Dee74

last part here:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ay-3-a-20.html

D

Gonnachange

Thanks Dee; I should have noticed that myself.

SL, I'm glad you're feeling better even though you're not fully recovered.

Today

I was a the gym this morning and while I was feeling the effects of yesterday's workout I hit different muscle groups so all was fine.

As I type I'm smoking some pork bellies I've cured for the past ten days and if all goes well I'll have some homemade apple smoked maple bacon in a couple of hours. It's a first attempt.

Dinner tonight is going to be shrimp scampi that was requested, but I will not make the asked for fresh pasta and instead just open up a box. I'll be serving a salad on the side.

Gonnachange

The bacon came out great so I'll definitely be doing it again.

Spring has finally arrived and I'm going to take advantage of that by going for a run this afternoon.

Gonnachange

Within the context of I'm not in good running shape, normally this time of year I'd either have just completed a marathon or within a few weeks of running one, the few miles I did today were decent. No aches or pains and my pace was something I could live with, but will strive to improve.

I was going to make meatloaf with a side of mashed cauliflower tonight for dinner, but the way the day is playing out I suspect I'll be negotiating with an auto dealer to buy my son a car so dinner may have to be a quick and creative endeavor.

MIRecovery

Aren't those pork bellies hard to get lit?😋

Gonnachange

Touché!

Gonnachange

No exercise yet, but I'm hoping to squeeze some in before wifey and I go out tonight to see a concert. Up until now most of my day was spent shopping for and then buying a car that will be primarily used by my son. Now that I'm home I'm waiting for the Comcast technician to show up.

I still have to figure out dinner plans tonight; regardless of what it is, we'll be eating earlier than usual so that we can get to the concert on time.

Gonnachange

Quick update before going to bed.

It appears that all my cable/internet issues are solved.

Great concert on Friday.

Got through a really tough exercise class on Saturday AM and then spent a lot of the day consuming way too many calories while enjoying myself with good friends.

Sort of the same calorie experience as the above this morning since we slept over and then it was back to a more normalized life this afternoon and tonight.

It's now time for me to do some reading and get some sleep so I'm ready for tomorrow.

Gonnachange

I had a fine day yesterday that started with a solid workout with my trainer. I then spent most of the afternoon with my son; he's been back from Europe for almost two weeks and in a couple of days he's leaving to start a summer internship near where he goes to college so having an afternoon when it was just he and I was very enjoyable. It's great having him home, but I also know it's important that he's becoming an independent, self sufficient, and productive young adult. At this point self sufficiency means that he's able to take care of everything he has to, including any curve balls that life throws to everyone; it does not mean he can support himself so in that respect he's still on my payroll, but I wouldn't expect it to be otherwise and my wife and I have encouraged him to play it this way. The philosophy is that he's a college student and during the academic year his job is to study and do well; we'll take care of the expenses. That said he's expected to (and does) work during the summer, but it's not nearly enough to support himself or pay tuition. I'm not sure where this post was originally intended to head, but I'm sure I'm far afield. In short, I'm glad he's home and I'll miss him when he leaves, but I know he's happy and doing what he should be at this point in his life.

Tomorrow is my birthday. At the moment I'm leaning toward a quiet evening at home, but I think my wife and kids will want to do something to acknowledge. Part of my reasoning is that on Thursday my wife and I are going to dinner with very good and long time friends to celebrate my and the husband's birthday which is also tomorrow. Normally we do this on the actual date, but he's traveling and won't be back in time for dinner. No biggie.

I'm hosting my book club on Friday so I have to not only finish the book , but also figure out a menu for eight guys.

Lastly, I'll be going out for a run later this morning.

Gonnachange

I got my run done around lunch time and it went about as I expected. It's getting time for me to buy new running shoes, but I probably won't do so until next week. Since I'm not running big miles between now and then there will not be any noticeable degradation that will increase my odds of injury or have a negative impact on my comfort.

The Fixer

That's me. I hate it when business people are dismissive to my kids. My son saw some of this when he recently went to car dealerships by himself and my daughter is not getting any satisfaction about a possible billing issue with our gym. The former incidents have already been taken care of by me talking to sales managers and refusing to deal with any of the salespeople who did not treat my son correctly and since we bought a car it's now a non issue. The situation with my daughter will be taken care of this afternoon when the two of us go to the gym. I would have dealt with it when I went to there yesterday, but I want her to be with me so that the experience can on one hand be a teaching moment for her in dispute resolution and also to make sure the manager of the facility clearly knows that she's my daughter and I expect her to be treated with the proper amount of respect that any adult should receive.

Gonnachange

I got my day started with a high intensity gym session that focused more on stamina than strength.

My plan for a quiet b'day dinner at home with the family was met with passionate disapproval, which I somewhat suspected, due to our family tradition of going to a restaurant of the birthday person's choice on their special day. Clearly this is not a horrific situation to have to deal with and I'm 99% sure I know which restaurant I'll decide upon, but regardless I'm 100% sure we'll be having sushi tonight. The chicken I planned on cooking will have to wait for another day.

SoberLeigh

Happy Birthday, GC.

Your family sounds fantastic!!!!!

Enjoy this special day.

Gonnachange

Thank you SL for all of the above and I hope you're feeling better.

The day has been a good one so far and there's no reason why it shouldn't continue.

Gonnachange

I (think) I've finalized my book club meeting menu. Since I fly solo when the boys are here I have to come up with a menu that doesn't involve a lot of last minute preparation as I'm also leading the discussion.

Hot crab meat dip and crackers
Dillweed dip in a hollowed out dark rye bread that I'll bake tomorrow
Marinated lemon olives

Spring mix with mushrooms and red onion salad

Poached salmon steaks with a herb vinaigrette
Egg noodle and spinach kugel
Corn casserole

Assorted Italian pastries

Beer, wine, water, seltzer, soda, etc.

Gonnachange

We went out for sushi last night at my favorite sushi place in town and it did not disappoint. Tonight we're going out to an Italian restaurant with long time friends to belatedly celebrate my b'day as well as the husband's which was also yesterday. Two consecutive meals out isn't my style, but I'm sure we'll have an enjoyable time and a tasty meal tonight. Tomorrow's menu for my book club is going to be as written above and I have my game plan in place. I finished the book this morning and will now spend some time putting together discussion points to make sure the conversation doesn't stall and that I touch on all the aspects of the novel that I want to make sure are addressed.

Gonnachange

We had a great time at dinner last night, but stayed out later than anticipated so my wife and I are dragging this morning. I'm sure the other couple feels the same.

My wife grew up with the husband of the other couple, he's practically a member of her family, and is my oldest BIL's best friend. He's been with his wife for over 25 years so there were clearly no strangers at the table last night. The husband is a big drinker. Everyday? Perhaps. Most days? Certainly. The point being he's no teetotaler who is going to freak out if someone has a drink or two. I write this to give some context to what follows.

As we were dining last night he says that he's concerned about my BIL, not the confirmed unemployed ABIL that I've written a number of times about, but the other one who I mentioned about a month ago. He went on to say that every time he calls his friend, often in the middle of the day, he's smashed. My wife has had a couple of similar recent experiences and so has my MIL. For it to be brought up last night means that our friend is very concerned and one of the effects of the conversation was to remove any hint of deniability that my wife was having about the situation and she's beside herself. Although the situation is far different than with her younger brother there are enough similarities to for there to be a hint of Deja Vu and just thinking about what it's been like for the past four years dealing with my younger BIL makes even the hint of going through a portion of that again overwhelming.

Gonnachange

My book club meeting went very well last night. The book was a hit and so was the eats.

I was at my hour exercise class this morning and later today I'll be helping a friend set up her pool. Not sure what our plans are for dinner and we have no social plans for tonight.

SoberLeigh

Good to hear that the book club went well and no surprise that the eats were a hit!!!!!

Are you going to watch the Preakness race today; I am pulling for Nyquist - would love to see another Triple Crown winner; I actually witnessed Secretariat's Preakness win - what a glorious creature.

Gonnachange

Thank you.

Since I'll likely be around the house, I'll tune in to watch the race. I'm not enough of a racing fan to spend a whole lot of time watching the pre race coverage and back stories however.

Being at a Triple Crown race must be very exciting. I've never been to one although without traffic I'm probably about 75 minutes from Belmont Raceway.

Secretariat was a world class athlete.

Another Party

We're going to be hosting a 8-10 person BBQ next Sunday. This isn't a very adventurous group of eaters so I have to plan accordingly.

SoberLeigh

I didn't see Secretariat's Belmont win in person (which was one spectacular race) but did see his Preakness win.

I don't watch the 'pre' races either (which, today, I am very grateful not to have seen). Two horses died today (one nine year old after winning his race and one was euthanized on the tract four year old was euthanized on the track as a result of a race injury).