meals (12.30)

breakfast

bagel w/ veggie cream cheese
oj
coffee
iced tea

lunch

pasta salad
water
cafe mocha (grande)

at Starbucks. Pasta salad wasn't very good. Cafe mocha was pretty good.

dinner

chicken w/ sauteed zucchini, onions over rice
broc
iced tea

pretty good. I added teriyaki sauce to mine.

dessert

sweet tater pie w/ whipped cream
iced tea

meals (12.29)

Slept late this morning. Felt much better than yesterday. It was about 13 when I woke up. Crazy cold. Elizabeth slept in too but she was up when I got up.

breakfast


oatmeal
coffee
iced tea

oatmeal is so good on a cold day. oatmeal is tasty on a hot day but it is a little overwhelming as well. a little too much. but on a cold day. oatmeal tastes extry-extry-good as Andy Griffith would say.

Elizabeth went to get her hair cut in the afternoon. I went to get groceries.


lunch

meatball sub
chips
sierra mist

at Wegmans food court. The older gent who used to make such a good sub at Wegmans hasn't been there lately. The last several subs I've had there have been blah. I thought I hot sub might snap the string of weak subs and it worked.

I lost my grocery list as soon as I walked through the door at Wegmans. Jeez louise. It was a nice short list and I did manage to get everything on the list.

dinner

scrambled eggs (3)
fried bologna (2)
sesame bagel with veggie cream cheese
iced tea

Elizabeth's off the cuff dinner. Really good. The bagels were so fresh that they were steaming the bag and I think that's what inspired the choice. Also the fact that E didn't eat lunch because it took so long to get the hair cut. She has had so many headaches with hair cutting people lately that I think she would buy a flowbee if those people spammed her at the right moment.

dessert

sweet potato pie
whipped cream

good. but way too much.

We watched the Mel Brooks presentation on Kennedy Center Honors. Nice job by everyone. The guy from Glee can dance just as good as he wants. I just thought he was a singer.

They kept showing the audience and you would see Donald Sutherland or Alan Alda or ... Just famous people wherever you turn. It felt like twitter.

I always feel a little sorry for the honorees at those events. There is such an amazing gush factor involved and it always seems a bit embarrassing.

meals (12.28)

very sick in the morning. sore throat, ear ache, dizziness, some fever.

breakfast

cereal
oj
iced tea

Went back to bed at around 9:00 and slept for 2 hrs. Felt wiped out but not so ill any more.

lunch

strawberry jelly sandwiches (2)
iced tea

Elizabeth got home at about 6 pm. She said the traffic was mostly pretty good on the way back.

dinner

chili mac
iced tea

E. want to bed at 9:00. I watched Big Bang Theory and then fell asleep on the couch. Woke up at 12:15 listening to a very doom-filled interview on Letterman. Everybody tells you the damage that global warming is doing but nobody tells you how to stop it. Does simply cutting back on carbon emissions do it? That seems too simple. Seems like the train is already a-rollin'

meals (12.27)

Nora Jones is playing on the iPod. Don't Know Why. It is the sort of song that you are sure you heard somebody sing on a Dean Martin special in 1971. A song that people have been singing for the last 100 years and yet Don't Know Why I Didn't was written by Jesse Harris around 1999.

breakfast

cereal
milk
coffee
iced tea

Elizabeth and Candace are reading to Charlotte today. Claire is also planning to come over this morning with the TV.

Claire arrived just about the time E & C were preparing to leave so at least they got to congreet. Claire looks like she's losing some weight. Between the two of us we managed to get the TV wrassled into the family room. We had a bit of a chat but Claire had to do the grocery shopping so she left around noon.

I got the TV up to the point where I could watch cable. I think I need a remote to be able to switch between TV and DVD. I'll look for that later.

lunch

pizza (2 sl)
iced tea
pretzels

I watched football for several hours after lunch. It was nice to be able to read the scores.

dinner

grilled ham, turkey and onion sandwiches (2)
chips
iced tea

yellow cake w/ chocolate icing for desert

I watched the Sunday night game until I fell asleep. I looked up the TV model on-line. It is 36 in. Our old TV was 27in. Looks tres different.

meals (12.26)

breakfast

cereal
coffee
iced tea

Elizabeth went downstairs at about 10:30 and saw that we had water seeping in from under the foundation.We worked for about two hours to get as much water up as possible. Then E. went to work outside getting snow away from the foundation while I kept getting up the water.We took a break at around 2:30 pm for lunch.


lunch

pizza (4 sl)
coke (20 oz)

from Domino's. Definitely hit the spot.

Worked on the basement off and on for a few more hours. Got to the point where it seemed stable.

dinner

grilled turkey sandwiches (2)
iced tea
chips

cake for dessert

meals (12.25)

Christmas Day

Very quite celebration this year. It was nice to have Candace here.

breakfast

pancakes
bacon
coffee
banana
iced tea

We wanted to see a movie in the afternoon. We didn't really have anything we could prepare quickly at home so we thought we'd get a hot dog or something at the movie.We originally wanted to see It's Complicated (not my first choice!) but got to the theater to late for that showing. We got tickets to my first choice which was Up in the Air. We got two pizzas, two hot dogs and two sodas for our lunch. I got the hot dogs. They were ok. E and C both liked the pizza so that worked out ok.

lunch

hot dogs (2)
coke

Freezing rain when we left the movie.

dinner

turkey w/ gravy
ham
mashed potatoes
stuffing
green beans
cranberry sauce
iced tea

very good. We ate like peegs.

yellow cake w/ chocolate icing
coffee

for dessert.

meals (12.24)

Christmas Eve

breakfast

eggs
bacon
coffee
iced tea
banana

lunch

cheese crackers
orange
banana
walnuts

dinner

veggie burgers (2)
pretzels
salad

meals (12.23)

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

Candace is coming to visit for Christmas. Her flight lands at BWI at 1:10. It is supposed to take about 90 min to get to BWI so we decided to leave 2 hrs early. We left at 11:10.

snack

crackers
coke
bottle of water

in the car on the way. For some reason it did not occur to us that taking 66 to 495 to 95 to 195 two days before Christmas might mean running into Christmas traffic. I guess the idea that we were just going to the airport would put us in a parallel dimension where the traffic would just be normal. Apparently the parallel dimension did not kick in. It took us nearly 3 hours to get to BWI.

lunch

cheeseburger
fries
iced tea

at Bill Bateman's Restaurant in the terminal at BWI. Good burger. so so fries. bad tea. Why do so many places have bad tea?

snack 

venti caramel macchiato

from Starbucks in the terminal

The traffic on the way back wasn't quite as bad as on the way down but I was getting very tired. I had expected to drive about 4-5 hours and drove over 6:00. When we got to 66 the traffic report was that it was running extremely slow so we went down 50 in Fairfax and stopped at Panera for dinner.

italian combo
part of an order of mac and cheese
iced tea / dr. pepper

The peppers on the combo were much hotter than usual. Burned my face off. The mac and cheese was pretty tasty. We all shared an order. We all thought it was good but overpriced at about $5 for a small order.

Elizabeth drove after Panera. We finally got home at about 8:00. I don't remember much after that.

meals (12.22)

since we couldn't move furniture on Saturday, we are moving it today. I dropped E at VRE and then drove to Manassas. I was hoping to avoid driving in the van in rush hour so I scheduled it for 10:00. I went to breakfast at Bob Evans. The parking lot there was full of FH Furr trucks. I thought it was a convention but I guess they just have a deal to park there when it snows.


breakfast


eggs, scrambled (2)
sausage, patties (2)
hash browns
biscuits (1.5) w/ sausage gravy
iced tea

they bring you a bowl of sausage gravy the size of Arkansas. I used about a third of it.


I missed the UHaul place the first time by even thought I'd checked it out before. With all of the snow around I didn't see the landmark I had noticed before and saw the UHaul sign as I drove by. I went down to Manassas Mall to turn-around. While at the Mall I drove to the Walmart side. I was going to buy a shower curtain for E and I asked the waitress at Bob Evans if the Walmart was still open since I knew it was supposed to move. She said it was now at Manassas Mall and that it is HUGE.


She was not kidding. The store was so big that I couldn't guess which door was likely to be closest so I decided not to go in.

When I passed the UHaul place I noticed there was no place to park. I parked at the Giant across the street. I'm not sure how I got across the street. The snow was still more than a foot deep on all of the medians and where the sidewalks should have been. The edges of the road were guarded by piles of snow 3-4 ft deep. Anyway I got across somehow without soaking my feet and rented the van.


It took a bit more than an hour to get to Alexandria. Most of the drive was not bad but you never feel like you can really see properly in a van. It was a thrill any time I had to change lanes quickly to avoid piles of snow. I took one wrong turn in Alexandria and finally got to the right street at about 11:15. Someone had been parked in the loading area for a long time so I ended up going around the block a few times until E showed me where I could park to wait for the loading zone. Finally got parked in the right place at around 11:35 and started moving furniture. I got to briefly meet E's boss and a few associates but everyone was pretty busy preparing for the move. E had a nice view from her window. Too bad the new office won't have such a nice view.


The lateral file we wanted most was so heavy we couldn't move it. In any case we got two tall book cases, one short book case and a file cabinet. It will be nice to get some of the books out of boxes. I started on the way back home at about 1:00. Traffic on the beltway has terrible. They had to close a lane for snow clearance and this brought traffic to a standstill many times.


I finally got home at about 2:30 and realized that I couldn't get in through the garage as usual since I didn't have my car. I had to navigate to the front door to get in. I got a pretty good soaking in the process. Unloading the truck by myself was quite fun. It took about 45 minutes to get everything in the house. I could not lift the file cabinet over the steps because my elbow was still sore from shoveling. had to fit it in the garage in order to move it later.


I had to stop to get gas on the way back. I would much rather have just turned the truck in and been done with it but the gas policy was absolutely ridiculous. Something like $35 for the first gallon or part of a gallon. I ended up putting in $20 worth of gas at the sieben elf next door to the UHaul. My $19.95 cargo van came out to almost $130 after insurance and mileage and dolly rental, etc. With the $20 in gas it cost nearly $150 to rent the gizmo.

I felt so much better when I got back to my car.


lunch

steak and cheese sub
chips
iced tea

at Firehouse Subs (http://www.firehousesubs.com/) in Manassas. I had never eaten at this place before. It was the best steak and cheese I've had in many years. Probably since I last went to Marino's in Arlington. I had lunch at 5:00. E's train would arrive at 7:25 in Bristow so I had to decide whether to go home kill 45 minutes and then go back to the train or run errands and go directly to the train. I was afraid that if I went home and took off my shoes I would probably fall asleep so I decided to run the errands.

snack

chocolate milk shake at Chick-fil-a

Very good. I wish they had a short shake about half the size of the original. Basically the size of a small frosty.

I picked up E at the train at about 7:35. They were a little late.

dinner

bagel with butter
iced tea

I don't remember much after that. I was about dead to the world by the time I finished my bagel.

meals (12.21)

breakfast 

cereal w/ milk
coffee
banana
iced tea

lunch

pizza (2 sl)
cookie
iced tea

at Wegmans. I have to remember that one slice of their pizza is plenty.

dinner

chili mac
iced tea

meals (12.20)

it stopped snowing sometime during the night. we had about 18-20 inches on the ground in the morning and the sun was shining.

breakfast

bacon and cheese sandwich
banana
coffee
iced tea

we started digging the snow at about 10:00. the snow up against the garage was about 24 in. high. It took a little over two hours to get the car out of the garage. We were getting cold at that point and went in for a break.

lunch

tomato soup
crackers
cashews. pecans
iced tea
coke

we went back out to dig at about two. a neighbor with a snow plow plowed our driveway from the street to the bridge. that saved us at least an hour. Jeff, from next door, then helped finish off the driveway. Those helping hands were real life savers. we were certainly flagging when they arrived. We were clear from the garage to the street by about 4:00.

snack

pretzels
iced tea

dinner

potato soup
bread and butter
iced tea

in bed with an aching back by about 9:00

meals (12.19)

It really did snow. It was snowing when I got up at 6:30. It was still snowing when I went to bed. We had about 8 inches on Saturday morning and about 12 or 13 by dark. It was really beautiful to watch. We didn't have to go out so that helped a lot.

breakfast

scrambled eggs
bananas
eng. muffins
coffee
iced tea

lunch

chicken and swiss cheese sandwich (2)
cashews
iced tea
pudding

snack

cookies (3)

dinner

tuna melts (2)
fruit cocktail
iced tea

meals (12.18)

breakfast

cereal w/ milk
oj
coffee
iced tea

I drove E to the VRE this morning. She was right on the borderline so we didn't want to risk it.

Weather reports are calling for heavy snow starting tonight and finishing on Sunday am.

lunch

angus cheeseburger sub
fries
iced tea

at Ledo's. This is a great deal. Basically $6.00 for a really good sub, fries, and iced tea. With tax and tip it's about $8.50. You can easily spend $8.50 at BK or Wendy's and not eat as well.

Traffic was insane in Warrenton. I had to go to Walmart to refill my prescriptions and by a few things and then go to Giant for the traditional bread, milk, and tp that Washington area residents are required to buy when the word SNOW appears in the forecast. DC stations just about have a fit when snow is coming.

I got home just in time to put away the groceries and go back out to do the next set of chores. I had to get cat food at PetSmart and pickup dry cleaning. Both of these were in Bristow near the VRE station.

dinner

ravioli w/ tomato sauce
salad
iced tea

snack

cookies

It did start snowing at around 7:30 or 8:00 in the evening. It was coming down pretty well when I went to bed at 10:30.

meals (12.17)

breakfast

bagel egg and cheese from Micky D
sausage burrito (ditto)
banana
coffeee
iced tea

It seems like my hands are always cold.

lunch

hot dog (2)
chips
coke
club soda

snack

crackers
iced tea

dinner

dinner salad with ranch
number 6 combo
rice
beans
iced tea

at Casa Chimaya in Manassas. Very good but I got too much food.

We were planning to go to CC on Saturday night but they are now calling for a pretty good snowfall on Saturday so we decided to go on Thursday.

meals (12.16)

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

snack

crackers
iced tea

I went to the post office at around 1:30. Very crowded.

lunch

whopper avec cheese
spicy chicken sandwich (dollar menu)
iced tea

at Burger King

I went to Giant for the first time in many months. It seemed like they had lowered a lot of prices. Last time I was at Giant it was clearly more expensive than Wegmans.

dinnner

chili dogs (2)
beans
slaw
iced tea

ice cream w/ chocolate sauce

meals (12.15)

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
coffee
V8
iced tea

Left the house before 9:00 to get the car to the dealership by 10:00. I got there just at 10:00 o'clock. It wasn't such a busy day at the dealer. They actually finished the car by 12:30.

snack

egg sandwich
dr. pepper

at La Torre in Fairfax. La Torre is the cafe in the 50/66 office complex where I used to work in FFX city. It was the 2nd time I've been there since 2005 but they still remembered me. It was kind of nice. The lady that runs the place reminded me that we had talked about colleges when her son was getting ready to go to school. He had decided on W&M. He is now a grad student at Indiana University/Purdue University (I assume in Indianapolis rather than Fort Wayne). Time, she is auf-gefliegende.

It's funny. Pat Kaczaral, my high school palsy-wal, went to W&M undergrad and went to Purdue (not IUPU but close) for his PhD. Pat's parents gave him a car to persuade him to live at home and go to W&M. He used to say that he worked to put his car through school.

They had to replace one of the ignition coils. Since two had already been replaced that means either 3 of the original 4 were bad or one was replaced twice. I've filed the paper work for the other repairs. I'm hoping to get a check in January. They also suggested replacing the battery. Goodyear made the same recommendation when I last had the car there so I had the battery changed. Elizabeth is taking the car to NC after Christmas so I'd rather not have the battery crap out on her.

I was supposed to meet Elinor for lunch but she couldn't come. The book she was working on is now over a week late so she was stuck. She says she is now working 12 hr days routinely. Jeez.


lunch

two beef tacos
two chicken taquitos
rice beans
iced tea

at Anita's in FFX City.They no longer had the delectable Fajita Burrito on the menu. Tacos were good. Taquitos were so so. I don't think Taquitos are legit. They seem very 7-11 to me.

It is extremely difficult to highlight the word "lunch" in the text editor used in blogger.


snack

creme brulee latte

from the Starbucks inside the Harris Teeter at Madison Crescent.

dinner

chicken and rice w/ gravy
green beans
iced tea

meals (12.14)

breakfast

cereal

iced tea

coffee

V8

lunch

sub at Wegman's
really bad iced tea at Wegman's

snack

peppermint patties (2) from Wythe

dinner 

lasagna (Mrs. Callendar)
broc.
iced tea

cherry pie w/ ice cream

weigh in, Dec. 14

I finally had the nerve to weigh in today. Last time was over two months ago.

325.1

Not good but not as bad as I feared.

last weigh in, Oct. 20: 323.6

I'm +1.5 in that period.

meals (12.13)

breakfast

cereal
coffee
iced tea

lunch 

bologna/cheese sandwich (2 on eng. muffins)
iced tea

worked on dishes and the laundry while watching UVA vs. Akron for the ncaa mens' soccer championship. UVA won the game on pks. I thought UVA played better in fhe first half and Akron played better in the 2nd. By the end of the 2nd OT, UVAs players were really dragging and Akron clearly dominated but they couldn't score. Each goalie stopped one shot. Akron's players totally missed two shots and UVA missed one shot.

Elizabeth went to Oatlands to see the decorations and talk to Liz and a few other people. She said the decorations were not so good except that the had a really amazing Christmas tree.

When Elizabeth got back from Oatlands we realized that we didn't have any cat food. We had to go back out. We went to Petco in Warrenton and Borders to get a few Christmas cards. It was insanely foggy on the way back.

dinner

veggie burger on a roll
tomato soup
iced tea

We are trying to get into the Christmas spirit. We watched the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol with Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit. Elizabeth prefers the 1951 version with Alastair Sim as old uncle ebeneezer. Other favorites are the 1970 musical version with Albert Finney as Scrooge. The cold is so cold in that version! I also like Bill Murray's 1988 Scrooged though I still can't figure out why Put a Little Love in Your Heart is the song they all choose  to sing at the end.

It is very hard to watch A Christmas Carol with care. I've simply seen so many versions of the story that it is hard to actually pay attention from start to finish.

meals (12.12)

breakfast

coffee
v8 juice

We decided to go to Williamsburg for the day. We left at about 9:15. Elizabeth drove. We stopped at the Shell station at Rt. 28 and Rt. 17. We got some crackers and water there. I got a Starbuck's coffee drink there. Didn't much care for the Starbuck's drink. Traffic was not very heavy but it was still about 12:30 when we stopped at the Red Lobster in Williamsburg for lunch.

lunch

breaded fish
scallops
fries
salad w/ blue cheese dressing
iced tea

When we got to B-burg my hip was very sore. Usually I have problems with my right hip but in this case it was my left hip. I hobbled around a bit and then settled on a bench in front of the book store. Elizabeth went on a voyage down DOG street. Billsburg was crowded.

After a while I went to the drug store at the other end of merchant's square to get some tylenol. No luck. The drug store is now a Williams Sonoma.  Don't know when that happened. The Rizzoli book store is also long gone. I went to the bookstore and got some tylenol and a soda. It was nice and warm in the store. I finally found a seat.

Elizabeth came into the store around 3:30. She got us java from the starbucks there.

caramel macchiato, grande

Wasn't very good. In fact it left me feeling a bit sick. We looked around a little in the book store. E. went to the craft store then we went to Wythe and got some candy. If the Wythe store ever closes I'll be very surprised. I also walked through the cheese shop. Amazing crowd.

We headed back around 4:30. Stopped at McDonald's at Bottom's Bridge at about 5:30.

dinner

big mac
large fries (shared with E)
iced tea

Got home around 8:00. Very cold by that time. Watched a little TV. E went to bed around 9:00. I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up to see some odd person hosting SNL.Turns out the person was Taylor Lautner. Taylor Lautner? Google says he is in Twilight. I guess that explains the cheesy plaid shirt.

cavahoos beat wake in soccer on Friday. scored the winning goal in ot. UVA vs. Akron today in the national championship. Akron is undefeated this year. Remarkable.

meals (12.11)

breakfast

cereal w/ milk
coffee
iced tea


lunch

bologna, salami, cheese sandwich (2)
crackers
cherry pie
iced tea

dinner

pancakes
eggs
bacon
iced tea

meals (12.10)

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
V8
coffee
iced tea

lunch 

moo shu chicken
spring rolls
iced tea

at Lin's CHina Bistro in Bristow. Very good. The authentic Chinese I had in Chinatown last week was no good so I thought I'd get some regular old Merican Chinese. I'm all about the Merican Chinese.

Lin's is really nice restaurant. I felt like I was in Lothlorien.

dinner

chili mac (no beans)
iced tea
cherry pie with vanilla ice cream

Our chili mac is very complex. It has to be Kraft's three cheese mac and cheese. I like to use Hormel chili. E prefers chili with no beans.I acually like the chili with beans better. Ratio is 2/3 mac/cheese to 1/3 chili.

Gourmet stuff, no?

dinner (12.9)

ravioli w/ tomato sauce

bread and butter

iced tea

I made a salad but didn't feel eating salad

4 tabs of chocolate/almond bar for dessert

lunch (12.9)

I finally got around to taking care of the recycling. I should try to do it the first time the containers look full. I always end up doing it two weeks after that so it is a lot more work.

italian combo
apple
donut
cafe mocha
iced tea

from Panera. I hadn't been to Panera in a long time. The lunch I had was excellent.

breakfast (12.9)

bagel w/ butter
iced tea
coffee

A bagel tastes really good when you haven't had a bagel in a long time. I used to have a bagel almost every day. I read in several places that bagels for breakfast is basically a road map for weight gain. Cereal or good old eggs are both supposed to be better for a weight loss plan.

dinner (12.8)

salmon patties (4)
corn
iced tea


donut

lunch (12.8)

tater soup
toast (2 sl)
iced tea
coke

breakfast (12.8)

cereal
banana
clementine
coffee
iced tea
V8

dinner (12.7)

scrambled eggs & cheese
little smokies
toast
v8 juice
iced tea

lunch (12.7)

bacon cheeseburger
spicy asian chicken nuggets
iced tea
(coke)

at Wendy's in Warrenton. Burger is way overpriced if you don't buy the combo. iced tea at Wendy's always tastes bad!

breakfast (12.7)

sausage, egg, and cheese croissant
ham, egg, and cheese on sourdough
iced tea

from Arbies

meals (12.6)

breakfast

cereal
coffee
iced tea


lunch

crackers
coke

On the way to Claire's church. Matthew performed in the church pageant on Sunday. We took a few wrong turns and missed Matt's performance. We did see the end of the show and went back to Claire's house afterwards.

We saw Claire, Dave, and Mattthew. We also saw Claire's friends Pattie and M for the first time in many years. M's 8 yr old son J was also there. We had a nice chat and had

pizza (3 slices)
water

for supper. The pizza was from a local Pizzeria. Pretty good.

We tried to bring home the TV Claire got from a friend. It is huge and we couldn't wrestle it into the car. We'll  arrange to pick it up at a different time.  We left around 6. Stopped at Bloom on the way home to get some necessities. Got home about 7:30.

birthday cake
coffee

was our dessert. The cake was very good but overpoweringly sweet. I'm glad E brought back only a two pieces of cake.

dinner (12.5)

burritos (2)
iced tea

Elizabeth made the burritos with bison meat as an experiment.The taste was fine. I think we both would like to find a burrito recipe that is about half meat and half beans.

lunch (12.5)

snowing today. very heavily. we were supposed to get minor snowfall but we are well over three inches already.

bologna, salami, and swiss sandwiches (2)
chips (handfull)

breakfast (12.5)

I woke up at 6 am with a huge headache and a scratchy throat. I went downstairs and took some tylenol and got a drink.

When I started to feel better I ate

bagel w/ cream cheese
banana
iced tea
club soda

I watched Who Mourns for Adonais (Star Trek, Season 2, Episode 2).An enjoyable episode. Probably a B episode. I've got to subtract points for the really tall Adonis special effect. Lt. Palamas (Leslie Parrish) is very cute and probably earns a few bonus points.

It started to snow. When E. came down I had second breakfast

oatmeal
coffee
iced tea

meals (12.4)

In New York.

small bagel with butter
sweet roll
pineapple, melon slices
bottle of water

for breakfast at the hotel.

met with client at their offices on Friday morning.

Left for Penn Station at 12:45. Dropped off Iris at Laguardia on the way. Arrived at Penn Station around 1:50. Pete went to catch a NJ transit train. My train was listed as on time. I went to get a quick bite to eat

slice of pizza (hamburger, onion, pepperoni)
coke

pizza was good.

By the time I got back to the status board the train that was on time at 1:50 was now delayed at 2:02. Insane.

2:05 train arrived at 2:45. 2:05 train left at 3:05. Oh boy. With the delay it became touch and go as to whether I would be able to catch the last VRE to get home. If I missed the VRE that would mean taking the metro and a cab at $60 or more. Oh boy.

I had a seat mate from NYC to Trenton. She was an atty from Boston who was visiting her parental units a little early for the holidays. I was surprised that she was so nice and then I found out that she specialized in employment law. I think you'd have to be a pretty good egg to focus on that. I assume her hair was tinted but whatever she had the best hair cut and hair coloring I've seen on a person in real life. Whoever cut her hair did an excellent job.

I got a 30 min nap when my seatmate left. Then I got

corned beef and swiss sandwich
iced tea
bottle of water

for a snack. Sandwich was not so great. I only ate half even though I was pretty hungry.

The cafe lady on the train didn't say "Hello" or "May I help you" or "What can I get for you bub?' She said "You have the most beautiful hair!" I guess my seatmate and I should have been in a magazine spread with all the good hair we were having.

The train was supposed to arrive at 6:35. By the time we were actually stopped at the platform with the door open it was 6:45. The VRE left at 6:50.

I was lucky. The VRE ticket machine was at the top of the stairs and the VRE was boarding about 2 gates down so I didn't have to go through the terminal . The train pulled out about 2 minutes after I got on board. Luckily it was mostly empty.

Arrived at Broad Run at 8:00 (five min early).Passed through the Manassas station (the same one that is on the cover of the Stephen Stills album). The whole old town area of Manassas is decorated for Christmas so it was very nice and sparkly.

I was starving when I got to the train station so we went to the Red Robin Gourmet Burgers restaurant for dinner. I can't figure out what robins have to do with burgers. I was glad to see that the Robin was not present on Friday.

house salad w/ blue cheese dressing
guacamole bacon burger
fries
iced tea

everything was good. nice hot fries. burger was done just right. definitely hit the spot.

E.went to bed at about 10:30. I watched most of Leno and part of the stand up comedy show. Bill Engval. I woke up on the coach at about midnight. Crawled up to the bed and don't remember anything else until Saturday morning.

from one of the over-crowded pizza places at the train station.

meals (12.3)

Early morning to catch the train to New York.


Left the house at 5:30. Elizabeth dropped me off at the VRE at 6:00. Arrived at Union Station at about 7:30. 


bacon, egg, and cheese bagel
hash browns
coke


at the McDonald's at Union Station. Possibly the only McD in the world that doesn't have unsweetened tea. I love the Union Station store. They treat everyone like stir-fried shit. Just a warm, welcoming, "fuck you" feeling about the store. 


On the up side, the food was actually hot. 


Caught the train at 8:05. I got a business class ticket this time. A little extra space was nice. 


utz party mix
bottled water


for a snack on train.


Arrived at the Union Station at about 11:30. Caught a cab at 11:45 and got to the hotel (Sheraton Laguardia East, there is no Sheraton Laguardia West) in Chinatown in Queens at about 12:20.


Pete was checking in ahead of me. So we arranged our meetings for the afternoon. Client was running late so my meeting wouldn't start until 2:30 or 3:00.


Pete didn't want to go to lunch so I went to the next block where there were 6 or 7 Chinese restaurants in a row. They all had Chinese writing in the windows except for the phrase "We don't take credit cards. Cash only." The first few were so crowded that I didn't see a seat. I went into the fifth restaurant.


mixed seafood on pan fried noodles
iced tea
hot tea


Most boring Chinese meal I ever had. 


Meeting finally started at 3:00. Met from 3:00 to 4:45. 


Left for dinner at 5:15. Met at Armando's in Queens at about 5:45.


capellini pomodoro as an appetizer (excellent)
eggplant parmesan (excellent)
iced tea
Moretti beer (1)


a little Italian cheese cake, a little chocolate cake, a little tiramisu for dessert
capacino


got back to the hotel around 9:30. Asleep by 10:00

dinner (12.2)

hot dogs (2)
beans
iced tea

lunch (12.2)

roast beef and cheddar sandwich
roasted chicken sandwich
iced tea

at Arby's

caramel brulee latte
chocolate chip cookie

at Starbuck's in Manassas

breakfast (12.2)

cereal
coffee
iced tea

dinner (12.1)

cassoulet
corn bread
iced tea

Elizabeth made cassoulet for the first time in a long time. Really excellent. Unfortunately we had to buy corn bread at the store. As usual the corn bread was way too sweet.

We watched one of the funnier episodes of ST:TNG last night. Rascals is the title I think. Picard, Guinan, Ro, and Keiko are transformed into children by a transporter fluke The kid they got to play Ro as a kid looked a great deal like Ro. Very enjoyable episode from the 6th season of the series.

lunch (12.1)

I read somewhere that Tiger Woods has earned more that one billion dollars (billion, I think that's the one with 9 zeros) in his career. I know that's small potatoes compared Bill Gates or Warren Buffett or The Sultan of Brunei but my o my o my. I don't think I've even hit the one million mark yet. It is mind-boggling to imagine that much dough.

Tiger doesn't even have to fix the Caddy if he doesn't want to. He can just ditch it.

(Shouldn't the caddy be an oldsmobile?)

(I wonder if Tiger has a pair of adidas hidden in a closet somewhere.)

soup
toast (2 slices)
iced tea

breakfast (12.1)

It is the first of December. Wow.

cereal
coffee
iced tea

dinner (11.30)

chili mac
iced tea

lunch (11.30)

swiss cheese on croissant
bbq chips
iced tea

breakfast (11.30)

early morning meeting today. it ran a liitle long. i was eating

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

when i realized that it was time to go to the train station. i stopped at chick-fil-a for breakfast after that:

bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit (so so)
gravy biscuit (ok)
iced tea

at chick-fil-a

don't really like the breakfast dishes at cfa. much prefer lunch.

dinner (11.29)

spaghetti and tomato sauce
salad
iced tea

bowl of cereal for snack

lunch (11.29)

turkey, cheese, cranberry sauce on a croissant
chips
cranberry sauce
iced tea

created by Elizabeth

tres groovy

breakfast (11.29)

cereal
coffee
iced tea

meals (11.28)

breakfast

oatmeal
coffee
banana
iced tea

lunch

tomato soup
crackers
iced tea

dinner

salad
two mini burgers
fries
iced tea

at Ruby Tuesdays in Warrenton

snack

white chocolate latte
cookie

at Border's in Warrenton

meals (11.27)

breakfast

swiss, mushroom, and spinach ommelete
hash browns
bacon
toast
iced tea

at the Belgian Waffle in Newport News with Mommy and Karen

lunch

cheeseburger
fries
iced tea

at the Cracker Barrel in Ashland, VA

snack

starbuck's frappacino (bottled)

at the Mobile station in Bealeton

dinner

bowl of cereal
iced tea

back at home

meals (11.26)

Thanksgiving

breakfast

salad
crackers
iced tea

snack

crackers
iced tea

dinner

turkey
ham
chicken

meals (11.25)

breakfast

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

lunch

1/3 lb cheeseburger
chili dog
iced tea

at Hardee's

snack

hot chocolate

at McDonald's

dinner

pizza (4 slices)!!!
salad
iced tea

from Dino's in Denbigh

dessert

pumpkin pie
ice cream
iced tea

dinner (11.24)

sun dried tomato chicken
egg noodles
iced tea

lunch (11.24)

Went to the bank to deposit a check and then went to my favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch. Sad to say my fave place has gone down hill. Today was the 3rd or 4th time I've been disappointed with the food. I guess I'll have to find another Chinese place.

kung pao chicken
fried rice
spring roll
iced tea

The rice was fine. The spring roll was ok. The kung pao was monstrous salty. The iced tea tasted like someone put a cigarette out in it. Had to switch to water.

I got a snickers bar and water at the gas station on the way to the grocery store to try to get the salty tast out of my mouth. That worked ok.

For some reason it did not occur to me that today, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, might be a busy day at the grocery store. IT WAS PACKED. Crazy frustrating. I don't really mind the people who bring their kids. I assume they have not choice. What gets me is the people who come in groups of 3 or 4 or more adults and treat the store as if it is an outing. You only see this behavior on the 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Oh well. At least most people try to make the best of it. It took me more that an hour to shop today. As Stephen Fry would say "such larks as never."

breakfast (11.24)

I woke up at 6:00 this morning and tried to contact a client in Kolkata. He wasn't available on Skype so I could only send an email.

I felt rather quesy when I woke up. I was thinking about having eggs for breakfast but my innards balked at that idea. I decided to keep it simple.

cereal
iced tea

I had coffee later after the cereal and the tea settled my stomach.

I have to put in my two cents for ultra-pasteurized milk. In my experience most brands of organic milk are ultra-pasteurized. Richfood milk is not organic but it is ultra-pasteurized. In this area you can get it at Shopper's Food Warehouse. I usually buy whichever organic milk is on sale. UP milk tastes like fresh milk from the day you open the package to the day you finish the package. The use by dates are usually 4-6 weeks from the purchase date so you almost never have UP milk go bad. The milk I bought today had a Jan. expire date.

Elizabeth and I are not heavy milk users. We use a half gallon in about a week. Given that I always drink whole milk. I don't like 2%. I don't like 1%. I don't like skim. In fact, I hate skim. Skim milk tastes like polluted water. I don't mind rice milk and soy milk and so on but they don't taste like milk. They taste like something that works something like milk. If I went through a lot of milk in a day I would probably try to make the change over to soy milk or something like that. Since I don't I haven't tried to change my habits.

I've heard that raw milk (unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk) is really the best milk. I'd like to try it one day but I can't see my self going to the effort of procuring raw milk on a regular basis.When daddy was a boy they delivered raw milk to your house. He used to talk about how the cream layer would freeze in the bottle in the winter and the kids would try to lick the natural ice cream before the parents could get the milk and mix the cream in.

meals (11.23)

breakfast

cereal
coffee
iced tea

lunch

bologna, salami, and swiss sandwiches (2)
crackers
7-up
iced tea

the deli cold cuts I got at H-T are not as good as the kind I got at Wegmans. I'll have to experiment with this.

dinner

pizza (2 slices)
onion rings
iced tea

We stopped at Tony's in  Bristow on the way back from the VRE. VRE trains were a bit delayed on Monday  and with the delay and the pouring rain I wanted to eat at Tony's.


snack

wheatables
iced tea

Letterman was talking about how he would become the new Oprah. Kind of odd. He's got new glasses. He was also wearing a really great suit last night Robin Williams was on as well. (Terrible suit, as usual). He really seemed to enjoy being with Dave. Apparently his first appearance since he had a heart attack. They had some pretty funny moments. Minimal blather about the Old Dogs movie.

I fell asleep when the vampire chick came out. I woke up to see Jimmy Fallon doing an impression of Neil Young performing the theme from The Fresh Prince of Belair. Pretty funny. JF is kind of hit and miss for me. Very funny sometimes. Not so, other times. He seems like a nice guy, though, so you tend to cut him some slack. He does seem more comfortable hosting the show than he did the last time I saw him.

meals (11.22)

breakfast

egg, swiss, and bologna sandwich
V8 juice
coffee
iced tea

lunch

bologna and swiss sandwich
crackers
iced tea

snack at 2:30

tortilla chips
iced tea

snack at 5:00

crackers
iced tea

dinner

rotisserie chicken
green beans
spiced apples
iced tea

dessert

birthday cake
iced tea

meals (11.21)

breakfast

hard boiled egg (2)
croissant
coffee
V8
iced tea

lunch

chicken sandwich, fried
french fries
iced tea

at the Scottish Place. Way overcooked chicken

dinner

chili and rice
salad

canned chili. Hormel, I think. really good salad. Apples and feta cheese. Elizabeth's invention.

dinner (11.20)

turkey w/ gravy
mashed potatoes
brussels sprouts
iced tea

The turkey and the potatoes were prepared from the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Both were a little salty but pretty good considering.

jelly donut
half of chocolate donut

from Krispie Kreme for dessert

lunch (11.20)

I can't really get a grip on the fact that a week from today will be the day after Thanksgiving.. It just doesn't seem possible. In a way I feel like it hasn't even been my birthday yet. I guess it's the sameness. The routine. When I started doing dishes after lunch all I could think was didn't I just do this five minutes ago? Didn't I just do this?

It's not like doing dishes is onerous or difficult. It's just required. Inescapable.

I guess I should take the view that Phil Connor (Bill Murray) finally adopted in Groundhog Day. In essence I guess that means using the time rather than letting the time use you. Easier said than done but worth working on.

cheeseburger
fries
salad
iced tea

at Ledo's at Somerset Crossing

crackers
iced tea

for a snack at 4:30

breakfast (11.20)

I got up at 5:00 for a conference call at 6:00.

cereal
banana
V8
coffee
iced tea

I watched an episode of The Thin Blue Line during breakfast. Pretty funny. I'm not a real big fan of Roland Atkinson. I like him sometimes, other times not so much. He's pretty good in this. James Dreyfuss and David Haig are both pretty good in this. James Dreyfuss seems like he's just a funny person.

meals (11.19)

It has been ages since I've done a weigh in. I'm now afraid to get on the scale. I've got to make a point of doing it in the next day or two.

breakfast

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

I was way overdue for an oil change so I took the car in after dropping E off at the VRE. I dropped the car title in the safe deposit and then went to the Goodyear. I left the car off at about 10:30. I had a 2nd breakfast or early lunch at the IHOP at about 11:15.

lunch

spinach, mushroom, and swiss omelette
hash browns
iced tea

the omelette was ok but it had swiss cheese and a cheese sauce I almost never like a cheese sauce.

I got my hair cut at this point. It took about 35 minutes since I didn't have to wait long. The lady who cut my hair was one of those people who is very impressed with all of her own stories.I guess she was nice enough but I imagined she'd be pretty tiresome to live with.

snack

caramel brulee latte (grande)
donut

at Starbucks. The caramel brulee latte is a holiday offering. I liked it. Think I'll just have a tall next time.

I got a few groceries on the way home.

dinner

ravioli
salad
crusty bread
iced tea

We watched an episode of ST:TNG called Man of the People. Pretty good episode The basic premise was very similar to another Counselor Troi show from the season before.

meals (11.18)

breakfast

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

lunch

cheese sandwich on a bagel
crackers
iced tea

2nd lunch

turkey and stuffing (Boston Market)
slice bread
iced tea

dinner

hot dogs (2)
beans
iced tea

We watched an episode of ST: TNG after dinner. Barkley and the transporter. Barkley's one of the occassional characters that I really like on TNG.

After that I watched part of the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. show on PBS. Some of the guests were Morgan Freeman, Don Cheedle, Chris Rock, and cetera.

meals (11.17)

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
tomato juice
banana
coffee
iced tea

lunch

tuna sandwich
cole slaw
chips
iced tea

snack

package of crackers

dinner

scambled eggs
little smokies
grits
iced tea

dinner (11.16)

tuna wraps (2)
cuke, onion, and tomato salad
iced tea

donut for dessert

chips later

lunch (11.16)

cowboy omelette
hash browns
bacon
iced tea

from Anita's in Fairfax. The cowboy omelette at Anita's is one of my all time favorite breakfasts. My dentist's office is near the Anita's in Fairfax so I often go to Anita's after I go to the dentist.

I talked to the receptionist at the office today. I realized I've been going to the same dentist for 15 yrs. Amazing!

breakfast (11.16)

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

dentist appointment this morning for cleaning and check up.

dinner (11.15)

chili mac
crackers
iced tea

snack: cashews

lunch (11.15)

tomato soup
crackers
iced tea

breakfast (11.15)

Something I ate yesterday did not agree with me. I had to run to the bathroom at about 4:30 ack emma and made repeated visits all through the morning. Feeling better now (about 1:30 pm).

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

snack at noon

6 pb crackers
iced tea

dinner (11.14)

clam chowder (Safeway signature soup)
salad (from salad bar)
crusty bread (3 slices)
iced tea

We've been looking for a good clam chowder. We tried Wolfgang Puck's canned version. It was a well-made, tasty soup but didn't really have enough clams. The Safeway kind was better but not ideal.

Very sleepy last night. I think I was in bed by 9:30.

lunch (11.14)

yogurt
cashews
iced tea

We went to the library (our Saturday tradition), Peebles, Blue Ridge Outfitters, Starbucks, and Safeway.

vanilla lathe (grande)
lemon pound cake (.5 slice)

at Starbucks

breakfast (11.14)

hard boiled eggs (2)
croissant
coffee
iced tea
banana

snack at 11:30

bagel

dinner (11.14)

chili dogs (2)

cole slaw

beans

iced tea

lunch (11.14)

bologna & swiss sandwich (1)
salad
pickles
potato chips
iced tea

breakfast (11.13)

friday the thirteenth!

bowl of cereal
coffee
iced tea

Special K red berry cereal today. I had this before and didn't like it. Today I thought it was pretty good.

snach at 10:00

crackers (6)
iced tea

dinner (11.12)

chicken and cheese tortolloni w/ tomato sauce
salad
crusty bread with butter (2 sl)
iced tea

late evening

bowl of cereal
iced tea

lunch (11.12)

bologna and swiss sandwich
pickles spears (2)
cheese crackers (6)
chips
iced tea

breakfast (11.12)

bagel w/ butter
banana
coffee
iced tea

good bagel, very fresh

cafe mocha, grande
petite vanilla bean scones (3)

at Starbucks on the way home from the Manassas train station

meals (11.11)

Today is Veteran's Day or Armistice Day if you are old fashioned. Many thanks to all of those who served. Heartfelt condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the service of their country.

breakfast

fried eggs (2)
fried bologna (3)
toast (2)
iced tea

very tasty. They have a really good beef bologna at the Deli at Wegmans.

lunch

eggplant parmesan pannini
salad
rolls (2)
iced tea

at Bertucci's. Really excellent eggpland. very good rolls. ok salad.

dinner

tomato soup
toast (2)
iced tea

dinner (11.10)

Elizabeth's flight kept being pushed back and back. Weather in Atlanta was quite bad. Lot of rain.Originally she was supposed to be at Dulles at about 7:00. The plane finally landed just before 9:00. I did not know whether E had eaten or not so I just had some iced tea. E. did have a sandwich during her Atlanta layover. We went to McDonald's at Greenbrier on the way home from Dulles. Ate at 10:30.

angus bacon cheeseburger
fries
iced tea

Sometimes the angus burgers at McD are good. Sometimes they are so so. This one was pretty tasty.

lunch (11.10)

I got up at 5:00 this morning and had breakfast at about 7:30. I got hungry again at 12:00.

pizza (2 slices)
iced tea

conference call at 1:30 (originally scheduled for 1:00)

went to Staples and Wegmans after the conference. Hungry  again at this point

thai chicken wrap
bbq chips
Dr. Pepper

at Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I used to go to the Panera in FFX City at about 2:30 or 3:00 for lunch. That Panera was a gathering place for the kids from Pope Paul high school across the street. Sometimes it was difficult to get a table there would be so many kids there. It looks like the TSC near Wegman's is starting to be an after school spot for the local kids. I guess it's Battlefield High School.

breakfast (11.10)

cereal
tomato juice
iced tea

dinner (11.9)

rice (2 bowls)
iced tea

ice cream for dessert

my rice experiment did not work well. mixed rice with scrambled egg, carrots, a little mater juice. very bland. needed chicken broth or something instead of water. maybe some onion. maybe some chicken or shrimp.

lunch (11.9)

pizza (2)
crackers
iced tea

breakfast (11.9)

I drove the back route to VRE today. I wanted to go at 7:20 but my early morning call ran long. I started at 7:52 so the traffic should be fairly similar. The time was exactly 30 minutes from the time I started the engine to the time I stopped at the drop off area at the VRE station. I saved a little time since I got there after the last train.

I actually made better time for most of the trip. The bottleneck was at the intersection of 28 and Vint Hill.

It probably takes about 5 mins. longer than the normal route.

I went to Micky D's for breakfast after that.

bacon, egg, and cheese bagel
sausage burrito
iced tea

had a cuppa at Starbuck's after McD

caramel macchiato (grande)
chocolate donut

dinner (11.8)

I ended up ordering pizza for dinner on Sunday.

pizza (philly cheese steak style, 3 slices)
salad
iced tea

ordered online from Dominoes. Really good this time. However, I think the provolone they use on the cheese steak pizza has an additive that gives my stomach problems.

They are talking about trigeminal neuralgia on NPR. Lloyd Kendall from Informatics had that. He finally had the surgery (at U. of Pittsburgh, I think). He said it made a huge difference.

lunch (11.8)

I had a weird lunch today

crackers for a snack at about 10:00 (Keebler's Wheatables)

chicken and dumplings
toast
iced tea
yogurt
tomato juice

c&d was one of those shelf stable meals. not bad.

last time I went to the grocery store I bought two shelf stable meals and two frozen meals so I could compare. So far the frozen food has a bit of a lead but it is close.

did several loads of laundry
put away laundry (miracle! I actually almost ran out of space)
mopped the front hall and the kitchen
balanced checkbook
found the papers I needed to file the recall claim. Looks like I should get about $400 back. in 90 days. Ouch.

breakfast (11.8)

a little more energy today. actually did some chores before breakfast

swiss cheese omelette (3 eggs)
toast (2)
iced tea
tomato juice

dinner (11.7)

I've been incredibly sluggish all day. Got a little work done in the ack emma and then just felt all of the energy drain out. Plained to grill hot dogs and cook chili and beans. Ended up minimizing!

three hot dogs (microwaved)
pretzels
iced tea

ice cream for dessert

I watched the pilot for Get Smart on DVD last night. 99 is so cute.

The episode had a voice over intro by B. Feldon. She said the pilot was the only episode shot in b&w. I would have sworn the first season was b&w. I remember sitting in the lunch room at W&M watching Get Smart with Brian Wolf and discussing the relative merit of the color and b&w episodes. Strange. I guess the memory she plays the tricks.

I saw about 20 minutes of The Duellists last evening. I remember seeing that movie when it came out (1978) and just being gob smacked by it. I can't imagine how anyone managed to fight or supervise fighting (or think or breath or ride a horse) in those uniforms. I don't think I gave K.C. enough credit for his performance way back when. Any actor tends to lose points in a period piece if he or she has a nasal American accent. (H.K. doesn't do as much talking!) I've never been able to watch Dangerous Liaisons because I find it impossible to believe John Malkovic as not only a French aristocrat but a suave French aristorcrat with that appalling voice! The cultured voice was as important as proper dress or appropriate parentage in that age. J.M. would not be playing any bedroom games with artisto babes with that god-awful flat voice of his.

Anyway, Keith Carradine is actually really solid in The Duellists. The French countryside in the final duel is as pretty a place as I have seen. The punchline, which is a fate worth than death for the Keitel character, is absolutely delicious. Remarkable that it is Ridley Scott's debut as a director. He would make Alien in '79 and Blade Runner in '82. I hope this is on DVD. I want to add it to my Netflix.

lunch (11.7)

cheeseburger
fries
cole slaw
iced tea

at the Frost Diner in Warrenton. really good burger.

breakfast (11.7)

basically a quarter of November is gone and I've hardly lifted my head off of the pillow. They say nothing can go faster than the speed of light but I'm starting to think that time can.

bowl of cere-bill*
tomato juice
banana
iced tea
choppy**

* why does it always have to be cere-al? why not cere-bill or cere-sara or cere-nadine?

** many moons ago there was a "viral" email that was a phonetically rendered transcript of a U.S. businessman ordering breakfast from room service in Malaysia or Singapore or some such. When the hotel guest asks for "bacon", the room service operator asks "bacom crees." (that is, bacon crisp). Among the many humorous differences in pronunciation is that the room service waiter calls "coffee" "choppy". my spouse and i have been calling coffee choppy in the 10 or 12 yrs since seeing that email.

dinner (11.6)

frozen dinner: beef pot roast (Boston Market) and mashed potatoes
banana
iced tea

not bad. actually pretty good since it was on sale.

I've been too lazy to cook the last few days. I think I'll make hot dogs tonight. Of course, cooking hot dogs and beans is as close as you can come to not cooking.

I got the last disk of Freaks and Geeks and the first disk of Big Bang Theory from Netflix a few days ago. I also found H. Potter and the Order of Phoenix unopened in a stack of disks. I bought it a while ago and hadn't played it. I've been a videating fiend. More anon. (Meaning I'll talk about this more some otherwhen.

lunch (11.6)

steak fajita burrito
coke (med.)

at Chipotle

breakfast (11.6)

egg sandwiches (2)
small bowl of cereal
iced tea

dinner (11.5)

didn't really have dinner on 11.5

yogurt
pretzels

at about 8:30

bowl of cereal

at about 10:00

Elizabeth was very impressed with the River Walk in San Antonio.She said she spent some time watching the boats going up and down the river.

lunch (11.5)

had a bunch of errands to run today. worked from 5:30 to 7:30. breakfast at 7:30. worked from 8:30 to 11:30.

shower and started errands at 11:30

deposited check at the bank

roast beef sandwich
bbq chips
banana
coke

at Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Warrenton.

they've opened three TSCs in the area lately and i've eaten at two of them. very good wraps and sandwiches. can't say i care for the smoothies.

cat food run at petco

returned books to the library. looked for My Life in France by Julia Child. No luck. looked for Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. No luck. Oh well.

I'm presently reading Dubliners by the incomparable James Joyce, The Moving Finger by the unconquerable Agatha Christie, and Tyler's Row by the highly esteemed Miss Read. Maybe I should add some poetry to my mix.

breakfast (11.5)

up at 5:30 again. not sure why i keep getting up so early. Karma was sleeping right on top of me. maybe that had some thing to do with it.

fried eggs (3)
toast (2)
V8 juiice
iced tea

dinner (11.4)

felt absolutely miserable last evening. terrible headache. freezing cold. thought i was catching something. much better this morning.

the Yangtzes defeated the Philadelphians in the "World Series". Matsui is named the MVP and i'm sure he deserved it. however, it seems to me that Mariano Rivera is the weapon that the Yangtzes have that no one else can match. you've got to feel the blood run out of your body when you see him take the mound.

italian sub (from wawa)
macaroni salad (from wawa)
iced tea

a sub from wawa is good but if you put in the fridge for a couple of hours it gets even better.

lunch (10.30)

cheeseburger sub
fries
iced tea

at Ledo's in Gainesville. Quite good. I was really in the mood for a burger.

lunch (11.4)

Elizabeth is going to San Antonio today for the annual conference. I drove her to Dulles for her 11:30 flight.

Stopped on the way back at Anita's for an early lunch.

cowboy burrito (delicious!)
bacon
hash browns
iced tea

read the paper at the restaurant. I haven't done that in many, many moons.

I was so low on gas that I stopped to get a few gallons at Shell ($2.99!!!!!). Went to the Starbucks at Greenbrier. I've never been there before. Busy store.

caramel machiato (modicum)
chocolate donut (I shouldn't have but I did. I feel shame.)

Greenbrier Mall has changed a lot. The restaurants that used to be there have been replaced. The new places looked like improvements on the old restaurants.

breakfast (11.4)

bagel w/ butter
coffee
iced tea

dinner (11.3)

Claire had a conference in Reston so we went over to Reston Towne Center (Centre?) to meet her for dinner. We went to an old favorite, La Madeleine.

turkey sandwich
tomato basil soup
bow tie pasta salad
iced tea

strawberry napoleon
coffee

The woman at the next table looked so much like Michelle Rabayda that it was scary. She was even the right age. It was like seeing a ghost.

It was very nice to see Claire. She seemed to be having a good time at the conference. I think she said she's at the conference until Thursday.

lunch (11.3)

tomato soup (Campbell's)
salad

Elizabeth worked from home today and built us lunch. Quite good.

Went up to the elementary school this afternoon and voted. Fraid it was a lost cause. Can't remember when Virginia had two such unimpressive candidates. Amazing difference between the polling place today and the polling place one year ago.

breakfast (11.3)

up early again. hurt a muscle in my left leg yesterday. couldn't sleep comfortably. went downstairs at 4:45 and watched a bad episode of ST:TOS. leg was more comfortable sitting up.

phillies beat the yangzhes. series goes back to the bronx.
saints beat the falcons. saints are the best team in football. who would have thunk it.

bagel w/ butter
banana
V8
coffee
iced tea

meals (11.2)

woke up early and went downstairs. watched a good episode for st:tos. fell asleep on the couch. woke up just in time to drive E to VRE

breakfast

chicken burrito
hash browns
cinnamon roll
iced tea

at Chick-fil-a

lunch

tossed salad
cheeseburger
cole slaw
iced tea

at Glory Days. $5 burger day. Good burger.


dinner

chili mac
iced tea

donut for desert
candy corn

dinner (11.1)

aauteed chicken
rice dish
mixed veggies
iced tea

chips for snack

lunch (11.1)

campbell's chunky soup
two slices of bread
iced tea

yogurt

breakfast (11.1)

hard to believe it is November.

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

snack

crackers

meals (10.31)

howl-o-ween

breakfast

puppy dog lung casserole
cat vomit stew
lizard puke vodka
coffee

(oh wait. that was what I was supposed to have. actual info follows)

breakfast

cereal
iced tea
coffee
tomato juice

lunch

spinach, 'shroom, feta omelette
little smokies
toasted bread
iced tea

(really excellent lunch composed by Elizabeth)

dinner

pizza (4 slices)
coke!

pizza and coke absolutely hit the spot

started on the leaf war today. riding mower wouldn't start (aaaarrgghh!) had to mulch the leaves in the leaves in the front yard with the push mower. it worked ok but it was a lot of work.

glad I did it yesterday. it rained all night!

saw lady gaga on SNL last night. wish I hadn't. Brittany Spears goth sister.

I don't know what they put in an omelette but it tastes a lot like scrambled eggs.

lunch (10.30)

cheeseburger sub
fries
iced tea

at Ledo's in Gainesville. Quite good. I was really in the mood for a burger.

breakfast (10.30)

eggs (3)
toast (2)
oj
coffee
iced tea

dinner (10.29)

corn on the cob (1.5 ears)
salad
iced tea

yogurt for afters

lunch (10.29)

bologna, salami, swiss sandwiches (2)
pretzels
iced tea
yogurt

breakfast (10.29)

ceareal
coffee
iced tea

dinner (10.28)

chicken salad sandwich
half caesar salad
iced tea

from Panera

not as good as usual from Panera

lunch (10.28)

bologna, salami, swiss sandwich (2)
pretzels
yogurt
iced tea

snack

wheat thins
iced tea

breakfast (10.28)

bagel w/ butter
coffee
iced tea
crackers

dinner (10.27)

ravioli
salad
iced tea

donut for dessert

lunch (10.27)

chicken parmesan sub
coke

at Pizzaria in Warrenton

bland, tasteless, bad cheese

Their steak and cheese is actually very good.

cinnamon roll
caramel macchiato at Starbucks after the library

crackers while doing dishes

I've been crazy hungry this afternoon.

breakfast (10.27)

corn flakes and bananas (2 bowls)
oj
coffee
iced tea

dinner (10.26)

grilled cheese sandwich (2)
chicken soup (Campbell's Chunky)

used colby-jack cheese in the sandwiches. c-j doesn't melt that well.

lunch (10.26)

turkey, guacomole sandwich at Tropical Smoothie Cafe
orange, pineapple smoothie

didn't really like the smoothie.

breakfast (10.26)

coffee
oj
banana

I was thinking about having toast when I realized it was time to go to the VRE. made the VRE in time.

bacon, egg, and cheese bagel
sausage burrito
iced tea

at McDonalds on the way home.

dinner (10.25)

lentil soup (1.5 bowls)
crusty bread (4 slices w/ butter)
iced tea

van. yogurt w/ canned peaches for dessert

soup was very good again. Elizabeth has been making this recipe for many years now.

lunch (10.25)

roast beef and swiss on sub roll
chips
m&ms
iced tea

watched the beginning of Tampa Bay vs. Patriots from London.

breakfast (10.25)

oatmeal
banana
coffee
oj
iced tea

food diary (10.24)

breakfast

cereal
coffee
oj
iced tea

lunch

deviled ham and swiss sandwiches (2)
pretzels
iced tea

dinner

chili mac
salad
iced tea

snack

pretzels

Watched almost all of SNL. It was a rerun (!!!!) Megan Fox and U2. Megan Fox has no apparent talent. Digital shorts were not funny. Weekend Update was so so. U2 did three numbas. They seem to have lost track of something called melody. Oh well.

dinner (10.23)

mexican rice
refried beans
iced tea

donuts (2) for dessert

I think I'm going to have to avoid these prepared rice dishes. Crazy amounts of salt.

Donuts? Why Krispy Kreme chocolate covered glazed donuts, of course.

lunch (10.23)

deviled ham, swiss on a bagel
chips
m&ms
iced tea

I haven't had Underwood Deviled Ham in about 800 yrs. It was pretty good.

breakfast (10.23)

cereal w/ milk and banana
coffee
club soda

dinner (10.22)

veg. burgers (2)
pretzels
iced tea

We usually get the flame grilled flavor of Boca Burgers. I didn't really like the veg. burgers when we first started getting them but now I do. I guess we've been getting Boca Burgers for at least 5 yrs and possibly as much as 10 yrs.

lunch (10.22)

I had to get my car registration updated so I went to the DMV on Thursday.

I stopped at Chick-fil-a on the way to the DMV.

chicken strips (4)
polynesian sauce (2)
cole slaw
iced tea

It only took about 20 minutes at the DMV. They adopted new procedures may be 8 or 10 years ago and ever since they did that it seems to be less of an ordeal to go to the DMV.

breakfast (10.22)

conference call at 6:00 am with Kolkata

got downstairs just in time to take Elizabeth to the train.
We just missed the 7:42 light at Vint Hill and Rt. 28 so we had to go to Manassas to catch the Amtrak.

got breakfast on the way home

ham, egg and cheese biscuit
sausage, egg and cheese wrap
iced tea

at Arby's

dinner (10.21)

two chili dogs (on rolls)
beans
iced tea

yogurt for dessert

lunch (10.21)

roast beef, swiss sub
pretzels
m&m
iced tea

breakfast (10.21)

cereal
oj
coffee

took E. to the VRE

felt very hungry, got a ham and egg and cheese sandwich at Arby's

dinner (10.20)

spaghetti w/ tomato sauce
toast with butter (3)
salad
iced tea

for some reason i was just knocked out last night. i went to bed at 9:15 and slept until about 6:15. i only remember getting up 2 or 3 times during the night. i don't even remember any dreams.

lunch (10.20)

roast beef, swiss sub
pretzels
yogurt
iced tea

Wegman's raspberry super yogurt is really good

breakfast (10.20)

scrambled eggs (2)
bagel w/ cream cheese
coffee
iced tea
banana

before Paul McCartney wrote the words to Yesterday, the nonsense lyrics he used to work out the tune were "scrambled eggs". It really works.

dinner (10.19)

Elizabeth had to work late. Conference coming up!

Met the train at 7:00. Stopped for clam chowder because I suddenly felt like clam chowder.

clam chowder (Wolfgang Puck)
salad (Harris Teeter salad bar)
bread (crusty load from HT)
iced tea

donut for desert

The WP soup was actually quite delicate for a canned soup. If it had had a handful more clams in it it would have been a pretty tasty clam chowder.

weigh in, tuesday, Oct. 20

starting weight (Sep. 2): 328

last weigh in, Oct. 5: 325.8

today, Oct. 20: 323.6

-2.2 lbs. 5.6 to go. trend is in the right direction but 5.6 lbs is not likely in 12 days.

Short term goal: 10 pounds (318) by Nov. 1

Mid term goal: 28 pounds (300) by Dec. 1

have to start some kind of exercise program

lunch (10.19)

thai chicken wrap
bbq chips
dr. pepper

really good wrap from Tropical Smoothie Cafe

snack: pretzels

snack: bagel

wrap was very good but I seem to be constantly hungry

breakfast (10.19)

cereal
coffee
iced tea

dinner (10.18)

chipped beef on toast (3 slices)
peas and carrots
iced tea

lunch (10.18)

hot dogs (2)
chips
yogurt
club soda

breakfast (10.18)

croissant w/ butter and marmalade
swiss cheese (2 sl)
hard boiled eggs (3)
oj
coffee
iced tea

our homage to the breakfast served at the hotel we stayed at in Paris.

dinner (10.17)

garden veggie/tomato soup
saltines
iced tea

soup was just a little sweet.

lunch (10.17)

two ruby mini's
fries
salad bar
iced tea

at Ruby Tuesday's

breakfast (10.17)

eggs
little smokies
toast w/ butter & marmalade
iced tea
coffee

Elizabeth made breakfast this morning. Excellent.

dinner (10.16)

rice & corn
iced tea

lunch (10.16)

pastrami sandwich
chips
iced tea

lunch (10.16)

pastrami, swiss sandwich (2)
chips
iced tea

breakfast (10.16)

cereal
coffee
iced tea

dinner (10.15)

pizza (4 slices)

pizza (1 slice) for dessert 90 min later

pepperoni and mushroom pizza from Tony's New York Pizza in Bristow.

if you've ever had Dino's Pizza in Newport News it is a lot like Tony's.

Elizabeth and I first discovered Tony's in Manassas. they have a restaurant on Mathis Avenue. when we were looking for pellet stoves many years ago there was a hardware store in the same mall that sold pellet stoves. we went to check out the selection of stoves and went to Tony's for lunch. later we wouild buy the Passat from Brown's VW of Manassas two blocks further down Mathis Avenue. Brown's is now out of business.

there is another Tony's in the Bull Run Mall in Manassas (Sudley Rd. and 234). In the mall with the SFW, Office Depot, FedEx Kinko's, Chili's, etc. Across from the Costco.

The Bristow store is the newest outlet and the closest to our house.

we used to have pizza about once a week. now it is more like once a month so when we do have it, it really tastes good.

lunch (10.15)

really a cold, wet, uncomfortable day today. haven't felt warm all day

microwavable soup (ok)
chips (cheddar and sour cream)
yogurt (peach)
banana
iced tea

watched one of my fave episodes of the original star trek, galileo seven. spock, scotty, bones, and three others are stranded on a planet after their shuttlecraft crashes. hadn't seen the episodes in a very long time. not quite sure why i used to like it so much. strange.

not a bad episode. just not particularly good.

the writers of star trek seem to understand the word "logic" the way Alanis Morisette understands the word "ironic".

breakfast (10.15)

fried egg (2)
pastrami (2 sl)
swiss cheese (1 sl)
toast, rye (2)
iced tea
coffee

pastrami is really good with eggs. first time i tried it.

dinner (10.14)

lasagna
salad
iced tea

cottage cheese and pineapple for dessert

lasagna is Mrs. Callenders frozen lasagna. pretty good.

lunch (10.14)

cheeseburger (swiss, onions, 'shrooms)
mixed veg.
iced tea

breakfast (10.14)

cereal
coffee
iced tea

dinner (10.13)

quesadillas (2)
chips
iced tea

lunch (10.13)

pastrami, salami, cheese on bagel
yogurt
chips
iced tea

breakfast (10.13)

scrambled egg sandwich (2 eggs)
oj
coffee
iced tea

woke up at 6:30. read email, made to do list until 8:00
breakfast 8:30
watched TV, Flight of the Conchords, and took a nap from 9:00-10:30

dinner (10.12)

turkey & pastrami reuben
chips
iced tea

we've been having turkey reubens lately. that is, turkey breast cold cuts rather than pastrami in a reuben. this time we had turkey and beef pastrami in the house so we had a reuben made with half turkey and half pastrami. pretty good.

i think the first place i ever had a turkey reuben was the old American Cafe. i think they called it a California Reuben. i would guess that now the turkey reuben is more common than the pastrami reuben.

when i was in college i was once asked to help a family with a move. my older brother knew some of the members of the family and they needed someone to help with shifting the heavier pieces. since the person moving was the daughter and she was moving from a trailer in Richmond to an apartment in Richmond, i needed to spend a long day Saturday helping with the move but i'd get $100 for the deal. at that time it took me more than a week to make $100 so i agreed to the deal.

i didn't know that the young woman was moving because she was breaking up with her live-in boyfriend and that he would be in the house for the whole move. the young woman was sad and ashamed and clearly just wanted this day to be over. i don't think she ever acknowledged me and i did me best to be part of the scenery. the young man was apologetic and upset and tried to do far more of the work than one person should have done. the girl's family was absolutely on edge just wanting to be out of that trailer and away from the young man so they could pretend that this was just a move. so of course it took forever to move everything out of the trailer. it was muddy and the trailer door was narrow and the plywood we were using as a ramp kept slipping out of the door.

once we finally got away from the trailer and the girl waved good bye to the guy (he wanted to hug, she wouldn't), everyone relaxed visibly. the move into the apartment went much more smoothly.

when the move was complete the mom and dad were much more relaxed. we stopped at Bob's Big Boy somewhere near Richmond. The dad told me that if i'd never had a reuben i was in for a treat. i ordered the reuben and really liked it. that was the first time i ever had a reuben. i wish i could remember the name of that family. i know they lived in Beechmont and that Mark was a friend of the girl or Mark's girlfriend was a friend of the girl or ...must have been 1979 or 1980.

lunch (10.12)

bologna, salami sandwich
iced tea

went to Wegmans rather late. after four when i left. hungry after small lunch.

pizza, pepperoni (1)
chicken egg roll
iced tea (Wegmans black, 2)

breakfast (10.12)

Columbus Day Holiday, US
Thanksgiving Day, Canada

cereal w/ milk
coffee
banana
iced tea

slept surprisingly late today. i woke up at about 6:30 and thought i might as well snooze for another half hour. ended up waking up at 9:30.

i wake up in the night freezing cold. i find the blankets all around the bed. i layer on the blankets in the warmest configuration. then i wake up 2 hrs later freezing with no blankets. wish i knew why. i really think i'd sleep more comfortably in a dentist's chair.

food diary (10.11)

breakfast

egg sandwich (made by E.)
coffee
iced tea

lunch

pasta and tomato sauce
iced tea

dinner

potato soup
iced tea

too much chocolate cake for afters

slow day. very sore lower back.

did laundry, dishes, cat boxes
watched some football. kept thinking Denver was Pittsburgh because of the retro uniforms.50th anniversary of the AFL. They keep talking about the original six: I'd guess Boston, Buffalo, KC (Dallas Texans), Oakland, Denver, and San Diego. I'll check on the internet after this note to see if I'm right. (Cleveland is a new franchise, Baltimore (was Cleveland), Indianapolis (was Baltimore), and Pittsburgh were NFL teams.)

Watched several episodes of Flight of the Conchords on DVD. Very funny. The episode where they get mugged just cracked me up.

AFL Original Six(?)

Dallas (would become K.C. Chiefs)
NY (Titans would become Jets)
Houston (would become Tenn. Titans)
Denver
LA (would become San Diego Chargers)
Minneapolis-St. Paul

very confusing because M-SP would accept an NFL franchise and become the Vikings

later Oakland would replace M-SP but
Boston (now New England) and
Buffalo

would join in the meantime. Cinncinnati and Miami would be expansion teams in the AFL.

dinner (10.10)

boca veg. burger on bun
lay's potato chips
iced tea

birthday cake for afters

the boca burger itself was about 80 calories

lunch (10.10)

subway foot long spicy italian sub
fuze iced tea

jeez spicy italian is over 1000 calories. you really can't eat outside the house.

went to the library after subway. then Borders and Harris Teeter

breakfast (10.10)

cereal w/ milk
coffee
iced tea

woke up very early this morning. read from about 4:30 to 5:00. napped from 5:00 to 5:30. watch Star Trek on DVD from about 5:30 to about 6:30. slept on the couch for an hour. had cereal at about 7:30.

watched an episode of this old house today. must have been the wind up show for the most recent series.

dinner (10.9)

Elizabeth took me to Cracker Barrel for birthday dinner.

house salad (blue cheese)
chicken fried chicken w/ gravy
steak fries
cole slaw
iced tea

afraid to know how many calories this was. Cracker Barrel does not have nutrition info on-line.

Really TOO MUCH food. I think a burger and a salad is probably the best bet at CB. Most of the food was not as good as I remember. Quite uncomfortable after dinner even though I left part of the chicken, half of the fries and some of the slaw.

Noticed that it is the 40th anniversary of Cracker Barrel.

lunch (10.9)

snack

bologna slices

lunch

chicken sandwich
fries
iced tea

at McDonald's

almost 1,000 calories! according to the McD web site. Holy crap. No more fries at McDonald's

Monopoly game is in progress at McDonald's. They must have been doing the Monopoly thing for at least 20 yrs.

breakfast (10.9)

today is my 51st birthday.

breakfast

egg and sausage wrap
iced tea
coffee
banana
oj

snack

candy corn

i really need to make sure there is never any candy corn in the house. i dig candy corn. i think it's because of the nutritious value of the corn and the candy value of the candy.

food diary (10.8)

breakfast

cereal w/ milk
oj
banana
iced tea
coffee

lunch

bologna, salami, cheese sub
pretzels
iced tea

snack

yogurt

dinner

hot dogs (2) w/ chili
pretzels
iced tea

dinner (10.7)

mac/cheese w/ chili
brocolli
iced tea

lunch (10.7)

bologna, salami, swiss sub
pretzels
candy corn
iced tea

breakfast (10.7)

eggs, fried (3)
bologna (2)
oj
iced tea
coffee

dinner (10.6)

really tired tuesday night. didn't feel much like eating.

bagel, cream cheese
yogurt
pretzels
iced tea

lunch (10.6)

mandarin kung pao w/ beef
white rice
two egg rolls w/ sauce
iced tea

at pei wei. nearly 1,000 calories per pei wei's web site.

tip: go for veggies and tofu and brown rice at pei wei

got my hair cut at the hair cuttery

got the flu shot and the pnuemonia shot at minute clinic at CVS. i liked the minute clinic. really well organized. essentially a little 6 x 8 money making factory.

breakfast (10.6)

coffee
iced tea
sausage, egg, and cheese wrap
ham, egg, and cheese biscuit

at Arby's

didn't care for the biscuit at Arby's

dinner (10.5)

salmon paddies
cole slaw
corn
iced tea

snack

pretzels
yogurt

lunch (10.5)

snack

cup of soup
iced tea

lunch

whopper jr.
chicken sandwich
iced tea

at Burger King

weigh in, monday, oct. 5

weight sep. 2: 328
last weigh in, Sep. 23: 325.8 lbs
today: 325.9

Short term goal: 10 pounds (318) by Oct. 1
Mid term goal: 28 pounds (300) by Dec. 1

back sliding

have to cut out the cookies and other snacks!
have to start some kind of exercise

loss for sep. 2.1 lbs in 5 wks.

new goals

must weigh in every monday. waiting too long allows trend to continue with no feedback!

6 lbs by Nov. 2
12 lbs by Dec. 1

Nov. 2: 319.9
Dec. 1: 313.9

breakfast (10.5)

cereal
oj
iced tea
coffee

food diary (10.4)

breakfast

oatmeal
coffee
iced tea

lunch

sub (bologna, swiss)
pickles
cookies (4)
iced tea

snack

chips
yogurt

dinner

omelette (spinach, mushroom, feta) (excellent!)
grits
little smokies
iced tea

food diary (10.3)

breakfast

cereal
coffee
iced tea
banana

lunch

hamburger
extremely salty fries
iced tea

birthday cake
ice cream

at the bowling alley

dinner

pizza (4 slice)
water

at Claire's house

food diary (10.2)

breakfast

bagel, cream cheese
banana
coffee
iced tea

lunch

bologna & cheese sub
chips
cookies
iced tea

snack

patty melt
Dr. Pepper

at Arby's

dinner

pasta, sauce
crusty bread
iced tea

dinner (10.1)

waffles butter & syrup
iced tea
bowl of cereal

Elizabeth went to look after the cats at PetSmart. Got home late. She had eggs and toast for dinner.

lunch (10.1)

bologna, veg. cream cheese on a bagel
banana
3 cookies
iced tea

breakfast (10.1)

three eggs

banana

iced tea

coffee

forgot to weigh in this morning shoot. have to make a point of doing that tomorrow.

dinner (9.30)

train was very late arriving at Broad Run. we decided to get dinner at Chik-fil-a

four chicken strips w/ polynesian sauce
fries
side salad
iced tea

snack: wegmans snack mix

lunch (9.30)

bologna, cheese sub
snack mix
yogurt
coke
iced tea

dinner (9.29)

salad
baked potato (butter, sour cream)
peas

donut for dessert

breakfast (9.30)

up early this morning for a conference call. alarm went off at 5:00. i must have just hit deep sleep at that time. i woke up not knowing where i was.

interesting concall discussing how to process hand-written documents. always a challenge.

i was reminded that friday is the birthday of Mohandis K. Gandhi. Happy Birthday, Gandhi-gi.

breakfast

cereal
banana
coffee
iced tea

Elizabeth looked like she was on time at 6:45 but wasn't actually ready to go until 7:20. the parking situation is so bad at broad run station that she really needs to be on the way by about 7:15 to have enough time to park and walk all the way to the station. it really has become crazy. VRE needs a garage at broad run.

returned from Bristow and felt hungry

2nd breakfast

bagel w/ veg. cream cheese
reheated coffee
iced tea