I am a boss.

I don't think of myself as "the boss" but someone on my team does! She got me an AJ's gift card for Bosses Day because I go get ice tea there. That is a very thoughtful gift.

A gift! For me!

I forgot to take photos but I had a weird experience at Beckett's Table. I like that place and my friend B wanted to go so we went and had something we've had before. We split a salad and each had the cast iron chicken. I have it with vegetables and no butter and she has it with the standard stuffing. I also have a lovely Tito's drink.

 

The salad comes out and my first bite has a weird crunch. So I look closer. We're sitting outside so the lighting is not great. There is some kind of brittle on our salad. Huh. I don't remember that. It is a seasonal restaurant so I guess we should have asked more questions. B points out that it usually doesn't have lettuce either; she is picking it out as she has been having some trouble with lettuce.

 

We flag down our guy and confirm the brittle has butter. I really debate picking it off or having a new one made (he had already run off) but B encourages me to do what I know I should. So they had to make me a new salad. I don't think we'll get that again for a while. The chicken was fantastic though. Even without butter.

What I'm eating now

I won a giveaway at the beginning of March and *just* remembered that I never got the package.  I'm so sad--I was looking forward to getting all those gluten-free goodies from Jules by way of Gluten-free Frenzy.

Several ladies were in the kitchen today when I ate my late lunch and one of them commented on how well I eat.  She didn't mean it in the "diet" way but in the "that looks and smells great, and it's healthy, too" way.  It was leftovers of the sausage, tomato, pumpkin, garbanzo bean "stew" I made the other night, with a little salad from my garden.  I'm still not starving to death!

One of them told me about how she has changed her habits for better health and she is cutting sugar, although she isn't telling anyone so she doesn't have to deal with the grief.  What an awesome thing she is doing, and how terrible that "we" can't be more supportive of people when they make positive changes in their lives.  She also reminded me that some people live in their own reality, and we should accept that and move on to find our own place of gratitude.  Bless her heart, I think she's right and I appreciated her sharing that she struggles with that too.  I might have some raw cookie recipes for her with no sugar--I should totally try them too.  A guy in the office asked me about my Larabar too, which is essentially nuts and dates, no sugar.

I got artichokes in my produce box this week--it was ordered right before I saw that I have one artichoke in my garden, almost ready.  Okay, maybe it is ready.  It's the same size as the ones I got, but I thought they were supposed to be bigger when they are ready.  So I cooked the 2 that I got by steaming them with some herbs and then finishing with some lemon juice.  I ate one and saved one; the one I ate was pretty good, as good as it can be without a remoulade.

While I was cooking my chicken, I went to the garden to get some lettuce and decided on the Bibb lettuce.  I planted the rosemary I bought over a week ago; I don't expect it to make it but thought I'd try anyway.  When I was digging the hole for it, I ran into a very long red earthworm.  Yay--those are good for the garden, right?  Mick had put one in each of the tree wells when they were planted but he assumed they were all long gone, so I don't know if it was one of those.

When my whole chicken was done boiling (with some celery tops, onions, and herbs), I cut a couple large breast pieces off and chopped them up.  I added that to a pot of pinto beans and a container of salsa.  I served mine over a sweet potato.  Pretty good stuff.  I have some leftover and another sweet potato, and some additional leftovers for my leftover mashed potatoes.  I think this would have been very good over rice, too, but didn't think about it in time.

I finished with some Cherry Amaretto coconut milk ice cream.  I really need to learn to make some myself.  Or stop eating it.  Yeah, I need to make it myself.

I'm *that* bitch. The bitch that brings wine.

I took four extra large boxes of clothes, sizes 14, 16, and XL, to Poor Little Rich Girl, a consignment shop near my office.  The very lovely lady told me that they take mostly designer labels, and seasonal clothing, so she wasn't able to take very much from me.  She found 9 items that she thought could work there, including my Lucky jeans, an Anne Taylor skirt (out of season but so awesome she took it anyway), 3 Banana Republic skirts, and a few other things.  She suggested I try Smarty Pants to take some more pieces, although they also take clothes seasonally and a lot of my professional clothes are more "wintery".  Unfortunately, they don't take consignment on Mondays, so I'll have to try another day.

Since that created a 2 hour lunch, I stayed at work late trying to get my must-do list done (FAIL) before heading to the grocery store.  I left at 7 and stopped at Sprouts for a "quick" shopping trip.  I got a little distracted with face moisturizers--I want to find a new one, and I'm starting to look for wheat and soy products. Yes, I'm becoming paranoid (video), what of it?  I got a bag of apples, a whole chicken, chicken breasts, and 2 packages of hot chicken sausage before heading to the wine sale, where I bought nine bottles.  Because they make nice gifts.  For me.  Okay, for others, too.  Because no one ever says, that bitch always brings me wine, but almost everyone will say, that bitch never brings me wine.  So I'm bringing wine.

Eating well

I started a bottle of white wine chilling while I made dinner.  I started a pot of water for some rice pasta while I cooked a package of spicy chicken sausage.  I usually add some veggies at this point, but I had roasted veggies from last night, so I just added the marinara after the sausage was cooked, then the veggies, then the almost cooked pasta.  Perfecto!  Mmmm, wine.  Mick made his first steak on the green egg and it. was. awesome.  I'm not even a steak eater, but the bite he gave me was like butta.

After watching hockey highlights--my favorite way to watch hockey, although I love to watch a Coyotes game--I decided to catch up with some online friends.

I felt a little dissed by a lot of this broadcast (audio, initially very loud) about celebrities going gluten-free, especially early on.  Yeah, that's right, I'm not diagnosed with Celiac disease.  That doesn't make my food issues less of a medical issue, IMO, but maybe it does.  As Jules points out, *why* would someone who has cut gluten and feels better want to eat gluten for a Celiac test?  Why?  Because the doctors, who don't have a fucking clue what we're going through, think it's either Celiac or it's in your head.  Wait.  I thought that MS was in my head--can everything be in my head?!  Oooh, maybe--I am a stupid girl (video).

As the broadcast progresses, I felt that the conversation was more balanced and focused more on the bigger issues of eating real food and the issues of feeling left out of the normalcy of eating food.  Until you have to watch what you're eating for the sake of how you feel, you don't realize how much of our lives are spent in settings where everyone is eating and sharing food.

I guess I'm "fortunate" that I can't eat most gluten-free products, so I really do eat and feel better.  So many people run out and buy all the g/f products they can find, and of course, are disappointed with so many of them, feeling they wasted their money.  But I've had to be so much more strict and selective, so I haven't wasted nearly as much money and resources, but I feel like I waste so much more time figuring things out.

I am so fortunate also that I have people, old friends and new, who are looking out for me, looking for solutions and passing on ideas.  Just today, my neighbor, M, passed me a link to a soy substitute (coconut aminos) which I actually have recently purchased; I thought that was so awesome that she saw that and thought of me.  Then, my friend's friend (my new friend) posted on FB a photo of chocolate dipped g/f macaroons she made.  As soon as I saw eggs, I thought, of course, but when I said that, IMO, giving up eggs is harder than wheat, she found a recipe for egg-free, g/f macaroons.  Sweet!  I'm totally going to make these.

30 Days of Gratitude

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~ William Arthur Ward

I received a thank you card from one of my bosses. He just wanted to let me know that he noticed some extra effort I was taking for our clients.

30 Days of Gratitude

I'm grateful my 30 days are almost over! I'm tired. I can't blog every day. How do people write those really insightful, funny blogs with daily posts? I may go MIA!

30 Days of Gratitude

Weekends, helpful in-laws, bowling, getting stuff done, ignoring the rest.

30 Days of Gratitude

We didn't get a tree last year. I had already started packing, thinking that we would be moving soon. We have finally moved, but I wasn't sure we would get a tree since we're still unpacking, shuffling boxes, and getting things in order.

We got a tree today and it is up, watered, and decorated. I'm grateful for the smell of a fresh Christmas tree--love it and hope it lasts.

30 Days of Gratitude

A long day doing a lot of things that were not on my list for today, but on my list anyway. A long trip to The Home Depot. (How do men spend so much time at The Home Depot but claim not to like shopping?) We have decided to use some Christmas decorations that we already had, but some will not work at the new house. We got new outdoor icicle lights--LED, blue and white, pretty cool. At this point, I'm just grateful they are up. And working. And looking good.

30 Days of Gratitude

Ahhh, Thanksgiving. Plans for four stops, but only made three. First, Grandma's--a small group of relatives, black olives and sweet pickles, amazing rolls, moist turkey, peppery mashed potatoes, buttery yams, followed by (made by Grandpa) chocolate pie, lemon meringue pie, and pecan pie.

Next, J and E's. The kids were great (even the visitors) and I had a little (very good) ham, mashed potatoes, and green beans, followed by coffee with Baileys.

We planned on a stop at J's next, but the group was breaking up by then, so we headed to the D's. They were just sitting down for dinner, so we joined them. I had a little butternut squash soup, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and corn bake, followed by more wine by the fire.

Okay, I ate way too much. I'm grateful I have places to go and people who want to see me.

30 Days of Gratitude

The office was a little light on staff today and the boss decided the rest could leave early. So I was walking out with my supervisor after 5:00....

I had some things to do, but the impending task: making cookies. I got the first batch (my most requested cookies) done and realized I didn't have any oats for the second batch. I had already prepped the butter, so I looked for a recipe that used the same amount. And they turned out nice and chocolaty. I'm grateful that there are people that love my cookies. I'm barely a good cook or baker, but I have a few things I do well enough to keep everyone coming back for more.

30 Days of Gratitude

Just grateful for happy moments and laughing about the rest. Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy.

30 Days of Gratitude

Laughter is the best medicine, they say. I had a long day that started and ended in pain, but had a good amount of pain-free-edness in between, and spent the evening laughing. Rules of Engagement and How I Met Your Mother (this week's and last) in addition to this hilarious video a friend on Facebook shared, from a Conan episode last year (Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy). And then I found the ABC's of Spoonie Thanks. At the start, I thought it wouldn't have anything for me, and there were quite a few that didn't ring my bell. However, laughter, naps, and zzzzz are easy choices. Here are my favorites:

• Kumquats – For no reason other than it makes me giggle.
• Obituaries – This one’s simple folks. Read them. Are you listed? If not, then be thankful you have tomorrow.
• Pill Boxes – When you take enough pills per day to keep half of Glaxo Smith Kline’s employed for generations to come, it’s easy to confuse them. I can’t be the only one who has accidentally taken an Ambien at 8am and ended up face planted on a keyboard. Pill boxes keep the a.m. pills straight from the p.m. pills and guarantees that you won’t be face down in a puddle of your own drool at the corporate lunch meeting. [My note: I can't believe that I have pill boxes at my age.]
• Yesterday – Because it means I made it through, am living today and looking to tomorrow. Bring. It.

I'll have to remember the Ginger Tea tip for my next infusion. I am grateful for laughter! As often and as much as possible.

Bring. It.

30 Days of Gratitude

I love to read but don't do it as much as I'd like. I have accumulated quite a few books, and have a lot that I haven't read. Today, I got them unpacked and on the shelves. They may end up moving around a little as I continue unpacking and organizing, but I love seeing them all lined up and ready for me. I am grateful for (good) books.

30 Days of Gratitude

Today--unpacking, completing projects, and family visits. Kids say the funniest things--the nephew commented on our "plastic grass" in the front yard. We had beautiful weather for the kids to run and play outside. I'm grateful that everyone (including my grandparents) made the drive and had a good time.

30 Days of Gratitude

A long day at work, followed by grocery shopping and intermittent pain. I'm grateful it's intermittent, not constant. And that I accomplished some of my goals for the day.

30 Days of Gratitude

It was a hard day, but I did take a lunch break to share leftovers from yesterday's office potluck. I am grateful to enjoy the company of my co-workers. And that some of them can cook!

30 Days of Gratitude

Had a little fun chatting with my sister, M and a high school friend on FB. One knew that a nerd and a geek ARE the same thing; one was offended. Um, all Chuck fans know that Nerd Herd = Geek Squad. I guess the offended is not a Chuck fan. Nerd. ;)

30 Days of Gratitude

Tonight, I had a phone call from my niece, J, who I haven't talked to since she was a little girl. And now she is a grown woman with her own little kids. We're going to get together over the holidays when my sister and dad are in town. She also invited me and M to come by on Thanksgiving. She lives near our new house; her brother lives nearby too. It's so exciting to get back in touch! I am so glad she wanted to talk for a while.

30 Days of Gratitude

A friend was in town this weekend, and we spent time last night hanging out with our "new" west-side friends. So this weekend was filled with professional friends, old friends and new friends. :)

30 Days of Gratitude

Last night, we enjoyed a great night with some old friends. I'm glad they came out to our side of town to hang out. It was fun!