This weekend was pretty quiet, but I got a lot done.

On Saturday Jake called and wanted to know if I wanted to work on the plumbing in the barn.

Last year we added an instant hot water heater to the barn. We set up an elaborate system to drain it in the winter, but of course I forgot to actually use it and the pipes froze and burst.

We had to replace a ball valve, the hot water heater itself (ouch) and the pipes leading out to the spigots. We ended up being just short of enough copper pipe to finish the job, so we called it a day about 5pm.

My folks showed up to take me out to dinner for my birthday. We went back to Spice Street in Durham to sample their dinner menu. We got a number of appetizers, Mom got a steak, Dad got the highly recommended chicken kabobs and Andrea got the seafood risotto.

I got the stir-fried tofu and veggies over rice.

On Sunday, Andrea went into the office and I continued on my tear to get rid of clutter in the house. I cleaned out a number of cabinets, and then decided to move on to a plumbing project in the kitchen. The drain “collar” that leads to the garbage disposal in the sink is metal covered with white rubber, and the rubber comes off rather easily, so it looks bad. This time I replaced it with a chrome over brass fitting, so I hope that lasts longer. Plus, I did it all by myself – without Jake’s help.

That night I cooked one of the more elaborate meals since I changed my diet, which included deviled cauliflower and rolled eggplant with vegan cheese.

And, despite eating out twice and eating a big dinner, I still lost weight. My 3PS weight this morning was 210.4. Saturday morning it was 211.2 and Sunday morning 211.8 (definitely a result of the meal at Spice Street). I’ve become extremely aware of when I am full and I stop eating, so despite having olives, olive oil, bread, and a couple of bites of risotto, over time I can still lose weight.

The next big challenge will be next weekend, which I spend in Lisbon with my friend Alex. I know I’ll be having my first beer of the year, and I am grateful that I’ll be away from the scale for two weeks. I figure if I limit myself to one or two a night, just on the weekends, and eat very well the rest of the time, I should come back at under 200.