Before we went out and about, I had some mango with greek yogurt, flax seed and dried mango for crunch.

And I had my first almond milk latte in weeks.  (it was much fluffier when I made it, but I got distracted before I could take the photo, so it looks a bit deflated)

We then set out to meet our good friends Lindi, Jeff and their boys at the park by the farmers market. On the way, we passed a couple of garage sales.  A new mascot was purchased, you’ll see it in the next few days.

This sign was cute.  ”Smell the Flowers” and there were no flowers in sight.  There were flowers on the sign itself, but I can tell you from first hand experience, they weren’t very fragrant.

And we saw a City of Vancouver parking authority giving a tree a ticket.  Funny…  Not so funny if you were the owner of one of the several CARS he’d ticketed right before this.

I liked this flower.

On the way to the market, we walked by a dog park.  The dogs were having SO much fun.  We hope to have a dog one day….don’t tell Neva.  (kidding)

Dogs and ducks played in harmony.

And the ducks were feasting.  Bums up!!

We had a little walk through the market.  It was BUSY!!!!

We “doctored” up this sign for fun….Dennis put his hand over the word “dog” and pointed to himself – “Keep your husband on a short leash”.

We then met up with the gang.  There was some serious ball throwing and baseball playing.  OK…not very serious at ALL!

Uncle Dennis was a hit, he attempted to fix a broken scooter wheel….

…and gave EXCELLENT swing rides.

So much fun to hang out with our friends.  I’m sure there will be many more swing rides and ball games over the summer!!  :)

Dennis and I then buzzed around running a couple of errands.  When we got home, we were a bit hungry, so had some light swiss on rye crackers.

And we split a beer.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on our deck with a view like the photos below.

And I had a few handfuls of these, which were bought on a whim in the grocery store today.  They are officially “not gross”.  (actually, they’re dangerously good)

After much lazing around, reading, relaxing and trying to conquer “word mole” we made dinner, which was a piece of grilled beef, a cob of corn and a salad made with spinach, blueberries, light feta and sunflower seeds with light ranch dressing mixed with bbq sauce.

And we had a glass of white wine.  This was my art shot taken while I was cooking (which was meant to highlight our dragonfly solar deck lights).

There is my recap of Saturday.  Lots of sun, lots of fun and lots of R&R.

After I hallucinated while looking skyward, I had a bagel thin with light butter, strawberry jam and a coffee.

During the morning, I had the same snack I had yesterday, a cup of raspberries.  Same snack, different mascot.

Today’s lunchtime saw the return of my beloved kale salad.  I hadn’t had kale salad for a couple of weeks, and it tasted really yummy!!!  (any kale support groups out there?  I think I need to join – I’m addicted).  I massaged the kale with a bit of olive oil and apple cider vinegar, and topped it with nutritional yeast, a bit of light feta, grapes and a few sunflower seeds.

Later on, I had a mini corn muffin and tea.

When we got home, Dennis and I split a new beer.  This one was Whistler Brewing’s Chai-Maple Ale.  Sounds weird, but it was very tasty for a dark beer.  More “maple” than “chai”, and not sweet.  It was tasty, but for some reason, it made me crave pancakes!

Dennis made dinner tonight, chicken sliders with yam oven “fries”.

We also had a glass of alcohol free Rose “wine” that we found last week.  It’s good actually, better than the fake white wine made by the same company.

And I finished off with a mini Maxim dark chocolate bar.

I’m now going to follow Neva’s lead.  Not that I plan on sleeping in a box, but I’m going to put my feet up, relax and have a quiet Friday night.

I hope everyone has a good weekend, and to my U.S. readers, have an excellent LONG weekend!!!!!  Bring it on!

I’ve heard of the Clint Eastwood movie by this name MANY times, but I’ve never seen it.  And I’m not going to talk about it in today’s post.  Today, my little container garden provides the backdrop for The Good….

….the Bad (the basil plants are NOT happy)….

….and the Ugly.  This plant is weird.  There, I said it!  (and we also need to scrub moss off the deck – ugly!!)

That aside, here is a quick recap of today’s “getting healthier by the day” meals.  Breakfast was a bagel thin with strawberry jam.

My morning snack was 1 cup of raspberries.

I had lunch with my work buddy Carli today.  While I was waiting for her, I made an attempt at an “art shot” in our little tatami room in the Japanese restaurant.  (I know, my career aspirations as a soy sauce photographer may not come to fruition! )

I had a bowl of miso soup….

….a California roll, spicy tuna roll, and mini “BC Blaze roll”.

Later in the afternoon, I had one of the leftover mini corn muffins from dinner last night with a cup of tea.

When Dennis and I got home, we each had a glass of white wine and shared a couple of ozs of light swiss cheese.

We used the grill to cook dinner tonight.  We quickly cooked some fast cook pork chops and brushed on some barbecue sauce. (yay for grilling weather!)

How fun is this little brush I used for the sauce??  (I have NO idea where the actual bbq brush we have is.  I wonder if it was tossed at the end of last summer)  I could almost call this a “functional mascot”.

We served the pork on a grain mix (brown rice, wild rice and barley) with some steamed snow peas on the side.

Thursday, check!  One more day ’till Friday.  We don’t have a long weekend here in Canada this weekend, but I’m excited for the two upcoming days off.  Hope your week is winding down well!!!

I was fluffing around with our wireless router this morning (it was acting up) and spent a little too much time fixing it and not making breakfast.  As a result, I picked up a low-fat cranberry muffin from a local coffee shop, and was at my desk on time.

I had lunch with my friend Sally today, who kindly stepped in as “Wednesday Guest Hand” in Michelle’s absence.  Thank you Sally!!!  Peace!  :)   The hand posed with my turkey sandwich with a salad.

It was one of my colleague’s birthday today.  We had cake, and I had a little square (complete with the “y” from the word Birthday in icing).

After work, I made a big step forward…well, a few steps.  I walked a few blocks to our local grocery store, did a bit of shopping, then Dennis picked me up.  I couldn’t have done that this time last week, so I felt really positive that things are moving in the right direction.   While I was waiting for Dennis to get me, the sky looked dark and foreboding so I took a picture.  (not that this is the most interesting photo ever, I just needed an excuse to use the word “foreboding” )

Shortly after this photo was taken, the skies opened up and it POURED!!!   Which was followed by this…..

When I got home I tried one of the new Coors Light with Iced Tea.  Hmm…I think this’ll be excellent on a very hot day, but don’t think we’ll be getting them on a regular basis.

We had turkey chili and mini corn muffins for dinner.  I topped the chili with fat-free sour cream, a bit of light cheese, a piece of avocado and a chopped scallion.

And we finished off the day with a Mini Magnum ice cream bar covered with very dark chocolate.  They have 150 calories, are tiny so they are excellent for a portion controlled treat, and are delicious!

In honor of the beautiful rainbow I saw tonight,  I leave you with a Wednesday Word of Wisdom.

Here is my “too sexy” look – photographed under my desk at the urging of my friend Suz.  My foot in a sock and the protective shoe propped up on a box with a cushion on it.  Yup, TOOOO sexy!!!  Not….  (the sock is protecting a big blister, as well as covering up my less than attractive Technicolor bruises that are healing – you’re MOST welcome for that TMI moment)

This was my first full day back at work.  I can’t say I’m not tired and my energy is low tonight, but I made it.  Is it the weekend yet???  Kidding, kidding, kidding…sort of….

On another note, Oscar the Grouch, today’s mascot posed with this morning’s breakfast – a bagel with strawberry jam.

Speaking of strawberries, I had a few for my morning snack.

I didn’t feel like making lunch today (and we really need to get to the grocery store) so I bought a spicy tuna roll and a california roll for lunch.  It was “ok”.

I met my friend Melisa for a quick coffee after work.  I had a skinny vanilla latte.  Great to see you Melisa!!!!  (she and I will be going back to weight watchers in a couple of weeks – its been a good break, but I’m actually missing our meetings and feel pumped to get back on the point counting track)

Dennis and I split a Ginger beer with dinner….

….which was leftover mini turkey meatballs in blue menu plum sauce, peas and brown rice.

Neva has called a family meeting now, so I’d better go and attend.  What is on her agenda tonight??  Silly….  More tomorrow….

Pretty quiet day around here today, so this will be a relatively quick and non-photo filled post.  We had a statutory holiday here in Canada today.  We’ve been going full force for the rest of the weekend, and today, I felt REALLY tired as a result.   (I’m obviously still not back to myself – getting there though) We had toyed with the idea of seeing a movie, but decided we’d stay home and be cozy.  It was a foul, rainy day today and movies can wait.

Neva wanted to play with “feather on a stick”.  Actually, she wasn’t interested in the feather at all, it was “all stick, all day” for her today.  Love the way she’s holding it so that we couldn’t take it from her.

Breakfast this morning was a bagel with strawberry jam, a few blackberries and a coffee.

Lunch was rice cakes with light cheddar topped with Branston Pickle.  I’m hoping to make my own mock-branston pickle this summer when the local crops are affordable and plentiful.

Later in the afternoon I had a few almonds and dried cranberries.

We toasted the end of the long weekend with a glass of Skinnygirl Margarita.

Dinner was COMPLETELY thrown together with everything in the fridge that needed using up.  I cooked a bit of whole wheat pasta and mixed it with some leftover tomato sauce from the freezer, the last of the chicken that we barbecued a couple of nights ago, some spinach, grated carrots, scallions, basil from our deck and the last couple of tbsp fat-free cream cheese.  For a “put it in the pan and hope for the best” dinner, it was really good.

There you have it.   Quiet Monday.  Now, I’m off to watch the series finale of “House”.  Hope everyone’s weeks have started out well.

We were too stuffed from last night’s dinner party when we got up this morning, so no breakfast was consumed at home.  We had coffee..but grabbed an oatmeal date square on the ferry mid morning for a snack.

For security reasons, boarding passes for every crossing have a “code word”.  Our morning trip was the “Halibut” trip.  Funny…

Here is a shot of the ferry we boarded, and the overhead ramp we walked on to get on the boat. (if we go for the weekend, we drive on, so this is an unusual view for us)

Here are a couple of pictures of the crossing.  I didn’t take many.  Why?  I discovered the “Word Mole” app on Dennis’ Blackberry.   Oh dear…I’m hooked.

My parents picked us up on the Island, and we went for lunch in Sidney, which isn’t far from the ferry terminal.

As you can see, Dennis was in a serious mood.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!

I had a Blue Buck beer with lunch.  We photographed it with the solar powered waving Queen Elizabeth that was part of my Mom’s gift bag.  Funny!!

CHEERS!!!

My lunch was the “Egg Benedict salad”.  Salad with ham, poached eggs and a bit of hollandaise.

I also had a pineapple colada juice, which was pineapple (no kidding!), orange juice, coconut milk and ice.

After lunch, we went for a hobble down the pier by the restaurant.  Even on a cloudy day,  Sidney is nice.

I like this diver sculpture.

We weren’t alone on the pier.

We almost missed this statue at the end of the pier.  AWW…someone gave him a flower!

Dennis and my Dad had a good walk and chat.  I like this photo.

It seems that crabbing is common here…..and I REALLY want to go back some time and try crabbing myself.  (you can rent the traps)   Only male crabs that measure a certain width (not sure exactly how big they have to be) can be kept, females and small crabs go back in the water!

This is a female (you can apparently tell by the “diamond shape” on the chest. Who knew??  Well, I didn’t)

Before she was tossed back into the ocean, she was flipped over for a photo call.

This lady caught a male crab, but he was too small to keep, so he was sent back into the water too.   He was MAD….you should have seen his little pinchers waving around at us.   Poor little fella!

Sadly, we had to turn around and come back home.  What a fun (albeit short) visit.  We were on the “maple” sailing on the way back.

And here we are docking…right back where we started from a few hours earlier.

When we eventually got home, we had a glass of wine and a spanish torta with some hummus.

Neither of us felt like cooking tonight, so we sent out for pizza.  My half was my standard grilled veggie.

It’s been a VERY full couple of days, and tonight I’m feeling my post-surgical limitations.  I have enjoyed getting back to normal, but I have to admit, I’m feeling very tired.  Tomorrow is our bonus long weekend day, and my plan is to do more relaxing that “going” and it’ll be great.  Would love to hear what YOU got up to this weekend!

First thing this morning we got up early to plant our planter boxes on our deck.  This is me with bed head and my hands in dirt.

And Dennis giving new life to our containers, while wearing a “Killers” t-shirt.  Hmm….

Here are a few shots of some of the final results.

When the plants were in, we had bagels with strawberry jam and coffee.  The toaster “ate” my bagel before I did, it was a bit broken.

We then helped out our neighbors below us and looked after their little 8 month old Paxton while they had an errand.  My ovaries don’t “twinge” over kids too often, but I have to say, Paxton is one of my favorite little babies, and I’d steal him if I could!  Kidding of course…but seriously, get ready to “awwww”.

After babysitting, we went and got passport photos taken because it is time to renew, and Trader Joe’s is calling.  OMG…the photos are AWFUL!!!  REALLY awful!!!   Look what happened when I showed Paxton, the photo frightens small children!!!

So joking, but NOT joking about the photo being absolutely horrifically terrible.  I look like an aging terrorist with a bad dye job and 19 chins!)

On a brighter note, we found two more terra cotta warrior statues in a 2 block radius when we got our photos done.  3 down…not sure how many to go!

After a couple of other errands, I needed to elevate my foot and we were hungry, so we zipped into a little Mexican cafe.

We had beer, complimentary chips and salsa, and I had a soft pork torta.

THEN….we went home to prep our dishes that we took to our friends Janice and Alan’s place for dinner tonight.

Janice christened their new Vitamix by making slushy Whiskey Sours.  Cheers!

We had appies of hummus, cucumber and wraps with kale, caramalized onion, roasted garlic and sharp cheddar.

Then came the cooking of the main course.  Alan is a personal chef (he’s actually “The Invisible Chef” – we don’t have the heart to tell him we can actually see him!! )   It was a barbecue feast – chicken satays, wings (2 kinds), and thighs as well as some pork tenderloin.   We made an arugula/goat cheese/cranberry salad, there was eggplant, sliced tomatoes and cilantro rice.  I also had a glass of wine.

Dennis made a very cool fashion statement!  Funny….

Here is the gang, Janice, Alan and our friends Ken and Karen.

Here is my plate.

We made a “sangria sundae sauce” for dessert.  (I found it in the book 1,001 Low Fat Recipes).  It is made of pineapple juice, red wine, cornstarch and a squeeze of orange juice, heated, thickened, then fruit is stirred in.

It was served with fat free vanilla frozen yogurt.  I also had a bite of loaf that Karen and Ken brought.

I’ll definitely make the sauce again, but next time, I think I’ll put some ginger in, use a stronger, drier wine, and MAYBE add a splash of brandy.  It needed a bit more “oomph”.

I’m REALLY tired now, and we have a big day tomorrow too, so will close this off quickly.  Hope everyone’s weekend is going swimmingly!

My last half day of work started with a bagel topped with contents of the last jar of last summer’s strawberry jam and a coffee (not photographed).

While we were eating breakfast we noticed Neva intently at the wall.  Had she gone mad???

Nope….she spotted this spider doing a walkabout.  We removed him to the deck and assume he is happily nestling in our kale.  :)  (I thought the pattern on it’s back was beautiful)

Dennis came and picked me up early afternoon.  I’m still a week or so away from being strong enough to walk home but things foot wise are going well.

We had to run a quick errand and found one of the many terra cotta warriors that are this year’s “art in the city” exhibits.  We’ve done whales, bears and eagles already…guess we ran out of native wildlife and have moved on to artifacts from another part of the world.

Our goal is to have our photos taken with as many as possible before they are sold for charity at the end of the summer.  HOPEFULLY my cane won’t appear in many more photos.

We decided to go out for lunch and made a healthy choice.  NOT!  I know this is a “healthy living” blog, I lost over 30 lbs (though have pretty much held steady for nearly a year now – and I still have about as much to lose again) so today’s lunch reflects the “balance” part of living a healthy life, not the healthy eating part.  :)  We went to the Red Onion, a diner institution here in the city (and on the way home).   We started with a beer.  Dennis had a lager, I had a cream ale.

I took a picture of the light fixture above us while we waited for lunch.  (notice the neon red onion?  Cute..)

Here is our lunch, I had a hot dog, Dennis had the “manly burger” (yes, it’s really called that, and he is manly) and we split a half order of yam fries and a half order of onion rings.  (at least they were HALF orders…I guess)

It was delicious and was worth every point/calorie.  What a treat!

We whipped quickly to Home Depot (again) to pick up a couple of things and our flowering plants for our deck.  Here are our finds.  Can’t wait to get them all planted and share photos.

One more stop before we made it home to elevate my foot (which as I said, is doing pretty well, but it was getting pretty puffy by this time).  Where did we go?  Through a car wash.  I attempted “art shots”.

And look at the vehicles we were driving beside….an old dodge and a grilled cheese food truck.  Fun!

As you can see, when we got home Dennis was indeed manly like his burger and  fixed the new planter boxes to the deck.

We also decided that tonight was a perfect night to crank up the bbq after a few months of rest.  We had a whole chicken, so I “flattened” it and cooked it whole.

Look what happens when you say “sit” to a chicken, like you say “sit” to a dog.  Such an obedient chicken!  (Silly….I wonder if there are still some of the surgery drugs that made me a bit crazy in my system….this would indicate that is the case!  Why else would I prop a chicken up on a coffee mug, pose the wings “just so” and say sit??)

Now “lie down”.

Dennis was manly AGAIN and placed the lying chicken on the grill.

Near the end of cooking time, I slapped some bbq sauce on the chicken.  Don’t mind the burnt sauce on the foil…here is the chicken when done.

We had the breast meat with a caesar salad made with fat-free dressing, light parmesan and whole wheat croutons. (and there are tons of leftovers for the weekend)

I also had another glass of white grape juice de-alcoholized wine.

There is a distinct possibility that I will have a frozen yogurt bar in a while.  But I’d like to get this published and get a little R&R.  I hope all of you have a great weekend, whether it is long or short!!!

I had to take a cab home after my half day of work today because Dennis had an appointment and couldn’t come and be my chauffeur.  It was a lovely day so I asked the cab to take me to a park four blocks away from our home, and I ate my lunch in the sunshine.

I thought it would be a win/win situation, some quiet sun and a little walk before getting home to elevate my foot.  The lunch I was packing with me was this turkey sandwich.

And because I am childish, I took photos of these hedges on the little walk home.  A couple of years ago, these neighbors trimmed their hedges in this rather rude pattern – but over time let them be more natural.  Seems they’ve had a change of heart and have gone back to the phallic shape.  Whatever floats your boat I guess!  :)

Yup, I’m a 15 year old boy sometimes…..there, I said it.

But I also LOVED the color of this rhododendron.  Believe it or not, the blooms in REAL life were even more vibrant.  GORGEOUS!!!!

Later in the afternoon, I had a few of Dennis’ baked chips.

I’m still not having any desire for REAL wine, so I cracked open this bottle of de-alcholized wine.  It actually doesn’t taste like wine at all, its white grape juice.

Dinner tonight is this leftover pasta with turkey sausage.

It is Thursday night as I write this, meaning tomorrow is Friday, which makes me think of the movie “Thank God It’s Friday” which makes me think of Donna Summer, who died today.  The first time I EVER danced with a boy (who wasn’t my brother – not that my brother and I danced much) was at a school sock hop to Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff”.  Am I strange?  I remember the song, but can’t remember the boy’s name for the life of me.  Oh well…he probably couldn’t remember me either.  RIP Donna Summer!!!