Lots of Good News

I have so many things I want to share, and I don't want to forget them all, so for this Friday, a quick brain cleanse with bullets:

• Alex and Kate both got straight As for 2nd semester of their respective freshman years! I mean, this is not a surprise but it's still mighty impressive, and wow, it's fun to be a parent and get to be proud of your kids for being hard workers, and smarty-pantses.
• Kate made the high school JV Volleyball team (tryouts were this week)! This relieves the sting from last year's disappointing result, for sure. It's going to be a fun fall season. I want to remember this, from the coach: She told Kate she was really impressed, that Kate had clearly worked on all the things she told her to work on last year, and she said, 'You proved me wrong.' !! Validation. And commendation because Kate did, indeed, work REALLY hard this year.
• My company hired a new General Manager and he seems nice enough... We'll see. There are some people who "only give him 6 weeks," but I'm hopeful it will be a good change.
• I have been told multiple times what a good job I'm going in my new role. I've had to admit out loud, to both the new manager and others, that it really has been hard. However, I'm starting to feel like I halfway know what I'm doing, and when this higher-up told me he could see that I'm more relaxed, and confident, THAT was a boost of confidence.
• Shawn closed on the sale of his mom's house! Huge weight lifted from him! Of course it's a mix of emotions, selling the home he grew up in. But he has worked so hard on all the paperwork and lawyer discussions and dealings with banks etc., and I'm so proud of him. It's been hard to sit on the sidelines but since I wasn't named an executor, it really was kinda all on his shoulders. 
• My mom's two procedures, a knee injection-in-lieu-of-replacement, and a carpal tunnel surgery, are both DONE and hopefully will be successful for her! Less pain is very much YAY. I'm so happy my sister and brother-in-law got to be with her this week to help her while she recovered.
• I just had a huge win at work, getting rid of a project that was an absolute albatross around my neck - the people affected were agreeable to it and I'm SO relieved.
• Kate was confirmed at church 2 weeks ago, and it was a JOY-FILLED 2 days, with her cousin -- the daughter of her godparents, incidentally -- coming to stay with us and serve as her Sponsor. I would love to write more eloquently about how I felt that night at the church, but I don't know if I can articulate it. We were surrounded by friends (kids and parents from her St. Joe's class of 9 years), a former neighbor and longtime church member who had known her since she was tiny, surprising her with a sweet card, PLUS having family there from out of town... it was a holy moment, indeed. My heart needed to feel that full, and it was so good.
• (And now for a complete shift,) I have done 5 full days of Intermittent Fasting (16 hours fasting/8 hours eating window) and it's not that hard, and I feel pretty good, like it's already a helpful thing for me. The book I ordered about it should arrive today. I am excited to delve a little further, and feel optimistic. The doctor/author seems to know her stuff, and says this way of eating helps not only weight loss, but all the other things as well. It reduces risk of disease, inflammation, blood pressure, etc etc etc. Snake-oil? We'll see, but I'm willing to give it a go.
• The weather has been lovely the last several days! I just had lunch on the front porch with Alex and it was cool, breezy, and I think I'm going to finish my workday here as well. 
• It's about to be a 3-day weekend! I hope you have something fun planned! We don't, really, but I am so grateful already for the day off, and for it being summer!

Cooking, and (More Important,) Eating

A friend of Shawn's had been ordering meals from EveryPlate, so we got a discount from them and opened an account. We've received 3 or 4 boxes, each with 3 meals inside. Mostly we've been only mid-whelmed. Not over- or under. The meals have been fine. (Only one that really didn't turn out well, a potato-corn chowder that I didn't even share with the family. I made it for myself, for lunch one day with plans to freeze it in lunch portions. I think I didn't like it because I didn't cut the potatoes small enough or cook them long enough.) 

Anyway, it's not that interesting, except to note that EveryPlate has the same parent company, or is the same company as, Hello, Fresh, to which we formerly subscribed. EP is supposedly less expensive, and I think that's been true. I do enjoy having to buy less on the weekly grocery store run, when a box is delivered. That's a plus for sure. However, this last time I didn't cook one recipe in time and the veggies went bad. 

Overall it's a thumbs-sideways. I'll cancel eventually and then look forward to the million emails and direct mailers/discounts trying to persuade me to come back. 

I'm not in a season of cooking every night, though, that's for sure! Kate's practice schedule, and Shawn's schedule from Jan - Mar, had us scattered to the winds about 4 nights out of 5 during the workweek. I have bought a LOT of Chick Fil A this schoolyear. And Chipotle. Those seem to be our go-to take-out choices. 

BTW, at Chipotle, I have tried, and like, their plant-based Sofritas. It's tofu, but delicious. I don't care for the amount of chicken those Big Burrito places feel is necessary; it's too much chicken! 

When I was in Germany, I once again ate delicious Schnitzel and Kartoffelsalat. And now I feel I need to learn to make them both, for my kids' heritage's sake.

So, what's been on our menu this week? I'll tell you. 

M - Chick-Fil-A After Kate's May extracurricular: Beach Volleyball! 

T - EveryPlate pork soft tacos. These were good, there just wasn't a TON of flavor. But this was one that called for a long green pepper, which went bad, so I had to use a regular red pepper instead, and that might have made a flavor difference. We did enjoy having soft tacos - usually when I make tacos, it's Old El Paso hard shells (the best!), but these thick flour tortillas were a nice change-up.

W - Homemade Pizzas. Kate and I had EP veggie/BBQ/pineapple Flatbreads, technically, and Shawn had pepperoni on naan. 

Th - Tonight I plan to make White Bean Chicken Chili. Haven't had it in a lonnnnnng time. And I think today is the last day before it heats up significantly (properly! this Spring has been too cold so far!), and chili is for cold weather. 

F - Helpie Selfie or leftovers.

S - Out, in Athens I hope. We're going over there to bring back a first load of stuff from Alex's dorm room. He moves out next week! I can't believe his first year is already done!