#346 I don't want French food

After posting something every day in November, it was a little strange to just stop on December 1. It's not that I planned not to post on Dec. 1. The computer was all fired up and ready to go, but "The Biggest Loser" started and ended an hour later than normal, and by the time I went to the store, made dinner, cleaned the kitchen and watched TV, it was bedtime, so I just shut down the computer for the night and was glad it wasn't still November. Not that I had anything really interesting to say on Tuesday, I was just used to saying something.

Last night we went to T's parent-teacher conference, except here we call them SEP conference. I think it stands for Student-Educator-Parent. I like that the student is involved and listed first in the letter sequence. As I mentioned in an earlier post, T is on the honor roll with a 3.8 GPA. His reading levels are very excellent. He takes a Dibbles (I don't know if that's the right spelling) test to see how fast he can read. He's always had really high levels in all his grades, and he continues to excel; he's way above the standard. Not only can he read quickly, but he understands what he's reading. He took another test to find out his reading retention, it's called the Star test, and he reads at a 12th grade level. He's in sixth grade.

I'm really proud of him. He seems to be enjoying himself and learning this year and he's not literally pulling out his hair. That all makes me happy. :D

I finished reading the book "Julie and Julia" tonight. It was a good enough book. There were times when I giggled out loud while I was reading it, and other times that I thought, "My God! This woman is a nut! Why would she do this to herself?" I have to say that nothing about the book made me want to cook every recipe in any cookbook, much less "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." (I don't even think I want to eat any French food. All that butter! That's a lot of Points!)

What I did like was the thought of finding something to do, just for the heck of it, just because it's there, and then doing it in the timeframe you've allotted yourself. I guess my weight loss journey is a little like that, except I haven't put a deadline on when I'd like to have all the weight lost.

I did set some timeframe goals for myself once, but when I didn't hit the first date, I kinda got down about it, and down on myself. Losing weight is hard enough without putting pressure on myself to do it by a certain day. After that, I just went back to taking it one day at a time, and doing my best each day. I see the results on the scale each week, in the way my clothes fit, and in the way I can push myself a little more each time I go to the gym. That's enough for me.

So, happy December everyone! Let the Christmas countdown and the parties begin!

#345 Max Hall is a dork! (but T isn't)

I love that on the final day of NaBloPoMo, I have something to write about that makes me laugh and shake my head.

The big news around Salt Lake today isn't the fact that BYU beat Utah by three points in overtime. The big news is what Max Hall, the BYU quarterback, said after the game. Here's what this nice Mormon kid said:

"I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything."

"So it felt really good to send those guys home," Max Hall continued. "They didn't deserve it. It was our turn, and our turn to win. We deserved it. We played as hard as we could tonight. And it felt really good, again, to send them home, to get them out of here, and so it is a game I will always remember." Max Hall continued, "I think the whole university, their fans and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserved to lose."

Classic! He pretty much hates everyone: the university itself, the fans and the organization as a whole. Classless, he says. OY!

I didn't go to the University of Utah or to Brigham Young University. However, I do like college football, and these two universities have the biggest programs in the intermountain area. Around here, you are pretty much a Ute or a Cougar. Some people will say that there are no Ute fans, only Cougar haters. I don't know about that. It's true that BYU, like Notre Dame, is founded on religion. I'm not Mormon; maybe if I was I'd root for the Y, but I'm not, and I root for the U. This rivalry is called The Holy War, after all.

It's pretty stunning to me that an athlete would stoop so low in his comments to the press. It's one thing to say that kind of stuff to your family or your friends, but he was at a post-game new conference.

Almost every year someone says something that becomes bulletin board material for the next year. It's a good thing this guy is a senior! I think there are some defensive lineman for Utah that might like to tackle Max Hall extra hard if they had the chance.

Max Hall has been publicly reprimanded by the Mountain West Conference for disparaging another team in the conference. He has issued an apology in which he says his comments were "not intended to be directed at the entire organization and all of their fans...I have the upmost (sic) respect for Kyle Whittingham, his coaching staff and the Utah football players. I apologize to them and other members of the university for my comments..." He says that last year, and the rivalry game here in Salt Lake, his family was spit upon, had beer poured on them and were physically assaulted, so the game became personal to him.

Dude, you're a football player. You played well. You threw the final touchdown that won the big rivalry game for your school. This was the final regular season game of your college career. Don't be such a baby. How embarrassing for you. Your name is all over the papers and talk radio and random blogs for all the wrong reasons. Man, if there was ever a lesson for thinking before you speak, this is it.

Anyway, enough about that. It's just so intriguing to me, I couldn't resist sharing it with all six of you!

~~

My son is a genius. He's on the 6th grade honor roll for the first trimester! HOORAY FOR T! If I had a dollar for every time he's mentioned today that he's on the honor roll, I could buy a $5 footlong or two at Subway. :D

#344 Sunday haiku

Argued with MT
Both right, both wrong - unresolved
Quiet Sunday here.

#343 be below average

It's halftime of the BYU - Utah football game. This is probably the biggest rivalry in the state, and it has a nickname: The Holy War. I'm rooting for the Utes, but I don't know if they'll be able to win this year. The game is in Provo, Utah has a freshman quarterback who seems pretty incapable of throwing the ball to any of his own receivers, and the Utes can't seem to establish a running game. Cougars are up 13 - 6 at the half. I only fell asleep for a few minutes in the first half.

I forgot to write about how much fun we had at the Jazz game on Thursday night. It was great. The suite wasn't full, so it was really comfy. We had the delicious ESA guacamole. I wasn't hungry AT ALL, but the guac is so good, how can you not have any? At halftime we had some apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. YUM.

During the second quarter I noticed that Bear was in the suite two doors down from us, so T and I went to the hall to watch him mess around. He squirted silly string on the girls from the suite next door, and I got a little stringed also, but not too bad. After he posed for pictures, Bear jumped on his Segway scooter and zoomed down the hall, pausing to slap paws with T and I. It was cool. BTW, the Jazz blew out the Bulls by 18 points. Carlos Boozer had like 28 points. He was good. We all had a fun time.

I took T shopping today, not for Christmas presents, but for clothes and shoes. Everyone in our family has lost at least one pair of shoes to the evil chewer called Osi. Both T and I got two new pairs of shoes apiece. T has had a growth spurt and none of his jeans fit anymore. He's been wearing track pants, but now that it's getting cold, I think he needs some jeans. We went to Old Navy. They were having a great sale. He got six pairs of pants for $80. That oughta hold him for awhile.

I did ok at WW this week. I did gain, but only .4 lbs. I was ok with that considering that I did eat a LOT on Thursday. On Saturday the 5th I'd really like to see myself sitting at -90. I'll work hard this week to make that happen!

At my cycling class this morning, then again at WW, I heard a disturbing statistic. The average person gains around seven pounds between Halloween and New Years. ACK!! I cannot have that! As I pondered this horrifying thought during cycling, one of the other people in the class looked around at each of us and said, "Well, it's a good thing none of us are average." I loved that!

Here's to being below average!

#342 lazy day with leftovers

I was pretty worthless today. We were up super-early, around 5 am, and no, it wasn't to do any early-morning shopping on Black Friday. MT and I took Jake and Linda to the airport so they could catch their flight to San Diego and get on the cruise ship this afternoon. Right now they are sailing down the coast of Mexico. Lucky devils!

When we got back home, I went right back to bed and didn't wake up until I felt a pair of beautiful brown eyes boring into me. MT? T? No. It was Osi and she wanted to go for a walk in a bad way. I put on many layers of clothing and took her out for a stroll.

This afternoon we braved the stores to buy a couple of Christmas presents, then we went to see the movie "The Blindside." We all loved it. What a great story!

We had leftovers for dinner, then T and I watched "The Santa Clause". Now it's 9:00 and I'm heading to bed. Maybe I'll be a little more productive tomorrow, but I can't be sure :o)

#341 post turkey food coma

Oh man I love Thanksgiving food! We had appetizers for chips and veggies with dip and cheese and crackers. We had yummy cocktails, too: Caribbean Coolers and margaritas. For the main meal we had a turkey, a ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, cheesy broccoli, rolls and salad. For dessert there were lots of pies: pumpkin and pecan that weren't even opened, mixed fruit pie, cheesecake, and turtle pumpkin. Pure decadence. I have lots of leftovers. Anyone want to come over for turkey or ham sandwich and pie? I'm pretty sure we still have some cocktails, too!

I admit that I was stressed about having so many people over. My house is plenty big enough for the three of use, but add eleven more people and it's pretty tight in here. It all worked out fine, though. I heard a lot of laughter and chatting and it was nice to have a bit of a party.

Now we're getting ready to go to the Jazz game. The team has been pretty mediocre so far this season, though it pains me to say it. I'm really hoping for a win tonight. Go Jazz!

#340 Thanksgiving Eve

It's been a busy day. I started out at the gym. I decided to try a Zumba class, even though it's probably a week before I really should. My knee has just been feeling so good, I thought I'd try. I probably shouldn't have. The knee started hurting a little bit after only a few songs, and I didn't go all out like I was before. It's a bummer. I probably won't Zumba again until March or maybe mid February. I guess the upside of that would be that when I start again, my body won't be used to it anymore and it will be more challenging. And maybe there will be some new songs, which would be fun.

I thought we might be getting off work early today, so I really wanted to get some stuff done, so I kept busy this morning in the office. The business group was invited to a luncheon in the shop, and that was a really nice way to start the holiday. The caterer we use is Marvelous. That's really their name, and it is an appropriate description of their food as well.

When I got home this afternoon, I went to the liquor store. MT wants to serve some cocktails before the meal tomorrow. He chose margaritas and a drink called Caribbean Cooler. Here's what I learned today: cocktails have multiple ingredients. We have tequila, brandy and rum, and I bought some Cointreau liqueur, triple sec and Rose's Lime. MT mixed up some margaritas for himself and his folks and now they are all pretty happy!

I also took a little time to take Osi for a walk. She needed a good stretch of the legs. There's some snow in the field where she runs and she loved playing in it. She's the coolest dog.

I made tacos for dinner tonight. That's probably my favorite dinner. I can't believe I ever used to eat tacos without beans. I can't even imagine it now.

In preparation for tomorrow's festivities, I made a pie, some fudge, boiled the sweet potatoes and mashed them and made the ranch dip. I had a little taste of the fudge and I think it's way to sugar-y. Linda tells me it's very good though. I'm happy that I think it's too sweet! The pie I made is way more figure-friendly. I found the recipe in a magazine. It's called Pumpkin Turtle pie and it has vanilla pudding (I looked for sugar free but I couldn't find any), pumpkin, milk and cool-whip (I used fat free). The crust is a reduced fat pre-made graham cracker crust and I coated the bottom, per the recipe, with sugar free caramel sauce and pecans. Tomorrow before serving the pie, I'll put the cool whip on top with a little more caramel sauce and more pecans. I think it will be good. When I tasted the filling, I liked it a lot.

The bird will go in the oven by 8 am. I'm going to stuff it with citrus fruits: lime, lemon and oranges. I have cooked a turkey this way before and it is juicy and delicious. I'm hoping for similar results. I'm cooking a ham in my crock pot. I'll be making a mountain of mashed potatoes tomorrow, too. I'm not really good at gravy. Maybe Linda will help me with that. MT's is making his cheesy broccoli casserole. I dislike broccoli. I think it smells nasty when it cooks. I'll try not to be in the kitchen when that's happening.

Well I'm off to bed because I want to start my day with a nice little workout. The gym opens at 6:00, and since I have to have the bird in the oven by 8, I'll need to bust out the exercise to get home to prep the turkey.