Oscar week

Normally the Oscar's come and the Oscar's go and I have seen possibly one of the movies nominated for awards. This year thanks to streaming services, I have seen most of them, mostly in the past couple of weeks.  I am not generally a movie buff, but when you make it easy for me to watch late at night in my pjs and on the couch, or anywhere in the house on my Ipad, I am happy to oblige. One advantage (other than comfort and being able to pause for any needed breaks) is the ability to do house tasks while watching (or listening if no eyes are needed to follow the movie) .

Monday: My Beloved Sister and I went to Independence Place. Of course it was a great day because it is my happy place. They were able to make a St. Patrick's variation of a traditional Watergate salad. It earned a thumbs up from everyone, including their newest surly participant. In fact, she even told me the food made her happy. I count that as the ultimate compliment, since there is generally something wrong with everything.

On our way home, we stopped at a clothing store. Sometimes you just have to replace some necessary items and it was time for me to replace them. I do not like to shop, but it was much easier to have her with me, even though we were in the store maybe 30 minutes.

Once home laundry called, and I obliged. Because of the Ipad I was able to take care of multi loads of laundry while watching (mainly listening to) the movie Bugonia. I am glad I watched it while I was doing something, because I would have hated devoting that time to just that movie.

What I learned: Dolly Madison had kids from a prior marriage. 

Dinner: I was not in the mood to cook. Having frozen leftovers always maked dinner a little easier.

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

Tuesday: I planned to have lunch with friends but needed to cancel. I am fortunate that I have known these women since we were in the first grade together and there was no problem rescheduling.  

Instead of having a fun lunch with friends, I went to Costco. For someone like me, who does not like to shop, (with the exception of grocery stores which I don't mind at all), Costco is just about the equivalent of going to the second level of Hell.

What I learned:  Long time friends are priceless.

Dinner: After Costco, we stopped by Publix, and picked up a chicken there. I know Costco has them and they are cheaper there, but we don't like them as much as the mojo chicken from Publix.

Rotisserie chicken, green beans, dinner rolls. 

Wednesday: I intended to go to class but had a small mishap that needed taken care of. I blindly reached underneath the sink and pulled out a spray bottle I use when mopping the floor. Instead of my usual cleaner, I sprayed an oil  product all over the kitchen floor  (same color as my floor cleaner). It took 3 moppings with the real floor cleaner to get all the slick stuff up.

After class some of the class members came over for lunch (all were invited but some had other commitments). We had lunch and watched The Passion of the Christ together. Several had never seen it before and had no Netflix subscription to see it at their homes.

Wednesday night  TheHub and I went to a class we are taking together.

During the late night I watched Frankenstein. It was an interesting retelling that I really did enjoy. 

What I learned: Lucifer is the Roman translation of the Hebrew name Helel, which is not a proper name but a description meaning shining one ( later revised to morning star)

Dinner: Our church has a meal Wednesday nights. Since we were going to be there anyway for the class we ate dinner.

Cannelloni, green beans, tossed salad

Thursday: My beloved sister came  for lunch (leftovers from my Wednesday luncheon)  and we watched Hamnet. It was a wonderful movie that I really did enjoy. It's based on a historical fiction book by Maggie O'Farrell of the same name about the relationship between William Shakespeare, his wife, and the death of his young son Hamnet's impact on his play, Hamlet.

Later that night I watched  One Battle after Another. To say it is a gritty movie does not do it justice.

I talked with Sluggy and she is still having a very hard time

What I learned: Because I am a tad nerdish (understatement), I had to research Shakespeare and his wife. The name in the movie did not match Anne Hathaway, which I had always thought was his wife's name. It turns out both names refer to the same person.

Also Shakespeare leaving his wife his "second best bed" is not the insult I thought it was.

Dinner: I made too much of a good thing.

Leftover chicken salad (again), assorted raw veggie sticks.

Friday: The day was just a regular normal type of day with housework and a quick trip to Trader Joe's. I love everything about that store except for its prices.

We had to make sure we were home by 5 because, well, Bama sports. Both the men's basketball, and softball teams were playing at the same time. Unfortunately TheHub and I had opposing views on what we should watch. 

Thanks to the Ipad, earbuds and ESPN streaming services, I was able to watch the women play softball, while sitting in the den with the basketball game on TV. My game won, while TheHub's game lost.  I was able to glance up at the TV and see how badly the basketball team was playing while seeing how well the softball team was doing.

What I learned: I heard the weather forecast for the next week and learned I would not be wearing shorts and flip flops after Sunday.

Dinner: Our monthly minimum would be over by the 31st, but we were going to be out of town at the end of the month, so we decided to go ahead and use it early.

Grilled grouper, spinach salad

Saturday: TheHub was running around like a chicken with it'a head cut off trying to get packed for a quick trip to D.C.  You would think someone who did what he did most of his work life, which required critical decisions on a regular basis, would be able to make decisions on what is needed for a 4 day trip. You would be wrong. I have known for a long time that he does have a degree of color blindness, and I have had to declare what goes with what, but beyond that all of his dark socks are the same color, same brand which should eliminate any stress. 

After an agonizing hour or so choosing what would work, I was released from duty, but not before I got his dress shirts folded so they would require minimal ironing when they were needed.

It's sort of funny.When I pack for a trip I need no assistance at all.

In the afternoon we watched Alabama's softball team get drilled by Arkansas. Oh well.

Much later in the night I watched Weapons (hated it)

What I learned: More about the Harlem Globetrotters than I ever needed or wanted to know. (TheHub chose the documentary)

Dinner: I had a huge bowl of chicken I had removed from the rotisserie one.

Bbq chicken, green beans, tossed salad

Sunday: We woke early and headed to the airport very early for TheHub's flight. We had heard from couple of friend who missed theirs because of understaffed security issues to arrive early. According to TheHub, when he went through security he was the only person in line. If you are the only person in the queue, is there even a line?

I got back to the house, changed into something more churchy than jeans and a sweat shirt and headed back out.

After church I was as free as a bird and could do whatever I wanted.

It turned out I wanted to do nothing but read. Worked for me until Bama softball came on. By then I was ready to put my book down anyway. Bama won and though they did not sweep the series, they at least won it.'

And lastly, I watched The Oscars.

What I learned: I learned a few back stories about the various Oscar nominees

Dinner: This was neither a good nor bad meal

Smoked tinned trout*, assorted raw veggies 

Meal possibilities, maybe something from this list, maybe not

 1.  Grilled steak, baked potato, tossed salad

 2.  Grilled steak, sautéed veggies, mashed potatoes, salad

 3.  BLT salad, toast

 4.  Taco salad, tortilla chips

 5.  White sauce bbq chicken, caulitato salad, coleslaw

 6.  Polynesian chicken, rice, broccoli

 7.  Green chili and chicken arepas, tossed salad

 8.  Squash casserole, coleslaw, green beans

 9.  Blackened shrimp, asparagus,  tossed salad, dinner rolls

10. Spinach salad w/ cheese and ham, dinner rolls

11. Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes

12. Hot Dogs, coleslaw (ball game meal)

13. Meatloaf, rice, cucumber onion and tomato salad, cornbread

16. Leftover chili, coleslaw

17. Crock pot beef brisket, mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw

18. Grilled tuna steaks, baked potato, tossed salad

19. Chicken caprese, tossed salad

20. Brussels sprouts casserole, dinner rolls

21. Kraut and franks, green beans, cornbread

22. Greek chicken, rice pilaf, greek green beans

Used from the freezer:

2 cups spaghetti meat sauce

Book read this week:

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*The trout needed some sort of sauce (tarter would have been fine)