South Beach Day 5

Not being one to break tradition, it was eggs again this morning with a nice side of turkey bacon. Megan brought a lunch consisting of turkey, cheese, light mayo, and lettuce wraps. She found this great hydroponic lettuce at Trader Joes that stays good for a long time due to the root system being left in tact in a specially made plastic container. For dinner she made a great Indian style dinner, sans bread.

I attended two community events today. I had high expectations for one and low expectations for the second. As it turned out, my expectations were opposite of the results. The TMACOG walking tour of Lagrange Street, starting with the Ohio Theater was a disappointment to me (no, not because of the rain). The only thing nice I saw about the street was exactly that, the street, curb cuts, sidewalks, and trees. The walk was led by two city councilmen (Kaps. and Ashford). I think they did a good job, but I really didn't see how they could consider this the most pedestrian friendly commercial district in the city. Especially considering the constant heavy truck traffic, probably in part due to the metal scrap yard a few blocks further up Lagrange. The businesses looked very run down and shabby, and I didn't see anything appealing about that neighborhood or business district. I really feel that the Walk Westgate project would have more chance of success at commercial investment and a high degree of civic participation.

The second event was the Open Source Software Panel Discussion, held at UT's Engineering auditorium. The caliber of discussion leaders, combined with the terrific turnout (~250?), really surprised and encouraged me. It made me proud to be UT Engineering Alumni, and also proud to work for Pilkington. Our CTO Bill McCreary was the originator of the project, though many others contributed to its success. Beforehand, I really thought the issue was passe, and that the prospects of getting good discussion would be difficult. But really I have to say I was impressed and got some great perspectives from the talk. Bill Hilf from Microsoft joked that he would be the pinata at the party, but his explanations were some of the most pragmatic and useful. Jerry Mayfield from Novell was also on the ball with new perspectives.

South Beach day 4

Breakfast was an egg, cheese, and asparagus omelet. Lunch was a large salad including various sliced lunch meats and cheeses. Dinner was this great grilled chicken breast with ricotta cheese, salad with cucumbers and peppers, and jello for desert. Both of us have remarked that we have plenty of energy and are not craving sweets like we used to...though I'll be happy when we start eating some whole grains again.

South Beach Day 3

Today we had eggs with lean turkey bacon for breakfast. I couldn't stomach the veggie juice, so some crystal light had to do. For lunch I had a roman chicken salad from Quiznos. Dinner was steak (free range) with a bell pepper salad and broccoli. Snack was ricotta cheese flavored with cocoa, it tasted so much like ice cream!

I went to my first PTO meeting tonight for my son's school next year, Grove Patterson Academy. I met some nice people and am looking forward to joining them in making the school better. They announced that the school will be rebuilt on existing grounds, just further back in the vacant land. I actually like the layout and exterior design of this school. It reminds me of something Frank Lloyd Write would have designed. It is very symmetrical with art deco elements to it. The interior space is run down though, and I can see that it would be expensive to update the mechanicals and style to something more modern. Also the space must be too small considering the temporary trailer class rooms off the rear of the facility.

South Beach Day 2

Megan is very good at planning things out, especially when it comes to recipe's and grocery lists. We are on portion control, but luckily she is a good cook. For breakfast she made these quiche like cupcakes, with eggs, cheese, and veggies. Lunch was a salad from Subway. Dinner was salmon, salad, and asparagus. Snack was jello, plus she had portioned out sugar free snacks for discretionary use throughout the day. Surprisingly, I didn't go to bed hungry!

weekend log

Friday was spent working from home, overseeing the new gas line installation. I have to say Ron from Alternative Plumbing did a great job on it. Mom picked up the kids around 5 so Megan and I had the evening to ourselves. Saturday was the big garage sale. One man's trash is another's treasure...we sold a lot of treasure! The rain held out until 2pm, by which time we had so little left we just moved it all into the garage. Sunday we went to Ann Arbor for church, and the bi-weekly run to Trader Joes. Now that the spring semester @ UT is over, Megan has more time to cook. She would like to try out the South Beach Diet. I foolheartedly agreed to join her for moral support. I guess I should have researched more about what I was getting into. The first two weeks are brutal, we'll see how this goes...

weekend log

Checked out the new Westfield addition Friday night. We were going to catch the 10:30 show of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but realized we missed that boat when the speaker came on at Borders saying it was now 10:45! Spent Saturday visiting the various mothers/grand mothers. Had a picnic and a walk at Wildwood with Megan and our kids on Sunday.

weekend log

Saturday we spent de-cluttering the house in preparation for the mega-yard sale coming up in two weeks. Sunday we headed north...church in Ann Arbor. They had a May pole set up. We couldn't stick around because we were off to the Timberframe Expo at the Pontiac Silverdome. Those Lindal Cedar homes are just plain rad! Also, I've seen some real nice homes in magazines lately from Riverbend Timberframes, and here to find out there in our own back yard (Blissfield, Michigan).