Life In The Not So Fast Lane

The past week was one of those that had a little going on but not a lot. I am trying to figure out how life is going to be when TheHub quits working entirely.  He seems to still be on his work schedule, even when he is at home. I have had decades of days either with kids around or, once they were all in school, days to myself. I am finding I am more selfish with my alone time than I thought I would be. I need an adjustment to life.

Meals I planned to have (haha)

Out to eat (dinner with friends)

Out to eat (trivia night)

Hamburger patty, saffron rice, green beans

Grilled tuna steak, baked potato, coleslaw

Veggie meal TBD

Eggrolls, rice

Paprika chicken, broccoli, rice

vs.

What we really ate:

Monday: I spent some quality reading time while TheHub did a little more work, though he did actually work from home at least the first part of the day. He left after eating lunch (not sure how I feel about this high noon lunch thing) and I then got some serious uninterrupted reading done. 

Monday dinner: We met 2 couples we have known all of our adult lives for dinner.  One of them we see regularly, but I had lost contact with the other, except for Christmas cards and an occasional phone call. About a week ago I decided I needed to put an end to that and invited both to meet us for dinner at Saltgrass Streak House. I chose it because they had beef, pork, seafood, fish, and chicken on the menu__something for everyone.  I did not necessarily go for the food, but went for the fellowship*. Turns out both were great.

Steaks, salmon, crab cakes, stuffed chicken, tossed salads, baked potatoes, asparagus and  onion rings (I put what everyone ordered instead of just my meal)

Tuesday: I stayed home and worked in the laundry room, pool bath and dressing room. I just have entirely too much stuff, and began some serious decluttering there. 

TheHub was working from the house dealing with some residual tax work from the job he retired from. I do have his word that this will not happen again. Do I believe it???

Tuesday dinner: We had intended to go to trivia, which would mean no cooking, but his work ran late, so dinner had to be made at home. Luckily we had some leftovers and other things on hand that I could easily throw a quick meal together.

Leftover lady peas, corn on the cob, coleslaw, sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, cinnamon rolls (I figured he needed a little treat after the really difficult day)

Wednesday joy: I went to class but when I got out it was too beautiful to just go home. Instead I called Sluggy, stopped at Starbucks to get my semi annual caramel macchiato, then pulled into a parking place by the lake to talk and laugh while I sipped the coffee and watched swans, geese, and ducks. 

Once the coffee was done, but not the conversation (thankful for hands free phone usage) I headed to Aldi to cherry pick them. I did not take Sluggy into the store with me though.

Wednesday dinner: TheHub and I had planned on eating out to celebrate his last day in the office (because retiring in June means working through mid- October, right?). 

Son2 had been working out of town for the past 3 weeks, and we invited DIL2 to join us. Because she needed to go home and take care of their dogs after work, we met her near her house at The Half Shell Oyster House. 

Crab beignets (for the table) pecan crusted snapper, tossed salad, cheese grits

Thursday joy: I was happy to have a day at home when I needed to go nowhere. We had a little cold snap ( meaning our highs were right at 70, but our morning lows were chilly) signaling my need to start the winter wardrobe change over. We do not have enough of a fall or winter to require transitional clothing so my cold weather duds are actually pretty lightweight. 

My day was spent taking clothes upstairs, bringing them down stairs, and sorting through whatever Halloween decorations I want to keep vs. those that are leaving forever. I only decorate for the kids in the neighborhood anyway and most of my interior decor needs to go. I do keep the dining room table seasonally decorated, and will have a modicum of decor in the foyer, but I am over the whole house Halloween fuss.

Thursday dinner: TheHub went into the office for the first time beyond his supposed last day on Wednesday. I was surprised___NOT!  I planned a meal that could be thrown together easily whenever he arrived home. 

Egg rolls,  Japanese steak house salad*

Friday joy: TheHub actually stayed home for the morning, other than  going to work-out. He signed up to work with a trainer and has been going 3 days a week to build strength. I should follow his example, but knowing myself I probably won't. 

He had to run something to a real estate attorney's office midday so we decided I would go with him then we would go out for lunch and run a few errands afterward.

Well the quick stop turned into a little more than a quick stop. Fortunately I took something to read, then had a long phone conversation with one of my cousins.

We did go out to lunch at about 2:30, then after our meal, we decided to just run a couple of the errands we had planned. 

Friday dinner: We had eaten a late lunch and were not hungry at all. Campbells to the rescue!

Tomato soup

Saturday joy: Our plan was to stay home, watch football games, and do a few chores around the house. We had success staying on plan, unlike every single team I was rooting for during the day/night. Roll Tide, even though they lost.

I was in the mood to bake and remembered something Mom made nearly every fall.  I decided I would do the same. I am thankful I have her old recipe box with the frosting recipe in it.

Saturday dinner:  We were not particularly hungry again, and knew we would have a piece of the cake I had baked, so our meal was fairly light.

Vegetarian vegetable soup, spice cake with cooked caramel frosting

Sunday joy: Though TheHub's birthday was Monday, we put off celebrating it until Sunday so DIL2 and Son2 could join us. We have had enough birthdays that worrying about celebrating on the actual day is off the table. What could be better than having them here to join us anyway? Well, other than having the rest of the family here, but their locations make that impossible.

Sunday dinner: We chose bringing food in rather than me cooking. Yea!! I was not going to complain about that. We had enough leftover to send DIL2 home with dinner for one night, and we had plenty  for at least one dinner meal and a couple of lunches.

Ziti, tossed salad, garlic bread, birthday cake

Possibilities for the week:

1. Leftover ziti, tossed salad

2. Pork chop, green beans, potatoes

3. Veggie meal

4, Chili, coleslaw, cornbread

5. Out to eat

6. Chicken divan, coleslaw, dinner rolls

7. Grilled tuna or steak,  tossed salad, baked potato

Books read in October:

Bicycles, Bloomers and Great War Rationing Recipes

Gambler Secrets from a Life at Risk

Everything's Fine

Have a great week, staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*We all agreed we need to meet every couple of months for dinner because none of us are getting younger.

** Iceberg lettuce, sliced scallions, grated carrots, and the delicious dressing:

2  T sesame oil

2  T rice vinegar

1  T coconut aminos or soy sauce 

1 T ginger, finely grated

1 T mayonnaise

1/2 T Honey

Things in a Week in a Life

The past week was a pretty low key week, which worked for me. It seems like our week's activities are either feast or famine where one week will be loaded and another will have little planned. To be honest I am kind of happy when the easier weeks follow a packed one. This week my only pressing need was to make tomato paste and freeze overripe bananas because I do not like to waste food. Next I have to figure out what to make from all those bananas.  

Meals originally planned (pffft)

Veggie dinner TBD

Steak, tossed salad, french bread

Bulgogi chicken, rice, mixed green salad

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

Out to eat

Big salad meal TBD

Some surprise meal, whatever sounds good, or is left over

vs

Joys and what really happened at dinner:

Monday: Spent most of the day at home, then went with TheHub to do a little running out and about, We had non plans to go to watch the sunset, but a road detour forced us to the road on the bluff.  We pulled into our usual sky view spot and saw the most gorgeous orange ball dropping behind the earth leaving a brilliant pinkish orange sky. I have heard before there are no accidents or mistakes, just unplanned adventures. I think I agree.

We were headed to ThePig  when we were sidetracked by the sun, and continued there to get a couple of things including their  weekly free items. We planned on having a steak for dinner and ThePig is the only place I will buy one. Love their butchers.

Dinner: I had cooked earlier in the day to use the tomato paste I had made from our overly prolific tomatoes.

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

Tuesday: The daytime was just a routine stay at home day, with some reading outside enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures. When TheHub came in he wanted to go to trivia. I think I have mentioned before we never play officially because we do not care about winning. Even if we won a gift certificate for beer from a local brewery we would not ever go to Southside just for a beer. We play strictly for the moral victory when we know things, but also understand if the questions have anything to do with current pop culture or music we will be clueless.

Tuesday dinner: Trivia at The Electric means no cooking for me.

Cuban sandwich, coleslaw

Wednesday: I woke very early for me, did some reading then went to my Wednesday class. I had just enough time when I got home to gather the ingredients and equipment I would need to take to IP. My Beloved Sister came over, and we headed across town to see our favorite people. Since we were making rice krispie treats I decided we needed to add a few things to it so more participants could have a hand in the making. I try to have enough steps so that each person can do some part of the recipe. Wednesday has the more folks than any other day, so a couple of them had to be the wait staff, but they even liked being the servers. BTW if you add peanut butter, and mini chocolate chips, you can add more steps to the end result. And as "A" (one of the participants told me) "This is right up my alley" (She loves sugary treats ) 

Wednesday dinner: The night was beautiful and would have been the perfect night for grilling, but TheHub was late getting home so I cooked inside. Thanks  Angie for the inspiration.

Steak, farro kale tomato and herb salad

Thursday: I had a stay at home day and used it to do some decluttering. It was just a drop in the bucket of what I need to get rid of, but at least it was some forward motion. I also had nice phone calls with both Son1 and Son2, along with a catch-up call with my longtime friend "S" whom I have not spoken with in over a year. *

Thursday dinner: I did not feel like really cooking so I cooked the easiest thing I could think of.

Conecuh sausage, sautéed cabbage and onions, sliced tomatoes

Friday: This day was just a normal run of the mill day until early evening. During the day I mostly did more decluttering. I suppose that is what I am calling getting rid of things we have accumulated over our lives together that we no longer need or want. Why we did not get rid of all of it much earlier is the real question. 

Once TheHub got home from work (even though he is retired) I rode with him while he ran a few errands. I was still in cleaning out the house clothes, and was only along for conversation because there was no way I was going in any place looking like I looked. If it were closer to Halloween I suppose I could have told everyoneI was dressed as a haint, and gotten away with it. As it was, I sat in the car while he ran in and out of a couple of places.

Friday dinner: While we were running around, TheHub decided he wanted veggies for dinner, so we stopped by Fried Green Tomatoes to grab a to-go order. 

Pork chop, broccoli and rice, or catfish, lima beans and whatever else TheHub had

Saturday: We started the day running our Saturday errands, and found it was going to be the last week the produce stand would be open until the 3rd week in March. I am glad for them, but hate it for us, but growing seasons are finite here and we are at the end of it. Fortunately my tomatoes are still growing at the house and maybe I will get a few more weeks from them.

We had to be home early to watch Alabama barely squeak by South Carolina. Once that was over we read, did a few chores and mainly watched football the rest of the day. We were even stupid enough to set the tv to multi-view so we could watch 4 games at one time during the 6 pm time slot. 

Saturday dinner: We still had a hankering for veggies and the stop at the produce stand certainly fueled that.

Lady peas, sautéed squash and onions, cucumber slices, tomato slices

Sunday: TheHub worked on our taxes while I did a little bit in the kitchen. Have any of you ever been trying to make something special and every aspect of it except for the taste failed?

TheHub has been craving a Boston Cream Pie (otherwise known as cake). I thought I would be nice and make one for him. When I was spitting the cake it was fine until I was ready to put the top half on top of the pastry cream (which did not thicken as much as it should have) and the top split into 3 pieces. The chocolate glaze ran over the cake top settling into the crevasses caused by the split then pooled around the bottom of the cake plate. Oh well, it tasted great and even if it was a big huge mess TheHub managed to eat 3 servings before he went to bed. I have to call it a serving because there was no way other than the first two cuts anyone could call them slices. In the end his mouth was happy even though it was definitely not eye candy.

Sunday dinner: Earlier in the week I had gathered things from the fridge that were nearing their end, and made a pot of soup. I intended to freeze it once it cooled, but luckily didn't.

Chicken vegetable soup, oyster crackers.

Meals moving forward (maybe)

Out to eat (dinner with friends)

Out to eat (trivia night)

Hamburger patty, saffron rice, green beans

Grilled tuna steak, baked potato, coleslaw

Veggie meal TBD

Eggrolls, rice

Paprika chicken, broccoli, rice

Books read in October:

Bicycles, Bloomers and Great War Rationing Recipes

Gambler Secrets from a Life at Risk

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

* We made plans to go out to eat Monday night (which is tonight as I post this)

What Did and Didn't Happen

This week was filled with activities, a weekend trip, and gorgeous sunsets followed by my favorite part of each day, twilight.

Meals planned (aka what a joke):

Meatloaf, mac and cheese, broccoli, watermelon

Taco salad

Veggie dinner TBD

Grilled fish, tossed salad, baked potato

whatever

whatever

whatever

               vs

What really and truly happened:

Monday joy: This was my recovery day after having guests for the weekend, which meant doing a lot of laundry. Other than that the house looked pretty dang good. I should keep it that way all the time, but alas, I know me well enough to know I won't.

Monday dinner: TheHub ate lunch at Cracker Barrel and picked up one of those 5 dollar take home entrees. As long as we have something to add to the meal, one of them is enough for us to share.

Meatloaf, mac and cheese, broccoli, watermelon

Tuesday: The day was pretty dull with the exception of talking and laughing with My Beloved Sister. TheHub called after work to see if we could go to trivia, which was fine with me.

Tuesday dinner: No cooking for me. Dinner was The Electric's responsibility.

Veggie melt sandwich, coleslaw

Wednesday joy: I went to class, did a little shopping, then had a phone call with Sluggy. I can tell she was feeling a little better because we laughed more this time.

Wednesday dinner: I had a ton of tortilla chips that needed to be used.

Taco salad

Thursday joy: I met one of my longest known friends for lunch. We met the first day of first grade a gozillion years ago. This sounds awful, but we met at 11:30 and walked out of the restaurant at 2:45, and still did not catch up properly with each other. We plan on doing it again before she heads to Florida for the winter. (She has a house at the coast but hates to be there during tourist season) Hopefully we will also add one other mutual elementary school friend to the meet-up. 

Once TheHub came home from work we had a few minutes to talk before leaving to go across town to a local theater group's performance of "Young Frankenstein, the Musical." We had seen it once before and honestly I would not have chosen to see it again except one of the participants from IP is interested in theater and was in the ensemble. No way I would have missed seeing him.

Thursday dinner: We left the theater a little before 10 and had not eaten. I was not going to cook that late so we did the next best thing___take out from Purple Onion.

We split a veggie baked potato*

Friday joy: We left about noon to head to Nashville. We were going up for the ball game and to celebrate Son3's birthday, but we had to stop first at the Greek Food Festival to grab a pan of frozen Pastichio (Son3's favorite) to take with us. 

We got to Nashville in record time until we hit the city. They live in East Nashville which meant we had to go through the entire town to get to their house. Can I tell you how badly I find the interstate system there? It is no wonder why the traffic during drive time is so horrendous. 

Friday dinner:After checking in to our hotel, (we stay at the closest decent place near their house) we went to their house and had a delicious food from Pharmacy Burgers. If you are ever in East Nashville give them a try.

Stroganoff burger, (me) Pharm burger (TheHub) Chicken sandwich (DIL3) White oak BBQ burger (Son3) coleslaw, sweet potato fried and tater tots were the sides. I had the coleslaw and it was fantastic.

Saturday joy: TheHub, Son3 and two of his friends had tickets to the Alabama Vandy game. I stayed at the house with DIL3 and her friend M. We had a good time talking, looking at M's wedding photos and kind of sort of watching the game. I am glad I was not really invested in it because it was a stinker of a game if you were for Alabama.

Though the game was disappointing, the companionship was great and as a bonus, DIL3 had forgotten about a gig she had booked. Any ball game blues disappeared when we listened to the performance. It featured 4 singer songwriters playing and singing in the round, so we got to hear 4 very different styles of music. (Of course DIL3's was the best)

Saturday dinner: Various items from Phat Bites (the venue DIL3 played) 

I had the veggie sandwich, and cottage fries, plus something I did not order**

Sunday joy: We met Son3 and DIL3 at Rose Cafe to celebrate his actual birthday at brunch. After a nice meal (except for me because I do not eat at 10:30, but they did have great coffee)

We said our goodbyes and headed home. The ride was uneventful with the exception of getting caught in 3 different traffic standstills. We made it home well before dark. . . 

Sunday dinner: . . . but even so I was not going to cook. Purple Onion to the rescue again.

Veggie baked potato (shared once again)

Whats up for this week (possibly, maybe)

1. Veggie dinner TBD

2. Steak, tossed salad, french bread

3. Bulgogi chicken, rice, mixed green salad

4. Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

5. Out to eat

6. Big salad meal TBD

7. Some surprise meal, whatever sounds good, or is left over

Books read in October:

Bicycles, Bloomers and Great War Rationing Recipes***

*  The baked potatoes at Purple Onion are just slightly smaller than a Nerf football. Way too big for one person.

** Our very stoned waitress had no idea who was getting what. There are occasions when you just should not come in, or at least wait and do Saturday drugs after you get off from work.

*** I have no idea why I am so fascinated with rationing recipes, but I am. This book gave a glimpse into the wartime kitchen and the work of Dorothy Peel's efforts with the Ministry of Food during WW1, creating the recipes used by the nation during that time.

Welcome October

Below is what I managed to get rid of in September  when I was doing some decluttering

GOODWILL DONATIONS

 MENS:

25 polo shirts

6 knit shirts

8 sweaters

6 casual long sleeve shirts

3 dress shirts

1 suit

1 sports coat'

WOMENS:

35 pieces costume jewelry

5 blouses

2 pr. shorts

1 pr. slacks (never worn)

1 jean jacket

7 sleeveless blouses

1 pr shoes (never worn)

9 dresses (2 never worn)

BUY NOTHING FACEBOOK

HALLOWEEN DECOR:

2 decorative pumpkins

2 yard tombstones

2 skull lawn edging pieces

3 piece "I  Smell Children" porch boards

3 Sanderson Sister figures

1 Halloween wreath

3 plastic rats

1 bat lantern

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS:

20 heavy duty plastic clothes hangers*

32 velvet clothes hangers*

The sad thing is this is just a drop in the bucket when I look at all the things I need to get rid of. I hope October will bring much more decluttering.

* Who would have ever thought there would be such a demand for clothes hangers? I figures I would have maybe one person at best who wanted them. I was wrong!

Preparing for the Weekend

The past week was not a particularly thrilling week at least for the first part of the week. We were expecting houseguests for the weekend and I am not very good about keeping the house in company shape.  I had a lot of cleaning that needed to be done. Additionally TheHub had promised me at least one day of his time to help get rid of some of his excess. I had already been through my closet and purged but was not taking it to Goodwill until we had his things gathered also. 

So this was mainly a "gettin' ready for the weekend" kind of week.

Meals that were planned ( and mostly ignored)

1. Paprika chicken, rice, broccoli, sliced tomatoes

2. Hamburger patty/ w gravy, cauliflower chopped salad, biscuits

3. Big salad meal TBD, 

4. Grilled tuna steaks, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, hushpuppies

5. Whatever

6. Whatever

7. Whatever

Monday joy: It was not a joyless Monday, but it was a Monday filled with routine housework I could have started cleaning the upstairs rooms getting ready for the weekend guests but why, when procrastination and reading are always options. TheHub did go through his closets (He has 4 closets filled with his clothes (which of us is the clothes horse?)  and we got everything itemized and listed for tax purposes.

Monday dinner: Since I had not done a lot in the house I had time to cook an elaborate meal, but I didn't.

Hamburger patty, mashed potato, gravy, tomato slices, cucumber slices

Tuesday joy:  TheHub called me mid-day when I was once again skillfully avoiding cleaning the upstairs, and wanted to go to trivia. I did not care one way or another, but obviously if I had to be dressed for trivia, there was no way I could start any major projects. (I am so good at rationalization)

Tuesday dinner: Since we were going to trivia at The Electric dinner was part of the evening plans.

Grilled pepper, onion and cheese sandwich, coleslaw

Wednesday joy: I woke pretty early and started reading before it was time to get ready for my class that had started back. Once I was out and dressed anyway, it seemed like a shame to waste a make-up day. I ran a few errands before heading back home.  

Wednesday dinner: TheHub had eaten out with people he is working with (because you are supposed to continue working daily once you retire) and had a big meal. It was fortunate for both of us because I was feeling a little icky during the evening and wanted very little for dinner.

Baked potato

Thursday joy: I finally started cleaning the upstairs. I mean why hurry when you have a little over 24 hours before guests will be arriving. Then I had to do a reversal and get the master bath ready for plumbers. Normal people schedule repairs the day before houseguests are coming right? I had all week to get it done, but  didn't. 

Another really nice joy was talking to Sluggy, who even though she is falling apart (her words, not mine) can still laugh.

Thursday dinner:  TheHub decided nothing sounded good for dinner other than going to Captain D's

Lobster roll (me) or 2 piece fish dinner (him)

Friday joy: Because I still had a couple of hours before they would be in town I saved cleaning the upstairs bathrooms until Friday morning. That way they would be completely shiny, ready for guests.

After they were cleaned we drove to Goodwill to drop off a bunch of clothes, then ran one other quick errand so we would have nothing else to do once they got here.

The biggest joy was seeing Son3, DIL3 and their friends who came here to stay. They were going to to Alabama/Georgia football game and Birmingham is only a 45 minute drive to Tuscaloosa.

Friday dinner: One of the guests who lives in Brooklyn really wanted to eat at a meat and three. They invited us to go with them, but we declined. Instead we ran one quick errand and picked up a regrettable dinner. 
Taco bell regular tacos (2 each)

Saturday joy: Game Day! We woke, had a lovely breakfast with everyone then turned on the TV to start the day filled to the brim with football. We started with ESPN's game day, then watched Kentucky play Old Miss.  Before the game was over, I put out food for a light lunch or heavy snack. Each person made their own decision. 

They left for the game but DIL3 and I stayed here. I love that she feels free to do whatever she wants to do, so she worked a bit, and watched a little football with me until we got tired of it and turned the tv to a lake house renovation show. 

Right as the reno show was over DIL2 came by so we could all watch the Alabama/Georgia game together. It was lovely having them here so we could watch the game and talk at the same time. I do love both of these women and am so lucky to have them in my family.

Bama won (by the skin of their teeth)!

Saturday dinner: DIL3 is battling gastritis and being very careful with her food. I made us a very non-traditional football meal, but it was good and the conversation was even better!

Turkey, rice and broccoli dish, watermelon, grapes, Mexican corn dip for DIL2.

Sunday joy: We enjoyed our guests until about 1 when they left. 

TheHub decided to get a 90 minute massage, and while he was gone Son2 and DIL2 came by.  We had a nice visit mainly talking about the football game. Roll Tide, Roll. After they left we watched a couple of Tv shows before we ate. 

TheHub went to bed and I went down a rabbit hole watching Youtube videos about WW2 British ration recipes. Why?  

I had decided I wanted to watch "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie". It just felt like the proper homage to Maggie Smith. The only place I could find it streaming for free, was Youtube. I began the movie but realized it was 11:30 and was too late to start watching a 2 hour film. 

I noticed one of the side videos was how to make a British loaf (the bread made with ww2 rations). All I had to do was watch one and then the rabbit hole opened and I fell down it. (until 2:30 when I finally went to bed realizing I could have watched the entire movie instead and been in bed earlier)

Sunday dinner: We were not really hungry and neither of us wanted to go to any trouble for a meal.

Grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup

What we might eat the next 4 days (going to Nashville for the weekend)

1. Meatloaf, mac and cheese, broccoli, watermelon

2. Taco salad

3. Veggie dinner TBD

4. Grilled fish, tossed salad, baked potato

5. whatever

6. whatever

7. whatever

Books read in September

When Paris Went Dark

Old Girls Behaving Badly

The Wishing Game

The Collected Regrets of Clover

Redneck

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

Sometimes Things Are Just Funny

Some of you may or may not know those of us at our house are huge college football fans. Well, let me correct that statement. We are huge University of Alabama football fans, but like watching other teams play.

Saturday Alabama played The University of Georgia, whose mascot is a bulldog, however they refer to themselves as Dawgs. In fact their "battle cry" is  . . .

. . . followed by some intense woof, woof, woofing. 

As it turned out Alabama won the game! Roll Tide, Roll!

Sometimes current events and game day have a mash up. This weekend was one of those times. 

This is in no way political on my part, but it made me laugh out loud when I saw it, so I thought I would share it. I am turning comments off because this is a non-political blog, and I aim to keep it that way.

This is just posted for the comedy. 

For any of you who may not know the swooshy"A" is the University of Alabama branded "A", though for the life of me I have no clue how someone can brand a letter of the alphabet

 And this is how a win is celebrated before leaving the stadium

Joy and Restaurants

This past week was an interesting week. TheHub stayed at home more often than going into the office, but there are some work patterns that he can't seem to shake. He has been going out for lunch nearly every day of his work life. Now with retirement, he still wants to go out every day. It does not seem to matter to him whether it is for lunch or dinner, but right now there is some internal need to go somewhere each day.

This has not been my m.o. throughout our life together. There are days when I never leave the confines of our house and yard, and those days suit me just fine. I do not like to be doing heavy chores than have to stop, shower and get properly dressed just to eat a meal. I had rather stay at home, cook, then get cleaned up after dinner to settle in for a night of reading or a movie.

If you read any further in this post, you will notice a recurring theme of restaurants and take outs. We must find a happy medium.

What was planned

1. Paprika chicken, broccoli, rice, tomato cucumber onion salad 

2. Conecuh sausage pigs in a blanket, coleslaw

3. Grilled fish, hushpuppies, coleslaw

4. Big salad meal TBD

5. Fundraiser banquet

6. Sandwiches, tomato cucumber onion salad

7. Veggie meal TBD

               vs.

What we really ate:

Monday joy:  I slept late, but only got 4 hours sleep because I got lost going down rabbit holes on the stupid computer and didn't go to sleep until about 4 a.m. The sad thing is that I have absolutely no one to blame but myself.  

The Hub did not go into the office, and rode with me to Independence Place. I had a bunch of birthday cards for several of the Monday participants and wanted to make sure they got them. I love seeing them even if it is just a brief visit.

While we were out, TheHub suggested we go out to eat lunch. (Eating lunches out is going to be a very hard habit for him to break.). At least we did manage to go somewhere I have never been before. Actually, I did not even know it existed, so I marked a new to me place off my list, even though it was never on the list to begin with.

Monday dinner: I had taken some sausage out of the freezer to thaw in anticipation of this easy meal.

Conecuh sausage pigs in a blanket with maple bacon jam and brown mustard, coleslaw

Tuesday joy: Tuesday was joyful only if you call scrubbing the primary bathroom shower stall until it sparkles, joyful. There is a certain joy once it is finished I suppose. Other than that it was just a routine day with laundry, chores and chocolate covered almonds.

Tuesday dinner: TheHub had to go to the office and stopped at Publix to pick up a rotisserie chicken because it was what sounded good to him for dinner and I had not cooked dinner by 4, when he was hungry.

Rotisserie chicken, potato salad, tomto slices

Wednesday joy: I was able to go to my happy place with My Beloved Sister. The cooking lesson this time was very simple since it is their biggest attendance day, and it is hard to keep that many different attention spans engaged. They made Muddy Buddies and we added a few extra things to the finished product so each and every participant could have a part making it.

Once I got home, TheHub wanted to run to Duluth Trading. I did all shopping for the kids clothes when they were young, and for myself since I was 16 and could drive. Now it seems I have to add shopping for him/with him to my list of things I need to do. I hate shopping as much as he enjoys it.  Another retirement thing I am going to have to get used to!

Wednesday dinner: After we shopped, I suppose my reward for going with him was a meal at a local meat and three.

Pork chop, turnip greens, okra and whatever TheHub ate

Thursday joy: We drove to Westpoint Mississippi for a fundraiser. TheHub's brother and 2 nephews work for a company that hosts an annual charity event to raise money for St.Jude's, and 2 other smaller non-profits.

We stayed in a cottage overlooking the lake at the very beautiful Old Waverly Golf Club. The place was the epitome of  lovely Southern lodgings. It had comfortable chairs for easy conversations in the shared common area, 4 en suite bedrooms, a porch overlooking the lake, and two ceiling fans on the Haint blue ceiling. It was the perfect. 

There was a golf tournament that we did not participate in, but did go to the evening event (along with about 800 other folks) which had live music, a meal, silent auction, and live auctions to raise more money. (We heard afterward it was the most successful event they have had in the 10 years since its inception)

Thursday dinner: The huge buffet was filled with just about every wood fired game meat known to man, along with assorted sides (the peach, tomato and thyme salad was incredible). There was too much to choose from so we had just small bits of several things. Even so, there were scads of offerings we had to bypass. Below is what we actually tried.

Lamb, elk, snapper, boar sausage, brussels sprouts watermelon/jalapeño salad, peach/tomato/thyme salad, assorted desserts

Friday joy: We drove home from Mississippi, made it to Birmingham, unloaded the car, then promptly went out again. One of our stops was to our local fish monger, then we hit a couple of other places before we came home.

Friday dinner: Nothing I had on hand appealed to TheHub. so once again, during the week, I did not cook at home. Instead we went to Blue Pacific to pick up Thai food. 

Pad Thai Shrimp (TheHub) Yellow chicken curry (me)

Saturday joy: We got up and did a few morning errand rounds after TheHub's work out, then we were home for the day, because after all it was a football day. We both worked on different projects off and on during the games stopping to eat lunch together before really watching the Auburn game.

Saturday dinner: We bought fish Friday to have Saturday night

Broiled pompano, tossed salad, dinner rolls.

Sunday: We went to church then decided to go out to lunch. We had either eaten out or brought food in nearly every day the past week, so why should Sunday be any different?

Once we returned home we changed clothes and started going through the upstairs closets. I plan on going by Goodwill Wednesday afternoon and would like to take as many donated items as I can,

Once we had a black plastic lawn bag overflowing with TheHub's clothes he never wears anymore, I moved into Pip's former room (she has a bigger room now) and started sorting through all the things that were put into it waiting to either be taken to Goodwill or put in their proper place. 

The advantage of having a room at the top of the stairs that is really used for nothing is that it is a great place to stash things temporarily when headed upstairs. The downside is having a room used for nothing that is a great place to stash things because said room becomes a big closet.

I did find a bunch of Hocus Pocus themed items I no longer want. I offered them on our local Buy Nothing Facebook page and had a ton of interest. I decided to let it sit for a couple of days before randomly choosing whoever will get it.

Sunday dinner: While we were out Saturday morning we ran by ThePig. The forecast for Sunday was hot and sunny, which would be a perfect for grilling outside.  We bought something to throw on the grill.

Steak, dill potato salad, sliced tomatoes.

Why even plan since it probably won't happen? 

(We are having houseguest Friday - Sunday.  Menu is for Monday - Thursday only) 

1. Paprika chicken, rice, broccoli, sliced tomatoes

2. Hamburger patty/ w gravy, cauliflower chopped salad, biscuits

3. Big salad meal TBD, 

4. Grilled tuna steaks, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, hushpuppies

5. Whatever

6. Whatever

7. Whatever

Books read in September

When Paris Went Dark

Old Girls Behaving Badly

The Wishing Game

The Collected Regrets of Clover

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne