Monday Madness — and some exciting news

Another Monday, another hectic solo shift at work. But this week, I managed to get out of there in less than 9 hours — 8 1/2, to be exact. That’s a heck of a lot better than the 10-hour shift of a few weeks ago.

Since I was at the Boyfriend’s Monday morning — and my scale was at my house — I didn’t get a chance to weigh in. But I’ll do it first thing this morning. Promise.

There was exciting news among the craziness, though. I went ahead and got myself a ticket to the Blend Retreat.

I read so many positive reviews of the 2012 retreat that I wanted to experience it myself this time. Plus, the location in Park City, Utah, is perfect, giving me the opportunity to combine a blogging retreat with a vacation to see my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece in Salt Lake City. It’s been too long since I’ve visited — a year at the end of February.

Saturday was a little nutty, too … especially on the eating front. My writer’s group had a board meeting and brainstormers plotting session, which necessitated lunch at Denny’s. I went with a chicken sandwich and veggies for 13 WW Points. Add that to the donut I didn’t need for breakfast, Starbucks and a small movie popcorn when I went to see “Safe Haven” and I had a pretty high-Points day.

Mind you, I didn’t completely throw caution to the wind. I still had a few (very few — like 8) Flex Points left when my week ended Sunday.

That in itself is a victory. There was a time, not so long ago, when I would have let a few less-than-optimal choices spiral into an out-of-control weekend instead of just one mildly bad day.

My Sunday was actually pretty low-key. It started with kitchen time. After Dawn shared a link to No Thanks to Cake’s Lasagna Soup, a recipe from the Food Network’s Bobby Dean (Paula’s offspring) with only 6 WW Points per serving, I knew it’d turn up on my menu.

The soup smelled delicious as it cooked — so good, in fact, that I tweeted about the wait to eat it being pure torture.

When I finally got to dig in, it did not disappoint. It was flavorful, and so rich it’s hard to believe there are only 225 calories in a 1-cup serving.

(And yes, 1 cup doesn’t sound like much. Trust me when I say it’s plenty … and this is coming from the gal who was once able to eat an entire box of Hamburger Helper with no help.)

My biggest problem was deciding whether to eat it with a fork or spoon. I opted for the spoon. It IS soup, after all, even if it is thick enough to eat with a fork.

While I was waiting for the soup to cook, I snacked on a Frozen Yogurt Trail Mix Bar. I made them almost exactly as prescribed (cutting back on a few ingredients to lower the Points value to 2). For my next batch, I’m toying with the idea of using crushed pineapple, bananas, coconut and almonds.

A Tropical Frozen Yogurt Trail Mix Bar? Yes, please.

After lunch, I headed to Starbucks for writing time — and ended up spending most of it catching up on emails and playing on Twitter. It’s not easy keeping my buffer filled. Then it was time for a trip to Target, where I picked up some more toasted coconut almonds and a clearance-priced 2013 calendar, before dashing home to turn off the crock pot so I could go down to the Boyfriend’s.

The slow cooker held chicken breasts that had been cooking all day in tikka masala simmer sauce. (I put them on before I started the soup.) Not sure yet how they turned out, because I haven’t tried them. I need to thaw my cauliflower rice so there’s something to put it over.

I’ve downed enough water to float a fleet of boats today, so I ought to be pleased with the scale.

Nodding off over my keyboard is a sure sign it’s time to stop writing and start snoozing. I’ll catch you on the flip side.