Not The Best Week, But Not The Worst

This was a week of ups and downs and at times I felt like I was just spinning my wheels.

These were the planned meals and we actually had most of them:

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

Tacos with all the fixings, or taco salad

Egg rolls, fried rice, soup 

Cheese sandwiches, veggie sticks

Crack chicken, Brussels sprouts, tossed salad,  Italian bread

Chicken pot pie, coleslaw

Cheeseburger salad

Daily joys and dinners or what really happened:

Monday joy: There was nothing special about the day other than getting my ducks in a row to head to Probate court Tuesday and begin the name change process so I could renew my driver's license. 

After researching everything I would need for the process and printing and filling out all the various forms, we realized we had no idea where our marriage license might be (seems that was a crucial part of the info needed). 

Though we realized it too late for me to get it Monday, I did know the least crowded place to go.

Monday dinner: We had both been invested in March Madness and were planning on seeing it through to the end, requiring a ball game meal.

Tacos* with all the fixings

Tuesday joy: There was no joy in Mudville Tuesday, but instead of Mighty Casey, it was Anne who struck out. 

We began the day at a neighboring county's vital statistics office. Since marriage licenses are state rather than county records, any office in the state can access them. I chose this office correctly, I was the first one there and had the certificate in hand quickly. 

After that we ( I have to say we because I currently have an inactive license. My name on my social security card does not match my driver's license name. (This is a new development since the last time I had to renew it).

I took all my forms by the bank to have them notarized, then left for the courthouse.

We had researched what district we are in based on the voting districts. According to that, we would be in the Bessemer District, which was fine with me. It is a much easier and less crowded courthouse than the one in downtown Birmingham. So off we went. Again I was the only person there. Yay! The clerk took all my info, said it all looked in order, then told me he was sorry to tell me that I should be in the Birmingham district rather then there. He said it happens all the time because Vestavia is technically in 2 voting districts but they assign everything to Birmingham. 

Nice to have nothing posted anywhere online  mentioning that.

So we headed to the downtown courthouse.  Once there, after going through security and finding the probate court office, I handed them all of my forms and identification and was told the forms they have on their website are no longer the accurate forms. Not happy! 

Then I was told I could not file the forms until I had been fingerprinted at the Sheriff's office, had a report from ABI and FBI about my criminal record or lack there of. All of this would take approximately 5-9 weeks to resolve.

Now I love TheHub and he loves me most of the time, but driving me everywhere I need/want to go for 5-9 weeks while I wait for governmental agencies to authorize that my only run ins with the law are 2 speeding tickets, one in my 30's and one in my 40's would be too much for both of us.

I made it to the car before I unleashed a stream of profanities that would make a sailor blush, and some words I managed to use as every single part of speech. Adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs (lots of verbs) and many compound words were flying through the car. 

We stopped at the store where TheHub brought me natures best sedative, chocolate, before we came home. I am pretty sure I fumed all night! 

Tuesday dinner: Even though I was angry, dinner still needed to be made.

Egg rolls*, fried rice, served with a side of hostility

Wednesday joy: I had a weird dream about changing my name to get my drivers license and decided there had to be a better way.

After hanging on the phone with Social Security for 67 minutes before I finally talked with a human, I found it is going to be easier to just add my given first name to my SS card than to legally drop the first name. 

All my financial records are tied to my social security number and everything governmental will automatically change. Nothing  else will not really matter. But I will not be known by my given first name anywhere else.

All it requires is a birth certificate, marriage certificate, and passport. (I immediately put those in a manilla envelope and put them in a safe place to have them at the ready for my appointment with them)  Definitely a simplified solution. 

Now I only have to wait until May1 (earliest appointment date) to have my card changed and they will supply me with documentation to go straight to the DMV.

As soon as I got off the phone, I called the sheriffs office to cancel my finger printing appointment. Now no one will need to learn about the 2 speeding tickets from the past.

Wednesday dinner: I had a few things that needed to be used quickly and combined them to make a pretty decent supper.

Chicken* potpie, coleslaw, served with a side of relief

 

Thursday Joy: Our produce folks, Benny and Brenda are back. We ran by their stand and bought delicious strawberries and tomatoes that were ripe, juicy, and full of flavor. The squash and oranges were pretty tasty too. Now that they are here, I will start going every week. I pay a little more than in the grocery stores but the quality is so much better.

Other than that I just stayed home because I hate relying on TheHub to drive me. 

We watched the movie The Conclave and really did enjoy it. After reading Stanley Tucci's book "What I Ate in One Year" so many of the meals were eaten while he was in Italy filming on location, I knew I had to see it. If any of you have Peacock streaming, it is available right now.

Thursday dinner: Fresh produce screams for a veggie meal night.

Squash casserole, black eyed peas*, cucumber onion and tomato salad, strawberry shortcake.

Friday joy: TheHub played in a golf tournament in Tuscaloosa, and I had the day to myself. Even though I cannot drive currently (still unhappy about this but 19 days and counting until I will be "legally named" again) I stayed home and got some things done that needed doing without advice from the peanut gallery on how he thinks I should do them. 

I also had. long phone call catching up with Sluggy.

After dinner we began season 2 of White Lotus

Friday dinner: Freezer to the rescue!

Spaghetti sauce* with meat, spaghetti, tossed salad, garlic bread, pinot noir, salted caramel cheesecake*

Saturday joy: The day was gorgeous, but a little cooler than I like it to be.  We stayed home and just did home things which included keeping up with The Master's tournament.

I had been asked to teach our Sunday School class and had no idea what I was going to do. So I sat in front of a couple of books waiting on inspiration to hit. It finally did when I read our mail. 

We donate to Urban Ministries yearly, but they send out mailers on a regular basis soliciting more support. This time there was a note about a particular woman in a difficult situation. Her plight was what moved me, but it took me several hours to get it in some semblance of a lesson.

Saturday dinner: I wanted something that could be ready to eat with no more than 10 minutes prep time.

Cheeseburger *salad

Sunday joy: The day was beautiful again as we left to go to church then Sunday School. Our minister had a wonderful Palm Sunday service and we also had a marvelous tenor solo singing The Holy City though I do not think anything beats Mahalia Jackson's version.

After we got home we had a pimento cheese sandwich, which we traditionally have for lunch while we watch The Master's final round.

I am sharing Rory McIlroy's emotional win, and could not have been happier for him.

Sunday dinner: Son2 and DIL2 came over to watch the tail end of the golf tournament then stayed for dinner. A beautiful day called for cooking on the grill.

Rib eyes*, scalloped potatoes,* tossed salad, rolls*, brownie ala mode

What meals might happen this week:

1. Boneless herb stuffed leg of lamb, new potatoes, asparagus, tossed salad, grasshopper pie 

2. Meatloaf, sautéed squash, cucumber tomato and onion salad, biscuits

3. Bbq chicken sandwiches, caulitato salad

4. Veggie meal TBD

5. Grilled tuna steak, brussels sprouts, baked potato, sliced tomatoes

6. Stir fried veggies w/ either beef or chicken, rice

7. Pasta, (w/either alfredo or pesto) tossed salad, Italian bread

Books read in April:

Listen  for the Lies

What I Ate in One Year

Sandwich

Falling up

The Second Chance

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

* Everything *'d had at least one component taken from the freezer. I am trying to use as much as I can through May. It will keep the grocery budget lower and also make room for produce I will want to process during the summer.