So much for plans

This past week was supposed to be overfilled with activities. What is the old saying about how to make God laugh? Make a plan.  Yep we had lots of plans__and then all plans broke apart.

What we were supposed to eat:

Out to eat 

Leftover smoked brisket, tossed salad

Taco salad

Fundraiser dinner

Veggie dinner

Grilled tuna steaks, tossed salad, baked potato

Joys and what we ate:

Monday: Monday was my birthday, but I am not one of those people who has to have an all day celebration. The day started with a bang when I walked into the kitchen to find a bouquet of roses on the table followed by a FaceTime happy birthday visit with Pip. After that it was business as usual.

I goofed around getting ready to make the clothing transition to a fall winter closet and drawers. I should say almost ready, since the highs are still in the 90's here and even though the days are shorter they still feel like summer.* My solution was to take out anything I know would not be worn for the rest of this year and take it upstairs. 

One of the guest bedroom closets holds two huge plastic garbage cans bought specifically to contain out of season clothes.  The downside of this process means that I had to unload one of the cans to begin putting the first load of summer clothes in it, but it's still too hot to add fall and winter duds to my bedroom closets and drawers.

This is where the guest bed becomes a transition partner of sorts. The not quite in season clothes will sit on it until I am ready to make the full swap. Actually I will not wait until the full swap because that usually happens in November. Maybe after the next load of things I will not wear again this year, I can bring the lightest weight fall clothes to start filling in the gaps the departing items left.

In the afternoon I had a phone call with Sluggy, which is always wonderful, as well as a phone call with Son1, who shares the same birthday with me. We laughed at his request for a birthday goodie. He requested a peanut butter pie, but no one else in his family wanted one, so he was getting a sundae bar instead. Pip for the win!

I did talk with both other sons and their wives also!

101 days until Christmas!

Monday dinner: TheHub and I planned on going out to eat and at the last minute invited Son2 and DIL2 who went with us.  Since everyone ordered what they wanted individually, I am only posting what we shared and my dinner.

Shared charcuterie board, watermelon salad, lobster bisque

Tuesday: THe day began by processing tomatoes. Our regular tomatoes are not doing great, but the cherry tomato plants are exploding. We are getting about 2 cups of cherry tomatoes a day and they were piling up. I cooked them down to somewhere between a sauce and a paste consistency, pressed them through a colander to remove the skins then packaged them for the freezer. As soon as I finished that batch, I started another. The cooking down and processing them for freezing is a lengthy process, and requires a lot of standing at the stove stirring so the tomatoes can become thick and paste like without burning.

After getting all of them processed and packed away I did some routine cleaning, talked to Son2 for a while then got ready for our night out.

Normally we go to Birmingham Broadway Series shows at the Sunday matinee, but there was a glitch this time and we never got the messages concerning our tickets. This was an extended run for 3 weeks and I had no idea, without notification  which Sunday our tickets would be for. Turns out our tickets were for the first Sunday and we missed it. Luckily The American Theater Guild was easy to work with and even though we were not seated in our usual seats, we were seated in the same section we had paid for.

Wicked was the play this month. This is the 5th time I have seen it, and it never disappoints. I loved everything about it, except for not getting home until 11.

100 Days until Christmas!

Tuesday dinner: We needed some quick to eat. So thankful for leftovers!

Leftover smoked brisket, tossed salad

Wednesday: I woke early but did not feel well. Tuesday night we were seated under an air conditioning vent with cold air blowing down my back for the entirety of the play. I figured the headache was most probably a sinus issue, but did not feel like going to my Wednesday class. Instead I stayed home and just hung out at the house doing a few minor chores. I did not feel worse, but never felt any better.

Wednesday dinner: I love it when I have planned ahead and dinner requires only warming a single component for the meal.

99 days till Christmas

Taco salad

Thursday: I woke and felt worse.  I was sneezy and stuffy so I took some OTC cold remedy. We had a huge event planned for the night and I wanted to feel better. I even went so far as to take a Covid test, so I could assure the others sitting at the table that this was just a routine sinus issue.

That sucker lit up like a firecracker! Within about 20 seconds the test line on the rapid Covid test was positive. The only upside was knowing why I was feeling worse instead of getting better.

The Hub tested negative, got all gussied up in a tux and left me alone, with a never worn formal, pearl strapped shoes, a box of Kleenex, and a cup of hot tea. 

I suppose the only upside for me was that the silent auction was app enabled and I was able to bid on a couple of items and follow the bidding. One item I wanted (would have given it to Pip for her birthday) was very cute ( Kendra Scott necklace and earrings) but the price jumped a bit higher than I was willing to go. I was the high bidder on what was supposed to be 4 $100 gift cards to 4 different restaurants. I payed 50 bucks below the value, but when I got the physical gift cards (because TheHub was present he picked them up for me) at the last minute, one of the restaurants gave 2 100 buck gift cards instead of just the one. We eat out at least once a week so these will come in handy, and 2 of the gift cards are for places we have never been, but had on our list to try anyway.

Thursday dinner: No explanation needed

98 days till Christmas

Chicken noodle soup

Friday: It didn’t matter what we had planned, because the plans would not be happening anyway. I tried to read but my eyes were watering so much I couldn’t see the words, my head hurt, I was sneezing and I was freezing. I finally sat on the screened porch just to get warm. The temp was about ninety and I still had a lightweight throw wrapped around me, but it felt so much better until TheHub came out to join me and turned the blooming ceiling fan on. Curses!!!

97 days till Christmas

Friday dinner: Thankful for my overstocked pantry

Old El Paso canned chicken tortilla soup

Saturday: I was still feeing bleak, so I took a super hot shower, dressed, wrapped in blankets and plopped down on the loveseat to watch whatever football games were on the tube, dozing off and on the whole time. I saw bits and pieces of Syracuse/ Clemson, Oklahoma/ Auburn, and Miami/ Florida.

Saturday dinner: TheHub kept asking what sounded good for dinner, possibly hinting I might want to go cook. I didn’t. He ran to Guthrie’s and picked us up a meal for us to split.

96 days till Christmas

Chicken tenders/ coleslaw

Sunday: I did feel a little better, but stayed home from our normal Sunday church activities. TheHub went and called me about 10:45 wanting to know what I wanted for lunch? Why? I had been sipping on coffee but had no interest in lunch, until he suggested pancakes and bacon. This is partly why I keep cooked bacon in the freezer at all times. One minute in the microwave and it is hot and crispy. It helped that we had some frozen pancakes also. I am not sure I could actually taste anything other than the sweetness of the s.f. "maple" syrup, or the salty bacon, but it worked for a quick brunch.

I was able to read a little and though I did feel better I was still tired.

Sunday dinner: We are experiencing a bumper crop of tomatoes and needed to use some.

95 days till Christmas

BLT salad

What's for dinner this week?

1. Don't Know

2. Whatever

3. Your guess is as good as mine

4. Something I guess

5. Something else maybe

6. Out to eat or take out

7. Who even cares

Books read in September:

None Of This Is True

Forever Odd

Wishin' and Hopin'

The Case of the Missing Marquess

No new books added to the list this week, but for those with a Libby app I might suggest Garden and Gun magazine. I got it just to see what it was like and it was a really beautiful  magazine. I was surprised and it is not really about guns at all ( at least not the issue I read)

I would never buy it, but I am now going to read at all the back issues available.

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*Translation: I am still bopping around in shorts, tee shirts, and flip flops at home and summer weight dresses (in fallish colors) whenever I go out. This is my usual mode of dress until Mid to late October, when I might change over to jeans, tees, and flip flops