Premiere Moisson

Dear Friends and Family,

If you're ever in Montreal, you MUST, ABSOLUTELY MUST, go to try their pastries. You can find their locations on their website under contact us.

They have a bakery right by my friend's house. And, every morning we get fresh croissants for breakfast. And, on Saturday night we get a dessert for after dinner. The croissants are flaky, buttery, tender morsels of heaven. The ends have that caramel flavor that comes from them cooking a little longer than the middle (since it's skinnier at the end). It's so hard to have just one. They've also got chocolate, which is also fabulous, and bunch we haven't tried: apricot, chocolate with almonds, almonds, filouze, and raisin. I'll be trying the almond when we're out there next summer.

As for the desserts. I love those as well. They've figured out how to make desserts that are light and airy, not heavy or dense. And, they're not overly sweet so you get the creaminess of the custard and the natural sweetness from the berries coming through. Better than any dessert I've had anywhere else. Ever.

Overall rating: 9/10

Premiere Moisson
3025 rue Saint-Ambroise
Montreal, Quebec map it
(514) 932-0328
http://www.premieremoisson.com


Cheers!
mouse

Living Room - Phase I Accomplished

Dear Friends and Family,

After four days (1 hour plus a couple of extra minutes) of de-cluttering the living room, it's done. There's still more to do, but, all of the horizontal surfaces (the coffee table, two end tables, table by the door, couch, love seat, TV stand and floor have all been cleared of their major clutter components.

I guess a thorough cleaning is next on the list. I'll do 15 minutes of light cleaning tonight (dusting), but I'll wait until the next go-through of the living room to do anything major. I think you hit each room each month. So, it won't be for another couple of weeks, but it's not like it got to be a disaster zone in a day, so it won't get clean in a day.

Thinking ahead, to the next round, (nothing like counting those chickens before they're hatched, I say) I've got "internal" de-cluttering to do: inside the shelves, inside the credenza, inside the coat closet. And, I've got my to-do list: replacing the speaker wire, adding more shelves, moving a picture, hanging the new curtains. And, I've got "big item" de-cluttering: getting rid of an extra chair... Does the list never end?!?!

All-in-all, it looks 1000% better, already, compared to Sunday morning. And, more importantly, it feels 1000% better. So, I think this 15 minutes a day thing is working for me. I'll get to all those things on my list, I guess I'll just need to break it out into 15 minute chunks of time.

I wonder what room next week is.


Cheers!
mouse

It's the Little Things

Dear Friends and Family,

I was leaving work late last night. Not super late. But, late. And, I had hit the gym, but still late... It was 8:40 when I left my desk and I was tired and hungry and cross.

But, when I got to the building doors, I realized, there were still vestiges of daylight outside. It was still a little light out. It wasn't completely dark. And, that totally made my day. And then, when I was walking out to my car, I passed a bunch of fireflies. Fireflies? I haven't seen fireflies since middle school. And, last night, of all nights, there were a bunch on my way to the car and then all along side the road to the the highway entrance. I love fireflies. And then, on the drive home, I passed a carnival being set up. And, they were testing out the lights on the Ferris wheel.

I love summer. Between it being light out, and the fireflies, and the carnival lights, I was in a completely different mind frame. Happy mouse.


Cheers!
mouse

4 Pounds and Counting

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm not sure I've absorbed the impact of my last weigh-in quite yet. I lost two pounds last week when I was expecting to lose zero.

Thursday night I had a splurge night and went out for pizza and used 60% of my flex points in one sitting. But, I was starving, and I remember in the early days having not-so-hungry days and having eat-everything-in-sight days. And, I decided to listen to my body, and eat some fat. To make it sound worse than it is, I had a hamburger for lunch that day. But, here's the skinny on all of this... I don't do a great job of getting my healthy oils in each day. I'm hit or miss on them. So, my diet (as in food routine) is very low in fat. Sometimes, I just think it's just trying to tell me to get some extra fat in. I used my flex points for the pizza and went on with life. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I ate extra well to make up for Thursday night. And, I guess it all worked out.

Four pounds... That means, for those of you who are keeping track of this insanity, that I've hit my original goal weight. The last four pounds are a nice round numbers game and 100% psychological. I think we all agree four pounds up or down has zero impact on actual health.

Now before you begin counting all your chickens before they're hatched. It could be anywhere from 2 weeks (no way) to 24 weeks (God, I hope not) for the last four pounds. No worries. I'll keep you posted.


Cheers!
mouse

06.25.07: Home Time

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Monday. Where did the weekend go?

Actually, the weekend went towards quality time spent at home. Saturday, we slept in, lazed around the house, had a hearty breakfast and spent the day running errands and restocking the pantry before coming home to cook a simple dinner of sashimi and blue crabs.

Then, Sunday, I got up early (see previous post) and we spent the morning cleaning and organizing the house. After lunch, I napped while Mr. mouse went camera shopping and hit the local Target to stock up on non-edible consumables. We went up on the deck for a relaxing evening (Mr. mouse read the paper, I caught up on work emails) and dinner (baked potato, grilled zucchini, and barbecue brisket from Whole Foods). Afterwards, I did a little more work so I could make it to the gym tonight. And, we crawled in to bed around midnight.

Gonna go do my 15 minutes of organizing before beginning the day. Wish me luck.


Cheers!
mouse

Clutter Control Weekend

Dear Friends and Family,

I woke up early this morning because of a really bad dream. And, I spent a couple of hours futzing on the computer and straining some crab stock we made last night.

While on the Weight Watchers message boards, I came across a post on clutter control, and I couldn't resist following the link. After all, the only reason this weekend isn't booked on our calendar is because I had it blocked out as a clutter control weekend.

The URL for the site is www.flylady.net. And, it was just enough motivation to make me spend 15 minutes this morning cleaning up the living room. So, what did I accomplish in my 15 minutes? I stowed away the airbed, pump, pillows, and blankets from when we had guests over (Memorial Day weekend), replaced a missing pillow on our bed, folded my evening blanket that I use when I get chilly, organized the mail for the prior owner so we can drop it off at the post office, stowed away all of the shoes by the door, tossed a pair of really ratty shoes I never wear, collected all the coasters into their holder, moved a pair of sunglasses to their proper holding spot, and added a bookmark to a book I've been reading.

I have to say, it feels good.


Cheers!
mouse

Happy Summer Solstice

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday marked the longest day of the year. Sigh. I love sunlight. And, I'm a little depressed to think every day, for the rest of the year, will be a little shorter than the day before it. And, because I got stuck at work, and then at the gym, I didn't get home until almost 9 o'clock last night and it was already dark out :(

Well, it's work from home day today. And, I've got a list a million miles long that I need to plow through before I get to start the weekend. So, I'm off to get started, since I did have the luxury of sleeping four extra hours.


Cheers!
mouse

Counting Down to the Weekend

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Thursday and I CAN NOT wait for the weekend. We have nothing planned for the weekend. No social engagements. No trips. No nothing. I love all the weekend fun we've had, but it's been a non-stop party for the past three months, and I'm looking forward to the break.

On top of which, it's been a lot of work for the past six weeks. And, not the type of work I enjoy. Lots of desk time working on analysis and presentations. And, lots of bringing work home. On the weekends. To be done late Sunday night or on my plane rides. Joy, oh joy.

So, I'm looking forwarding to a weekend of not doing anything. And, I'll quit before I bring work home this weekend. We'll probably spend the entire weekend cleaning and doing chores and stuff, but still, it'll be good.

And, if everything works to plan, I'll be able to work from home tomorrow which would make for a most excellent start to said weekend.


Cheers!
mouse

Mole Results In

Dear Friends and Family,

Got the results yesterday from the mole I had removed a couple of weeks ago. Diagnosis: standard mole, nothing to worry about. Yeah!


Cheers!
mouse

Adobo Grill

Dear Friends and Family,

Friday night, after the baseball game, time on the deck with friends, and the last episode of The Price is Right, my cube neighbor, his wife, Mr. mouse and I headed over to Adobo Grill for dinner.

We ordered the guacamole as an appetizer. They come to your table and make it fresh for you table side. It's one of their signature dishes, and there's nothing like made-for-you guacamole, where you can see every ingredient that went in, with some warm tortilla chips.

For dinner, I ordered a second appetizer. I was too full from baseball park food to contemplate an entree. So, for dinner, I got the cazuelas, an earthenware casserole of chile brasied beef with potatoes. It's served with corn tortillas on the side. I guess you take the cazuelas and wrap it in the tortilla and chow down. The serving is just enough for four small corn tortillas. And, it filled a craving I had for something hot and spicy with flavors I don't normally use at home. Mr. mouse ordered the oven roasted pork tenderloin. I forgot to get a bite, so I can't attest to it, but he said it was yummy.

Overall rating: 8/10

Adobo Grill
2005 West Division Street
Chicago, IL 60622 map it
(773) 252-9990
http://www.adobogrill.com


Cheers!
mouse

Traders Point Creamery

Dear Friends and Family,

Traders Point Creamery is a family owned artisan dairy. Clearly a family farm in the process of discovering itself. "We believe in "nourishing the land that nourishes us all." This means preserving the family farm and continuing our grandparents' legacy of sensible, sustainable, low-input agriculture."

And, for us Midwesterners, they sell their products through a variety of outlets. I'm going to check them out at the local Farmer's market here in town. I like the idea of food from a place where you've seen the farm.

Dinner is served in the loft of the barn. They have indoor and outdoor seating. Since I was still in a semi-stupor from the day's heat, we opted for indoor seating. They have a window to the cheese room where you can see the cheeses aging.

I ordered the spring greens with balsamic vinaigrette for an appetizer and Mr. mouse ordered the Thai corn bisque. The salad was a nice mix of sweet and bitter greens with some of the best tomatoes I've had in a long time. The vinaigrette was an excellent emulsion of balsamic and olive oil with just the right amount of tang. It went well with the salad and with the bread basket. Mr. mouse's corn bisque had several Thai flavors blended in, curry, coconut, lime, cilantro. I tried a spoonful. It was delicious.

For our main course, I ordered the margherita pizza and Mr. mouse ordered the veal marsala with herbed angel hair pasta. The plates are simple. The presentation is simple. The food is excellent. The pizza crust was crisp on the bottom, chewy in the middle. The tomato sauce. My god, where do these folks get their tomatoes from?!?! And, the cheese, just enough to make the pizza work. Mr. mouse's veal was tender and the sauce was a well executed marsala. I stole all of his mushrooms, since he doesn't like them, and put them on my pizza. Mmm. We saved half the pizza and a veal cutlet for lunch on Sunday, which left us just enough room (and points) to order dessert!

I got the strawberry ice cream and the chocolate ice cream. Mr. mouse ordered the vanilla and the blackberry. The ice cream is super dense and creamy and chock full of flavor. My strawberry was more strawberry and my chocolate was more chocolate than any other ice cream. Mr. mouse ate his and the half of mine I had left over. I don't blame him.

All in all, a place that's clearly in its infancy. Excellent food. Good service. Beautiful loft. And a farm that's dedicated to organic, local agriculture. I'm glad we went and were able to support them. It was delicious.

Overall rating: 8/10

Traders Point Creamery
9101 Moore Road
Zionsville, IN 46077 map it
(317) 733-1700
http://www.traderspointcreamery.com


Cheers!
mouse

06.18.07: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Dear Friends and Family,

Round seven of the Formula One Grand Prix season - the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - marks the second of my two favorite weekends of the summer, Montreal being my favorite. Sigh, back to races on TV.

We slept on the roof Friday night and woke to the sun Saturday morning. Nice! And, after some hurried packing, we hit the road for the drive down to Indianapolis. The plan was to go straight to the track for qualifying, check into our hotel, scope out dinner, get some shut eye, check out Sunday morning, go to the race, and drive back home.

We got to the track with about forty minutes to spare and rented a Kangaroo TV for the race. We saw a demo in Montreal and were really jazzed to try it out. I have to say, I'm in love. It's a small hand held device that broadcasts the TV feed, the drivers' in car camera feeds and several screens of stats along with the TV audio feed AND any snippets on the drivers' radio feeds. The screen is super clear, the audio is loud enough for the track, and the user interface is simple simple simple. Definitely a nice add that enhances the race experience. Our only gripe? They need more than one pick-up/drop-off point at the track.

Qualifying went without a hitch and Lewis Hamilton snagged his second pole position. Kimi Räikkönen started from fourth on the grid. My only gripe? The weather. It was a stinking, sweltering, suffocating, scorching, sadistic 97° outside - with a thick layer of sunscreen on, you sweat a sticky layer of goo that just makes you feel miserable. Yuck!

Checked in at the hotel. And, Mr. mouse found an excellent place for dinner, reading on his favorite foodie website, chowhound. It hasn't failed us yet. If you need a food recommendation, it's a great place to find the real deal on where the locals eat. Got back to the hotel by 9-ish and did a little bit of work before turning in for the night.

Sunday was another blistering day. We spent the morning at the track, in the shade, watching the races on the Kangaroo TV. Just the thought of six hours in the bleachers with the sun beating down on you was enough to persuade us to conserve our energy and prioritize. Mr. mouse also had a nice nap before we headed to our seats for the race. Hamilton won, handily, and Kimi came in fourth, after a bad start and lots of work to regain his two lost positions.

And, because we're such dorks, we left the speedway, and instead of heading home, we headed to the local Walgreen's to pick up a Sharpie and we headed to the airport. We ran into two drivers and several teams of engineers resulting in lots of photographs and three autographs. One of the drivers was REALLY cool about it. I have to say, now, I'm going to have to follow him more closely. The other driver was a little more clinical about it. But, I'm not complaining. It's gotta get old for them. The third was one of the team directors, Mr. mouse asked for his signature. Fun fun fun.

Last but not least, there are a couple of oddball topics I didn't cover that deserve an honorable mention. We hit the groceries Saturday night to pick up some supplies. And, the layout of the store was really innovative. You enter into the store and the first thing in front of you are the fruits and vegetables. And, in spokes are various other sections - deli, meats, health and beauty, processed foods, bakery, etc. You can either go down the spokes/vignettes you want to hit or there's an outer ring if you want to do the whole store. I love it. You can explore the areas you want in depth (and avoid the bad temptations) or you can do the whole store. If we had one here, I'd be a regular in a heart beat. It's so much cooler than standard row after row after row of food.

I've hit a new level of understanding about my sister. We didn't meet up with her this weekend although she and I discussed it beforehand so I was okay with how it all played out. There's a story in, of all places, the Bible - The Prodigal Son. For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, here's a rough summary. A man has two sons, one who is the model son and the other is the textbook loser son. The loser son asks his dad for his share of the inheritance while he's young enough to enjoy it. He squanders it on vice and then returns home wanting to return to the fold. The dad throws a huge celebration to mark the return of his son. And, the good son asks, essentially, WTF? And, the dad replies, something along the lines, your brother was lost and now he's found. I guess that's how I feel about my sister. I won't go kill a fatted calf or two or throw any huge celebrations, but I will forgive her many incidents, because, she is The Prodigal Sister. Maybe one day the straw really will break the camel's back.

After planning for and allocating points for some killer trigger foods this weekend, I ended up not partaking in any of them. No hot dog at the baseball game. No Italian sausage at the race. And, no White Castle on the drive home. Somehow, we ended up eating decently the whole weekend. And, I'm okay with that. Saturday night, it was tough to hold myself to half my pizza and half my ice cream. But, I did. And, in the end, it turned out to fine. I had my other pizza half at the track, and although it wasn't as good as when it was fresh and hot from the oven, it was still good. And, Mr. mouse had the other half of my ice cream. It was really good.

And, last but not least, I called my mom from the car, to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day. And she told me she might lose the store in six months. Her block was sold to a developer who is anxious to build anew on the property. She's had a good twenty years. But, she's anxious to figure out what's next on the agenda. And, I need to give some thought to what my obligations are to her and my dad. They might need some financial support if the store closes. Stuff to ponder.

To end on a positive note, despite the weather, we had an excellent weekend at the race. And, next weekend? We have a weekend of absolute nothing planned. I can't wait.


Cheers!
mouse

Better Food Choices

Dear Friends and Family,

I've turned into a COMPLETE dork. We're off the ballpark for an afternoon of sun and fun with my work colleagues. Originally, I was planning for, points-wise, one hot dog and one beer. But, I'm not really in the mood for either. And, I'd be a little disappointed, if I posted a gain for the week eating food I wasn't all that jazzed about. I mean, if I'm going to, I'm going to over something I'd kill for, not something I'm eh about. No?

So, I'm brown bagging it to the ballpark.

• strawberries
• cherries
• dates
• carrots
• asparagus
• edamame
• popcorn
• almonds
• m&ms

OMG. I'm such a dork.


Cheers!
mouse

Goal Weight, How does a Mouse Decide?!?!

Dear Friends and Family,

I can't seem to figure it out. Somewhere between now and six pounds from now, I'll be done with the weight loss part of Weight Watchers and onto the maintenance part. I figured I'd know when I got to my goal weight. But, now, I'm not sure I will. It wasn't an issue before, but now that I'm close, it kinda is.

My first goal weight is two pounds away. That's the weight I set for myself a year and a half ago when I started Weight Watchers. It didn't seem possible at the time so it was merely a concept of a goal weight. Now that I'm close, I need to keep that big picture in mind. That was my goal weight for the start of my weight loss journey and kept me satisfied for my first 10%.

Then, my second goal weight was two pounds lower. I wanted to keep a four pound range, two up and two down, from my goal weight, once I hit maintenance. And, I liked the idea of my original goal weight becoming the high end of my new range. That was my goal weight for the middle of my weight loss journey and kept me satisfied for my second 10%.

Then, I dropped my goal weight another two pounds. I wanted a nice round number, divisible by five, for my goal weight. My goal weight seemed too contrived. A nice round number is good. It felt right. And, that was my goal weight for the last part of my weight loss journey and kept me satisfied for my third 10%.

So, here I am. Having hit 10% three times. And, still no clue on this goal weight. I think the plateau rattled me. I was ready to declare victory almost five pounds heavier than my first goal weight and almost ten pounds heavier than my third goal weight. But, I broke through that plateau. Then, I hit my 30% mark. And, I think I look good right now. Maybe I should declare victory now. But, maybe I should power on for the last six pounds. I'm just not sure. I know at this point this is all in my head. And, I don't want to sound like I'm obsessing over it. Which I totally am. So, I'll stop now, before you haul social services in on me or call Mr. mouse telling him to make me stop the craziness.


Cheers!
mouse

Cicadas are Here

Dear Friends and Family,

The cicadas are here. I haven't seen any by our house, but I saw several yesterday when I went out for some focus groups. There were about a half dozen dead cicadas on my walk from the train station to the office park. And, I thought about writing about them. Fascinating.

We finished the focus groups by 4:30 and I was totally jazzed about being home ~5:30. It was sunny out and I was feeling great. I was waiting for the train and talking on the phone when I noticed a giant cicada on my shoe. Gross! I tried swiping it off with my other shoe. (I didn't want to step on it cause it would be all over my shoe...) It would budge. So, then I started kicking my foot around, hoping to dis-lodge the cicada, when my shoe flew off, into the tracks!



There's my shoe, on the track. I rang for customer assistance while mentally toying with jumping down myself to get my shoe weighted against just walking home with one shoe on. A track person showed up and told me he'd be able to get my shoe, it'd just take a little bit. Twenty minutes later he retrieved my shoe and I was able to head home. Glad I was able to provide as much entertainment as I did for the rest of yesterday's commuters. They totally got a kick out of the whole thing.

I'm can't wait for them to leave. Gross.


Cheers!
mouse

70% Mouse, 6 Pounds and Counting

Dear Friends and Family,

In the crazy monologue that is my weight loss journey, today, after a great night's sleep last night and 14 flex points left on the table, I lost another pound.

Looking forward, it's six more to go until my original goal weight. Looking backward, it's my 30% goal - the point at which I've lost 30% of my original starting weight.

Onward and downward. Or not. I'm happy.


Cheers!
mouse

06.11.07: The City of Saints

Dear Friends and Family,

We were back in Montreal for the Formula One Grand Prix du Canada F1 race. And, like last year, it was an excellent opportunity to catch up with old friends and enjoy the race.

We flew into Ottawa, Friday night, because the Montreal flights were packed with race fans, and we drove up to Montreal from there. We got in close to midnight and crashed for the night.

The next morning, we awoke to a beautiful Saturday, breakfast of fresh fruit and the most amazing croissant ever. It was so good. I'm totally behind on food write ups, but that's one I'm totally looking forward to.

We took the metro out to the race and started the long hike to our seats. We got there just in time for qualifying and watched Lewis Hamilton get his first pole position. I really like him. Kimi Räikkönen is still my favorite driver, but Hamilton, he's growing on me. After a nap in the sun, we walked around the park and I bought my first ever Ferrari shirt - to show my support for Kimi. I have to say, I wasn't sure of my ability to "carry" the tank, but it worked.


The thing has just enough stretch in it to make it work. I'm in love with my Finn. Mr. mouse hummed the Darth Vader theme as I put it on. Talk about melodrama.

We went to the Honda tent before heading back. And, they had the coolest demo ever. I love robots. It must be from my days working on them in undergrad. And, it was so cool! I had tears in my eyes from the sheer joy of it. I was blown away cool. Wow!


Okay. Back to reality.

We got back to the house and found an impromptu deck furniture assembly party in progress. With our expertise from last summer, we jumped into the foray. A couple of hex nuts, a couple of minutes and voilà. Time for drinks on the patio and dinner. A couple of friends and Fred's parents rounded out the mix. Grilled lobster, chicken, filet mignon, champagne, champignon, aubergine and an amazing salad made for dinner followed by sorbet (not cassoulet) and cake/tart for dessert.

Sunday. Race day. Another croissant, this time I had the chocolate croissant, and more fruit for breakfast. Off to the races. Our neighbor, the Dad from Minnesota, called during the first couple of laps, but it's too loud to have any sort of conversation. Four safety cars, one horrible rollover, a couple of black flags and before you knew it Hamilton had won his first Grand Prix. We jumped the fence and ran to the podium in time for the trophy presentation and champagne. Woot!

Then, it was a quick bolt to the metro to the car to the airport. We had dinner in the airport and took our planned flight home. Fantastique!


Cheers!
mouse

What a Day...

Dear Friends and Family,

As you've probably noticed, there was no weekend update this morning. I'll have to do that tomorrow. We got in late Sunday night. And, because of some deplorable planning on our team's part (which kinda irked me), I turned on the computer around 10:30 last night. Five hours later, I felt like it had been a waste of my time, but what can you do? Set the alarm clock for 5 o'clock, knowing that 90 minutes of sleep isn't going to sustain me. Thank goodness for sleeping on mass transit.

I catch the train, get a seat and promptly fall asleep. Too bad I sleep past my stop! I get off and call a taxi company. They project a 30 minute wait for a cab. Uh no. I catch the train in reverse to catch a later bus and I'm annoyed as all get out because I'm now even more behind. I get to the bus platform and it turns out my original bus never showed. Funny, it totally blew for all the people waiting, but it totally made my morning. The next bus was twenty minutes late (ugh) and I got to work just before 9 am. What a disaster.

After comparing notes with a colleague, we decided the work we both did the night before was a waste of time. And, we need a new approach for the afternoon meeting. I was ready to turn around and go right back home, but I made it through the day.

Time to get some shut eye. Will write about the weekend tomorrow.


Cheers!
mouse

Crazy Theory #160

Dear Friends and Family,

I have a hunch... I think there's a link between the amount of sleep you get (and the quality of sleep you get) and weight loss.

I've noticed that it's not uncommon for me to lose 0.5 lbs after a great night's sleep. And, if I'm not sleeping a lot, to plateau. Now, there's a tiny piece of my brain that's wondering if all of our weekend fun/travels is exacerbating my weight loss plateaus. The weekend I broke through my plateau is the weekend we stayed in town and had friends visit us (aka a no travel weekend).

I'll get to test out my theory this weekend (if the 14 flex points makes a difference) and in two weekends which is our first "free" weekend at home. We'll see. And, in the name of "science," here's an article I read on the topic. But, for the record, I had my crazy theory before reading the article. It just gave me the impetus to write about it.


Cheers!
mouse

New Multi-Vitamins

Dear Friends and Family,

Help! I've bought into the hype. Don't ask me why. But, I'm experimenting with my daily multi-vitamin. I've been Steady-Eddie Centrum gal for as long as I can remember. But, in the quest for better nutritional health, I wanted to try something new, maybe better.

I ordered a three month supply of the Canyon Ranch Multi-Vitamins. I'll take it for three months and see if I feel any different. If not, I'll go back to my Centrum since it is more cost efficient at $0.10 a day vs. $1.00 a day.


Cheers!
mouse

Wound Care 101

Dear Friends and Family,

Since I've had to do this so many times, here's how I care for my stitches.

1. Go shopping. You'll need hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound, bacitracin to prevent infection, cotton swabs to apply the hydrogen peroxide and the bacitracin, and bandages to protect the wound. Plan on a two week supply of bandages and cotton swabs. The standard size hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin will be more than enough for two weeks.
2. Day 1 (day of surgery): Do nothing.
3. Day 2: Leave all of the dressings on. Shower. Remove the dressing they applied at the hospital. Prepared to be a little grossed out. Gently clean the wound with hydrogen peroxide. Don't scrub. Dab. Let the hydrogen peroxide bubble. Don't double dip, use a clean cotton swab each time. Let the wound air dry. Apply a dab of bacitracin over the wound using a cotton swab. It should thoroughly cover the wound opening. Apply the dab in one direction. Then, cover with a bandage. I like Nexcare waterproof bandages. They work best.
   After you apply the bandage apply gentle pressure on the bandage with the palm of your hand for ~30 seconds to ensure you've got good adhesion.
4. Days 3-14: Very similar to Day 2, but with one additional step. After removing the bandage, before cleaning with hydrogen peroxide, clean very gently with soap and warm water. Be careful to not direct the water directly onto the wound. Pour it on indirectly (i.e. from your other hand, or letting it hit another body part close to the wound and letting it flow down.) Not sure if the doctor recommends this step, but I always do it. Dry. Then clean with hydrogen peroxide, etc.
   
5. Day 15: Remove bandage. Clean with soap and warm water. Dry. Remove stitches. If you have surgery on Friday, then the next next Friday is Day 15, since the day you had surgery was Day 1. Got it? Good.
   

Cheers!
mouse

Change in Plans

Dear Friends and Family,

After losing two pounds over the past month, I somehow regained them back in the last week. So, counting my oh-so-much-fun plateau, I'm right back where I started two months ago. Maybe it's time to reassess.

You get 35 flex points on Weight Watchers that you get to use on top of your daily points. Some people are a stickler for eating all of those flex points. Others are not. Some people eat none of them.

I had always been a use what you need have left over if you don't person with regards to the flex points. And, it wasn't uncommon to have 14-21 points leftover at the end of the week. Recently, I'd begun eating all of my flex points because I thought as I got closer to maintenance, I would need to learn to do so. And, we've been out and about every weekend, so there have been more opportunities to use them.

Clearly, time for a change in plans. So, this week, I'm committing to have 14 flex points leftover when the week is over. We'll see if I can't bust through this plateau one way or another. I'll give this approach a month. If it doesn't work, then I might try either the Wendie plan or Core or some other way to mix it up.


Cheers!
mouse

Blissfully Normal Night

Dear Friends and Family,

Mr. mouse picked me up at the bus station last night and we went out for Korean for dinner. Then, we went to the supermarket for some groceries before heading home for the evening. Home by 9, in bed by 9:15, asleep by 9:20.

Got a great night's sleep after a perfectly normal evening. What could be better?


Cheers!
mouse

PS: Cicadas are out. But, I haven't seen any yet.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. mouse

Dear Friends and Family,

It's our anniversary today. And, unlike the past four years, when we had to celebrate the weekend prior, we're together for this one. It's good to be together again.

Looking back to June of 2002, when I made the fateful decision to move to Minnesota, we had no idea what we were signing ourselves up for. It was supposed to be a one year deal before we moved back together. I would use six months to assess my new job and living in a new place. And, after that, we'd make the move to be together again by the time we hit the one year point. Well, we all know that didn't happen. Six months stretched into a year which quickly grew into two years and then three and then four.

It was tough doing the weekend thing for as long as we did. I think the toughest part was not knowing if, or when, we would be together again. I mean, what if we did it at infinitum? Would I have been happy at fifty or sixty looking back on my life choices? And, the other hard part was I had found happiness in Minnesota. Long distance was hard, and work was trying, but I had found a community, and friends, and a home, and convenience, and safety, and peace. So, it wasn't easy to make the decision to upend all that and take on a new adventure.

Living with Mr. mouse again is great. But, with the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn't trade the last four years for anything. Our relationship is the better for it.


Cheers!
mouse

06.04.07: Twin Cities Time

Dear Friends and Family,

Just got home. Mr. mouse is headed home soon. Figured it was a good time to catch up on the weekend.

I flew over to the Twin Cities Friday for a dermatologist appointment bundled with some time with friends from old work and a 40th birthday party for one of my neighbors.

Friday morning, I got a request from a person to link to my blog from his. Huh. Okay. You can get to it from the comments area of my last weekend update if you're curious. I guess there's a first time for everything.

The dermatologist appointment was par for the course. After the skin exam, the docs (my usual doctor plus a resident) decided to remove an atypical mole that had formed on the palm of my hand. That's right, on the palm of my hand. They'll biopsy it. Hopefully it comes back as no news. For now, I'm treating it like I did all of the past moles. I've gotten good at wound care. Now, the resident. I gotta say, he was kinda hot. I could say more, but I won't. After the appointment, I met up with several friends from old work for lunch and then drinks. It was almost as if I hadn't been gone for six months... It was so good to catch up with all of them.

Then, I headed over to Trixie's. Trixie, Ms. Jordan and I headed out for some sushi and girl talk. Then, we headed back for some scrabble. I got bandanas for a bingo and Ms. Jordan, with the help of the dictionary, taught us several new words to add to the scrabble arsenal - camas, lich, soth and vang. Nicely done, Ms. Jordan.

We slept in Saturday morning. Then, I drove back to the old hood and met my neighbors for lunch - more sushi. I can never say no to sushi. I love it. After sushi, we headed for ice cream. Mmm. I love ice cream too. Then, it was over to the book store and Target before heading over for the party. Before I knew it, it was midnight, and I needed to get some shut eye before catching an early morning flight home. Mr. mouse's flight filled up, so I wanted to get home to spend some time with him.

Sunday, we spent the morning organizing and cleaning the house. Then, I napped while Mr. mouse did some shopping. We ate a gianormous dinner of salmon sashimi, rice, kalbi, kim chee and tofu before going up to the deck to enjoy the evening. A day well spent.


Cheers!
mouse

Need New Morning Solution

Dear Friends and Family,

Overslept. Again. Need to get a new alarm clock or move my current one so I can't turn it off and fall back asleep. Weekend update will have to wait until tonight.


Cheers!
mouse

Why I Need My Sister

Dear Friends and Family,

Last night I dreamt that my mom was going to try to murder my dad and the only person who could help me figure it all out and avert disaster was my sister. And, that, folks, is why I need my sister, for when my parents do crazy things in real life. Granted, not murder, but still, things that drive me crazy.

Gotta run to catch a flight.


Cheers!
mouse