Weekly Wrap Up - Week of January 22nd

      Monday – Woke up to the soothing sound of rain, great way to start the day since we are still in a bit of a drought. Had a McDonalds French Toast K-cup this morning. I love flavored coffees! For dinner I made the best zucchini I had ever made in my life, let’s hope I can remember how to make it again, also served pan-fried pork chops next to it. Wish I had taken a picture!

    Tuesday & Wednesday- again I did not keep notes and I cannot remember anything for both these days.

    Thursday - This day started out normal, working my butt off because our annual State of the Company meeting was going to be held on Friday in Fresno which is about two hours away. I forgot to mention that due to the rain on Monday we had horrible Tule Fog. I wrote about what Tule Fog is on a 2009 blog post which you can read HERE. 

    It was so foggy on Thursday morning that our coworker/driver Angelica suggested at around 8am that we drive up after work so that we could avoid the fog. Gabby and I agreed it would be a good idea. So, where I thought I had a whole day to get caught up now I also had to get myself prepared for an overnight stay in Fresno! What to wear? Do I need to do laundry, but wait...answer the phone, clients are calling!! Needless to say, it was a very, very busy day.

    Angelica messaged us that one of the other ladies that was coming in from out of town wanted to meet up with us for dinner when we got to Fresno. We agreed to meet and picked a restaurant. But unfortunately, our plans were waylaid as Gabby had a problem client at the last minute and instead of arriving at the meet-up place at 5:30 she got there at 6:30, so we didn't hit the road until 6:30 and we knew it was going to be too late to meet-up for dinner so we cancelled and then decided to stop in Tulare for dinner at Cool Hand Luke's Steakhouse. 

    Traffic was decent considering it was Friday at rush hour. We got to the restaurant which was very nice. Angelica and I were both watching carbs so we each ordered the Steakhouse Cobb Salad, which was amazingly good! Check out this picture!

    Gabby had the Chicken Fried Steak, which I did not get a picture of. Unfortunately, since we were travelling, we all opted not to get a glass of wine or a cocktail...darn it!

    Then back on the road again and we reached the hotel at 9:25 pm and we each had our own room which was very nice. The room had a nice little kitchen, a living room and a very nice bedroom and bath. I was exhausted so after a shower I watched a little YouTube and went straight to sleep!

    We had agreed to meet downstairs in the lobby for the free breakfast and it was a very nice breakfast. I had Chorizo and Eggs and one pancake and coffee. Then we headed to the meeting place which was being held in the banquet room of the Ruth's Chris Steak House. 

    It was so fun to see everyone we work with and to meet all the new people that had started working there in the past year since the last meeting. Nice to put a voice with a face.

    Management had a table all set up with coffee and juices and snacks of all kinds. The meeting itself was fun, at times boring but they broke it up with team-building games which were fun and they handed out prizes, then it was time for lunch and since the only time that I remember to take photos is when there is food in front of me, here is the best steak I have ever had in my WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE! A beautiful, luscious, juicy Filet Mignon and some shrimp that were ok. 

    I swear this steak melted in my mouth and it was a nice size steak. They also served mashed potatoes and cheesy spinach which were ok also. I guess they figure when they serve the best steak in the world, you don't need sides!

    After that lunch we talked about what to expect in 2024, people gave speeches, including my co-worker Angelica who had recently been promoted to Transportation Department Manager, so proud of this young lady...she's a go-getter!  

    They give 4 major awards, Account Service Manager of the Year, Producer of the Year, Employee of the Year and Shark of the Year. None of us were lucky enough to win this year but we were proud of the ones that did. After the meeting we headed home with our Starbucks coffee in hand. We had a great time though!

    Saturday, we had to go get groceries. Mom was feeling up to going with me, so that pretty much took up our Saturday.

    Sunday of course if my "free" day and after figuring out how to use my new FoodSaver FM 2000 Vacuum Sealer I sealed up 8 pounds of hamburger meat and two huge packages of boneless chicken breast. I love this machine, it was so easy to use. I'm hoping it keeps those ice crystals from forming. 

    Then it was time to watch the football playoffs!! I'm a huge football fan and my team is the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys didn't make it to the playoffs so the pressure was off, I could just enjoy the games.

    First off, the Kansas City Chiefs with quarterback Patrick Mahomes played the Baltimore Ravens with quarterback Lamar Jackson. I like both teams and although I think Lamar is an amazing quarterback, I've always been partial to Mahomes. The Kansas City Chiefs won 17 to 10 final score. Great game!

    Following that was the Detroit Lions with quarterback Jared Goff played the San Francisco 49ers with quarterback Brock Purdy. I'm not particularly partial to either of these teams, so again there was no pressure, I just watched for the sheer fun of it. It also was a good game and the 49ers won.

Kansas City Chiefs vs San Francisco 49er's in Super Bowl LVIII on February 11th! I'm rooting for the Chiefs and putting together my Super Bowl menu!

    What about you? How was your week/weekend? Are you a football fan? What's your team? Are you watching the Super Bowl? Do you watch for the game, the commercials or the food?