Mon 30 Apr

Last day of April looks to be sunny and warm, with 70s promised. Hope to hike Rib this evening in comfort. Had a lovely day yesterday in Green Bay with a very successful Costco run, a nice hour's walk along the river, spring tortellini with white wine and salad at Captains Walk to pick up our wine. It will be interesting to drive back pretty much the same way next Sunday for our Door County mini-vacation to see if things have further greened up and if the trees have started to seriously bud. Food: 7:40 am Cheese danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee 10:55 am 6 oz kombucha 12:40 pm 69 g cheddar, slice Omega 3 bread, 1/4 lg cantaloupe 2:45 pm Belt's vanilla ice cream sandwich 7:30 pm Risotto w/shrimp, zucchini, mushrooms Exercise: 8:55-9:25 am Treadmill 9:20-10:30 am Body Pump class 5:30-6:50 pm Mead walk

Sun 29 Apr

Yay, we get to do fun stuff today. After cantoring for 8 am Mass, we can leave shortly after getting home to drive to the Green Bay area. We can have a nice lunch out, go to Costco, walk the path, and then attend wine pick-up at Captains Walk at 4:00 before heading home. Should hopefully be a grand day out. Food: 8:25 am Almond croissant, coffee

Sat 28 Apr

Another lovely sunny day. Last pastry day for probably a month. Yesterday I ordered (through a Living Social very good deal) a week of a meal delivery service. I need to be conscientious and remember to cancel further (full-price) deliveries, but I'm looking forward to the meals in the trial batch. They will send three separate recipes, and I selected a chicken, a pork chop, and a salmon dish. Then I have to make time to make them while they're fresh! Food: 9:50 am Chocolate danish, 88 g blackberries, coffee 12:20 pm Potato leek soup, slice Italian bread 6:45 pm Shrimp risotto w/zucchini & shiitakes Exercise: 10:10-10:20 am Walk to Bill/Serena's airbnb 10:50-11:00 am Walk home

Fri 27 Apr

Forecast for rain today, so less outside stuff. Not a boon for the UWSP Adventure Tours bicycle fest. I believe many of their speakers and activities are within tents, but the rides will be wet. I had thought about asking Bob to bring my bike down off the hooks and checking some things out, but rain is enough to deter me. I have a new strategy to make sure I drink my water throughout the day. I will try to drink at least 4 oz of water every hour when I do my hourly steps to remember. The new release of Body Pump is getting much more manageable. Didn't help that I didn't feel particularly well on Monday when it was first introduced. Food: 7:45 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 98 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 9:00-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Thurs 26 Apr

A nice looking morning, temps around 50°, should be lovely walking with Kathy. Looking forward to going to Green Bay on Sunday. I cantor at 8 am, then we can leave and have lunch in Appleton or Green Bay, hit Costco, and then maybe walk on the trail along the river as it's supposed to be a very nice day. Wine pickup at Captain's Walk is at 4 pm, so a nice full day. Food: 7:15 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 100 g blackberries, coffee 12:00 pm 56 g cheddar, slice Omega 3 bread, wedge cantaloupe 3:40 pm Bourbon biscuits 6:30 pm Potato leek soup, 2 slices Italian bread w/butter Exercise: 8:00-9:30 am Walk w/Kathy (Schmeeckle lake loop) 9:55-10:05 am Walk to Michael's 11:45-11:55 am Walk home

Wed 25 Apr

Slightly cooler but still very pleasant today and already Wednesday somehow. Walked to PCHHS for a meeting yesterday and stopped at the used book store on the way home to find Aunt Dimity and the Duke as well as Aunt Dimity's Christmas. Got a We Support UWSP Students yard sign and a Belt's ice cream sandwich on the way home from paying for the books. Food: 7:45 am Chocolate pecan praline danish, 102 g blackberries, coffee 11:45 am 2 fried eggs, slice Omega 3 toast w/butter, 1/6 large cantaloupe 2:00 pm Many Peeps 6:15 pm Vegetarian curry, garlic naan Exercise: 9:00-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Tues 24 Apr

When I looked at the thermometer outside my bedroom window this morning, it was 50° when I got up at 7:00 and 60° when I finished my shower around 7:35. Could be a little help from the sun but I'll believe it. It's a beautiful sunny day out there! Food: 7:50 am Praline danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:00 pm 59 g cheddar cheese, slice Omega 3 bread, 1/6 lg cantaloupe 2:30 pm Mint ice cream sandwich (Belt's) 3:30 pm Wine gums 6:25 pm Poule au Pot (Chicken breast, potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks) Exercise: 10:30-10:40 am Walk to Jefferson 11:45-11:55 am Walk home 12:30-12:55 pm Walk to PCHHS 1:50-2:30 pm Walk home via Dem Party/Book store 2:40-2:55 pm Walk back to Book store & Belt's 5:30-6:20 pm Pilates mat

Mon 23 Apr

Sun is shining beautifully, and I believe it should reach 60 today. Just found out that we were supposed to cat-sit this weekend but Bob forgot to mention it. Cats survived on their own. Hope to get in some walking this week, and hopefully a hike at Rib. Food: 7:45 am Cheese danish, 100 g blackberries, coffee 11:00 pm 6 pumpkin soup crackers w/everything hummus 12:30 pm 60 g cheddar, slice Omega 3 bread, 1/6 large cantaloupe 7:35 pm 1/2 Subway turkey, guac, bacon wrap, 6 oz kombucha Exercise: 8:55-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class 5:45-7:00 pm Hiking Rib

Sun 22 Apr

Laura is 33 today, and according to her Instagram posts, she is looking forward to her birthday this year. When we visited, she told us she is almost as old as Jesus now. Hippo birdie, sweet daughter! Food: 7:50 am Apricot danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 21 Apr

Skies are grey, but it still looks much better today than it did last Saturday (when copious snow was falling, blowing, and drifting). The snow is diminishing very slowly, but at least it's trying to leave. Looking forward to David's pastries today. Hope he's at the market. Yes, David's pastries were available and I greedily asked for 5 each. We also got extra shiitake mushrooms as she offered buy 2, get 1 free. And the chamomile mint kombucha is delicious! Food: 1 10:05 am Blackberry danish, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Fri 20 Apr

Went to Rib last night and had to walk up and down on the road as they hadn't even plowed the walking path. Bob wanted to eat at the Dane so I guess we won't do anything on Saturday involving a day trip and restaurant. Food: 7:15 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm Leftover 1/3 salmon sandwich, steamed broccoli 6:10 pm Tamale pie, spinach salad w/zucchini & 3 fresh mozz balls Exercise: 7:40-8:00 am Walk to fire house for meeting 9:05-9:25 am Walk home

Thurs 19 Apr

The sun has returned and temps should be in the upper 40s today and just getting better from there over the next several days. Looking forward to appreciating the weather for a change. Hoping to hike this evening in celebration. Food: 7:15 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:30 pm Potato leek soup, slice Italian bread w/butter Exercise: 8:00-9:40 am Walk w/Kathy Zinda Dr

Wed 18 Apr

So happy they have amended the weather forecast which formerly predicted an additional 5-8 inches of snow today. They have now completely taken any snow out of the forecast, just a slight chance of rain showers remaining. Starting tomorrow, we should see start to see sun with temps in the upper 40s and steadily climbing. People are soooooo ready for some springtime. Food: 7:40 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 102 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm 65 g cheddar, slice omega 3 bread Exercise: 9:05-9:25 am Elliptical 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Tues 17 Apr

Good, they have modified the forecast to remove the additional 5-8 in prediction for tomorrow to negligible proportions, followed by sunshine and mid to upper 40s. Time for the joke to have played out. We all need some springtime around here. Food: 7:50 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Mon 16 Apr

There is so much snow down, and unbelievably, it's snowing (lightly) again! And now they've updated the Wed forecast to 5-8 inches! Will it never stop!!! We pretty much holed up in the house all weekend with the only exceptions for the Friday night concert that started before the all-day rain changed to snow, walking to 8 am church which was extremely lightly attended, and a Sunday afternoon excursion to Trig's for fruit and a few other things. Bob ran out a couple of additional times to get gas and repair parts for the snowblower. It was nice that it was Trivia weekend so listening to the radio made the time pass more quickly and I enjoyed dancing to tunes in lieu of lapping the living room for steps. But now I am ready for it to all melt and go away and for spring to finally happen, and it doesn't appear that I will get my wish. Sigh. Food: 7:50 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:40 pm 2 fried eggs, 1 slice Omega 3 toast w/butter 6:30 pm Tamale pie Exercise: 9:05-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Sun 15 Apr

The winter storm continues. We did end up canceling our choir concert yesterday as there was somewhere near a foot of blowing snow down and not all roads were plowed. The winds kept gusting strongly throughout the day and it was supposed to resume dumping snow around 7 pm although it still hadn't restarted when I went upstairs after 8. Can't actually tell how much may have fallen in the night, but the winds are still crazy and it sounds like some mixed-in freezing rain. I believe the storm is supposed to continue all day. Bob said the radar looks crazy. We will try to walk to church for 8 am when I cantor as it's probably safer than driving. We'll likely have to walk in the streets where they're plowed. Walk to church and back was actually quite easy in the plowed streets. We had one cantor and an accompanist (Kat), so we had music, though only about 35 people in the congregation. "Singing with one voice" for the Gloria wasn't far off. Food: 6:45 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 102 g blackberries, coffee 12:10 pm 2 eggs over easy, slice Omega 3 toast w/butter 7:10 pm Pork sausage casserole, baby spinach, 1/2 tomato Exercise: 7:10-7:30 am Walk to church 9:05-9:25 am Walk home

Fri 13 Apr

Really enjoyed reading Redshirts yesterday, a book Laura recommended quite a long time ago but that took forever to come off hold on my Kindle. I've got Bob reading it now. It was a weird sort of book about people on a futuristic space station/ship that are actually real representations of characters in a bad Star Trek spinoff from 2010. Very enjoyable. Weather is not very pleasant over the next several days and may impact our choir concerts, at least attendance-wise. There will be rain all day today, rain tomorrow morning turning to snow in the evening, and snow on Sunday. They're saying 1-3 inches today (presumably all rain), 5-8 inches tomorrow (presumably at least some of it snow), and 1-3 inches on Sunday (presumably all snow). Oh, with 1-3 in of additional snow on Wed next. April is not playing nicely. Weather was so crummy this morning that I could not make myself leave the house to go to the gym. To avoid the extremities of guilt, I found Body Pump 103 on YouTube and used what equipment I could cobble together here to do a full class. The bar I have is heavier by itself than the gym equipment so adding one 3 lb plate to balance off the weight on one end of the bar that I can't remove made it feel about like a bar with large plates on either end. I used that same weight for all the bar exercises except the shoulders when I switched to hand weights only because I don't think front raises with the heavy bar would have been a good idea. Food: 7:55 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 102 g blackberries, coffee 11:55 am Steel cut oats w/protein powder, 1/2 c blueberries, flaxseed meal, soy milk 5:05 pm 3 oz salmon filet, 1/2 lg baked sweet potato w/butter, 3/4 c sliced beets Exercise: 8:50-9:50 am Body Pump class via YouTube 10:20-10:35 am Jessica Smith Belly, Buns, Thighs 15-min

Thurs 12 Apr

Grey day with rain last night and resuming late tonight, then turning to snow by Sat afternoon and Sunday. Possibly another big hit of snow, which could wreak havoc with our choir concerts. Oh, well. It is what it is. Food: 7:15 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Wed 11 Apr

Had a lovely time with Heather yesterday evening at El Jefe, but the food we ate did not sit nicely in my stomach, and even this morning I feel a bit uncomfortable. I'm sure everything was properly cooked, but it just doesn't feel well digested. I will try to eat simply today and hopefully avoid much snacking at Bootstrap. Food: 7:50 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 102 g blackberries, coffee

Tues 10 Apr

No tutoring again this week because the kids are having testing, so the only commitment today is to take Heather out to dinner for her birthday this evening. We're going to El Jefe. No more choir rehearsals before the performances this weekend. Food: 7:50 am Morning bun, 100 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 9:10-9:40 am Jessica Smith Steppin Strength

Mon 9 Apr

Supposedly we will get one day of 60° temps on Wed (though I'm seeing 53° and 59° on Thurs) this week as a spring teaser again. I'll be ready for it. Yesterday it was 4° at 7 am. Choir practice at 3:15 pm today; glad I'm not still working and needing to take time off for practice. It will be good to have the concerts and be done this weekend. We don't have enough people or enough practice in to sound good, especially since we did the Vivaldi Gloria with Barb several years ago and did it well with about 3 times as many singers and a full instrumental ensemble. This will be a sad echo. Food: 7:45 am Morning bun, 100 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm Chocolate chip scone, 2 pc string cheese, Gerber prunes 2:00 pm 1 sea salt caramel, M&M peanut butter eggs 6:00 pm 3 oz rotisserie chicken breast, 1/2 c mashed potatoes w/butter, 3/4 c steamed broccoli Exercise: 9:00-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class 2:30-3:15 pm Walk to library/St Pete's 4:20-5:10 pm Pilates mat

Sun 8 Apr

Today is the anniversary of our first date and Val & Kate's anniversary as well. Had a nice visit with Laura in Madison yesterday. Celebrated her birthday early with dinner at Tavernakaya, but I must admit I wasn't overly impressed with the food. Laura's sashimi board looked gorgeous, but Bob and I sampled other things including some popcorn chicken Laura insisted was wonderful, and nothing really wowed me. The Nueske bacon fried rice was good, but not really Japanese tasting at all. It was okay. Food 7:55 am Morning bun, 103 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 7 Apr

I was supposed to make our Anne Frank House reservations yesterday. If I can no longer get a time on June 6, I'll now have to settle for rearranging the tentative schedule I set up. Not a big deal. Oh, my! No David's pastries today! Fortunately we are going to Madison today so we can stop at Clausen's and get morning buns to compensate. 9:35 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 100 g blackberries, coffee

Fri 6 Apr

Chilly day, a little more snow, winter clings for dear life. We would gratefully let it go. Heather's birthday lunch at Guu's this noon. I'm taking her out for dinner next Tuesday evening. Food: 7:45 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 103 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm 1/2 4-cheese grilled cheese sandwich, waffle fries 3:00 pm 1 Anzac biscuit, 21 g peanut butter M&M eggs 6:45 pm Baked tilapia filet w/olive oil & balsamic, 1/2 c bulgur w/golden raisins, 1/2 c steamed broccoli Exercise: 9:00-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Thurs 5 Apr

Kathy and I will have snowy scenery to walk through this morning. I believe accumulations were around 10-11 inches and not much has melted yet. We might get a tad more tonight and 1-3 on Sunday, but then rain next week so it will likely melt. Ah, springtime in Wisconsin! Food: 7:15 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 102 g blackberries, coffee 11:00 am 1 Anzac biscuit 11:10 am Potato leek soup, 45 g Italian bread w/butter, Gerber prunes Exercise: 8:00-9:25 am Walk w/Kathy (abbr. Kinda Dr)

Wed 4 Apr

Wow, what a snow fell yesterday. Even after shoveling 3-4 inches in the morning and 5-6 inches in the afternoon, with the continued snow and drifting it looks like about another 5-6 on the ground. The porch railings have at least 9 inches on them outside on the deck, so it will be interesting to hear the overall count. Bob is tackling the morning accumulation with the snowblower and I am happy to leave him to it. Food: 7:35 am Chocolate pecan pinwheel, 101 g blackberries, coffee 10:55 am 1 Anzac biscuit 12:15 pm Hot cross bun, 21 g ham 5:35 pm Potato leek soup, 2 slices Italian bread w/butter Exercise: 9:00-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Tues 3 Apr

Some snow down this morning, but it continues to fall steadily and is predicted to continue all day and evening with 3-5 being the current prediction. Haven't yet checked to see if there's school today. Sue called and rescheduled my hair appointment to Thurs noon so the only other commitment is choir practice this evening if they don't cancel. Need to remember to vote. Food: 7:40 am Cheese danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:20 pm Hot cross bun, 2 scrambled eggs, 1 sweet mini-pepper, 2 tbl shredded cheddar 3:00 pm 3 Anzac biscuits, 2 dark chocolate sea salt caramels 6:00 pm Broccoli crab risotto Exercise: 9:20-10:10 am Walk to armory to vote and back 10:15-11:05 am Shovel snow 2:05-3:00 pm Shovel more snow

Mon 2 Apr

Very quiet Easter Sunday. Cantered at 10 am w/Pat D'Ercole, then came home and made pancakes and bacon and pretty much just read the remainder of the day. Missed my window to renew the Amsterdam guidebook so I have to return it today and then put it on hold again. Read another Aunt Dimity book yesterday evening as the House of Brede book was getting a little depressing. I still want to continue it, but I needed an upbeat break. Food: 7:40 am Hazelnut cheese danish, 103 g blackberries, coffee 1:15 pm Steel cut oatmeal w/protein powder, 1/2 blueberries, soy milk 5:45 pm 2 drumsticks w/curry sauce, 3/4 c brown basmati rice, 6 spears asparagus Exercise: 9:00-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Sun 1 Apr

Happy Easter! Had a very nice pre-Easter celebration with Michael and Taylor yesterday. Opted not to go to Easter Vigil since I cantor at 10 am today. No real plans for today. Will be a chilly walk to church, current temps are less than 15° and the high is only predicted to reach 32° today though the sun is shining brightly. We've surely had worse Easters, weather-wise. No real plans for later today. Bernard is retired and sorely missed on Easter and Mother's Day for his amazing brunches. No need to seek elsewhere just for brunch sake, I can cook at home. Food: 8:00 am Cherry danish, 102 g blackberries, coffee 12:05 pm 3 sm pancakes, 2 slices Kirkland bacon, butter, syrup 5:20 pm 6 oz ham, 3/4 c cheesy potatoes, 3/4 c bean casserole Exercise: 9:10-9:30 am Walk to church 11:10-11:30 am Walk home