Situation, Resolved

I think I've been pretty lucky, all the way around. I recognize that this isn't the case for a lot of people attempting to lose weight and make a lifestyle change (DIET. DIET DIET DIET!!! Argh. I feel so PC when I say Lifestyle change... )

I'm in a fairly controlled environment. Much like the traditional white laboratory rat.

I'm a housewife. With a pre-school aged child. Without access to a car. Without lots of real life friends in the area.

You can't get much more controlled than that.

I don't get unexpected leftover birthday cake in the company office. I don't have co-workers with mini chocolate bars on their desks. I don't have to go out for business lunches. I don't even have loads of friends who show up on the weekends and want to go out for drinks.

My husband's doing this lifestyle change with me, so I don't have to contend with fixing one meal for him and one meal for myself. (The way my mother always did, except what she did was fixed him dinner and didn't bother to eat her own dinner for days at a time...) My daughter? She's so much of a not-sweets-aholic that she's still got most of a bucket of Halloween candy left over. (It's perched on the corner of the top of my desk, but most of the time, it doesn't tempt me.) My husband does the grocery shopping with me, so he'd know if I gave into an impulse buy and brought something into the house that we shouldn't eat.

I do a lot of my non-grocery shopping on line. I love the convenience of having something shipped to me, and then I don't have to go to the mall and fight with crowds and lines and not finding what I want. And thus, don't have to walk by the Aunt Annie's pretzels, or the Cinnabon, or whatever it is that smells good. I don't even watch a lot of TV... (have you ever noticed that they don't show those dreamy, slow food swirl type commercials for broccoli? Just cheeseburgers and ice cream and ... well, you know the drill.)

I really don't deal with temptation on a regular basis.

This makes me very lucky.

On the other hand, it does mean that when I get a craving, it's an actual craving. (As opposed to an environmentally created impulse.)

Last week, I desperately wanted ice cream. And not just any ice cream. Cold Stone.

So, I looked it up. For a Like It size, most of the Cold Stone ice cream runs from 8 to 10 points. Mix-ins can run from 1 to 5 points each. The Love It size is ~16 and I don't even like to think about 23 points of Gotta Have It! (For the record, I never ate a Gotta Have It. I usually got the Love It size...)

I mentioned it to Thomas. More than a few times, I'm pretty sure.

Finally, we decided that if we'd been really good this week, we'd go get some... since we couldn't save up points during the day for an indulgence, we'd have to use our WPAs. So, we did.

Both of us got the same thing, dark chocolate, no mix-ins in the Like It size. 8 points.

Was it worth it? Absolutely.

I enjoyed every single bite. And I ate it very slowly.

Did I love it enough to wear it? (That's my leader's motivational thing, when she's facing an ice cream, or a cookie... of course, Beth also sprays her leftover food with Windex before she throws it away because - she admits this - she has been known to fish something OUT OF THE TRASH to eat it. She says you can't wash it off. That she knows this... worries me. Just a little bit.) Not really.

But I didn't have to. I'm down another pound this week. (Thomas is down 2 pounds this week.)

Would we have weighed in at less, if we hadn't had ice cream? Probably.

Does it matter? No.

Situation; Resolved.

The Outerbanks (On less than 30 points per day!)

On February 21, 1998, Thomas and I got married. We celebrated 10 years together by spending a few days on the outerbanks region of North Carolina. Rather than getting a hotel, we decided to rent a room at one of the local bed and breakfasts; it being the off-season, the rates were entirely reasonable, and the room was (as you can see here) quite lovely. And comfortable.

The room had a king sized bed and a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom big enough for two...

Before we left, Thomas and I had given ourselves leave to eat our 35 weekly flex points if we wanted/needed to, but we were determined that we could (and would) spend the weekend ON PLAN.

We'd taken Darcy up to her grandparents on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon (after some in town shopping), we headed down to North Carolina. We had no particular plans for what we were going to do, or where we were going once we checked into our room. Despite that, I came armed with our Complete Food Companion and the Dining Out Companion. (As a note, if I had something to complain about on these two books it is these two things: A completely and totally incomprehensible organizational structure. I'm talking Heroes Unlimited Players' Guide levels of (dis)organizational structure. - ok, someone out there thought that was funny, and the rest of you are just blinking at me... but trust me, it's a condemnation - and that the books assume that if they don't think you should eat something - like most desserts! - it's not in there. Let's be perfectly serious here... I'm on bloody vacation, yes I'm going to EAT DESSERT! At least once. I'd like to KNOW how many points there are in a peanut butter and chocolate pie, because I'm going to eat a slice. Ok, this has gotten overly parenthetical and if I had the grammar sense of a gnat, I'd move it to it's own paragraph.)

We got into North Carolina a little sooner than expected, so we wandered around for a bit, checking out a few of the local shops that were open (if we'd wanted more to do, we should have waited until March, as a lot of things were closed for 'the off season'). Thomas was a saint all weekend, as he followed me around a bunch of kitsch shops without complaint. Finally, after wandering all over a massive shop called the Cotton Gin, it was late enough to go check in.

We checked into our bed and breakfast - our lovely hostess, Laura, is trying to sell the place and made me feel mildly uncomfortable every time we talked to her because she was constantly stressing how she did not want to do this anymore... eyeroll!! so I felt like a massive inconvenience for her, which I resented a little bit because hey, I was paying her $75 a night - and spread our stuff out over the room. After that, we tested both the jacuzzi and the bed - it was our anniversary, after all! I could really, really get into having a jacuzzi, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. It was quite lovely.

Our hostess recommended Coinjock Marina as the 'best restaurant in town'. The directions we got were very southern, rather confusing, and completely accurate. It constantly amazes me how that happens. ("The road sort of bends real sharp-like and then it's just a skip down a ways.")

Thomas and I had eaten lunch at Olive Garden (Soup, salad and breadsticks plus the sugar free chocolate cake split between us for 10 points) and by the time we got out to dinner, I had 13 points left to spend, plus I'd done my workout earlier that morning, so I had some activity points to spare. We got the fish special, tarragon salmon and ate half of it (honestly, we should have split the damn thing) for 3 points, a side salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing (1 point), 2 hush puppies (4 points) and split a slice of peanut butter and chocolate pie (~6 points each). That put me at - 1 point for the day, easily cleared by my APs. The salmon was quite good; the hush puppies were tasty, just enough to satisfy my desire for them and not too many to tempt me unduly; and the salad was a little less than impressive...

What is is about restaurant salads, anyway? You get one of two kinds, I've noticed: the kind with a few wilted lettuce leaves which are not cut well for bite sized bits (anyone who cuts lettuce for salads ought to be forced to eat it in public!) 2 onion rings, three halves of cherry tomatoes, and a slice of cucumber or the kind that's loaded with croûtons, olives, cheese, and ham bits and costs as many points as your damn entree. There are other vegetables in the world, people... Would it be so painful to make a side salad with lettuce, tomato, onion and bell peppers, carrots, broccoli or cauliflower bites? Seriously... it's annoying.

Anyway... one of the things I keep reading in all the inspirational success stories goes along these lines: "After a few months, I found that a sugary dessert just didn't taste as good, and I'd rather have a nice piece of ripe fruit." I keep wondering if that's going to happen to me. It hasn't happened with cheeseburgers, or fried foods, or peanut butter and chocolate pies. Oh, it was just orgasmic... We split the pie to bring its ~500 calories and lord knows how many grams of fat into some sort of reasonable line. I estimated 12 points for the entire slice, but it might have been as many as 16. That's ok, I had the APs and WPA to spare.

The next morning, we were up early (well, early for Thomas, who makes sleeping late on weekends an Olympic sport) and headed out to do some touristy things.

We drove down to Kill Devil and visited the Wright Brothers National Monument for a few hours. It was rainy and a little bit cold, but most of the displays are inside. We got there just in time to catch a film about the 1901 gliders and the 1903 engine driven plane. The film had a brief lecture in it about trigonometry, one of the few areas of math that I'd ever particularly enjoyed, and I found it very interesting to discover that yes, there are things in real life where math is useful. I'll have to remember that when Darcy gets old enough to complain about algebra...

After the film, we walked over to the other building and listened to a lecture from the park ranger. By the time that was over, the rain had cleared up enough that we felt reasonable certain that we could tour the camp site and go up to see the monument. And boy, did we walk... we walked out to the replica cabins where they stayed while testing their gliders and planes, and then we walked all the way down to the end of Test Flight Four (852 feet, 59 seconds). Did you know, after this test flight, the brothers and their crew were so excited, talking, on the way back, that they didn't secure the plane immediately, and a gust of wind flipped the whole thing upside down and tore it to pieces? Can you imagine what that must have been like? They flew almost three times the distance they had planned for (their goal for the engine-driven plane was 300 feet) and just after they'd made such a monumental success, the wind destroyed their plane.

Of course, having walked all the way out there, we were then obligated to walk back... and then decided to climb the last remaining hill to see the monument. That was a bit more difficult, as the hill is fairly high, and the walkway is pretty steep. (When the government was trying to build the monument, they had to constantly reinforce the hill, since it wasn't a real hill at all, but a sand dune, and they don't take kindly to being solidified) I was a little winded, and had to stop from time to time to catch my breath. Still, four months ago, I wouldn't even have made the attempt. Thomas would either have gone up by himself, or restrained himself and stayed with me.

... the sand fairly blinds us. It blows across the ground in clouds. We certainly can't complain of the place. We came down here for wind and sand, and we got them."

Letters from Orville to Katherine Wright, October 18, 1900

Up at the top of the hill, the view was just spectacular, despite the rain. Some of the local color wasn't quite so; for whatever reason, Thomas and I seem to have invisible tattoos on our foreheads that say "weirdos please talk to us" or something. A local couple was up at the top of the monument and insisted on babbling at us for a good ten minutes or so. Telling us about their recent wedding and they live just down there, and they met at the centennial celebration back in 2003 and they came up here all the time, and wow, those are some really nice coats you have, where did you get them... blah blah blah. I'm happy for you, could you shut up and let me take my pictures?

We walked back down the hill, and then went to grab some lunch. There were loads of restaurants, but a lot of places were closed for the season, didn't open until 4:30pm, or were things like Applebee's and Outback. Not that there's anything wrong with those places, but honestly, we're on vacation. I don't want to eat someplace that's just down the street from where we live!

I spotted a small place called Front Porch Cafe, but unfortunately, that was just a coffee shop and bakery, and while I'm sure the muffins were delightful, I didn't want to spend the points on them. The barista, however, was kind enough to direct us to a local restaurant, Chili Peppers.

It had a very local feel - quite cozy, tacky decorations, waitresses who chew gum and call everyone "hon" and greet at least half the patrons by name.

Thomas got a fish sandwich and fries and I got a tuna bamboo steamer with Parmesan cheese and vegetables. The meal comes to the table inside the steamer, vegetables on the first tray in, the fish on the second. The cheese and butter were in small dishes, which gave me excellent portion control. For vegetables, I had broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, and onions, flavorful and in generous portions. I added a little of their restaurant brand hot salt and went sparingly on the melted butter. The fish was delicious, and although slightly more than a portion size, I didn't feel too bad about leaving some of it on the plate. Lunch for me? Five points (and included one milk serving, and two vegetables).


We got out of lunch around 2:30 and headed further south to Roanoke Island to the aquarium. The lady at the ticket desk attempted to sell us season passes, on the theory that our passes for their aquarium could get us into the Norfolk Zoo and other attractions in our area. Thanks lady, but if I'm going to spend money improving a local aquarium, it's going to be for OUR local aquarium.

That being said, their aquarium was quite a bit smaller than the one we usually patronize, but it was quite nice and we wandered around for almost two hours before finishing our tour. They had a really great exhibit called Aquarium Confidential which showed some of the work behind the displays... you could see some of the newer members of the zoo (baby alligator!) and a mock vet's office, plus educational information about the aquariums themselves; the feed and care of sharks, octopuses, and river otters; and other insider looks at the operation of such a facility. You could use a computer simulation program to design your own habitat and see a representation of your design. Quite fun.

We headed out just before the aquarium closed for the day and headed back to our bed and breakfast. We stopped to shop at once of the hundreds of Wings shops (ok, I'm exaggerating a little bit. There are only 9 Wings in the Outerbanks area. But we drove past every single one of them!) and bought some t-shirts. It's mandatory, you know... you must buy a t-shirt. Or two. I mooned over some tie-dyed hoodies for a while, but they didn't have any that were in my size that were in a color I'd be caught dead in. (I will not, under any circumstances whatsoever, wear a pink and black shirt. Just say No!)

After we took note of the proliferation of the Wings shops, we noted that there were several chains like that, Wings, Forbes Taffy, Sunsations, and North Carolina Hammock... we passed one of those shops every block or so, most of the way from Roanoke Island all the way up to Ocracoke. Just in case we decided we needed more t-shirts! There were also several mini-golf adventure places (closed until the season) and we made preliminary plans to come down again later and do at least one of them... they looked fun!

We got back to the bed and breakfast and I took a nice long soak in the jacuzzi while Thomas watched TV, and then we went out for dinner. The Currituck BBQ was right down the street from where we were staying, and I'm a huge fan of pulled pork. Thomas had half of a half slab of ribs, and I had a pulled pork sandwich with a little coleslaw on top (9 points for the sandwich... a little steep, but we had gotten in a load of APs for all that walking around).

The original plan had been that we'd go see a lighthouse before we headed out on Saturday, but it was raining harder than ever and the temperature had dropped from the fifties (in which rain is not entirely intolerable) to the high thirties (tooooo friggin' cold). Also, my legs were complaining drastically about all the walking, so we ate our breakfast (English muffin, little cream cheese, orange juice, coffee, half a melon and some strawberries - 6 points) and headed home.

We had a lovely vacation, did some cool things, and ate well, but sensibly... ten years is just the beginning of our marriage. Two months, just the beginning of our healthy lifestyle...

A Couple of Firsts

First things first. (Damn, is that ever the stupidest saying, and for the life of me, I can't seem to stop saying it... first things first. Well, no duH, really? Like, who ever puts the third things first? Doesn't that just make them first things? ANYWAY!!!)

Yesterday I finished my 30 minute workout DVD from beginning to end for the first time.

I didn't do all the steps - there are a few things that the instructor does that I can't quite figure out what she's doing, so rather than do them, I watch the DVD and do v-steps or step-touches with swim arms. My feeling here is that it's not really what moves I do, so long as I'm moving that's really important. As I get better at the steps, I can do better steps, but for right now, just getting up and doing movement is the most important thing. Also, I don't 'walk it' with the video. There's a really limited space I have to work with in the living room and even moving three steps left and four steps forward, I'm going to bump into something. So, I stay in place. But I march in place when everyone else is walking, so that's ok too.

When I started doing the video - that'd be the 25th (only a week ago?? astonishing) - I only did Warm up and most of the first Circuit. The program is divided into 5 segments: Warm Up, First, Second, Third, and Cool Down. Warm up is about 5 minutes, the circuits are about 7 minutes each, and cool down is three. So, despite the fact that I counted it as a 20 minute workout, I probably only did 12 minutes the first time. That's ok, too. I haven't been eating those APs, just listing them. The second time I did it, I got Warm Up, First, and part of Second. The third time, I did Warm Up, First, all of Second, and thought about Third. Yesterday was only the fourth time I actually worked out; and when the Intensity Check came up, I thought I was doing ok. Still sweating like crazy, but I sweat when I'm just sitting around, so I didn't worry about it too much. I was breathing hard, but not out of breath. So I thought I'd go ahead and do a few minutes into Third. Oddly enough, I didn't think about it again until we got to Cool Down. At which point, I was like "Jeez, may as well finish it at this point."

So I did.

I didn't feel bad when I finished it either - well, mentally I felt great! But I mean, physically. The first time I worked out, I went and collapsed in my computer chair afterwards and asked a friend of mine on line if I had her permission to die. (I figure if I ever actually get someone's permission to die, I can take it...) This time, same friend, she asked me how I was feeling:

Lynn-worki whew!
Lynn-worki whole workout!
Jeanne YES!!! You go! All 5 (6?) parts?
Lynn-worki all five. warm up 3 circuits, and cool down
Jeanne Ah,, okay. I was thinking it was 5 and cooldown, my bad. Go you! How do you feel?
Lynn-worki is now known as Lynn
Lynn ok... wish it wasn't raining
Lynn we're probably not going to do our walk tonight because of the rain, but I'd like to anyway.
Jeanne Ditto. Although at least it looks like it's not icing anymore. (Listen to me: icing. It sounds like there should be sugary pink stuff dropping from the sky)
Lynn pretty good, actually... I'm a little warm. I wish the cooldown was just a smidge longer. I can feel the muscles relaxing, but they didn't get quite there. I did a bit more grapevine after the dvd was done

I think that's a big improvement over "Can I die now?"

We did, actually, end up walking later. It was a very funny sort of non-argument with me and Thomas.

Me, "You want to skip the walk tonight, so we don't get rained on?"
Thomas, "No, but you did your workout. You can stay here."
Me, "Nah, that's ok... but if it rains on me, I'm going to be mad."
Thomas, "Fair enough."

Most of the way home, Darcy jumped in a mud-puddle and got cold, muddy water all over her pants, my leg and down into my shoe.

Thomas, "You know, you didn't have to come with."
Me, "Bah, I can't slack off if you're not."
Thomas, "Spouse, you're not slacking off. You did your workout. I stood around all day and yelled at some electricians."
Me, "I think I'll stick with my workout, thanks."
Thomas, "Yeah. Me, too."

I do have some smallish complaints about the workout DVD, but hey, it was included in the Getting Started kit, so it's not like I picked it out. First thing is, it's quite obvious that this is not the first workout in the series, because the instructor says a few things that make me think she expects me to know what a few of the steps are by name (No, I can't figure out what a rock-step is... and it took me a while to figure out what a grapevine was...). Secondly, while all the women in the video are supposed to be "Afters", I'd really love to see someone doing the workout who was a "During." For me, it's a bit discouraging to look at all those toned bodies (especially that blonde girl with her perky smile and pointedly perfect boobs) and NO ONE is breaking a sweat (I know, I know, they were filming it, so someone's going around and moping up everyone's forehead regularly because sweat doesn't look good on film...) Eventually, I think I'll want to pick out my own workout, but that'll be a while.

After our walk, our friend Portia came over. (She was my bridesmaid in our wedding) Now, understanding Portia would be an exercise in futility. I had, actually, decided that she's not a very good friend. In fact, she may very well be the worst friend I still have. Remember I talked about people who walked all over me? Well, she's definitely one of them. She fell out of our lives a few years back when Thomas and I were undergoing some serious finance problems and couldn't treat her to dinner every time she came over. She showed back up about 18 months ago or so, when she and her illegal alien boyfriend got pregnant and she was broke as all hell.

I tried to overlook it really, but it did eventually become undeniable. She comes over right around the times in the month that her paycheck is overloaded, and she's hungry. I could accept this without too much quibble if I got something in return out of the relationship. But she never listens to a word I'm saying; she's just waiting for her turn to talk again. She makes terrible work and personal decisions, bemoans about her fate to everyone, and refuses to change it, or to make better decisions.

Fortunately, she's moving away. Not far, really, but far enough that we probably won't see her regularly anymore. I'm just going to let the distance be the distance, rather than sit down with her and explain that I think this friendship isn't one, and maybe it would be better if she not expect so much from us anymore.

Which is all beside the point: the second first. (Wow, that sounds even stupider than first things first....)

Usually when we go out with Portia, we go to an all-you-can-eat place. It is the most economical way to fill her up... because I do FEEL BAD for her that she lives well below the poverty line and that she's hungry a lot. I do know what it's like to be hungry - I used to be dirt poor and living on $11,000 a year (before taxes). I vividly remember days of playing "which bill gets paid this month?" Juggling phone and electric and gas just enough so that they maintain the delusion that I'll ever actually pay the bill off and they won't cut the power. I did live without a phone for several months because I couldn't afford one.

Thomas decided he wasn't up to that level of challenge. I'd done my research ahead of time, and knew at the Golden Corral what I would get, and I saved points for a buttered roll (5 points each!). But for naught. We tried the Applebee's again, but the parkinglot was packed, so we ended up at TGIFridays.

We hadn't been there in a while, but I was pleased with their menu options. They'd made some big changes to their offerings, and there were a few Low Fat items on the menu that promised 500 calories and 10g of fat (what's low fat about 10 grams????). Thomas got the mahi mahi and I got a cobb salad (which wasn't listed as low fat, but hey, I'd already looked that up before, and it's 10 points without dressing, which is the same as 500 cals... ) We split an appetizer four ways (Darcy had one, me, Thomas, and Portia helped herself to one as well...) which was ok, since a quesadilla lists at like 6 points for one...

I'm guessing that I spent ~15 points, broken out this way: 1/4 of a quesadilla for ~3 points, 1/2 the cobb salad for ~5 points, ~3 points for 2 tablespoons of cilantro lime dressing (that was listed as low fat in the options, but the only thing I could find that came close was pretty high in calorie content...) and 1/3 of the angel food cake/chocolate roll for ~4 points.

I ended my day with 2 points to spare, but I figured they'd make up the fudge factor if I counted my dinner incorrectly.

So, to reiterate: I completed my aerobic workout for the first time. And I faced the challenge of eating out without any trouble.

(Now, damnit, scale, you'd better give me something back!)

This Splurge Interupted by Snow... We now return you to your regular diet

Honestly... you save up points for a good splurge and what happens? You end up driving home early with a cranky toddler through blinding snow, to get home to nothing but rain and eat three pieces of pizza and end up spending only one flex point on it.

Hmph. And somehow, I'd had it in my mind that I'd eat something tasty and sinful and lovely and use up some of these weekly 35 points that I just keep managing to not spend.

And... I had a handful of vegetables and fruits while I was over at Leigh's and maybe 4 points worth of cheese cubes... and I'd expected to go out to dinner with 'the gang' and have something lovely that I could come home and have kittens about how many points it was... and...

It started snowing. Weird, that. And it KEPT snowing. Finally, we left, not really more than two and a half hours after we'd arrived. Not so much because I was worried about the conditions of the roads but more because Virginians can be really stupid about weather and I didn't want to end up driving down in snow in the dark. Just past the tunnel, snow turned to rain (much to Darcy's dismay... "I want my SNOW BACK" she howled in complete misery)... and Thomas started commenting that we could order out...

So we got pizza. 1 pizza, where we usually get 2 pizzas and breadsticks and chicken strips with sauce... and we each had three pieces, adding up to 18 points...

I'm only down -1 point for the day... and somehow... I'm just not impressing. I don't feel like I've cheated, exactly... but I do feel sort of let down.

Eating Adventures Outside the Home

So...

We survived our first time 'eating out'.

Of course, we cheated. Not that way, mind you, but in making our lives easier. We went to Applebee's, which has a deal with Weight Watchers and offers a full page of menu options (only one dessert, tho, boo!) that already have the points value figured up.

I did some research yesterday, however, before we went. My normal favorite, the Chicken Fajita Rollup, wasn't too bad, clocking in at 5 points per half, with another 4 points for 2 tablespoons of the mexi-ranch dressing. The problem is, the dressing is mostly what I get the sandwich FOR, and I usually eat most of my fries by dipping them into the dressing. And while I could probably get a vegetable in place of the fries, I still thought the dressing might be too much for me to resist.

Thomas asked me what the points value would be for his normal - the Cowboy Burger, Onion Rings, and a dessert. Of course, most restaurants don't post their Nutritional Information, so what I came up with was a 'best guess.'

7 points for 8-9 onion rings
21 points for the cheeseburger
12 for chocolate mouse

Ouch.

We decided not to order the things we usually got, even though we both had plenty of Flex Points left over.

I got Confetti Chicken (7) with a side of steamed broccoli, and Thomas got a bowl of French Onion Soup (3), Portabello Mushroom Chicken Sandwich (7) and then we both had the Raspberry Chocolate Cake (4) as a dessert. I really enjoyed the chicken... it was just mexi enough to satisfy my southwestern thing - although I could have really gone for a few lime wedges to bring a little zest to the rice and broccoli. The broccoli was, at least, not overcooked, nor dredged in butter. I ended up using the side-salsa to dip the broccoli in. The portions were good-sized too. Just enough to be one serving, although I miss the idea of having something to re-heat for lunch today.

Thomas said that his soup was good, although the low-fat cheese was a "little rubbery", and he was not really happy with the sandwich, although he said some mustard would have helped the situation enormously, but our waitress was not great about coming back with any frequency.

I was pretty impressed, too, with our friend Toby, who came with us to dinner. Toby's always been thin, and he's one of those weird sorts who never had to unlearn bad habits (well, at least as far as eating goes). As far as I know, he doesn't actually like soda, and naturally eats carrot sticks as snacks (from some other planet, really). He's also religiously inclined towards not eating bacon cheeseburgers. This being the case, I was sort expecting a snarky comment or three from him, as he's got a sometimes brutal sense of humor, but he was actually very encouraging.

So I had a rather pleasant evening, came in under my points count by 1, which while I'm not recording it as a net-even for me with my mathematical error the other day, mentally I am happier with my goof.