Didn't I just say I am trying to watch what I eat and exercise more?

What does my Sweetie buy, on impulse, at Costco along with our water and Kleenex?

A three-pack of cereal:

Lucky Charms

Cookie Crisp

Trix

Can you believe this man?? 

Now, Lucky Charms is one of my old favorite cereals and I will buy it from time to time.  But Cookie Crisp!?  I haven't had that since I was a teen.  Of course I cannot resist it now!!  Aarggh. 

On a good note, we have both been walking more.  Sweetie says he has lost three pounds, and I am down almost four pounds.  Woo hooo! 

What was your favorite cereal as a kid?  Or now?

No surprise, probably, but my brain is all over the place right now. This is a totally random thought, but I think my half-a**ed attempt at the South Beach diet is working. I can give up eating sugar. I can even give up fruit for two weeks (though it is very very hard). But I think it's near impossible for me to give up rice and bread completely. Especially when we have such good Thai and Chinese food on the island. So, I cheat where those two things are concerned. But I am trying to stick to South Beach breakfasts and snacks. And I am back on an exercise routine. And I am about four pounds lighter than I was a couple weeks ago in California. Hoorah! Could all be water weight, but I'm gonna keep this wanna-be-healthy routine and make sure it sticks.

Today was a good day. I will blog and talk about seeing the Dalai Lama today. I watched yesterday's public talk on our local cable channel and I, hopefully, recorded today's talk. He is amazing, He is jolly. He is very wise.

On Saturday, when I was sitting at the main intersection closest to the War Memorial Stadium (where his talks were held), I saw the butterfly and thought of my father. The butterfly was fluttering across the street, in the direction of the stadium. And Saturday was a good day. Yesterday was not so great, and it ended with me trying to cry quietly at the end of the day. But my "I'm ok" was no match for my Sweetie, and I ended up in a small crying heap wailing about how I wanted to talk to my dad. He said "Why don't you talk to him?" And I told him "I do." All the time. What I've been learning the last few weeks is that I need to be better at listening. There are all sorts of things I think I can learn from better listening

Today, I was in line at the stadium by 9:30 a.m. (the Dalai Lama's lecture started at 2:00 p.m.) I was in the stadium by 10:20, and I walked straight to a booth to buy water, knowing I would be sitting out in the sun for a long time. I walked under the stadium seats to the grass field and walked to the unreserved seats, as far forward and center as I could find. I sat down in between one woman sitting by herself and another woman saving about seven seats. I put my book down on the seat beside me (for my guy). And then I, one of the least social people I know (outside of my own gang of pals*), surprised myself today. I started talking to the woman next to me. She had a book also, but once we started talking, we couldn't seem to stop. All sorts of things - talked about the Dalai Lama, the state of the world, kids, the environment, medicine, her family, my family, and on and on. She was well educated, married to a man who knew he loved her at first sight, had traveled to see the Pope in Rome (both John Paul and Benedict), and lived in Iowa and Connecticut.

And she told me "You will see your father again." And she was pretty sure. As she was sure about many things. As she was sure in her desire to see the Dalai Lama. Even though her doctor had told her she could not go. Could not travel to Maui to see him (her platelets were way too low). Bu there she was. I don't know how much time this lovely woman has left (she said not long), but she said she has made her peace and is not afraid to die. So, why would she be worried to travel and spend hours in the hot sun, though she cannot sweat? Why would she be worried to talk about all manner of things to a strange woman sitting beside her? She was not. And I am glad. For I did a lot of listening today. I listened to her. I listened to the Dalai Lama. Both of these people brought me a sense of peace today, in their own way. That is a big advantage of listening, I suppose.

And now, I must eat. More on His Holiness later.

* I didn't mean that my pals are less social than me. I meant that I am very social with my pals, but tend to be more reserved (dare I say misanthropic?) with strangers.

Hooray! We have found a place for the wedding. I, if you can imagine this, am very pleased. We found a great place with a Saturday available at a reasonable price. And we said “Sign us up!”

We probably called about 15 to 20 venues. We visited about nine places. We seriously considered two. The decision wasn’t too hard, and I think we are both quite happy with where we ended up. Today, I called the photographer to book his time. Those were the two big things in my mind - venue and photographer.

Sweetie flew back home yesterday, and I am hanging out here for a while. Partially to get some more things accomplished (dress anyone?) and partially because we figured out that this week must correspond with the beginning of Spring Break. Because - wo! - those ticket prices went waaaaay up this week. I can usually find a one-way ticket from $129 to $180 or so. But not this week. All the prices were $500 to $1,100. Hey, how ‘bout that nice California weather? Yeah, I think I’ll stick around for a while. I might shop around a bit more for florists.

I have to admit to being a typical engaged person in one regard - I want to lose a tiny bit of weight before the wedding. Just a tiny bit. My mom asked me tonight “Where can you lose weight from?!” But she should understand because she and I are both slightly apple-shaped, so any fat we do carry is right on our stomachs. I barely have thighs and hips, but my pants are starting to feel not-so-comfy, and I know I’ve been flip-flopping on my weight. I lost some weight at the end of last year. But then the holidays - and many visitors out to Maui, which meant several visits to Alexander’s (yum!) and the Maui Bake Shop (yum yum!). And, with visitors coming, and us leaving, my exercise regime is toast. So, I gained back everything I lost, and then some. And I need to keep exercising regularly because I really do enjoy it, when I discipline myself enough to get off the couch and jump on my lateral thigh trainer at home. But hey, I have Buffy Season 7 waiting at home for me to re-watch while I exercise. Now that’s a good incentive! My modest goal is to lose 10 pounds. I have about six months. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Hooray! We have found a place for the wedding. I, if you can imagine this, am very pleased. We found a great place with a Saturday available at a reasonable price. And we said “Sign us up!”

We probably called about 15 to 20 venues. We visited about nine places. We seriously considered two. The decision wasn’t too hard, and I think we are both quite happy with where we ended up. Today, I called the photographer to book his time. Those were the two big things in my mind - venue and photographer.

Sweetie flew back home yesterday, and I am hanging out here for a while. Partially to get some more things accomplished (dress anyone?) and partially because we figured out that this week must correspond with the beginning of Spring Break. Because - wo! - those ticket prices went waaaaay up this week. I can usually find a one-way ticket from $129 to $180 or so. But not this week. All the prices were $500 to $1,100. Hey, how ‘bout that nice California weather? Yeah, I think I’ll stick around for a while. I might shop around a bit more for florists.

I have to admit to being a typical engaged person in one regard - I want to lose a tiny bit of weight before the wedding. Just a tiny bit. My mom asked me tonight “Where can you lose weight from?!” But she should understand because she and I are both slightly apple-shaped, so any fat we do carry is right on our stomachs. I barely have thighs and hips, but my pants are starting to feel not-so-comfy, and I know I’ve been flip-flopping on my weight. I lost some weight at the end of last year. But then the holidays - and many visitors out to Maui, which meant several visits to Alexander’s (yum!) and the Maui Bake Shop (yum yum!). And, with visitors coming, and us leaving, my exercise regime is toast. So, I gained back everything I lost, and then some. And I need to keep exercising regularly because I really do enjoy it, when I discipline myself enough to get off the couch and jump on my lateral thigh trainer at home. But hey, I have Buffy Season 7 waiting at home for me to re-watch while I exercise. Now that’s a good incentive! My modest goal is to lose 10 pounds. I have about six months. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

In the interest of having no real theme to this blog, here is one of my favorite South Beach Diet recipes.  And by “favorite,” I mean “the best of the three recipes I managed to try before I ditched the diet and ran to Dos for dinner.”  I did like South Beach; I’m just not much of a dieter.  (And I still wore a bikini on the beach in Maui, so ha!)

The recipe for Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Cups is super easy, and it’s a great dish to prepare in the evening for a quick breakfast.  I don’t think I have sat down to eat breakfast on a work day for years. Weekends are different. I love cooking a full breakfast, sitting down with the paper, and relaxing half the morning away. But on work days, full of snooze buttons and flyaway hair and deadlines and commute traffic, I would grab something on my way out the door and wolf it down in my car.  And these breakfast cups are perfect for such a thing.

My notes on the recipe - I tend to put in more turkey bacon and no cheese.  The cheese only congeals on top and adds no good taste value. And using the paper muffin cups was a disaster. The egg muffins stuck to the paper. A little Pam™ spray on the muffin pan works much better.

I think this Blog entry falls in the category of “Useful, but not profound.”