Just. Breathe.

  Day 1 is done and I'd call it a success. No coffee, but I survived.   Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with turkey and spinach, couple of strawberries and handful of raspberries   Lunch: Paleo chicken salad   Dinner: Smoked pork loin with zucchini noodles, and a couple slices of bacon as they came off the grill   Throughout the day: 2-3 raspberries at a time (I'm addicted), a small handful of almonds, unsweet tea.      We just got back from walking the dogs, and even that little bit made my knee twinge. I'm not supposed to ramp up the exercise this week, but I'm going to do something each day to try to get some strength back in this leg. All in all, a successful day 1. I wasn't TOO cranky (it was Monday, after all) but I am going to bed shortly -- about an hour earlier than usual for me. That's one of the goals - to listen more to my body for waking and sleeping. Right now it's telling me to go to bed!

I'm planning. I'm planning a meal. I'm planning a special meal for special people. I love this. It's not like I only plan special meals once a year. But when it's time to do it, I just get this warm fuzzy feeling of joy. A few weeks ago I got to do it for a group of girls staying the weekend, and it was just as much fun. This will be for Easter and my mom will be here. Brisket? Chicken? Both? What kind of bread? Oh, and sides! Don't think about dessert yet. I'll browse known and unknown recipes, thinking about what works together and what sounds fun to make. I never used to do this. I remember the first Thanksgiving I hosted at our house. I was a wreck. I made Mom come in two days early to help me figure out what I was doing. I had the wrong kind of cornbread for the dressing, and I don't know how anything was actually finished in time to eat it. I think that was about 7 years ago. I've gotten a little better since then, I hope. The cooking is ...