Life Gave Me Lemons

One of Chris's coworkers invited our family to get together with his family and we've done so a couple of times. It's nice to go out to breakfast with another couple and their little kid. During the course of the last get together they lamented that their lemon tree had so many lemons that they didn't know what to do with them. My response was "Send some over, I've got a stand mixer." And so it began.


It started out with four lemons. After combing through my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I decided to make lemon bars. The 'furnished' home we are in even had a zester and old fashioned juicer (you know, where you take half of a lemon and crush it onto the juicer and twist it). I have got to get my own zester and juicer.

The lemon bars turned out pretty tasty. I'm not a huge fan because of the lack of chocolate in lemon bars, but I still went back for seconds. We ended up sending most of them with Chris for work (with some set aside for our friends who sent the lemons). They were such a hit that more were requested.

Which meant that I needed a few more lemons. And somehow a dozen more were sent over. So I made the extra lemon bars and then eyeballed the rest of the lemons, debating what to do with them. I actually wanted to try lemon meringue pie, but the stirring and cooking never seems to coincide with the kids leaving me alone long enough to stir and cook.

After more time spent looking through my cookbook, I decided on lemon sponge cake. I was adventurous and put it in a bundt cake pan, but it didn't come out of the pan easily. So it doesn't look all the pretty and had a chunk missing. I made some lemon glaze and dribbled it over the cake.


Oh, it is so delicious. It's angel food cake with a lemon kick. When Chris found out I made it from scratch, well, he used some foul language to express his delight.

I still have at least six lemons left, so that pie might still be made.

Working Out

As I left the gym on Friday, someone stopped me and said they noticed I'd lost a few inches. Yeah!

We joined a gym when we arrived in California. In Ohio, we have free weights in the basement and we had a treadmill but sold it when we left. I never got into a good workout groove while there, though there were a couple attempts at running and using a Jillian Michaels workout video.

The gym we are at has a kids area where someone will watch the munchkins while I workout. It took a couple weeks for Josie to get acclimated but the kids are now excited to go. It has limited hours (9-1 and 5-8 during the week) and sometimes it is full by the time I get there. And there have been repeated times that the kids have severely runny noses and coughs, so I don't get to bring them in.

Overall, I've really like working out at this gym. I tried the Zumba class a couple times but didn't care for it. I'm not sure if I disliked the class itself or the instructor who wore super tight clothes that displayed enhanced assets. Now I'm taking the Body Pump class. It's weight lifting to music and it's focused on repetitions. It gets my heart rate up and I enjoy being in a class, it's more motivating.

On other days I used the elliptical and have finally worked up to running again. I'm not great at it or fast but I was so thrilled the first time I ran a mile. For Christmas I even received an arm band and ear buds so I can listen to music while I run.

I have to admit, I also like the hot tub in the pool area.

I haven't lost much weight. I've lost a few inches as fat converts to muscle. But I have felt so much better in general. I may have to join a gym when we return to Ohio...