This Week, Hmmmm

The past week took a much different turn than I thought it would. TheHub did not go into the office as much as he has been, and seemed to believe we need to do things in tandem. If he is not going into the office I NEED him to play 18 holes of golf at least 2 times a week and go putt and chip balls every other weekday. 

I know we will adjust and find a new normal, but this past week just about drove me crazy. I am thrilled he likes me enough to want to do things with me, but I don't need someone with me everywhere I go. I need to be able to go to the grocery store at my own pace and buy whatever I want to buy without input or clock watching.

In my delusional state what I thought might be a good meal plan

Leftover ziti, tossed salad

Pork chop, green beans, potatoes

Veggie meal

Chili, coleslaw, cornbread

Out to eat

Chicken divan, coleslaw, dinner rolls

Grilled tuna or steak,  tossed salad, baked potato

vs

What really happened:

Monday joy: I was able to stay home all day, just doing regulation house things. There are days I love going nowhere and this was one of them.

Monday dinner: I have an over stuffed freezer which was not being emptied, because of our eating out/ doing take out recently. Since I decided I have to attack the hoard, I pulled out a huge pork chop to thaw. Pork chop in an orange mushroom sauce, baked potato, tossed salad

Tuesday joy: This was a drop dead gorgeous day. I did a lot of reading on the screened porch. As long as I sat there quietly, I was able to see the comings and goings of all the little critters, either flying from place to place (birds obviously) or scampering to and fro (chipmunks and squirrels). While I was outside I also got to watch my backyard nemesis, the stupid groundhog.  

Tuesday dinner: We went to trivia which meant no cooking for me. On the drive there we were treated to a beautiful butterscotch sky. 

Americana salad or flatbread (TheHub)

Wednesday joy: This was another beautiful day. I went to my Wednesday class then out to eat with a couple of friends. After lunch I had a couple of things to pick up from Publix (cherry picking sale items) before heading home.

Wednesday dinner:  We had planned overs, so all I had to do was throw together a tossed salad and dinner was done.

Leftover ziti, tossed salad, garlic bread

Thursday joy: TheHub had a quick meeting for the project he has been working on since his non-retirement retirement. Once it was over he headed home and made plans for us to go out to a late lunch at The Standard (fantastic patty melt) . He declared it was a celebration of the last big work meeting he would ever have. 

Afterward we ran to Trader Joe's. I do not shop at TJ's regularly, but I do like going there at least seasonally and pick up a couple of their frozen foods I keep on hand.

Thursday dinner: We were not really hungry after eating a late lunch .

Tomato soup and crackers

Friday joy: It seems the celebration continued through Friday. TheHub decided he wanted to go out to eat lunch___again, then go with me to Aldi to do a little more grocery store shopping. I do not eat lunch out very often and TheHub has eating lunch out every weekday for the entirety of his work life. I am hopeful this will change shortly, because I do not want to and I am not going to eat out every day.

Also I am not thrilled to have a grocery shopping buddy. I had much rather do it by myself, though I will admit it is nice to have help getting the groceries in the house after shopping and to have an extra set of hands putting things away.

After shopping and running couple of other errands we headed home.

Friday dinner: We ate at a local meat and three and had a veggie lunch. We were not particularly hungry so I grabbed one of the frozen TJ's buys.

Spanakopita, tossed salad

Saturday joys: We woke to a beautiful ball game day. We started with the TV on Game Day, then watched ball games off and on all day while we did small jobs around the house.  It was a nice day and neither of us had to go anywhere.

Saturday dinner:  Watching games means snacking so we were not very hungry for dinner.

Chicken enchilada soup

Sunday joy: We went to church, came home and ate a quick lunch before both of us settled down to some reading time. We did a few things around the house (very few) then TheHub went to hit a few golf balls while I continued to read.

We are kind of late to the party, but we finally started watching "Only Murders in the Building". I think we are really going to enjoy it.

Sunday dinner: I intended to cook a roast but forgot to put it in the oven in time for us to have an early dinner.  Instead I counted on some things I had previously frozen to bail me out for the meal prep.

Egg rolls, rice, tomato slices, cucumber slices, 1/2 tangerine

What's up for this week? 

1. out to eat (anniversary celebration)

2 out to eat (fundraiser dinner for The Parkinson's Association)

3. Hot dogs and baked beans (We have had this every Halloween night since our oldest son was 2

4. Roast, baked potato, tossed salad, green beans

5. Soup TBD

6. Take out (have a minimum to use before the 31st)

7. Bulgogi chicken, rice, shishito peppers, asian slaw

Books read in October:

Bicycles, Bloomers and Great War Rationing Recipes

Gambler Secrets from a Life at Risk

Everything's Fine

You are Here

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

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!