This week was pretty normal--until Dan found out that he was asked to cook a nice dinner for all the women in our ward. The dinner party was scheduled for Friday night. He was told to plan for no more than 40 women and at least 3 courses. Dan spent a couple of days in Germany this week, but after that, he spent all of his free time at the grocery store. He went one night, and bought all the chicken the store had, among many other items. The next night, he wandered around to 4 other stores, hoping to pick up enough chicken to feed the 40 women. None of the other stores had any of the chicken he needed (he was looking for thighs). He had to go early morning on Friday in hopes of finding more chicken thighs. Luckily, they had stocked up in one store and he was able to get them. Dan and I spent two nights this week chopping vegetables and de-boning the chicken. He chose a very yummy dessert (Cherry Berries on a Cloud), and since the meringue base had to sit in the oven overnight, and since our oven can only fit one pan at a time, I had to start making those on Tuesday night. I made one every night up until Friday. Luckily, I was able to keep them dry enough to still be good on Friday. We slaved away for most evenings and then on Friday, we spent the whole day getting ready. Dan planned a good menu of salad and homemade rolls to start, then grilled marinated chicken thighs, sop-a-suey, grilled vegetables on a skewer, and rice. Then we had the yummy dessert. The evening ended up being very nice and Dan and his crew of 1 did well to cook all the food. He got more help once we were at the church to help serve and do the dishes. The end total was 50 women fed. It's a good thing that Dan planned for more than 40, but he was scrapping the bottom of the barrel for enough rice at the end.
Even with all the added stress this week, Dan was still able to drop a few more pounds and is finally under 200lbs. He has hit a major mile stone and things are going well for him. As for me, it doesn't seem to matter what I do. I have been monitoring all calorie intake for the last 8 weeks. Some weeks at 1200/day, some weeks at 1400 per day. I have been regularly exercising at least 5 days a week. Some weeks, I have added a second workout into the schedule per day. No matter what I do, I have stayed at the same weight for 5 weeks. It is very frustrating. I'm happy for Dan, but would really like to see the pay off as well. Dyllan has also been working hard and has lost 4lbs and can now do push ups and sit ups. Her gymnastics are going well.
Dane put his lips on Marlene and she started to sing!
Dan's experience in Germany was a good one. He flew into Basel and was informed to please take a taxi from the French side of the airport. The Basel airport is actually located in France, but is shared with Switzerland. You can choose whether to go out the Swiss exit or the French exit. Even though you are leaving from the same building, the taxi fares vary by up to 300 percent. Dan needed to go to a small town in Freiburg, Germany. The fare from the French side turned out to be about 100 Euro, but had he taken the taxi from the Swiss side, it would have been over 300 Swiss Francs. Dan can hardly wait to go to Switzerland for vacation. I think it's a good idea that we are leaving the kids at home--less mouths to feed and fewer taxis.
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