February 26th

Wow!  A lot to update.   Last week I was in Pismo beach for 2 days for a meeting.  The hotel room was facing the beach and it was pretty darn fabulous.  The meeting was just okay but the room... great.   I wish I could have stayed for a week.  Unfortunately real life sneaks in and you have to come back.  Being at the beach always has a calming effect.  You realize you are just a small speck in the world.   I need to go back to Pismo when it's not work related. 

Then last weekend was Savannah's fundraiser.  Jane, Savannah and Rory came over on Saturday night and we cooked and cleaned.  The day went off without any problems.  Rory made 4 Boston Creme Pies for the cake walk.  Yum!  I did not win one so I don't know how they tasted but the sure looked good.  I made my cake pops.  Really easy to make.  I got the recipe from Bakerella's website.  http://www.bakerella.com/   .  I learned a couple of lessons on the first batch.  1- don't make them too large.  They need to be 1-2 bites at the most.  Some of mine were 4-5 bites and they fall off of the stick after the first one.  2- don't use too much icing.  I used the entire can because it seemed dry.  But, it was too moist.  Use only 3/4 of the can.  3- buy more sticks!  I bought 60 sticks for 2 cakes.  I could have made 80.   Kids loved them and they were different.  Members of the famous Sacramento band, Draw Pinky, played some songs and we raffled off 5 raffle baskets.   Overall she made over $400.  Pretty good for a kind of small crowd.   I was so exhausted afterwards.  It is not easy having parties.  I love to plan them but it always wears me out! 

Needless to say, the diet has not been going well.  I got so disgusted with myself this week that I decided I have to get serious.  My clothes barely fit and I feel like I'm bulging out all over.  I will be home most of this upcoming week so I'm planning on staying focused.  I found a new yoga studio just down the street from my house.  I went 2 times last week.  This week....  minimum of 3 visits plus 3 nights on the treadmill. 

An early spring...

Ugghhh.   I just spent 20 minutes typing a new update and then by mistake I erased it.   I hate when I do that!

It has been 10 days since I posted an update.  My commitment was to post at least once a week so I need to get on track.   So here's what is happening-  I have been working out!  I used the treadmill 3 times last week and each time I walked at least 2 miles.  I walked the dogs 3 times and I went to yoga 2 times.  Not bad for a first week.  I found a new yoga studio in my neighborhood.  I went on Monday to a new student workshop.  It was 2 hours but only about an hour of actual yoga and the rest was discussion about yoga and how it can help you, etc.  Then I went back on Saturday to a Vinyasa class.  Not bad.  Not nearly as hard as the class I use to take at Zuda downtown.  That might be a good thing because sometimes I would not go just because I knew how hard it would be.  This class was less intense but I felt like I still got a decent workout.  I will probably check out a couple of different instructors because the Saturday guys was a bit odd. 

It feels like spring is here!  The end of the week was in the upper 60's and I started seeing a little bit of plant life.  This first photo , on the left, is from my neighbors yard.  Love it!  The 2nd photo, on the right,  is from a plant in my backyard.  I am really terrible with plant names.  For some reason I can not identify anything or remember once I'm told what they are.  I just think they are pretty and make me happy :)  I'm sure Jane will tell me the names.

On Monday night we had a big wind storm.  When I woke up the next morning, there was a giant branch in the backyard.  It doesn't not look like it came from by tree but I guess that doesn't matter, it's mine now.  My backyard looks like hell!  There are branches everywhere and half of the grass has died.  Plus, the fence is looking pretty sad these days.  Not sure it will make it another year.

Next weekend is Savannah's fundraiser.  I have some major house cleaning to do.  I found a fun recipe for cake pops that I'm going to try out.  Cake on a stick dipped in chocolate.  Starbucks is going to be selling cake pops in March so I'm going to get a jump on that trend and make my own.  Not really part of the diet but that's okay.  I'll keep my portion to one or maybe two.

Photo's to follow of the cake pops!  And all the other fundraiser food. 

Deal with it!

So... I was suppose to be in NYC right now. I had planned a trip to work on my project and had tied it into visiting friends. But, yesterday there was a major snowstorm across the US and I made it as far as Dallas and got stuck. My choices were to either spend the night in the airport and hope to catch a flight the next day or turn around and go home. I choose the latter. I didn't really want to but my boss said "Come home". Ugghh.
Now I am trying to figure out how to work on the project from this end. Trying to stay positive and trying to keep focused. Double ugghh.  I am tempted to just be a big slug and feel sorry for myself because nothing seems to be going my way.  But my new thing is Deal with It!  and move on.

Let's back track for a minute... On Sunday, Jane and Savannah came by and we planned Savannah's fund raiser. She is trying to earn $700 for a trip to Boston. We will throw a big party and try to get folks to buy raffle tickets and participate in a cake walk. We are hoping to make a least $500 on that day. We need to get at least 50 people here to guarantee that kind of money.
I made a nice spread for our Sunday brunch.

I baked a asparagus and cheese quiche plus put out a fruit platter and my leftover peach cobbler. I had made peach cobbler for book group. It all turned out very nice. I had not made quiche if forever. I always forget how easy it is and how tasty. I never bother to make my own crust. Just too much work. I buy the kind you unroll into the pie dish and use. I had some leftover asparagus in the fridge which I sauteed with a leek in a skillet. I put a cup of gruyere cheese in the bottom of the pie dish, added the asparagus, added a mixture of 4 eggs and some 1/2 & 1/2 and then seasoned to taste. Delicious.

Book group on Friday was fun. (See the Beehive ladies book group blog in my blog list.) the book was called Kindred and it was very interesting. The food was good ole southern cooking. Next group will be a mix of Japanese and Chinese food. I already read the book so I can't wait.

Since my trip was cancelled I am going to take the next 5 days to focus completely on food and exercise. I plan to work out for an hour tonight. I am going to track the workouts and post to all to see :)
Okay, I am suppose to be working. This is another example of how I get sidetracked.