Almost Friday!!!

YAY!!! I'm ready for the weekend. We don't have any plans but no work is always a good thing. This week I cooked. I got the recipe for baked ziti from Aishlea. It was good but not fabulous. I'm pretty sure I messed up with the amount of pasta I used. I need to check with Aishlea. Also, our oven cooks faster than other peoples apparently. Notice the darker color on the edge. It wasn't burnt but there were a couple of dark spots & I took it out about 5 minutes before I was supposed to. Anyway, it wasn't bad at all & I'll definitely try again.  It was super easy too.
Yesterday, I had a hair appointment. It had been way too long. Something like 12 weeks. I never plan to go that long in between cuts & highlights but it just kinda happens. I'm putting it in my planner now to make an appt before that next time.
It's a little lighter than normal. Or it could be that I'd gotten used to looking at all those dark roots that it just looks really light. I like it & it's maybe almost spring & I like to be lighter in the spring/summer.

The last several days we had spring like weather. Tuesday it was 81. Yes, it's January. That's what it's like to live in Louisiana. Wednesday it rained. Today it's cold. When I say cold I mean it's 56 & the high is 60.

My workouts for the week were messed up by the rain. I had it all figured out after having Monday as a rest day. Then it rained. I was supposed to run & I had a back up plan for the rain. I was going to Yoglates. Well, I have a problem waking up. All. The. Time. I have a much bigger problem waking up when it's storming. Guess what? Yeh it was storming & I stayed in bed & did nothing. 

This is what my work out schedule has been like this week:
Sunday - ran
Monday - rest
Tuesday - Yoglates
Wed. - rest.
Thurs. - Yoglates
Friday - I'm leaning towards Yoglates
Saturday - run

I bought the Hal Higdon app to train for the half marathon. I'm waiting until after the Race for the Cure to start training. I want to concentrate on the 5K first. The Half isn't until December so I have plenty of time.

How's your week??

Toodles!

Happy Weekend!

We've had such a delightful weekend & I'm exhausted! Of course food is involved. Isn't it always? Friday night we had Mexican. Caliente is turning into a Friday night routine. We had queso with hamburger meat for an app & that stuff was soooo good!!! No pics, I forgot.
I had flautas for my meal. So, so good. This is proof of how your taste change. I LOVE the rice & beans now. I never used to eat Mexican & I HATED the rice & beans.

This is chocolate flan. We didn't order it. The owner is always at the restaurant on Friday nights when we go & since we're regulars & a couple of our friends know her she's used to seeing us & she sent this over. Of course we had to eat it. It was really good but we were so so so full.

Saturday morning I went to Yoglates. It was tough! My heart rate monitor shows I burned 711 calories! Later my parents came over & they brought Logan with them.
Being silly for the camera!
Aren't you tired of taking pics??
We played cars! He loves those things.
He showed me how strong his "big muscles" are. His expression cracks me up! This week we only had to check the water in the pool once. It was still cold.

Saturday evening Dean & I went to Mass & afterwards we had dinner at Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro. This is another local restaurant. I've always liked it but we haven't eaten there in years because the last time we did Dean got sick. I convinced him to try it because of this
That would be a King Cake Cheesecake!!!!
A little wine!
This was my entree. It's called  Rock Shrimp Bistro. It's shrimp, asparagus, roasted garlic, sugar snap peas, onions & peppers in a citrus soy broth on jasmine rice. This isn't something I would normally get but it was only 550 calories & since I was planning on cheesecake I wanted to eat light. It was soooooo good!  I can't believe it's not more calories than that. I only ate half of it because I wanted my own piece of cheesecake! I'm having the rest tonight.
There's even a cute little baby on it!! Y'all this was sooooo good!! I may never eat another piece of regular king cake ever, ever again. Afterwards, we went to Whole Foods so I could buy Almond Meal. I have a recipe that I'm trying out.  After that it was to a local grocery store for their wine sale. We've never gone before but we've heard it's a big deal. Apparently, it was because the wine was very picked over but we were able to find a few bottles. It was a really wild Saturday night! HA!!

This morning I went for a run. It was Day 7 of working out this week. 4 Yoglates classes this week & this was my third run. I made it 3.1 miles in 35:20. Not fast but not super slow. I'm happy with it because I thought I may have to stop before I made it the 3.1.

The weather was fabulous today. It was in the high 70's & sunny. I pulled some weeds. It was nice to be able to work in the yard. Now I'm laid out on the sofa watching Live From The Red Carpet. I love Giuliana Rancic & I'm in LOVE with her dress. Soooo gorgeous!!

Toodles!

It's Official!!

I've lost my mind. Apparently, for real this time.
Yes, you read that correctly. I signed up Monday. My brother & sis-in-law ran a half Sunday, my friend Wendy is running a half next month & I really, really want one of those 13.1 stickers to put on my car. Seriously. I remember a time when I had no idea what that sticker even meant. The race isn't until December. Yes I know that's a really long way away but I saved $30 by signing up now. Plus, since I've paid I'll be sure to train.

I got back on the exercise bandwagon last week. Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday I went to Yoglates. I didn't run last week because I thought it would be a good idea to not  kill myself by doing both. My first run was Saturday. I ran 1.4 miles, then walked 6/10 of a mile & then ran another mile. It was tough. It didn't help that I thought it was cooler than it was & I got hot.

This week I went to Yoglates Monday evening & Tuesday morning. 4:45 is so early. This morning I got up & ran 2 miles but this time there wasn't a walk break. That was my goal so I was very pleased.

Tomorrow is Yoglates & then Friday I'll run again unless it's raining. If it is I'll go back to Yoglates.

I also signed up for the Komen Race for the Cure that is being held at LSU March 2nd. It's just a 5K.  I should be ready for it.

I've been looking through the app store & googling trying to decide which training plan I'd like to use for the half. There are a lot & I can't decide. Any suggestions?

I'll leave you with this

Toodles!

A Weekend in Food!

This weekend was the best eating weekend I can think of in a long time. Friday night we had dinner at Galatoire's Bistro. The original Galatoire's is in New Orleans. The Bistro just built a brand new restaurant in Baton Rouge & opened last week.

I started out with french onion soup. I tried this for the first time in Las Vegas & it was sooo good.
It didn't disappoint. It was delicious. I just had a small cup because of what was coming! A wedge salad!! I guess I was so excited I didn't take a picture. It was sooooo good too. The blue cheese dressing was different but really good. It tasted like it was a mustard base. Really really good. For my entree I got the stuffed eggplant.
It was stuffed with shrimp & crab & topped with lump crab meat. So so so good! We didn't need dessert but they had bread pudding & it didn't have raisins so we shared it.
I'm not a fan of bananas on their own but they were amazing with the sauce.

Our friends Allison & Joey were having dinner near our house so they came over & we played The Big Bang Theory party game. It was really funny. Do y'all watch the show?? HILARIOUS!! I think we laughed more at Allison because she could barely read the cards because she couldn't stop laughing.
We had some wine too!

Saturday, I went for a run. More on that in a future post. Afterwards, I got in a nap & then we went to Church. It was a pretty low key day. After Church we went to another place we hadn't been before. DiGiulio Brothers isn't new but we've never been. It's really small & locally owned & if you don't get there early you have to wait forever. We got there about 5:45. They open at 5:30 & the place was packed with at least a 30 min. wait. There were seats at the bar so we ate there. It was nice. They put candles out & a nice cloth napkin for a place mat.
We had wine while we waited. It's a very dark place so the pictures aren't good but you get the idea. I had a hard time deciding (as usual) but I ended up getting the Five Cheese Lasagna with Meatball. It's meatless lasagna which is what sold me. I like meat but I'd rather cheese!
It was AMAZING!!! That's a big meatball on the right side of the plate. I ate a few bites & it was really good. Dean LOVED it. The lasagna was hands down the best I've ever had. It also came with bread & a house salad. YUM! When I saw they had Pistachio gelato on the menu I knew I had to have it. I first tried it in Las Vegas too. At the breakfast buffet no less.
Again, you can't see it but it's served in a martini glass & it had actual pieces of pistachios mixed in. AMAZING!! We shared it but I could've so eaten my own!

Sunday morning we were up at 5:30. My brother & sis in law were running a half marathon & we were meeting them to get Logan. We were bringing him to breakfast. We went to Coffee Call for beignets.
OK for all of the NOLA peeps, Coffee Call so beats Cafe DuMonde. They were sooo good.
Poor kid was half asleep & not really feeling us or breakfast. Notice the guy in the background with the Mardi Gras hat on. Logan loved that hat. He kept staring at the guy. Logan told me he wanted to go to our house to open presents. Hmmmm. We didn't have any presents. Last time he was at our house was Christmas Day. I told him we could go buy him a present. He perked up.
This meant that poor Dean had to actually set foot in a Walmart Super Center. It's been years since he's done that. I told him he could wait in the car but he didn't. Lucky for him this was the most painless Walmart experience we've ever had. Logan spotted a Monster Truck DVD in the $5 DVD bin in the front of the store. He grabbed it & headed to the checkout. We didn't even go to the toy dept. HA!

It was a great weekend! How about y'alls?

Toodles!

Losing my mind!

Or so I thought. Yesterday, was my 6 month follow up with the Breast Specialist. You may remember my last visit with her. I passed out. So embarrassing. Well, that has led me to be super nervous this week leading up to the appointment. I was scared to death I was going to pass out again. Anxiety is no fun. I had to have a mammogram & an ultrasound. No biggie. I'm used to having both. It's not high on my list of fun things to do but it's a necessary evil. Last week when the office called to confirm my appt. they informed me that I would be seeing her at her new location. Normally, that would be great because it's less than 5 minutes from my office. However, since I had to do the other stuff I had to go to the hospital. What a hoorah. I ended up with some time between so I went to Zoe's Kitchen for lunch.

This is called the salad sampler. It had pasta salad (AMAZEBALLS!!), greek salad, potato salad & chicken salad. It was soooo good. I didn't eat it all. Good thing because I googled to see how many calories it was. 545. Not bad. UNTIL I saw that this plate was 2 servings & it was 545 per serving. Lovely. I could've had a burger & fries. Oh well. So back to the story.  Once I got to the Doctors office she laughed at me when I told her that I was nervous. We started talking & she talked throughout my exam & everything was fine. She's a runner & we talked about how I'm thinking about running a half marathon. (Yeh, that was the first clue that I might be losing my mind).

After my appointment I went to Yoglates for the third time this week. Yay! I'm back on track. All of the red lights were out along a major road that gets me to Yoglates. Traffic was a nightmare. Once I got to the studio I found out that it wasn't just the red lights but all the electricity was out. No biggie. The studio has tons of windows so we'd still have class. However, the bathroom is dark. Like pitch black. Normally, I change at work before I go but since I was coming from my appt. I was changing at the studio. Thanks to the handy dandy flashlight app that Dean had downloaded I was able to put all my clothes on correctly. Then the lights came on. Of course. When I go to Yoglates after work I  have a ton of crap to get out of the car when I get home. Purse, bag with clothes, etc. Once I got home I couldn't find my phone. I knew I didn't leave it at Yoglates because I'd sent a text message on my way home (while stopped at a red light - no texting & driving). Dean tried calling my phone but we didn't hear it & that's when I realized it was probably still on silent. I silence it for class & often forget until later to turn the ringer back on. I searched the car, I searched my bags, I searched the house including the hamper, trash can & freezer. I retraced my steps multiple times. I was about to cry. Not because I'm that attached to my phone but because the thought of having to buy a new one made me nauseous. Not to mention I have an adorable Tory Burch case. This went on for at least 30 minutes. I decided to try calling it again just in case. Dean went into our bathroom & told me he heard it ringing. I was excited that it wasn't on silent! I was 100% positive I hadn't brought it in there though. I thought for sure I put it in my bag with my clothes when I got out of the car so I wouldn't drop it. That's exactly what I did. Then I brought the bag into the closet & I put my shoes up. Where was the phone?? Inside my shoe. The shoe was a bootie so it was easy for me to miss the phone when I put them up. Such relief. I did think I was losing my mind though.

Have a good weekend!

Toodles!

42

What is 42?? I'll tell you. It's our high today in Baton Rouge. Seriously. The HIGH! I looked at The Weather Channel hour by hour forecast & it's not even going to get to 42 until 3:00 today.  Currently, it's 36. TOOOOO COLD! Did I mention it's still raining? It is. It rained my entire way to work. The cost per wear on my rain jacket is coming down faster than most of my shoes. Now, don't think I'm complaining. I'm sticking with my whole don't complain, be thankful mantra. I'm just stating facts. Facts I don't like but facts nonetheless. Saturday was the last time that it didn't rain. Prior to that it rained everyday for I don't remember how long. It's sooooo depressing. It's bad enough that it's cold. Yes, I know in most parts of the country this isn't considered cold but I don't live in most parts of the country & never have. I do know that I couldn't survive in one of those places either. One thing I've discovered during the monsoon is that my windshield wipers are really cool. They totally adjust to how hard the rain is coming down all on their own. See, I'm finding something to be thankful for! It can be cold if I'm home. I just bury myself under blankets. However, being at work causes all sorts of problems. The first being that it's cold in the office. I found out last week that my dept. is ALWAYS set on 72 degrees. Winter & summer. Sorry, too cold for me in the WINTER & SUMMER! I layer up & wear a jacket or cardigan while I'm here but my hands are like ice cubes. I can't type with gloves on. Yes, I've tried. Enough of that.

I just finished this book.

I really liked it. The Sins of the Mother was all about a family, struggles & overcoming mistakes from the past. I love Danielle Steele books because they're quick reads & keep me interested. I read this one in 2 days.

I've also been reading a lot of James Patterson.

 I finished Lifeguard over the weekend. It was another quick read with some surprising twists & turns.

Yesterday was my first day back at Yoglates. It went fine. I could do everything but I did have to sit out some reps. I'm not really sore yet & I'm going back this afternoon. I'm sure tomorrow will be another story.

As I type this 2 birds have flown into the windows at my office. The building is basically all windows & this happens often but today is a little different. The tree outside the window is COVERED in birds. Like, I can't even begin to tell you how many. I don't like birds. AT ALL. Anyway, the 2 that flew into the window were either really big or they were speeding. (I wonder if there is a speed limit in the sky for birds??). It was soooo loud! Apparently, birds are really stupid. You'd think after they saw one bird fly into the window the others would catch on.

Toodles!

The Weekend!

I *think* I'm well!! YAY!!! Today is day 2 without meds. I'm very excited. I plan to go back to Yoglates tomorrow & I stocked up on healthy food at the grocery store today. My plan is to start running again next weekend if it stops raining. I don't think it's a good idea to try running & Yoglates in the same week when I've done nothing the last 5 weeks. I've got to get back on track because we have a beach trip planned in May.

When I got home Friday I had a package.
It was the bracelet I ordered from GroopDealz. It was like $9 & I love it!
I finally got on the bubble necklace bandwagon! My Godchild Lane gave it to me for Christmas with the matching earrings.

It's been raining almost every day for a week. It's ridiculous. Did I mention it's raining today & apparently there's no end in sight??  I need a rain coat. I have rain boots but a jacket is a necessity. We went to several stores before I decided on a Patagonia.
I didn't think I wanted white but it was drawing me in & Dean liked it the best. I didn't know much about Patagonia besides it being the hot thing & the only reason I knew that was because the girls in the 'hood told me. I was planning to get North Face. The chick at the store said that Patagonia is better quality & it fits "slimmer" whereas North Face fits "boxy". Well, that sold me. I don't care so much about the quality but I've worked too hard to lose weight to look boxy in my rain jacket. Hehe.

I had to pick up a birthday gift from one of my favorite stores!

Isn't the "wrapping" adorable?

Once we got home Saturday I started on my to do list. I have about a zillion & one things that I want to do around the house & it overwhelms me. I decided to choose a few things to do this weekend so it would be more manageable. I took everything out of the fridge & cleaned all of the shelves. Then I did nothing but read, nap & watch football. Kind of nice, yet kind of dull. Today I tackled our closet. It had gotten out of hand again. Dean the comedian said he thought there was a body hidden in the closet.  Hilarious. Next up was the guest room. This room became the catch all during Christmas. Everything is put away & cleaned along with the closet in that room. YAY!! I was finished by 10 am & then it was more reading & more napping. HA!

We're watching the Golden Globes. When I say we, I mean me & Dean is making comments & now has left the room to watch Sherlock Holmes. I love, love, love watching the Red Carpet. There were some GORGEOUS dresses. I thought Claire Danes looked amazeballs & she JUST had a baby! Julie Bowen looked fab too. I'd wear teal all the time if I were her. I'm not a fan of the black lace over nude fabric dresses. Not. At. All. I love Giuliana Rancic but her dress? Not so much. That was my weekend in a nutshell. How about y'alls?

Toodles!

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A New Year

I haven't done a post about goals or resolutions like everyone else has. Basically, because I haven't thought about it. I just haven't felt like it. I wanted to get well. Well, I'm not there yet but I'm closer than I was. I guess maybe the steroids are starting to work. Maybe. It's a good thing I'm not an athlete because I would certainly fail the whole Performance Enhancing Drug test. Which leads me to a thought I've had the last couple of weeks. I can assure you my performance hasn't been enhanced in the least. In fact, I've done NOTHING productive. Now, I can lay on the sofa & read, watch Real Housewives & nap with the best of them but performance enhancing? Nope. Anyway, last year I succeeded in finishing Couch 2 5K again & ran 2-3 times a week the entire year with the exception of the last few weeks of December. I also continued with Yoglates 2-3 times a week. I plan to start back up with both of those as soon as I'm well. I also actually followed through & read a One Year Chronological Bible. The whole thing. I honestly wasn't sure I was going to do it. Some days it was interesting, some days (the old testament) not so much. But I did it!

I saw this on Facebook last week.

I like to think that I'm not a complainer. At least not normally. Granted, I've done A LOT of complaining the last 6 months. I'm the first to admit that.  Between work, annoying people & being sick, it hasn't been my finest hour. I'm going to try & do better. I can't change people & I've done a little job research & what I've seen means I'll be staying where I am. Complaining isn't going to change anything. So, I guess that's my biggest goal!  Not to mention the very long house to do list I have going. Sadly, I think that's a never ending list.

Today I get my stitches out. Definitely something to be thankful for!

Toodles!

Procrastinate

Is sometimes my middle name. Who am I kidding? It's my middle name a lot of the time. Like today for instance. I'm back at work. Blech. You'd think that after missing 3 days of work I'd have a ton to do. You'd be right. Yet, here I am blogging. Not only have I blogged but I've met with my boss about how crazy my work schedule has been & how I don't like it, I've called the pharmacy, I've called about my mammogram, I've checked Twitter & FB & am all caught up with what's going on in the world. The problem is I look around & see piles of stuff to do & I don't know where to start. So I don't. It's been here 3 days what's another little while? This is often how things go with me around the house when it's time to clean or organize. I start looking around & can't figure out where to start so I give up. It's a curse really.

Did I mention I'm STILL sick? I know I sound like a broken record. Thankfully, I do feel better. Yet every time I talk to someone they say "are you sure you're feeling better?". Considering I felt like death, yes, this is better.  I thought I felt better than I do this morning but once the Robitussin hangover wore off I realized that I don't feel all that great. After a call to my Doctor round 2 of the steroids have been called in. Oh joy. Regardless of the fact that I don't feel great, I'm not taking the first steroid until tomorrow morning. I  need one more good nights sleep. Those things make me crazy. Seriously.

Dean has jury duty today. Last time I heard from him was this morning. He was in a jury pool that would be questioned. I fully expect him to be chosen. He was before. It's so annoying for me because he won't tell me anything about the trial. He's all "I can't discuss it" & I'm all "I'm your wife, you can tell me" He's all "They said I can't discuss it with anyone" Me "they don't mean your wife" & it goes on & on. He's such a rule follower.  I was questioned last time I had jury duty. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't want to be on a jury. I have nightmares of it being a murder trial & the guy gets convicted & then his peeps send threatening letters. It's all very scary if you think about it. BUT I was questioned & they needed one more alternate & they dismissed me. Now WHY didn't they want me?  They didn't ask any earth shattering questions where they could read anything into my answers. I was offended. Still am a little bit. Trust me, I know it makes zero sense.

Have y'all read any of Jen Lancaster's books? I LOVE her! She's snarky, hilarious & has an opinion on everything! I'm currently reading Jeneration X. Hilarious. All but one of her books are memoirs. She has her 2nd fiction book coming out soon. I liked the fiction but the memoirs are my favorite. 

As of yesterday, all of the Christmas stuff is down. Thanks to Dean most of it is also put away. What's not is all in one room for me to deal with when I'm feeling better. I'm beginning to wonder when that will be!

Toodles!

Random Saturday

I'm still sick. I do feel a little better this afternoon but still sick. I need to buy stock in Kleenex. I've realized some things this week while being home sick.

I've decided the main reason that I don't want to work is so I can wear Yoga pants & running tights ALL THE TIME. Seriously, they are the BEST THINGS EVER!! They're so so so comfy. I could live in them.

Friends is seriously the best show ever. EVER EVER EVER. I've watched LOTS of reruns this week.

I'm ready for summer. Spring at least. The cold weather is for the birds. Not that I've been out in it or anything. It's just depressing. Same goes for the rain. I've seen a lot of it this week.

Naps are the best.

I think my Nook is on its last leg. I'm having to restart it a lot. I'm trying to decide what to replace it with when the time comes. The tablet, Nook color, another plain Nook?? Thoughts? Suggestions??

Regardless of what the directions say DO  NOT take antibiotics on an empty stomach. My stomach hurt all day.

When you're sick Dr. Pepper is a necessity.

I've read 3 books. Decked, Kiss the Girls & The Racketeer. I liked all of them. I think The Racketeer was my favorite. Kiss the Girls is the 2nd book in the Alex Cross series & it was a little disturbing.
This pretty much sums up the week. The only thing missing is the box of Kleenex.

Toodles!

Happy New Year!

I guess. Mine hasn't started out how I'd hoped. I still have the stitches in my back & can't exercise. Of course I don't feel like exercising. The stitches come out on the 10th. I couldn't drag myself out of bed yesterday morning to go to work but I did manage to make it to the doctor. More antibiotics & some pills to make me stop coughing. They work for a little bit. Have I mentioned how tired I am of coughing?? It's been 3 weeks. sigh. I'm home again today & I swear I feel worse than yesterday.

Apparently, I've started biting my nails.
I noticed that I had a finger in my mouth last night & then I noticed my nails. I've NEVER EVER bit my nails. I've always had nice long, strong nails. I'm chalking this up to stress & being medicated & not knowing what I'm doing.

I just finished reading John Grisham's book The Racketeer. It was so good! I read it in a day. Of course that's easy to do when you're doing nothing but laying on the sofa.

I started taking down all of my Christmas stuff on New Years Eve. I got most of it done & then it was time for the LSU game. Good grief that was a mess. I seriously don't know what's wrong with Les Miles. I'm not one of those people that think you're going to win every game BUT it's how Les loses. He looks clueless on the sidelines, he doesn't use timeouts when it would benefit him, play calling is atrocious,  the list goes on & on. It was about half time when I started feeling bad so what's left of the Christmas stuff is still out.

I haven't really thought about resolutions or goals for 2013. It's hard for me to think with a stuffy head. I'll get to it eventually. I have so much stuff that was on my 2012 to do list that didn't get done because I lost the last 6 months to work. Oh well.

Hope everyone's New Year has started off better than mine!!

Toodles!