Oh no just 22 weeks till Christmas

We are now officially on the downhill side of Christmas, and we all know how quickly things speed up when going down hill.  However it is insanely hot here and nothing says "Hey Anne, why don't you do something Christmasy?"

Our house does have central a/c which makes the inside bearable and we have a separate unit to keep the upstairs cool, but no one is here to use the bedrooms thus we keep the thermostat set at 81 and close it off from the main level. 81 degrees is not unbearable, but it is hotter than I want to be, so unfortunately all the plans I had for finishing the room of horrors are on hold until the weather breaks. Yeah, like I was really going to do that! I still have at least 14 weeks before things are critical, right?

I do have several new to me recipes of Christmas cookies I wanted to try, but it was also just too hot to turn on the oven, so I didn't, nor will I until this heatwave is over.

I guess the long and short of it is I may or may not do anything even remotely resembling Christmas prep depending on the weather.

Ho, Ho, Hot!

Anne

Everyday Ordinary

This was not a big nor exciting week. I was just kicking about my everyday life.

What I intended for our meals

1. Big salad meal

2. Veggie meal

3. Fundraiser w/ meal

4. Crack chicken, green beans, tossed salad

5. Steak, baked potato, tossed salad

6. Tacos with all the fixings

7. Grilled tuna steaks, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad

Daily Joys and what we actually ate:

Monday: My Beloved Sister went with me to my happy place. For those of you who might not have known, Monday was National Junk Food Day. so the choice of what to help them make was easy. What could be junkier than Frito candy, with Fritos, corn syrup, Hershey bars and m&m's. It was an outstanding success with each participant wanting seconds.

Monday dinner: And how do you follow midday Frito candy?

Tacos with all the fixings

Tuesday: It was hot and I started a new book. It was pretty easy to do little other than stay inside and read. 

Tuesday dinner: We both grew up having and loving summer night veggie dinners.

Squash casserole, butter peas, collards, cucumber tomato onion salad

Wednesday: The day was hot and I decided to mainly repeat what I had done Tuesday, which is exactly what I was doing until I got a phone call from Sluggy. She did not sound good at all, but hopefully has turned the Covid corner.

Should I mention that the more than a little warm temps have left the pool water just slightly cooler than bathwater.

Wednesday dinner: It was just too hot to fire up the grill. Format change!

Seared tuna steaks with buerre blanc sauce, fake mashed potatoes or baked potato*, steamed broccoli

Thursday: We had a lot of running around to do (stuff I could very easily have done myself, but TheHub wanted/needed to go anywhere). TheHub managed things so we would be out at lunch time and he was able to get his eating out at lunch fix (or so I thought). 

Thursday dinner: We had eaten a pretty big lunch at a Thai restaurant. Dinner was every man for himself.

Sandwich or broccoli salad

Friday: We had been planning to go to Niki's West all summer. TheHub invited Son2 and DIL2, along with MBS to have lunch with us there. It is the ultimate meat and three restaurant. It is cafeteria style with 6 or so entrees and 20 or so vegetables (including that veggie mac and cheese), several salads, breads and desserts. 

It is always packed at lunch so we met at 1, which should have been after the lunch hour business rush. Nope! They had  four queue lines which were filled, with folks still pouring through the door. 

This is one of those few places where a long line moves very fast, for the servers (and there are a lot of them) are somewhat like the Soup Nazi from the old Seinfeld show. You do not dawdle and if you have brains at all you peer through the queue lines and have made your decisions before you even pick up your tray to start down the line. Next time, I will suggest going at 1:45. By then the line crowd had thinned considerably.

Worth the drive (it is across town) and standing in line? You bet

Friday dinner: I had a veggie plate and TheHub had eaten turkey and dressing with 2 veggies for lunch. I was not about to fix (southern term meaning make, not to be confused with fixing which means about to, i.e. I'm fixin' to run to The Pig) dinner.

Egg rolls **

Saturday: Our neighbor has her 2 nieces from Tennessee staying with her for a week. She had asked me earlier if they could come swim, which was fine with us as long as they had an adult with them. After they left I asked her if the girls enjoyed it. She told me they both wished they could turn into mermaids so they could stay. They will be here through Wednesday, so I told her to bring them back whenever she wants to. 

Saturday night we went to The Sounds of Summer (Independence Place Fundraiser). We did enjoy the band who played a lot of old Motown classics, but the highlight of the evening was the performance by the participants. 

Try to imagine a stage filled with participants doing an interpretive dance to Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" while the participants with mobility issues sat and twirled silver streamers.

Following the dance, drums were brought out and each participant was given 2 mallets. They had been practicing for several weeks and each had a different rhythm they were to beat (from very simple 1 beat per measure, to more complex ones changing every other measure)  while Sly and the Family Stone's Thank You (for lettin me be myself, again)  blasted over the p.a.

I don't know what I loved more, the drumming or to see each of them singing the chorus, "Thank you . . .again".  I could have easily cried happy tears.

Saturday dinner: What can I say, banquet food is banquet food.

Salad, roast rice pilaf, green beans, cheesecake

Sunday: I picked pears, then peeled and cut them and put them in a pot with every intention of making pear jam. It was going quite well until I turned the temp up and walked away for a few minutes. Instead of pear jam I had this pear caramel concoction. I was not about to waste my sure jel on it. Instead I canned it and will present it as caramel pear ice cream topping, and never mention it was a mistake.

I still have enough pears to make another stab at the jam.

I live kind of on the side of a big hill and have a huge sky expanse.The upside of all this blasted humidity was a gorgeous full rainbow I could stand in my front yard and enjoy for several minutes before it disappeared into the ether.

Saturday dinner. TheHub stopped at Publix on his way home from the driving range.

Rotisserie chicken, coleslaw

What we might or might not eat this week:

1. Big salad meal

2. Veggie meal

3. Pork chops, mashed potatoes or baked potato, sautéed vegetables

4. Out to eat (Have a club minimum we need to use by the 31st)

5. Possibly out to eat again (Son2's birthday celebration)

6. Crack chicken, coleslaw, rice

7 Burgers and all the fixings

Books read in July:

Holly

Eruption

You Make It Feel Like Christmas

It's Not Summer Without You***

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

* I will not make TheHub eat the mashed cauliflower fake potatoes and keep baking potatoes on hand to nuke for his dinner.

**Aldi staple that just needs to be thrown in the air fryer. I keep them in the freezer all the time. We split them and each get 2 1/2 egg rolls.

*** Second in the series I am reading in tandem with Pip

**** Not the Daniel Steele book by the same name, but the Charlotte Butterfield book

Oh no just 23 weeks until Christmas

Woo hoo! This week was better and I did a little getting ready.

I actually did think of Christmas a little this week. TheHub and I happened into a store I absolutely never go in and I found 4 presents for Christmas. TheHub and I give cash gifts to our sons and DILs as their main present, but we also give them a few smaller gifts. I mean, everyone like to have presents to open right? So I now have a total of 8 gifts purchased, and a few ideas to get whenever. 

I collected a couple of recipes to try that I could add to our usual Christmas brunch if I like the way they taste and look, but it is just too hot to do any serious baking right now. 

And the pear tree has given me enough pears for a batch of pear ginger jam. I am not a big jam or jelly person, but this stuff is pretty dang tasty. I am going to spring it on give it to a few friends who I think might like it. 

I am also considering making some apple cinnamon jelly and canning it in small jars to hand out to any guests we have over the holidays as they leave the house (though it is still just a consideration).

And for the official record, I managed to avoid the decoration room of terror once more.

Ho, Ho, it will be here before we know it.

Summertime Laziness

 Summer brings out the lazy in me!

Monday : I pickled the first round of harvested pears and was pretty pleased with how they turned out. Other than that is was just a normal hot summer day. I don't hibernate in the summer, but I stick close to home just because I don't like getting all gussied up to go somewhere when it is hot. It helps that the pool is just a few steps out the back door.

Monday dinner: I still had some produce from my prior visit to the produce stand and it needed to be used.

Deconstructed stuffed peppers, corn on the cob, cucumber tomato onion salad

Tuesday: Bennys and Brenda had their produce stand set up early so I went to buy the few things I needed. On the way home I stopped at The Pig to do a little cherry picking and to snag the free item. I drove back home, put things away and then crashed. I felt bad and was freezing. I am pretty sure I was fighting a potential sinus issue. I wrapped up in a blanket and chair slept most of the day.

Tuesday dinner: TheHub had played golf with a couple of our neighbors and, since I was not feeling well, counted on him eating lunch out. He didn't, his loss.

Baked potato, coleslaw

Wednesday: I spent the day mainly reading and doing a ton of laundry. 

I had bought 5 pounds of ground chuck at ThePig that I had just put in the meat drawer of the fridge. It needed to be processed for the freezer. I split it in half and packed some uncooked, and browned the rest before bagging it. (And this continual filling might be why I never come close to emptying the freezer!)

Wednesday dinner: I kept some of the browned ground chuck out to use for dinner

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

Thursday: I woke and thought I had a ton of time before going to somewhere I had planned. I was enjoying a slow morning drinking coffee when DIL2 texted me. I had written in my calendar I needed to be there at 1, instead of 10. Oops.  I called My Beloved Sister to see if she could get ready in 15 minutes, so we could make it there just a little later. than our scheduled time. We made it but it was not easy. The upside is that I had not been to my happy place in at least a month and I had missed seeing all the participants at Independence Place

Thursday dinner: TheHub was out and about during the day and we both got home within 15 or so minutes of each other. Since we were both dressed for the day, we did a few inside chores,  and went out for an early dinner at The Pita Cafe.

Racer sandwich, fries

Friday: I had some major laundry catching up to do, and there was always reading that needed to be done.

Friday dinner: We try to have meatless meals at least once a week and I almost always plan a veggie meal.

Mac and cheese*, lady peas, sliced tomatoes, coleslaw

Saturday: I had planned on working in the room of horror, but accidentally stumbled on something that took up a large part of my day. I have said before that I have a well (overstocked) pantry/freezer with an overflow shelf stable food storage in the laundry room. While putting a load of clothes in the washer, I noticed some red powdery something on the laundry room floor, next to my overflow cabinet.  A cellophane packet of chili powder, had gotten overturned and looks like it snagged on the hinge for the cabinet door (the doors I never put on the cabinet)  probably when I was looking for something (i.e. shuffling things around while I looked) and was torn. It had spread all over the shelf it was on. Nothing to do but clean it up and once I started it morphed into a total removal of everything in the cabinet and a complete clean out. And why would I want to just clean the cabinet and leave when I could clean out even more areas of the laundry room?

Saturday dinner: Son2 and DIL2 had temporary guardianship of one of the Independence Place participants a couple of years ago prior to his move to Little Rock. He was in town and spending the night with them Saturday night. We have missed seeing him and asked them to meet us for dinner at Martin's BBQ.

Pulled pork, broccoli salad, green beans

Sunday: We woke early and went to our church's communion service, then went to the early traditional service. It is the best way for me to start my week.

Once home I actually cooked breakfast ( not in my normal wheelhouse) before processing the pears I picked the other day that needed to be processed.

I made pear /cardamom preserves with about 4 pounds of pears, then canned them.

Once they were done I went out and picked about 5 more pounds of pears and there are still a lot more one the tree. 

Sunday night: It was a leftover kind of evening.

Mac and cheese, lady peas, coleslaw

What we might have this week:

1. Big salad meal

2. Veggie meal

3. Fundraiser w/ meal

4. Crack chicken, green beans, tossed salad

5. Steak, baked potato, tossed salad

6. Tacos with all the fixings

7. Grilled tuna steaks, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad

Books read in July:

Holly

Eruption

You Make It Feel Like Christmas

*Go to any meat and three in the south and ask for a vegetable plate. Mac and cheese will be listed as a vegetable

Oh no just 24 weeks till Christmas

 It is really too hot to get any sort of Christmas mojo going but I have noticed a few places like Michael's and Hobby Lobby are beginning to sneak a few Christmasy things out. I suppose those are for the true crafters who start and finish projects before the seasonal rush. 

These people are not my people!

I finally did get the pickled pears made and canned, and still have a ton more to pick and process. I think I will pickle another batch and then make pear preserves to also give as Christmas gifts. I have one friend who always talks about how much she loves them, so she will definitely get a jar.

I did not touch the room of horrors, but have noticed on the local Buy Nothing facebook site, people are starting to sort through their decorations and give away those not used anymore. There seem to be many people who are interested in getting them, so I need to finish sorting and give it away sooner rather than later. However I have managed to ignore the room pretty successfully so far. Maybe there is no reason to think I will do otherwise in the very near future.

I read the Christmas book I had chosen from the Libby app, You Make It Feel Like Christmas.  Now I need to read 4 more to catch up on the one a month I anticipated reading. 

Amazon Prime Days came and went and though I found a really good buy on what would have made a great "add in" Christmas present for my sons, I did not pull the trigger and get it for them.  Now I regret it!

Speaking of Prime Day and Christmas__I did order a set of calligraphy markers, and downloaded a font I really like. I have been trying to master the Alphabet to possibly address my Christmas Cards this year.  Or maybe just address the ones to my most special friends?

Ho, Ho, Hum

Anne

Lazy week

This was just one of those regular summer weeks, mostly unplanned days with lots of sun afternoon rains, swim time, and iced tea on the porch.

Planned  meals:

1. Big salad meal

2. Veggie meal

3. Grilled tuna, tossed salad, green beans, mashed potatoes

4. Zucchini cheese strata, tossed salad

5. Stuffed peppers, coleslaw, mashed potatoes

6. We might be going tn Nashville and if we do we will eat out some

7. Ditto

Joys and meals that happened in real life:

Monday: I like to take Mondays and plan out the week, so I did just that, along with a lot of laundry and pool time. TheHub and I swam laps. We rarely swim laps at the same time. (I think it is a competition thing)

TheHub was/is athletic and played baseball all through college. All our married lives he could beat me no matter what we did, except swim. I am a much stronger swimmer than he is and his competitive nature will not allow him to be bested by me.

Dinner: There were things in the fridge that needed to be used.

Stuffed banana peppers, coleslaw, cornbread

Tuesday: I was on hold waiting for My Beloved Sister to let me know when she needed help. BIL had bought a new car in August of '24, and she was selling it. The place she was selling it and she had agreed to a price and all that was left was to deliver the car, get her money and be picked up. Simple right? Nope.  

Our plan was for me to leave 40 minutes after she left. It would (according to what they told her) give her time to do the paperwork about the time I got there. I had already told her it was no big deal if it ran a little over. 3 1/2 hours later!

Dinner: Rotisserie chicken from Publix saved the day. The rest was in the fridge.

Roast chicken, pink eyed peas, cucumber onion tomato salad

Wednesday: Spent the day sorting, organizing or tossing then cleaning the bathrooms and linen closets.  We have a lot of bathrooms and linen closets in this house so it takes a while. Now I have a true picture of what I might need to purchase to meet our shampoo, soap, body wash, first aid, etc. issues for the next year. Not a blooming thing!!! I am overstocked on all fronts!

Wednesday dinner: After spending the day in various bathrooms, cooking was not on my priority list.

Leftover chopped roast chicken in Italianish pasta, tossed salad

Thursday: Woke to no internet. A house is being built in the neighborhood and evidently while accessing water and power lines the crater they dug cut through the ATT fiber line.

I could do without internet or tv but a day without music?

TheHub and I did not go totally digital, and still have a tuner, turntable, cd player, and even cassette player plus thousands of albums, cassette tapes, and cds, decades worth of all genres. So, after dusting it off, I was able to blast whatever I wanted to. The bonus? TheHub met Son2 for lunch so I could really crank up the volume! I felt like a teen, well except for the knees, and back, and . . .  

Thursday dinner: TheHub had eaten a big lunch when he met Son2, so I felt no obligation to cook a real meal.

BLT* salad

Friday: My Beloved Sister came over and we spent about 2 hours in he pool. We both swam laps, then did some floating, followed by more laps.  After getting out, and a quick shower, TheHub and I had some running around we needed to do. We hit 5 different places before heading home.

Friday dinner: We were out later than I thought we would be and decided to pick up a quick dinner.

Chicken, green beans, coleslaw.

Saturday: TheHub and I ran by our favorite produce stand, then ran a couple of other places before coming home for a quick lunch.

More swimming with MBS. While we were swimming, the skies darkened and we played the game "Is that thunder or a plane" . I am perfectly fine swimming in the rain, but not so much in a thunderstorm. We agreed it was a plane and finished our laps. The actual storm happened about an hour later.    

Saturday dinner: We had been to Benny and Brenda's produce stand which meant a veggie dinner was going to happen.

Lady peas, okra, sliced tomatoes, cornbread  

Sunday: We woke in time to make it to the early church communion service, then the 8:30 service in the sanctuary. Our Sunday School class takes the month of July off. Many of our class members have beach houses or lake places and are gone most of July. 

We were going to be through with our church activities by 9:30 and decided to go out to breakfast afterward. We thought about hitting Big Bad Breakfast but their parking lot was full and there was a wait out the door. Nope, we just moved on to Jack's**. 

It is a local fast food restaurant, but the one nearest us had been torn down and rebuilt and actually has a nice eating aren. I am usually a cheap breakfast date as I generally get just a cup of coffee, however, Jack's has a smoked sausage biscuit on their menu that is fantastic. I don't know if they use Conecuh or not, but if it isn't it is a near ringer in the flavor and texture department.

After we came home I headed to the screened porch to read (thankfully we have a ceiling fan out there) and may or may not have dozed until a fierce clap of thunder changed that. Then I got to do one of my favorite summertime things. I love being outside yet protected during a storm, and like most summertime thunderstorms here, it lasted about 25 minutes with lightning, thunder and rain that looked like someone turned on a faucet. Then about as quickly it blew in, it was gone, followed by sunshine and steam rising everywhere. Ah, summer in the south!

Once the grass dried a little I picked about a dozen more pears to pickle.

Sunday dinner: We ate a later breakfast, then skipped an actual lunch, though some snacking took place. We had a boatload of fruit , cheese and different crackers on hand to fill that snacking need. Neither of us were actually hungry for dinner, and I was not really in the mood to cook. Instead we took the easy route and went to the absolutely cheapest place nearest us to snag dinner. Taco Bell to the rescue for a not delicious but adequate dinner.

Two of their regular cheap tacos***

What's possibly up for dinner this week?

1. Stuffed banana peppers, corn on the cob, tomato cucumber onion salad

2. Veggie meal TBD

3. Big salad meal TBD

4. Spaghetti w/meat sauce, tossed salad

5. Grilled tuna steaks, baked potato, green beans

6. Hamburgers w/ all the fixings, fruit salad

7. Take out or out to eat (We did not go to Nashville but it is a possibility again for this week)

Books read in July:

Holly

Eruption

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

* I cook 2 or 3 pounds of bacon at one time in the oven until it is done but not crispy (we like it crispy) then freeze it. When we want bacon all I have to do is nuke it for about 45 seconds. Before TheHub retired that much bacon would last about 3 months, but now that he is home and is on to my bacon trick, he makes a BLT for lunch often. It is disappearing much faster than it did.

** Though Jack's began its life as a locally owned fast food hamburger joint, it added a really good breakfast menu and fantastic chicken dinners. It also has limited monthly specials, and you never know what they will be.

They are all over Alabama, a couple on Georgia and at least one in/near Chattanooga TN. If you are near on and have a hankering for something good give them a try. The biscuits are cat head biscuits just like your granny used to make.

***The bonus (if there actually is one) of going to Taco Bell is having the overage of taco sauce packs they stuff in the take out bag. I can never understand how two tacos require a dozen packs of sauce, however, I will save them and add them as flavoring to something I cook later on.

Oh no just 25 weeks till Christmas.

 I have noticed Christmas in July stuff all around, and realized we are halfway there. I am still in a holding pattern and totally uninspired to finish the room of horrors. It's hot, muggy, and I had rather be swimming than stuck in a room surrounded by seasonal decorations. Maybe next week? I have my doubts, though it could happen.

The only thing even remotely Christmasy I have done this week is to download a Christmas book from my Libby app. I said in January I was going to read a Christmas book every month, but as I look in the mirror I am 4 months behind, excluding the current download, You Make It Feel Like Christmas.

It looks like this will be a quick read if I ever open the blooming thing and start reading. 

My pear tree is loaded this year and I have picked some hard green ones to make pickled pears for Christmas gifts, but have been skillfully avoiding actually doing it. This is time sensitive because I can't make it with fully ripened pears. 

At least I do have the jars washed and ready and have all the necessary ingredients. Now I just need to get my rear in gear, but the pool is screaming at me right now and I feel I must pay attention to it. Tomorrow? 

Ho, Ho, Hum.

Transition and Confusion

This was a transition week after having Son1 and Pip here. Even though they left on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I woke still thinking they were here. I am not the brightest bulb in the box until I have been awake a couple of minutes.

What was planned:

Grilled tripletail, baked potato, coleslaw

leftover conecuh sausage, leftover cheese biscuits, coleslaw

Veggie dinner TBD

BLT salad

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, garlic toast

Something*

Something*

How far I veered off the planned path:

Monday: Pip had one last request of things she wanted to do while here, so off we went to Starbucks. She has some pink drink she likes to drink and wanted a grilled cheese from there. I had no idea Starbucks even had a grilled cheese option, but I am not a Starbucks regular. I only go twice a year, once for a caramel macchiato and another time at Christmas for their peppermint mocha. 

I love coffee, but I am not a fancy coffee drinker. I make it at home every morning like I prefer it, strong and black, not burnt tasting like Starbucks plain coffee tastes to me. 

Mid-day we had to leave to get them to the airport. It is always hard saying goodbye, but we had them for 2 weeks and that filled my cup until the next time we see them.

We got home and rested because we both were tired. I did pick some of the bigger pears from the tree in the front yard, then decided to research what to do with them. I need to harvest them all soon and need, plans in place for long term, as well as short term storage.

The tree is covered  this year, but a mocking bird is nesting there and she is not fond of me being around. I don't mind sharing the tree and some pears with her, and will not bother her babies, but would appreciate her not dive bombing me.

Monday dinner: We had some food in the fridge that needed to be eaten.

 Leftover conecuh sausage, coleslaw,  cheese biscuits

Tuesday: We woke and hoped to get out early to beat the heat. What a foolish thought. It was hot and humid at the start of the day. We had been missing Benny and Brenda's produce stand because the rains kept them from setting up on their usual days closest to my house. I was getting desperate for some good tomatoes (the ones in our yard are not really producing yet) . We ran by and they were there, but without their usual glut of produce. The rains have really affected their crop growth with some crops molding in the fields. Though I was happy for the tomatoes, I really wanted yellow squash and cucumbers, but they have not been producing well this year.

After the produce run we ran by Pilleteri's to grab some of their ground chuck/bacon mix. We have never had it before but 2 different trusted friends told us how good it is so we decided to give it a try.

Next we headed to Snapper Grabber to see if they had any tripletail. It was our lucky day.

Tuesday dinner: Because our fish monger did have tripletail in their case, dinner planned itself. Honestly though, even if they had not had it I would have just bought grouper because we love it also.

Grilled tripletail, baked potato, tossed salad

Wednesday: I did a bunch of laundry, then talked with MBS while I cleaned out the laundry room refrigerator. After it was cleaned and the many loads of clothes I was doing Wednesday were done, I spent time reviewing our July schedule, browsing recipes for potential meals, some advance cooking, and catching up on some reading.

Wednesday dinner: I found a lot of things in the laundry room fridge that needed to be eaten, cooked, or frozen.

Leftover collards, corn on the cob, pink eyed peas, cornbread, peach cobbler

Thursday: I have to stop staying up so late. It was 4 before I finally went to bed, so I slept until a little after 9.  Bad me!

Got up, had coffee (needed a caffeine i.v drip for I was still tired) talked with My Beloved Sister then got ready for the day. Cute clothes and summer heat are not mutually inclusive, but I refuse to compromise and am just very thankful for a really good car a/c.

TheHub and I ran a few errands, picked up the ribs for the fourth (yes I let someone else do the smoking and I pick them up cooked and ready to eat. It is worth every penny). After we grabbed the ribs we stopped by JaWanda's Pies in Inverness. I was not, nor am I ever interested in a sweet potato pie, but she also makes delicious pound cakes. Again I paid for the convenience of not having to bake, and again it was worth it. I do not mind spending money if there is value in it, and after the past two weeks I am putting a price on my time. I had rather be spending the fourth swimming and having fun than cooking.

Thursday dinner: Thanks to the refrigerator clean out and advance cooking, dinner was almost ready and only took about 5 minutes to heat and throw together.

Something like if a fajita and nachos had a really weird baby

Friday: Happy 4th of July if you live in the States and Happy Friday  (or Saturday) to everyone else. Hope all of you had a good day regardless of what side of the pond you live on.

We had a day of swimming and enjoying family. Son2 and DIL2 were here along with MBS. The day was hot but the pool felt great.

Friday dinner: We had just one meal for the day because we knew it would be a big meal, and it was.

BBQ ribs, potato salad, collard greens, vidalia onion pie, watermelon, chocolate pound cake, ice cream

Saturday: TheHub and I got up and ran a few errands. ( I left before coffee which is always dangerous for anyone around me) We ran by Benny's produce stand and he was not there. Brenda had told us they would only be there if they had enough to harvest, so I am assuming the weather (rain) still was impacting their yield.

We had a few more things to do before we came home to eat lunch, then rested, read and did a few chores. TheHub left to play 9 holes of golf and we had planned on swimming after he got home, but he ran into some friends on the course and golf was extended. Did not matter at all to me, but once it got closer to 6, I decided to nix swimming and just get dinner started. 

Saturday dinner: I don't mind swimming before dinner if all I am going to do is warm leftovers but I was going to cook and I don't like coming in from the pool, taking a shower then starting dinner from scratch. It is never about eating late, but cleaning the kitchen late really pisses me off.

Hamburger patties, french fries, cucumber tomato onion salad

Sunday: We woke in plenty of time to get to church, but right before time to get dressed we decided to stay home and watch it online. Since it was the 4th weekend, we only had one service and no Sunday School.

The day was beautiful and I decided the pool was calling me. MBS came over and we swam laps, then just floated and talked. It felt great!

Later in the afternoon I talked with Sluggy and caught up on her trip. Now I know my southern rear end does not need to go near the Arctic Circle__ever. A summertime high of 47? No thanks!

Sunday dinner: This was a reheat and eat type of night.

Ribs, collards, potato salad, baked beans

What might possibly happen this week? Because we might swim right before dinner I want things I can have ready in a jiffy.

1. Big salad meal

2. Veggie meal

3. Grilled tuna, tossed salad, green beans, mashed potatoes

4. Zucchini cheese strata, tossed salad

5. Stuffed peppers, coleslaw, mashed potatoes

6. We might be going tn Nashville and if we do we will eat out some

7. Ditto

Books read in July:

Holly

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

Oh no just 26 weeks till Christmas

 I did go into the room of horrors and work a little bit, but did I finish?

Nope!!! I guess you can call me  a . . . 

                                     . . . 

The whirlwind is over__for now

After time at the beach and a week+ having Son1 and Pip here, our lives are now back to just the two of us. My days are all mixed up and I operated all day today assuming it was Monday. It wasn't. We really did love being with them and now things will settle to a dull roar for a bit, and we will just do the things we normally do together.

Meals planned for the week:

None. I knew the week was going to be unusual and there would be no reason to plan, so I didn't.

Monday: When Pip is in town, TheHub and I act like Disneyland grandparents. On a good year we see her three times, but usually twice is the norm. Though, there was that 2 year period during Covid when we did not see her live and in person at all. 

Instead of being able to take her to grab a burger or something similar every week, like all of my friends who have grands living close by, our spending on her is done in a concentrated amount of time during visits. It might seem excessive to some, but our options for spoiling our only grandchild are limited and we plan for and take full advantage of it when she is in town.

Since she was a little older and wiser, this year instead of grabbing the credit card and swiping every time we were out and about, we gave her cash the first day she was here, with the promise I would take her shopping wherever/whenever she wanted to go, but once the money ran out, that was the end of what we would buy. (There was a codicil that if we were out and about, food purchases were excluded and would be on us.)

Our first stop was to her favorite place, Sephora. And trust me, she flat out knows what she wants there. We shopped and shopped and shopped some more, until she had found the things she wanted, ever mindful of her budget. We would still be there today if I was not about to wet my pants. Sephora at the Summit has no rest rooms and it required going to Trader Joe's for a little relief. While we were in the store I did pick up a few necessities.

We had not eaten lunch by about 2:30 and were hungry. When I asked her what she was thinking might be good, she suggested sushi. Not my favorite, but I gave her the option and she chose, so I went along with it.

We came home in time to find the pool guy here. The rains are still messing with the water balance, but he assured us it would be good to go by Tuesday.

Monday dinner: We scraped together leftovers from the Sunday birthday party

Hamburger patties, salad

Tuesday: The first thing Pip wanted to do was go to Crumbl cookies. We went and came home with a 4 pack. Of course she got to pick out all the flavors.

Swim day, all day with jumping out of the pool only to eat or get out of the sun. Fortunately it was overcast part of the day so no one was sunburned. 

Tuesday dinner: A quick and simple dinner was called for

Conecuh sausage, coleslaw or salad, rice, mango cubes

There may or may not have been a Bruster's ice cream run!

Wednesday: I had arranged for one of our neighbors who has a daughter Pip's age to come over. They had a good time swimming, laughing, talking, eating until it was time for L to head home. 

Pip had to make a choice between seeing the play Frozen or visiting Son2, DIL2 and their 4 dogs. (Know what you call the condition of having too many dogs?   A Roverdose!) She chose to see Jack, Reesie, Cocopuff and Trixie.

Wednesday dinner: We took dinner to their house

BBQ pork, coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread

Thursday: Another swim day. MBS came over to swim with Pip and me. After swimming we got dressed and headed to Barnes and Noble. Pip has developed a keen interest in CD's and Vinyl albums and wanted to go browse and see if she could find anything she wanted. After looking through every single cd and album available, she bought what she said she wanted before we ever left for B and N. So the band, Brat, can count on Pip for another CD sale.

(As an aside: I subscribe to Sirius radio for my car and until the past week it had never been tuned to a pop 40's station. This past week that is all I listened to. I am unsure if it was my ears or brain bleeding!)

Thursday dinner: 

Thursday dinner: We met Son2 and DIL2 for dinner at Waldos

Chicken, collards, coleslaw, toast, fried pickles, other stuff that I don't remember.

Friday: Swimming happened in the morning, then Son1 took Pip to the Galleria then to Son2's house. She wanted to spend the night with them and have lots of time with the dogs.

Friday dinner: Son1 met two of his former fraternity brothers and their wives for dinner, so it was just TheHub and me for dinner here.

Hot dogs, french fries

Saturday: We met Son2 at a restaurant halfway between our houses for a quick lunch and Pip exchange. Once we were home she decided some shop[ping was in order. We left with the intention of going to Ross then Ulta. However she found a haul at Ross then nixed Ulta altogether. If the truth is being told, she still had one large bill left from the money we gave her for shopping and did not want to break it, so it could go back to Portland with her.  I am sure she had plans to use it there, probably for entertainment with her friends. Fine with me! I don't like to shop and only go with her because I love her.

Saturday dinner: We were running out of days to use our minimum from the club so we had to use it.

Fish sandwich, shrimp bowl, or pizza

Sunday: This was the last full day for Son1 and Pip to be at our house. It was a swim, pack get things together kind of day.

Sunday dinner: Son1 wanted bbq one last time. It is not that you can't find bbq in Portland, you can. You just can't find that slow hickory smoked jukcy delicious type you can find all over the south.

We were happy to oblidge and invited Son2 and DIL2 to join us. They love bbq too!

Pulled pork, baked beans, collard greens, cheese biscuits, mac and cheese

And with the exception of a flight the next day, our time with them was over. Did I mention how tired I was, since Pip did not go to bed before 2 every night and I stayed up with her watching Young Sheldon. I had never seen it before and it was a cute show, and I shoud know because we watched episode after episode, season after season

What might be on the menu this week? 

Grilled tripletail, baked potato, coleslaw

leftover conecuh sausage, leftover cheese biscuits, coleslaw

Veggie dinner TBD

BLT salad

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, garlic toast

Something*

Something*

Books read in June

We Could Be Rats (This book has a hard subject matter)

My Italian Bulldozer

The Dutch House

The Friday Afternoon Club

The Year I Turned Pretty**

This is a Love Story***

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

* I need to clean the fridge and see what needs to be eaten, but I am not in the mood to do it today.

** Read in tandem with Pip. Now I wonder why I am not churning out "Hallmark books" for tweens.

*** Supposed to be good but I found it just tedious

Oh no just 27 weeks until Christmas

 Hey, give me a break  First I was at the beach and now Pip is at my house. Whole lotta shakin’ is going on, none of which is Christmas related

Summer fun!

Last week was a fun and family filled summertime week, with promises of more of the same this week. 

Monday: Got ready to go to the beach

Monday dinner: It was a clean out the fridge night

Leftover Thai food

Tuesday: Left for the beach. What can you say? We arrived to a gorgeous condo, met Son2 and DIL2. Son1, DIL1, and Pip were supposed to arrive at the PCB airport that evening, but unfortunately they got stuck in Denver overnight, so our planned pickup did not happen. 

Tuesday night: We had not been to the grocery store and had nothing for dinner, so we went to a small seafood restaurant. The food was OK but not great. Since everyone orders differently I will only post what I ate.

Shrimp and scallops, cheese grits, coleslaw

Wednesday: We all went shopping for groceries, then it was time for beach or reading activities. Since we were going to have to drive about 50 minutes to the airport in the late afternoon, I opted for reading. 

We left in what we thought was enough time to get to the airport by the time their flight came in. Unfortunately we did not allow for getting stuck in traffic. We were about 10 minutes later than when they landed, but the upside was a delay getting their luggage, so we managed to have to wait for them a few minutes. I had much rather wait to pick someone up than to have them waiting for me. 

I was thrilled to see all of them but sad they lost a day of Florida fun due to flight delays.

We drove back to the condo and a quick dip in the pool was first on Pip's agenda. For Son1 and DIL1 taking a shower and changing out of the clothes they had been wearing for two days was paramount.

Priorities, right?

Wednesday dinner: There was a seafood restaurant near the condo that offered take out options. I took orders from everyone and called them in. Again everyone wanted something different so I am only listing my dinner.

Fish tacos, green beans

Thursday: It was a near perfect beach day. Lots of sun, the water was clear (big undertow but at least the flags were just yellow rather than  red like they were Wednesday. Lots of sunscreen was used and no one was sunburned. I call that an extremely successful beach day.

Thursday dinner: No one wanted to come in early and get dressed to go out to eat, so earlier in the day TheHub and I had run to a local seafood market to buy foods for dinner.

Grilled grouper, seared scallops, steamed shrimp, asparagus, coleslaw, tossed salad, croissants, ley lime pie 

Friday: Beach day, what else is there to say?

Friday dinner: They made to drive to Boondocks for seafood. I was not feeling well and stayed home.

Assorted seafood dishes served with fantastic hushpuppies.

Saturday: All good things must come to an end. We had to drive to the PCB airport to take DIL1 to the airport. She had to be back in Portland for work. Son1 and Pip rode back to Birmingham with us to stay for a bit. We stopped multi times on the way home, traffic was horrendous, and it took us what seemed like forever to get home. Once home we were delighted (SHE SAID SARCASTICALLY) to find a green pool. The excessive rains diluted the chemicals and the water that was perfect when we left was not so perfect once we were home. Boo!

Saturday dinner: Pip is a big fan of the show "Young Sheldon".  In one episode Sheldons brother and sister split a steak and lobster dinner at Red Lobster. That is where she wanted to go . Insert the name Piper for Lola, and lobster for what she wants, in the song below.

Son1 and Pip split the steak and lobster dinner. TheHub and I shared the bacon wrapped scallops, stuffed mushrooms and each had a side salad.

Sunday: When we woke, Pip and I made cupcakes to have with dinner Sunday.

After that, because our pool was still being a little temperamental, TheHub took Pip to the club to swim. After all, swimming is swimming, and at the club she had the option of much larger pool plus a slide and diving well. 

While she was gone I got the house tidied up a little for a party that night.

My Beloved Sister's birthday was Friday while we were gone, but we had planned a birthday dinner for Sunday night. 

When Pip got home from swimming, she and I went to Dollar Tree to pick some birthday decorations. She was in charge of what we were purchasing and how we were decorating. Turns out she had very specific ideas. On the drive home she confessed if she had been with her parents they would not have let her get as much stuff as her sucker grandmother did.

She directed, and the rest of us followed her decorating instructions.

Sunday dinner: Happy Birthday MBS! The four of us, MBS,  plus Son2 and DIL2 had dinner together served with lots of laughter

Hamburgers w/ fixings, pasta salad, baked beans, cupcakes, ice cream

What might possibly be eaten this week:

Who knows? We have another week of winging it based on whatever sounds good to any/everyone.

Next week I will get back to a meal plan of sorts, but I am not willing to do anything right now. I had rather be flexible. 

Oh no, just 28 weeks till Christmas

After all the goings on during the last week the only thing even remotely Christmasy I did was walk into the room of horrors, look around and shut the door.

Packed my duds for the beach and left with no remorse.

Moving on

This was a week to get some things done preparing for a new normal 

What I thought we might eat last week:

Hamburger patty, broccoli salad, saffron rice

Big salad meal TBD

Veggie meal TBD

Thai chicken, jasmine rice. coleslaw

Tuna steaks, baked potato, tossed salad

Sandwiches, coleslaw, french fries

Out to eat or take out

Monday: Began the week with a lengthy phone call with My Beloved Sister. (know from here forward as MBS). She was going to have her SIL over so I stayed at home. I did not want to interfere with them. Her SIL did not make it to town until much later in the afternoon so she did not go to MBS's house. I would have gone over with some boxes she requested and helped her go through some of the non-personal items she does not want to keep anymore.

Monday dinner: It was planned and easy. I will opt for easy almost every meal.

Thai chicken, rice, asian coleslaw, dinner rolls

Tuesday: I went with MBS to pick up BIL's death certificate. I was no help whatsoever, but I was a buffer just to keep her from becoming upset when she actually saw it. 

I had gathered some moving boxes for her that we had did not use when we sold the lake place along with several Trader Joe's paper bags. There are some things she is getting rid of because they will never be used again, and she had many things BIL's nephew could use, so she wanted him to have them.

You don't always think that to get rid of things you need to have something to contain them. I could at least help getting those to her.

She also had many things that belonged to BIL's deceased brother that needed to go to their sister, instead of staying at MBS's house. 

Tuesday dinner: I had dressed for the day and rode with TheHub to go sign some checks for one of the contract projects he is still working on, and to have a quick meeting signing a few papers.  While we were in that part of town we went to a men's clothing store he loves, to pick up a couple of casual wear items he wanted. After he completed his shopping, we decided to run by a restaurant near by for dinner.

Veggie soup and greek salad or Greek sandwich.

Wednesday: I stayed at home planning the post funeral reception via phone calls with MBS and our good friend C, who agreed to help putting the reception table together after the service. My church's parlor is a large very pretty but fairly formal room. The service was to be held there with refreshments to be served afterward.

 C has a knack for making everything beautiful and when she asked what she could do for MBS, I told her using her talent was the best possible "gift".

After discussion, we agreed that we needed silver trays and candelabra, along with serving pieces, tiered tray, crystal pitchers, ice bucket and serving utensils. 
I have a lot of "things", most of which stay tucked in various cabinets and drawers. You know all that stuff you have in your house that you rarely use and then you pull them out and realize they need some serious attention? To quote Son2. "you had a little silver with your tarnish, Mom". Needless to say, there was a whole lot of polishing going on.

Wednesday dinner. I invited MBS over to eat with us, but also to let her have the final say about the all the serving pieces. I did not think she would care one way or another, but it was still her call.

Taco salad

Thursday: TheHub and I ran out to all of the various places we needed to go to to purchase all the foods we needed for after the service. My aim was to have every single thing on hand so I could wake Friday morning ready to roll. I managed to get everything going to only 4 different stored, got home and got everything unloaded  and stored, ready and waiting for early Friday morning when I could begin.

Thankfully friend C took purchasing the flowers off my plate, which was wonderful because she does so much better with arrangements than I do

Thursday dinner: I had most of this on hand and in the freezer.

Rosemary chicken, au gratin potatoes  leftover club salad*

Friday:  I woke very early and began working on the food. One of the things I planned to make was finger sandwiches. I had put the bread in the freezer so it would be partially frozen making it much easier to remove the crusts, and cut the sandwiches into 4ths. I knew things were going too well. When I took the first few pieces out of the loaves of bread, I realized all the loaves had huge air bubbles throughout them. That would not work at all, which meant I had to change into going out in public clothes to buy more bread. It put me a good bit of time behind schedule, but I got all those suckers made with just the tiniest bit of time to spare. 

I might have meant a speed shower and getting ready in record time, but we made it and were at the church a few minutes before our agreed arrival time. Whew! 

The service was very personal and MBS had the most wonderful eulogy, which included both tender and funny memories. And like all services, once the final prayer was said there was some closure and people began moving around the room, nibbling on the goodies, talking to each other, and sharing stories and memories .

Friday dinner: TheHub and I had a long day and neither of us wanted to cook. I am very grateful we live in the south where delicious BBQ is available all around us.

BBQ sandwich, baked beans, potato salad

Saturday: We woke and dressed to run a few errands. We began going to Argo (a community about 35 minutes from our house) to give some of the excess food from the reception to one of my cousins. They have 6 grandchildren who come to their house often, so things will be eaten. We had already split some between MBS, BiIl's family and us, and there was still so much left. (Never ask me to do food for an uncertain crowd number for I will always fall in the rather have  "too much"rather than "too little" category).

Since we were already in the general direction, we called Son2 and DIL2 to have them meet us for lunch at  a Thai restaurant near their home.  It is always wonderful being around them, even if we had just been with them at the funeral the day before.

After eating we had one more stop before heading home. TheHub had ordered and received some shirts from Untuckit. They sent 2 of one shirt but there was no charge for it, so he decided to just stop at the store to return the unordered one. 

The store personnel were most appreciative and really could not believe he would return it.

We try very hard to always live an honest life and have even taken a rogue lemon that hid in the grocery cart after paying, back into the store. The right thing to do is always the right thing to do.

 Saturday dinner: We still had reception leftovers.

Finger sandwiches, coleslaw

Sunday: We woke early to go to the communion service followed by church at 8:30, then Sunday school. I like to start my week doing that. Once home we started doing a few things to get ready for our upcoming beach trip and both took a little recliner snooze while watching the NCAA world series.

Sunday dinner: Leftovers was the name of the game again, but this time they were different ones.

Thai chicken pineapple fried rice (The servings at Thai Basil are huge)

What's up fpr this week?

Who knows? We are headed to the beach Tuesday and whatever happens happens!

Books read in June:

We Could Be Rats (This book has a hard subject matter)

My Italian Bulldozer

The Dutch House

The Friday Afternoon Club

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*TheHub had a luncheon meeting that afternoon and he always brings any leftovers home.

Oh no just 29 weeks till Christmas

 My heart and mind were not thinking about Christmas in any way shape or form this past week, and I am only posting this because my intent from the beginning was to report each week, even if I did nothing. 

A Week

This was a difficult week, and the days were not listed as joys, instead I was just recounting what happened.

What I thought we might possibly eat last week:

Sloppy Joes, french fries, coleslaw

French toast, bacon, sliced fruit 

Big salad meal TBD

Leftover spaghetti and meat sauce, tossed salad

Sandwiches TBD

Crack chicken, coleslaw

Grilled pork chops, broccoli, toast

What happened and what we ate:

Monday: The news Monday morning was not good. My Beloved Sister*called the first thing to let me know their situation had drastically worsened. Fortunately her SIL was with her at the hospital and they were able to be there for her hub's peaceful transition. 

After leaving the hospital, they both went to his elderly mother's house to break the news to her. My heart broke for all, but his mother, who outlived 2 sons was devastated.

While she was at her MIL's, I contacted everyone she wanted me to and ran by her house to do a couple of quick chores. 

I did leave before she got home to give her the alone time she requested.

I think we talked on the phone 4 different times, and she knew I could be there in 5 minutes if she wanted/needed me.

Monday dinner: I was very thankful I had leftovers. I asked MBS if I could take dinner to her or if she wanted to come here, but she said no to both. She was worn out and just wanted to be at her house with her dogs (and some brownies) for the night.

Spaghetti with meat sauce and previously frozen meatballs* (added to stretch the sauce) salad greens (compliments of our neighbors garden)

BIL loved The Avett Brothers. This is their best song to honor him

Tuesday: My Beloved Sister asked me to go to her house Tuesday morning to start the sorting process of all the things she is going to need to do, both in the immediate future and also later on. 

Even with things in order, there is so much to do and so many different people/companies/services to contact. Once she gets the death certificate she can begin the process.

Because I was not available, TheHub ran to Benny's produce stand and grabbed the tomatoes and cucumbers I asked him to get.  I was so thankful for I was completely out of tomatoes and cucumbers. Then TheHub dropped lunch for all of us and stayed while we all brainstormed about the obituary and memorial service.  

BIL was a high school art teacher before having to take a medical retirement and one of his students had done a charcoal portrait of him that captured not only his physical features, but also his personality. MBS plans to have it on an easel during the service.

Now she has an idea of what she wants there is one less thing she needs to think about. Meanwhile I was and am available to do whatever she needs, even if it is just a shoulder to cry one.

Tuesday dinner: TheHub and I were both at MBS's house until late afternoon for him and early evening for me. Dinner needed to be quick and use some of the excess bread we had in the house.

French toast, bacon*, apple slices, orange slices

Wednesday: I picked MBS up at her house and we ran an errand, then had lunch prior to meeting the minister to go over the service details. She and BIL had no home church though both were/are deeply spiritual.  I was so happy my church will accommodate her wants and needs.

MBS was hoping to have the service early next week, to allow time for his nieces and nephew to arrange their schedules and get to town. Unfortunately, Vacation Bible Camp will be Monday-Thursday and will tax the facilities and the facility maintenance, so Friday the 13th was the earliest it could be held.  We have laughed about that, and think BIL would find it funny.

There is just so much other stuff that has to be done now, and the Alabama Bureau of Vital Statistics is not helping anything. They now evidently move at a snails pace getting all the necessary paperwork she will need to begin contact with various entities and are claiming a 7 day to 3 week time span before a Death Certificate is filed and can be claimed.  What!?!

Wednesday dinner: Since I was out most of the day with MBS dinner needed to be something quick. It was also a game night to watch softball so the meal had to be game worthy.

B*LT salad

Thursday: I woke way too early and thought about trying to go back to sleep since I had not gotten into bed until 2 a.m. I finally decided I might as well go ahead and get started with my day. 

MBS did not need me as she was stuck waiting on paperwork before she could proceed to whatever is next.

I stayed at home and got some work here done, not knowing what if anything she would need me for later.

Thursday dinner: We were going to watch the 2nd game of the NCAA softball World Series which meant another ballgame meal

Sloppy Joes*, fries or green beans,* coleslaw

Friday: MBS is directionally impaired, and almost knows how to get places. Operative word is almost. She had an appointment to pick up his remains at the crematorium which is in a very remote location. I knew she would never be able to find it, so I offered to drive. I am glad I did because if she tried to find it herself she would have wound up in a totally different part of the state.

Once home, TheHub and I ate a quick lunch and ran a few errands. We did get caught in an interesting downpour. The skies opened and we could barely see in front of us ___for about 2 blocks. When we were through that short expanse of roadway, the rains were little more than a drizzle for about 1/4 mile and then nothing. Can't beat weather in the south.

Friday dinner: Neither of us cared what we were going to have for dinner, so I chose to take the path of least resistance.

Beef tips* w/ mushrooms, mashed potatoes, tossed salad

Saturday: I think the emotions of the week caught up with me, and I wanted to do little more than languish doing nothing. When I talked several times with MBS she was on the same path, but had started going through some of BIL's drawers in their office and was finding different things she had never seen before. She said some made her laugh and some made her cry, but she wanted to go through them just the same.

We did run to our local produce guy, who obviously had paid attention to the weather report and decided not to set up Saturday. I still had 3 tomatoes and a few cucumbers so it was not critical, but I will be there early Tuesday morning when they return. Since they were not available, and we were already out and about, we ran to cherry pick Publix.

TheHub and I watched the Auburn/ Coastal Carolina game and both dozed off in our respective seats. 

After dinner we watched "A Complete Unknown". I enjoyed it and was so glad I was seeing it at home where I could stretch out and stop it when nature called. It was too lengthly for me to watch in a theater.

Saturday dinner: At Publix I picked up 2 BOGO seasoned pork tenderloins. I had planned on having pork chops anyway, but deferred to the purchase.

Pork tenderloin, broccoli, toast

Sunday: I could not get to sleep until 4:30 am, then had to get up at 6:45 to be dressed and ready in time to make it to the 7:55 communion service. For a plugged nickel, I would have pulled the sheet over my head and gone back to sleep, but I didn't. 

After the first service we went to traditional 8:30 church, followed by Sunday School. On the way home, TheHub declared he did not want a sandwich for lunch, which was fine but I was not about to cook lunch. 

Sunday dinner: We went to Fried Green tomatoes ( a local meat and three place) for lunch. If we have a big lunch it counts as our meal for the day and at night we have some small bite of something like a salad or some such.

Pork chop, cabbage and green beans or Catfish, okra and peas

What we might eat this week:

1. Hamburger patty, broccoli salad, saffron rice

2. Big salad meal TBD

3. Veggie meal TBD

4. Thai chicken, jasmine rice. coleslaw

5. Tuna steaks, baked potato, tossed salad

6. Sandwiches, coleslaw, french fries

7. Out to eat or take out

Books read in June:

We Could Be Rats (This book has a hard subject matter)

My Italian Bulldozer

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*Used from the freezer