So...whats for dinner?

The lab stool I used had wheels so it could be rolled around, but putting 5 or 6 pounds on the seat would make the (non slip) feet come to the floor. So, it would roll, but not slide around when I sat in it.

My son (who's not a member) went to Costco for the eye exam but then used Warby Parker online to order 5 pairs to try on, choose, and mail back for free.

Dinner last night was takeout, picked up from Indie Cafe, a combination Thai-sushi joint. Tom Kha soup (coconut broth, veggies, chicken breast), house salad (romaine, mesclun, avocado, red cabbage & carrots), and the "Omakase" sashimi platter: 2 pcs. ea of snapper, hamachi, halibut, tuna, salmon, shrimp, and spiralized daikon with mizuna leaves. Bob's entree was a salmon-papaya poke bowl with brown rice. We'll have the leftovers tomorrow night, since we're going out to Mon Ami Gabi for my 70th birthday dinner tonight. We have tented-heated-patio reservations, but the city started allowing limited indoor dining today. Still gonna request the tent--my nail tech went the other night and said it was warm enough.

Thanks! It is. Not often that my actual birthday coincides with Bob's night off and the good restaurants are open! Bittersweet was that last year we celebrated a night early at Everest, which is no more.

Tonight was the leftover 1/2 of my steak, seared scallops and mixed roasted veggies.

Happy Birthday, Sandy! Sounds like you had a nice BD dinner! 🎂🎉

Last night's dinner was white bean and lentil soup out of the freezer. It was good once again.

A pork butt roast is thawing to be roasted for dinner.

auntie - "geezer hour", lol!

chisandy - Happy Birthday! Your dinner sounds like it was special!

Currently watching the Buccaneers/Packers game - well, kind of. DH is actually watching, I am occasionally checking in because if I watch the Bucs lose. Not sure what dinner will be but made some pasta salad for lunches this week with adds of salami and mozzarella to the tri-color fusilli and lots and lots of veggies. Also cooked some salmon to make some salade nicoise for DD and DH this week - I had a plethora of eggs from DD's backyard farm so hard-boiled quite a few, and also had the other ingredients on hand.

minus - good to now about the OTC hearing aids coming - DH has documented hearing loss - mainly caused by many years of flying combat aircraft exacerbated by some depressurization episodes, but it is not enough for the VA to provide aids for free - he just had a hearing test and falls into their "normal" category, which is hearing loss that is not too severe. That made me question why he can't "hear" me, and what is his excuse now, lol! He has ADD, although never tested for and confirmed - DD has it and they are exactly alike. I suspected that he could hear me but was focused elsewhere, or was so busy planning what he was going to say that he just wasn't listening, due to the ADD. It is somewhat amazing that he is able to get through the work day as superbly as he does because he is juggling many issues, but he is really tired when he gets home, and has been for years - this is why. In any event, I think he would benefit from hearing aids but if he can get them less expensively, that would be great.

It has been grey and foggy here all day so there is a lot of chili simmering on the stove. Will have corn bread to go with.

Re hearing loss DH has a notch loss right in the female voice range. It was identified in the 90s but hearing aids at that time wouldn't help as they magnified all sounds. With the advent of digital hearing aids that can be "tuned" he has been helped--still doesn't always hear me but then I don't always hear him!

Back in 2004, after a cold I caught on a flight home, I awoke with a unilateral SSNHL: my left ear heard pitches nearly a quarter-tone flat relative to my right, and for a week or two, unamplified stringed instruments--even my most expensive guitars--sounded tinny and watery, like a cheap Wal-Mart electric guitar that wasn't plugged in. Only microphones and amps got me through a weekend worth of gigs and a recording session--and I had to leave a folk festival after my set because all the string-jams were torture to hear. Listening to recordings, it was like the vocals & instrumentals were in separate keys.

Two ENTs were useless: one young one said he didn't see any ear infection so "it must be something with your cochlea." (Which I already knew and was why I saw an ENT in the first place). I found a neurotologist who scoffed "you're a musician--you're too picky about pitch." He ordered a brain & ear MRI, and told me I had Meniere's, even though I wasn't dizzy or nauseated. He gave me a diet sheet and then went on a cruise. I Googled like crazy, and posted on every musicians' forum I could find. One directed me to an audiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, who gave me a link to an article in The Lancet about SSNHL; he also prescribed a playlist of specific recordings to listen to over headphones, sitting and lying down in precise positions to "retrain" the auditory nerve and part of my brain to process pitch & timbre more normally. He also had me tweak my stereo's graphic equalizer so that the left had the 5-12K range boosted slightly.

The Lancet article mentioned a "cocktail" of a prednisone dose-pack, vinpocetine, manganese, quercetin and alpha-lipoic acid, to be taken during a "window" of 7-24 days post-onset. By the time the MRI came out (supposedly) normal (the neurotologist never bothered to mention the extra blood vessel abutting my internal auditory canal, which my most recent ENT determined was causing my pulsatile tinnitus) and the neurotologist had returned from his cruise, it was day 23. I had been taking the supplements the audiologist prescribed, to no avail. I nagged him till he grudgingly phoned in the Medrol Dosepak 'script, which I filled and began taking immediately.

Two days later, my hearing had nearly normalized and I could start gigging again. Another four days, and it was as if nothing had ever happened. Postscript was that when I finally--after pandemic-caused postponements--got to see a NorthShore ENT (who is a semi-pro singer) for my pulsatile tinnitus in late June, I mentioned I'd previously seen a neurotologist at an Advocate hospital. "Was it (name of the neurotologist)? He's an arrogant a-hole who diagnoses as Meniere's everything he can't easily figure out."

And that's the final note Chisandy - UNLESS they cancel the appointment. I'm scheduled Friday at Methodist Hospital, but already Baylor/St. Lukes is cancelling tons of appointments as is Memorial Herman hospital. Even though I've had the appointment since January 3rd, I'm not confident that Methodist will still have vaccine left at 1:25pm on the last day of the month.

Tonight is Chicken Florentine with roasted rainbow carrots, broccoli and rosemary smashed potatoes.

Special - sounds like you're still doing make ahead breakfasts. What about this? I'm going to try cutting in half - or maybe even cut to one third.

No recipe EGG BAKE (from the www) "Depending on what produce is in the fridge, change up the bake each week. Here's a loose formula to follow:"

• 1 dozen eggs
• veggies, sliced (about 4 cups)
• Sea salt
• Pepper

To prepare: Spray the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan. Dump all the veggies into the pan. In a separate bowl, crack all of the eggs and whisk in sea salt and pepper (as much or as little as you want; you can always add more later.) Then pour the eggs over the veggies, making sure the eggs are evenly spread out over the bottom of the pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Once it cools, you can cut it into 6 large pieces. Put each piece in its own storage container in the fridge, and warm up your single-serving breakfast each morning!

"Need some veggie inspiration? Sometimes I use two bags of pre-cut broccoli, or a big bag of kale and cut up a red pepper. If I have some extra time, I'll cut up onions and garlic or add sweet potatoes. Anything goes! Just aim to load up on vegetables so that they fill ¾ of the pan".

Leftover cassoulet (even better on this snowy night than on a chilly, windy Sat. night in a heated restaurant patio tent); leftover mesclun/kale salad with lemon dijon vinaigrette. We have a fridge full of commercial salad dressing packets (Caesar, French, Creamy Italian) from takeout salads--but they're gross and full of thickeners and HFCS. Now, I make my own dressings from scratch, and never do I add sweeteners of any kind. So why do commercial dressings need corn syrup?

Snow is finally coming down as hard as predicted--but several hours late. Only hope it's not so deep in the morning that I can't get out my garage & down my alley to make my 10 am vax appt. in time.

So our landscaper came by at 8 am and shoveled out the "apron" behind the garage. My Outback made it out and down the alley just fine--as did Bob's ancient FWD Fusion Hybrid with very low ground clearance. I want him to get his own Outback, Crosstrek or Highlander Hybrid--high clearance and AWD are key in Chicago winters--but he loves his insanely high mpg. He drives like a little old lady (older than moi) as it is, but doing 20-25 mph in snow kicks his mpg up to near 50. He likes to "make" his "dashboard garden grow." (The higher the mpg, the more leaves appear on the screen). My 28-32 just doesn't cut it for him. We can afford a Lexus hybrid--but there are too many carjackings these days. Hopefully, thieves don't want old cars with decade-old bumper stickers on them.

Got my first Moderna shot this morning--took about an hour to get there in the snow (streets not as bad as I'd feared).

Not sure what we'll do about dinner. Bob had planned to pick up something at Costco after his day at Union Health, but got a new admission at Holy Cross overnight. Maybe he can pick up something Mexican en route home (I'll eat around the carbs). We have mesclun left over (tossing out the cucumber slices), and plenty of veggies to stir-fry. We also have a package of Luke's Lobster meat in the freezer, so lobster rolls or salad?

DH was home from work yesterday and he said "I want to make enchiladas for dinner." No objection here! He made beef ones that were very good.

Tonight I did flank steak in the crockpot using the "succulent steak " recipe from a Fix it and Forget it cookbook. Served with oven baked Alexis french fries and green beans. Tomorrow will be salmon-something as we try to have fish at least once a week.