No More Comfort Food. Damn.

Well, I had a Dr. appt today. And aside from the *delightful* (sense the sarcasm) experience of "getting to know" my OBGYN she told me the thing I was most dreading to hear. I need to lose 20 pounds.

Grrreat.

She suggested I join weight watchers. She did admit that my weight would make me a bit of an odd person at WW, but that with my 5'5" height, and my blood pressure as high as it is (not high per se, but high for my age) that I really need to lose some chub.

Damn.

So I'm hosting a pity party tonight (with some beer) and tomorrow I'm continuing my work out and starting a more strict diet. We'll see how it goes. If by the end of the summer I'm not down at all, I'll break down and join WW.

So I cried on my way home from the appt. and my mom said even with my weight what it is she cannot understand anyone telling me to lose anything.

I'm sad to say I'm feeling all of those feeling and urges from high school coming flooding back.


I hope I'm stronger now.

Getting Older on the Indiana Wine Trail

So my husband planned a weekend getaway for my birthday. It was amazing. He booked us two nights at a bed and breakfast in Madison, IN at a winery and vineyard. It was so wonderful. We drove down on Friday (I took a floating holiday) we checked in and walked along the main street into all the little shops. It was also the town's bicentennial, so there was a huge street festival. It was really neat. We stopped in this awesome little book shop and bought a few new (used) books.

We ate dinner at a place called JoeyGs. There was a guy singing Jimmy Buffet and other assorted hits during dinner. It was relaxing. After dinner we went back to the amazing bed and breakfast and sat in the hot tub for almost an hour *with a bottle of wine of course, we were in Indiana's wine country* and finally went up to bed.

Saturday we hit the Indiana Wine Trail. We went to five different winerys for tastings. It was great. Lanthier was the worst, the wine was so sweet neither of us could drink it. Thomas Family Wineries was Ryan's favorite, with their hard ciders. They were fabulous. I also talked Ryan into getting an old fashioned photo made. It was so much fun!

We also had the world's best Sundae at a little throw back diner. It was chocolate, vanilla, and rocky road with hot fudge, chocolate and marshmallow topping with whipped cream, cherries and nuts.

Our hosts at the bed and breakfast hosted an Hours de Vors tasting with three wonderful wines. (In addition to making the world's BEST breakfasts!) We also went to Commisky and Vevay Indiana to visit their wineries as well. Saturday night *my birthday* we had dinner at a wonderful Seafood restuarant right on the Ohio river. We had an amazing 5 course meal. I love love LOVE crab legs! We walked along the riverbanks taking pictures (after the world's best key lime pie) and then went back to the B&B for another hot tub soak and a lovely night's sleep.

This morning we had a private tour with the winemaker- its so neat to see someone talk about what they love so much. After a quick tasting, we made our way to the final winery of the trail (#6) to get our Souvenir Glasses. We also had a wonderful brunch of prime rib, made to order pasta and omelets, strawberry short cake and cinnamon rolls. I only wish we lived closer.

This was the most wonderful weekend. I had a great birthday and I only wished I could have had a longer weekend.

I'm getting older now.

Forget Change. . . .

I'd like to keep my whole Dollar, please.





I'm not one to go on and on about my political views. So I will yield to the old saying: "A picture is worth a thousand words."

This day has gone to the dogs

Today was the day for dogs. Nearly every email complaint I read had something to do with dogs.





"The food was so greasy, I wouldn't feed it to my dogs." Uh, are you breeding some type of vegan dogs?!?!





"It was so bad my dog wouldn't even eat it." Wow, I hope you aren't as picky as your dog. Last time I checked all dogs love all people food. My dog eats brussel sprouts for crying out loud.


Well, Gretchen is loving having a houseguest for the month. They just run and jump and play. . . and it's just adorable when they sleep! :)

Gretchen and Blake: Pals for Life

I've Never Considered Divorce. . . .

Finally home from Nebraska. It was a long trip, but good to see my Grandparents again. Though there is not really that much to do in Stratton. Ryan had to work since it was Race Weekend, so I flew to Denver and then met Andy and drove the three and a half hours to Stratton.
While most of the weekend was depressing watching Grandfather hardly get around and not speak at all and Grandmother so confused.
At the reunion with all of the Leagues, I got to chat with some, shall we say, forceful old ladies. They were sweet. I was talking to Marie, the wife of Bob (who is my Grandfather's older brother) They live in California and have been married for 65 years.
I asked Marie what the secret to such a long and happy marriage was. She put her bony little arm around me and said smiling slyly: "Well, in 65 years, I've never once considered divorce. Murder, yes, on a monthly basis. But never divorce."

Uhhhhh. . . .Wiings?

So, I'm the Corporate Manager of Guest Relations.

Which, on some days, means that I get to speak directly to our guests and apologize for all types of sorted situations.
In the past 2 months I have apologized for long wait times, incorrectly prepared food, Claw Machines that "stole" money because the guest failed to win an animal, and that a manager's stomach hung over his belt by an inch.

So I thought I'd heard it all.

(Which I should have learned by now to NEVER say)

I spoke with a very delightful lady today who was intensely upset that we have chosen to serve Red Bull Energy Drinks in our stores. I apologized and told her I would be happy to forward her comments to the persons in charge of the menu. She proceeded to tell me that Red Bull was tantamount to alcohol, weed, and cocaine, but actually legal. She educated me on the evil buzz that Red Bull evokes and let me know that it is actually the same buzz achieved by the aforementioned substances. She went on to inform me that the FDA has not approved Red Bull and demanded it be removed from all of our stores (yes, all 470 of them) Immediately. Yes, Immediately. She inquired when she would receive a call back from the person in charge of what was on our menu letter her know the date by which they would be removed. Oh, and of course, that she would refuse to patronize our stores until it was off the menu. I stopped her before she enlisted my help for a charge on Capitol Hill.

Uhhhhhhh. . . . .

So while I was polite, telling her that we had received much positive feedback on the drinks and that I would forward her comments on and they would review them. What I really wanted to ask her was:
Do you refuse to patronize all gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies that serve Red bull?
Is all caffine is evil? Or just caffine in large doses?
Should Green Tea be labled evil as well? Because while it doesn't have caffine, it is used as a substitute for many people who want coffee but opt for tea.
Do you support a legal age for consumption of coffee and carbonated soda products?


My only regret is that only those who know me well can truly sense the amount of feciousness dripping from the letters. . . . . .

But in all seriousness, I've had red bull. And I've had alcohol. And I can assure you. They are not similar.


Red Bull gives you wiings.

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday I went to the Indiana Wine Festival in Nashville, Indiana.

Very different from Nashville, Tennessee.
It was a lot of fun, but would have been much more so with a tad bit of planning by the staff of the event.
I've got to admit, my first impression of Brown County was not good. We actually passed the finest shopping available: Westward "Ho" Flea Market. (And the "ho" was in quotation marks!)- Checkout my facebook to see a pic. . . .

Today is a lazy Sunday spent with Ryan and I couldn't be more excited.
I'm off to relax now-