Why I drink warm beer.....

I only drink coors lite.

1. no sulfites.....I am allergic to sulfites....
2. less calories then regular beer
3. most people do not enjoy coors lite......more for me

I drink room temperature Coors lite due to sensitive teeth..... generally I do not eat or drink anything cold...... I brush my teeth twice a day with sensodyne tooth paste as recommended by my dentist.... the sensitivity is under control but every once in a while a gum line has receded causing me pain. If I eat something cold it hurts like hell.... also sugary stuff hurts like hell.... so generally I heat all my cold food in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to take the chill off.

Liquids, like beer, are at room temperature. I do not put ice in anything I drink....except vodka sodas...but those drinks have only 2 or 3 small ice cubes and then I drink them through a straw. I don't drink soda, ice tea, actually tea of any kind, and when in a restaurant or ordering to go I ask for water with no ice and a straw. I do not drink wine because of the sulfides (sulfites sp?)
even though wine is served at room temperature (it is served at room temperature?).

So there you have it. A quirk or two of mine and the reason I drink room temperature coors lite.
Just in case anyone was interested.

Amazing

I find this amazing.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080529/sc_nm/brazil_tribe_dc;_ylt=Agu.TwruUMpi5qc08XMuQzik4LgF

Visitors

We spent most of the weekend at the cottage.....I slept so well....the dogs did too. It's the fresh air and complete relaxation I think.

Saturday was the only day I cooked. Mostly veggies and salads. G man is in charge of the meat department. The amount of salads should have lasted G man, Jenny G and I the 3 days we were there. Hooowww evvvver....we ended up having unexpected guests. Double G came down after work with a buddy, Al (Double G's girlfriend) brought her sister and the sister's boyfriend, 2 of Jenny G's girlfriends showed up, one of them brought her brother and his girlfriend. Vegass, G man's friend came down too. Friends of ours from a few cottages away stopped by all weekend with one of their kids because they were having work down inside their cottage and ours was a quite haven. The salads and veggies were gone Saturday night.

G man bar-B- Q'd 4 whole chickens, made 3 lbs of crab salad, used 12 tomatoes for salsa, guacamole, 2 pizzas, and salmon between Saturday and Sunday. The kids ( young adults, almost all of them are 21) ate all of the salads I made, plus all of the food G man prepared and 5 bags of chips, 2 boxes of triscuits, 1 box of wheat thins, all of the Havarti cheese, goat cheese, pesto I brought from home, 5 gallons of water, 30 cans of soda, 6 bottles of wine, and 35 cans of beer 2 bags of trail mix, a pound of almonds, and most of the makings for smores.

No one touched my bottled Coors lite thankfully. I think the only reason that was still around is because I do not drink it cold. The Coors is room temperature, no one but me likes warm beer.

Not only did the kids eat all the food we had, some of them went to the deli and bought subs, ice cream, and potato salad and made a run to Dunkin Donuts late at night.

The kids were in and out all weekend, we played poker, backgammon, computer games, and sat around just talking. For the most part the weekend was relaxing. I learned I have to work on my poker face.

G man and I made our first bike ride of the season, 22 miles, not bad. G man complimented my ability to keep up with him for the most part. Usually he can ride faster up hills and keep the distance on the flat ride, but I was able to keep close on the hills and catch up on the flat parts of the ride. Thanks must go to my personal trainer and the gym personnel that have helped me since last August. The only problem I still have is with the breathing. My lungs are my Achilles heel. Always have been. Bad breathing I inherited from my dad, along with allergic asthma.

G man and Jenny G cleaned the boat before it went in the water.

Lucy enjoyed the tall grass, that has yet to be cut.

Some of our visitors

A picture taken from inside the cottage looking out of the window. I was trying to see the difference in the settings using no flash at night. I should have used a tripod to prevent blur but did not have one with me.

A carpenter bee and his friends looking for a nice place to build a home under in our eaves. Time for an exterminator.

Poker and backgammon being played. Double G is wearing the hat.

G man is in the front left teaching 10 year old Mikey to play Backgammon. Mikey did not catch on to the game quickly. Most likely because it was 1am and he was fighting to stay awake.

Mikey considers Double G his best friend, asked Double G to be his sponsor for communion ( I am not sure if that is the correct word, I do not have to much knowledge of catholic rituals), and he rides with Double G delivering pizza. Mikey is Double G's little brother he never had.

I have to remind my kids to tell their friends to bring some supplies next time. G man and I don't mind sharing but this weekend's food and drink bill was over $320.00. I hope my kids do not show up at some one's house with out bringing food and or drinks. I taught them manners and hopefully they use them.

Considering the amount of people in and out all weekend we had alot of fun and relaxed. I look forward to the summer and the relaxing hectic-ness ( is that a word) that comes with having a cottage on the lake.

IS it possible

Is it possible for a dog to have a death wish? Sammi the redhead has been found in the road 5 times in 24 hours. His invisible fence collar is working, which means he is walking or running through the field of zap.

Twice cars have had to stop and beep horns to alert us that the dog is in the road, once a neighbor let us know he was in the road, and twice I noticed him missing and found him in the road. I am a good mother and try hard to keep an eye on all the dogs. But with 5 of them, plus cottage guests, cooking and drinking it is difficult to know where all the dogs are all the time.


Sammi's attraction for the road is unknown. We have a huge yard and deck that all the other dogs seem to enjoy. Sammi is the exception. When ever I see him heading for the road I yell his name, which causes him to immediately turn around and come back to the cottage. He is an intelligent dog too. A few times I have heard the front door of the cottage close, and realized it was Sammi letting himself out. Now I have to remind everyone to make sure the door is latched tight so Sammi can't push on the door and open it.


The redhead does not go through the fence at the house, just here. Perhaps he is confused. I know he is stressed with coming to the cottage for the first time this year. Hopefully retraining him again will help. G man is going to reinstall the flags for the invisible fence and we will "retrain" Sammi again.

Ubtil we get the flags from home we will have to tether Sammis to a leash outside and make sure the doors are always latched.

what to do with.......

Over the weekend I made 3 pestos....sundried tomato, basil and cilantro. Most likely I will not make the cilantro again. The recipe called for walnuts and 5 gloves of garlic. Not a tasty combo. Way to much garlic. If I make it again the garlic amount will only be 2 gloves. I might be able to substitute pine nuts for the walnuts but all in all the cilantro is our least favorite.

So what do you do with so much pesto? Had I thought about it I would have made one and cut the recipe in half. Because I was in a cooking frenzy the 3 pestos were made. We have been eating them on triscuits, like a dip. We used the basil pesto on the handmade ravioli that we buy at the farmers market, other uses are escaping me.

The ravioli is delicious by it's self, no need for sauce or even the pesto. Whole wheat stuffed with feta and spinach, or filled with basil and ricotta, shrimp and garlic, there are so many more I have to go back each week for different flavors. The ravioli are huge too, 3 per person is a meal.

But I am off the topic. I have so much pesto that I do not know what to do with it. Suggestions are welcome.

On to the eggplant....I love grilled eggplant, eggplant Parmesan and ( I can't remember the name of eggplant dip, but I really enjoy that too.) What else can I do with eggplant?

And asparagus, love it grilled. Not sure what else to do with it other than soup. Which I do not care for. Actually I did make a salad of sorts a week or so ago using fresh asparagus, fresh corn, and sweet red pepper. Other than that I am at a loss.

Using the internet for recipes is an option but I would like suggestions from all of you for recipes that you enjoy.

Catching up

Belvedere my cavalier is on Lasik twice a day and a heart pill once a day. He is sleeping better, but has to pee alot. He wants to go for the walks that G man used to take him and the 2 labs on every day, but the vet advised against it. Belly's heart condition is to severe. G man has to sneak out of the house to walk the labs before Belly knows what is going. Sometimes G man is not successful with the sneakiness. Poor Belly gets all excited thinking he is going too, only to be pushed back in the house and have the door closed on him. His reaction is heart breaking. The poor dog runs all over the house barking and crying, then sits by the back door whimpering and waiting. He thinks he can still go, but he can't. It's so sad.



My brother David is the father of the 23 year young man Shawn. I didn't get to meet Shawn before he left for California. I have tried to locate his MY SPACE page but have not been able to find it. I have a Facebook page and find MY SPACE difficult. I'll keep looking for Shawn's page tho.


Our over seas trip is almost completely booked. All the hotels, train stuff, airfare is finished. I am now working on obtaining tickets to the Vatican, louvre and a few other places. Several people advised me to get tickets in advance to avoid long lines. Another bonus is not having to carry enough cash to get the tickets while over there. I have researched the sites ( is it sights or sites?) we would like to see and found an interesting tidbit on Trip Advisor regarding proper etiquette in the Sistine Chapel. Apparently there is absolutely no talking or whispering allowed. I am going to look into that more. We are a chatty group. Especially G man, he asks alot of questions.



Double G had some trouble from his girlfriend's mom, which caused a big ruckus between Double G and AL ( AL is Double G's girlfriend). The mother is pushing for the two kids to get engaged! Double G is only 20, AL is only 19. WTF! The worst of it though is AL agrees with her mother. Double G is standing firm with no engagement until they are both finished with school and working full time for 1-2 years. Good thinking on his part.

The advice from my workout trainer appears to be solid. I cut back to 45 minutes on the machines, and started taking total body conditioning classes a few weeks ago. To my surprise I have lost another 2 lbs in that short time.

Here are some excellent veggie dishes I have prepared over the last few weeks. Yum.

Prepared couscous 1 cup
half of a sweet red and yellow pepper, diced
handful of kalamata olives, diced
1/2 cup fat free feta crumbled
1/2 cup flat parsley chopped
1/2 cup artichoke hearts in brine, chopped
1/2 cup of sun dried tomato, chopped

Mix all together, let stand in the frig for about an hour. Then enjoy.

1 cup prepared Bulgar wheat
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cucumber, chopped
6 leaves of fresh mint chopped
1/2 cup fat free feta, crumbled
3 scallions chopped, include the green part

mix all together, let stand in frig for an hour. Enjoy

I know there are a couple of other things to post. HHHmmmm the brain is working a little slow today, and the memory part is very slow. Well if I remember and the subjects are worth while a follow up will be posted.

I'm so ashamed

Yesterday, twice, I found myself looking at severely obese people wondering how much of my health insurance costs were because of people like them. Asking myself how much welfare money was going towards their health care, and wondering why they were as fat as they are.

Normally I am a very caring person, but for some reason I was really angry at those obese people. I am disgusted and ashamed of myself. What has gotten into my brain that would cause me to view people as dollar signs?

Perhaps some of the anger is from me being disgusted with my mom. She is severely over weight and does nothing about it. She is smoking again and lying about it. Mother's Day was a disaster. She ended up alone, crying, and hanging up on me, my daughter, and my sister in law. Only to call the next day apologizing and to tell me she is going to see her counselor to find out why she has these angry outburst. I can tell you why. For attention. She has nothing wrong with her physically except her obesity, so now she has moved on to "mental" health. UUUgghhhh!

I will silently apologize to the obese people I viewed with disdain yesterday, and put good karma out in the universe. My mom is another story. I am not sure what to do with her.

Cutting expenses

I gave up buying lunches...good for the pocket and the waistline....Starbucks is down to once a week....haven't been to Barnes and Nobles in weeks.....G man and I only go out once a month instead of twice a week......now I have decided to give up buying my panties and bras at Victoria's Secret....well panties anyway the bras are to comfortable to give up.

I bought Hanes panties at Target a few weeks ago, they fit nice, I'll wait and see how the quality holds up. So far so good.

Getting G man to cut back is proving difficult...he's OK with only going out once a month..... mostly because he has been traveling 4-5 days a week for a few months and likes to stay home when he gets off the road. But he still can't get used to the idea that funds are tighter then in the past. G man is looking to buy a riding lawn mower for the cottage......minimum of $1000.00. He wants to get a 42 " or bigger flat screen for the cottage too. I keep telling him we don't have the funds available for those big purchases. We certainly are not poor, but cash is not any longer available. If we can't pay cash we don't buy.


Downward financial adjustments have always been difficult for him. His current contribution to cutting expenses is to tear the dryer sheets in half and use only one half per load. Thanks G man! I enjoy having dog hair and fuzz stuck to my new Hanes panties.

I see London I see France I see Cheers's underpants

Last Friday I wore a new skirt to work. A "flouncy skirt" with feminine flair at the hemline. Looks great, fits nicely, love the colors, length and the feminine flair. I can wear it with flip flops or wedges, t-shirt or cardigan, the skirt is very versatile.

It has a little more swing to it then I usually wear, but "flouncy" is an attractive style. Along with flouncy comes extra material from the hips to the hemline. Just enough extra to give the skirt it's flounce. And just enough extra to get tucked into my underwear after using the ladies room so that everyone on the street could see my robin egg blue undies.

Measurements

Last night I met with the personal trainer I worked with over the fall to discuss changing my workouts and to have my physical progress measured. I am happy to write that I have lost 9 lbs of body fat. Not muscle mass but fat. The trainer used a tape measure, some kind of pinching device that measures body fat, a flexibility machine and the scale to give me the details.


The loss of fat, which turned out to be 3% of my total body fat brings me 1% below the high normal range for a woman my age and height. When all the loss of inches are added up the grand total is about 6 inches. The biggest loss and surprise was my triceps. I did not realize I had the grandma flab as bad as I did. G man was happy to know that I did not loose inches in the chest area.


My total weight is 22lbs heavier, after the 9 lb loss, than I should be, but that is ok because I am making see able progress.


The trainer advise me to cut back on the minutes of cardio 1 day a week by 20 minutes to help facilitate greater weight loss. She thinks my body is not giving up the poundage because I am using to0 many calories working out and my body has gone into starvation mode. MMMM maybe. I am not sure about that. I will have to find more info on the Internet and perhaps try her suggestion for 2 weeks to see if the weight does come off faster. I also have to step up my weight training from 2 days to 3 days. Fine by me. I have started taking a class that is all weights and abs so that should help.


We discussed diet a little bit, she agreed that my slow changes are a good way to eat healthier and to continue on the adding veggies and fruits to my daily diet path. If I could get G man and Double G to stop buying peanut butter, ice cream, breads, sugar desserts, sausage, ribs, wings and pizza ( you notice I did not include beer) we will all be better off. Me especially when it comes to peanut butter. Smooth Peter Pan by the spoonfuls. It's my second favorite food.

My resting heart rate is 65 and the blood pressure is 120/70, which I thought was high for me. My blood pressure has been 112/68 in the past ( ok maybe the far far past) so I 'll take the 120/70. Both the heart rate and blood pressure are lower than when I started in August.

All in all I am happy with my progress. Slow, steady, and with a few changes maybe I can tweak the weight loss to a speedier drop off. Yeah!!!! for me.