Jaz, wow that is profound! I agree with you. I will have to mull that one over for quite some time.

Re: the Hilton near your work.. that seems like it would get pretty darn pricey, pretty darn fast! I could be wrong, but especially when you allow time for closing that could add 30 days just from when you find a place! How about a airbnb type option? That might be cheaper. Don't know and obviously it is your call. And you've probably already looked at the costs involved.

KMom- Yay for being "stellar!" Love that word!! I am sorry your back is bothering you and hope you can get it settled down fairly quickly.

Blue- Your lazy day sounds absolutely wonderful- to read, be warm, and look out to see snow-- just lovely!! I am surprised that ANY frozen pizza has enough toppings to pull off to be satisfying, but maybe some are more topping-heavy than I remember. We have a place here called Pie Five that I will go and get completely loaded up (it is a personal pizza place, ready in five minutes, to order) and I can get two meals out of it, toppings only!

Lori- Glad you had a lie-in. Probably good to let your body rest some too, to prevent injury. We are warm and rainy here today too. Nice to not have it be so cold, although the INSIDE of my house feels much colder because the heat isn't coming on so often.

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Wedding clothes- I am so just not even ready to think about this yet. I freaking hate dress up events. Now, obviously, I am not going to hate my daughter's wedding, and quite honestly I am REALLY looking forward to the reception. We know how to have fun in our family (plus aunts, uncles and cousins) and we will be dancing (and drinking) fools! So yes, looking forward to it. But I *really* need to wear something that lets me feel comfortable in my skin, and I am admittedly very picky in that area. I have all kinds of sensory issues in regards to clothes, plus personal comfort issues as well. I would go so far as to say that how something FEELS on my body is at least as important as how it looks. An outfit that feels uncomfortable makes me miserable.

So, I'm avoiding the whole thing at the moment. Still time!

So, two cooking discoveries to share:

1) I HATE scrambled eggs. I can choke it down with cheese but literally force myself. Well, I recently read that cooking them low and slow, over like 15 minutes time, made for really creamy eggs. I finally decided to try it and YUM. These are actually good! They don't even need cheese or anything, just salt and pepper. 2 TB of butter in a small pot, two eggs, cook low and slow, stirring occasionally. YUM!

2) Super good chicken wings- my family of four demolished four pounds of these last night in about ten minutes and were looking around for more. Complaints that it was not enough!

Preheat oven to 425 (I used convection bake)-

Mix: 2 TB baking powder, 1 t salt, 1/2 t onion powder, 1 t garlic powder, 1 t paprika, 1/4 t pepper in a ramekin.

Take 3 lbs wings (I had 4 lb) and pat dry as best you can. Put them in a ziplock bag, shake seasoning mix in and seal, then shake to cover wings.

Lay wings out on baking sheets. I used two baking sheets with a silpat on each. He recommends using a wire rack to elevate them. The last time I did this it was AWFUL to clean the rack. These wings were just as crispy without using the rack, so I don't recommend it.

Put wings in for 20 minutes.

Take them out, flip them, rotate pans.

20 more minutes, repeat.

20 more minutes, repeat.

Be prepared for some wing goodness because these were awesome!

I then got a large bowl and put in several TB of melted butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper and smoked paprika. I tossed half the wings in that and then added fresh grated parmesan. The other ones were meant for people to eat plain or with buffalo sauce but instead we kept adding more wings to the butter mixture in the bowl. The boys each had like 8 wings, and I had 6, and Dh had like 6. We were all looking for more! Give it a try.

I rejoined the Y to make steps toward trying yoga and doing some strength training/toning in preparation for September (and also for health and travel.) No initiation fee and 53 dollars per month, month to month. I'm going to go by today and do my first baby strength training.

Tonight is steaks in the sous vide. I feel less intimidated now and more curious, after the pork chops were such a hit!

Have a great day!