weekend in review

This weekend I went to New Hampshire to see my nephew graduate college (first one is his family).  It was a very tiring weekend, but exciting.  I was so happy to see my nephew graduate.  I have to admit I was tearing up when the processional started. It was a mixture of pride in him, happiness at seeing him achieve this big accomplishment, and knowing how he was feeling as he walked into that stadium in his cap and gown. (If you ask him, he'll say he was bored and the ceremony was long, but I know he was feeling good.)

It took me 5.5 hours to drive up Friday night, rather than 3.5, due to traffic.  Luckily I made it to the restaurant in time to have dinner with everyone.  I had a French onion soup (my favorite soup!), but didn't eat the crouton.  Oh, how I miss that crouton!  I ate the cheese, though, so I was OK with it.  I also snagged some of my sister's lobster meat.  (She eats like a bird, so now we could actually split a meal and still not finish it.)  I had a sip of my other sister's margarita and that satisfied me.  It's still strange to me to go to a restaurant and just have soup while everyone else chows down on apps, drinks, a meal, and dessert.  But this is my new life and I chose it.  Makes eating out cheaper, at least.

After graduation we went out to lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse.  It was good.  I ordered the steak tips with onions and mushrooms, and a side of mashed potatoes.  I ate all the potatoes and just a piece or two of the steak.  The rest of it came back to my dad's house with me (I got two more meals out of it!).  I was going to order an appetizer, but the only thing that wasn't fried or didn't have bread with it was the spinach dip, and that's full of fat and calories.  Then I was going to get chicken tenders, but I'm getting tired of those.  They seem to be the "old standby" when I go out to eat now, mainly because restaurants almost always put them on the appetizer menu, which makes it cheaper (I've become a total cheapskate since surgery).  I almost ordered the blue cheese burger, but didn't want to waste the bun or the fries.  Eventually I'll be able to eat more.  Until then, I'll need to become OK with wasting food, or I'll have to stick to a few dishes when eating out.  Or order things that reheat well.

I'm happy to report that even though I was away this weekend and ate out a lot, I still lost 2 pounds!  I'm getting really close to 100 pounds lost.  I never thought I'd come this close to 100 pounds in less than 6 months, but it's happening.  I recently went through my old clothes and was able to pull out some and wear them.