Note to Self...

Do not eat pizza and chinese food the night before weigh day. Ask me how I know...

My in-laws were here when I got home from work Friday night. I love them dearly and look forward to their visits. They always stay several nights, and this visit in particular had festive flair as it was my mom-in-law's birthday. I like that we do nice things for her and treat her special. It sucks for anyone when birthdays get pushed to the side. At work, we had what we decided to call First Fridays, where, because it's pay day for faculty and staff, we order Chinese delivery. I thought I made an ok choice...Pepper Steak with Onions, and it was quite literally 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3...I thought there'd be more meat, but it was BIG on veggies, and came with the cutest little 1 cup size chinese food delivery box of rice. Not bad. The restaurant was so thrilled to get our huge order, they threw in fried sugar biscuits and sodas for free! You see where this is going. Hadn't had a real soda in 25 years, but I had a Pepsi o Friday, and 2 sugar biscuits, and my entree, and 2 spring rolls. I chalked it up to preventitive medicine since I KNEW we were eating out Friday night for mom-in-law's birthday: I knew I had had my woo-hoo big food, and would use that to make good judgement at whatever restaurant she picked. She decided she wanted pizza, and because we were ordering 1 pizza to please everyone, it was Italian Sausage, Black Olive, and Jalapeno...and it was Pizza Hut. The 4 of us took out the whole thing, though I pride myself on being the first to call it quits, partially due to a disproportionate number of jalapenos on my side. Saturday we went many places. Of course, I weighed, and saw the unpleasing results. I was up 3 pounds, so there went my victory from last week and the gain I thought I deserved then. In hopeful dispair, I weighed again Sunday and it wasn't any better. I haven't weighed since. Still licking my wounds. We had a restricted diet breakfast (3 out of 4 people at the table battle something)before hitting the town. Later in the day we decided to have lunch at Cabo Fish Taco...one of our favorite "clean" places to eat. Nothing is greasy or saucey. I had an herbed chicken and avocado wrap. It was divine. We then took in a wine tasting. Supper was chili with no added salt aside from what comes in canned kidney beans, pinto beans, and black beans, though I drained and rinsed them. We used canned No Salt Added tomatoes, fresh jalapenos, onions, green pepper, and frozen corn. The meat was 1/3 Hot Italian Sausage and 2/3 ground turkey breast. There's not a trace of fat on the surface and certainly none added. We made beer bread with chipotle peppers for the side. For the birthday dessert, we made "Truffle Bites"...a semi-sweet choclate and whole cream mixture in mini muffin sized tarts lined with store bought (my first!) pie crust, topped with Light (like it mattered at this point) Redi-Whip. We each had 3...let me say again...they were mini's, and we had a whole lot more...but we didn't eat them. Sunday, we had grits and a baked chicken habanero sausage with orange juice for "brunch". We left here, drove to West Virginia and toured Tamarrack. Late lunch/early dinner was there, where chefs from The Greenbrier prepare the daily specials. I had horseradish encrusted salmon, green beans and roasted potatoes, and as I always do when I go there (1-2 times a year) I had bread pudding for dessert. Beyond that, the meal that followed amounted to a cup of chili and a truffle or 2...lots of wine. There's always lots of wine when my mother-in-law comes. They left today, but it was after all of us had gone to work/school, so we didn't even see them this morning. She left a nice note that she had a wonderful birthday. It was a nice off-the-beaten course weekend. I still got laundry done. I still got the bedroom vaccuumed. The only grocery shopping I did was for birthday food, so we're lacking a bit there, but we still have chili. I wish I had taken today off, just to recuperate. We have company so seldom, and I love it when they come, but my brain never got to just wander and go blank...no down time. I felt hostile today, very edgy with the kids. Clearly a bad mood, but WHY?! I had a great weekend! I had plans for the day. Lunches were packed before I went to bed. I was wearing a Halloween vest and metallic pumpkin earring for God's sake, how could I be cranky? I went to bed at a decent hour. Has food become a toxin? Could I be experiencing detox? I'm not upset about the weight gain. As I mentioned last week, my loss last week was a gift. I haven't found a good balance between work, stress and food. I'm floundering about, waiting for dust to settle. Nothing is clear to me when my life gets so hectic. I needed the detour of family and fun this weekend. There's already talk of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've agreed to host Thanksgiving, but only by new rules. Of all that attend, I am the only female who works fulltime outside the home. I'm also the only female in the kitchen. And it's supposed to be my "break" from work. My family has dwindled to nothing, so it's basically me doing it all for my husband's family, who will, indeed, come out of the woodwork from across 2 states to attend, not just on Thursday, but Friday as well. I have confessed to my husband and my mother-in-law that things MUST be different this year. I will make turkey. I will make green beans. I will make mashed potatoes. I will not make anything else. Everyone who attends will have to prepare and bring something. Will I taste it? Perhaps. But the idea is, I will only be left with turkey and green bean leftovers. There are NEVER leftover mashed potatoes...genetic fluke. Whatever comes in goes home with its creator. Fair?