Day 59 - Ate at Sonic

Sonic is a fast-food restaurant designed after 1950s drive-ins. Where girls on roller skates roll right up to your car to take your order, then roll back again with trays of burgers, fries and milkshakes that would hang precariously on the side of your car. The roller skates have been replaced by sneakers at Sonic, and the ordering process by a drive-through board, but the food is as described.



Mr. Sound got the extra-long cheese coney - that's a hot dog, with chili and cheese. I got some ridiculous chicken sandwich with cheese and bacon on Texas toast. And one of their specialty limeades that I would purchase by the gallons if allowed. But the best part of Sonic is the tater tots. Yum.

Day 58 - Avoided the computer

Writing in my job and also a hobby I really enjoy. So I find myself in front of the computer almost all the time. Even on Saturdays, I write here and there, for work or myself. Not today. Had a nice lunch with my friend Diana, sitting and chatting for a while. Then we had some beers outside in a blizzard. (That actually is not the first time we've done that.) What a great day. It was freeing and something I don't do often enough.

Day 57 - Braised meat

As a special meal for Mr. Sound, I found a recipe for lamb shoulder braised in red wine. Braising sounds intimidating but it was so, so easy. It just takes time, as in 3.5 hours in the oven on low heat. I followed a recipe from Alton Brown on FoodNetwork.com and it came out wonderfully. I paired with with orange-ginger brown rice and sauteed wild mushrooms. I still cannot get brown rice to the proper consistency, but the aroma and flavor were enticing. Braise away, meat lovers.

Day 56 - Chose the treadmill

Unless the weather is hurricane-like, I love running outdoors. A treadmill does not allow you to feel the sun, hear the birds, run a little faster, or feel like you got anywhere. It does, however, keep a very steady pace, which is good for someone recovering from an injury that impeded their normal walking. So on a beautiful sunny day, I stayed inside the cave of the gym and walked to nowhere. Great physical boost, but not so much a mental one.

Day 55 - Took my first piano lesson online

Way back in January, I learned my first keyboard song, then promptly forgot it. Dust bunnies called my new keyboard home for about a month, like so many exercise machines across the nation. But this is much more fun than an exercise machine, so it's time to dust it off.

I would like to take lessons with a teacher at some point, but for now, I want to learn the very basics. I found Andrew Furmanczyk's video lessons through a You Tube search. Lesson 1 and I like his sense of humor, honesty, and crazy hair. He got me excited to keep going so that's what I plan on doing.