Joys and Prepping for More Joys

We have gotten into a rut around here and, at the same time, things at TheHub's office have really amped up. We anticipate a few weeks of chaos for him, while he works long(er) hours and the weekends.  I will amuse myself and try to make things pleasant for him here. (This means no nagging on my part) As a way of making it though the rough weeks we decided to go ahead and make plans for some getaways once the mad rush is over. Fingers crossed some of them work out!

Saturday: TheHub and I woke early and headed out of an exploration mission. We drove to Mentone, about 2 hours NE of us to check it out for a future weekend visit. While we were there we ate at The Wildflower Cafe, which the owners term a Cracker Barrel for hippies. We had a delicious lunch (tomato pie and peanut butter pie) then drove around looking at the sights around the small artsy town. 

Once we had seen about everything to see there we headed to Pisgah (another extremely small town) and Gorhams Bluff. It is a beautiful B&B on a bluff high above the Tennessee river. Right now our plans are to take a couple of days r&r sometime midweek in December, and do nothing but read and enjoy the views. 

Next up on our adventure was the small town of Ider. We went, we saw, and decided we do not really need to go back there unless it to stop at the Amish market there.

On our way back home we met Son2 and DIL2 for an early dinner, then came home and started checking our calendars for times we can revisit Mentone (in the fall) and Gorhams Bluff.

Sunday: Instead of watching our church service online, I watched my dear friend's Mom's funeral. It was held at our church Saturday, but was available to watch afterward. Because covid is rampant here right now, she and her siblings agreed they only wanted family there. It was a lovely service celebrating her life.

We had a pretty normal Sunday for the rest of the day and ended it cooking a steak which we split, and having an early dinner before we settled in to watch a movie. We really did enjoy The Negotiator 

Monday: It was actually kind of a boring slow day, and I spent a large part of it reading. Since I love to read it was not a day I felt was wasted. At about 11 pm I decided it was time to paint. I had done a rough sketch of a picture I thought might be a good addition to the foyer for Halloween, and managed to get the background like I wanted it as well as about half of the central character done.

Tuesday: This was another day that I did not get major things done, but I did manage to hit Publix for some last day cherry picking. What I like best about going to Publix mid day on Tuesdays  is that I can swim, rinse off, pull my wet hair back, and go with zero makeup and a sundress. Most places I at least gussie up a little bit, but knowing the stores where I shop and their off hours helps tremendously when I don't really want to get "fixed".

Wednesday: I learned why it is critical to wear a swimsuit cover-up even though the pool is in my own backyard. I have suits I swim laps in that are not like anything I would wear in public. I was planning on doing some watering before I swam and did have on a cove-up. I had just begun soaking the plants when the lower gate opened. In walked the pool guy, who comes on Thursdays.  He had some unexpected plans for Friday and was trying to get everything done early. I did not mind him being a day early, but wish I had a heads up. I normally wait until he gets through before I go out to swim. I had a nice long swim then a visit with my sister.

TheHub called right as my sister was leaving and told me not to bother cooking. He wanted to go out to eat as a mid week break. I am never going to argue about not cooking.

Thursday: I spent most of the gorgeous, perfect for a long swim day waiting for the guy who cuts the lawn to come. Since he usually comes mid morning it is no big deal to wait, however, Thursday he did not show up until 3:45.  All I ask is a heads up because I could have done my laps 7 or 8 times before he got here. There was a huge upside to the day. I talked with Sluggy and that is a bright spot to any day.

Friday: This was a red letter day. I have finally worked up to swimming almost 1/2 a mile when I do laps. It might not sound like a lot but it is roughly 8 full laps in an Olympic pool. My goal is to be swimming a mile by the end of the week. It may or may not happen but it is my goal. If you decide to swim laps I strongly encourage you to have a portable lap counter as well as waterproof headphones. It makes the time pass faster, plus you can break out dancing in the pool.

Friday night Son2 and DIL2 were on this side of town and stopped by with their dinner to eat and talk to us. We love that they feel free to come here any time they want to.

Have a great week and look for your joys. Large or small they are always out there.

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne

Day or Night

Once again Anne @Tuesday 4 has posed some questions. This week they are about daylight and nighttime. Join in and let us know how you handle darkness and light.

Are you afraid of the dark? As a kid I was terrified of the dark, had night terrors and would wake screaming at the top of my lungs. Luckily for my parents it only lasted a few months.(Dad in particular because he was the parent in charge when I screamed. Mom could sleep through a freight train rumbling through the house.) 

I left my nighttime fears behind as I got older and being in the dark does not bother me, unless it is pitch black. 

I went caving once and the lamps were turned off so we could see what absolute dark was. I was unnerved not because of the blackness, but because I am extremely claustrophobic and felt like the air was closing in on me.

Is night or day your favorite time? I am conflicted about answering this. I love the daylight, but creatively I come alive late at night. For instance I felt like painting today, prepped a canvas and did not start painting until about 11. It is currently 1:42 a.m. and I am sitting at the table with a halfway finished painting. I will put it aside until tomorrow night and finish it then.

 Do you have night lights in your home? We have a nightlight in our upstairs hall but we only turn it on if we have guests. We do leave one light in the den on all night. There is no real reason we do it now, but it started when the kids were young. We have always lived in a two story house with our bedroom on the main level. We left the light on in case they came downstairs in the middle of the night. I guess now it is just a habit. I might turn it off as I go to bed tonight. I also leave a light over the kitchen sink on 24/7. Again I am not sure why, but it is just something we have always done no matter what house we lived in. Come to think of it, my parents did the same thing so I guess it is just echoing what I grew up doing.

 How low do you set your air conditioning?  I keep the a/c set on 76 and never adjust it, but TheHub will occasionally turn it down. If he does, when I go to bed at night I will bump it back up. 

Do you keep any outdoor or indoor lights on all night? We typically turn our front outdoor lights off at about 10 unless we have guests. We have Edison lights on the back porch and the upper backyard patio that are on timers. They come on at dusk and go off around midnight.

Come on and play along!

It's Hot And I Don't Want To Be In The Kitchen

Weeks come, weeks go and I am fickle. Most of the time what I think I will want to eat/bake/cook on Monday when I chart my food course for the week, are at odds with how the day went or what I feel like doing when dinnertime actually rolls around. This week we did not really stay on our plan much at all. So what's new?

What was meant to be prepared:

1. Cobb salad, crackers

2 Turkey burger cheeseburger salad

3. Veggie meal (TBD)

4. Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

5. Bbq chicken, basque peppers, caulitato salad

6. Takeout or out to eat

7. Sloppy Joe's, roasted radishes, coleslaw

What my lazy self actually made:

Monday: I like when TheHub actually requests a meal because it means I don't have to think at all.

Spaghetti bolognese,  tossed salad

Tuesday: It was just too hot to cook

 Cobb salad

Wednesday: TheHub had a meeting and did not know if he would be home for dinner or eating there. I was not cooking for a maybe meal. I just pulled what I had pre-made for dinner and called it enough for me. TheHub was on his own.

Caulitato salad

Thursday: It was veggie night at the O.K. Corral  

Squash casserole, okra, corn on the cob

Friday: Neither of us felt like cooking, but one of us (me) did not want to get gussied up tp go out to dinner. Take-out was the compromise.

Chicken, green beans, coleslaw, biscuit (or none) takeout from Jacks

Saturday: We took a little day trip so other than morning coffee, everything we consumed was bought at a restaurant. I don't usually eat a true meal at lunch and by the time we had lunch and dinner I was stuffed. 

Lunch was tomato pie (each of us) and a shared slice of peanut butter pie

Dinner was chicken and Brussels sprouts (me) or hamburger and pasta salad (TheHub)

Sunday: Publix had their Porterhouse steaks on sale at what used to be the regular price for steaks.(Ugh!) Since TheHub had been craving steak for a couple of weeks I bought them. The store had packaged them in sets of two for the sale.(intentionally to make you buy more???) That was fine with us. For a couple of years we have been splitting a steak because we do not eat meat in the same portions we did at one time, so one was thrown on the grill and the other in the freezer.

Grilled steak, tossed salad, dinner roll, chocolate  and strawberry crepes (take out from the Saturday lunch restaurant)

I asked TheHub if he wanted anything in particular for dinners, like I do each week. Most of the time I get either "nothing special", or a shrug and a sound that I translate as "I don't know". This week he was really chatty and four days of the plan are his requests. 

What me and my big mouth got myself into:

1. Lasagna in a bowl, tossed salad

2. Cobb salad

3. Sloppy Joe's, green beans.

4. Pasta salad, or Impasta salad (keto version)

5. Browned buttered noodles or keto noodles tossed with parmesan cheese, broccoli, tossed salad

6. Tomato pie, tossed salad

7. Take out or out to eat

And what is needed for this week. Not much!

Tomatoes, mixed greens, romaine, scallions, zucchini or spaghetti squash. palmiri noodles, feta cheese (for Greek vinaigrette ) 

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

That's a Wrap

TheHub and I left the house early yesterday morning for a day trip and I completely forgot to post this week's joys.  Well, week 29 is in the books !

Saturday: TheHub and I ran our usual errands and gad abouting before coming home. TheHub worked in the yard and I did laundry. It was insanely hot, so tell me which of us is the smarter, the one worrying about weeding or the one folding clothes in the a/c. That evening we ate a salad, turned on the TV and watched the movie Stillwater. 

Sunday: Son2 and DIL2 were going to look at a house. They have decided theirs is a little smaller than they want as a forever home. They called and asked if we would like to see it, and hey, it was a small adventure since they live in a different part of town. After seeing the house we went out to eat with them and had lots of conversations while they listed the pros and cons. No idea if this is the right house for them, but I guess time will tell.

Monday: I had several things I wanted to make for the week. I am trying to prep on Mondays, cook anything I would be cooking in the oven all in the same day. It is more of a heat related reason than a time saving one, though I will admit it does save a little time the rest of the week.

Other than cooking and swimming it was a pretty uneventful day, but what a joy it is on a hot hot day to be able to swim.

Tuesday: My Beloved Sister came over and did her laps while I finished up a project I had been working on. She increased the amount of swimming by another 15 laps, so fo course later in the day when I swam I had to do the same. I suppose one of my greatest joys for the day was not allowing her to "beat" me. Yes we love each other dearly but we are a tad competitive when it comes to swimming.

Wednesday: I was lucky enough to get to volunteer at Independence Place. Just being there fills my entire being with joy. This time I worked on a "to scale" size elephant mask complete with a movable trunk. I was able to meet a new participant who had not been there on the previous days I have volunteered, and she is adorable to be around.

Thursday: I do not like to be in the pool when people who are doing work for us are around, so I waited for the pool guy to finish before swimming. He is usually there while I am having my morning coffee and it is not a big deal to wait. I waited, and waited, and waited some more. He finally came about 4:30 right before a storm hit. No big deal, I planned to swim after the rain had passed. Wrong!!!

TheHub pulled into the driveway in the middle of the deluge, right after neighborhood trees had fallen and the power had disappeared.

DIL2 was working near here and rather than trying to drive all the way to their house in the downpour she came here to ride it out. I do have a gas cooktop so I was able to make us dinner which we ate with  wonderful conversation while waiting for the storm to blow itself out. 

After things calmed, DIL2 drove home and we moved to the screened porch, where it was after storm cool.  In fact it cooled enough that we were able to sleep comfortably. 

A silly joy was finding our old portable DVD player that still held enough of a charge from our train trip in the fall to watch "The Help".

Our main joy was just being slightly inconvenienced. 

Friday: We woke and the power was restored pretty quickly. Hooray, that was a major joy. When I talked with Son1 Friday morning he had already heard about our stormy night and sent me a link to a portable, rechargeable power station. Normally I would mull over the purchase, but Amazon had a 90 dollar coupon attached, and with little thought I bought it. 

TheHub and I have been planning some extended car trips once he retires (I honestly don't think he ever will) and will use the power pack when traveling (maybe, and if not. we will have it the next time we have a power failure)

TheHub and I did a little running around, picked up dinner to bring home and settled in to watch the Braves win.

Look for your joys. They are always there, even if you have to search for them.

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne

Tuesday4

Ann at Tuesday4 has brought us questions called Inquiring Minds Wanna Know.

Prepare to be astonished__not!

1. What gets your blood to boiling?  

Being ignored or patronized by sales people who assume being a female means I am insignificant and don't know what I want.

Once I was buying a car. It was my car, not TheHubs so there was no reason for him to take a day off work to go car shopping with me. I had found what I wanted and the great negotiation began. I had a price I would pay and was not going to go a penny over it. What the salesman did not know was that I had the cash in my purse for a cash sale. We could not agree on a price when he said "Look little lady why don't I call your husband and talk to him. I told him I was not a little lady, the car was for me, and Hell would freeze over before I bought it from him.  Then I drove straight to another dealer in a different part of town, negotiated the trade-in and price of the car, paid and drove home in it. The only thing I regret is not driving up to the original dealership and waving at that asshat through the window. 

2.What does a really good day look like for you? 

If I wake up and have a couple of interrupted cups of coffee, it is a really good day

What makes you say, "That was a great day"?

I have pretty simple wants and needs so really great days can be anything from TheHub and I hanging around the house for the weekend to being in New York at a jazz club or play.

3. Are you continuing to grow mentally, spiritually, talent wise or are you  just marking time?

I try to grow and learn new things daily, but some days I seem to just mark time. Spiritual growth for me is just a byproduct of getting older. Talent wise? I am learning a different instrument (slowly but I am learning) and I try to draw several times a week. I am neither a talented nor talentless person, just someone who is trying.

4. Have you changed your hair style since high school?  Yep, not only style, but my hair has been every color that grows naturally on humans and has even briefly has been both purple, and pink. I actually would like to try blue hair some day, for a couple of days.

I have had hairstyles from long (mid back) straight parted down the middle hair, to a 2 inch pixie, and just about every style in between.  Currently I have what I call my covid hair.  It got longer during covid so I twisted it up and clipped it with a banana clip. It is easy to do and I kept doing it. It's cool, doesn't get in my face and honestly don't really care what it looks like. 

Life is too short to look the same all the time anyway.

So join in and let me know something about you I don't already know.

Come on and jump in! The water is fine!

Staying On Plan And A Buck Fifty Buys Coffee At McDonalds

When the week was over and I looked at what we ate compared to what we actually ate I was surprised to find I was not too far off plan. Sure there some minor alterations, but other than that I stayed fairly close to my original plan. And just what did I win for that? Yep, nothing!

What I originally planned:

Philly cheesesteak casserole, coleslaw

Italian sausage with peppers, onions ,squash, green beans and tomatoes

Raw veggies and cheese or dip

Grilled chicken, basque peppers, lettuce wedge

Turkey cheeseburger salad

Fettuccine Alfredo, green beans, salad

Out to eat or takeout 

What we really and truly ate;

Monday: I could have sworn I had Italian Sausage in the freezer, but I did not. Punt time.

Conecuh sausage, green bean, squash, pepper, and onion sauté, coleslaw

Tuesday: I knew TheHub had a dinner meeting and had made my dinner when I was prepping things Monday morning. All I had to do was open the refrigerator, pull it out, grab a fork and eat. 

Broccoli salad

Wednesday: I was still struggling to use peppers

Philly cheesesteak casserole, green beans, tomato basil and onion salad

Thursday: We are trying to have a couple of meatless meals each week. This was one of those

Fettuccine Alfredo, green beans, tossed salad (palmini linguini to keep it keto)

Friday: I did not feel like cooking and did not want to get dressed up to go out to dinner

Chicken Salad, tomato cucumber and onion salad (It also came with pimento cheese but I left it for TheHub's Saturday lunch) or The Friday special takeout form Tazikis

Saturday: It was hot, too hot to cook

Cobb salad, crackers or keto cornbread

Sunday: We met Son2 and DIL2 for a late lunch so neither of us were hungry for dinner

Menu plan: Leftover flatbreads or cottage cheese with a peach

What I plan going into this week:

1. Cobb salad, crackers

2 Turkey burger cheeseburger salad

3. Veggie meal (TBD)

4. Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad

5. Bbq chicken, basque peppers, caulitato salad

6. Takeout or out to eat

7. Sloppy Joe's, roasted radishes, coleslaw

As usual these are suggestions that sound good on Sunday night, but may sound awful the day I actually make the meal. Changes are always possible verging on probable.

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

Small Joys For The Week

Another week in 2022 is complete. Does it seem to everyone else that this year is flying by or is it just me? Week 28 just flew by, in a flash. I know that there are still the same 24 hours in each and every day, but how do they pass so quickly? And I remember when waiting a weekend seemed to take forever. Now  it seems like I go to bed Monday night, and when I finally open my eyes it is Friday.  And so it goes, over and over.

Saturday: The hub was working at the office so I did our usual running around by myself.  OK official secret just between us, I may or may not have stopped at Dunkin Doughnuts for one of those brown sugar frothed iced coffees. I am not a big fan of iced coffee, but I will admit I did drink it all while I nibbled on a chocolate glazed doughnut. Joy? Well, eating tasty things is joyful. I came home and did a bit (very little bit) of cleaning before diving into a book. Once the rains/storms hit and we lost our cable, phone and internet, I took it as a message from the universe to read even more.

Sunday: Spectrum was still out and the skies were gray and threatening rain. TheHub went to the office for what was supposed to be a quick meeting that turned into about 5 hours of work. While he was gone I plopped down on the couch and read. When he got home we drove to The Electric and grabbed a late lunch before coming home for reading/naps/reading. 

Monday: The weather had cleared and I should have gone swimming but I did not. I'm not even sure why I didn't.  I talked with Sluggy (extreme joy) and planned on going for a swim immediately after, but I didn't. Instead I started messing around in the kitchen and did some advance cooking and prep. It makes the weekly meals easier, but I hate making that big of a kitchen mess so late in the day.

Tuesday: It was the perfect day to get caught up on the laundry, swim and have until about 9 pm to myself. TheHub had a dinner meeting and I had a salad I made Monday in the fridge waiting for my dinner. I also managed to score a few Amazon Prime Day deals. I had a couple of things I wanted and they were part of the lightning deals, so I snagged them.

Wednesday: My Beloved Sister came over and we swam laps. We swam as quickly as we could because thunderstorms were predicted. The storms never came__blast! We could have stayed in the pool longer!

My Amazon prime purchases arrived, woo hoo! Nothing like scoring a swimsuit inexpensively, and since I try to swim often, another will help. I like to have one on, one drying (takes a while__it's a humidity thing), and one completely dry. Some days I swim one time and some days twice, but I like a dry suit to put on each time.

Thursday: I woke and the day was overcast and gloomy, spitting rain. I can swim in the rain but thunder was rolling around me and I will not swim during a storm. Instead I kept checking the weather and hearing about the incoming storms until about 5 when evidently it stormed around me but never here. By that time I was ready to get dinner started, so I did not swim. I guess Friday will be a 2x's lap day.

A true joy of the storms that did not happen was a huge drop in the temperature. I think the high today was only in the mid-80's and when I was outside it felt like fall. That is a huge joy after all the excessive heat.

Friday: Well, the fall like weather did not last long, but lots of sun and heat made for a perfect pool day. My Beloved Sister came over and we swam laps, then had some hot tub time. It was great and I honestly do see a little toning in my arms. (Little, being the operative word here.)

Daily laps/exercise 

(For the record if I swim twice in one day I am counting the second time as a different day's exercise. Usually if I swim twice, it is once in the morning then again at night.  Using the elliptical just counts as a part of the day's swimming exercise. My exercise, my rules)

5 days

Projects completed

1

Upstairs bedrooms were cleaned, fresh linens and /or new comforter set (we did have a little comforter incident while the family was here), bathrooms scrubbed, linen closets reorganized, and  Pip's new room was girlified. Now we are ready for the next round of guests.

Creative projects completed:

0

Books Read

2

The Winter Guest

Tiger Wife

Oops forgot to do this earlier. Look for your joys. They are out there even if they are small joys.

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne