Joys and Sadness

I knew from the start of the week, it would be filled differently than most weeks. Even before I realized we would be out of town for part of the week, I had made plans for a few days. Some plans happened and some had to be cancelled because life got in the way of them. Regardless, plans that were made and happened or changed, time and life goes on

Monday: The day was dreary with downpours but I loved it because I was able to volunteer at my happy place.  In homage to Mardi Gras, I wore a purple top with my jeans, lots of green purple and gold beads, and we made red beans and rice for the life skills lesson.  

A couple of them liked making it more than eating it, declaring it was too spicy for them.  Then some of the participants loved it. It was a little hotter than I intended but the person who was putting the seasonings in it got just a tad heavy handed and I could not get it out of the pot.

Dinner: TheHub had eaten some of his Chinese leftovers for lunch Sunday and was not keen to have it again. Fortunately I had a couple of containers with frozen leftovers.

Spaghetti with meat sauce (TheHub), leftover moo shu pork (me)

Tuesday: I woke and did a little around the house before leaving to meet a friend who was in my first grade class. We sat at The Cheesecake Factory for 3 1/2 hours eating lunch*and talking, and talking, and talking. I have not seen her in several years and forgot how much I enjoy her company. We left vowing to do it again, but much sooner this time.

Dinner: I arrived home in time to get our Mardi Gras meal going

Jambalaya, coleslaw, king cake doughnuts**

Wednesday: The reason I do not likeTheHub to schedule any work for/ about the house is because he schedules times that would be convenient for him if he were actually here during the day. It was time for our termite bond to be renewed, which always  a walk through the basement, and all the rooms of the house looking for signs of the little critters. It is also the year when a new treatment needed to be done around the perimeter of the house. I think it is every 5 years that it must be redone. So he of course scheduled it for between 8-9 am.

When I reminded him that I have a morning class every Wednesday, he said it would be no problem, that he would go into work later and I could get ready and go to class.  The termite guy was here by 7:45 and TheHub was still here, and technically walked around for the main level inspection part, then left. Seems I was the one who was stuck here until the young man finished, so I could pay him. I was not terribly happy.

SO instead of going to class, I hung out at the house, touching more things, and making decisions "do they stay or do they go?" I find if it is something that needs thought, more often than not I am choosing "go" as the option.

Dinner: It was Valentine's Day and we no longer go out to eat then. Rather than fight the crowds we stay home and have a jointly prepared meal.

Grilled steak, smashed potatoes, tossed salad, truffles

Thursday: TheHub had a scheduled offsite strategic planning meeting at Persell Farms (about an hour away). Because we were going to leave from his meeting and head straight to South Alabama for the family funeral, I went with him when he left for the meeting. I dropped him off and spent a few hours exploring the surrounding towns, before finding a small out of the way restaurant for a late lunch (It was almost 3 by then) The place was nearly empty, so I ate then spent about an hour reading and talking to the waitress. In rural Alabama if you do not talk to those who strike up a conversation with you, you are thought of as rude and uppity, and if you are eating at a restaurant named Lori Darlin's, you better not be uppity. 

The place was less than 1/4 of a mile from the farm's entrance and I figured I could call for a take out meal we could pick up as we were leaving. That way TheHub could eat it in the car and we would only have to make one stop on the way to Fairhope. I knew after a very late lunch, dinner would be off the table for me anyway.

We left and took what were called county roads, though I called them cow paths, to get from the middle of nowhere to the interstate. Once there it was a pretty straight shot to our destination and we arrived about 9:30, in time to check in, rinse off and get ready for bed, since we were starting the next day with a morning celebration of life.

Dinner: Non existant

Friday: We woke after sleeping badly***, put on proper attire, and left for a morning visitation in Daphne, prior to the funeral. All of TheHub's generation's siblings  and spouses were there along with a few nephews and our only niece, spouses and children. 

The service itself was very uplifting and all 5 of the grandsons ****participated in the ceremony, which I thought was particularly lovely.

Afterward we all went to my Sister -in- Laws house for a post funeral meal. Prior to the actual meal a favorite adult beverage was passed out to everyone (of age, kids had Sprite) and my nephew made a lovely toast to M. I truly think that should be a tradition at every after funeral meal. 

We stayed for a couple of hours, then went back to the hotel to change into comfortable clothes. 

Dinner: My niece and nephew both asked us to come back to their mom's house so we could all go out to dinner. (They just wanted to get her out of the house into a neutral environment) So 17 of us met at a seafood restaurant near her house and had a meal, shared memories and laughed. What is a better way to remember someone?

Whatever seafood anyone wanted

Saturday: We had planned on getting up and heading back to town, but our SIL asked us to come back to her house to eat. Her friends had been so generous and had covered her with food. (After putting away the leftovers for freezing after we all ate, she is not going to need to cook for a month)

We went and had a very good visit with her, her kids , their families,  and TheHub's sister. We left much later than we intended, but sometimes you have to forget about any plans and just do what you really needed to do all along. 

Dinner: We got home later than we thought we would and had no dinner plans, and were not really hungry

Progresso soup

Sunday: I was back home and my bed which is in the correct geographic orientation for my sleep was calling me. I slept much later than normal. 

We decided to skip church because we would have needed to really rush to make it there on time. Instead we ate a leisurely breakfast and talked.

After we ate, we both did a few chores then watched Alabama's softball team play before changing the channel to watch Alabama's women's basketball beat Auburn. (It was a surprise win because Auburn was leading until the last couple of minutes, but it is always good to beat the in-state rival)

Dinner: I pulled a couple of things out of the freezer to create a much less than stellar meal.

Chicken with gravy over smashed potatoes, green beans

Potential meals for this week:

1. "Fried"chicken, potato salad, steamed broccoli

2.  Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, rolls

3.  Cheesburger salad

4.  Crack chicken, spinach salad

5.  Mexican Pizza, coleslaw

6.  Out to eat

7.  Soup meal TBD

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

Be sure to look for your joys this week. They are out there no matter how small they may be.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*We arrived after the lunch crowd then left right before the dinner crowd was arriving. We also cleared our bill so out waitperson could close out her lunch ticket. If I am going to be somewhere for a prolonged period, I am at the very least going to be respectful of their time.

** Used just a basic cake doughnut recipe, added cinnamon, a light vanilla glaze, and should have used purple, green, and yellow sprinkles, but I only had green and did not want to make yellow and purple, so we ate unsprinkled  doughnuts. Though not festive looking they were still pretty tasty.

*** If I am not sleeping with my head to the east and my feet facing west I do not sleep well. I never pay any attention to it until the next morning after fighting with the bed all night. Yes I know it is quirky but it is what it is.

****The grandkids, all guys, are absolutely darling boys. I enjoyed being with them and talking to each one of them. We need to see them more often, and since we have only 2 adults at our house it makes sense that we should be the ones who travel to visit them.