myself for standing strong! Then the truly evil part of the party happened. I was thinking that we would have the restaurant bring out a dessert for Rhonda's birthday and I would just not partake in the calorie laden goodness because there wouldn't be enough. Oh no... this is not how things went down. KB decided to make a ding dong cake. Now most people know that I pretty much don't eat cake because I don't consider most cakes to be worth the calories. I would estimate that the massive piece that I was given to have approximately 10,000 calories and it was worth every single one. Did I stop at the one piece? No, I had to pick at the piece in the middle of the table that no one claimed because it didn't have the yummy filling. I picked at it until it was gone. I stopped short of embarrassing myself by licking the plate (I did think about it though).
After that orgy of calories and the inability to move, my net loss barely 1 pound. Sigh... maybe I will do better next weekend.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Boot Camp Day 2
I hadn't planned on giving a daily update really but since Trix asked I will give a quick update. I have learned two things since Sunday. The first was to not forget to take any medicine and my vitamins before I leave for work (forgot on Monday). The second was to bring them with me rather than taking them before I leave the house.
Unfortunately I have discovered the hard way that vitamins make me sick before a workout. I've always known that most food does that but it never occurred to me to not take a vitamin. I got a little sick in the middle of the workout so the instructor suggested that between the strength exercise that I just do situps. I think I did about 100 - 150 situps total today!! The upside is that I'll have fantastic abs once I drop some of the excess weight I have gained recently.
So today didn't go quite as well as yesterday but hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Unfortunately I have discovered the hard way that vitamins make me sick before a workout. I've always known that most food does that but it never occurred to me to not take a vitamin. I got a little sick in the middle of the workout so the instructor suggested that between the strength exercise that I just do situps. I think I did about 100 - 150 situps total today!! The upside is that I'll have fantastic abs once I drop some of the excess weight I have gained recently.
So today didn't go quite as well as yesterday but hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Boot Camp Day 1
I survived it! I think this was partially because I was not quite awake at 5am when I got there. It was a major undertaking to just leave this morning. Since I live in Spring and I'm doing this boot camp in the Heights near work, I must shower close by. So I am hauling 4 separate bags this morning. My purse and laptop bag are normal for work. Then I need a bag to hold the yoga mat, water bottle weights and the towel that I need for the boot camp. The last bag hold everything I need to get ready.
It was all going well until I realized I had forgotten my hair dryer. Now this isn't a real tragedy since I have curly hair and can let it dry naturally but it was still extremely wet when I got to work. Heck an hour later it's still pretty damp.
I did remember to bring makeup with me but after I showered, I was still sweating quite a bit so I decided to put on the makeup at work. Great plan but I left it in the car and I'm feeling too lazy to go get it.
Showering was an experience all on it's own. I do have a gym membership but the closest one isn't all that close to work. I had heard there were showers at Memorial Park in the tennis center for a small fee. It was definitely small... 75 cents to be exact. It was a typical locker room type of shower. It wasn't bad but it sorta reminded me of a high school locker room. Nothing like the LA Fitness set up that I'm more accustomed to.
All in all a good experience for the first day... back to it tomorrow.
And so I can keep track of my progress... my beginning weight is 148. My goal for this 4 weeks is at least 10 pounds. I would love a 15 pound loss but I'm not really going to be upset if I don't make that one.
It was all going well until I realized I had forgotten my hair dryer. Now this isn't a real tragedy since I have curly hair and can let it dry naturally but it was still extremely wet when I got to work. Heck an hour later it's still pretty damp.
I did remember to bring makeup with me but after I showered, I was still sweating quite a bit so I decided to put on the makeup at work. Great plan but I left it in the car and I'm feeling too lazy to go get it.
Showering was an experience all on it's own. I do have a gym membership but the closest one isn't all that close to work. I had heard there were showers at Memorial Park in the tennis center for a small fee. It was definitely small... 75 cents to be exact. It was a typical locker room type of shower. It wasn't bad but it sorta reminded me of a high school locker room. Nothing like the LA Fitness set up that I'm more accustomed to.
All in all a good experience for the first day... back to it tomorrow.
And so I can keep track of my progress... my beginning weight is 148. My goal for this 4 weeks is at least 10 pounds. I would love a 15 pound loss but I'm not really going to be upset if I don't make that one.
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