Started feeling better on Tuesday.

Doesn’t really solve the low estrogen issue, but it did solve some other things.

I don’t feel 100%, but at least I am not going to sleep at 7:30 pm and I was able to get back to a regular workout and extra-curricular routine!    Sleep and waking my whole body up is still a huge issue, like it has been, but i’m improving in other areas.

I go back to the Endocrinologist in July (soonest I could get) to review labs i’ll do in a few weeks, plus another round of ultrasounds.  This time maybe they’ll look more at the Hashimoto’s, since we aren’t looking at any tests for the adenoma.

On to other things….Gearing up for the weekend.  Dan’s parents arrive Friday night and stay until Thursday morning.  I really like them, although I am still nervous to be around them.  I still get the impression every time I see Dan’s mom that she’s disappointed I didn’t make her son healthy.  He is the only person who can do that.  I learned a long time ago, that I can’t force anything on anyone and while he may eat what I eat at home, he eats 1-2 meals a day out and I do not influence his decisions.

I am hoping for a fun weekend away from work and life’s stresses!  I am sure we will have a great time catching up and taking them sight-seeing on Sunday.

People find my desk amusing for some reason around my office.  To a normal person, I guess there are some odd things in/on my desk.

Yes. I try to be prepared for emergency snacks, food, etc.  Sometimes I forget to replace things.  Seeing this photo, reminds me, time for more pepper!  These two photos are just of one of my overhead bins (I have 3 large ones).  Only one has the food and food stuff in it.  The other 2 actually contain work items.

Olive oil, coasters,  pepper grinder, snacks, utensils, toaster oven pan, drinkware, paper plates, teas, and in the blue bowl there are snacks, condiments, and other random things. Oh and sunscreen, that’s behind my food too, needed to be upright so it didn’t leak.

I also take my reusable stuff home at least once a week to wash in the dishwasher.  I wash things at work, but going through the dishwasher to me makes it seem way more clean!

And then there are my quirky desk-top items.  My good luck 3 legged pig (blogged about him before).   The flamingo is new.  My coworker was trying to make people smile

And my little cove of stuff I bring from home.  It’s not unusual for me to carry a purse, lunchbox, and 2 bags in the am.  I think half the building probably thinks I live at work.  I have a fruit bowl, but I don’t keep fruit in it anymore, because we had a fly problem at one time.  So now it holds random stuff.

What’s in your desk?

Behold, the Mexi-Potato, aka Mexican Sweet Potato?  Nacho Sweet Potato?  Taco Potato?

You get the drift.

• baked sweet potato-halved, break up insides
• taco/nacho fixings (get creative beans, meat, veggies, etc)
• cheese, sour cream-both optional

Dress the potato like you would nachos or a taco.  Broil in oven or nuke in microwave.

My little gem has green onions, green chilies, EVOO, bell peppers, mushrooms, lean and spicy taco meat (from venison this time), Nacho Momma’s Queso.

WW P+ would vary on the size and type of your potato, and the quantity and type of your toppings.  My potato was about 10 P+ and worth every one

They are the first ones in our immediate Austin friends to have kids.  Ironically enough, they are also the youngest in our group.  That baby boy is going to be SO spoiled between all of our friends

Their house is really coming along, you may remember we helped them move in a few months ago.  Momma has nested and the place looks great!

Kristi’s parents really overdid themselves on the food.  BBQ galore.  I wound up eating dinner at 4:30, because that’s when everyone else ate.  Good thing lunch was early!  

They are almost ready with the little guy’s room, just some odds and ends to go.

 We gave them a gift card to Target to finish up whatever they needed.

And a box of Thin Mints!  Kristi told me a few months ago how upset she was that cookie season was over.  I sought out and saved her a box!

Good times, met some new people, which was also fun.  Missed some of our friends that were out of town for graduations, weddings, etc.

Can’t wait for the little guy to be here! I need to get together with a few people to start planning ahead to stock mommy and daddy to be’s freezer with food, since they’ll have no time and energy to cook  Hayjay, Trisha, etc, I am talking to you here! 1 month to go.

At the beginning of the month, Terra lost her long time kitty friend.

Then last week, a few more people I know had bad pet news…

Yesterday, my friend and LUNA teammate Cindy had to put down their long-time dog-pal Murphy.  Mike, Cindy, and their daughter love pets.  They’d had to put down another pet last year and then again yesterday.  They have 1 dog remaining, that isn’t taking the loss well either.

I sometimes think about how Missy and Chanel are older, and I burst into tears, especially if I am talking to Dan about them.  I’ve had them both forever and love them dearly.

I’m a horrible mom. Yesterday I forgot to get the cats food until they were completely out. I was reminded of this when they scarfed the remaining food down so fast, that it caused “gifts” left all over my carpet because they ate too much too fast.  I couldn’t even be upset.  It was my fault and I am lucky to have 2 healthy and happy kitties.

Here is Missy helping me work on Monday morning during the “I have to work from home because we don’t have a front door fiasco.”

She was worn out by time we ate dinner, she worked way too hard!

I wasn’t feeling well yesterday after work.  The muscle and joint fatigue has continued to be a huge issue this week, along with other issues.  Last night I ate dinner and then watched crap tv with Missy.  We cuddled on the couch for a few hours.

Happiness.  I need to remind myself how lucky I am to have them in my life, even if it’s a short while.

King Ranch chicken is one of the greatest things on earth. If you don’t like it, I am pretty sure you should be kicked out of Texas. I cannot believe my sister has always hated it.  One of the favorite things my mom always made when I was a kid.

Recently featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives when Matthew McCoughney and Guy Fieri went to Monument Cafe in Georgetown (down the street from Dan’s office) and learned how to make King Ranch Chicken.  Their recipe and method was very different!  Sounded good, but not gluten free or waistline friendly.

King Ranch Chicken is legendary in Texas.  I’ve blogged it before Here.

I’d been craving it for over a week (since I saw it on DDD on Food Network), but my schedule and other plans didn’t allow me to make it.  I put it together on Sunday, to toss in the oven on Monday evening.  Leftovers planned for Tuesday night, since I don’t have time to cook after LUNA.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Serves – 6

10 oz. cooked, cubed chicken breast
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes (I use extra spicy)
8 corn tortillas, cut into fourths
1 cup shredded cheddar (regular, sharp, or jack)
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup celery, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Methods/steps

Saute onion, garlic and celery in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray until tender. Add soups, Rotel tomatoes and chicken; heat and mix thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Layer 1/2 of tortillas in bottom of dish. Pour 1/2 of soup mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle 1/2 of shredded cheese over soup mixture. Repeat layers ending with cheese. Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover and cook additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Tips, notes, suggestions

• I use Pacific Naturals soups, because they are GF. Campbells, store brand, or others work fine if you don’t have food intolerance.
• You can certainly reduce the amount of cheese or use reduced fat.  Or mix the cheese types.  I used sharp cheddar and Monterrey jack this go-round.
• Dan’s mom likes to use flour tortillas.  I’m not a fan of that method, the traditional way is with corn.  Some people even use tortilla chips.  I like the oven to make the edges and tortillas sticking out crispy, so I don’t do the chips thing either.
• I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot on Sunday and used most of it for this.
• You can put it together the day/night before and just cover with foil and bake when you want to eat it.  I’d recommend baking a little longer if you do that, because the sauce will be cold before you bake it and it may need a little extra time to heat throughout.  It you make it and bake it all at the same time, the sauce will be hot before you put it in the oven.
• Good with mexican rice, salad, beans, or just about anything!
• Weight Watchers Points will vary on the type/brand tortillas, soup, and cheese you use.  As I made it, for 6 servings, it was 6 P+ each.

Talk about a random throw together that worked out great.  I’ve made Mexican calabacitas on the grill before, but this was all indoors, took 10 minutes and tasted wonderful.

• zucchini, sliced length wise, seeds scooped out.  Make the “boat”
• Protein source plus veggies.  Could use meat, beans, or tofu.  I added onions and sausage (chicken and fontina sausage, it’s what I had)
• cheese
• pasta sauce
• spinach

I cooked the sausage and veggies, shoved them into the boat,  spooned on some pasta sauce, then sprinkled with cheese.  I’d originally planned to roast the boats first, but I was hungry and didn’t want to wait that long.  Broiled in the oven until the cheese melted and then served over spinach.  Next time i’ll brown the cheese more.

Super easy and healthy.  That’s RF mozzarella, we don’t do fat free cheese in this house.  It’s always RF or the regular stuff.  Dan loves his cheese and I wouldn’t force the fat free stuff on him.  He doesn’t usually eat zucchini, but when there’s meat and cheese, with an Italian spin, he’s happy.

Versatile recipe, could be made to be Mexican (use salsa and different cheese), Greek (use different spices, meat, and some feta), etc.

The way I made these, they were 6 Weight Watchers Points Plus, your ingredients and modifications may vary the recipe.  I usually try to eat about 10 P+ for dinner, if not more, so there was some EVOO added to mine after they were plated.  Great source of many Good Health Guidelines!

Tuesday it stormed all day long.  Canceled our run and while the core group was happy because no one wanted to get out in the traffic disasters, some were not.  Had to deal with backlash from that.  I started feeling poorly around 2 that day, which only compounded as time went on.  Add in the fact that my usual 30 minute commute took 1.5 hours in the sloppy weather, not happy.  Unplanned day of rest.

Wednesday I woke up weak with a sore throat, chalked it up to running out of Allegra.  All day work conference went fine, got through my first of FIVE presentations in three days.  Mandatory happy hour after work with our 200 guests (which I found out about at 5 pm), got home at 8.  I attempted a run then, and was paranoid the whole time.  Heavy legs and weakness that I thought would pass and never did.

Same old story Thursday.  Same sore throat and weakness, despite more Allegra.  Three more presentations down, all before lunch.  Could barely walk by the end of the day.  I am glad Dirty River Boys at Shady Grove got cancelled due to weather, because I was DEAD.  I lied around and got caught up on work emails and was lazy instead that evening.

Friday, allergies better, but the weakness is not.  I am convinced now that the issues come in cycles.  This is the worst joint and muscle fatigue i’ve had in a while (proceeding weeks were fine or just joints).  I am trying to convince the Dr. to let me do blood and urine tests when I feel this coming on again.

There were positives too, despite how my body felt, mentally I felt GREAT!  Dan is done with classes until the fall.  I got to see many great coworkers from all over the great state of Texas.  Was overwhelmed by the compliments I received on my work from people I’ve either never met or seldom see.  Tons of great feedback on my LUNA events I helped put on last week.

Fingers crossed for a good weekend and getting more strength back.  Yard work and house chores planned, although its SUPER muddy outside and there is more rain predicted tonight.  I need to finish the giant mess I made in our backyard a few weeks ago

Here are a few:

• nom
• yummers
• hubster
• preggers
• yada-yada-yada
• negative (instead of saying no)  It’s especially irritating when my sister or her bf say it in a valley-girl type voice
• boogies, booger, snotties
• any slang word for women’s body parts

Dan and I actually share a bunch that I can’t even remember off the top of my head. I know on a frequent basis, these words are used on Facebook or Twitter and he’ll rant over them and we’ll laugh.
And then there are those words that I make up or use wrong that irritate Dan. Like calling someone “a ghetto”. Like, “OMG, that girl is such a ghetto, look at those shoes!”. I don’t pull that one out often, unless we are at Walmart or in San Antonio.
I can only imagine the words that I use or make up that must annoy people other than him and they just don’t say anything

Monday I finally got around to reading about the specifics.  Race in Williamson County to benefit brain tumor research.  September 9, 2012.

I have to do this.  I am doing this.

I signed up and formed a team.  The team is NOT in my name, I put it under LUNA.  You can join the team here.  Some of my friends and family have joined the team already.  I encourage everyone to consider joining the team.

I do not and did not ever have brain cancer.  I did go to the MD Anderson Center in Houston for evaluation of my tumor.  If you haven’t kept up with my blog updates, Dr.’s have chosen to leave it alone and monitor it with additional tests in June and September for now.  They don’t deny it’s there, but they are uncertain it needs to be removed at this point.

I want to do this event to help others and raise awareness.  Just with my limited experience with the subject matter, I understand the need for more research and exposure for the problem.

More about the beneficiary:

Brain Power 5K is proud to join the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, in their efforts to eradicate brain cancer.

The Brain Power 5K seeks to provide funding to the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation for brain cancer research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as well as pediatric initiatives at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. We wish to create an opportunity for Central Texas to honor those affected by brain tumors.

The Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation is the only Houston foundation funding adult brain cancer research at MD Anderson.