Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Feelin Alright...

I intended to blog last night, but I got a little frustrated after I made a beautiful dinner and then forgot to take a picture. Somehow I remembered to take a picture of the oatmeal that I have every weekday morning...





and the lunch of 1/2 garden burger and 1 scoop tuna that I have every Monday,






but when it came to a new meal I just dropped the ball. And it was so pretty. I cooked salmon the way I have been doing for a month or so now. I got the recipe from Prevention magazine. They called it a no fail recipe and so far it has been no fail. I also made a beautiful spinach salad with oranges and onions and homemade balsamic vinegarette. And I made a side dish of Barilla Omega 3 pasta with grape tomatoes, a litle blue cheese and a fresh balsamic dressing. It was beautiful and it tasted better than it looked. But I forgot to take a picture :(



This morning I woke up ready to take a walk before work. Yesterday we walked 2+ miles but today we got a later start and weren't able to do one of our laps. Oh well, it was better than nothing.



We got back and fixed coffee and took it outside once again.





It was a beautiful morning!!





Zoey loves this routine of walking and this having our coffee outside...



Today we were out of blueberries so we put the delicious strawberries on our oatmeal. It was a nice change of pace...












Then it was time to get ready and get to the office. Lindsay showed up to the office a little later this morning with a welcomed Starbucks passion iced tea!!






It was a very busy morning and I was glad for the break when lunch rolled around. Once again we went for some Thai food and, as usual, I ordered the Chicken Jubilation with soup. Although it was very good I think I need to get out of this rut...














Once back at the office Lindsay tried to figure out how to get Facebook to let me back into my account. I have been trying to get access since Sunday morning when my account was hacked. We did a little googling and found a couple e-mail addresses that we hadn't known about and so wrote to them about the problem. I did get a response back but it looks like it is going to take a little more time to get FB to totally understand what is going on...



In the meantime Lindsay decided to give me a much needed lesson on how to take a self portrait.




Then it was my turn...



I'll get the hang of it one of these days. In the meantime, I can see that I need a heavier hand with the foundation...



At the end of the day my dear husband really irritated me and so as soon as I got home I was looking for something to eat -- and, naturally, I went for something that I should have left alone. Mixed nuts. I think I just wanted the salt.




Now, mind you, I had raw almonds in a jar right next to the bad mixed nuts but my hand went for the oily, salty nuts instead... When will I learn?






We got home a little late this evening and on the way home we decided that we would have veggie burgers and salad. I still had some pasta left over from last night so I brought that out as well. We used Morningstar veggie burgers and Trader Joe's Masala flavored veggie burgers. Laura and I had the Morningstar burgers and Brad had the Masala burgers. I tasted his and did not care for the texture of it.






It's time to get another glass of water.
Be back soon...

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Feeling a Bit Out of Sorts

After spending too much time on the computer trying to gain access to my FB account I decided it was time to cook something for my family. After reading how Lindsay has made poached eggs three days in a row I decided I wanted a poached egg or two. I went to the refrigerator and was disappointed to see that we only had 4 eggs left. Oh well, Laura and I would be happy with one and I'd make two for Brad. We had some delicious sourdough bread that Ben brought back from Bishop so I decided it would be poached egg on sourdough toast. Three of the eggs turned out beautifully, but as I was placing my egg on the toast it broke. Oh well, it still tasted good.










I keep checking my e-mail, but still no word from FB about a new password. I think maybe they don't work on Sunday.



I finally gave up on gaining control of my FB account today and went outside to enjoy the day. Today was not quie as nice as it was yesterday because the wind raised its ugly head. It was very hot, but also very windy.



Sitting outside I read part of Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. I am a fan of his work and I am really enjoying this book. Ironically a large part of the story has to do with computer hacking. Hmmmm.



We had planned on getting up very early and being at the golf course at 6:00 am ready to play, but we didn't wake up in time. The country club had a tournament going on at 8:00 and so we realized that if we were going to play today it would have to be later in the afternoon . Around 3:00 Brad decided he wanted to play and I decided I didn't want to play in the 100 plus heat and 30 mph winds.



After Brad left I sat down and planned the meals for the next week and made a grocery list. Then I decided that before going to the store I wanted to take a quick trip to the mall. Laura wasn't doing anything so she decided she would accompany me. I'm glad she did because she found a couple of cute tops at NY & co that I would have passed by. And she kept me from buying a top I am sure I would have regretted having in my closet. Some colors just aren't right for some people and yellow-green is not good on me.



After the mall Laura and I attacked the grocery store. I was pleased when I unloaded my cart to see that most of it was produce. We picked up some strawberries that are deliciously sweet! We also saw that the artichokes were on a good sale and I had to pick up enough for two meals. And they are gigantic!



When we got home Brad was already back from playing 9 holes. He claims that it was great. After we unloaded and put away the groceries Brad went out in the front yard and after being out for a few minutes he came back in and told us to go outside to see some baby quail. Laura and I stepped out the door and in a minute we saw the tiniest little birds following their mom. It was so cute. I wish I had been able to get a picture but I was afraid to get too close.


Since none of us had lunch today we were ready to get dinner ready. Tonight Brad grilled NY steaks and I cooked artichokes and got the watermelon ready. And we had fresh sourdough rolls.



Now it is time to do a little preparing to start the week up. I hear the clothes dryer calling my name. Maybe tomorrow I'll hear something from FB...


A New Twist

So yesterday I had a potential scam blog and today my Facebook is hacked. Geez! I'm just trying to be a modern woman and utilize all of the technology out there for communication! See where that gets me...

This morning my mom called around 7:30 to tell me that my cousin's daughter had called her because I had supposedly asked her to send 900 pounds to me as I was stranded in London after being mugged. She thought it was suspicious and called my mom who told it it was absolutely a scam.

I have been trying since that time to gain access to my account. So far no luck, but it looks like the person may have been blocked out of the account. But not before changing my password, defriending Brad, eliminating posts that dispute the claim for $$. I'm still waiting for FB to send me my new password. I am getting very impatient.

An Easy Saturday

Yesterday I was feeling bad because my blog had been identified as a potential scam blog. After making a brief post I left it alone for the day. I figured I would let google do their thing and it would get resolved.


We had a great day at home. The weather was beautiful -- calm and hot. We spent the day outside by the pool. For lunch I made tuna sandwiches with watermelon and homemade macaroni salad. We took our lunch outside and I was pleasantly surprised when, after 1/2 sandwich, I was full. Maybe it had to do with having a swim suit on while eating...




We lounged around and just enjoyed the day in our backyard.




At one point in the afternoon Brad said that he wanted Mexican food for dinner. On the weekend that means we go to our local Mexican restaurant. Nothing fancy, just good food. Last night I decided to get the all chicken burrito. It was the first time I had ordered it and it was good but it could have been more flavorful. I don't think I'll order it again.


After dinner we decided to watch The Dark Knight. Well, what can I say about that movie other than now I have seen it. I'm not a big one for movies that just seem to be there to blow things up. Oh well.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

So Now I Am Spam??

Imagine my surprise when I logged into my blog today and saw that it had a warning on it that this could be a spam blog! Huhh???? It might be self indulgent or boring to some, but definitely not spam. I sent in for my review and I hope they take the warning off soon!

I started the morning off with 2 cups of coffee thinking it might get me working on some projects. Is it working? So far, not so much. I've started the laundry and changed the sheets, checked my e-mail and cleaned the kitchen. Oh and I have read US magazine from cover to cover, but not much else. Brad, on the other hand, called up Ben and recruited him to move some furniture out of the basement and over to the vacant office before he has to return the trailer. I'm tired just watching them.

They say it going to be a hot day today and it seems rather calm. Looks like the pool will finally get some use.

Maybe I can get toned and lose 10 pounds before I put on my swim suit this afternoon. A girl can dream...

A quick trip to Santa Barbara

Yesterday we decided to run up to Santa Barbara and get Laura's bed taken care of. She is renting the top half of a hourse right across from the beach with 8 other girls for the next school year. She won't be moving in until August but, since we are paying rent, she wanted to stake out her part of the room that she shares with two other girls.

The main thing that she needed was a bed. We realized that we had a good full size mattress in the basement so all we needed to buy was a box spring and a frame. Brad was determined to take the mattress in the Landcruiser. He spent a good deal of time tying it to the roof of the car and as he did that Laura rounded up some things that she wanted to take to the room. She suggested to Brad that he take the car out and test how the mattress did on the roof, but he was sure it would be fine. So, off we went...

Our house is about two miles from the freeway and the ride down M was smooth. We got on the freeway and Laura suggested we check out the mattress through the moon roof. When we opened that we saw that the mattress was lifting quite a bit. Brad assured us that it was very secure but he kept peeking at the roof. I couldn't take my eyes off it, the mattress seemed to be straining to get loose. By the time we had gone three miles we were exiting the freeway and headed back in the direction of home towards a rental place where we picked up a trailer. Much better.

Santa Barbara is a nice two hour drive. Yesterday was a bit crowded on the road so it took a little longer but it was an easy drive with no mishaps. Laura's roommate called her and said their room was the smallest room and we all started worrying that this full mattress wasn't going to fit. So we decided to stop by the place first before heading out to purchase the box spring.

As it turned out the room was larger than Laura remembered and there was a spot all ready for her full sized bed. We carted the mattress up the stairs and into her room and then headed off to the mattress store. At the mattress store a young guy helped us and when he asked for our address Brad started giving him ours. He abuptly cut Brad off and said that they needed Laura's address and phone number. We all laughed about that when we were in the car. I guess that is as good a way as any to get a girl's name and number...

We lugged the box spring up to her room, set up the frame, and installed the bed. By this point we were starving -- ok, maybe not starving, but we were sure hungry. We decided to go to The Elephant Bar where I had a tasty citrus chicken salad and iced tea, alathough I was surprised that the lettuce was all iceburg.


After lunch we headed over to KMart to get some risers, a mattress pad, and a lamp, then it was back to the house one last time. We were able to install the risers without removing the bed although Laura was a bit creeped out crawling under the bed. I don't know why she thought it was going to fall on her. We had decided to not get sheets and all at this point because Laura didn't want to make the bed inviting to strangers...





It's funny when I look at this picture the kitchen looks so nice and clean. It is an illusion and camera angles...
There was nothing left that we wanted to do so it was time to head back to our home. We decided to try and find a station that was playing Michael Jackson music on the way home. We didn't have much success. We were listening to satellite radio and we were sure we would be able to find such a station, but we finally gave up and listened to what we normally do.
We got home around 9:00 and we each made ourselves a little snack. I had toast with peanut butter and a popsicle. Then I sat down and watched a number of MJ videos before turning in.







Friday, June 26, 2009

Ahh Thursday

Well, today was the day for my mammogram. When I made the appointment (yesteday) I asked for an appointment first thing in the morning. I was surprised when they offered me 7:00 the next day! Wow! I thought/hoped I would have to wait a couple weeks. Oh well, at least I would get it done. The Rx has been sitting on my counter for a couple of weeks...


I got up early and showered and discovered how many times I wanted to reach for the deodorant or cologne, but that's a no no for a mammogram. So I put the Secret in my purse. Then off I went for my test.


Naturally, I had to fill out a few forms- eventhough I have had my mammogram done at this place every time. Oh well. Then I got to wait. Fortunately, since mine was one of the first appointments I didn't have to wait too long. Then they took me to the little changing room, assigned a locker for my clothes, and gave me this adorable little cape to wear. I wish I had worn my cute blue shoes because they would have gone better with the cape than my brown heels. Then it was off to another waiting room.


At least this waiting room had a TV to divert my attention away from my nerves. But wait, the TV is turned to the local Fox station with that horrible Jillian Barbieri. Is there anyone on TV who is more unprofessional than Jillian?? What an ego that woman has...


Finally, they called my name and put me in the room with the big x-ray machine. Now it was time to go to my happy place while this technician moved each breast all over the place before tightening the machine on it. Move here, hold this, drop your shoulder, twist your body, tilt your head, now relax and don't breathe. Oh joy, oh joy! At least I need only four pictures total!!


It all went great until the technician asked if I had had a mole checked. Now, I had just had a complete physical and I had made a point of having my moles checked but I decided to panic anyway. Afterall, why waste a good opportunity for a panic! At one point she asked me, while she was manipulating my breast, how I was doing. I said that I had been doing fine until she asked about the mole. She laughed and said she was not mole expert and that since I had had it checked I should stop worrying. Easy for her to say -- lol. Then she let me go.


Of course when I got to the office I had to ask Brad about my mole. And, naturally, he rolled his eyes at me because he had been in the room with me while I had my moles checked and because, in his opinion, there is nothing suspicious about the mole. But still...


I didn't mention that before I went to the appointment I had my coffee, chocolate and oatmeal and blueberries. I was nervous about the appointment and forgot to take pictures.


I got to the office earlier than I usually do. In fact, I got there before Brad and a number of the employees did. Weird.


Today Lindsay was coming to the office to work on a couple of projects that I haven't been able to do. The first one is a slide show for a digital frame. This is our 25th year in the office and I want something to commemorate it in the reception room. When she arrived she had a wonderful unsweetened passion iced tea for me. It was just what I wanted! What a good girl!!
The morning went by quickly. Thursdays usually do since we are busy,have two hygienists, and take lunch an hour earlier (noon) than most days. Lindsay and I decided to go to Camielles, a local "sidewalk cafe". I ordered their tuna sandwhich on whole wheat. Their tuna has apples and walnuts in it and it is just delicious. They serve it with a few chips and salsa. I wasn't as good as Lindsay at ignoring the chips, but I was better than I usually am. We had iced tea with our sandwiches.


After lunch was rather weird at the office. Laura called and said that she had read that Michael Jackson had died. She was on her way back from Castaic Lake where she had spent the day with her friend Christina and saw this on Twitter on her BB. Naturally, we had to go online to check this out. The front office doesn't have a TV like the treatment rooms and the reception rooms. The husband of one of our employees works at UCLA and called and confirmed the rumor. It was so odd, since earlier in the day a patient was just leaving and as she walked by the reception TV she saw that Farrah Fawcett had died and told us about it. A very strange day...
We got home and decided that for Fun Food Thursday we would go out for sushi. For FFT we usually stay home and fix something that everyone likes and thinks is fun. Lindsay and Ben always come over for FFT. We've made pizzas, quesadillas, meatball sandwiches, sliders, soft tacos, German pancakes, BLTs and so on. We are always looking for something fun for Thursdays. And I am always looking for something that everyone can help cook. But this night we thought sushi sounded just too good. So Brad, Laura, Lindsay, Ben, and I headed off to Goldfish.
We had to wait a while, but we got a nice place at the sushi bar. The place was busy and the music was loud, but we had a good time.
We started off with the complimentary edamame...

Brad and I shared a cold Sapporo...
We started off with salmon and yellow tail sushi. I forgot to take pictures at first so I "borrowed" Lindsay's
The fish was good and fresh! Then we shared a 911 roll, a Washington roll, and a scallop and salmon roll. I think we got our share of Omega 3s with that meal...




After dinner we sat down to watch a little TV but it was all Michael Jackson everywhere. Laura and I tried to watch a program about Farrah, but I fell asleep in the middle of it. I hate cancer!! When I woke up I found myself in the kitchen looking for chocolate. I should have stopped myself but I ate a delicious brownie...




I was having a bad allergy attack so I took a couple allergy pills -- hence the reason I was so tired. Hopefully Friday will be allergy free...



















Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Why Does a Hair Appt Take So Long??

It is time to check in before I go to bed. For lunch we went to the Greenhouse Cafe where I ordered a side tossed green salad with poppy seed dressing on the side and 1/2 tuna sandwhich on whole wheat. I always enjoy this lunch. As you can see they also add a little fruit to the plate. With this I had water. I don't know why this loaded in sideways. I tried to fix it but it didn't work.


I had a chance to go home today before heading out to the hairdresser. As a snack I had a few raw almonds and a string cheese.






I finally got home from the hairdresser three hours after I left. Brad and Laura had made a cottage cheese and fresh pineapple salad to go along with our enchiladas









I ate my enchilada without taking a picture so I put a second one on my plate. I ended up eating 1/2 of it. This picture shows the enchilada without the delicious gravy that goes with it.
As I was eating we had a little party for our dog since we realized this afternoon that today is her 5th birthday! Zoey was very excited to open her presents and eat her ice cream!
Well, I have to keep this short since I need to get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow morning I have a 7:15 appointment to get a mammogram! Oh boy!!!

My Morning in Pictures

I woke up this morning in time to take a nice walk. Brad went looking for Zoey and found her under Laura's bed by the sound of her tail thumping the ground. That dog loves/lives to go for a walk. I wish I had taken my camera, but I didn't. I'll have to do that the next time.



Today we did two laps around the flat part of our development and then ended with the hill. The last leg of the hill is STEEP. Brad cheated and had Zoey help pull him up - lol. It was a beautiful morning for a walk and I was surprised that we were the only ones out today.



We got home and Brad started preparing the coffee. Since I talked about our coffee yesterday I thought I would show some pictures today. We order this coffee online because we like it the very best in the Dutch style coffee that we make. Maybe we like it because this is the brand that a lot of places used when we were in The Netherlands last year. We have tried some other types of coffee but we find we keep coming back to the Douwe Egberts.









When we were in The Netherlands we did a lot of walking around whatever town we were in and in Haarlem we were walking one morning and found this great coffee place that had all kinds of equipment, as well as a little coffee bar. We saw that they carried Silvia, the same espresso maker that we have, and so we asked them to show us how to make Dutch-style coffee. The guys who ran the place very patiently told Brad exactly how to prepare Dutch-style coffee. Before leaving the shop we bought a couple of their cups just to make it that much more authentic at home.







As Brad was getting the coffee made I was starting up the oatmeal. This is a picture of the steel cut oatmeal that we used and that I talked about yesterday.




As soon as the oatmeal is in the simmer stage the coffee is ready.




I think I mentioned before that we like to have our coffee with a small square of cold pressed dark chocolate. Oh yeah!






The morning was so beautiful that we took our coffee and chocolate outside to enjoy before getting ready to go to the office.





While we were sitting outside Brad showed me one of our tomatoes. A while ago we planted four nice tomato plants - a couple of heirloom beefsteak tomato plants and an Early Girl and a fourth plant, along with some herbs. Apparently Zoey likes her tomatoes green... I'm not sure what we are going to do about this.



Once we heard the clock chime 7:00 we went in and started getting ready. I'm not one to like to hang out in the shower very long but I have to say that I enjoy "putting on my happy". A year or so ago, as a gift for some occasion, Brad gve me a bottle Clinique Happy shower gel. I love it. I like the way it feels and I like the way it smells. In fact, if I am feeling down as soon as I reach for the bottle I tell myself that it is time to get happy and it works every time. And, I'll tell you, Brad makes sure I don't run out of my happy...




Once out of the shower I slather myself with lotion. I used to use Australian Gold because I liked the way it felt and smelled, but I realized it wasn't really moisturizing that well. I've tried a few products and I find I like this Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion. When you live in the desert like we do, moisturizing is a must.


Once that is done it is time to get the oatmeal. This morning Brad got to the pan first and dished out the cereal and put the blueberries and milk on. You may notice that these aren't my happy bowls - but they work just the same. I have to admit that I eat my breakfast in our bathroom as I am getting ready. At least the toilet is in its own separate stall...





A number of years ago we were introduced to the Sonicare toothbrush and we have never looked back. In fact, this is my 3rd Sonicare. This one has the ultrasonic cleaner attached to it. My husband recommends this toothbrush all day long -- and we don't even sell them at the office. In fact one of the hygienists made up a button for him that said "You should get a Sonicare". She says he must say that at least 10 times a day.




I've been trying out a number of "systems" to help my skin. My daughter, Lindsay, got the
"Hope In a Jar" for me for Christmas and I liked it a lot -- especially the vitamin C liquid that you used by the dropperful. I was going to get some more when I saw an Infomercial (I know, I know) for the Murad system. Since it is supposed to address "hormonal aging" I thought I'd give it a try.


So currently I am using the Murad cleanser and serum along with StriVectin in the morning. It's got to be better than just soap and water... We'll see. Murad has a money back guarantee, so I guess if I don't look like Cindy Crawford in a couple of weeks I'll send it back --lol.


Then it is on to the face painting part of my morning. A little foundation, blusher, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, and lip gloss and I am ready to go -- whether or not Brad is standing by the door tapping his toes.



I am so glad that I have a hair appointment this evening. It is at the point where if I don't get it professionally done I need to touch up the roots.


Not too pretty, is it... A couple weeks ago I saw an article in O that talked about good hair styles for different hair types. I was surprised to find one of the hair types was mine -- thick and straight(ish). So I copied the article and I am taking it with me when I go and see Marq this evening. Hopefully I'll look just like the girl in the article -- yeah right!! I just need some color and some shape in my hair!!







See ya--