The last few days have been “ok”, but not too exciting.  I don’t feel like I have too many interesting photos to share, I haven’t done anything extraordinary, and life just plods on.  (which in itself is a good thing!)  Today was another day like that.  So when all else fails, I can post pictures of flowers and Neva and call it a post.    Tonight’s theme is “pink”.

Pink flowers (taken on my walk home tonight – this is a pretty time of the year)….

….with very pink “insides”….

Neither flowers nor Neva….but Pink, who IMHO is ridiculously talented (and whose flat/muscular abs I envy!)….

A great note  with a pink reference that my buddy Sarah someone sent me the other day (because of the words “laughing is the best calorie burner’  – she and I laugh.  A lot!!) ……and I think Audrey Hepburn sounded like she was one FIERCE and AWESOME woman!

…and finally, a very cute picture of Neva playing with her “toy du jour” “Pinkie”.  Pinkie is regularly whacked around our home.  Poor Pinkie.

Enough pink…we’ll move on to the other colors of the day.  Breakfast this morning was an english muffin with almond butter and a banana.  (that really is my “go to” breakfast if I’m rushing around)

I was rushing to make my standing pre-work Wednesday coffee date with Michelle and her famous hand.  You can’t tell from this picture, but Michelle got an AWESOME haircut later in the day and is seriously SASSY now!!!  I’ll see if she’ll let me put her hair on next Wednesday’s post!

I took some berries and 1/4 cup greek yogurt for my morning snack.

My lunch today was veggies and hummus.

My work buddies Lachlan, Doris and Leon went for sushi and invited me along, but I had taken lunch and also had a few errands that needed running at lunchtime.  HOWEVER, Lachlan brought me one of my favorite spicy tuna rolls back, because I as still a little hungry.  Thanks L!

I had taken almonds and an apple for later…..both came back home with me as the tuna filled me up for the whole day.

Dennis is out tonight so it was “dinner pour une”…I had big plans of making a swanky dinner but lost interest when I was home so threw a couple oz whole wheat pasta on, mixed it with 2 tbsp pesto and topped it with 2 tbsp parmesan and a freakishly large basil leaf to make the picture interesting.

I also had a glass of white wine.  (too bad we didn’t have rosé, to keep with the pink theme!)

Wine on a Wednesday?  Well…today is “sort of” my Friday.  I’ve booked tomorrow and Friday off as vacation days – because I have a few to use.  My next few days should provide not only point friendly menus, but fun pictures as well.  If all goes as planned…..   And because its my weekend, I’m going to pour a second glass of wine and watch Modern Family.   Hope your days were all “in the pink” too!!!

As you know, when one is nominated for a blog award by a fellow blogger, the rules are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.  Done and done!  Thank you Elaine!!
2. List 11 random facts about yourself.  See below
3. Answer the 11 questions given to you by your nominator. see below
4. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or less followers to nominate and include links to their blogs.  I’m always stuck nominating other blogs, because I follow too many to single folks out, so I’m breaking the rule on this one!    However, I will pose a question to EVERYBODY at the end of the post and I ask all readers, bloggers or non bloggers to answer.
5. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.  See above
6. Go to each bloggers page and let them know you have nominated them. See above

So here goes, 11 random facts about me:

1. My birthday is October 1st.  So is Julie Andrews’.
2. I am the younger of two children in my family.  I am also the hotter of the two!  HA!  Kidding!!!  Or am I??? 
3. I love the smell of freshly cut grass.
4. I grew up in cold Alberta, and licked a frosty mailbox when I was little, got stuck to it and my Mom had to pour warm water over it to get me off.  Seriously…I did!
5. I dream of traveling to Paris and Tuscany one day (while I’m young enough to walk around them, not be pushed around in a wheelchair)
6. I lost a nice watch a couple of months ago.  If anyone finds it, please call.
7. I am NOT a fan of science fiction.
8. I love garage sales and thrift stores but hate malls.
9. I have 6 different mustards in my fridge “as we speak” and I’m using them all
10. My first job was working in a fabric store (I was 15).  I used to sew my own clothes.  I haven’t sewn anything but gift bags in years…guess I don’t need to apply for the next season of Project Runway.
11. I have a very distinct birthmark that looks like a big fluffy cloud on my left arm.

And Elaine’s questions to me:

• What is your favorite vegetable and how do you like it cooked/prepared?      Asparagus, either steamed and topped with lemon juice and parmesan, or roasted with olive oil

• What have you done today that you are proud of?      Hmm…it was a pretty ordinary day, hmm…I guess I’m proud of just living a good life and finding something to be happy about every day.  (that sounded pretty flakey, didn’t it??)

• Do you prefer to exercise alone or with a partner or group?  Why? – That depends on the group…I work harder when I’m working in a class setting but I’m not a fan of team sports (well, participating anyway, I’m unathletic and feel I let my team down).  I’m quite happy going for walks or swimming on my own too. 

• What kind of house, condo, etc. would be your ideal home?  In my dream world, I would live in a cute little house (with a kick ass kitchen) on a small hobby farm.  (nothing remotely close to the small condo I live in now)

• What is your favorite concert that you have attended? – I saw Oscar Peterson before he died, and he was AMAZING.  I also – brace yourselves – LOVED the Backstreet Boys when I saw them.  (you may all laugh opening now)

• What kind of profession do you work in? (…or most recently worked in?) – I work in healthcare administration now, but have no intention of doing this line of work until I retire.  I’m not exactly sure where my next work road will take me, but I feel so ready to branch out and try something new.  Any suggestions?
  

• Do you have any pets?  If so, what are they? – Regular readers are familiar with our little Neva, the deaf white cat who thinks she’s Queen of All Beings on the Planet Earth.  She’s awesome, and brings us joy every day!

• What are you grateful for? – So much, my family, my friends, my health, living in a part of the world that I’m not repressed for being a woman, a regular pay cheque, my 5 senses…the list goes on, and I hope I never take life for granted!

• What is the weirdest food you have ever eaten?  Would you eat it again?  I have a food bucket list, and I’m pretty brave when it comes to trying new things….last year, we bought live sea urchin.  We had to actually kill it – which was brutal, even though it is apparently a brainless being.  It tasted and looked like snot, so no, I wouldn’t eat it again, but crossed it off my food bucket list.

• Would you prefer hiking or biking?  Why?  Hiking for sure.  If I’m on a bike too long, my bum hurts.  I’d take aching leg muscles over aching bum muscles any day.  TMI?  Maybe…

• What has been your most difficult habit to give up or change?  I have a REALLY hard time saying “no” to requests, even if I don’t want to do it.  I’m trying very hard to set boundaries in all aspects of my life.  It’s not easy, but I think I’m making a little progress.

Thanks Elaine!  Very fun to share snippets of me with all of you!

Now, a quick rundown of today’s point friendly menu, then I’ll call it a night.

I took breakfast with me to work today, greek yogurt, strawberries and some granola.

Lunch was leftover quinoa salad from Sunday, on arugula and a tomato with balsamic reduction.  I had an apple too.

I tried a little pack of these thin cookies with a cup of tea this afternoon.

When I got home tonight (Dennis picked me up tonight and we went home via Helen’s place where we had a quick visit) I had a pack of weight watchers version of pop chips.

Dinner tonight was leftover salmon (also from Sunday) with brown rice and some steamed green peas.  I topped it all with some yellow pepper salad dressing.

So that is my day, and now you know me a little better.  Your turn….give me one random fact about YOU!!!

Seems that birds in a nest are becoming a regular menu item here.  Today, I had some new bird mascots to post with them and the strawberries that needed dealing with in our fridge.

Later on, I had a smoothie made with almond milk, a banana and some frozen strawberries.

Neva attempted to distract us with a hula hoop.  HA!   Of course just kidding.  I found a hula hoop in a thrift store a couple of weeks ago, and got it because I read that hooping is a great waist toner and calorie burner.  For the record, I’m not as good at it as I was when I was young.  However, I’ll keep practicing.

We had chicken wieners for lunch.  I had mine with some leftover veggies.

We sent out for pizza for dinner because we were busy….we always get a “half and half” and tonight, my half was the “May special” – artichoke, green peppers, red onions, cilantro (sorry Suz) and feta. (normally there would have been mozzarella on it too, but I asked them to leave that off)

The clouds are rolling in, its supposed to be pretty rainy here for the next few days.  The rain part is a shame, but I did think the front moving in looked pretty impressive. (this photo was taken from our deck)

That’s my Monday.  Question of the day?  Who knows how to hula hoop?  Any pointers?   I need all the help I can get… 

Yesterday, the highlight of our day was spending some time with our friends Gary and Michelle. (of Wednesday hand fame)  Yesterday was Gary’s birthday and we celebrated with them.  Gary’s hand has made a guest appearance that rivals his wife’s..

What did we have with the beer?  A wing?  Not just any wing….a wing stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in maple bacon then deep fried.  I had one….and that is likely a meal’s worth of points in itself.  It was worth it.

I also had 2 beer, some of Dennis’ hot wings and a few fries.  Yup….weight watchers food at its finest.  NOT!   But…I ate it, I tracked it, and we move on.

So happy to celebrate with you G-man!!  Cheers to a great year ahead!!

Today, I had a sandwich thin with almond butter (and lots of coffee) for breakfast…

….hummus and crackers for lunch, and tonight….

Our friends Lindi and Jeff came over for dinner.  (here they are looking lovingly at each other. )

Lindi and Jeff brought appies and dessert for our little “potluck”.  Such a yummy plate of appies!

I added these Trader Joe’s finds to the appie dish.  These are good, I’ll buy them again!

Cheers to good friends with glasses of wine.

Neva and Lindi had a ‘stare off’….

Lindi laughed first – well played Neva, well played!

Dinner was baked salmon with Egyptian spice, lemon and dill, quinoa salad with peppers, scallions, grated carrot with Greek dressing and an arugula salad with scallions, strawberries, sunflower seeds, oil and vinegar dressing and fat-free feta.

Dessert (thanks L&J) was some assorted tarts that we all split and tried.

We had so many laughs tonight, our stomachs hurt!  All of our friends that we spent time with this weekend are wonderful, and we’re very lucky!!!

That in a nutshell  is the weekend so far.  We have one more day tomorrow, and hopefully will get up to at least some shenanigans or adventures.  Stay tuned….

BIG BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FRIEND G-MAN!  IT WAS GREAT CELEBRATING WITH YOU! (yes, I’m yelling that! )

Back tomorrow….I hope.

I made us birds in a nest for breakfast today.  Today’s mascot is our androgynous Pat.  We call him/her that because I think he’s a boy, Dennis thinks she’s a girl.

I had a banana during the morning.

Lunch is becoming boringly predictable, I had a sandwich thin (with ham, light cheese, arugula, mustard and relish), some veggies and an apple.

This afternoon, I had a pack of weight watchers crisps.

After work, I walked to my yoga studio and sign up for the next challenge.  Starts on Sunday and I’m ready!  My knees are too.  I think….

On the way, I took a few color shots….

….and then I saw these…..

…and I walked by this park.

Nothing too out of the ordinary?  Not yet….but this little part of a BIG park is going to become a Community Garden!  The city approved the proposal this week.

Dennis and I were part of a community garden for years.  Sadly, it became more of a business than a community venture over time, and some of the folks who ran it took it WAY too seriously.  Being around continual complaining and militant ‘garden commandos” took all the joy out of it, so we left.  It’s not easy to get into the gardens in the city, there are many condo/apartment and tiny townhouse dwellers all wanting to get their hands dirty.  We were in the right place at the right time, and looks like we are either getting a plot or are at the top of the waiting list for this new area.  So excited!!  We may soon be needing one of these funny signs ourselves soon.  Fingers crossed!

As I carried on my way, I got pretty excited when I saw these….

…and more of them…..two adults, and I counted over 30 babies.  Guess some had been placed here, and the adults took them in as their own.  I have NEVER seen so many goslings in one place at one time.  AWWW!

…then the 2 adults gathered all the babies, and voila…..

…DOGPILES!!!!

Aren’t they adorable????

When I got home, we had a super quick dinner of chicken hot dogs and a salad (arugula with croutons, dried cranberries, fat-free feta, sunflower seeds and greek dressing)

SO happy the long weekend is here.  I have an appointment in the morning, so will be doing a “self weigh in” and will get back to weight watchers next week.  I feel pretty confident the scale will go down.  Maybe not by much, but a bit.  I’ll report back.

Now, I have a date with my Friday guilty pleasure ‘Say Yes to the Dress’.  Happy Weekend to all!

I had a few grapes during the morning.

Lunch was almost the same as yesterday, a sandwich thin with turkey and arugula and some veggies. (cucumber, carrot, snap peas and the only thing that made today’s lunch different from yesterday…a few cherry tomatoes)

I had 1 oz of almonds during the afternoon.

And dinner was a veggie burger on a wheat bun with oven “fries’.

I felt like I’m fighting a bit of a cold today (though I’m remaining defiant that it won’t progress to anything) but got some exercise by walking the long way home tonight.  As the title says, there were pops/bursts of colour everywhere.

The first wasn’t just colourful, it was fragrant.  The smell of lilacs takes me right back to being a kid, we had lilac trees all around our yard.  I may not always remember to “stop and smell the roses” in life, but I ALWAYS “stop and smell the lilac” because it evolves nostalgic memories for me.

Lilacs weren’t the only flowers out there.  I know I’ve posted blossom shots before, and I probably will again, but they’re so beautiful I just can’t resist.

Our neighborhood resident sand sculptor has fine tuned his latest creation.  (not particularly colorful, but impressive nonetheless)

There were pops of color hanging in a tree….

…pops of colour on the ground.  (uh oh, hope someone comes back to claim these little shoes)

There was a cute sign that made me laugh….

and some critters……this squirrel’s tail looks like a feather.  Just sayin’…

…this dog’s tail looked nothing like a feather, and was very waggy….

…and if I was very superstitious, I’d be concerned because not one, but TWO black cats crossed my path.

So happy tomorrow is Friday, and its a long weekend for us this weekend.  Wonder what pops of colours I’ll see before then.  Anyone have any big plans for the upcoming weekend?

But don’t worry….Michelle’s hand made an appearance too!  This is her best “look at my free download” pose!   And she wasn’t rolling over when I took this picture.

Before the hand silliness, I had an english muffin, 1 tbsp almond butter and a banana for breakfast.

My lunch was veggies (snap peas, carrots, cucumber), a sandwich thin with turkey and arugula and some grapes.

Later in the afternoon, I had two light Laughing Cow wedges with rice cakes.

Happy to report my bruised, scraped knees are finally healing, and I’m hoping to be back to yoga by the weekend at the latest.  But today, my exercise of choice was a walk.  Does anyone remember the song ‘Smoke on the Water’ or am I just really old????

This goose was unfazed by me walking right beside it.

Where is my little gnome when I need him?

When I got home, I tried a few of these corn puffs that we got in Bellingham.  They are very good….and will likely be on the “buy these” list next time we venture over the border.

Dinner tonight was barbecued pork with two salads made from “veggie remnants” that needed to be used up.  I made a slaw with napa cabbage, a carrot, a scallion and some dried cranberries tossed with Bolthouse honey mustard dressing and we had a cold baked yam in the fridge, so I mixed it with scallion (again), red pepper, half an avocado, a little greek yogurt and some celery.

That is Wednesday, laundry and our little white flipper are calling, and both need attention.  Question of the day….Do you remember “Smoke on the Water”? 

Quite the building in the background, no?  It is a beautiful Ukrainian Orthodox church that regular readers have likely seen before.  It is even MORE spectacular at night when the stained glass windows are illuminated from inside.

There were some lovely flowers on the grounds too.

I also passed one of our favorite neighborhood cats, Sinbad.  I hadn’t seen Sinbad in a few months, and did wonder if something had happened….but he’s back!  Seems a little skinnier, but awwww.

I liked the shadow he cast too.

That is the points of interest for the day, now here is the point friendly menu recap:

Breakfast was same as yesterday, an almond milk/banana/frozen berries smoothie with an english muffin and 1 tbsp almond butter.

I had half a cup of pineapple during the morning.

Lunch was a bento box with cucumber, carrots, pickles, 2 oz lean sausage, 1/4 cup spinach/kale dip from Trader Joes and a pack of rice crackers.

When I got home, I had half a beer (that we got at Trader Joe’s) and we tried some of the Sweet Potato pop chips and Trader Joe’s “Cowboy Caviar” all acquired in our cross border trip a couple of weeks ago.

And dinner tonight was leftover chili topped with scallions, fat-free sour cream and shredded Cabot reduced-fat cheddar.

I may have a little frozen yogurt in a while…but right now, I’m going to wrap this up, hit publish and go and have some quality couch time with Dennis and Neva.  Back tomorrow…..

I have a new and tacky mascot to introduce you today.  Isn’t he dreadfully hilarious?  (I added a little border flounce to make the photo look a LITTLE more appealing. )

This morning’s breakfast was a smoothie made with almond milk, banana and frozen strawberries as well as an english muffin and 1 tbsp peanut butter.

I had a little leftover fruit from yesterday’s brunch during the morning.

Lunch was kale salad with fat free feta, nutritional yeast and grapes – and an apple.

During the afternoon I had some cucumber slices and a pack of weight watchers snack crackers.

After work, I met my good buddy Pat, who lives in Victoria for dinner.  (she and I passed on the ferries on the weekend!  Usually we see each other in Victoria, so tonight was a nice change)  On the way to meet her, I took a few interesting shots….

Can you spot the 4 leaf clover?????

….neither can I!   HA!  Sorry….

This fountain looked pretty….

…as did this “new growth” bamboo.

And tulips with water drops (it rained here for much of the day today) are always worth a look.

We went for Japanese food, and had miso soup and split 3 rolls (a spicy tuna roll, dynamite roll and dragon roll)

We hadn’t seen each other in months, so focused much more on catching up that photos.  We also drank a ton of tea, and pretty much closed the restaurant down.  As a result, it’s bedtime, so I’m just going to hit publish and call it a night.