Trying to Push Through

This was the week prior to Thanksgiving week when we try and get things in order. The operative word is try!

I am not the least bit depressed (except maybe for the dining room still being an office) but I like this song title, the music and the vocals.

What might be dinner this week:

1. Minestrone soup, dinner rolls

2. Leftover pumpkin sausage soup, waldorf salad

3. Leftover brisket, broccoli, rice

4. Out to eat

5. Cheese sandwiches, coleslaw

6. Pizza in a bowl, tossed salad

7. Chicken scampi over pasta, some green veggie TBD

Monday: 38 Days until Christmas

When Son3 and DIL3 were at our house for their last visit they left a few things that they needed. We drove halfway to Athens and met them for lunch, conversation and an exchange. We were there a little early and saw a Russel Stover outlet store nearby. Both of us are chocolate lovers so of course we went in there. I did find a couple of Christmas presents there. It seems if you are related to us the love of chocolate comes with it.

After we ate and said our goodbyes, we headed home but stopped at a place called Smith Farm on the way home. It has a huge assortment of smoked meats and walking into the shop is an olfactory delight. 

We bought a couple of things there before heading back to the house, getting home at the start of rush hour. Oh well! The stop was worth fighting the traffic.

Monday dinner: Freezer finds

Minestrone soup, dinner roll

Tuesday: 37 Days until Christmas

TheHub, My Beloved Sister and I met with the Tuesday Independence Place participants for lunch. If any of you have ever read or seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, The Irondale Cafe where we ate, was Fannie Flagg's inspiration. It literally sits right in front of the train tracks she talks about in the book.

We had a wonderful time with all of the participants and the staff. 

Tuesday dinner: We both had vegetable plates for lunch and were not very hungry at dinnertime. A repeat never hurt anyone did it?

Minestrone soup, leftover basil sourdough

Wednesday: 36 Days until Christmas

The morning ride to class was drop dead gorgeous, not because the sun was shining and the skies were blue. In fact it was a dismal looking day, but the fall leaves were at their prime. All the yellows, reds and occasional oranges were eye candy the entire drive. I made a stop or two on the way home, changed and spent the rest of the day at the house.

Wednesday dinner: The weather outside was abnormally warm, so I kept the door to the screened porch opened until the temperature dropped and cooled the den. Since we are not running the heater we became chilled. Thank you leftovers.

Pumpkin sausage soup, rolls

 

Thursday; 35 Days until Christmas

There was dense fog with early morning sun filtering through. I sit sometimes at the kitchen table which fits in a bay window overlooking the back yard. The fog, the filtered light and the fall leaves on the trees made the backyard look like a fairy land. While sitting there I played my Thanksgiving playlist and I can't describe now much I enjoyed the early morning. coffee time.

TheHub had a meeting and I ran a few errands. Other than that it was a run of th mill day.

Thursday dinner: Once again I had leftovers and just had to make a couple of sides.

Brisket, mashed potatoes, coleslaw

Friday: 34 Days until Christmas

 What a difference 24 hours makes. Instead of waking to fog with sunlight peeking through, I woke to a gloomy overcast day, but the temperatures were overly warm. Ick! The humidity was too high for me to be comfortable sitting on the porch for coffee. Instead I sat at the kitchen table watching the winds kick up. All of a sudden the entire backyard was filled with swirling gold and scarlet leaves. It seemed like it lasted much longer than it did (probably 30-45 seconds) but it was beautiful while it lasted. Instead of raining men it was raining leaves. 

I stayed home and began the Christmas decorating process. This year I actually had some well thought out process with no chaos, which is not my norm. Damn if organization is not a good thing that I had been fighting all my life. Don't get me wrong, I love spontaneity and will continue to live that way, but there is something to be said for having a plan and following it.

Friday dinner: Neither of us were very hungry, and succumbed to a quick pantry meal. Sometimes dinner is nothing but fodder to fill a belly.

Cheese toast, tomato soup

Saturday: 33 Days until Christmas

Ball game day! As usual we started the morning watching/listening to shows, first from the radio then Game Day on ESPN. Truth be told we do not turn on a radio. Instead we ask Alexa to do the work for us. Sometimes with technology and AI  I feel we are living perilously close to the Ray Bradbury short story "There Will Come Soft Rains".

Both Bama and Auburn won big, and both will go into the rival game next Saturday with a vengeance. I hope Alabama wins but they are playing in Auburn and anything can happen.

Saturday dinner: We still had about half our monthly minimum to use and ordered takeout.

Cobb salad and sliders.

Sunday: 32 Days until Christmas

TheHub was felling pretty lousy so we skipped church. Well he skipped it totally; I watched it via our church streaming site. I still missed the early morning communion service and Sunday school, but at least I did get to see the actual service. This coming Sunday will begin Advent season. I plan on waking  then at 6:30 so I can at least stream the first Sunday of Advent.

I won't say there was a flurry of activity going on here but there was a little additional Christmas decorating, clothes washing, and getting things in order for the trip. As much as I hate that we did not plan on being there a full week, TheHub needed the additional days here to work on the project that has claimed my dining room for over a year.

Sunday dinner: TheHub still felt rotten (but tested negative so that's good) and I was not about to cook for just me. The bonus of the day? I ate the last of the gozillion cherry tomatoes we grew.

Soup and crackers (him)  Cherry tomato laden tossed salad (me)

Menu for the week:

Monday: Something with ground beef (some in the fridge that needs to be used)

Tuesday: Cheese and dried fruit (eaten on the plane)

Wednesday: Who knows

Thursday: Thanksgiving meal

Friday - Sunday: No clue

Books read in November:

The Harbinger

No More Tears:The Dark Secrets of Johnson and Johnson

The Librarian

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne