Ready to Slow Down

This has been an extremely busy work week for me. Our office hosted an event on Wednesday for 150+ middle school students competing in teams of four. They were challenged with problem solving, building systems, brain teasers, math, word puzzles, etc. The systems (building projects) are created with limited supplies.

In this first activity, students were given a file folder, 3 or 4 sheets of paper and a length of tape. Their assignment was to build a "structure" to protect 3 grape tomatoes and a tile from the falling "hammer" pictured below. The red block that falls onto the structure is about 8 pounds (plus the added force of the falling from a vertical position.)

This team encased the tomatoes in a tube made from the file folder and padded it with the paper. Their tomatoes survived. Extra points were also given for the height of the structure after impact.

A completely different approach was taken by this team. They seemed to think the taller the structure was from the start, the taller it would be after the hammer fell.

 Tomatoes completely crushed - live and learn. :(

The second system was very simple. Using one file folder and a length of tape they were asked to build the tallest structure possible. The catch - the file folder must remain in one piece. It can be cut, folded and twisted, but not cut into separate pieces.

We hold this event on one of the local university campuses. There are always interesting things to be seen on a university campus. This "art" caught my eye.

It was the first time I had seen trash cans labeled this way. I think it is great that it takes your thought process beyond "trash" and reminds you everything in that bin is going to a landfill.

Last night my husband had yet another dentist appointment. He is in the process of getting a couple of dental implants. This appointment was the surgical placement of the "root" part - steel pieces that function a bit like drywall screw anchors. The anchors are screwed right into the jaw bone - freaks me out a bit to think of the procedure. (The process has been a little intense for both of us, but he has been such a trooper and I am so proud of him.) They actually let me stay in the room during the procedure and the dentist called me over a couple of times to show me what he was doing. I am not sure I needed to see all that :)  At one point, the dentist was using a teeny tiny torque wrench in my husband's mouth - crazy!  When I wasn't watching the procedure this was the gorgeous alternative view!

This morning I had to take a quick run to Walmart to get supplies to make my husband a little more comfortable. I thought he might need one of these, but I figured the bunny tooth might be a little insensitive.

While I was there I decided to pick up a bag of garden soil. I want to top off one of my garden boxes so I can plant cold weather veggies this weekend - spinach, radishes, lettuce, etc. Garden time is coming!! There was a little controversy over the price. As you can see they were clearly marked $7. Although they did "give" me a bag for that price they made it clear they were doing me a huge favor since it should actually be $7.88 a bag. They insisted the wind must have blown away the 8s during the night. Yeah, probably not. No one is perfect, mistakes happen, etc. - just say "oops sorry" and move on. Please don't make up not so plausible excuses. There were about 15 signs like these in the row...only these two had wind issues?  Mini rant over.

I was grateful to be allowed to work from home today so I could be here for my husband. He is feeling much better than last night. The dogs were restless so I pulled their bed into the hallway next to the command center so they could be with me. We had Bring Your Pups To Work Day :)

 I made my husband a special easy-to-eat lunch. He loved it.

For dinner I made Korean Grilled Chicken from Skinnytaste. I have had this recipe on my radar for awhile. The recipe actually calls for chicken breasts, but have eaten so much chicken breast lately I need a change. Not to mention, thighs are so delicious on the grill

All the ingredients, except the chicken, are mixed together into a marinade. The smell was incredible - grated ginger, garlic and one of my favorites...sesame oil. I wanted to eat the marinade with a spoon. I put the chicken and the marinade in a freezer bag and refrigerated for about an hour. I had meant to do it sooner, but even an hour was enough time to get good flavor.

The recipe called for green onions, which I didn't have. I remembered from cleaning the garden boxes a couple of weeks ago that there were some chives that survived the winter. One lonely bunch of chives in the middle of the herb box.

It was another beautiful day for grilling.  There was plenty of marinade to add a couple more thighs. While they were grilling I was dreaming up ideas to try with the leftovers. I am thinking spring rolls. I will let you know. I am not sure how long the extra chicken will last because despite his initital hesitancy about Korean flavors, my husband loved it.

 This might be one of my favorite food pictures - it is making me hungry all over again now. The chives were a perfect garnish.

I grilled zucchini and asparagus too - yum!  I made the mac 'n cheese mostly for my husband. I wasn't sure he was going to be able to eat the chicken, but with small bites he managed :)

This is a definite make again recipe. I am excited to see how the leftover creations turn out.

I am still doing surprisingly(to me anyway) well with my food tracking. I am finding that looking at meals individually is helping me stay focused. So many times in the past, I've thrown away whole days because of a "bad" meal. A high calorie breakfast gave me license to eat high calorie the rest of the day since I would go over anyway. This way I am starting fresh each meal. It plays right into the "next best choice" habit I am working to build. I have also set a wide range (300-600 calories) per meal to give myself flexibility. In the past, I would have been telling myself I can't have mac 'n cheese because I might "need' those calories later in the evening. So far I have been averaging right around 1500 calories a day without all the previous anxiety. You can see from the pictures in my Food Log that I have been eating several "non-diet" things and definitely not starving. I am looking forward to see how this approach plays out. 

We don't have any big plans for this weekend, other than a couple little projects around the house. What do you have planned?

Randomness from the Sickbed

First, I would like to thank being sick, the hormonal wackiness that is womanhood and my pictorial food log project.....I lost 5 pounds this week! Despite feeling terrible for the last 5 days I am proud of myself for sticking with the tracking. I can't tell you the number of times I have allowed not feeling well to derail my eating. If you are interested it seeing everything I have eaten in the past week check out my new Food Log tab.

The next few pics are fairly random since I haven't been doing anything much.

I found this chicken sausage at Aldi last week. The day I ate one with my sweet potatoes and spinach I was in Greek heaven. That first bite immediately made me feel like I was eating a delicious gyro. I will see the second time I ate them I nuked them and put them on bread...not quite as good. I think they are best if they are sauteed.

The blackbirds are swarming the area. I have see so many massive flocks in the past week or so. When I came home from work yesterday they were taking a break in our yard (and several neighbors' yards). The started back on their way when I tried to get some pictures.

I made a batch of strawberry creme pudding (from a Jello box). I decided to freeze it in pudding pops. They make for a nice little treat.

Continuing with my recent bird obsession...my new pajamas. I gave the pajamas quite a work out binge-watching House of Cards - the whole season in two days! We liked this season much better than last season - intense. Sadly, now we wait a year to see if it every catches up with ol' Frank Underwood.

The only thing I did this weekend that did not involve my pajamas was go with my people to the Top of the Morning 5K. Not to race, but to spectate and of course, take pictures.  The pre-race photo - they look chilly. I am not sure of the exact temp, but I will vouch for them - it was cold.

Pre-race entertainment. Super fancy costumes and serious legs. They make it look so effortless.

 Waiting for the start.

Off they go. Can you see my people? (not yet) The leader of the pack went on to lead wire to wire and won by a full minute.

 Can you see them now?

 There are some of them - the goofy ones. My husband and niece ran together. He let her set the pace.

While I waited for everyone to get back I sat in the car for a bit. Then before I knew it the first racers were back. The winner finished in just over 16 minutes!

This guy made me think of Meg at Running Just As Fast As She Can. That girl can move a double stroller full of toddlers!!

 Here come my people - finishing strong.

 Great finish! This turned out to be my niece's very first "ran all the way" 5K. Pretty impressive :)

 And here comes my sister. She walked most of the way, but knocked out a strong finishing run.

Festive pups. I need to remember next year that Millie can go to this race. I wonder how she would feel about a costume.

Finally a post race picture - they look a little warmer. I missed a racer in this after photo. I think she had headed in for a little post race shopping. She had a rough race - right at the beginning she started having leg pain. Even though she thought at times she couldn't finish she pushed through and got it done :)  I was very proud of all my people!

It was worth getting out of bed for, but I was super happy to get home and back in my pajamas.

I am looking forward to adding another losing week to my streak....stay tuned ;)

Getting Rest & Bird Obsession

Not much going on this weekend. I have been attacked by the creeping crud and am just trying to rest and recover as quickly as possible.  Most of my meals have been raiding the leftovers.

I sauteed leftover steak and green beans from one meal and asparagus from another. I added a little sweet chili sauce and put it in corn tortillas. It was surprisingly good.

I made a wrap with leftover sheet pan chicken from the other night. It was actually much better cold and the mustard tarragon was tasty with the avocado and spinach.

I love loads of fresh berries in my oatmeal. You can't help but feel better eating colorful foods.

In between meals, I've pretty much been resting, watching t.v. and Netflix (House of Cards came out Friday) with my faithful and bed-hogging pups I  am pretty sure their loyalty is to my plate and not me specifically.

  I don't think I have quite reached my water goals, but I have been refilling my glasses often.

I am thankful for my March Food Photo Log. When I am sick I tend to want to eat everything in site, but knowing that I have to take a picture to post has kept me more focused. Mentally, I have also felt good about pulling together healthy meals.

To wrap up a few more pictures from the zoo. I was a little obsessed with the birds this time.

Not exactly sure that I want to be known as a Thick-knee. If they are referring to this bird's legs I am just not seeing thick knees. My biologist niece (who worked at the zoo for several years) explained that birds' knees are actually higher and covered by their feathers. The joint we see is actually an ankle not a backwards knee.

I think I am going to take a nap. What are you up to this weekend?