To Pout, Or Not To Pout

I spent this week mainly at home, which was not how this week was supposed to go. Plans were made and cancelled, and the only constant in my life was pouting and processing tomatoes.

Planned but didn't happen:

Chicken broccoli impossible pie, cucumber tomato onion salad

Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, tossed salad

Leftover kung pao chicken, rice, asian slaw

Out to eat

Pumpkin sausage soup, coleslaw

Veggie meal TBD

Ball game meal, either sloppy Joe's or hot dogs 

Things that did happen:

Monday: 66 Days till Christmas

The weather was finally getting a little cooler. I had to actually wear a shirt with sleeves, and Tennis shoes, but I was still wearing shorts!

The day felt great and the a/c was turned off, hopefully for the season. I was able to open windows and let fresh air in. 

I did a lot of organizing for the week, and headed upstairs to change out more seasonal clothes, before heading into the room of doom.

Monday dinner: TheHub said he would like soup for dinner. It was easy enough to do.

Chicken potato chowder, crackers

Tuesday:65 Days till Christmas I did a ton of laundry which was a good thing to do on a slightly overcast day. TheHub was out of town until late afternoon, and I was thrilled to have a day all to myself. Other than enjoying the day, taking a leisurely shower and some self pampering, I did little else other than read and cook more blooming tomatoes.

Tuesday dinner: Because I did not know what time TheHub would be home, I did not start  cooking. Leftovers to the rescue.

Kung pao chicken, rice

Wednesday:64 Days till Christmas

We were supposed to go to the beach, but I have learned unless there are transportation tickets purchased, not to get my hopes up. Once again the non-retired retiree's work took precedent. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Since I was not traveling I amused myself cleaning out my armoire, and drawers, rearranging my side of the closet, and packing up more seasonal clothes that will not be worn again until spring.

I've bought several new items, so I also went through all fall and winter clothing to create a fairly large donation to The Exchange Club. I need to go ahead and get them out of the house before I have a chance to change my mind.

Wednesday dinner: TheHub wanted soup again tonight. Easy enough

Kinda sorta Thai chicken soup

Thursday: 63 Days till Christmas

I headed over to My Beloved Sister's house to see what all she has been up to. It was a lot. Part of it was just cleaning out some of her husband's things. She has gotten rid of the bulk of his clothes, and he had a ton of them, but I love one of the ideas she had. 

He had about 200 tee shirts. Whenever they went somewhere he bought one, so he had them from concerts, travels, art events, you name it and he bought one.  Some of them are seriously cool and she will hold on to them, but the others she plans to wear once, wash them and once she gets a load she will donate them to one of the homeless missions in town. I think wearing them first then donating is a double way to honor him.

Another thing she did was completely change the home office. Before it was dark and crowded. Now it is my favorite room in her house. Her husband was an artist, and left scads of paintings. She streamlined the desk, got rid of some of the heavier furniture and has turned all of the walls into a gallery. The room is so bright and happy now.

Though she has made a point of donating most of his clothes and shoes, she found 2 pairs of golf shoes that were new in the box. I suggested she sell them, so I listed them (she does no social media of any kind) on our local FB trading site. They were a great bargain for the men who bought them and she got some unanticipated cash.

After I finished oohing and cooing over her decorating skills (she is wonderful at it) TheHub and I went out for lunch. The restaurant is attached to our local fish market, so naturally I also had to go into that section and see what the catch of the day was. Veni, edi, emi ( I probably really screwed that up. My intention was I came I ate I bought

Thursday dinner: We came home from the fish market pretty full, and decided to have a light dinner.

Tomato cucumber onion salad, smoked tuna dip, crackers

Friday: 62 Days till Christmas

This was a kitchen work day. Of course tomatoes took precedent, but I also started deep cleaning the kitchen before the holidays. I spent the entire day in it and I am not yet finished, but I am close to being done. 

I also straightened and inventoried every single thing in the pantry, made a list based on what shelf they were on and posted it on the inside of the pantry door. I have an overwhelming amount of food, and when I actually listed I found I don't have duplicates of most things, but I have a back up to the back up for the back up.  I did not even make it to the "stash" in the laundry room. Geez! 

Friday dinner: We bought sea bass filets Thursday. Set the tone for the meal.

Broiled sea bass, baked potato, tossed salad

Saturday: 61 Days till Christmas

This was a ball game day. The weather started with blue skies but quickly became a gray gloomy day Sadly with the change in the barometric pressure my hip started yelling at me. We were invited to a party at one of our favorite neighbors house, but my fun was ruined by my stupid joint.

Instead we just hung at the house. I was bummed out

Saturday dinner: With the hopes of a fun evening with friends down the drain I pouted, thawed some pork and made dinner

Mexican pork stew

Sunday: 60 Days  till Christmas

TheHub had a bad night and did not sleep much at all Saturday night. It was time to get ready for early church and he was sitting in his recliner wrapped in 2 blankets  That is a big tell. He is one of those happy morning people who just irritate the crap out of us night owls. If the weather had been better I probably would have gone on to church without him, but it was rainy and gruesome out, so I stayed home with him. 

Did I mention it was our anniversary? We celebrated by watching ball games and movies, often with our eyes closed. Actually we had a delayed celebration planned for a few days later, and planned on doing nothing other than cooking out.

Sunday dinner: It was raining and TheHub still felt (and looked) bad, so we changed our plans and had some comfort food.

Mac and cheese

Planned for the week:

We are planning on taking a little road trip to the Shoals area in Northwest Alabama. After getting my hopes up the past week for the beach and having them dashed, I am refusing to go there this week. Passive aggressive? Possibly.

I only need to plan 5 meals for the week, which probably will change but hope (or delusion) springs eternal.

1. Corned beef hash, coleslaw

2. Lasagne, tossed salad

3. Hot dogs, coleslaw (our traditional Halloween meal)

4. Italian chicken casserole

5. Taco salad

Books read in October:

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

107 Days

The Women

The River Is Waiting

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne