Wonders never cec

Yesterday was an odd one. I've decided to try forgoing the gym on Mondays, since it's just too stressful to try to get up early on Monday mornings. On top of the usual Monday stress, we got a strange announcement regarding work yesterday. More on that later.

So, not having to go to the gym meant only having to have one breakfast - SWB and Turkey sausage, of course. Someone in the office did the right thing and brought apples in to share. It seems like a small thing, but I appreciate someone bringing in something healthy, instead of stupid cookies and brownies and what not.

The apple helped me to resist chips at Austin Grill, where we went for lunch to discuss / commiserate over our job situations. I went Bevo Salad, dressing on the side, natch. In retrospect, there was probably too much cheese and what not, but it could have been worse.

For a snack, I measured out a cup of Kashi Go Lean! Crunch Honey Almond Flax. That stuff is super sweet and I knew better, but it's good. :-)

I was actually invited out yesterday to a beer garden by a friend I'd missed very much, so I had to go. That meant no Heroes for me, this week, but the sacrifice was well worth it. Wonderland Bar & Grill, aka Knob Hill's patio provided a great backdrop for conversation. Two more coworkers even randomly surprised up and stopped by! In addition to the chicken quesedilla (which was big and greasy - yum), I had three beers, which seemed large at the time, and even larger this morning when I had a pretty bad headache. Not to worry, nothing that ibuprofen couldn't fix.

I got my arse on up this morning, had the usual breakfast, and worked out. Today I did some weights and intervals on the treadmill and am of course wo' out. Today's protein powder was tdf. Off to a good start. Let's keep it up.

Promises, Promises

Movie theatre popcorn is the devil.

After hearing reviews like, "Viggo Mortensen burns a whole in the screen," I had to go see Eastern Promises. It was by no means a popcorn movie, but did that stop me? No. T and I got the usual - the #2 with large popcorn and two large drinks and we (or should I say I) ate it too. And yes, there was butter--and salt. So here was the cute part: ten minutes into the movie, when the popcorn was ALREADY half gone (yes a large), I decided it was gross b/c the butter and salt had run out. Now instead of putting the bag down and taking that as a hint, my dumb ass got up, left the theater and got some MORE butter. Awesome.

The movie itself was great. I thought the story was compelling and everyone played their parts well. As I mentioned to T on the way out of the theater, I thought Howard Shore's kind of broad scoring fit well with a big city like London, more so than it did in A History of Violence. That one was set in a small town and I kept thinking that the music was trying too hard, and overpowering the movie. I think he's calmed it down a bit since LOTR. Anyway, burn a whole in the screen? Maybe not. But Viggo was very good. He really went for it. I even enjoy Naomi Watts, whose acting abilities were totally lost on me in King Kong, where she literally screamed for an entire movie.

So anywho, after the movie, I found myself at Cactus Cantina. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say, there was a cup of queso and an order of steak fajitas involved. And of course, more chips. I am done even saying I'm done with those things. They win. Tortilla chips are my masters.

Thankfully, today was much better - I started off with some cereal b/c I was going to church (I don't know why). At church I of course had to have two oreos with my coffee - because they were Golden Oreos and they make my life.

I met David and his friend for lunch at Matchbox and was very proud of myself for getting a small salad with grilled salmon on it. No bread, no appetizers, or nothin. Success.

that left me room for a small caramel gelato - I do not go to the National Gallery without it. that reminds me I think I may have too many food associations. I too often find myself saying, " I shouldn't eat this, but I don't go to x place without getting y." That is not a good reason, but it totally lets you justify what you're doing. I'm going to have to find a way to break that. But first, examples:

Lauriol Plaza - chips and queso
Annie's Steak House - home fries
National Galllery - gelato
Matchbox - miniburgers (except today)

So, yeah. I'm gonna try to break those associations. I think if I go somewhere three times and don't get whatever the associated food is, I may be able to break the habit. We'll see.

So I had the last of my squash soup a couple of hours ago. It was good, but I am tired of it now. Maybe next fall. In my kitchen today was a coupon for a large pizza (two toppings) for $9.99 and I want to order it. The thought of it has consumed me since I saw it. In fact I am only distracting myself by flogging. I am going to go in the kitchen and see if I can't make myself a healthy alternative. Something with less carbs and bad fats. Wish me luck!

Emergency?

Mr. Scale was not kind to me today. I have apparently put on 6-7lbs of some sort over the last 2 months. Based on the ratio of my strength training and cardio workouts, I'd guess that some portion of that is probably muscle. But by NO means is all of it. I crossed my self-imposed no-cross zone today so it's time to switch things up.

This morning when i was going over what I ate yesterday in my mind (in an act of needless self-justification) I completely skipped over all the junk I ate between meals and snacks, including not one but two pieces of banana bread, a chocolate bar and a spoonful of peanut butter. I see this happening 30-40 calories at a time.

It is in that light that I should mention the bowl of oatmeal (carefully measured, skim milk, two teaspoons of peanut butter, one serving of raisins) I had for breakfast. After lifting (which I am going to scale back on), I had my usual chocolate protein powder and am now having my coffee with one mini-moo. Everything else will find its way here because it has to.

on the road again..

Strange that I should pick today to start flogging again. Although, having stayed out of work because of my first real cold in a couple of years, I suppose I have more time today than usual. Things were getting bad again, so I had to do something. While a quick trip to Gap assured me that I am indeed still a medium - and comfortably so - there is no need to watch my progress slip from me inch by inch. Besides, with winter coming on fast, it's best to be a little on the thin side, as it makes for a better look in layers. :-)

Today started out well enough - SWB for breakfast. Then I agreed to meet a friend for lunch and he chose a kabob place. Now, kabobs aren't bad per se, but I'm not sure why they feel the need to give me both rice and bread, nor do I understand my need to eat them both because they are in front of me. While I won't say it was a disaster, it was pretty close.

After my workout, I went with protein power - berry and also had a can of tuna, just for good measure.

sins of omission

The last couple of days have been weird. Both nights I've gone to have drinks, and both nights have ended up with weird dinners. Tuesday night, after having 2 1/2 beers and 2 1/2 chicken wings, I decided to get a bowl of Italian Style wedding soup. (yes, this was two different places). The wings were from Austin, where I went for my weekly happy hour, now again with Original Mike, since New Mike is MIA. Then I hung out w/ C-Lo at Stoney's. Stoney's has the best soups, I swear. I was going to get their chili, but it comes with cornbread, and we all know what a disaster that would have been. Turns out that all their soups come with cornbread. Not to worry, I sent it back :-).

Yesterday during the day was largely according to plan, a south beach wrap for breakfast, a peach for a snack, grilled chicken tenders on whole wheat for lunch and then a bowl of cereal of second lunch / afternoon snack. The snack was mainly to keep me from starving because I knew I was going out after work and didn't want to eat TOO much bar food.

It worked, for the most part. Though I was at McGinty's for nearly 3 hours, I managed to have only 14 fries and two drinks. I had a "black velvet" which I recommend, highly. Half Guinness and Half Cider. Now when I left McGinty's I was clearly still hungry, but decided to skip dinner instead of eating crap that late at night.

This morning, I decided to go with cereal instead of another wrap before my workout and chocolate protein w/ milk after. Then at our team meeting, my boss brought DONUGHTS. And not generic chain store doughnuts. These were the real thing from a local bakery. One maple glazed donught later, I was kind of sick. But I made it.

Lunch was a salad at Adega. This time, mixed green salad with pecans, candied pears. There was some sort of dressing on the side, which I only had a bit of. I decided to make today my diet coke day. Had my one for the week. Good times.

Unlike most days, my fear is that I haven't been eating ENOUGH for the last couple of days. After the meeting I just had, I don't think that will be a problem for the next few. My job is making me want carbs..

ya dun good

So, I ended yesterday well. I had two servings of trail mix in the afternoon, but that could have gone worse I suppose. This pack has to last me all week to though, so I'd better lay off or amma be strugglin.
The trail mix (along with a good deal of water) did stave off hunger yesterday afternoon - I was fine until I got home at after 9;30. Then it was time to cook.


Even though it was way too late, I had to eat something, so made myself some pan-seared chicken tenders (with a garlic herb marinade) and some steamed winter veggies. A plum as an appetizer. Not a bad dinner. Yesterday was a model.

Today has also not been terrible. I had my oatmeal with peanut butter and raisins (I know, weird). Instead of having second breakfast after lifting (and I lifted pretty hard), I had a protein "shake" which was basically a cup and a half of milk and a scoop of protein powder. I've learned how to mix it properly and have grown accustomed to the taste. I'm spinning it was "Cecil's Famous Hot Chocolate."

A peach served as morning snack (yes I am on a fruit kick. It's part of my eating locally / seasonally - more on that later.) Before I knew it it was after 1pm and time for me to eat my South Beach frozen meal. Today's was Chicken Alfredo a la Roma. I know I always claim this, but this one was REALLY good. If you haven't tried South Beach products, they are amazing.

It's almost 430 and I just had another serving of trail mix. I know that's nuts two times today, which is probably pushing it, but I'll cut it back tomorrow. Today is on track. Let's see how it finishes. I'm wanting a beer. Luckily, I won't be eating tortillas.

Jesus can you hold two wheels at once?

Boy this weekend was not good. It wasn't quite a spiral, but it was definitely a curve, on what feels like a larger , slower, month-long spiral. I feel like not flogging is the problem. I am therefore back. I've got family reunion coming up in two weeks and I will NOT have my people talking about me (too bad). So I've got to lose at five lbs in two weeks. Not sure how that's going to go, but anyway it's a goal. In order to accomplish it, I've given up refined carbohydrates for the duration. We'll see how that goes. We all know I love a good slice of pizza.

Today has been pretty good so far. Had a bowl of my shredded wheat and bran for breakfast. No sausage this time, b/c I was too lazy to go to the grocery. Instead of having a full-blown second-breakfast, I had a plum instead. That held me over until lunch, shockingly enough. It being Monday I went Lebanese, where I had a chicken schwarma sandwich with Jerusalem salad. I ate the filling out of the sandwich and left the bread there. I also had some iced tea as I was not in the mood for water today.

Let's see how the rest of it goes.

A couple of announcements:
1) I am officially eliminating death triangles (aka tortilla chips) from my diet.
2) I have decided that there is no such thing as "good fat."

now dip, baby, dip

Yesterday could have gone really well. I had a good workout, avoided sweets for the most part, ate several small meals, and and even brought my lunch.

Then I went to a party..

First of all, I don't know whose idea a Tuesday party was, but it was brilliant and should be done every week.

Equally brilliant was the food at the party. All chips and dip! One "redneck dip" which was creme cheese and hot sauce and then some sort of cheese, butter, cream dip thing with spices. And of course, guacamole, because you've gotta get your "good fats." Sadly enough I had just read two articles yesterday that mentioned the fact that "good fat" is still fat. In no way did that stop me from participating. At various times throughout the night, I employed my ten-foot rule and T was there to say "careful" and to make flogging noises at me if I veered too close. Then, someone else came along eating them and I sorta went for it. My guess is that between the chips, the dips(s) and the three beers I had, I must have taken in at least an extra 1000 calories, so way to ruin a day of progress.

On a positive note - I've decided that slightly warm YuengLing in a can might be my new favorite beer. Last night, for the first time, I understand how it became the official acceptable cheap beer of our generation.

better late than never

So it looks like it's going to be once a day. I had a weird eating day today. Breakfast was normal enough - oatmeal with peanut butter and two turkey sausages.
I read through my ABS Diet workouts today and designed a new abs workout for myself today. that went really well - I could really feel the difference by doing new exercises. Followed that up w/ some cardio.

Today, instead of eating the lunch I brought, I went to Negril w/ the old Research gang. I suppose it was something of a going away lunch for a colleague. Another one escaped! I got the jerk-chicken sandwich. Ate half the coco bread and all the chicken, just to be safe. That was especially important since I had to buy a cookie to make my total more than $5 so that old lady would let me use a credit card. She has the most attitude, I swear! It's like..hello, you're out of the way even for silver spring. be glad i'm here!

The afternoon got pretty bad. Even though I'd already had a cookie, I decided that more animal crackers would be a good idea. (Oh and before that I had a mini Mr. Goodbar) Someone brought them (animal crackers) to our meeting. I did have a cheese wedge with them, just to balance out the carbs a bit. I think that helped me to eat fewer of them.

It was my plan to eat the lunch I brought for dinner, while waiting for Anna, so we could go see Hairspray. But she changed her mind about the gym, so we grabbed a quick slice of pizza from Z. Had I not had a small veggie tray early this morning, that would have been a whole day w/o veggies. I can't keep doing that.

Anyway, Hairspray - cute. It is the third of the movie musicals I've seen. While they are entertaining, there is somethin subdued about them. For one thing, the actors they pick are never the strongest singers. They tend to cast big names, so the studio can justify doing it in the first place. Hairspray suffered from that big time. In my opinion, the singing was just awful. Happily, a few of the songs were good enough to make up for it. Also, the overall message was positive enough that even the heavy-handed treatment it received here didn't ruin it. I came away secretly wanting to dance (with fully choreographed backup dancers) , which is what any good musical should do, I think. $10 well-spent.

After the movie, natch, I had seriously like 8 green beans (because I had them available) and a peach. And with that..I am going to bed.

Whatever it takes

Somebody told me I was looking thin, today. Now, I clearly wasn't, but I appreciated the sentiment all the same. I didn't return it, for fear that it would seem disingenuous. Oh, life!

So this morning, I was all excited about how I was going to make a Turkey sandwich to bring to work today for lunch. I made the Turkey sandwich (on flat-out), and even got breakfast in (3/4 serving SW and 2 turkey sausage links). I was feeling very proud of myself until I got to work and realized that in my haste, I'd forgotten to pack gym gym clothes. Brilliant, I thought. Well of course, I had to go shower, anyway, so I figured I'd just head over there, shower, and then go have some coffee. Then when I got to the gym, I realized that they sell clothes there! My boy at the front desk let me get a whole outfit for 20 bucks. I am not going to ask what the nature of this discount was, but I do know I gave him cash, so, I'm sure that ended up being lunch money or something. He probably thinks I'm a total nut-job now as I took about 10 minutes to pick out a shirt and pair of shorts with suitable style and in the right size. Oh well, I had a hell of a workout and even finished my workout on time.

I took a looong time mixing up my protein and skim milk this morning. It was decently smooth and tasted good.

Even though I brought lunch, somehow I let Robert talk me into going to Lebanese taverna, because its cheap on Mondays. I was all ready to eat that. When we get there his "crew" announced that they weren't eating there because suddenly it's "gross" even though we've eaten there 3x/month for the last 3-4 months. Anyway, he of course, decided to go with the (they're his crew, right?) and so I, totally over, walked to whole foods w/ Monz to get a tiny salad to go with my sandwich. It was truly tiny -- only $1.44 at whole foods prices :-) That and my turkey wrap made for a good lunch.

The vendor who came to present at 3 brought chocolates and Tori totally let me eat two Hershey's miniatures special darks. Delicious, but of course I had heartburn. And then I was hungry again. So, I decided to have a cheese wedge. Not having any crackers, I decided that animal crackers would do. After all, do I not like cheese on nilla wafers? It's the same thing, right? Wrong. It was gross. The animal crackers in our vending machine should be burned. The taste is vaguely lemony, too sweet and has none of the subtle flavors of "name brand" animal crackers. We're done!

Strugglin

Even though I got about 7 hours last night, I was REALLY strugglin this morning. Again, I had to grab a south beach wrap on the way out the door, because I was running late. It didn't help that the FIRST thing I heard this morning was the death toll from a bridge collapse. NPR can be depressing in the morning, sometimes.

I did have the presence of mind pack a scoop of chocolate protein powder before leaving home this morning. I had that, when I finished lifting, this time using skim milk instead of water. While that makes the stuff TASTE a lot better, I swear it just won't dissolve. Anyway, I drank that in two gulps. I had a glass of water, again , instead of my morning coffee.

I was supposed to go to lunch with my crew, but I had to work on a press thing! So, I guzzled down a mini Atkins bar, b/c I was starving.

When Monica finally did get back with my Salad from Adega, I ate half of it before dashing off to another meeting. This salad was DA BOMB. It's the tofu salad with chicken. Basically enough food for two meals.

Which was good b/c I definitely ate the other half around 4 when I got done with that meeting.

At some point today I also had an apple jolly rancher. As I mentioned yesterday, someone brought a ton of them to work. Have you ever smelled a jolly rancher bouquet? It's heavenly. Just open a bag and sniff one day. Both your troubles and the enamel on your teeth seem to melt right away.

Housewarming Happy Hour at Dawn's tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Chicken Sahny

So, I decided to invite R Mike to have "a pint" after work. My original intention was to go to Eggspectations and grab one of those huge mugs they have for like $4 between 4 and 8. But, he wanted to go quarry house and I think it was a wise decision. I knew there would be beer, and just so it didn't hit my stomach too hard, I decided to go ahead and eat.

Thankfully, I resisted both the burgers and the tots (tots!) and ordered myself a grilled chicken salad. Unfortunately, the waiter heard, "grilled chicken WITH salad" so he brought me a sandwich with a side side. It was fine, but I'd rather not have had the white bread and mayo that came w/ it. Nonetheless, it was delicious. Surprisingly fresh tasting too, for quarry house.

I also got a chance to try two beers from Louisiana. "Abita" I want to say. First I had a Turbo Dog, b/c I read that it was dark and I like dark beers. Something about it was a little flat though. Then for my second I had a Purple Haze, which while not horrible, but was a bet much in the raspberry flavoring department. It honestly tasted like someone squoze fake raspberries into a decent wheat beer. Anyway, you never know until you try 'em right?

Cancer in a can

Oddly enough, on the day I'd decided to ween myself off soda, Zinger sent me this article. Turns out soda can kill you. Old news, I know, but it's all compiled here for you to see. Most of the warnings are about regular sodas, which, as you know I don't drink. Diet soda is apparently associated with various cancers, though, as I always say you're pretty much guaranteed to die from SOME kind of cancer these days. Might as well live until your doctor tells you which one is yours.

Still, the article is worth a quick read-through. Be sure to take note of WHO is publishing this information. :-)

Why Wednesday?

So today was supposed to be Why Not Wednesday, but Neela is being lame. Way to go, Neels.

I was determined today was going to be a good day, and I think, so far at least, it has been. I was reasonably productive at work, and even got to the gym for some cardio during lunch. (Remember, Calabash).

Breakfast was some SW and strawberries (the glut continues) and three turkey sausage links. Marketing left about a million bagels and Jolly Ranchers outside my cube. I managed to avoid the bagels, but I did have two mini Jolly Ranchers throughout they day. There was also cantaloupe, of which I ate about one serving, along with a home-made fortune cookie (who makes those??) for second breakfast. I figured I'd need some carbs for lunch.

At the gym, they were giving away these tiny little Atkins bars which I naturally ate as soon as I was done w/ my workout. To have only 1/2 gram of sugar and quite a bit of protein, they're actually pretty tasty. Maybe Atkins wouldn't have been so bad, after all.. maybe next time I'm obese, I'll try that instead.

Having gone to the grocery last night, I was all set with a frozen meal for lunch. I usually go South Beach brand, but this time, healthy choice was on sale for $2, so I figured I'd try it. Brother has to save some money. The Mancicotti meal was quite tasty. Two pieces, with a serving of broccoli and some oatmeal apple cobbler thing. The dessert section puts the calorie count at a slightly high 380, but I'm a grown man, so whatever.

Snack was two cheese wedges and the remaining serving and a half or so of multi-grain all-bran crackers.

I have decided to gradually ween myself off caffeine. I skipped my morning cup of coffee and that was okay. I had some water and that helped me a bit. By about 2pm though, I was starting to feel it and decided to have a diet coke with my lunch. I guess that's a start. Eventually, I figure I'll get down to 2-3 caffeinated beverages per week, instead of 2-3 per DAY like now. Baby steps.

Stop being a bitch!

can you believe I actually made it to the gym? God knows it was a little bit of a struggle. I actually had a hell of a work out, strenuous, but not too much so. Unfortunately, the gym was very crowded, as it is wont to be at 6:30pm.

The Yeller was there. For those unfamiliar with The Yeller, he's a huge, late 40's / early 50's black guy with a shaved head who talks to and yells at himself continuously. He always tries to lift way too much weight and does so with the shittiest imaginable form. (I know, I hate form judgers and I don't usually do it, but this guy deserves it!) He yells things like "get it!" and "stop being a bitch!" t0 himself, while he's lifting weights. Then he SLAMS down the weight, as if to demonstrate how monstrously heavy it is to the rest of the gym and the greater silver spring area.

Of course, I missed the S4 bus that was leaving right when I got to the bus stop so I got to stand around for a while. Fortunately, they'd posted a map of northern DC, Silver Spring, Bethesda, etc, so I got to study how all the roads fit together. NEAT!

Dinner was one flatbread pizza with turkey pepperoni and a serving or of broccoli (no cheese this time). I know broccoli doesn't "go" with pizza, but I needed veggies, so I went for it. Turns out, broccoli DOES go with pizza. Cecil's House of Pizza AND Cruciferous Vegetables, anyone? :-)

aaaaaaaaaaand we're back!

So,
Just got back from vaca. Went down to Myrtle Beach with the fam. The vacation itself was fine, but getting back proved to be a nightmarish experience. Eating was...bad. It could have been WORSE, but I'd have had to REALLY go for it. Yes, there was a buffet at some point and yes there was calabash. There was also bojangles, pizza, potato chips, oreos, sweet tea, and at least one instance of ice cream. Suffice it to say, I will not be going NEAR a scale for two weeks.

So anywho. Pretend like today is the 26th and let me tell you ALL about it.

Today was press highlights day, so I had to get to work semi-early. I was also up late last night hanging out w/ c-lo, so I couldn't wake up for the gym. I am planning to go after work.
Grabbed an "All-American" south beach wrap on the way out the door.
Morning snack was a handful of multigrain snack crackers and a wedge of low-fat swiss cheese (Laughing Cow, I wanna say?) The stuff is incredible. I don't believe the nutritional information on it though. It tastes too good to only have 30 calories per wedge.

For lunch, I went to Z Pizza today to have a zbq salad. Ignoring the delicious-looking already done pizza in the case, I ordered the small salad w/ dressing on the side. I was quite proud of myself.

Afternoon snack was 2/3 of a chocolate chip cookie dough protein bar. It was all I had (besides more snack crackers). Let's see how dinner goes.

I know this one wasn't all that interesting, but keep reading. I'm back, I promise.

Fat is contagious!

This really interesting Washington Post article talks about research which strongly suggests that network effects put people disproportionate risk for being overweight if their family and friends are/become overweight. My revised friend/relative application form will have a BMI question. :-)

Z

So I had my pizza. One slice of pepperoni, one slice of veggie. I went with water, instead of getting another drink. I couldn't handle any more caffeine. I was also very tempted to get myself some ice cream, but held off, per my rule of waiting for dessert.

I did eventually end up walking back to chick-fil-a, however, to get myself a small ice-dream cone. So good, and really not terrible for you as ice cream goes.

The afternoon, of course, included more snack crackers, which I have now taken home for safe-keeping. NO more of those this week, I think. I need to bring one serving at a time until I regain self-control.

For dinner, I made myself a tuna wrap with fat-free mayo and salad cubes. I used one of those Multi-Grain Flat-Out breads that I ususally use for pizza. certainly did the trick. Needing veggies, I had the other 15. servings of green beans from the night before AND steamed some broccoli, upon which I naturally put juuuust a bit of 2% Cheddar. Quite a tasty dinner.

Wanting to read, I went back out and ended up having an unsweetened tea at Starbucks.

Harry is getting good!

Damage control

I am going to the beach w/ my family this weekend, and will no be able to work out on Friday, so the temptation was the call this week a wash. But, I'm going to be good.
I got my arse up early this morning and went and had a decent workout. I still have that weird tightness in my shoulder from the decline triceps extensions I did on Friday. I am going to monitor that.
Anyway, rather than having two whole breakfasts, I broke first breakfast into two parts. Pre gym was shredded wheat with strawberries and skim milk (still lovin the berries).

AFTER the gym, I had my three links of Turkey breakfast sausage. And get this. Today I went with a diet mountain dew! This sucker is gross too, but I bought it, so I'm drinking it.

A few minutes ago, I somewhat mindlessly had a few (half serving?) of multi grain crackers. Until lunch, I am done!

new habits die easy

Funny how quickly you can get out of the habit of doing something. Having only resolved to start flogging again yesterday, as of this morning, it was totally gone from my mind. Will have to be a little more diligent for the next couple of days to get going again.

So, yesterday afternoon, obviously involved another half-serving of the snack crackers. I also went over to the vending machine to buy another snack, but then I felt bad and headed back to my desk. Good call, since I only had about a half hour of work left.

Last night, I rushed home to go buy pieces to hang up blinds with Frankie. We have been totally without window coverings for nearly six months now. Only Frank and I. I mean, really. We went the hardware store at 17th and Corcoran and were shocked to find that, although they didn't quite have what we wanted, they have all kinds of other housewares. I have lived there for 3 years and never know it had an upstairs part (accessible only by a separate door) where all kinds of curtains, clocks, decorative items have been stuffed. Whoever did the undetectable expansion charm on that store really knew their stuff.

So, like the rest of America, we ended up at Home Depot. I was shocked once again by just how large that store is. Everything from the parking lot to the signs that (badly) direct to you to various departments are totally out proportion with the small, quaint nature of most non-governmental structures in DC. Perhaps the Home Depot should be relocated near the capitol, where it would better fit the landscape :-)

Anyway, food - I forced myself to go to the grocery (yes on a Monday, bleh). Because it was after 8, the line wasn't bad! I stocked up on all manner of veggies.

Dinner was - A South Beach wrap of some unknown variety, since I had thrown the box away and couldn't quite place the taste. I also had a serving and a half of steamed green beans (yes they're back) with lemon pepper and Smart Balance. I skimped on the Smart Balance, so they weren't QUITE as good, but they were still good. I also had a glass of milk, just for the extra protein boost.

My mind then, of course, turned to dessert, but thankfully, I didn't have any.
So, around 9:00, I went to bed and read for an hour or so before falling asleep. All in all, not an AWFUL day.