We Miss You

Dear Kayla,

I remember a year ago today started out as the most ordinary of ordinary days. I had my morning tea and breakfast and headed out to work. It was a slow day at work and I came home early. I was going to meet up with Frenchie after dinner to learn how to do a home pedicure.

I know for you it was a very different story. To say that we miss you is such an inadequate understatement. 365 days have passed during which we've had good days, bad days, easy days and very hard days. Today will be one of the hardest days for everyone.

I was very close with my grandfather and I remember after my grandfather passed away, the first year was the hardest. There were all of the holidays and occasions where his absence left a huge void. And, I remembered with a flood of memories all of the good times we had had together. I remember seeing a man on a train in Boston who reminded me of him and the tears just started flowing.

It's been almost six years since he passed away and the hardest part now is not being able to share all of life's high points with him. I wish he was hear today so I could tell him about life in Chicago, about my new job, about new successes with Weight Watchers, about the fun weekend we had with friends, about my parents coming to visit, about our last New Year's Party, about everything.

And while it was hard to cope with my loss, I had two things going for me, one is that he was very old when he passed away and had led a full life. I had almost thirty years with him and recognized than most grandchildren don't get that. The other is that since he was very old, I knew he was satisfied with all that he had accomplished in life. He had years in front of him, but more behind him. And, I knew he was okay with it.

So, in the end, my words are very simple. We miss you more than words can say. It's been a tough year without you.


mouse

Family Drama

Dear Friends and Family,

Not sure how to write about this topic, but figure I'll give it the old college try. My sister and Mr. mouse are at odds with each other. And, frankly, I'm on Mr. mouse's side.

Over Christmas, the family looked at going to Korea together to visit my grandfather. Her schedule is the least flexible since she's currently in school. And, then, when you overlap her schedule and my mom's church schedule, it becomes even more inflexible. I was willing to go with the flow and go when they were free even if my first preference was to go sooner rather than later. Hello, he's not getting any younger.

So, once my mom bowed out of the equation, it was down to my sister and me. She still wanted to go together and I was willing to wait until April if that was when she had free. Well, it quickly became all about her. Her schedule, her tickets, her lodging, her, her, her and her. And, it was the drama every night of calls to talk about it. I don't have the patience for it all. Well, sometime over the weekend, after Mr. mouse and me and our neighbors had all already made plans, she decided to bail because it was "inconvenient" for her schedule now. To say the least, I was annoyed.

But, Mr. mouse, he was downright ticked. Now, he's barely on speaking terms with her and somehow she thought calling me three times at work yesterday would resolve the issue. My sister and I are very different people and I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I am ready to write her off and be done with it. On the flip side, I recognize that you don't get to choose your family members even if they sometimes let you down horribly. I'm not sure if the incident this past week was the straw that broke the camel's back for Mr. mouse. It wasn't for me, but, then again, that might mean you can pile a lot of straws on this here old camel.

Still, I don't have the patience for the drama and the self centeredness and the feeling like she's trying to paint me into a corner and the co-dependence and the immaturity and the selfishness and the histrionics and the games and the everything. I just don't have the patience for the everything. With friends, it's a give and take. With her, it's a one way street. If she was a friend, I would bin her as a semi-toxic friend. Why does she deserve extra? I guess it's because she's family. Why does my family have to be such baggage? I envy Mr. mouse and his relationship with his dad. It's so much simpler and less maintenance.

Why can't my family be normal? It took forever for parents to become normal. And, now that they are, my siblings have to go all stupid on me. I'm curious to see how this drama will play out. I can tell you one thing, when Mr. mouse is pissed, he's pissed and it takes a lot to work it out.


Cheers!
mouse

02.26.07: More Guests in Town

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Sunday night, but I'm doing my weekend update tonight vs. waiting until tomorrow morning. I've got some work left to do for a meeting Monday afternoon and I need the time tomorrow morning to work on slides.

We had more guests in town this weekend. Our neighbors from the mouse house flew out to see us. We love having friends visit us! They flew in Friday night and took the train part way. We drove out, met them at the train station and drove back to the house. We went for sushi for dinner and then turned in for the night.

Saturday, we got a slow start to the day. We ate in for breakfast - a combination of crepes, bacon and fruit. The neighbors have a French student staying with them and her brother is visiting her this weekend. He brought crepes all the way from France. And, they brought some over to share with us. They smelled just like waffle cones. I had mine with powdered sugar and lemon. Mr. mouse had his with Nutella.

Don't ask what we did between breakfast and lunch because I'm not sure I remember all that well. But, we headed out for Italian beef for lunch and then over to the Planetarium for the afternoon. We headed over to Chinatown for dinner. There was a great deal on lobster, so instead of eating out as originally planned, we bought four lobsters and made dinner in. This turned out to be one of the smartest moves ever, since it started snowing/raining pretty badly.

Mr. mouse made the lobster two ways - stir fried and boiled. Both very yummy. To finish off the evening, we figured out our hotel plans for our joint trip to Korea in April. My lame lame lame sister and brother-in-law are bailing on the trip. We'll have fun anyway, so I'm not worried. It just means our neighbors will have a couple of days on their own in Seoul while we spend time with my grandfather. I'm sure we'll figure it out. I can't believe it's only a month away!

Sunday we hustled out of the house to try and beat the crowds at the Bongo Room. No such luck. We missed the last open booth by about 10 seconds and got quoted 30-40 minutes wait time. Ugh! Headed over to another brunch option and had a blast guessing at 80's music. Mr. mouse beat us all hands down.

We came back, showered, hit the PS2 for some fun racing and then headed downtown for Wicked. I loved the show. Definitely recommend it, if you're looking for a fun way to spend a rainy weekend afternoon. Kudos to our neighbor for getting some great seats on short notice. Went out for deep dish pizza for dinner. Then, back to the house for some more PS2 action, the Oscars, and unfortunately for me, some PowerPoint jockeying.

Off to bed since I have three more slides to do tomorrow morning. Our neighbors flight was canceled, so they get to sleep in a couple more hours.


Cheers!
mouse

Okay, Let's Not Do THAT Again

Dear Friends and Family,

Talk about utter disaster. Yesterday could not have gone worse than it did. There was a blood donation drive at work. And, I decided to donate again. The first time went like a charm and it's something that helps remind me I should be grateful for all that I have and give back.

It might have been not having a large enough dinner, it might have been not having a large enough breakfast, it might have been lack of sleep, it might have been stress, it might have been lack of hydration, it might have been a borderline pulse, it might have been a borderline blood pressure, it might have been sheer dumb luck, but I passed out yesterday after giving blood. Not once, not twice, but three times, thank you. Ugh! I even had to have them call a colleague and tell him I was going to miss a meeting.

It gets better. By 5 o'clock, I'm feeling light-headed again. Pretty sure I'm not up to driving home, but need to get my car back to the house for the weekend. I get as far as Mr. mouse's work, barely. And, he's in the middle of a gigantic fire drill and can't leave with me. So, he's annoyed, but drops me off at the airport to take the train home. He goes back to work. I pass out/sleep on the train and make it back to be just a little late for my haircut appointment. I'm thinking... okay... home... day is done... not so fast, mouse...

Mr. mouse has my car keys, which means, Mr. mouse also has my house keys! Reach for the cell phone to call him.... in the car... I call from the salon, and he's still stuck at work... for at least another hour... and then he can come back drop off the keys and head back out. By this point, he's annoyed, I'm annoyed (not at each other, but at the situation) and I think we're both wishing the day would just end. I head to a restaurant for dinner. Mr. mouse picks me up at 10:30, drops me off at home, and heads back out to work for another four hours. I barely make it upstairs before crawling into bed.

I feel much better today. I will try donating again. I'm not going to let one bad attempt scare me. But, if we don't ever have to repeat the comedy of errors from yesterday, it's fine by me. Once was enough, thank you.


Cheers!
mouse

Label Counter Fixed

Dear Friends and Family,

100% sure none of you care, but Blogger finally fixed an error they had with label counts. It's not retroactive to old posts, but does seem to not double-count re-posts now.

Yeah!


Cheers!
mouse

The Indian Garden

Dear Friends and Family,

Just catching up on old reviews.

Indian food is tough on Weight Watchers. One word: ghee. Ghee is bad for you. It's a type of clarified butter that essentially removes the water and the proteins from butter leaving pure, unadulterated saturated fats. No wonder it tastes so good! Needless to say, I avoided going out for Indian food like the plague when I first started Weight Watchers. Now, I'm finding I can add it back in. It's a frequency thing and a portion control thing.

Mr. mouse and I have always liked The Indian Garden. They have a restaurant on Devon in the main Indian neighborhood, but we go to the one in Schaumburg now since it's more convenient. The food is good, solid Indian food. We have some favorites we always get.

1. Vegetable Samosa - potato stuffed puff pastry
2. Dal Banjara - yellow lentils
3. Murg Tikka Masala - chicken
4. Sag Paneer - creamed spinach
5. Baingan Bhurtha - eggplant
6. Bhindi Masala - okra
7. Naan - bread
8. Roti - whole wheat bread
9. Masala Tea - chai

Overall rating: 8/10

The Indian Garden
855-57 East Schaumburg Road
Schaumburg, IL 60194 map it
(847) 524-3007
http://www.theindiangardenschaumburg.com


Cheers!
mouse

My Fridge

Dear Friends and Family,

I've been waiting for Target to upload an picture of my new fridge to their website. None there yet, so I'll add one later to this post if they decide to add it to their website. We got the fridge a couple of weekends ago during our errand running frenzy. It's 0.5 cubic feet. To put it in perspective, a typical compact refrigerator for a dorm room is 1.7 cubic feet. One of those tall compact refrigerators is 4.5 cubic feet.

The door is just large enough to hold a couple of bottles of soda. The shelves are just the right width, height and depth to hold eight lunch-sized Tupperware containers. Since I bring four for lunch, it's just the right size to make me feel like I have room to spare without making me feel like it's going to attract unwanted facilities attention. I love it.

Speaking of facilities. You're going to get a kick out of this story. I'm 99.9% sure we're not allowed to have small appliances in our cubes. My first fridge was small enough, I brought it in my gym bag one morning. But, this fridge was too large to put in any bag. I could boldly carry it in, but what if one of the guards stopped me and I got put on the watch more carefully list? Hmm... Then, inspiration struck. I wrapped the fridge up in baby shower wrapping paper, put it on a luggage roll cart, and wheeled the puppy into work in plain sight. I figured if they asked me what it was, I would say it was a gift for a baby shower. It worked like a charm. No one stopped me, in fact most of the guards smiled and offered to help me.

Now, I have the most perfect fridge. It's the little things that make me happy.


Cheers!
mouse

Kettle Brand Bakes Potato Chips

Dear Friends and Family,

Potato chips? Yes, potato chips.



What makes these chips worth writing about?

Two Weight Watchers points for 1 oz of chips. The bag, 4 oz, is slightly smaller than the super size Frito Lays bags. 1 oz of chips is a respectable amount of chips. It's not like those 100 calorie Oreo packs where you get 5 mini cookies crisps for two points. It's enough chips to make you feel like you had chips.

The ingredient list simple. It's got three ingredients: potatoes, safflower and/or sunflower oil, salt. In other words, not fake food, not diet food. For a potato chip, not even very heavily processed food.

Granted, they're not an every day item for me. But, they do work for an occasional treat. Much better than my prior baked chip choice which was baked Lays.


Cheers!
mouse

Map It Experiment

Dear Friends and Family,

My parents are pleasantly occupied so I'll spend some time working on my blog. I'm going to experiment with adding a map it function to my eating out blogs.

Wish me luck.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: mom is translating a brochure from church, dad is reading yesterday's paper, Mr. mouse is cleaning and generally bored out of his mind...

PPS: success! example

02.19.07: Guests in Town

Dear Friends and Family,

My parents came out this weekend to visit us and to see the mouse pad. They flew in Saturday night and are staying through this evening, hence this morning's post will be a short one. I here my dad shuffling around downstairs.

Saturday, we spent the day getting ready for them, cleaning the house, organizing papers and doing dishes and laundry. We headed out by around 5:30 to pick them up. We did the old pick up pizza on the way home trick - Mr. mouse's favorite way of getting Due pizza without dealing with the wait at the restaurant. And, got home in time to enjoy dinner at a reasonable hour. The trick? We phone in our order and pick it up for take-out. No forty-five minute wait for a table on top of a forty-five minute wait for food. I like eating in for the atmosphere, he's more practical.

Sunday, my mom and I went to mass together. Then, we headed out to see the town. We went to get Italian beef and Chicago-style hot dogs, two venerable food traditions. And, then, we headed down to the Sears Tower since it was such a clear day out. I think my mom enjoyed seeing the city from that vantage point and my dad enjoyed reading all the sign. Gotta love my dad...

We headed out for seafood for dinner. (I'll catch up on all the reviews this week.) And, turned in early for the night. We're headed out to the park today since it's the first day above freezing in the past three weeks. I'm not exaggerating! It's been 22 days since we've gone above freezing which brings us back to the Saturday of our party. I'm uber excited about enjoying the sunshine.

Thank goodness for long weekends :)


Cheers!
mouse

Apple Dessert Pancake

Dear Friends and Family,

Here's the recipe I promised for an apple pancake. I can't even venture to guess the point damage it would reek on Weight Watchers. But, it's a excellent add to a breakfast brunch. Everyone can take a slice, an eighth of the pancake.

Ingredients

• 1 large golden delicious apple
• 4 tbs butter
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup AP flour
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 large eggs, separated

1. Peel and core apple; cut into 1/8 inch thick slices.
   
2. In a 10-inch skillet with all-metal handle, over medium-low heat, melt butter. Stir in cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar; remove skillet from heat.
3. In butter mixture in skillet, arrange apple slices, overlapping them slightly. Repeat with smaller circle in center until pan is filled and apples are used up.
4. Return skillet to low heat; cook 10 minutes or until apples are tender-crisp.
5. Meanwhile, preheat over to 400°F. In medium bowl, with fork, beat flour, milk, baking powder, salt and egg yolks until blended. Set aside.
6. In small bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg white and remaining 1/3 cup sugar until soft peaks form. With rubber spatula, gently fold egg-white mixture into egg-yolk mixture.
7. Cover apple slices in skillet with egg mixture with rubber spatula, spread batter evenly.
8. Bake pancake 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove skillet from oven. Carefully invert pancake onto large platter to serve.

Voila! It's also nice at a breakfast brunch because it's a pretty addition to the table. Happy Friday, everyone.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: Trixie, got your card. The answer is yes, of course :)

Pusan Kalbi

Dear Friends and Family,

We've been to Pusan Kalbi three times now. The first was with a family friend over a year ago. The second was the last weekend in January with our neighbors before dropping them off at the airport. And, the third was last night.

I don't recall the first visit. The second, I loved. And, last night's was excellent as well. By far the best selection of ban chan (aka pan chan aka side dishes) of all of the restaurants we've been to so far. And, the crispiness of the rice in the bibimbap - one word... finally! It's a perfect blend of crispy from the hot stone bowl and creamy from the rice that isn't exposed. Mr. mouse got the kalbi tang (aka short rib soup) and it's got just the right level of beefiness and it's properly seasoned. I think this will become our regular, barring trying out any new places that open up.

There's one other place we need to revisit since I skipped the write-up last winter and can't really remember the place now.

Overall rating: 8/10

Pusan Kalbi Restaurant
1144 South Elmhurst Road
Mount Prospect, IL 60056 map it
(847) 593-0377



Cheers!
mouse

Rich-O-Meter

Dear Friends and Family,

Good morning!

How did I get so far behind? I've got a note to myself to write on an article I read, and now I realize the article is from the first of February! So, it's stale news, but, still interesting enough to warrant blog time.

The Wall Street Journal had two articles titled Rich-O-Meter and Rich-O-Meter 2.0. They're stats on how you compare against Americana overall in both income and wealth. Based on the comments in the article, we're a nation totally engrossed with keeping up with the Joneses. The data is from 2004, I think, but I'd be surprised if a ton has changed in the past 2+ years.

With no further ado...

Income

• Median: $25,076
• Top 10%: $87,334
• Top 5%: $120,212
• Top 1%: $277,983
• Top 0.5%: $397,949
• Top 0.1%: $1,134,849
• Top 0.01%: $5,349,795

Wealth

• $50,000: 60th percentile
• $93,000: 50th percentile
• $100,000: 48th percentile
• $200,000: 34th percentile
• $500,000: 18th percentile
• $750,000: 12th percentile
• $827,000: 10th percentile
• $1 million: 8th percentile
• $1.4 million: 5th percentile
• $6 million: 1st percentile

Cheers!
mouse

Good Earth

Dear Friends and Family,

Just catching up on old reviews.

The Good Earth is a perfect place for me to eat. It's got enough variety to make the menu interesting, but you don't feel guilty asking them to modify the menu for you since they are supposed to be a healthy place to eat. And, portions are right sized not super sized.

I had the half sandwich and soup. The turkey club is a nice combination of turkey, lettuce, tomato, sprouts and mustard on wheat bread. Enough variety to make eat bite feel complex without feeling overdone. The clam chowder was tomato based and had a nice brininess and spiciness to it. All in all, a perfect place to meet a friend for lunch.

Overall rating: 8/10

Good Earth
3510 West 70th Street
Edina, MN 55435
(952) 925-1001
http://www.goodearthmn.com/index.htm


Cheers!
mouse

Good Signs of Progress

Dear Friends and Family,

Yeah! Our loan modification is complete. Originally, I thought it would take through 4/1 to finish the process, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our 3/1 payment is for the new amount. This frees up a nice cash flow for other projects and definitely lends a peace of mind to knowing our "rent" is fixed at this new rate for the foreseeable future.

Tomorrow is payday, and I'll be sending the net proceeds to our lovely credit card accounts to get that repayment going - odds and ends from fixing up the mouse house before putting it on the market.

The other thing that I've completed is the 401k rollover from old work. For awhile, I had all of these orphan 401ks. And, it was getting tough to keep track of and monitor all of them much less stay on top of the investment options. And, each time we moved, the change of addresses were getting more and more ridiculous. So, I consolidated them into one spot. Nice mental clutter reduction.

I was pleasantly surprised at my old work 401k. I didn't pay close attention to it last year (bad mouse, bad) and it grew more than I expected. Granted, it could have also shrunk without any oversight. But, hey, I'll take the good news.

The other thing left in to do to finish this process is to set up my 401k at new work. I'll be doing that once I'm eligible.

All good signs of progress.


Cheers!
mouse

Bowl & B.B.Q. Korean Barbecue

Dear Friends and Family,

I've been craving bibimbap for the longest time now. We went out last night for Korean, and I finally had a chance to order it. I got the bibimbap. Mr. mouse got the seafood bibimbap and we split the haemul pajun (seafood pancake) for an appetizer. The menu at Bowl & B.B.Q. is more extensive than its small strip mall location implies. And, the owner knew several customers by name. I like that in a place.

Our haemul pajun was stocked with krab, scallions and squid, no shrimp or oysters. And, the bibimbap was a good. Again, liked the mushrooms. It filled a craving, but was pretty standard otherwise. Mr. mouse's bibimbap with the seafood was very similar to my dish, except more seafood substituted for the beef. This is good to remember if I ever decide to work on limiting red meat in my diet.

Overall rating: 7/10

Bowl & B.B.Q. Korean Barbecue
1277 Elmhurst Road
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(847) 758-1277


Cheers!
mouse

A Look Back at the Past 52 Weeks

Dear Friends and Family,

I started Weight Watchers about year ago. Technically, next Tuesday is my one year anniversary, but today is my 52nd weigh-in and that's more significant to me than the actual anniversary date.

I started under the mantra small changes in your life can mean big changes in your weight. Wow! Is that ever true. 52 weeks, 52 lbs later, I feel like a new person. I really have trouble comprehending it all.

On Sunday, Mr. mouse took my picture holding a 50 lb bag of rice. Now, I know the density of rice and human is different. But, nonetheless, 50 lbs of rice weighs a lot. I can't believe I was carrying that around 24/7.

What's changed in the past year?

• portion control: 95% of the battle, right here
• dairy products: two a day is the daily goal
  
• fruits and vegetables: love my daily fruit salad and grape tomatoes, getting tired of my baby carrots
• alcohol: originally was difficult, but no longer is
• nibbling: hard at new work with chocolate everywhere
  
• awareness: reading all of the food labels

Not a whole lot more to write. Gonna go re-read my Weight Watchers materials. Nothing like some refreshers and reminders as I head into year 2.


Cheers!
mouse

02.12.07: Free Time, Finally

Dear Friends and Family,

It was a long time in the making. This past weekend was our first truly free weekend since we decided to sell the mouse ranch in the spring of 2005. It felt almost decadent just doing the stuff normal people take for granted on the weekend.

Friday, I decided to work downtown. We have a small satellite office downtown. A colleague offered an opportunity to work downtown with him on Friday if I wanted to give it a try. Yes! Yes! Yes! If I could work downtown all the time, I would. In a heart beat. Mr. mouse pointed out I can do whatever I want, come two years. In the meantime, I think I'll become a regular on those days I don't have any meetings.

After work, I headed over to the Chiasso warehouse sale. Lots of fun things to be had at decent prices, if you poke around. I felt so city mouse taking the train down to the warehouse sale and then taking the train home.

votives

door stop

salt and pepper shakers
Friday night, we met a group of colleagues for drinks at a bar downtown. Then, around midnight, Mr. mouse and I went to a second bar to grab some dinner. A short cab ride later, and we were home for the night.

Saturday, we slept in until close to noon. Then, we dropped off the fridge at the post office to return to Amazon. And, we headed down to the warehouse sale for one more look. Since we had the car, we bought a couple of larger pieces - a rug and a screen Mr. mouse has had his eye on for some time.

screen/room divider

A quick trip to Whole Foods and to Target rounded out the day. No better time to run errands than on a Saturday night. Parking's easy and the stores are empty.

Sunday, we made some serious progress on the list. We hit Best Buy to drop off a printer cartridge for recycling. Then, it was off to Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon good towards the table we bought last weekend. Ikea was next on the list - new knobs for the kitchen. Then Target, to pick up more odds and ends. Lowe's for some ant bait. And, H-Mart, a Korea supermarket to see their food selection. Mad dash home, and we capped off the evening watching the Grammy's.

List update? 24 items done out of 152. I won't bore you with the details of the 20 items we crossed off over the weekend, but, rest assured. It feels good to have fewer things hanging over our heads.


Cheers!
mouse

The Original Pancake House

Dear Friends and Family,

I didn't realize The Original Pancake House has as extensive a chain as it does. When I first went in Evanston, I thought it was a mom-and-pop restaurant. Well, I was wrong. Not only is the one in Edina the same concept, upon further research, they have 17 locations in the Chicagoland alone!

All that aside, we went for breakfast last Sunday morning and the food was delicious. We got there early on a bitterly cold morning and hence there was no wait. I ordered the Dutch Baby, one of the specialties of the house, which normally takes 30 minutes. It only takes 15 if you're early on a bitterly cold Sunday morning. I was torn between the Dutch Baby and the Apple Pancake. I ended up picking the Dutch Baby because it's probably a lot healthier than the Apple Pancake which is like eating dessert for breakfast.

The Dutch Baby is shaped like a bowl. I always wondered how it's made and I have a theory now... It's almost like a super-aerated souffle that's been deflated on purpose. It's still light and airy. You eat it with butter, powdered sugar and lemon. Or, in my case just lemon. Maybe a better comparison is a thick but airy crepe? Yes, it's a cross between a pancake and a crepe. In any case, it's to die for.

I had to guesstimate the points, but found a helpful article online which had nutritional information. It's not exact, but certainly close enough for me. A full pancake comes out to 10 points... which is certainly a lot more than the 2 I normally have for breakfast. But, well within the range of what I can eat as a special treat in the week.

Overall rating: 8/10

The Original Pancake House
3501 West 70th Street
Edina, MN 55435
(952) 920-4444
http://www.originalpancakehouse.com


Cheers!
mouse

Mouse's Monster List

Dear Friends and Family,

I had some spare cycles yesterday, so I started composing my list. It's the list of all the little (and big) persnickety things I haven't had time to figure out or time to do. Just this week, I decided to make the list one of my Top 3. My current Top 3? wellness, the list and TBD. So, room to grow or to add something if something pops up. I'm okay with that.

The List... well, it's diversified... there's some quick hits like unpack my travel bag from the weekend to some longer term things like set up an estate plan. I'll tackle it a little piece at a time and see where it goes. Current status on the list? 4 items done on a list of 131 items (brakes and oil change on Mr. mouse's car, toothpaste and contact lens solution).

Wish us luck.


Cheers!
mouse

Overdoing it?

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm really sore today. I recently upped my lifting amounts because I wanted to make sure I wasn't going easy on myself without the discipline of a personal trainer. And, I think it's been counter productive. Yesterday's workout was really rough. I was exhausted by the end of it, and when I'm exhausted my form suffers. I also started later than usual so I was probably low on blood sugar. I might be pushing the envelope too far too quickly. Maybe I am overdoing it?

A couple of thoughts I have on the topic.

• move my workouts from Tues/Thurs to Mon/Thurs to give my body an extra day of rest between workouts
• move my workouts to Mon/Wed to take advantage of an afternoon abs class on Wednesdays
• lower my weight amounts back to the amounts from a week ago and try raising them again later when I have more muscle mass
  
• lower my reps for now and focus on cardio
• lower my reps at lower weights and focus on cardio
• eat a little extra Wed night and Thurs daytime to give me more sugar

So many options. One calculation I did makes me think I don't need to build any more muscle mass, I just need to lose the last of my excess fat. So, I'm not distraught by the concept of lowering my weight levels. I'll see how Tuesday goes and maybe reevaluate.


Cheers!
mouse

Small Things, Big Impact

Dear Friends and Family,

Sometimes someone does something small that just means a lot to you and totally makes your day.

I recently got a letter in the mail from the bank for a past due amount on my corporate card from old work. I wrote my old boss about it, figuring it was going to be a hassle and a quarter to get it resolved. Not only was it not a hassle, they figured it out in two days between my old boss, our old admin and the accounting department with no help from me, but my old boss went the extra mile. He asked twice about making sure the past due didn't impact my personal credit history.

That really made an impression on me about my old boss and the type of boss he is/can be outside of the context of the work environment he's been forced into. I am duly impressed and appreciative.


Cheers!
mouse

Mitsuwa Markeplace

Dear Friends and Family,

From the outside, Mitsuwa looks like a Japanese supermarket. And, it is. But, hidden inside is the mother of Japanese food courts, by Midwest standards. I always love going for lunch, although it's so tough to pick from all of the choices.

• new place: various teas, bubble teas, ice creams
• Otafuku-Tei: brown curry shop, okonomiyaki and tako yaki are both made to order and worth the wait
• Kayaba: the bowl place, ten don, katsu don, beef bowl, etc. they also have the bento boxes and the combo trays for more complete meals
• Santoka Ramen: as the name implies, it's a ramen shop
• Jockey Express: Chinese, dimsum, roast meat and rice dishes, some Americanized Chinese
• Mama House: Korean, bibimbap, bulgogi, etc.
• Daikichi Sushi: pre-made nigiri and maki sushi, chirashi sushi, battera sushi, etc.

The food quality isn't what you'd get in a fine dining establishment because it isn't a fine dining establishment. It's what you'd get in a good food court in a department store in Japan, only you're in Chicago. We go every time I can convince Mr. mouse to take me.

Overall rating: 8/10

Mitsuwa Marketplace
100 East Algonquin Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 956-6699
http://www.mitsuwachicago.net/english/store/cafeteria.htm


Cheers!
mouse

Millrose Brewery

Dear Friends and Family,

Millrose Brewery reminds me of a Cracker Barrel-like place that decided to spruce itself up and add goat cheese to some items on the menu. A lot of the menu items seemed contrived, so I stuck with the basics - a hamburger and a fruit salad. Good quality meat in the hamburger, not too fatty, but still juicy. And, they were willing to cook it medium rare, which helps keep the texture from getting all rubbery. It came with a fruit salad on the side - 2 pieces each of some standard fruits (i.e. pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries). All in all, a totally acceptable meal, except the prices. For a completely ordinary lunch, I came out $16 the poorer. Either goat cheese is more expensive than I originally thought -OR- they believe that by sprucing up the menu, they can take the consumer on a ride. Decent food, just way over priced.

Overall rating: 6/10

Millrose Brewery
45 Barrington Road
South Barrington, IL 60010
(847) 382-7673


Cheers!
mouse

Car Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Okay. Last one for the night. And, it's a short one. One of the things on my to-do list was to have Mr. mouse's car looked at. The braking performance seemed, from my perspective, like it needed work. We took it into the dealership for brake work and an oil change. Brake pads, rotors, oil, filter: $600. Peace of mind: priceless.

One more thing taken care of. And, it brings me back to my Top 3. I think, I'll add one to my Top 3 that's not a single item, but a list of items. There's just a ton of loose ends that need tying up... little things that need time and energy... like taking the car in for a look, getting my car registered, returning the parking pass from the old airport, etc. the list is probably a lot longer than I realize. I think I'll spend some time this weekend formulating the list. And, then one of my Top 3 will be knocking through that list. That and wellness will be on the list, leaving room for one more.


Cheers!
mouse

134 Days Until the Start of Summer

Dear Friends and Family,

I know I just went on a rampage about how cold it is outside. But, Mr. mouse and I are already thinking ahead to the fun times we'll have on the roof this summer. It's tough to remember, in the dead of winter, why the commute is worth it... We haven't been eating out a lot in the neighborhood and I've been booked on the weekends - preparing for the party and visiting with friends. But, once summer comes around, we've got the deck. And, I can't wait!

Remember when Mr. mouse was on the purchasing rampage for deck furniture? If not, here's the post. I'm not sure I ever posted them all on the blog:

• love seat
• two chairs
• coffee table
• dining table
• four dining chairs
• ottoman
• hammock
• two recliners
• double wide chaise
• shade screen

Mr. mouse drove out to Ohio to pick up all of the furniture with the exception of the screen and the dining table. Those were coming from another auction place in Ohio - fifteen minutes from where Mr. mouse had to do the pick-up. But, those two auctions were clearly labeled for delivery only. In fact, they had a nice nasty-gram essentially saying "don't even think about asking for a pick up option, okay?"

So, we didn't ask. And, we waited. The screen came via UPS. And, the table... Well, let's just say 90 days later they wrote us and said, oops, it's too big to deliver. It's a pick-up only item. When do you want to come get it? I blew a gasket. I toyed with driving out a second time, but, eventually just took the refund. Figured there were bigger things in life to worry about than matching deck furniture. Still, it sucked.

Well, we were at Bed, Bath and Beyond on Sunday looking for a salad spinner since we had a gift card from awhile ago. And, tucked in the corner, on the way out, marked some crazy percent off, was... a table that looked, from the picture on the box, like it might work. And, when we unpacked it to fit it into the car, it got even better. I think it might be from the same manufacturer... The mounting mechanism hardware is identical. What are the chances? Even if it's not the same, it's close enough to the same to make me very happy. Yeah!

We'll see how close a match it is when we assemble it. Right now, it's too cold to be outside assembling furniture.


Cheers!
mouse

Fridge Decision

Dear Friends and Family,

Remember how excited I was about my fridge? If not, here's my post from a week ago. Sadly, I think I'm going to return the fridge. I love having a fridge at my desk. It keeps my food cold. It's quiet. But, it's too small. My sandwich containers are too wide for it. And, my 12 oz bottles are too tall for it. It fits a can of soda, upright, and a container of yogurt. It's good, but I need better. So, this weekend I'll pack it up nicely in a box and return it for a refund. Mr. mouse promised to find me a better one.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: Not crazy about the left formatting, but, I've got more stuff to catch up on...

OMG - It's Cold Out

Dear Friends and Family,

There's cold and then there's ridiculously cold. Now, living in the Midwest, you learn to live with the cold. It's part of the charm of winter. But, after an unseasonably warm winter, it's been bone chillingly cold here. Our temps over the past week have been hovering at the zero mark and that's without the wind chill. Needless to say, I'm ready for spring.

What prompted the tirade? I took the bus home tonight. And, transferred to the train. And, about half way through my walk, I got cold. Fortunately for me, our bedroom is super warm. It's the warmest room in the house. So, I'm tucked into a super comfy chair with a hot cup of tea and about 30 minutes of glorious freedom before Mr. mouse gets home.

Life is good.


Cheers!
mouse

Kim's Korean Restaurant

Dear Friends and Family,

More potato soup, please.

Last night we ordered the potato soup casserole to share. It was super spicy and hot, just the way I like it. The pork neck bones had a fair amount of meat on them. And, the potatoes were standard potatoes. The soup, when ordered for two, comes with more vegetables in the broth. We were chatting over dinner about the soup - would any of our friends eat it? And, came up with two people who would, my cousin who is also Korean and a Vietnamese friend who eats just about anything. Sadly, it's not for everyone. After trying four places, I think Mr. mouse is, finally, potato souped out.

Overall rating: 7/10

Kim's Korean Restaurant
1827 West Algonquin Road
Mount Prospect, IL 60056
(847) 427-1642


Cheers!
mouse

The Adventures of The Wild Hat

Dear Friends and Family,

On New Year's Eve, Mr. mouse and I flew in for a party with the neighbors. I needed to drop off some stuff with a friend at the mall. Mr. mouse and our neighbor came along for the ride. Mr. mouse wanted to look for a Minnesota themed gift for his boss. He found something or other for the boss, and picked up a hat for himself.

The hat came out for the party and has quickly developed a persona of its own. On my last trip back this weekend, we bought three additional hats. Now, it's got its own blog, a mission and an ode.

thewildhat.blogspot.com


Cheers!
mouse

02.05.07: Me Time

Dear Friends and Family,

I have like 12 different things to write about, but I'm going to be frugal and spread them out over the next couple of weekdays so I don't run out of topics by Friday morning.

I flew out Saturday morning to visit some friends from old work and the mouse house. We had a reunion of sorts planned for a department I worked at in old work. Trixie, the ever accommodating friend agreed to host the evening of fun and games. But, before heading over to her place for the evening, I had a chance to catch up with my neighbors for the afternoon. We spent the time chatting and going through pictures from last weekend.

Saturday night was a lot of fun. It was about a dozen of us which is perfect for catching up with everyone in more detail than 70+ people allows. And, Frenchie was there! I miss her so much at work! My Weight Watchers inspiration was there, too. And, as always, I'm so inspired by what she's been able to accomplish. And, since I accidentally showed up 2 hours early, I got to hand churn some yummy homemade French vanilla gelato :)

Sunday was a rush of errands before we settled down in front of the TV for the big game. We ate lunch at a local supermarket. We picked up Mr. mouse's car at the dealership. We picked up a salad spinner at Bed Bath and Beyond. We picked up some bananas and lettuce for the week. We dropped off some checks we needed to deposit. We dropped off my car. We picked up a pair of jeans at Plato's Closet. We picked up a baguette and some chips for the game. We folded laundry. We plopped on the couch...

May the games begin! And, I don't mean the big game on TV. I mean, the fun and games the two of us can somehow find our way in without realizing how we ever got there. I wanted to blog last night, but I figured I should spend time with Mr. mouse since I had some very good me time on Saturday. Mr. mouse essentially told me, in a very nasty way, do what I want, he couldn't care less. If spending time with him is such a chore, I should just go log on for the night and...

I felt so under appreciated! I mean, here I was, trying to spend time with him and he just threw it in my face! As a result, he watched the rest of the game by himself and I spent the evening reading and then turning in early. It's a good thing we have a California King bed. Maybe we'll talk about it tonight. Maybe we'll wait. I'm still feeling pretty peeved about it all, so waiting might not be a bad thing.


Cheers!
mouse

Cholesterol Woes

Dear Friends and Family,

I had my health assessment at work yesterday. And, for $5 extra I did the cholesterol screening to see if there had been any changes from last fall.

The good news keeps getting better... My triglycerides and Very Low Density Lipids were already off the charts low (this is good) and got even better. And, the overall total number which is also already low dropped 2% more. But, the "needs work" news still "needs work." I didn't make a ton of progress on moving the two main numbers. My Low Density Lipids (bad cholesterol) is still on the borderline of optimal and okay and my High Density Lipids (good cholesterol) is on the borderline of very very low and very low.

I just don't get it. It doesn't seem "fair." I know exactly what I eat and it's healthier than 99.9% of America, or at least 95% of America. And, I know I could exercise more, but I'm in the gym regularly. How are other people walking around with uber sexy HDL numbers and I'm on the border of very very low and very low? Frankly, I'm jealous.

I'm trying to remain positive. I did increase 8% on the HDL number, but there's still so much more work that needs to be done to get anywhere close to optimal. It's easy to be the most improved prize if you're starting from dead last.

So, I'll continue with the exercise and, to be honest, I probably won't change a ton in the eating routine until I hit maintenance on Weight Watchers. I've got 19 points a day now, and that's just not enough points to experiment with adding a ton of foods into the diet (as in food routine, not temporary restricted food routine). But, once I hit maintenance, I might try the orange juice or the olive oil and baguette or the wine thing and see if it moves the needle.

This week has been a flat week weight wise. I think it'll be a couple of weeks of no loss during which I'll feel a bunch of changes in the body but see no changes on the scale. Sigh. This whole thing is so much more complex than calories in vs. calories out.

There's a good article in the NY Times with a lot of thoughts on food... Unhappy Meals... It recommends a couple of things towards the end of the article about how to recognize food vs. "food." It's a long read, but a good read. It also references another article... What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?... Another long, but good read. All things to focus on once I hit maintenance and spend 6-8 weeks figuring out maintenance... Something for later this year.


Cheers!
mouse

Go Hyang Korean Restaurant

Dear Friends and Family,

Simple, village, neighborhood style cooking. Mr. mouse had the potato soup which had more potatoes and pork in it, but was strongly flavored with fermented bean paste. I ordered the bulgogi dolsot bap which is a marinated beef served on top of rice in a stone hot pot. It was good, but I was in the mood for bibimbap, so I should have ordered the bibimbap. The meat was well marinated, but they add all of the juices from cooking it to the rice so the rice is risotto-like in consistency. I like the rice in the hot pot to get crispy from the heat. It's a matter of personal preference.

Overall rating: 6/10

Go Hyang Korean Restaurant
932 West Algonquin Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 259-9422


Cheers!
mouse

Top 3 Update

Dear Friends and Family,

I guess it doesn't take long for life to become routine. I mentally allocated the first half of this year to just figuring things out, taking in the transition and adjusting to life with Mr. mouse. It's a month into it, and it's feeling like the transition is, for the most part, complete.

What else was on the Top 3? Wellness and house refinance. We got the paperwork for the refinance in the mail yesterday. Need to find a notary, sign it, and return it within the next 10 days. I was off on the timing. Our 3/1 payment will be the reduced amount. That means we've already paid the last of our original payments. So, with one more errand, this will be complete as well. The heavy lifting is complete. I'm not sure it merits a spot in the Top 3... Technically yes, but in spirit, no.

Where does this leave me? Happy that I'm making progress, but in need of something to focus on. I think I'll keep wellness in the priority list for now. I've got 15 pounds that I still want to lose although I would be totally fine with bottoming out where I am now. I have some credit card debt I need to pay off now that we sold the mouse house (renovations and last minute fixes) but that'll be done in a month or two... Hmm... I'm drawing a blank.

This is something to think about. I'm not used to life being some simple. Time to do some navel gazing and find new things to focus on.


Cheers!
mouse