Purple Tinted Glasses

Tonight, exercise was put on the back burner. Instead, it was grocery stores, chopping, simmering, mixing, baking and preparing.

I started with a turkey chili recipe from my new Weight Watchers cook book. I just bought this one today because it was ten bucks and I actually understood what most of the ingredients were for most of the recipes. (Pure Comfort: 150 all-time feel-good favorites)
Points Value: 4 points per serving (total 4 servings)

As the chili simmered, I moved on to onion rings (also in the WW cook book). I then proceeded to eat every single one with about half a cup of ketchup. By the time I chowed down on the last onion ring, the chili was cooked and left uneaten. I separated it neatly into four containers for lunch and dinner tomorrow, then dinner again on Friday (because I’m almost certain that Friday lunch is reserved for sushi with the gals at work) and of course lagniappe. I’m sure I’ll either eat it upon my return from Austin or maybe even before I leave as lunch.
Points Value: 1 point per serving
(I had four plus 2 points for the amount of ketchup I used)

And last, I made the most delicious tasting cake batter in the whole world (haven’t tried the cake yet). It is chocolate pudding cake or some nonsense. It sure does smell good. I’m going to bring it to work so that I’m not tempted to eat all 9 servings.
Points Value: 3 points per serving

I added some miscellaneous points for all the tasting that I did though out the night..
Points Value: appx 4

AND I finally had all the right things at the same time to make gram cracker treats: low-fat gram crackers, snapped in half, with a tablespoon of fat free whipped topping in the middle. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. The crackers are a point a piece and the whipped stuff is so close to one point a serving, that I just used half a serving, therefore it’s zero points.
Points Value: 1 point per snack

Total Points Value in the kitchen tonight: 60
(That is if I counted correctly on my fingers — and dinner and snacks were only 10. Unless you count the soy milk, because I forgot about it until just now. I probably broke even for the day.)

Oh yeah, and at weigh in, I lost 4 pounds since the last time (two weeks ago because last week’s meeting was canceled). That’s a total of 14 pounds, but I still consider myself in the red. At my lowest weight, I had lost 18.6 pounds. That’s my first milestone, to reach 18.6 again. After that it is to get past that hump and make it to 20 pounds. All in all I would like to lose a total of 25 pounds, I guess.

You can say that doesn’t sound like a lot compared to some people who lost 80 pounds, or like the two guys who lost 15 pounds each since the last weigh in. It’s a lot when it’s a constant struggle. I like food. I like to eat food. I just have to try to spend most of my eating time eating good food.

Derby will only keep so many pounds off. And the day that I stop derbying and stop biking and running is the day I’ll be in big trouble.

I found myself, approximately two months after the get go, on my very first (technical) date with my “favorite boyfriend”. (Damnit, I haven’t written about the origin of that yet.)

We found ourselves eating dinner in a place I will go ahead and call “hoitey toiety” because I can’t remember the name of it. I ordered shrimp and then watched bread dance around the table, tempting me to eat it until the meal arrived.

Afterwards it was a hop on over to Le Chat Nior for a little BINGO! Show action. I had actually seen them once before at Jazz Fest, but technically, this was the first show I went to with the whole actual playing of BINGO and all. I was a mere O-62 away from being completely humiliated on stage. (Next time I’ll just cheat.)

I’ve been trying to find the words to best describe the show, and all I have to say to you askers is click on the link, check it out, listen well and GO SEE IT! I’ve resorted to passing my ipod around work so others may share in my joy.

I feel like a little kid, hoping one day that I can play VEVE LaROUX.

At one point tonight, I was smiling so much my cheeks hurt.

What a wonderful feeling. To finish things, that is. I’m on a roll tonight.

So far I’ve managed to:

1. Balance my checkbook. I guess this isn’t that great of an accomplishment. I’ll just have to do it again in about 30 days. Though this was the first time this year I managed to make time for personal accounting.
2. Finish laundry. This one is even less valuable, seeing as how I will just have to do this again
in approximately 7 days. (For those of you who don’t know, I loathe laundry. Hate it. Wish it would just do itself or materialize.)

3. Watch the end of Arrested Development Season 2. So I guess this one doesn’t really qualify as finishing something to the end either. I still have season 3 to watch. But At least I can give Allen his dvds back.

4. Finish reading So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. Great little story, part of the larger, The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide by one Mr. Douglas Adams. I also finished Young Zaphoid Plays it Safe (of the same Guide), but I guess that story was only 10 pages long. Yes, technically there is still one more book left, Mostly Harmless, but I must move on to bigger things for now.

I have been told to put my Hitchhiker’s journey on hold (yes, with only one book left) and move on immediately to none other than Harry Potter. I haven’t read book one yet. I guess it’s about time I give in to pop culture. I have a cheering section now (more like a rowdy crowd of secretaries, IT folks, and computer nerds – collectively, the LNK) urging me to read up.

The plan: Read book one. Watch movie one. Read book two. Watch… well you get the picture. I am to be prepared for the newest movie (I forget whether it’s 5 or 6 at this moment) before it reaches theaters.

I hear they’re easy reads. We should all know though, before The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide, I was averaging > 1book a year. I started my little journey right after Mardi Gras. Maybe I’ll multi task this weekend and enjoy some Jazz Fest and some read fest at the same time.

For now, bed. I’m tired (even after my lovely mid-evening nap). If it weren’t for practice tomorrow, I’d sleep until noon.

Other things I’ve technically finished tonight: Left over sushi (from lunch), a glass of wine (but I didn’t finish the bottle… once again, guess it doesn’t count), the work week, and this blog.