GTKY Friday 10/25 Edition

2MamazInSeattle

1. What is your favorite fall veggie? Prepared how? Bonus: Link to your favorite recipe.

2. What is your exercise regimen right now? How's that going for you?

3. Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!

4. If you could change one big thing about your home, what would it be?

5. What did you have for dinner last night?

6. Take this test...what state are you? https://science.time.com/2013/10/22/the-united-states-of-attitude-an-interactive-guide-to-americas-moods/

7. Now take it on behalf of you SO...where do they land?

8. Favorite fall/winter dessert?

9. Tell us something fun you did this week or have planned this weekend.

10. How about another PIP! Of anything

ball.and.chain

2MamazInSeattle said:

 3. Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!

Oh wow.  2Mamaz, you are 2Much!  (See what I did there?? )  Just want to let you know I saw this and appreciate it, and that I am ITCHING to answer this GTKY but don't know when I'll get around to it.  Transfer is at 10:15 and I am leaving straight from the clinic to go to Maine, so I'll be mobile and not posting much.  I'll be reading though!

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend.

KH826

1. Favorite Fall veggie is probably squash/zucchini

2. Right now I have no exercise regimen, if I am being honest. I would like to start doing some light exercise, but between morning sickness and first tri exhaustion, it is hard enough to get through the work day most days. Not that I am complaining - don't get me wrong... I hope that I am able to start being more active in a couple of weeks.

3. I love how caring, open and honest Ball.and.chain is. She always offers support to those who need it, she is open with her feelings and shares candidely (which I appreciate), and she does not hesitate to tell us what she thinks. I feel like if I ever needed advice, she would give me her honest opinion, and I value that a lot. GOOD LUCK TODAY!!!!

4. I would pick up my home and move it to another location. I really like our home, and I would like to add an addition to the second floor and stay in the house for a long time, but only if we could put it in a different town/neighborhood. It is not a location where I want us to raise our family... so we will be looking to move in 2-3 years depending upon when we are financially ready.

5. I was very proud of myself that I cooked last night. I made roasted green beans, blackened cauliflower and broccoli and veggie burgers with cheddar cheese melted on top. It was yummy and healthy.

6. So, this test is telling me that I am South Carolina. I don't really like that answer. I am tempted to take it again. HAHA

7. Ok, so I just took it for my wife and it said she is New Mexico. Interesting.

8. Favorite Fall dessert = pumpkin pie; Favorite Winter dessert = gingerbread anything!

9. This weekend we are going to my in-laws house... we are going out to lunch Saturday at this little dive diner by their house that I love, then we are going to a local orchard/farm to pick pumpkins and check out the little general store that they have there (they sell fresh jams, breads, baked goods, and lots of other good treats), then we are headed back to my in-laws and our brother and sister-in-law are coming over and we are making dinner for my MIL and FIL b/c it is their 33rd wedding anniversary today. We haven't spent a ton of family time with them lately, so I am excited

10. Here is a ridiculous PIP for you... I took our dog Reese to be groomed a couple of months ago, and I had planned to run to Home Depot (next to the groomers) after I dropped her off. Well, when we got to the groomers, they told me that the groomer that always does Reese had just called out sick and we would have to reschedule. So I did, which is fine, but I still needed to go to Home Depot, sooo.... Reese got to go on a little adventure. This was her in the cart (p.s. she looks scraggly b/c she was supposed to be groomed that day!) 

wishiwaspreggo

1) Favorite fall veggie: I don't know if it's considered "fall" or not, but I love, love, love grilled asparagus.  I toss it with olive oil, crushed garlic, and a bit of hot pepper seasoning.  Grill it until it's a bit charred and deeeeeeeeeeeelish!

2) Exercise regime: It's SUPPOSED to be the Y 3-4 nights a week but C and I have been sucking really hard at it.  I blame our hectic schedules.  Things will settle down again next week so we'll get back to it.

3) @ball.and.chain is super positive and inspiring!  She's very strong and offers lots of valuable advice/support to this forum.  Fingers crossed so hard for your FET!!!!

4) I would make my house one level.  We live in a townhouse and while it's relatively spacious, the space is divided among three levels.  The biggest advantage is that my extraordinarily vocal (and loud) cat can stay in the basement while we sleep.  It's where her food, toys, litter box, and bed are located so it's quite comfy.  Once I left the door to the basement open and I woke up to her howling on the floor by my bed.  I would never sleep without my basement.

5) We had Chinese takeout last night.  We went to a live showing of the Price is Right (because we're awesome) so we had to eat something quick beforehand!

6) I am Maine.  I guess they don't account for weather preferences.  I think I would die from their harsh wintes.

7) C would belong in Georgia, based on my assessment of her personality.  Which would never, ever happen.  They should list on the question "Where do you fall on the Kinsey scale?" Maybe that would help.  Doesn't Georgia still tar and feather their homosexuals?

8) Anything maple and walnut!  Or my holiday sugar cookies.  They're fabulous.

9) Lots of fun was had/will be had this week.  We got to see a free movie on Wednesday night from our rewards program (About Time), and we went to the Price is Right last night.  Didn't get called up but it was still tons of fun to be in the audience!  We're going to Halloween costume contests tonight, and then tomorrow I'm seeing a Beatles cover band and having dinner with family.  So it should be a good time

10) I'm afraid I have nothing to PIP right now - I'm terrible at taking pictures!

wishiwaspreggo

@KH826 your little doggy is adorable!!!!

doodah1013

1. What is your favorite fall veggie? Prepared how? Bonus: Link to your favorite recipe.
Spaghetti squash for sure! A makes its with turkey meatballs and a light mushroom sauce. Yum!

2. What is your exercise regimen right now? How's that going for you?
I am back to running shorter distance post-half marathon. I am also going to start lifting more weight to try to bulk up my upper body a little bit!

3. Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!
I just love that ball.and.chain is always so patient with folks on the board! No matter what people are worried about or concerned about, I feel like she will give an honest opinion, but is always sensitive about the delivery. I think she is amazing, and have nothing but admiration for her strength and will! Go get 'Em!

4. If you could change one big thing about your home, what would it be?
I would own it! Then I would add a back yard sitting space, and a fire pit.


5. What did you have for dinner last night?
Black bean quesadillas with home made guacamole and fresh salsa.

6. Take this test...what state are you? https://science.time.com/2013/10/22/the-united-states-of-attitude-an-interactive-guide-to-americas-moods/
I scored Georgia... Not somewhere I plan to live any time soon.

7. Now take it on behalf of you SO...where do they land?
I'll let A do this for herself

8. Favorite fall/winter dessert?
Fall=s'mores
Winter= gingerbread people

9. Tell us something fun you did this week or have planned this weekend.
Headed to New York to get married!!

10. How about another PIP! Of anything
Here's a pic of me in "Kid Rock" drag circa 2007 (5 years before A and I were together). Burke (my pup) and I both look a bit older now.

firstcomeslove2013

What is your favorite fall veggie?

I am with C and @herbabymama on this one…Spaghetti Squash is my favorite! I like it cooked any way I can get it! It is the best!!!

What is your exercise regimen right now? How's that going for you?

I agree with @KH826…my exercise regimen is non-existent right now…BUT we just switched to a new gym that I think I will like better and they start you off with 7 free workouts with a trainer so I am excited to get started with that when we return from our legal wedding!

Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!

I don’t think we have had a lot of one-on-one interaction on the board but I like that she is always the voice of reason. I enjoy reading her posts and I am thinking happy and positive thoughts for her today!

If you could change one big thing about your home, what would it be?

I would like for it to be bigger/older. We used to live in this great vintage-y apartment and when we moved to Columbus we moved into a small, updated home. I love the fact that it is a house but I wish it didn’t have such a modern feel.

What did you have for dinner last night?

Black bean quesadillas, carrots, chips and guacamole. C has been asking

for them for weeks and we finally go around to making them!

Take this test...what state are you?

According to the test I belong in Florida!  

Now take it on behalf of you SO...where do they land?

C took it and it said Georgia when I took it for C I got Tennessee…I have a feeling her are both more Northerners at heart ;-)

Favorite fall/winter dessert?

I’m pretty typical…anything warm, carmel-y, with pumpkin in it!

 

Tell us something fun you did this week or have planned this weekend.

I am helping C with a bunch of Halloween programs this weekend and then we are getting legally married on Tuesday (we leave for NY on Sunday)!

How about another PIP! Of anything

Here is a picture of me as a little kid...I was a bit ridiculous!

ball.and.chain

1. What is your favorite fall veggie? Prepared how? Bonus: Link to your favorite recipe.

I love root vegetables in general, so I eat a lot of those in the fall...I especially like rutabaga, beets, and celeriac.  My wife and I like to roast them in the oven with olive oil, s&p and eat with roasted chicken...bonus if the chicken roasts on top of the veggies and they get basted with chicken fat.   We also eat a lot of roasted brussels sprouts.

2. What is your exercise regimen right now? How's that going for you?

I go to the gym 2-3x a week right now and spent 30 minutes on the bike or, lately, 15 walking and 15 on the bike.  My foot isn't up to much more yet.  I do a series of hip/core and foot exercises and stretches at home per my PT.

3. Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!

My favorite thing about b&c is that she's PUPO!

4. If you could change one big thing about your home, what would it be?

I guess I would re-do our biggest bathroom.  The grout in the shower is permanently stained and I hate that it always looks dirty.  The fixtures are also out of date and there is a fish wallpaper border...NMS.

5. What did you have for dinner last night?

Leftovers from the night before: chicken with cider and apples, stuffing, roasted brussels sprouts.

6. Take this test...what state are you? https://science.time.com/2013/10/22/the-united-states-of-attitude-an-interactive-guide-to-americas-moods/

I'm New Mexico.  Weird.

7. Now take it on behalf of you SO...where do they land?

Going to skip this one because I'm lazy...

8. Favorite fall/winter dessert?

My sister makes this cider cream pie at Thanksgiving and she is also making it this weekend.  I found the recipe but enlisted her to make it because I hate making pie crust.  She does a bang-up job!
https://www.lottieanddoof.com/2011/10/apple-cider-cream-pie/

9. Tell us something fun you did this week or have planned this weekend.

Well, like I said I am in Maine with family and some family friends.  We go up every October to make apple cider, which we will do tomorrow.  We also feast...nonstop.  Should be fun, but I wish my wife was here!

10. How about another PIP! Of anything

Well, I just PIPed my embie in the Thursday thread so it seems dumb to re-PIP it -- feel free to check over there if you want to see it!

StacyLH24

1. What is your favorite fall veggie? Prepared how? Bonus: Link to your favorite recipe.

  I love acorn squash.  I would eat it as is after being roasted in the oven.  C likes it roasted with butter and brown sugar. 

2. What is your exercise regimen right now? How's that going for you?

  Hmmm...honestly, nonexistent.  I'm hoping to move the treadmill to the living room this weekend and that will hopefully help.

3. Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!

  I really love all of her positive words.  Hoping for the best outcome possible from her transfer today!

4. If you could change one big thing about your home, what would it be?

  I would like a larger kitchen.  We have just a kitchen and no dining room.  The kitchen is small to begin with, and then add to it a table and chairs.  Oddly enough, the table and chair set I have in there now is much smaller than my original one.  I don't know how I ever did anything in the kitchen back then!

5. What did you have for dinner last night?

  Last night we were on the road, so Burger King provided dinner.  I had my usual, the tendergrill chicken sandwich with no mayo.  I also ate a good portion of a small fry order.  Not the best dinner, nor the tastiest, but it was what was available. 

6. Take this test...what state are you? https://science.time.com/2013/10/22/the-united-states-of-attitude-an-interactive-guide-to-americas-moods/

I got Oregon. 

7. Now take it on behalf of you SO...where do they land?

D.C.

8. Favorite fall/winter dessert?

For fall, I love my Mom's pumpkin pie.  For winter, I make Christmas sour cream cut out cookies from my Grandma's recipe.  I could eat them forever!

9. Tell us something fun you did this week or have planned this weekend.

  Last night a few of us went to the House of Horrors and Haunted Catacombs in Buffalo.  We go every year for C's Mom's birthday.  This year it ended up being me, C, our "hubby" (very close friend) Bill, C's Mom, my sister-in-law, her boyfriend and my youngest brother-in-law.

10. How about another PIP! Of anything

Here is a picture of all of us from last night.  We get a picture taken every year.

 

ATXmommas

1. What is your favorite fall veggie? Prepared how? Bonus: Link to your favorite recipe.

Are brussels fall veggies?  I love making brussels this way -https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/02/brussels-sprouts-two-ways.html.  I've never had much luck roasting them - they always taste too chewy whenever I've tried roasting them.  I also love roasted butternut squash.  Mmmm.

2. What is your exercise regimen right now? How's that going for you?
Prenatal yoga 3x week.  My Thursday class is a prenatal flow class, so it's a bit more intense than my other classes.  I'm trying to make myself walk 1 or 2 times a week - just no fun right now and don't always do it.

3. Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!

My impression of B&C is that she is honest, compassionate, patient, and level-headed.  I can tell what an influence and support she has been to so many people here on the bump.  Wishing you the very best, B&C!

4. If you could change one big thing about your home, what would it be?

Make it bigger!  We are bursting at the seams, but we'll make it work for another couple years until we're ready to buy a bigger place.  The next realistic thing that we are actually going to do is install an over-the-range microwave and backsplash.  We have a tiny kitchen with very little counter space and I want to free up some room for bottle drying.  One of the previous owners of this condo installed a mirror (like the kind that are glued on the walls in bathrooms) behind the stove.  Weird.  They have to take the mirror down to install the microwave, so it looks like Z and I have a little project on our hands!  Uh oh. 

5. What did you have for dinner last night?

Pei Wei.  I have not felt like cooking much (or at all) in the last few weeks, so we're eating out more than we normally do.

6. Take this test...what state are you? https://science.time.com/2013/10/22/the-united-states-of-attitude-an-interactive-guide-to-americas-moods/

Montana.

7. Now take it on behalf of you SO...where do they land?

Utah.

8. Favorite fall/winter dessert?

I'm a chocolate person year round, but I do like pumpkin flavored stuff (though not a big pumpkin pie fan).

9. Tell us something fun you did this week or have planned this weekend.

Z and I had an impromptu date night on Tuesday.   First week in a while that we did not have child birth class, and I got the itch to go out.  Figured we should take advantage since life is about to change!  Throwing my best friend's bridal shower on Sunday, which will be both fun and a little exhausting.

10. How about another PIP! Of anything

Baby Bama

2MamazInSeattle

1. What is your favorite fall veggie? Prepared how? Bonus: Link to your favorite recipe.

Brussels Sprouts! We eat them constantly/almost daily. Fortunately, J loves them as much as I do - and they've been one of my favorites since childhood. I am in LOVE with this recipe which is from Top Chefs' Votaglia brothers and features apples, onions and bacon with a sherry vinaigrette, and it's now a staple on Thanksgiving for our family - and if you are vegetarian, you can take out the bacon.

https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/caramelized-brussels-sprouts-with-sherry-dijon-vinaigrette.html

2. What is your exercise regimen right now? How's that going for you?

I've been a sloth lately. But doing Yin yoga (long hold of what appear to be 'simple' postures ) which is also meditative due to that.

3. Today is ball.and.chain's FET! Tell us you favorite thing or story about b&c!!

Oh I heart ball.and.chain! She is solid as a rock in the good times and bad, and has an honestly and forthrightedness that I very much admire!

4. If you could change one big thing about your home, what would it be?

We love the location and style of our house! We recently considered buying a bigger house, but in the end, J nailed it and said "honey, we are not big house people" - and so we re-fi'd our house and are staying put. My change would be adding a 'master suite' dormer as a partial second floor - bedroom, closet, and bathroom. That would solve a lot for us! Our house is small (990 sq ft) but my dear friend Shirley who lived across the street with me reminded me she raised 3 kids in a house this size .

5. What did you have for dinner last night?

Last night was Brussels sprouts (simple - boiled til tender but still bright green, with butter, salt and pepper); roasted carrots (sliced with some champagne vinegar, agave, salt, pepper and olive oil and placed in the oven); and baby back ribs (made with an espresso rub, and cooked in hard cider - then taken out after 2.5 hours, basted with bbq sauce, and roasted for another 45 minutes in the oven. 

J is 'off the sauce' to lose a few lbs. - so she's not wanting to go out because it's not as fun without drinks, hence I'm cooking more!

Here's the carrots and ribs finishing in the oven..

6. Take this test...what state are you? https://science.time.com/2013/10/22/the-united-states-of-attitude-an-interactive-guide-to-americas-moods/

@doodah, I was Georgia too! Atlanta has a HUGE gay community - but I'm not moving anytime soon!

7. Now take it on behalf of you SO...where do they land?

@ball.and.chain - J was also New Mexico - no wonder we click so well! However, when I did J for her, she landed in Montana.

8. Favorite fall/winter dessert?

I really love anything with cooked apples. However, I make a killer pumpkin pie from the real pumpkin with honey for sweetener. I've made this pie for 20 years now - it's not too sweet which is usually my biggest complaint with pumpkin pie.

9. Tell us something fun you did this week or have planned this weekend.

Yesterday was our WTF appt. after our failed FET on 9/23. I had an in-office hysteroscopy (saline u/s kind of thing with a camera up the ute) - everything looked perfect! We are set for our 12/5 FET and I'm getting a little more excited. Otherwise, super lazy weekend ahead!

10. How about another PIP! Of anything

Spooning kitties! Manny (beige) and his old man pal, Odo. Manny is sucking up here in order to get Odo to lick him incessantly for the next hour - works every time.