The Bard said it best in his play "Twelfth Night"
"If music be the food of love, play on"
Let's skew his meaning a bit and see just where the love of food and the love of music takes us.
This week marks new beginnings for us. The big family trip coming up which is a celebration for several occasions. We are wrapping Mother's Day, Father's Day, our anniversary, and retirement in one weeklong event.
TheHub officially retired, Friday, (even though he went to the office Saturday morning and then again this Morning to finish up a couple of straggling issues), which means for the first time in forever there will be no paycheck coming into the house. What a different mindset for both of us. Finally and Yikes!!!
And now for the joys of the past week.
Monday: This was my day to go to my happy place with My Beloved Sister. Monday was National Frosted Cookie Day, so of course I had to plan what they would make accordingly. We did not have the time required to make and bake cookies, so I bought them and let the participants make buttercream frosting.
We were able to be there at lunch time to keep and eye on everyone while the staff had a meeting. As soon as lunch was over they made it, then inhaled the cookies. Powdered sugar may or may not have gotten on several participants clothes.
The staff came back to a group that was experiencing a very lively sugar high, and we left laughing all the way to the car.
Once home I began getting ready for dinner (cleaning what I had neglected to clean before I left for Independence Place). Out niece had called Sunday night to let us know she was going to be in town for job training for her new position, and of course we wanted to visit with her. I had told her we would have spaghetti, but realized I did not have everything needed to make it on hand. Because I was only going to use things I had on hand last week, spaghetti turned into a big taco salad. And thankfull,y TheHub has a wine stash, so that was taken care of also.
Tuesday: I had planned on being in the house the remainder of the week so I could get things in order. Tuesday the pool guy came by and gave the pool the thumbs up for swimming. We opened it late this week and it always takes at least a week to get the water in shape for swimming. I wish we could leave it uncovered year round, but the one year we did that the leaves from the oaks and hickory trees won. I was able to get some of the sitting areas around the pool looking a bit better.
Wednesday: Son1 and Pip are coming here for a week after the trip, which meant I needed to get the upstairs in order. Unfortunately a good book popped up on my Libby app and I could not resist.
Thursday: It was a beautiful morning and My Beloved Sister came over to swim
Friday: I was able to talked with Sluggy, which is always a fun thing to do. TheHub came home from his last official day at work and we had a little pool celebration. Nothing beats a swim before dinner, except possibly a swim before dinner that is already made.
Saturday: I finished packing all my clothes for the trip.
We have a villa with a furnished kitchen, and will eat in most nights. Everyone agrees we had rather enjoy the place than have to stop and get dressed for dinners out. Not a problem, and one of the services that was offered was to have the kitchen stocked prior to our arrival. We did submit a shopping list to have what we needed for a few days, but figured we will get the rest ourselves. I am kind of funny about buying produce and fish sight unseen.
After perusing a couple of the island's grocery stores and the price of various things, I checked with customs and there are no restrictions on bringing in food. I did pack a carry-on bag with a few things like coffee, tea, snacks and seasonings. As much as I love coffee, I had much rather use a pound I already have, than pay upwards of 17 euros.
Sunday: We went to church. Afterward we stopped at a couple of places to get a couple of things we needed for the trip. I do not sleep well when we are not at home and bought Advil pm which usually does the trick. There were a couple of other necessary and non-necessary things we picked up also. I mean who does not want to use Downey fabric release rather than setting up the ironing board to get rid of wrinkles caused by packing? (Look away here Kim and Sissie) Raises hand high!
The rest of the day was spent getting all the remaining details about leaving the house and any remaining trip details taken care of. I think I was finally getting a little excited!
Books read in June
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (Thanks for the heads up Live and Learn)
All We Ever Wanted
The Passengers
Look for your joys, no matter how small. They are always there!
I planned no menu for the week because we are headed out of town soon and I had a lot of food hanging out in the fridge that was screaming "use me".
And this is what was used/eaten
Sunday: We went to the fish market Saturday and our purchase decided what dinner Sunday night would be.
Broiled triple tail, tossed salad, dinner rolls
Monday: Our wonderful niece called to let us know she was in town. Of course we wanted her to come by and eat with us, but I was only going to make something I had in the house.
Taco salad, wine
Tuesday: I was feeling icky and did not want to eat. TheHub stopped by Puvlix to gt his dinner and to pick up a carton of chicken broth.
TheHub, Deviled eggs, fried rice, me chicken broth
Wednesday: TheHub specifically asked for this. Check out Lori's recipe for a no bake version. Yum!
I am not sure what exactly is going on between my laptop and Blogger. I was wondering why so very few of you had actually published their blogs.
I am sorry to have missed a lot of your posts, but I was not able to see them when they were actually posted. Yet this morning I had a glut of notifications when I clicked on the reading list tab. Will try and figure out WTH is happening, as I read all these blogs I did not even know were available to read.
BTW, even though I am reading them, I am not going to be commenting on the previous posts and will just comment on current ones.
I am running a day late (and most likely a dollar short) this week. I have more to do than I have time to do it, because I am an excellent procrastinator and it caught up with me. Now, with no one to blame but myself, I am running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, making little to no progress.
Monday: I had a mostly regular Monday. I like to start my week with no real plans so I can get the week in order, even though I might be the most unorganized human in the world.
Tuesday: I was very excited to get to go to Independence Place (my happy place). Because it was National Cheese Day, they made and really enjoyed mac and cheese. I smile more there than I do anywhere else I go.
Later that night we went out to eat and played trivia. I found out that we were really bad when it came to naming all of Britain's Prime Ministers from 1991 forward in order.
Wednesday: I did little that was noteworthy other than laughing with My Beloved Sister, but that is enough to make my day great.
Thursday: My SIL was coming through town on her way to Tuscaloosa for a class reunion. TheHub and I met her for lunch. He had to get back to work, but she and I sat at the restaurant for about an hour and talked. She was picking up one of her classmates at the Birmingham airport in the afternoon then they were continuing their trip together.
Since I was already at The Summit there was no reason for me not to do a little shopping (not that I needed anything, but why not?)
Friday: I have been in a bookclub for years and we used meet for dinner at each others houses to talk about the book we had read. Now with some retirements, we meet at lunch and though we all still read, we don't even bother talking about books. We just catch up with each other's lives.
Friday we met (we always meet after the midday lunch rush hour) for a meal and conversation. These are the women I am closest to who have known me at my best and at my worst and are still my best friends. I am extremely fortunate!
Saturday: TheHub and I did some of our usual running around, then came home and did some chores. Yard work is seriously hot now, but it is looking like a summer yard now. The patios, deck and screened porch got their last de-pollening for the year and are now ready for summer enjoyment ( at least we can enjoy the screened porch at night as long as the fans are on). Any deck or patio enjoyment requires liberal applications of mosquito repellent and/or sunscreen. Ah . . .summer on the south.
Sunday: We went to church then met my SIL, Son2 and DIL2 at a local restaurant. She was on her way home and wanted to see us (mainly wanted to see Son and DIL) again. We ran a couple of errands on our way home from lunch then changed into work clothes do do a little more outside.
After a quick dinner, we got our inner pirate on and settled in to watch another episode of Black Sails
Books read in June
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (Thanks for the heads up Live and Learn)
All We Ever Wanted
Look for your joys. They are always out there, no matter how small they seem.
This week came with May retreating and June arriving. Where has this year gone? I don't even begin to know. Time just slips by whether we want it to or not.
Monday: I usually have Monday as my "get ready for the week" day, but it was Memorial Day so the day was a little different. TheHub went into the office for a couple of hours because it is easier for him to work when no one else is around (Sounds like someone is is retiring in a couple of weeks doesn't it). He stopped on his way home and picked up a surprise rack of ribs to add to our Memorial Day meal.
Right as we finished eating, Son2 and DIL2 called and said they were on their way over. I always love seeing them. They visited for a bit then left and we decided in honor of the day we would watch a WW2 movie, so we did.
What a joy it is to have streaming options now so we don't have to pre-plan and run by a video rental place. (Yes I am showing my age. I remember when we had to either go to Blockbuster or order a Netflix mail rental)
Tuesday: I know I did a bit of housework and reading, then had a phone call with Sluggy. I always laugh when I talk with her.
TheHub came home a little earlier than normal so we could get to The Electric in time to score a table before trivia started. It was a fun night.
Wednesday: Nothing much happened other than normal "stay at home and do too few things around the house when I should have been cleaning" type of day. I know I have mentioned before how much I hate housework, but I can't emphasize it enough. I am pretty sure cleaning the house is what Dante really meant when he was writing about the 2nd level of Hell.
Anyway, instead of cleaning I did what any normal sane person would do and read.
I think I also talked with Sluggy, but I honestly don't remember if it was Wednesday or Thursday. Whichever day it was it was a huge joy.
Thursday: I either talked with Sluggy this day, or I didn't. Other than that I did actually clean a little, organized and inventoried the pantry, laughed with My Beloved Sister and watched the Alabama softball game. They had a rain delay so it started a little later than expected. I could have done some major cleaning during the delay, but I didn't. Sometimes there is a joy just being and not doing.
Friday: I woke, threw on some CRC's and got ready for lunch with 4 friends. None of them had ever been to The Electric before and it is a wonderful place to have a group lunch. The food is good, it is uncrowded during the day, and it's an easy place to stay and talk. We were there eating and talking for 2 1/2 hours and it was truly a great afternoon.
The Hub came home a little earlier than normal, so we ran a couple of errands, stopping to grab a to-go dinner before coming home to watch Alabama play softball.
Saturday: TheHub went to the office again and I could have done all kinds of things, but I decided I had rather read, so I did.
He had planned on being home about lunchtime, but was not. He was so much later than planned and we had a lunch/dinner combo then watched the Florida/Texas softball game to see who Alabama would be playing Sunday. Once the game was over we watched a documentary about JFK and The Cold War. Interesting!
Sunday: TheHub worked in the office again until about 2, which was game time. We had a quick lunch then settled in the den to watch the softball game. (I was not at all hopeful that Bama could win, because Florida is a fabulous team) They did not win, but it was a good game. No one expected them to get to the World Series after the season they had, so it was a win simply getting there.
And because we watched a documentary Saturday night, we had to do it again Sunday. Don't ask me why; we just had to.
Have a great week and look for your joys. They are always out there even if they are small joys.
I was not inspired to cook this week, and not even really hungry. I either made dinner or we bought it somewhere else. It didn't really matter much to me either way. So whether it was bought and put on the table or made and the same; we came, we sat, we got it.
What was planned:
Grilled steak, tossed salad, mashed potatoes ✓
Grilled pork chop, coleslaw, corn on the cob, dinner rolls ✓ (kind of)
Sunday: We had stayed in most of the day to watch the Alabama ball game, which ran late because of a rain delay. Thankfully PBS looped the Memorial Day concert, giving us time to fire up the grill and eat before the second showing came on.
Steak tossed salad, dinner rolls
Monday: TheHub went into the office for part of the day to get some things done while no one was there to bother him. (Hopefully the person who replaces him once he retires will appreciate his attention to detail) On his way home, he noticed a grocery store nearby had a grill set up outside to cook ribs. That was all it took to change our plans. The planned pork chop now lives in the freezer.
Wednesday:When I planned the week's menu I did not anticipate having leftovers, but we did.
Leftover ribs, squash, black eyed peas,
Thursday: TheHub worked late which meant cooking later and I just did not want to take the time to make stuffed peppers from the ground chuck I had thawed.
Sloppy joes, tomato bell pepper cucumber onion salad, giardiniera.
Friday: Once TheHub came home from the office, we had a couple of errands to run, before Alabama played softball. Instead of cooking we just picked up a quick meal to eat at home before the game started.
Pad Thai (TheHub) Bulgogi (me)
Saturday: TheHub worked much later than he had planned. By the time he got home (nearly 4) neither of us had eaten lunch so we opted for a combo lunch and dinner.
Mediterranean salad with a side of chicken salad I had made for lunch(there is still a lot of this left over so I know what my lunches for the next few days will be)
What's up *
1. Out to eat
2. White bbq chicken, caulitato salad, baked beans (?)
3. Veggie meal TBD
4. Buffalo wings, celery sticks, tater tots
5. Latin(ish) lettuce roll ups
6. Cajun chicken, rice or mashed potatoes, tossed salad
7. Grilled tuna steaks, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan or with no plan at all.
*cucumber and tomato slices are probable w/each meal
Laughing out loud because I just noticed the title of the post is Jume rather than June. And now that I noticed it there is no way I am going to correct it. Feel free to laugh at my expense!
