Forgot to hit publish

When the past week began, I was still feeling a bit under the weather and had made no plans for the weeks meals. Nothing sounded bad, but nothing sounded good either. So the week was all about nothing.

Monday: I was supposed to go to a birthday party at Independence Place with My Beloved Sister. I was feeling much better but thought I needed to test before going. I was still positive, and was unhappy I would have to miss it. This particular participant is leaving the program to go live in a groupo home setting and it most likely would be the last time I would ever see her.  Instead I had to send my greeting through my sister. I do wish her an extraordinary life at her new home, but I will miss her spunky personality.

94 days till Christmas

Monday dinner: Instead of going to the party I processed some of the tomatoes we are drowning in blessed with. Excess tomato sauce decided what we would have for dinner.

Spaghetti and meatballs, tossed salad

Tuesday: I was no longer coughing or sneezing, and we had the runoff elections for my local municipality. I am an active voter and believe the only way I can complain about anything governmental is if I participate in all levels of voting. I masked up and cast my vote. It is sad that out of all the registered voters in my town, this particular seat was decided by little more than 3,000 people.

After voting TheHub and I grabbed lunch from a local Thai place. 

Once home I culled my Christmas card list and started addressing envelopes. I figured it was something positive I could do.

93 days till Christmas

Tuesday dinner:  We had eaten a big lunch and I was not hungry, but TheHub wanted a little bit more than I did. We split one small filet (he had most of it)

Cod filet, coleslaw

Wednesday: I was not sure if I tested positive or not and had no test at the house, so I decided to miss class one more week just in case. I really did not want to just do nothing, but I was still very tired. I finished addressing my Christmas cards and will personalize and sign them in early December. 

Nothing else exciting happened, but no humans nor animals were harmed during the course of my boring day.

92 days till Christmas

Wednesday night: I did not feel like cooking, but had some browned, seasoned meat in the freezer. A quick warm up in the microwave had dinner mostly ready.

Taco salad

Thursday: TheHub had run by the drugstore Wednesday evening and bought several covid test kits. We had an event I really wanted to attend that night so I tested early. Whoo hoo! Negative! 

I spent the day, mainly doing laundry, getting some Christmas gifts wrapped, then got ready for the evening.

We were invited to a state policy group meeting with Tim Tebow as the keynote speaker. He is an excellent speaker, but what can you say negatively about someone whose favorite night of the year (according to him) is his "Night to Shine" prom event for special needs teens and adults.

91 days till Christmas

Thursday dinner: Typical banquet food, too much with too short of an amount of time to eat it.

Steak, chicken, broccoli, scalloped potatoes, salad, some kind of pie (didn't eat it so I have no idea, and why serve steak and chicken even if it is small amounts of both?)

Friday: Hung around in the morning doing chores, then left with TheHub to run some errands and pick up a lunch from a nearby meat and three. If I eat a big lunch I am worthless for the rest of the day, which meant reading. Lots of reading.

90 days till Christmas

Friday dinner: After eating a veggie lunch I was not really hungry and would have been happy to have nothing for dinner, but TheHub wanted something to eat. He ran to our favorite take out Chinese place and picked up a meal for us to share (We both had enough for dinners Friday night and lunches Sunday afternoon.)

Kung Pao Chicken

Saturday: I have read in some of your blogs that you do not understand or enjoy football. I am not a fan of NFL ball but I love the college games, so I start my Saturday mornings with a cup of coffee,  and Kirk Herbstreit and crew on College GameDay. In fact, TheHub was watching The Ryder Cup on our only tv, so I sat at the kitchen table with Game Day pulled up on my computer. 

The once 11 am arrives (CDT) I watch (mainly listen) to whatever SEC game is on at that time.  I think it was the Arkansas game but I was just halfway paying attention to it at all since it was a blowout.

We did actively (except for dozing off for a couple of cat naps) watch Auburn/ Texas A&M play the mid afternoon game. Then at night we settled in to watch Alabama play Georgia. It was a good, but not relaxing to watch, kind of game. Roll Tide!

89 days till Christmas

Saturday dinner: We had a quick meal between ballgames

Rotisserie chicken, coleslaw

Sunday: I was feeling well so it was back to our regular Sunday morning routine, starting with the early morning Communion (no message this time, just Communion) followed by our 8:30 church service. This Sunday had no sermon either but was filled with music from every musical group our church has to offer (minus the praise band ) . We got to hear the chancel choir, men's chorus, youth choir, kiddy choir, brass and timpani group, several soloists, and of course the organist and pianist. In between songs there were several Bible passages read, and it was a very moving experience. We have that at our church a couple or three times each year and it is always enjoyed.

88 days till Christmas

Sunday dinner: We wound up having a later dinner, because TheHub got 9 holes of golf in during the late afternoon/ early evening. He finished up right at twilight and I did not start cooking until he called and told me he was on his way. Glad I had at least a component of it already made and in the fridge.

Eggroll in a bowl

What might happen this week:

1. Lady peas, mac and cheese, coleslaw

2. Out to eat

3. Coconut soup, stir fry veggies

4. Chili? (only if the weather cools) coleslaw

5. Steak, baked potato, tossed salad

6. Chicken bog, tomato cucumber onion salad

7. Greek food festival take out (too many things planned to go enjoy the festivities this year)

Books read in September:

None Of This Is True

Forever Odd

Wishin' and Hopin'

The Case of the Missing Marquess

Julie Chan is Dead

What They Carried

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 13 weeks till Christmas

Yikes! Time is speeding up. I've gotta get rolling!

 This week I was still battling covid, but did finally test negative Thursday morning. I figured while I was stuck at home I might as well get a few Christmas things done. I found a few perfect gifts* online and ordered them. (Was seriously surprised when they arrived in just 3 days).

I also found something I am getting for each of my DIL's, which have to remain secret because I know DIL2 reads this occasionally.

I updated my Christmas card list, and even have addressed more than half of them. Of course I will not sign or seal them until much later, but the most difficult part of getting them ready is done.

I have drawn a pattern to embroider for a couple of gifts. I tend to give each person I love multi gifts, but most are smaller items, that have a specific purpose. The embroidery will just gussie up the practical aspect of the gift.

All gifts have been noted in my Christmas notebook, with each person or group having their own page with color preferences, sizes, hints I may have picked up on over the year specific to them, and overheard wants.

There were some scraps of card stock left over from making the gift boxes last week and it bugs me to have bits leftover without a use for them. I remembered seeing this years ago and think this might be a good way to "wrap" some earrings I will buy for My Beloved Sister. These are a 4x3 inch "matchbook". I will push the posts through the back, then put the "matchbook inside a cellophane bag and tie it with a festive bow.

 

Every year I get her a couple of inexpensive pairs. She is like me and does not "wear well". At some time during the day she/we will fidget with out hair or clothes and about half the time an earring will disappear. Often it reappears in said clothes or around the house, but sometimes it is lost to the universe. Which is why every year she get a pair in a silver tone and a gold tone

I mentioned once before that I save all scraps of wrapping paper, no matter how small. The gifts below are exactly why I do this. All of those below were wrapped with small pieces of paper, most no larger than a 5x7 notecard.

I did not do anything in the room of horrors. I felt too bad to navigate the stairs, or that is my story and I am sticking to it.  This week I am feeling well and have no excuses.

Ho, Ho, How is September almost over?

Days until Halloween, 33

Days until Thanksgiving, 60

Days until Christmas, 88

*These are Christmas gifts for my bookclub, which are both age and book clubby appropriate. I would tell you what they are but I am not sure if any of them read this blog or not, so I am erring on the side of caution. 

So much for plans

This past week was supposed to be overfilled with activities. What is the old saying about how to make God laugh? Make a plan.  Yep we had lots of plans__and then all plans broke apart.

What we were supposed to eat:

Out to eat 

Leftover smoked brisket, tossed salad

Taco salad

Fundraiser dinner

Veggie dinner

Grilled tuna steaks, tossed salad, baked potato

Joys and what we ate:

Monday: Monday was my birthday, but I am not one of those people who has to have an all day celebration. The day started with a bang when I walked into the kitchen to find a bouquet of roses on the table followed by a FaceTime happy birthday visit with Pip. After that it was business as usual.

I goofed around getting ready to make the clothing transition to a fall winter closet and drawers. I should say almost ready, since the highs are still in the 90's here and even though the days are shorter they still feel like summer.* My solution was to take out anything I know would not be worn for the rest of this year and take it upstairs. 

One of the guest bedroom closets holds two huge plastic garbage cans bought specifically to contain out of season clothes.  The downside of this process means that I had to unload one of the cans to begin putting the first load of summer clothes in it, but it's still too hot to add fall and winter duds to my bedroom closets and drawers.

This is where the guest bed becomes a transition partner of sorts. The not quite in season clothes will sit on it until I am ready to make the full swap. Actually I will not wait until the full swap because that usually happens in November. Maybe after the next load of things I will not wear again this year, I can bring the lightest weight fall clothes to start filling in the gaps the departing items left.

In the afternoon I had a phone call with Sluggy, which is always wonderful, as well as a phone call with Son1, who shares the same birthday with me. We laughed at his request for a birthday goodie. He requested a peanut butter pie, but no one else in his family wanted one, so he was getting a sundae bar instead. Pip for the win!

I did talk with both other sons and their wives also!

101 days until Christmas!

Monday dinner: TheHub and I planned on going out to eat and at the last minute invited Son2 and DIL2 who went with us.  Since everyone ordered what they wanted individually, I am only posting what we shared and my dinner.

Shared charcuterie board, watermelon salad, lobster bisque

Tuesday: THe day began by processing tomatoes. Our regular tomatoes are not doing great, but the cherry tomato plants are exploding. We are getting about 2 cups of cherry tomatoes a day and they were piling up. I cooked them down to somewhere between a sauce and a paste consistency, pressed them through a colander to remove the skins then packaged them for the freezer. As soon as I finished that batch, I started another. The cooking down and processing them for freezing is a lengthy process, and requires a lot of standing at the stove stirring so the tomatoes can become thick and paste like without burning.

After getting all of them processed and packed away I did some routine cleaning, talked to Son2 for a while then got ready for our night out.

Normally we go to Birmingham Broadway Series shows at the Sunday matinee, but there was a glitch this time and we never got the messages concerning our tickets. This was an extended run for 3 weeks and I had no idea, without notification  which Sunday our tickets would be for. Turns out our tickets were for the first Sunday and we missed it. Luckily The American Theater Guild was easy to work with and even though we were not seated in our usual seats, we were seated in the same section we had paid for.

Wicked was the play this month. This is the 5th time I have seen it, and it never disappoints. I loved everything about it, except for not getting home until 11.

100 Days until Christmas!

Tuesday dinner: We needed some quick to eat. So thankful for leftovers!

Leftover smoked brisket, tossed salad

Wednesday: I woke early but did not feel well. Tuesday night we were seated under an air conditioning vent with cold air blowing down my back for the entirety of the play. I figured the headache was most probably a sinus issue, but did not feel like going to my Wednesday class. Instead I stayed home and just hung out at the house doing a few minor chores. I did not feel worse, but never felt any better.

Wednesday dinner: I love it when I have planned ahead and dinner requires only warming a single component for the meal.

99 days till Christmas

Taco salad

Thursday: I woke and felt worse.  I was sneezy and stuffy so I took some OTC cold remedy. We had a huge event planned for the night and I wanted to feel better. I even went so far as to take a Covid test, so I could assure the others sitting at the table that this was just a routine sinus issue.

That sucker lit up like a firecracker! Within about 20 seconds the test line on the rapid Covid test was positive. The only upside was knowing why I was feeling worse instead of getting better.

The Hub tested negative, got all gussied up in a tux and left me alone, with a never worn formal, pearl strapped shoes, a box of Kleenex, and a cup of hot tea. 

I suppose the only upside for me was that the silent auction was app enabled and I was able to bid on a couple of items and follow the bidding. One item I wanted (would have given it to Pip for her birthday) was very cute ( Kendra Scott necklace and earrings) but the price jumped a bit higher than I was willing to go. I was the high bidder on what was supposed to be 4 $100 gift cards to 4 different restaurants. I payed 50 bucks below the value, but when I got the physical gift cards (because TheHub was present he picked them up for me) at the last minute, one of the restaurants gave 2 100 buck gift cards instead of just the one. We eat out at least once a week so these will come in handy, and 2 of the gift cards are for places we have never been, but had on our list to try anyway.

Thursday dinner: No explanation needed

98 days till Christmas

Chicken noodle soup

Friday: It didn’t matter what we had planned, because the plans would not be happening anyway. I tried to read but my eyes were watering so much I couldn’t see the words, my head hurt, I was sneezing and I was freezing. I finally sat on the screened porch just to get warm. The temp was about ninety and I still had a lightweight throw wrapped around me, but it felt so much better until TheHub came out to join me and turned the blooming ceiling fan on. Curses!!!

97 days till Christmas

Friday dinner: Thankful for my overstocked pantry

Old El Paso canned chicken tortilla soup

Saturday: I was still feeing bleak, so I took a super hot shower, dressed, wrapped in blankets and plopped down on the loveseat to watch whatever football games were on the tube, dozing off and on the whole time. I saw bits and pieces of Syracuse/ Clemson, Oklahoma/ Auburn, and Miami/ Florida.

Saturday dinner: TheHub kept asking what sounded good for dinner, possibly hinting I might want to go cook. I didn’t. He ran to Guthrie’s and picked us up a meal for us to split.

96 days till Christmas

Chicken tenders/ coleslaw

Sunday: I did feel a little better, but stayed home from our normal Sunday church activities. TheHub went and called me about 10:45 wanting to know what I wanted for lunch? Why? I had been sipping on coffee but had no interest in lunch, until he suggested pancakes and bacon. This is partly why I keep cooked bacon in the freezer at all times. One minute in the microwave and it is hot and crispy. It helped that we had some frozen pancakes also. I am not sure I could actually taste anything other than the sweetness of the s.f. "maple" syrup, or the salty bacon, but it worked for a quick brunch.

I was able to read a little and though I did feel better I was still tired.

Sunday dinner: We are experiencing a bumper crop of tomatoes and needed to use some.

95 days till Christmas

BLT salad

What's for dinner this week?

1. Don't Know

2. Whatever

3. Your guess is as good as mine

4. Something I guess

5. Something else maybe

6. Out to eat or take out

7. Who even cares

Books read in September:

None Of This Is True

Forever Odd

Wishin' and Hopin'

The Case of the Missing Marquess

No new books added to the list this week, but for those with a Libby app I might suggest Garden and Gun magazine. I got it just to see what it was like and it was a really beautiful  magazine. I was surprised and it is not really about guns at all ( at least not the issue I read)

I would never buy it, but I am now going to read at all the back issues available.

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*Translation: I am still bopping around in shorts, tee shirts, and flip flops at home and summer weight dresses (in fallish colors) whenever I go out. This is my usual mode of dress until Mid to late October, when I might change over to jeans, tees, and flip flops

Oh no! Just 14 weeks until Christmas

We are now another week closer to Christmas and I am now another week behind where I should be. Additionally, TheHub and I are thinking of going to Portland for Thanksgiving which means I will need to have all Christmas prep and decorating done by November 20 at the latest. 

That way as soon as we get back to Birmingham after our trip, I will only have to out the wreath on the front door, hang the garland over said door and put out the two trees* I use every year on the front porch.

So my time line to get everything done has shifted.

Add to that, circumstances beyond my control were such, I missed out on any major Christmas prep this past week.

3 small Christmas presents I had ordered were delivered. As I mentioned in a past post, I wrap everything, even if it is just a small utilitarian gift, which these are. The gifts are also somewhat delicate and needed a small square box to protect them. I did not have any the size I needed, so I made them out of heavier card stock.  And because they were already in a box and I had already inventoried all my wrapping supplies and gathered all the small bits of  papers in one location, I figured I might a well go ahead and wrap them. 

And that was the extent of my Christmas prep for the week. I am sure this coming week will be more productive. Goodness knows it can't be less!

40 days until Halloween

67 days until Thanksgiving

69 days until Alabama/Auburn Game AKA The Iron Bowl**

95 days until Christmas

Ho, Ho, Holy Mackerel!

* These are two 4 1/2 foot trees filled with nothing but white lights. All I have to do with them is plug them into the extension cord that is set on a timer. I will need to have them in the living room along with the wreath and door garland, making sure all the lights are working and all bows have either been replaced, or ironed and re-tied .

** The Iron Bowl is a holiday of sorts for us, which will either be a day of joy if Bama wins, or gloom if they lose. It's a bragging rights thing!

For Those Who Want To Know

 

Its a Monday kind of Tuesday

Well Monday came and went and I did not get this posted, and even though it is legally already Tuesday, I am still counting it as Monday since I have not been to sleep yet.

What was planned but only somewhat happened:

1. Veggie meal, cornbread

2. Meatloaf, corn on the cob, collards, tomato cucumber onion salad

3. Steak, baked potato, tossed salad

4. Sloppy Joe's, coleslaw

5. Out to eat or takeout

6. Chicken bog, green beans, tossed salad

7. Pork chops, brussels sprouts, au gratin  or scalloped potatoes, tomato slices

Monday: Had a surprise visit from Son2. He was over on my side of town for work so he stopped by for a few minutes. It was nice seeing him, even for a little while. 

My Beloved Sister stopped by for a swim. The water was a little cooler than I like, but we swam laps anyway. Once we got in and started swimming it felt fine un till we got out of the pool. The wind and a cooler day, plus the entire pool was in the shade by then made dripping off a little chilly. 

MBS hopped into the hot tub to warm up, but I have something I do instead, whenever I get out of the pool. I turn the water on faucet connected to the hose on low. The sun heats the water left in it from the last time it was used, and I rinse my suit out (still on). When it is really hot outside I have to wait until it cools off to rinse my suit off, but the very warm water felt great that afternoon, and all I had to do afterward was take my suit off and hang it up to dry.

After swimming, I ran by ThePig to do some cherry picking shopping and to snag both the weekly free item and the Monday free item*. They have had ground chuck at its new lowest price for a couple of weeks now. I needed some to take to Independence Place Tuesday and just went ahead and bought another 7 pounds of it. 

No wonder my freezer is overflowing, but this winter when it is time to makes soups or stews I will be glad for the excess.

Monday dinner: TheHub had to go to one of the nearby towns City Council meetings. He is the current v.p. of the Alabama Parkinson's Association board, and the city was declaring it Parkinson's month. ( He did ask me to go, but I am so glad I didn't. Extra reading time for me!) It meant dinner would be late, so I chose an simple meal. If I am going to be cooking late, it's going to be simple.

Meatloaf, corn on the cob, collards**

Tuesday: The day was beautiful, slightly warm but not blazing hot with a slight breeze and much less humidity. My beloved Sister and I went to my happy place. I have not been in a while and I really do miss seeing the participants of Independence Place. 

Some of the participants go every day, some a couple of days a week and some only once a week, so each time I go there is a revolving cast of characters. I love Tuesday's group.  One participant is an incredibly high energy young woman who loves to dance. Tuesday she wanted to show me some of her moves. Actually she wanted me to dance with her, but my knee was having no part of it. I had to settle for just watching her for a bit.

When we got there we gave each participant a nickel and told them they had to hold on to it.

Together we made slug burgers, which was not made with ground slugs, but is a depression era padded hamburger patty.  After we finished making them, they had to pay their nickel, which was once called a slug, hence the name.

They enjoyed the food and I enjoyed being there with them. Win/win.

MBS and I had planned to swim but we got home a little later than planned, so we booted it and I spent the late afternoon reading.

Tuesday dinner:  Veggie meal night

Squash casserole, okra, tomato cucumber vidalia onion salad.

Wednesday: I woke early and went to my Wednesday morning class, came home for a quick lunch then swam with My Beloved Sister. The water was chilly at first but once we began swimming laps it felt wonderful. I know some of you are ready for the weather to break and cooler temps take hold. I personally am thrilled our highs for the next week are in the 90's. More swimming!

After the swim I went back in the house, dressed and read. I have been on a reading tear lately, partly because I can't make a lot of noise, or do what I want to be doing while TheHub is using the dining room as his office. (I suppose I could go upstairs and attack the room of horrors but that would make to much sense and would ruin my pettiness)

Wednesday dinner: I waited pretty late to even be thinking about cooking, fortunately when I was in the freezer Saturday, I found some frozen chili (enough for one person). TheHub said it sounded fine to him, so I thawed it. It was not chili***!

Spaghetti with meat sauce or half a sandwich TheHub brought home from a luncheon meeting earlier in the week.

Thursday: I did a lot of organizing and planning for the rest of the month while doing laundry. At least it was a quiet activity.😏

Though the day was gorgeous we did not swim. And other than changing out some clothes I will not wear again until next summer, I did little except reading, folding clothes and putting them away. 

Did I have a ton I could do? Yes! Did I do it? Nope! Do I feel guilty? Not in the least. I am still in petty mode, and I can be petty so well! In fact I might be a master of it.

Thursday dinner: Instead of pulling the pork chops out to thaw I changed my mind and grabbed something else from the pork bin****.

Pork tenderloin, baked potato, brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes

Friday: It was another beautiful hot day and I am not exactly sure what all I did. TheHub and I did a little running around and some sitting on the screened porch and talking while planning our October. The day was gorgeous for sitting and talking (as long as the porch ceiling fans were going full blast). 

Once inside I made dinner, but also prepared things for a few extra meals. I figured as long as I was cooking I might as well make the most of it and get ahead in advance of a busier week

Friday dinner: We had planned on going out to eat, but changed our plans once he decided he would be going to the early ballgame Saturday morning. Fortunately I had everything on hand for a quick meal.

Sloppy Joe's, coleslaw, pickles . . . lots of pickles

Saturday: Ball game day! Son2 came over to ride to Tuscaloosa with TheHub for the game. They left and I was sitting still drinking coffee when I heard the door open. Much to my delight, DIL2 had come over to watch the game with me. My Beloved Sister joined us and we settled in to watch the game*****. After those games were over we watched (again I use that term lightly) the Georgia/Tennessee game until TheHub and Son2 got back to the house.

Saturday dinner: Everyone went home and TheHub ran and picked up a chicken meal at Jack's.

Chicken, green beans, coleslaw

Sunday: We woke early (way to early for me since I did not go to sleep until well after 3) to go to our early communion service, followed by church then Sunday School. The day was beautiful and neither of us were ready to go home. We figured we might as well have an early lunch and wound up at Saw's BBQ. 

We have always had this running joke that Methodists schedule their services just so the congregation will beat the Baptists to restaurants. 

Though I have no idea what particular affiliation or beliefs anyone in the restaurant had, we did have a table as soon as we walked in as the place was less than half full. By the time our food arrived the joint was full with a wait for the ever growing groups of diners wanting to be seated.  

Their portions were so large I brought more than half of my meal home. Another night, another meal.

Sunday night:  I am not sure what we did all day but all of a sudden it was 8:30 and neither of us had thought about dinner. We planned to run to Taco Bell (TheHub's idea) but once we got there the drive through line never moved. They seem to be perpetually understaffed or badly managed. Not sure which, so we left. TheHub still wanted a taco and we wound up at a taco truck ( No idea what their name is)  in the parking lot of Hoover Tactile Firearms ( an indoor shooting range). 

Sometimes the best things happen when plans change. The food from there was delicious!

Chicken torta******

What might happen this week:

1. Out to eat 

2. Leftover smoked brisket, tossed salad

3. Taco salad

4. Fundraiser dinner

6. Veggie dinner

7. Grilled tuna steaks, tossed salad, baked potato

Books read in September:

None Of This Is True

Forever Odd

Wishin' and Hopin'

The Case of the Missing Marquess

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

* They have these items free with a $10 dollar purchase, but I only get them if they are things I will use and if ThePig has a sale on something I either need now or for the freezer in the future.

**When I was organizing the freezer Saturday, I found a bag of cooked collards I had frozen. Score!

*** This is why labeling leftovers is necessary.

**** I have all of my frozen proteins in separate plastic bins on the freezer shelves, red for beef, ivory for poultry, blue for seafood, and white for pork because "its the other white meat".

***** By watching the game, I really mean we mainly talked, MBS swam laps, we ate lunch, talked some more, all while the games were on tv. We did glance at it sometimes, as we flipped back and forth between the Alabama and Auburn games.  (MBS went to school there.)

****** We put this on our list of "must returns"

Oh no! Just 15 Weeks Until Christmas

I did nothing toward Christmas this year because . . .

Ho, Ho, How Did That Happen?

47 days till Halloween

74 days till Thanksgiving

102 days til Christmas