Joys and Anticipation

As I said before I do not like college basketball until the NCAA playoffs, and then I think it is so much fun. This past week had a lot of games and I think we either watched or flipped stations so we could keep up with what seemed like every game.

I am amazed at some of these young men and women (Yes we watch the women's tournament also). Their abilities amaze, particularly the jumps. They seem to defy gravity.

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 Sunday: We have season tickets to our local Broadway touring shows for the 1:00 pm Sunday matinee., and though I do not like wearing slacks to church, I have found I really need to go dressed for the play. Parking there can be an issue so we always head downtown a bit after twelve.

 We got home from church as about 11:15 which gave us jus enough time to grab a bite to eat (a delicious brunch of a slice of cheese toast each),  freshen up then head to the play.  

Sunday we went to see "Come From Away". It is a play about  an incident in Gandor, Newfoundland imm mediately following the 9/11 tragedy.  

It was so wonderful to see a play about humanity at its best. I have added this video for anyone who wants to learn a little about Gandor.

After the play we stopped to grab our lunch/supper then headed home to watch more basketball. 

As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge basketball fan and never watch NBA games, but I love the NCAA Tournament. The unexpected happens every year and there is always a David to take down a Goliath team, which is why the tournament is so much fun to watch.

Monday: I woke to a beautiful morning. It looks like spring and feels like winter. Too bad for me because I had already put my winter clothes away, and left out just a couple of cool weather items. I had to wait until a load of clothes was done before I could dress for the day, but I will admit putting on pants, still warm from the dryer felt pretty good. 

It is amazing how things accumulate, and there were several things we no longer needed or wanted that we kept moving from one drawer or shelf to another, when the most practical solution was to just get rid of it. I was very thankful for our local Buy Nothing Facebook group. 

Tuesday: I had a pretty good morning and afternoon, if you call cleaning and touching every single item in our bedroom. It is amazing how things accumulate, and there were several  items we no longer needed or wanted that we kept moving from one drawer or shelf to another, when the most practical solution was to just get rid of it. I was very thankful for our local Buy Nothing Facebook group. 

Wednesday: I went to class and enjoyed it. Usually I go somewhere afterwards, but this day I had to come home to meet the plumber. We are having some issues with the toilet in the powder room  randomly running, and we have an extremely slow drip in the master bedroom shower. After picking my jaw off the floor once I got the quotes for repairing it, I decided it would be cheaper  better to just buy a new toilet. And for the shower__we have been talking about gutting the entire bathroom anyway, so rather than spend 697 to fix a very tiny leak, we decided to go ahead and get started on the reno as soon as we get back from our trip.

Thursday: I got all my duds together for our trip, got my suitcase down and began packing. I was a little disappointed once I received an email letting me know there was a delay shipping some items I had ordered for the trip. They are now scheduled to come after we leave. Bummer!

Friday: Two really good things happened: I got to talk with both Sluggy and Sissie. I called Kim to wish her a happy birthday also, but she was sick so I just left a message.

I finished packing my things. But did TheHub? Nope!

We watched the Alabama San Diego State game and watched Bama lose. Too bad!  Now I am going to pull for San Diego State to win it all, but UConn is on fire. If I were a betting kind of gal I would put my money on them.

Saturday: We did a little running around taking care of a couple of things,  After we got home Son2 and DIL2 came by and we went out to eat with them, then to a huge consignment shop. They are going to need some additional furnishings but right now they are just looking. They want to wait until they are actually in the house before they buy anything else. They did get some ideas and saw several things they liked.  ( I may have seen something I want and if it is still there when we return I will get it, because I really need more stuff)

Their house is coming along really nicely, but I think I had almost rather build from the ground up then this near total renovation they are doing.

After dinner we settled in to watch a couple of episodes of Justified, then hit the sack so we could dream about the trip.

I hope you all can find the joys in your days, because they re always there, even if you have to hunt for them.

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne

Lamé Dinners For Two

I thought I might fancy up the word lame to make it appear a little more exciting than our meals really were. But it about like putting lipstick on a pig, and our lame meals were still lame. I made no meal plan for the week, other than to use the things that thawed when we defrosted the freezer  and of course make a seriously Amercian take on a  St. Patrick's Day meal.

With no plan in place or even any thought to what we would be eating. meals became pretty basic, which was fine with me.

What we ate

Monday: I had 4 Wahlburgers that thawed during the great defrost. Since the night was gorgeous it only seemed right to grill them.

Grilled burger patties, coleslaw, corn or keto caulimash

Tuesday: I had some leftover crack chicken and of course we had to observe pi(e) day!

Leftover crack chicken over caulirice, broccoli, keto coconut pie

Wednesday: Et tu Brute

Caeser salad

Thursday: I needed to use another thawed item. I really did not want it, but a little tweaking made it pretty tasty.

Salsbury steak (keto style) with mushrooms and onions over caulirice or smashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts

Friday:  Happy St. Patrick's not really Irish dinner .

Corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and onions

Saturday: Happy St. Partick's Day reformed leftovers

Ruben in a bowl

Sunday: We went to an event and picked up a late lunch or early dinner oh our way home.

Purple Onion lunch/supper combo: gyro salad or chicken salad

Used from the freezer

1 pack Scarsdale Diet soup (lunch)

4 frozen Walhburgers

1 ear corn on the cob

2 slices keto coconut pie

1 pack caulimash

2 burger patties

brussels sprouts

Swiss cheese

1 pack caulirice

small pack diced cooked chicken (became chicken salad for a couple of lunches)

Added to the freezer

3 Rebel ice cream sandwiches (priorities)

Planned for this week?

I am really unsure about our meals this week. We are going to Palm Springs next Sunday, so we will eat things from the freezer and the produce I have on hand, to limit or eliminate food 

waste. It will probably lead to some unconventional meals, but so be it.

Possibilities are:

Stuffed bell peppers

grilled tuna (weather permitting)

chicken something 

Spaghetti with meat sauce

chili or soup

And all of these are subject to change based on the whims of the cook and the outside temperatures.

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

Little Joys are still Joys

This was a week when I was home for the most part. I had few places I needed to go and even fewer I wanted to. Even so there are sill joys each and every week____plus March Madness began and it is truly the only time I really enjoy basketball.

Sunday: We woke and got to church a little early in spite of the time change. Because Alabama, was playing basketball in the SEC tournament final we made a beeline home, stopping only to pick up a couple of salads from Taziki's.

While we were watching the game (I mainly listened) I began prepping the laundry room for defrosting the freezer. For the first time ever TheHub actually helped. He was a little surprised it was such an involved job and immediately started lobbying for a frost free freezer. Not happening, at least until this freezer breathes its last breath.

The big joy is a clean and inventoried freezer. I still have entirely too much food.

Monday: This was not a particularly memorable day, but I did accomplish a few things.

I got to see DIL3's video she is using to apply for NPR's tiny desk series. It is from her soon to be released album and I thought I would share it with y'all. (See video above) I love her!

One of my aims for 2023 is to physically have my hands on every single item in the house, straightening and cleaning as I go and getting rid of every single thing that non longer serves us.

Monday was a clean out a couple of shelves in the laundry room type of day, clean out the aux. fridge that is also there, then migrated to the master bath. 

The bath is separated into 3 parts, a large walk in closet and the toilet shower area with a vanity /dressing area between the two. The vanity has 2  cabinets under the sinks with 6 drawers in the middle of those. I got all of those emptied, sorted and put back in place or combined with like products. I wonder why we have so many duplicates of so many things. (Points finger at both TheHub and me) I also wonder why I don't use a lot of these on a regular basis. I counted 23 face masks, bottle after bottle of lotions and potions, and if there is ever a run on Band-aids or my knife skills tank, we are safe!

Tuesday: TheHub leaves for the office butt early and generally does not wake me if I am still asleep. Most days I wake right as I hear the click when he locks the deadbolt as he is leaving. Tuesday he woke me much before that, 

 It seems our neighborhood was crawling with police with dogs, followed by a helicopter, and about 10 cop cars from a couple of other police districts. In the wee hours of the morning a couple of car thieves were helping themselves to anything they found in cars. Most houses here have a two car garage in the basement, but a lot of people just park in their driveways, making it an easy target for a quick robbery I guess. 

The police were called and they caught the getaway driver, but one or two suspects fled on foot, hence all the police activity. This was probably the most excitement our local police department has had in a long time, so there might have been a bit of overkill.

Wednesday: TheHub wanted me to go shopping with him for tennis shoes. Of course he wanted to go to the outlet mall instead of just a regular store like Academy or Dick's. 

We have been married long enough that I knew once we got there he would Shanghi me and we would have to go look at more things for him. 

Our first stop was Merril's and he breezed through it then decided he wanted to go to the Sketcher's store. But as luck would have it they had a huge selection of shoes greatly reduced in the back of the store, and my size was loaded with options. 

I suggested he go to the other stores while I browsed the sale rack. Joy! The mall was closing in less than an hour, he ran wherever he wanted to go, while I tried on shoe after shoe. When he got back to Merril's I had 3 different pairs on the counter. After he bought the one pair he was interested in, their special buy one pair at regular price get a second and third pair half off applied to my selections so I walked out with $14, $23, and $39 dollar shoes. Super deal considering their original cost. 

When we were through shopping we rode by Local Roots and picked up our dinner. Hail Caesar (salad)

Thursday: The NCAA basketball tournament started and I began the day with my brackets filled out. TheHub and I do it every year and every year mine is busted on day one. I know absolutely nothing about basketball except scoring requires the ball to go through the basket. When it comes to picking possible winners I am clueless, and by the end of opening day it showed.

I had several items that needed to be hemmed (I am not as tall as I pretend to be), so I watched basketball while I shortened pants. Kim, I wish you had been here, but kind of glad you weren't so you would not see my workmanship.

Once TheHub arrived home we watched games until later at night.  Most teams that enter the tournament should pay me not to pick them to win!

Friday: Happy St. Patrick's Day. I will admit we did not celebrate unless you consider our dinner a celebration.  I did paint buy fingernails green in homage to the spirit of the day, but other than that it was a heavy basketball day. I love March Madness!

Saturday: TheHub took my car to the dealership for its checkup and I picked him up  and we headed home until it had its annual checkup (most things are still under warranty) 

Ack!!! It was cold outside. I declared it a personal foul since we have been seeing 70-80 degree weather.

 Once we got home and had a cup of coffee, TheHub decided it would be a good day to scrub our shower. It is funny that he decided that, since I am the one who does it, and I do not like to do chores like that on a Saturday. So I sprayed the shower with cleaner and started on the rest of the bathroom. Meanwhile he cleaned the 2/3 of our walk in closet that he occupies.

So as of Saturday afternoon every single item in our bath and vanity area  and also 2/3 of our closet had been touched, relocated, tossed or placed in a donation bag. It is a small dent in the overall house, but progress is progress.

After all the cleaning was done we both got ready to run a few errands and pick up my car.

Then we made it home in time for an afternoon/evening/night filled with basketball. I rarely hope Auburn wins, but I was cheering for them and thought they would win until the last few minutes of the game.

And that is the joys (mostly small joys)  that I had for the week. I am counting progress as a joy and hope that April will bring a lot of joy getting every single item in this house either in its proper place or gone. We are on the downhill side of the mountain and I don't want to leave so much stuff for someone else to have to deal with.

Look for your joys no matter how small. They are out there!

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne

Poor Julius

I lifted this from https://www.history.com/news/beware-the-ides-of-march-but-why and I am only posting this because My Beloved Sister freaks out every year on March 15.

Just thought I would share.

You've probably heard the soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's play of the same name: “Beware the Ides of March.” Not only did Shakespeare’s words stick, they branded the phrase—and the date, March 15—with a dark and gloomy connotation. It’s likely that many people who use the phrase today don’t know its true origin. In fact, just about every pop culture reference to the Ides—save for those appearing in actual history-based books, movies or television specials—makes it seem like the day itself is cursed.

But the Ides of March actually has a non-threatening history. Kalends, Nones and Ides were ancient markers used to reference dates in relation to lunar phases. Ides simply referred to the first new moon of a given month, which usually fell between the 13th and 15th. In fact, the Ides of March once signified the new year, which meant celebrations and rejoicing.

TheHub and I are going out to eat tonight. I think I might have a Caeser salad!

A Tragic Tale Of Woe. . .

 . . .Or what I learned after defrosting my freezer

I had a relatively small issue with my freezer that became a larger issue because of the excessive frost that built up. After defrosting it and soaking up what would have been a small lake if I had not continually thrown towels on the floor to keep the water from spreading, I thought I would share some observations I made, that might help me be a little better freezer owner.

On the positive side, I caught the first accident before any of the food was rotten. That would have been so much worse.

1. Always keep a freezer inventory.

   It is too easy to buy something for the freezer, put it in then move what was already there to         the deepest recesses of the freezer shelf, where it becomes forgotten.  Now I have a dedicated food storage notebook, so I can see what I have to play with each week when I plan potential meals. And because I am me, and chronically scatterbrained, my notebook has a pen attached to it so I can write new additions as well as cross out things I used.

2. You can have too much of a good thing 

    I cite 12 cryovac  tuna steaks as an example

3. Individual servings of soups/stews/casseroles are a good thing

    Today I am enjoying a bowl of the old Scarsdale diet cabbage soup I didn't remember I had (see #1)

4. Individual servings of soups/ stews etc. should be packed flat in freezer bags

    Those little individual freezer containers take up too much space. Flat bags stack.

5. Label everything not in the original packaging

    That one serving of chili, looks just like the one serving of spaghetti sauce and if the wrong     one is used in a tamale pie, dinner can become very interesting. Trust the label rather than your memory.

6. Whether you have a chest or upright freezer, organize it by food types.

     I have plastic baskets on the shelves. Red hold beef, blue holds chicken, white holds pork (because it's the other white meat), and aqua is for fish and seafood. I also have baskets on a different shelf for foods that are cooked, or near ready to eat. Vegetables are in a huge drawer, and fruits and bread stuffs occupy the top shelf. That leaves one shelf as a miscellaneous one with stocks, broths, sauces, and large items that need a temporary home.

7. Only keep things that can survive an unexpected thaw on the freezer door shelves

    Since the interior door shelves are the first place to become warm, pay attention. Now my shelves only hold flours, grains, nuts, butter, and hard cheeses.

8. A stand alone freezer should not be opened too much.

    Store often used items in the freezer attached to the refrigerator to keep the other from being a browsing spot. It uses more energy, plus the frost increases with repeated opening and closings.

9. Use your freezer inventory list to plan meals for the week. 

    Now that I know exactly what is in the freezer and where it is, I can decide what I am going to use for the week, get it all out one time and either put things in the fridge to thaw, or move them to the refrigerator freezer to use later in the week.

10. If possible store all freezer bags, foodsaver if you have one, freezer containers, a funnel, and a sharpie (see #5) together. 

      My freezer bags are all in one spot along with a sharpie. I do have a food saver that lives somewhere else and I often forget about it unless I have bought large quantities of meats or fish. I have to go on a wild goose chase every time I need the funnel. That is about to change (As soon as I remember where I put it)

11. Make a note on whatever type of calendar you use of the date for the last defrosting.  

      Son1's family is going to be in town by mid June. I will make it a point to see if a mini defrosting needs to be done before they get here, but will definitely be doing a major one in August. Twice a year should be plenty, especially since I moved all the things TheHub likes to snack on to the refrigerator freezer.

12. A generator could be the only thing between losing the entire contents and keeping the freezer going in a major power outage. 

      This is not something I learned, but after reading the blogs of some folks who lost everything after their power was off for a few days, I needed to be reminded. Several years ago I lost the contents 2 different times due to storms and loss of power. I bought a portable generator that is still in the box and has never been used. We need to get it out and ready to use, just in case. 

And now that I know what I have in the freezer and where to find it, I am going to celebrate National Pi(e) Day. I have some slices of keto coconut pie in the freezer, and one of them has my name on it.

What's For DInner?

I had no plans for meals going into the week and had no idea what I would be using from the freezer.

I just knew I wanted us to consume some of it before the big defrost day. I always dread defrosting it unless it is in the middle of the summer because it is a soggy, cold job.

Monday: I found a frozen flatbread pizza that was at the front of the bottom shelf and decided it needed to be used sooner rather than later. 

Frozen flatbread veggie pizza, tossed salad

Tuesday: It was too beautiful to cook inside. Fire up that grill!

Grilled tuna steaks, broccoli, saffron rice or keto cornbread

Wednesday: A trip to the freezer and a beautiful head of cabbage in the fridge was the genesis for our dinner.

Conecuh sausage, cabbage, dinner rolls or keto cornbread 

Thursday: I was so busy pampering myself, I forgot to even think about dinner. This is when I am very thankful I sometimes brown ground chuck and onions to freeze, and I still have a lot of bell peppers from our garden that I froze in strips.

Weird Mexicanish dish over pasta or caulirice, tossed salad

Friday: We often run to a little place not far from us when we want to go out to eat, but don't feel like getting all gussied up.

Wedge salad or flatbreads

Saturday: TheHub and I generally share one steak, and I had thawed one earlier in the day. Rain was predicted but not until later than we were going to eat. I had just gotten the steaks off the grill when it started. Talk about luck!

Steak, tossed salad, baked potato or no potato

Sunday: BecauseI know how long it takes to defrost and repack the freezer, I stuck our dinner in the crockpot right before the ballgame we were going to watch came on.

Crack chicken over toast or caulirice, green beans

What I actually used from the freezer

flatbead pizza

2 tuna steaks

small pack conecuh sausage

small pack browned ground chuck w/ onions

1 steak

2 chicken breasts

small pack green beans

small pack sliced bell peppers

What's up for this week

 4 uncooked burger patties  (thawed during the defrost process)

pack of green beans (ditto)

some unidentified protein I packed nicely but did not label (ditto)

pack of diced cooked chicken (ditto)

Other than that, I have no clue what we will be having but I will be using the freezer and pantry as my primary shopping source.

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

Joy Happens If You Let It

Again I had a week filled with the ordinary, which can feel extraordinary if viewed through the right lens. 

Like most weeks it had its glitches, but overall was an enjoyable week. I'm sure I could  have accomplished more, but I was actually content with some of the larger jobs I finished, plus I spent some time doing a little personal pampering which always feels good.  I am not a particularly girly female, but on occasion (rare occasion) I pull out all the stops to do a few things just for me. And I might add a little personal tending goes a long way after a winter of neglect.

Sunday: We started the morning going to church, came home for  quick lunch before watching Alabama's softball game. We had a relaxing day, managed to do a little yard work, then settled in for the evening with an episode of Justified, a simple dinner followed by finally booking our flights to Palm Springs. We are meeting the most beautiful girl in our world and her parents there for her spring break. Can't wait!

Monday: Not the day I had planned, but at least not everything in the freezer was lost. You take your joys where you get them, right?

Tuesday: The day was drop dead gorgeous, warm bordering on hot, As much as I hate to run the a/c in March, the great pollen dump requires no open windows for a couple of weeks, and inside the house was hot, so I yielded to temptation and turned that sucker on. So much for my previously hard and fast rule about not turning it on until the first of May. I am seriously glad we have it so I could break my rule.

Right at dark, the day was still gorgeous and pretty much demanded we cook something on the grill. I saw no reason not to act on the day's demands.

Wednesday: I woke terribly early with plenty of time for an early breakfast  and some reading time before I headed to my class. Ugh, I really don't like breakfast but the heavy meds I am taking right now demands it. Not a fan.

I had a small shopping list for a quick stop at Publix on the way home and I ran into T (known him  for over 30 years) and caught up with things going on in his life. Then ran into K. and had a wonderful mid aisle conversation with her. I had not seen her since before the covid quarantine and we had a lot to catch up on. ( And no, we did not block the aisle and were very conscious of the 2 other people who shopped the aisle where we were yakking) 

It seems the azaleas popped out overnight. The bushes are not filled with blooms like normal. I imagine the days of the deep freeze during such an otherwise mild winter took its toll, but the blooming ones are still very pretty.

Thursday: I did not do much, but had a conversation with Sluggy, which is always wonderful. I will be so glad for her when her protracted after care of her leg injury is over.

Meanwhile I changed over most of my cold weather duds (OK I know for most of you, our cold weather is more like your early spring) and replaced them with most of my warm (hot really) weather clothes. Like most years as soon as I do it, the weather cools down and I am left wondering what to wear. '

While I was changing the clothes I also did a closet rearrangement and found not 1, but 6 pairs of shoes I have worn only once or twice that just got shoved to the back of the closet and forgotten.  No more!

After changing over the clothes, I had a few hours of doing personal care/pampering. A facial, manicure, pedicure, and generic lotions and potions made a huge difference physically and in my attitude

The biggest joy for the day was an intense rain which washed away a boatload of the pollen.

Friday: The sun was back and everything looked so clean and green, until about midday when all the blooming stuff decided we needed another coat of pollen. I know it is a necessary and yearly occurrence, but it would be nice to spread the dump over a few weeks instead of hitting all at once.

My Beloved Sister had been sick with the same type of virus I had a few weeks ago and I had not seen her since a few days before she started feeling lousy. She was feeling so much better and came by the house for a while. It was great tolaugh with her

TheHub came home from work earlier than normal and we took off to run a few errands then went to our favorite little local joint for dinner.

Saturday: We woke to a gorgeous day, ate, read, then dressed and took off to refresh TheHub's wardrobe. I think he is still wearing the same shorts he wore when our older kids were young. They were way too old, worn, and so out of fashion it is pitiful. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fashionista and keep my duds a long time also, but these were really bad. 

So, we headed to Duluth Trading and now he is the proud owner of 3 new pairs of shorts and 4 new untuckable shirts. It was a much needed update, just in time for the upcoming Palm Springs trip.

We ran a couple of  errands before getting back to the house to watch Alabama play basketball, did some minor cores around the house and ended the afternoon going antiquing.

We spent the evening after dinner  watching "Justified". We are finished the 1st season and will probably take a break before we start the next one.

Look for your joys and you will always find them. Large or small, they are out there!

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne

Intentions? Hah!

Several months ago TheHub left the door to the freezer slightly ajar overnight and I read him the riot act telling him he was going to have to help me with the defrosting, since the open door caused the freezer to work overtime and formed a huge layer of frost.

Monday as I was going to look in the freezer and pull out some things for a couple of meals, I noticed the door was ajar. I was all ready to jump all over him when I realized I had been the last one in the freezer and had left the veggie drawer out just a little too far for a complete seal. Sadly the things on the door shelves  thawed. What I planned on using from the freezer changed drastically and the meals we ate at the beginning of the week  reflect the unplanned thawing, and then what happens when things change.

What I planned on using prior to the freezer incident:

brussels sprouts

keto bread

ground chuck

salmon filets

cauliflower rice

Mexican pot roast

duck breast 

keto "cornbread"

marinara sauce

chicken breast

asparagus

Monday: TheHub's office goes fishing in the gulf a few times a year. The rule is: they divvy up the spoils regardless of who caught what. The last time they went, TheHub left early and got whatever no one else wanted. I have no idea what the fish that thawed was, but it was a white fish with grey skin. I figured the fish needed to be eaten before anything else that had thawed.

Seared Fish potato pancakes, artichoke strudel, tossed salad, tea

Tuesday: There was a pack of 4 previously grilled hamburger patties that thawed. 2 turned into Tuesday's dinner

Grilled hamburger patty new potatoes, coleslaw, tea

Wednesday:  We planned to watch the Alabama/Auburn basketball game, which meant a ballgame meal. Remaining 2 burger patties to the rescue.

Hamburger, French fries and onion rings (both air fryer fried)

Thursday: I felt rotten and TheHub stopped and picked up some hot and sour soup for us, but I did not eat but a couple of bites of mine and did not even try the dumplings.

Hot and sour soup, steamed dumplings

Friday: After a very unplanned turn of events we stopped on the way home and TheHub ran in the store for some chicken broth, chocolate ice cream, and a deli meal.

Broth and ice cream for me, deli catfish meal for him

Saturday: The day was gorgeous and I felt so much better, but eating was still a little difficult.

Soup for both of us (leftover hot and sour for me and chicken noodle for TheHub), fresh pineapple for TheHub, strawberries and cream

Sunday: The day was just drop dead gorgeous and I felt well enough to try eating a little real food. Well, soft real food anyway.

Mac and cheese, overly cooked broccoli.

What I used from the freezer

Unknown variety of white fish

4 formerly grilled hamburger patties

artichoke strudel

frozen French fries

Mexican pot roast (used for a couple of lunch meals)

What I had to toss after the freezer incident (bummer)

duck breast (it had been thawed since Monday freezer incident and did not get used in time)

small pack of ground chuck (ditto)

small carton Rebel ice cream (it was soup when I found it)

small pack of strawberries

What's next?

Who knows? I will continue to try and use stuff from the freezer, and stay out of trouble as much as possible.

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

Well That Was Not Planned

Wow, week nine has come and gone. I am unsure how fast the time flies.  

This week was a slow week that took a strange turn but then righted itself. Want to make God laugh? Make a plan! 'Nuff said.

 Sunday: I was very tired from the previous week, and skipped church to catch up on some most needed and neglected sleep.We had a day at home and neither of us went anywhere which is very rare for us. 

We did watch Alabama's softball game. If I am completely honest I had much rather watch the women's softball than the men's baseball games. Softball is fast paced with a lot of hitting. Baseball is just a long drawn out process to me.

Later that night we watched 1923. I have been drawn in completely to the Yellowstone world.

Monday: The day was similar to Sunday and I had planned for a nothing day. This Old Gray Mare ain't what she used to be and I am finding physical recovery time takes a little (much) longer.

 Unfortunately when I went into the laundry room to start the first load of clothes for the day (which would have been the 4 sets of sheets from the previous weeks house guest),  I noticed water on the floor in front of the freezer. I went into immediate panic mode thinking the freezer had died with all of that food inventory in it. It turned out that when I (then guilty party) had been seeing what I was going to use from the freezer this week, had not pushed the frozen veggie drawer in tight enough and once I closed the door, it popped open very slightly. My joy is that only the things in the shelves on the door and a bag of strawberries on the top shelf thawed. It would change our meals for the week but that was fine. Not what I really wanted for meals, but still fine.

Tuesday: I had decided Tuesday would be a day to straighten my house. It was in kind of rough shape after the week before. To me there is not a lot of joy in housework, because it is something I do not like to do, and I am a master of procrastination. But I did it anyway and have to admit there is a certain joy seeing the house cleaned.

Wednesday: I finally went back to my Wednesday class. I have missed going but had other things that took precedent .  It was really good to be back, and I should be able to go to the rest of them this year. 

After class I got a lot of shopping (cherry picking) done, went to the post office, then took care of a little other business that needed attention.

Pot dinner TheHub and I started a new to us series Hulu is carrying, "Justified". It is not a great series, the story lines are unbelievable, the episodes are pretty short, but it has some wonderful one liners that makes watching it fun.

Thursday: I woke to a dreary day, but had a couple of errands I needed to do anyway.  I kept thinking to myself that I should just wait until the next day when the weather was supposed to be better. For some reason in spite of my usual procrastination I went ahead and did them. It turned out to be a very smart move on my part. As the day progressed I started feeling a bit under the weather, then not great at all. I was swollen  from my ear, under my neck to the far side of my chin. My joy? That I had taken care of necessary business at the beginning of the day.

Friday: I woke TeHub at 4:30 and told him I needed to go to the emergency room. I was having trouble sucking air in and could not swallow. We went to UAB emergency room on 150 and after a round of steroids and a CAT scan it was decided I needed to go to UAB (the real hospital) to be seen by their ENT team. It seems the swelling was as bad internally as it was externally and had my larynx compressed to the size of a drinking straw. 

At 7 am, prime rush hour traffic I was transported via ambulance downtown. I had asked them if they could leave off the sirens, but they very politely told me we needed to get there quickly. 

Long story shortened, I had more steroids, major antibiotics and a baby surgery, before being released at about 5 to go home.

I suppose my biggest joy was that I actually listened to my body and went when I needed to, because my aim was to just wait and go to the regular doc at 8.  Of course breathing is pretty necessary and it is hard to ignore not being able to take an unimpeded breath.

On the way home we went to pick up my scripts, and to buy some seriously soft food ( chicken broth and ice cream). Though I was giving up sweets for Lent, Son3 told me if I scoured Leviticus he was pretty sure I could find some  law that might excuse my lapse. I took him at his word!

TheHub was also kind enough to stop by Starbucks to grab me a flat white. I had not even had as much as a cup of water since about 9 the night before when swallowing became so difficult, and needed a caffeine fix.  I normally am a black coffee drinker but thought the other might be a little kinder to my empty stomach.

Saturday: I woke at about 6 and felt like a different human being. The swelling was down to only about a 4th of what it had been, nothing hurt, I had unrestricted air, and could mostly swallow. That first cup of coffee was one of the best I have ever had. 

I had to eat breakfast, so I could take some of the heavy ammunition they prescribed for me which is not my preferred way to start my day, and to be honest the cheerios were still a little hard to get down so I waited until they were seriously soggy and then it worked fine.

After drugging up and showering I felt even better: good enough to put on makeup, moderately cute clothes and ride with TheHub to Son2's new to them house. We still had a lot of things from the lake place that we will never use again and since his new home is on a lake it just makes sense that he gets it. 

So we loaded up fishing tackle, poles, seining nets, and an outdoor rocking chair to take to them. (Someone from TheHub's office came by our house while I was at the hospital with a company truck and took the fishing kayak to them in exchange for a couple of day fishing later on.)

Win/win! I get stuff out of my house and he gets stuff he can use for years to come, and we had a drop dead gorgeous day to go to his lovely (soon to be lovely, once he finishes the remodel) new home.

*If anyone needs an emergency room in the Birmingham area, I can't recommend this one highly enough. It is fully staffed with access to all machinery and equipment found in a traditional hospital attached emergency room. I was the only patient there and received so much attention, plus I did not have to wait for the CAT scan, the lab work was done quickly, and the radiologist read it within 20 minutes.