Procrastination: I need a trip to the bank and the DMV; a weight loss task we all forget about

So hubby was off this weekend unexpectedly and we decided to do a simple road trip to the smoky mountains.  Nothing big, just a quick overnight to get away.  Its the first time we've really been able to do it since my surgery.

I have been needing a new light weather jacket and we found a really great Calvin Klein jacket on sale.  Deciding, what the hell, I went to check out and gave the clerk my credit card.  Its one of those cards with your photo on it - for security.  The photo on my card is from 2005.

I saw the clerk look at the back, look at the photo, and look at me.  Then repeat.  Uh-Oh.

He asks to see my ID.  Hubby cracks up as hears me say "this isn't going to go well".  The photo on my Drivers license is just as old - and even worse.  I look like a bored lesbian in it.

He looks at my license, looks at me, then at the debit card.  "Lost a lot of weight recently?"  "Yep" I say laughing.  He rings up my sale and we leave.

I got a similar look from the TSA agent at Midway airport last June.  I should have gotten my ID updated after that, but I kept putting it off.  

No More Procrastinating!

Oh geez. I'm right there with you. My DL renews in September and I HAVE to go and get a new picture. I keep getting sideways glances from anyone who asks for my ID.

Ugh. Not looking forward to sitting in that line.

Glad you had a fun weekend with the hubby. Sorry you had an so-so dinner.

The dinner was perfect because of being with DH.  Here is my review on Yelp of the experience:

 

The restaurant is the Applewood Grill in Seveirville TN.

 

I had first experienced this restaurant several years ago when taken there by my aunt for breakfast.  It stood out in my memories and when back in Seveirville with my husband, I was excited to try it again.  This experience was not so memorable.

 

First was service - we had to wait to be seated while a manager and the host kept working out a bill with another customer.  Not that big a deal, but you don't expect to be kept waiting while theres two  people there and one of them is not actively participating in the issue.  Its just not the most professional behavior.

 

The decor is a bit run down.  All of the various dining rooms feel crowded.  The overall ambiance is more of a Duffs Smorgasbord than a casual dining restaurant.  The place is in serious need of some refreshment.

 

The food itself bears no resemblance to the delicious country comfort food of my memory.  For a seemingly affordable price of $16.95 I got a BBQ grilled chicken dinner that included soup, salad, the entree with a vegetable, and dessert.  Mashed potatoes were served family style for us both to share.

 

The salad and soup were brought out at the same time.  The "salad" consisted of a bowl of chopped iceberg lettuce, one half of a cherry tomato, and one cucumber slice.  Hardly a salad.  We asked for oil and vinegar dressing and were given a small ramekin of white vinegar mixed with a flavorless olive oil that honestly tasted more like canola oil.

 

The vegetable soup was probably the highlight of the meal.  The vegetables were tender and the broth had a good flavor.  The vegetables really should have been cut finer for the cup they were served in.  The large cuts made it hard to eat without making a mess.

 

As for the entree, my husband got the Chicken and dumplings while I got the barbecue chicken platter.  In both cases the chicken was unseasoned prior to cooking and was overcooked.  Bland and dry is not an appetizing combination for chicken.  His dumplings were similarly flavorless.  My chicken came with an apple relish.  The relish did have a strong fresh apple taste, but other than the "Apple" theme of the restaurant it really had no place on the plate.

 

I had Okra as my vegetable.  Typical southern style Okra is breaded with corn meal.  Thats all this was breaded in.  If any seasoning was added it was undetectable.  The same was true for the Mashed Potatoes.  No seasoning.

 

For desert we both ordered the Apple Spice Cake.  The cake was dry for a spice cake.  Also the spice taste was very week, as if it had been made from old spices that were ground during a previous presidents administration.  There was not a strong apple taste to the cake.  The cake was covered in some sort of broken sauce that could have been an attempt at a caramel sauce or possibly an apple cider reduction that was not reduced enough.  It weakly tasted of apples and sugar, but really only served to make the top and bottom of the cake soggy.

 

The best part of the meal is the complimentary apple fritters served upon arrival.  They were VERY lightly dusted with powdered sugar.  They serve as a wonderful implement to dip into the quite good apple butter served with them.  

 

Summary:

 

Positives:  Good portions and amount of food for the price

 

Negatives:

1.  Staff should be trained better

2.  Run-down and crowded dining rooms

3.  Bland under-seasoned food

They sound like a good candidate for the show "Restaurant Impossible"!

Too funny!  I had my license renewed a year ago.  For the first time in many years, the weight on it was correct!  Now the weight is wrong again, but in the other direction!

I am in serious need too.  My badge at work was taken 10 years ago at 270 pounds.  I had a student ask whose badge I kept wearing, and another offer to cut up a school picture and tape it on there for me.  Kids are too cute.  The gym seems to be used to super fat folks losing weight, because they don't bat an eye at the stark difference.  

Yeah, I get the quadruple look at the TSA ticketing point now... I guess I should update that.