|
navigation
current
archives
links page
profile
|
|
getting back
February 25, 2013
High time, I guess, for me to be getting back here. But I'm not going to try and play
catch up; I'll just start again from here, and say: a prolonged round of alternating bad
weather, extended business travel, bad news from several directions, and a heavy,
intense workload left me pretty wrung out. So I took myself a 4-day weekend.
Which I obviously needed, because I slept for ten hours on Wednesday night . And
Thursday night. And Friday night too, even though I took a two-hour nap in the
afternoon. Saturday night, I slept for eleven hours. And took another nap on
Sunday. Unfortunately, I must have been all caught up, because I didn't sleep well on
Sunday night at all. Or maybe it was just the hideous prospect of Monday, and work,
looming over me?
On Thursday:
Slept in, got up and had a little coffee and breakfast, did some laundry while walking
1.33 miles on the treadmill, then got cleaned up and went to Sam's for my eye exam.
Went well, didn't have too much change from last time (2 years ago). Got my new
glasses ordered, and after the insurance kick it totalled $223.61.
That price was including my eye exam, which I upgraded to the premium
exam with digital photography of the inner eye, my upgrade to high-index polycarb
lenses with a roll & polish on the edges, the no-line bifocal, the Oscar de la Renta
frames, and even a new pair of PolarEyes clipon sunglasses to fit them!
The combination of Sam's Club and my out-of-network benefit (VSP lets Sam's file,
but won't let them into the network because they are wholesale) saved me about
$220.00. But going to anyone in our area who is in-network would be way more
expensive, since they are all little, independant eye doctors who charge an arm and a
leg to begin with. When I did go in-net, I spent over $400 out of pocket, even with
the "better benefit" But if I do it this way, my insurance doesn't exactly PAY for my
glasses, but it sure enables me to afford the ones I want! (Need, actually. I'm far to old
and blind to make do with the most cheaped down versions if I don't have to.)
Since I was at Sam's anyway, after I got done in the optical department I did a little
shopping. Picked up some granola bars and blackberries, and added some titles to the
movie collection. For me, I found "Monsters, Inc." on blu-ray, which I have been
looking for, and hit their $4.98 Marilyn Monroe DVD collection for another title:
"How to Marry a Millonaire", to go along with my previous buys of "There's No
Business Like Show Business", "Some Like it Hot", and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".
For Spouse I picked up "Tora! Tora! Tora!" on blu-ray (More on THAT later).
Really, after I got home from that excursion and saw Spouse off to work, I was more
than happy to just come home and chill out--I watched my new "Monsters, Inc.",
which was absolutely un-frickin-believable on the big TV, in blu-ray, with the sound
bar and the sub-woofer turned on. BETTER than any movie theater! I also thawed a
frozen pound cake and frosted it with some homemade chocolate frosting and
cooked off a ham steak, at the request of Spouse. The poundcake was the last of a
three-pack from Sam's. At $5.98 for three fantastic loaves, it's cheaper than baking
them, and they freeze beautifully if you wrap each one in Saran and then put them
into a freezer bag.
Friday morning I was greeted by a workout courtesy of Mother Nature--4.5 inches of
snow to be shoveled if I was going to get out of the driveway and make my 9:00
haircut appointment. Well, 45 minutes of hard shoveling (and a little help from my
neighbor's snowthrower to finish the end of the drive) later, the job was done, the car
was cleaned off and warmed up, and I was able to have coffee and a quickie breakfast
before showering & heading to my appointment.
After that, I stopped at the Pig to get some groceries, as I had already decided that I
was going to make myself a tuna casserole for dinner that night and that sometime
over the weekend I was making a meatloaf. I was dying for some traditional
home-cooking. Then I came home, took another swipe at the laundry, napped, read,
surfed the net, and generally futzed around, then made my tuna casserole and ate it
with episodes of WILTY and 8 Out Of 10 Cats for company. Turned in early again,
because I knew Spouse wanted to get up and go out for breakfast on Saturday.
So we did--got up & got rolling, and ran up to the Melrose, a very superior coffee
shop/diner in Franklin, for brekkers. I had a fantastic bowl of what they called "Berry
Bliss Oatmeal"--oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries
stirred in, sprinkled with granola, and finished with a dollop of whipped cream. It was
like a big old oatmeal sundae! Had some really good raisin toast and a glass of
fresh-squeezed OJ with it, as well as coffee, and a big glass of water. I highly
recommend it as a way to start the day!
We were headed to Milwaukee because I've really wanted to check out the
Boelter SuperStore that area celebrity chef Michael Feker is always
promoting on channel 6 in Milwaukee. I love me a restaurant supply house that's open
to the public!
Let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint! I found a bunch of stuff I've been wanting for
a long time--all at really good prices: induction-ready cookware, including non-stick
frypans, a fat separator, a smaller & more leftie-friendly cookie scoop, plain glass
sauce bowls, a skinny rubber scraper, and a new black nylon whisk & pasta server to
go with my other black nylon pieces.
And my peppermill. At last--my Peppermill. And you know who helped me pick it out?
Chef Michael Feker himself! He was there to teach a cooking class, and just started up
a conversation with us while we were shopping. Very nice guy. Helpful, too. He
warned me away from paying a lot for "marketing", and recommended a traditional
choice that was larger, cheaper, and more of a workhorse. So I went with that and got
the Olde Thompson 10-Inch Imperial Walnut Peppermill (close your eyes and picture
a pepper grinder. Yep. That's the one I bought!)
After we got done there, we headed towards home, stopping on the way at
Woodman's in Oak Creek to do our grocery shopping. Spouse had decided HE
wanted to do some home cooking too--specifically, his Thomas Keller Roast Chicken
with Root Vegetables, for Sunday dinner.
Once we got home and started putting things away, I got to feeling like messing in
the kitchen. The new Penzey's catalog was in Saturday's mail, with a recipe for spiced
pecans, and since I had a pound and a half of pecans left over from Christmas that
needed to be used up, I went ahead and whipped up a batch. Oh, yum, did they turn
out nice! Not overly sweet or spicy, just right. A fairly easy oven recipe, too. I'm
keeping that one.
While I was doing that, Spouse wanted to put his feet up and watch "Tora! Tora!
Tora!" on blu-ray...only to find out that the disc simply wouldn't play. After several
tries, and verifying that it was the disc and not the player, I dug out the receipt and
promised him I would exchange it for a different one. Boy, no good deed goes
unpunished, does it? Can't even buy a present without a headache.
By the time I got done with the nuts, it was time to start my dinner. I made an
enormous meatloaf that could have fed a family of eight (cold leftover meatloaf. Nuff
said.), with mashed potatoes (courtesy of Spouse), gravy, and baby peas. The meatloaf
came out brilliantly, and all in all it was a delicious meal. I just love dinners where we
both cook and then we both clean up--that kind of cozy cooperation just makes me
so happy.
Yet another early night, though, as Spouse was beat and I was still catching up with
my own sleep.
Sunday was a day without too many plans--pick up a few things we'd overlooked the
day before, fill the car, return "Tora! Tora! Tora!", and Spouse wanted to work on the
sticky door latch on the Ford. So we had some breakfast, got cleaned up.
And somewhere between the shower and my clothes, I went off on a naked tangent.
Stubbed my toe on my luggage, so I decided to put it on the closet shelf. But to do
that, I had to get rid of the old suitcase already ON the shelf. Took it down so we could take it to Goodwill, and found it was actually full of purses. So I went through my purses, and decided to donate a bunch of THEM to Goodwill. Then I found a bag of sweaters that could go. And two more bags of clothes that could go. Ended up doing a righteous and spontaneous "dig & donate"!
Well, when I finally got dressed, we ran out to Goodwill, Menards, and Sam's to get our errands done, and then came home to do our projects--he worked on the car, I gave the bathtub a long-overdue superscrubbing and put up a new shower curtain.
By the time I was done, we were both ready to finally watch our replacement copy of "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
Deja vu. exactly the same issue with this one. Well, when it goes back, there will be none of this "replacing with the same movie". For one thing, I think the replacement was the last one they had. For another--NO. I don't have time to keep returning them indefinitely. I've had it. They can credit my Liquid card, darnit.
Thwarted in his plan, Spouse retired to the kitchen to potter through his chicken prep, and I went to have a bit of a lie-down. Didn't sleep a lot, but it felt good just to lie down and read for a while. Eventually, there was delicious dinner, and dishes, and Spouse turned in while I watched Cats and Buzzcocks and got my Monday morning prepping done.
I suppose, in addition to going on at length about my happy but dull weekend, I should include some family health news. Mom's doing reasonably well with chemo, I think, although it is hard to know with her. She acts like the little difficulties are the biggest things in the world, but anything really major, she plays down like it isn�t anything at all. As near as I can tell, It isn�t going perfectly but it isn�t going badly. Of course, my mom only has one way of seeing things��if it isn�t perfect, it�s shit.�
MyNiece miscarried last week. A deeply sad thing, and adding to the sense of tragedy, this sad thing is something of a family tradition. This latest makes 4 consecutive generations to lose a baby--to my knowledge, that is. It may actually be more. Yet another reason I was never interested in childbearing. My heart goes out to Niece & her husband.
Personally, I am working on this stupid program, I am stuck bouncing between 4.5 and 5.0 lost, the treadmill is destroying my already bad right leg, I really have no interest in dieting, and I am hating myself for it. I find it depressing and miserable and just a little bit ago I walked a mile on a treadmill while crying and screaming because I am so tired of having to live my whole life doing what other people have decided is right for me.
And it is 25 months today for the quitting smoking thing.
Reading: Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards; Just wrapped up a re-read of the Three Margarets series. Starting �Polly the Pagan� (1922), by Isabel Anderson
Listening: Steely Dan, �Showbiz Kids� and New Faces of 1952
At Random:
click
here
|
|