Category: Daily Life

My ambitions for the weekend have not changed since yesterday. Last night I took my husband to see the latest Harry Potter movie, but that's about the only notable thing we've done.

A Librarian and I walked our usual 3.4 mile route this morning but in reverse, just to keep things interesting. We've decided that we're going to walk every day from now on unless there's a schedule conflict. I'm taking my treadmill to her house soon so we can still walk and chat together once the weather gets cold.

I considered going to a yoga class this morning, but decided I felt like staying home. Instead, I read my second book of the last two days, only taking a break to run down to the sausage shop for a quick lunch.

I've been making my way through a stack of books that my aunt brought over. So far I've read Dog on It by Spencer Quinn and Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear. I liked them both and both are mysteries, but they have almost nothing in common other than that.

I'd like to re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but I can't seem to find my copy. I suspect my sister might have it.

Now I'm just waiting for my husband to wake up so we can hang out until he leaves for his gig tonight. It's nice having the chance to be a complete homebody sometimes.

I'm going to be hard pressed to find anything much to write about during this long weekend. Yesterday was mostly given over to cooking and eating an obscene amount of food.

Today I got up for my usual 6:00 a.m. walk, had breakfast with my husband, sat in our freezing cold studio while the furnace guy replaced a part, and now I'm sitting in the living room reading through a stack of books my aunt loaned me and watching the cats play.

If I'm lucky, I'll also be spending the weekend reading, playing with the cats, baking, doing laundry and watching the occasional TV show. Sometimes the simple things are the most enjoyable, don't you think?

Let's not hear any nonsense about "healthier" recipes or trying to eat sensibly today. Dig in, eat until you have to unfasten the top button of your pants, and worry about your diet tomorrow.

Oh, and don't forget to acknowledge the things for which you're thankful. Mine include:

• My husband of almost sixteen years, who is always there with an encouraging word.
• The rest of my family. I'm lucky to be a part of your gene pool.
• All of the people who are helping and supporting me in my job search.
• The many and varied friends I've made, who have each added to my life in their own ways.
• The roof over my head and the food in the pantry.
• Xena, Velvet, Trillian and Dr. Jones, who always brighten my day with their purrs and snuggles.
• The future, which I am confident will be amazing in ways I cannot even imagine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since we've reached the point in Thanksgiving week where 99% of my Google traffic is already comprised of searches for recipes, I'll do my annual recipe post.

If you want the quickie version, here's a booklet of my Thanksgiving recipes. It'll get you from appetizers to dessert and cover the basic entrees and sides in between. When you click the link, you'll download a PDF document.

The individual recipes included are:

• Garlic Cheese Ball
• Pomegranate Salsa (you should see all the spellings of "pomegranate" that show up in my search stats)
• Dinner Rolls
• Fancy Green Bean Casserole
• Cranberry Sauce
• Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Cake Roll

The booklet has additional instructions and recipes for cooking a turkey with sausage stuffing and making mashed potatoes and gravy.

This year, I'm only being called upon to make my cranberry sauce and a light salad. However, I've already made three pumpkin pies since the weather started turning chilly, and I imagine I'm probably good for a couple more between now and Christmas.

What are you planning for Thanksgiving?

This was a heck of a weekend. I cooked many meals, baked pumpkin pies and muffins, went to yoga class, had my niece and nephew sleep over, walked to the grocery store and back, watched movies, read, did some gardening, washed clothes, weather-sealed our bedroom window, changed sheets, went out for pie and coffee, saw the new Harry Potter movie, ate a huge meal at a Japanese steakhouse, played with the cats, and read blog posts.

Why yes, I would enjoy a four-day weekend this week!

My husband and I get along quite well. We're both mellow people who don't like to argue, so we cruise along with minimal wrangling, even though there are a few things about which we fundamentally disagree.

The one thing that makes me really mad at him–and it's happening more and more often as we stay home to try to save money–is when he's critical of something I've cooked. If he so much as breathes a word of negativity about something I have made or plan to make, it instantly flips my hostility switch.

It happened the other day when I was laying out my plan to make roast beef sandwiches for dinner. He made what was no doubt a mild statement about the fact that he's not a big roast beef fan and I drew upon my inner longshoreman to verbally chastise him in the strongest possible terms.

When he rightly protested, it finally dawned on me (after almost sixteen years of marriage) that I really was out of line. And then I realized where it was all coming from.

While I was growing up, the dinner table was a frequent passive-aggressive battleground for my parents. My mom would make spaghetti and my dad would say he just had spaghetti for lunch. She'd cook ham and cabbage and he'd make a crack about "peasant food." These scenarios made my mom furious and I'm pretty sure I remember hearing a story about her throwing a plate of food at him in the early days of their marriage.

Over time, I'd internalized the idea that criticizing home-cooked food was grounds for righteous fury on the part of the cook.

I'm not saying my husband isn't a little unreasonably picky at times. However, he truly doesn't deserve to be treated as if he'd just committed an unpardonable sin just because broccoli isn't his favorite vegetable.

So I'll be working on that.

When A Librarian and I started walking our 3.4 mile route a couple of times a week, it was quite hot out, even at 6:00 a.m. I'd come home so overheated and sweaty that sometimes a cool shower didn't even help.

Once fall hit, we started strategizing about where we could walk once it got too cold out. I discovered that my local community center offers inexpensive passes that allow you to walk on their indoor track, so I figured that we'd get those and start our 34-lap marches of boredom in late October or early November.

As it turns out, we both seem to be developing pretty good tolerance for the cold. This morning it was about 36 degrees Fahrenheit and we both made it through our walk clad in sweat pants, hoodies layered over shirts, and head coverings. There was some discussion that long underwear would be nice, but so far we're hanging in there.

Far from looking forward to retreating inside, we're both rather fond of our route through the neighborhood and along part of downtown. The topography is varied, there's plenty to look at, and we've started recognizing some of the people we pass on the sidewalk.

At this point, I think we're in agreement that we'll keep up the outdoor walks until prevented by sleet, snow or other hazardous winter weather. Of course we aren't going to want to spend an hour outside in subzero temperatures, but as long as it's in the neighborhood of freezing or above, I think we can take it.

Now, indoors is another story. My office is uncomfortably cold (both at home and at work). Our TV room at home is chilly. Our bedroom window is drafty and I have to sleep in my robe and wear socks. You'd think that my newly-developed outdoor cold tolerance would make a difference, but it really doesn't. I guess it's time to dig the space heater out of storage.

I'm making a to-do list for this weekend that includes a whole bunch of things that I've been ignoring for way too long even though their solutions are relatively simple.

For example, our screen door slams loudly and unexpectedly about 80% of the time. The replacement part that will make it all better costs less than $10, but I've let it go on startling my guests and disturbing the peace of every social event I've hosted for the past several years.

Then there's our TV remote. Instead of having to mash the buttons forcefully and repeatedly to get it to respond to commands, I'm pretty sure that a new pair of batteries would cure everything. That's always the solution when the garage door remote starts acting that way.

I'm overdue to cut the dead fronds off our elephant ear plants, dig up the bulbs and store them for the winter. I've decided that they're my favorite new landscaping secret* and it would be a shame to have to buy them again next year when I can just save the ones I have.

*When you have big, dramatic plants in a flower bed, nobody seems to notice that the rest of the bed is a mishmash of pathetic perennials and uncontrolled weeds. It's like magic!

Finally, I've been wanting to take a stray fluorescent light fixture I have and mount it over my laundry table in the basement. While I was standing around during my home energy audit, I noticed that there is a handy electrical outlet at ceiling height just a two feet from where I want to put the light. All it will take is a couple of screws or hooks and I'll be able to put up the light where I can easily plug it in. Then sorting laundry will become the experience I've always dreamed it could be. /sarcasm

What are you going to attempt to accomplish this weekend?

Photo credit: catface3

This week. Seriously. It’s only Thursday and I already wish I could wipe the slate clean and start over.

Let’s get the big thing out of the way: I found out that I’m one of several dozen people at my company who will be laid off at the end of the year. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to mention it here, but I’ll take any job leads I can get. My LinkedIn profile is here, and I’d appreciate any referrals, leads, or recommendations you can provide.

Then last night I got a call from my credit card company about some questionable charges. Sure enough, the first one they mentioned was definitely not initiated by me. So it seems I’ve been victimized by the booming credit card fraud industry yet again. I’ll have to stop by my credit union this morning to dispute the $1,000+ charge and live without a credit card until they can issue me a new one. [Update: D’oh! It’s Veteran’s Day, so the credit union is closed. Sigh.]

Did I mention I think I’m getting sick? Or that Dr. Jones chewed up several pieces of yesterday’s mail? Or that last night was the first night since the time change that I’ve gotten a reasonable amount of sleep?

Don’t get me wrong, I am actually feeling very optimistic about the adventures to come. It’s just that I’m a bit overwhelmed right now. But I’ve got this. I really do.

Photo credit: zugaldia

Between my habit of going walking at 6:00 a.m. on inconsistent days and the unwelcome change back to standard time, my sleep habits have gone completely awry.

I never set an alarm unless I'm getting up at a completely ridiculous hour for an early flight or something. However, it turns out that resetting my internal alarm clock isn't as easy as I'd like.

Yesterday I was watching television with my husband after making a pizza for dinner. I started getting really sleepy and declared it was past my bedtime. It was 9:35 p.m.

I made it to bed before 10:00 p.m., but the first time I woke up in the morning it was only 4:00 a.m. I'd shut the cats out of the room specifically so I could sleep in, but it was not to be.

I got up and warmed a heating pack to try to ease the neck and shoulder pain that I've been fighting since my road trip. That and some ibuprofen bought me another 45 minutes of resting time, but I gave up and got up around 5:00 a.m.

Now I'm starting to think that maybe I could squeeze in a little morning nap before I get ready for work. I guess it's worth a try.

How are you handling the time change?

Photo credit: Dowlesan