BINGO!

Ooooh yeah! Keith and I had a big Saturday night out on the town. Raising $$ for our town at the Fire Hall playing BING-O. There were some fantabulous prizes to be won and we invited my sister, Annie (fellow weigh-in buddy, extraordinare) and her hubby, and my sister-in-law (of HOMEMADE butter almond ice cream a few posts down) and her hubby, along with my new friend and resident to our town and her hubby, to join us in the FUN.

Here is my "lucky" Dabber... It clearly states - THE WINNER'S INK on it...


There were probably 12 - 15 awesome baskets/prizes, but here is what I'd hoped to win....

That's all Tastefully Simple Stuff!!

OR even this chocolate lover's basket - as I am one (a chocolate lover - Not a basket)

OR even THIS one would have been very nice to win...

Well, my sister-in-law won this one - very exciting! And my bro-in-law won $30 in g.c.'s to McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts and Wawa (it was called the "Breakfast on the Go" gift bag).

And Annie won $100 cash prize, AND later in the evening won a Fondue Pot with her raffle ticket.

And me? Well, I came away with this grand prize...

I think my dabber was supposed to say "The Wiener's Ink".

At least we had a LOG of laughs! And I'll always have the memories....

Little Bunny Fon-due

Yesterday afternoon we surprised Noah and Emmy with a trip into Philadelphia to have lunch with the Easter Bunny. The bigger surprise was that LUNCH was Fondue at The Melting Pot!

First the Cheese Fondue. Notice the intensity of Keith's fondue finesse. We chose the Cheddar Fondue, and the Traditional Swiss (with a shout out to Tamara!!) They gave us nachos, apples, bread, and raw veggies for dipping.

Then it was the broth course. We chose the vegie broth and Mojo Caribbean broth. They gave us shrimp, chicken, ravioli and teriyaki chicken to cook in the broth.

And then we had dessert, of course!

We chose the Chocolate Turtle and the Chocolate Smores chocolates for dipping. The plate right there that Emmy is guarding is hers and mine. The Boys had their own. There were oreo covered and graham cracker covered marshmellows, bananas, strawberries, brownies, rice krispie treats and cheesecake for dipping.

Afterwards, we went to the Reading Terminal to walk off some of our indulgence. Emmy wants you to know that she loves flowers. Hence this picture from the Terminal.

This was a very different experience than our Saturday night, which I'll share with you -tomorrow.

Me Thinks Thou Dost Eat Out Too Much

Diet Tip #5: Never, I repeat, NEVER try a Five Guys Little Cheeseburger with grilled onions. If you already have, you know it's too late. I'm sorry. I can't help you now.

Okay, so I had a little problem this week. Last Friday, my mom invited me out for lunch with her and my grandmother at a Chinese/Japanese restaurant (they serve both -it's not a matter of me not being sure which) and how can I turn down a meal with my elders? my roots? my heritage? Can you tell I'm stalling here? Well, I didn't do too bad there, settling for a teriyaki grilled chicken breast with avocado (creamy deliciousness) with a side of brown rice - of which I only took two spoonfuls, tea - no sugar, and a fortune cookie for dessert. I didn't keep the fortune, but I think it probably said something about needing to get serious about my goals...

It wasn't so bad except that I already knew that I would be going to Five Guys on Sunday for lunch, something I had been dreaming about for days since I had convinced Keith that we needed to go so he could try the burgers (my ulterior motive being that he then share my addiction). I will mention that I do NOT need to eat Five Guys fries, and didn't that day. (small pat on the back. here.) And THEN, we got a phone call from my sis-in-law, Cathy, inviting us to dinner Sunday night. Never mind the baked ham, creamy potato casserole,and broccoli with cheese sauce - she made brownies and HOMEMADE butter almond ice cream for dessert. It is bad enough that brownies are my kryptonite, but to serve them with HOMEMADE ice cream!! I'm so glad my weigh-in day wasn't Monday - or Tuesday, for that matter!

Monday morning I resolved myself to starvation for the rest of the week. That lasted til about 9:30 am, and then I ate breakfast. I decided to just get back on track of trying to eat healthier and continue exercising.

BUT THEN... Maria and I got together on Wednesday to do our part to help stimulate the economy, and were planning to go to a favorite spot of her's for soup for lunch. Nice, healthy, nutritious soup. Our intentions were honorable. But then she suggested we go to this garden center across the street from where we were shopping, and oh, they happen to have a Cafe'. Oooh... garden center with a cafe'. But, 0f course!

~Welcome Spring, Please come in~

After taking in the flowers, please check out those old doors leaning against the wall back there! Be still my heart!

And why are You still here on this table and not in my home?

Okay, I have jumped into a favorite magazine with Mary Poppins, I'm quite sure of it. Either that or I'm being given a glimpse into Heaven.

Oh but wait! We haven't even approached the Cafe' yet...

um...Someone forgot to tell me that I am on vacation!

It was so hard to decide what to order. But we finally both chose the Squash and Chickpea Tangine with Israeli CousCous and yogurt and almonds. Never had a Tangine, didn't know what a Tangine was exactly, but felt that if I was going to have a Tangine, this was the place to try it.

I was right. It was Captial D -licious. And did you notice my Rose Water Lemonade Spritzer served in the mason jar, just behind it?

And how about some right-out-of-the-oven-warm, soft, slightly sweet bread cooked in a flower pot, of course. And served with pea -butter! No, no, not peanut butter. Green Pea Butter. Different. Spring different. Good Different. Not going to run home and make it myself, though, Different.

The only down side to this meal was that the bread came to the table NOT while we were waiting for our meal, but after we were finished, and after having asked for it several times and then being greeted with Attitude by our waitress. I hate Attitude. We just wanted our bread. In the cute little flower pot. With the Pea Butter. Like everyone else. Really. Is that asking too much? Okay, sorry. I am making a too long of a post even longer.

So back to reality. Drum Roll, please:

-.8 lbs. this week. Still rolling in the right direction. Even with a vacation day thrown in.

That'll do.

You Give Me Fever

Spring Fever, that is! Unfortunately the only two things that it has ushered in are the return of our groundhog, and the arrival of the tax assessor - both of which presented themselves on Tuesday. Lucky us. Actually, the groundhog, whose been with us for four or five years now, is alot of fun to watch. He stays near the back of the property (as his home is under our shed) and feasts on dandilions and clover. His name is Chewy (because he reminds us of Chewbacca, of course) and should he come near our garden or more importantly my fig tree, he will no longer have a home here. That, and he is not allowed to multiply. He seems to understand the arrangement, though. We provide the weeds, he provides the entertainment. I'll be sure to post some pics of his shanangins, upon the arrival of my new camera (which is hopefully on the 25th according to Amazon!!)

The tax assesor, however - not so entertaining.

Happy First Day of Spring! May warmer days be upon us soon.

First Friday Weigh-In

Diet Tip #4: Actually, it's your turn. I'm really struggling with what to eat for lunch...something nutritious, satisfying and easy to put together. I'm finding myself dreading lunch time because I don't know what to eat, and I can't eat salad for lunch everyday. Sometimes I wind up just snacking on little stuff and then have a hard time resisting temptations later in the day.



Any ideas? Recipes? You can leave them in the comments. Thanks!



Okay, having gone from a Sunday weigh-in to Friday weigh-in... follow the math: 5 days since my last weigh-in....



-1.5lbs. I'll take it!

Weigh-In and Way Out

Diet Tip #3: Change your weigh-in day

Okay, so the Sunday weigh-in is not working for me, because I've discovered that Saturday night is my indulgence night. I'd like to keep it that way. My new weigh-in date will be Fridays. It's good to keep things flexible.

Week #3: -1.1 lbs.

More interesting: our Sunday morning. I decided to start out our the dreary, rainy day with a yummy brunch before church time:

Mini Asparagus and Swiss Cheese Fritattas, Walnut Cinnamon Rolls, strawberries and grapefruits. I was inspired by Giada's Breakfast episode this week on the Food Network. Everyone really liked having the frittatas this way. Easy to bake in mini muffin pans so I could do other stuff, and easy to eat. The cinnamon rolls were crazy good and definitely another keeper for future weekend splurges. You can find the recipes for Giada's menu here. I switched it up by using asparagus and swiss instead of ham and parmesan, and for the cinnamon rolls, I used walnuts 'cause I had them, instead of hazelnuts, and neufchatel cheese instead of mascarpone cause that was what was in the fridge today.

I'm hoping that because this was my only meal til dinner, that it won't hurt my weight goal too much. After all, my next weigh-in IS Friday!

Minor Details

After a long week of practices, Saturday was the big day - Evaluations and Try-Outs for Minors Little League for Noah. It is an intense process for the kids. Well, it would have been for me. As a child, I would have thrown-up, passed out - something pathetic. All the parents watching from the sidelines - all the judges holding clipboards on the field, looking all official -like, - each of the coaches, keeping a watchful eye to see which players they might want for their teams. Ugh! Thankfully, Noah didn't inherit that throw-up/pass out gene from me. He may have been nervous, but he didn't show it.

And he did great. Made Minors, and is thrilled. We celebrated his success with Aunt Laurie and Uncle Bill over pizza and fondue - not to mention several nail-biting games of bowling on the Wii.

Apparently, Emmy is trying out for the mascot. And thankfully she allowed me to use her camera again. Hope I have my own by Opening Day!

Mundane March or Warm Weather, Where Art Thou?

It's definitely bad when I'm roaming throughout the house coming up with alliterations to amuse myself...loads of laundry...ominous oven oils... soiled socks...Little League laziness (Leaving Last night's Leftovers all over the Lair)...

March is a tough month. Sooooo ready for warmer weather, but not ready for the busyness that spring time brings. Plus, everyone has a cold, I'm suffering from the craziness that accompanies going back to teaching at The Preschool (yep, started back this week) , baseball practice to tryout for the Minors EVERY NIGHT THIS WEEK, I miss my camera (see my Feb. 18th post), I'm tired of being chilly all the time and I think my house must have thrown-up sometime between Wednesday and Thursday because it is a MESS in here and it doesn't smell as lovely as I'd like.
Okay, so it's just a cacophony of complaints, I know. And I could keep going, but I think many of us suffer from this March Madness, so I won't.

Except, the icing on the cake? Baby Bundles with my Brownies tonight. Passionate prayers, please.

Weigh-In #2

Diet Tip #2: Have a colonoscopy done.

Bonus Tip: Don't go to your friends 40th Birthday party at a sublime restaurant the night before your weigh-in.

Well, I followed one of my diet tips for this week, but not the other. Let's just say that dinner last night was heavenly. As for my weight...

.2 lbs gone. Oh well, I imagine if I had actually had time to do my weigh-in this morning, instead of this evening the number might have looked a little better, but there wasn't time til now. Might have squeeked out a .4 or something. Guess that means my number for next week will be much better. Slow and steady wins the race they say...

Yesterday morning, Annie and I worked out together with Jillian. I'm barely able to lift my arms up to the keyboard to type this today...I knew I picked the right trainer in Bob.

Our Turner Day plans were slightly thwarted by Birthday parties and beautiful weather, so I don't have any finished product to show you yet, but I've confiscated Emmy's camera again to at least give you a preview of what we are working with....

Off to soak my muscles...

Happy TURNER Day!

March 6th. The official unofficial holiday. Turner Day. This year we celebrated with an evening of quesidillas and burritos at Moe's Southwest Grill and then headed over to Michael's to purchase all that we will need for our very special Turner project, to be worked on over the weekend. Can't wait to show you!


On the way home, we decided to make a little stop to pick up these:

Four different kinds of Dunkin Donuts, equally divided so we can all taste a bit of each one...a tradition actually started in my youth, but one that works very well for such a special day as today.

Good thing I have two days 'til "weigh in" and Annie and I are planning to Shred together with Jillian tomorrow morning!!

Why March 6th, you ask? It is the 1/2 anniversary of our Anniversary, and not much is going on in March for us anyway, so, it worked! Stay -tuned for pictures of our weekend family project!!

Snow Day

Yes, unfortunately, it is another snow day. While I lament the delay in our summer plans over a cup of tea and still in my PJ's at mid-afternoon, Emily is making the most of it. This morning we read several Dr. Seuss books for the occasion of his birthday, watched High School Musical 2, twice WITH the Bonus Features and made a "Hannah Montana bracelet" from a kit she received for her birthday. Then she headed outside, thinking that the wind had died down a little...

My little snow angel was wrong. The wind made for a not-so-fun outdoor adventure.

And, where is my Noah to help her back up? Sick, on the coach, frustrated that he cannot even lift his head to see his sister stuck in the snow...

The First Weigh-In

Diet Tip #1 Get sick the first week of your weight loss "program".

Yeah, it wasn't the best week to jump on Annie's bandwagon of weight loss, because I'm not sure if it was a "typical" week. Due to the constant drip down the back of my throat, and the fact that I couldn't smell anything, I didn't eat like I normally would, and I wasn't as tempted by sweets as I normally might be. I also didn't visit with my trainer, Bob (Biggest Loser) except for one introductory class (first time I tried the DVD). After that I felt that exercise might dislodge my eyeballs from their sockets or my nose right off my face. So, while I wasn't eating normally, I also wasn't very active. Maybe that's okay though...

Week 1: 1lb. lost, bye bye..

I'll take it, and hope that the return of my tastebuds and the ability to breath will make this next week a little more "normal" - and that I'll still lose some weight!

Gearing up for the "big storm" tonight! They are saying 8-12 inches. Haven't seen that much snow up in this here parts since I was a youngin', I wreakin'! I'm hoping the weather people are just full of snow, because I don't want anymore snow days cutting into our beach time this summer!