Twilight Zone Thursday

{one}: I had the weirdest dream this morning. Quite frankly, I've had A LOT of weird dreams lately, but this one was particularly vivid and odd.  I dreamt that I was speaking to students at the public high school in the small town in western Massachusetts that I grew up in. I was an adult, yet the kids I'd grown up with were high school age. I kept looking out in the audience and trying to recognize my childhood friends. My speech topic? Living in the "big city." I need to employ a full-time dream analyst.

{two}: Apologies to those on Facebook who've already seen this, but since my parents aren't on Facebook, I have to re-post here.

I had the day off and had taken my stepdaughter, G. to a doctor's appointment this morning. I came home, ate lunch, and then decided I'd go out to do some errands. I stopped at the mailbox on my way out and looked down to see this:

(And no, I'm not talking about the "past its prime" pedicure with Halloween-ish color.)

I put mismatched shoes on. Thank GOD I actually looked down and saw this before taking off to do my errands. As my Mom says, "my elevator was full" and I had a million things running through my mind when I stuck my feet in my closet to put on shoes. It didn't even cross my mind that they might not match.

{three}: Changing directions, I had a "good" Twilight Zone experience in HomeGoods. It's weird how I can just walk in and have a few different things in mind that I'm looking for and BAM! One is just sitting there on the shelf smack dab in front of me. (And it's cheap, too...can't get much better than that.) We have a ladder shelf in our living room that I've been trying to find something to go on the bottom for quite a while. Sage green/maroon are the main colors in the living room and so to find something that I think matches perfectly was truly Rod Sterling-esque. (Have I dated myself by dropping that name?)

It's a bad photo...light-wise and wires hanging in the back.

Oh, and now that I've taken the photo, all I keep thinking of when I see it is a game piece from Sorry. Yeah, this might be going back.... ::sigh::

{four}: Driving along the highway, minding my own business and I see this in front of me. Is this not irony at it's finest????

Another bad photo (what do you expect, since I shouldn't have been using my phone anyways while speeding along Route 495?)

In case you can't see it, let me paint the picture for you.

A flat bed tow truck is towing a green Lamborghini. OK, that in and of itself isn't that ironic.

License plate? PRENUP

I'm thinking the prenup wasn't necessary based on the the fact the Lamborghini is being towed away to its death. (OK, I made up the last part of that statement. I don't really know why it was being towed. It just made the story better.)

Barbeque Meatloaf

Meatloaf. (Not the singer.)

When I think of meatloaf the food, I think of cold weather comfort food, ketchup, and mashed potatoes.

I made some Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis last year from Cooking Light and I've been looking for another meatloaf recipe to try.

I found one!

Barbecue Meat Loaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup barbecue sauce, divided (I used Stubbs)
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large egg whites
Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine the beef, breadcrumbs, and onion, 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce, and remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.

 Shape meat mixture into a 9 x 5-inch loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Spread remaining barbecue sauce over top of meat loaf. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut loaf into 12 slices.

The barbecue flavor is not overwhelming and we ended up using barbecue sauce on the side for dipping (similar to how one might dip in ketchup.)

It tasted good. The only aesthetic issue was that the barbecue sauce pooled up on top of the meatloaf and left a greasy sheen on top of the loaf. Perhaps next time I won't put it on top for the whole hour -- maybe just for 15-20 minutes.

I forgot to take a photo until we'd already cut into it, so forgive that and the fact that it's on a crappy old Corelle dish.  And the fact that it's a crappy photo altogether. There's a much better photo at the link to the recipe!

Farewell Artwell

Today a gentle and kind soul traveled over the Rainbow Bridge.

Art
Artie
Arturo
Arthur McFarter

And the list goes on.

Artie was my parents' third retired racer greyhound. (Sophie & Zeke preceded him over the Rainbow Bridge.) I didn't have the connection to him that I had to Sophie & Zeke, but John was lucky enough to travel across country with him and his brother Ray.

My parents didn't have him long, but loved him, cuddled him, and gave him a wonderful life. He developed a sarcoma and it caused him to limp. My mother found a tumor on his face only days ago. Not wanting him to suffer, my parents gave him his freedom and let him run free, over the Rainbow Bridge, to meet with Sophie, Zeke, our Max, and the dogs from my childhood, Zack & Ziggy.

We love you Art and we'll miss you. <3


Here are some pictures of Art & his brother from another mother, Ray. They were taken at the Stay Pet Hotel, where they'd go to stay when my parents were out of town. I'm sure that Art lived some of his best moments there.

October 2011: Art & Ray are new siblings and getting to know one another.

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Stay Pet Hotel on Facebook

April 2012: Six months later and "fast" friends.

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Stay Pet Hotel on Facebook

These Feet Were Made For Jogging

OK...I'm not sure they were "made" for jogging, but this past weekend, I proved that they CAN jog an entire 5K! Completing the Couch to 5K program is on my 40 Before 41 list and I DID IT!!!

Sorry for shouting, but I'm still somewhat in awe of the fact that I followed through on something that took about 10 weeks and involved exercise, of which I've never been fond.

The excitement started Friday night when I went and picked up my number (or "bib" as the experienced runners call it) and my complimentary t-shirt.

This pick-up immediately presented two questions:

1. Where do I pin my bib?
2. Do I wear the shirt to the race?

Luckily, I have lots of friends on Facebook who know what they're doing in the running world and they instructed me on proper pinning of the bib and told me I didn't need to wear my complimentary shirt.

After my mind was at ease about these details, I allowed myself to "carb up" by having takeout pizza. Now, I'm not really sure that this is what runners have in order to "carb up" (I'm thinking it's more likes pasta), but being on Weight Watchers, I thought I deserved something a little more exciting thans spaghetti. So, I had two slices of a small veggie pizza, watched some TV, figured out what time I needed to wake up the next morning to be on time, decided to wear my old glasses since I was used to running in them, and then called it a night.

I had a good night's sleep, woke up bright eyed at 7:30, to have John tell me it'd been raining for about an hour.

Ugh.

My mood was immediately dampened. (Pun intended.)

John asked me if the 5K would still happen even if it was raining.

Guess what?

I didn't know.

I went online to try to find out and found on an entry form that it was "rain or shine."

After reading that it was full speed ahead. There was no stopping me now.

I got up, showered, and had a good breakfast.

We arrived at the race location about 1 hour before the start time. I'm sure experienced runners don't arrive that early (which was evident by the small number of parked cars), but I'm glad I did so I could get the lay of the land.

I picked up two more safety pins so that I could complete the bib pinning, loaded up with sunscreen (unnecessary) and bug spray (necessary.)

Even though I've been losing weight (kudos to Weight Watchers!), I'm still not thrilled about photos of me, but I immediately asked John to take a photo of me "pre-race."

Here I am! Butterflies in my stomach!!! After the photo, I headed to the porta-potty. You're thinking no big deal, why is she telling me this? Um, I HATE going to the bathroom in public places. It's sort of a weird phobia I have. However, I knew I had to before the race. (TMI? Sorry.)

Anywho, I went (luckily before the line formed), saw some co-workers, and after feeling slightly nauseous, FINALLY lined up. The guy who was on the bullhorn said that the slower runners should go to the back of the pack. I was in the middle of the pack and I figured that would be OK. Pfft...not.

The gun went off and it all started.

Immediately we had to go up a hill.

Immediately I was passed by about 90% of the other runners.

I just kept thinking, "Try not to care. You're doing this and it doesn't matter how slow you go."

My main goal was to jog/run the entire 5K. I saw some people walking ahead of me, but I wanted to jog/run and I would be happy...regardless of whether I came in last or not.

The 5K was a trail run and I tried to take in the scenery around me, as it was pleasant weather and the rain had stopped. I was also trying to be cognizant of branches, mud, cows, etc.., and I'm not known for my balance and both John and I talked about this ahead of time.

I came to the point where the 5K runners diverged from the 10K runners (crazy), grabbed a water at the water stop, and soaked in the accolades thrown at me by those stationed along the route. One guy said to me, "Hey...you're the first runner to arrive for the 10K!" I told myself (and him) that this was my first 5K and that I was happy with what I was doing.

I was then on the home stretch and could see the finish line. John captured this one of me as I was almost there.

People were along the fence clapping, giving me "way to go's", and the announcer was cheering me on. Best of all? I saw John smiling. I ran all the way through the finish line, came back, and of course said, "I think I'm last." (Regardless of all of my mental toughness earlier in the race.)

John insisted I wasn't last (I really thought he was just humoring me) and we headed back to the car.

I felt great. My legs and back were a little sore, but for having run 36 minutes (the longest I've ever run), I was flying high!

Later on that day, the times were posted and I saw indeed that I wasn't last (although close to last).

Reflecting on the whole experience, it wouldn't have mattered if I WAS last. I did it. A 40 year old woman who NEVER did any type of exercise, ran three times per week for 10ish weeks and ran a 5K. So, if you're thinking you can't do it -- you can.

Thanks to everyone who supported me, especially my amazing husband John. He started out running with me in the beginning until he injured his knee. Even after that, he came to the track and walked. He was there to support me the whole way and calmed my nerves before the "real deal." Thanks, Dear.

I can now cross another thing off of my 40 Before 41 list -- wahoo!!!!

Beauty Is In the Eyes of the Beholder

I realized tonight that I've worn glasses for 18 years.

Wow.

They're such a part of my being that I hardly even notice them anymore. When I look in the mirror, they're just part of my face...they blend in.

They blend in...until you get new frames...especially if you haven't had new ones in six or so years.

The photo doesn't really do them justice...they're "purple/aubergine"...of course. I like them...they're very light. I just have to get used to the semi-rimless.

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For the first time in the 18 years that I've worn glasses, I finally splurged and got a pair of Rx sunglasses. I wore them today and can already tell that they're well worth it. I've never been a fan of sunglasses, but I'm guessing that's because I wore cheapy ones that were not Rx.

It's kind of a problem when you can't see out of sunglasses. (I tried wearing my contacts under them, but I found that I felt dizzy. Weird.)

Here they are!

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Oh, and one last thing? Glasses are NOT cheap. Those of you who wear glasses know what I mean. Let's hope these last me a while!!!



4.6 On the [Richter] Scale

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Events with magnitudes greater than about 4.6 are strong enough to be recorded by a seismograph anywhere in the world, so long as its sensors are not located in the earthquake's shadow. (Wikipedia)

A generic bathroom scale was used instead of a seismograph and no sensors were in my shadow.

First week on Weight Watchers -- I lost 4.6lbs.

I am beyond happy with this.

I have no expectations that will I will lose this much/more/less over the next week or beyond.

I am living in the moment and allowing myself to be proud of my accomplishment, while trying not to let this small victory adjust my determined mindset.

OK...that was all a little hokey. Carry on -- just wanted to share my success.





WW Nachos Grandes

Last night we went to dinner at Chili's. I poured over the nutritional information for various items on the menu prior to going and calculated Weight Watchers PointsPlus for each. It amazes me that what I would've ordered had I not be on Weight Watchers was so.many.points. (High 20's/low 30's.) Luckily, they have a "Lighter Choice" section and I was able to get a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun with no fat honey mustard dressing with lettuce and tomato and a side of broccoli. That cost me 15 points, which isn't too too bad for eating out.

Anywho, John & G. ordered chips & salsa for an appetizer (of which I had one small chip with a smidge of salsa), which got me wanting nachos or something of that ilk. As luck would have it, I had gotten this cookbook out of the library earlier yesterday.

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Even luckier was the fact that on page 70, there was a recipe for Nachos Grandes. The photo on the opposite page looked enticing, so I decided to give it a whirl.

It was pretty darn good. When I told John I was making it and asked if he wanted any, he said OK until I told him I was making it with ground turkey. That OK turned into a negatory. However, once they came out of the oven, he tried them and thought they were pretty good. Go figure!

The only issue is that it serves 12 and 1/12 is 3 pts. As this was going to be a light dinner for me, I basically let myself have a 1/4 of it for 9 pts.

Nachos Grandes

serves 12

1 tsp. canola oil

1/4 lb. ground skinless turkey breast

1 c. canned red kidney beans, rinsed & drained

1 sm. onion, finely chopped

1 (14 oz) can diced green tomatoes with green chiles, drained (I couldn't find green tomatoes with chiles, so I bought a can of red tomatoes with chiles and added in some green tomato salsa.)

2 tsp. Mexican or taco seasoning

6 oz. reduced-fat restaurant-style tortilla chips

3/4 c. shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

12 pitted black olives (sliced) (I skipped these -- HATE black olives!)

1/4 c. sliced pickled jalapeno peppers (drained)

1/2 c. fat-free sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray.

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey, red kidney beans, and onion; cook, breaking turkey apart with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and Mexican seasoning; cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Keep warm.

3. Place tortilla chips on prepared baking sheet in single layer. Top evenly with turkey mixture; sprinkle evenly with Cheddar, olives, and jalapenos. Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Pile nachos on serving platter. Serve with sour cream.



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Enjoy!



Book Review: Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir)

A friend on Facebook recently asked what I was reading. I posted something to this effect:

"I'm reading "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" by Jenny Lawson. I felt like I'd been hit by a bus after reading the first chapter. Some parts of it make me laugh hysterically and others are just plain bizarre."

Here's a summary from the author's blog, The Bloggess:

When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father (a professional taxidermist who created dead-animal hand puppets) and a childhood of wearing winter shoes made out of used bread sacks. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.

Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter are the perfect comedic foils to her absurdities, and help her to uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments-the ones we want to pretend never happened-are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started.

--------

Let me start by saying that this book could probably be in the Guiness Book of World Records for the number of times the "f" word is used. Listen -- I'm no prude. I drop the "f" bomb with regularity, but it's not every other word out of my mouth. After the first few chapters, I started to feel like I was watching a comedian who was funny but insisted on using swear words constantly. The comedian STILL would've been funny even if the swear words were not used. I think Jenny could've cut back on the "f" bombs. Just sayin'.

Basically the book is 300 pages of stream of conciousness peak into the author's mind. Here's one part that I particularly liked/could relate to -- Jenny's on a blogger's retreat and and they're doing yoga.

"We were all doing the downward-dog position and all I could think was, 'For the love of Christ, just don't let me fart.' I'd begun to pray to the baby Jesus to deliver me from accidentally passing gas, and then someone else farted. It wasn't me, but all I could think was that I felt total empathy for her, and also that I really wanted to say, 'That was totally not me,' but it probably wouldn't be appropriate, since we were all supposed to be meditating." (p. 187)

Been there done that in Pilates (not the actual farting part...just the pleading with God that I don't fart.) Is this TMI? (This is what the whole book is like.)

Then there's the part where her husband says he'll strangle her if she brings home any more towels. So, instead she brings home an enormous metal chicken.

As mentioned in the synopsis, Jenny's Dad is a taxidermist. That brings a whole host of hilarity. Think "Green Acres" with a touch of craziness.

If you're looking for "serious" content, there is one chapter in which Jenny talks about the multiple miscarriages she had and how utterly devastating they were. Because she writes what her brain is saying/thinking, it's a pretty frank look at the pain suffered by those women that have miscarried.

It's hard to grade this. I literally laughed out loud multiple times, but then other times I just wanted to tell Jenny to turn her brain off...the rambling was too much.

Final grade: B

50 States? 50 Blogs!: California

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 going west

Let me first start by saying that you can't go wrong with a blog that has a symbol in its title. (Shows up a little crazy in the blog reader, but no biggie.) How did I come across this blog? Well, sit down my pretties and I'll tell you. When I first joined Twitter, I immediately "followed" the people I knew in real life and the celebrities I was interested in stalking, eh I mean "following." Then after that took all of 30 seconds, I wondered who else was out there in Twitterdom. I found that I could search profiles by keyword, so I searched things like "golden retriever," "hockey," "greyhound," "Boston Bruins," etc... One or more of these led me to the Twitter account of Lima Bean Greyhound (@LimaBeantheGrey). I "followed" Lima and saw that there was a blog address in the brief description/blip and VOILA. It's really magic, I tell you. However, that's not where it stops. So, if you've read my blog for any length of time, you may know that my parents have two rescued greyhounds (shout out to Arturo & Raymander) / the owner of this blog has a greyhound named Lima Bean. My parents used to live in Boston / the owner of this blog used to live in Boston. My Dad & husband drove across country with said greyhounds (my husband's blog, The Village Rant, chronicles this journey) / the owner of this blog drove across country with Lima and documented in his blog. Oh, and did I mention he's a hockey fan? (And so are we!)

Things that caught my eye about this blog:

• This isn't your run-of-the-mill Blogger blog. It's hosted on Tumblr, which gives it a different look and feel. I honestly don't know much about Tumblr or the differences between it and Blogger, but going west looks more sophisticated to me.
• I love the daily breakdown in the column on the right of the drive cross country from Boston to San Francisco. It's neatly organized and the reader can follow the journey easily. There's even a map that visually shows all of the stops made.
• All the amazing photos of Lima and his greyhound friends. Greyhounds seem like one of the most photogenic dog breeds (if not THE most photogenic.) Lima Bean's owner has done a great job of capturing his many moods/faces.

 Things on this blog that I'd like for my blog:

• The "Ask Me Anything" portion of the blog. A little frightened about what might be asked, but kind of fun.
• A cool tagline/subtitle. "be wary of that greyhound" is going west's and I think it's great.

Check this blog out if you appreciate great photography (not only of greyhounds, but of food and San Francisco, too), unique information about San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood, and a slightly offbeat sense of humor (I mean that in the best way possible!)

Those 26 Points Go Fast, Let Me Tell You!

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Today is Day 1 of Weight Watchers.

(Don't worry, I won't be doing a daily Weight Watchers check-in -- that would be hideously boring.)

It's just that since today is the first day and it's new, I want to document my thoughts.

(Maybe months from now I'll look back and feel a sense of accomplishment? One can only hope.)

Weight Watchers works on a PointsPlus program, which is based on the dieter's height, weight, and age. I get 26 points per day to spend as I like, although, there are guidelines/suggestions about eating certain numbers of fruits, vegetables, essential oils, dairy, protein. (This is the part that I think will be hardest for me...hitting all of these.)

Here's what I had today:

Breakfast:

• 1 serving Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal (5 pts.)
• 1 serving Lactaid fat-free milk (2 pts.)

Mid-Morning/Early Afternoon (I ate lunch late):

• Grapes (0 pts.)
• Water (0 pts.)

Lunch:

• Smart Ones (Weight Watchers frozen food) Tuna Casserole (6 pts.)
• Salad with lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms (0 pts.)
• 1 serving Newman's Light Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing (1 pt.)
• 1 serving/stick of 4C Light Cranberry Pomegranate drink mix (0 pts.)
• Water (0 pts.)
• Weight Watchers Carrot Cake (2 pts.)

Afternoon:

• Grapes (0 pts.)
• Water (0 pts.)
• Carrots (0 pts.)

Dinner:

• 1 serving Dreamfield's pasta (5 pts.)
• 1 serving Hunt's tomato sauce (1 pt.)
• Mushrooms, basil, garlic (to add to sauce) (0 pts)
• 2 tsp. olive oil (to saute veggies in) (2 pts.)
• Salad with lettuce & cucumbers (0 pts.)
• 1 serving fat-free croutons (1 pt.)
• 1/2 serving Ken's Healthy Options Ranch dressing (1 pt.)

If you're doing the math, that comes to 26 points.

Yup, that's right. Yup, it's 7:45PM and guess what?

I'm.still.hungry.

Now, here's the deal. I have this additional 49 PointsPlus allowance per week that I can use as I'd like. However, it's the first day. So, in keeping with my perfectionist mindset, I believe I'll have some grapes in a short while and see how that goes. If my stomach is still feeling on the empty-ish side, I'll break out the 100 calorie pack cookies.

As an observation, I had the thought that I would have turkey sausage with my pasta to get my protein, but I totally flaked at the grocery store and didn't get it. So, not having protein could be the cause of not feeling full.

A tip I learned at today's meeting: The jar pasta sauces (Newman's, Prego, Ragu) are much less healthy than buying a can of plain Hunt's Tomato Sauce and then sauteing veggies (as I did) and adding those and spices in. I must say that the sauce wasn't bad. I actually winged it (wung it?) with amounts, etc.. (except the oil), which is totally not me, but I went for it and it worked out OK.

Plethora O' Info

1. Thanks for those that weighed in on my running a 5K now or later. I've decided to wait until June 23rd to run my first one. That gives me almost three weeks to work on endurance/timing. I ran this morning for time -- 30 minutes (longest I 've gone as of yet) and was happy with that. It was a pretty gray day here in New England and I had the track to myself. (Well, me and dozen or so hurdles, which while I'm running I keep thinking to myself, "How does ANYONE jump over those?")

2. About 10 minutes ago I signed up for Weight Watchers. I had been gung ho about doing it for the past few weeks and then earlier today I started to think, "But I don't want to give up crab rangoons or onion rings." I forced myself to push past the negative thoughts and went grocery shopping and invested in quite a few Weight Watchers products. (I realize you don't "have" to eat their food, but I'm thinking until I get the hang of knowing how many points are for what foods, it will be handy.) I had to pick a goal weight and while I wanted to go to the maximum, I scaled it back to what I'm hoping is a more reasonable goal. I'll also go to my first meeting tomorrow as a member.

3. Yesterday my stepdaughter G. turned 25. Eek!!! It's hard to believe she was just 10 when I met her. She's come a long way in those 15 years. She went out to dinner with three friends (and her Mom, her Dad, and myself.) She had a great time and her friends seemed to have, also. (L to R: C., C., G., & R.)

4. Today would've been Max, our beloved Golden Retriever's 11th birthday. I hope he's as comfy now, wherever he is as he was in this photo. We love and miss you Dude.

5. Max shares his birthday with my Aunt Bev! (She's a Golden Retriever lover herself, so it's only fitting.) Even though we don't live close, we keep in touch via email and texts. Hope you had a great day, Bev!!!! (And we won't disclose what birthday it is for you. :)

6. I never wear dresses. I haven't bought a dress in I can't tell you how long...until a week or so ago, when I bought this one.

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I have a little black shrug that goes with it (I'm so not ready for sleveless.) Another thing I never do is buy accessories to go with new outfits. I usually just wing it with what I've got. I felt moved, however, to get these.

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