ohnohedin't
December 29, 2014

After he threw a very loud, very public hissy fit about not wanting a tablet computer for Christmas, guess what we had to go to BB and get him yesterday?

Turns out that he "has" to have one, in order to learn to fly the RC plane that "I" bought him for a "gift".

Mmmmkay...

You know what? Whatever. I think I'll just let it go. Not going to tie myself into a knot just because he pulled the same kind of thing this year that he pulls every year. Truth is, if I cared more about the gift-giving aspects of the holiday, this might upset me more. But I am really just relieved that he seems to have gotten stuff he wanted, and on his terms.

Plus--I did WANT him to get a tab, after all. And I have been after him for a long time to get himself a hobby, too. So why should I complain if I got two things I really wanted?

So anyway--

The weekend. He was off Friday, and got some housework done in the morning, but by afternoon he wasin "take it easy" mode. So when I got home from work, we had a ham sandwich, and a nap, then he got up and heated up leftovers for dinner, along with a pan of roasted carrots that were fantastic. And basically, that was the day. Very lazy and sleepy. The B was absolutely loving it. Friday night, he asked if "we" had any plans for Saturday. I could see the desperation in his eye--he really wanted to go somewhere and do something. So I told him I wanted to go down to the northern suburbs and do some shopping.

I wanted to go to Trader Joe's, and there were some things I wanted to get at The Container Store. I figured I could leverage his desperation and the low price of gas (freaking $1.99/9 a gallon!!) and get my wish. He went along--with the proviso that we A: find a hobby store he could go to, and B: go to Walker Brothers for breakfast. No arguments from me! I did some googling and found addresses for a Walker Bros. we hadn't been to before (Highland Park), as well as the Northbrook TJ's that has a Container Store next door, and a Hobbytown USA in the general area.

On Saturday, we got up and dressed and headed out, having an absolutely stellar brekkers in HP. I had the Venetian Benedict: Poached eggs with fresh sauteed spinach, mushrooms, and bits of crisp bacon, on a grilled English muffin, blanketed with hollandaise sauce and garnished with pico de gallo. Served with a side of the best fresh fruit I've had outside of LV, and their fabulous coffee. Yes, it was every bit as good as it sounds and more so. Spouse had his old favorite--their buckwhest cakes and a side of the link sausage.

After our delightful breakfast, we headed over to TJs, where they were out of several items I wanted to get--but we still managed to spend $50.00 pretty quickly. Mostly on candy, actually!

When we were done there, Spouse stayed in the car while I went into TCS and got the things I wanted: a rack to organize all the lids for Spouse's new pots & pans, a rack to organize all my rolls of parchment, foil, plastic wrap, etc., and a little standing shelf to put on the kitchen counter so we could max out our limited space. Plus some little items: velcro adhesive thingies to hang the power strip on the wall, little grippy things to stick on my bed's feet so it doesn't slide all over the wood floor, new cutting mats to replace our much-used and pretty worn out ones, and a real soapdish for the kitchen (so I can use up all the bar soap I have cluttering up the cupboard.)

There were a couple other items I was interested in, but unfortunately they were sold out of the trunk cargo organizer I wanted, and they didn't have a dish drainer I liked.

After I got all that stuff--and only thirty bucks for all of it--whoohoo!--we cut over to Waukegan Road to go to the hobby store. I was looking forward to that, myself, because I have to come up with a new hobby where I can use all the power tools he gave me for Christmas. But he decided he didn't want to go after all, and we ended up in Glenview at the OTHER TJ's--which was sold out of all the same things the first one was. Kudos to us both for actually walking out with nothing extra.

Spouse decided he wanted to go to the Meijer in Niles, so we drove over there and did some grocery shopping, before heading back to K-town. We'd started out so early that it was only about 1:30 when we got home, so I did some laundry, we napped some more, and for supper, spouse made baked beans in the convection oven, I made sloppy joes, and we rounded out the meal with some deli salads from Meijer.

We got up yesterday and I started doing one of my "power-putter" deals, picking up around the house, doing laundry, etc. We had coffee, then Spouse made a "use-it-up" breakfast--again, in the new oven. An oven-omelet with some leftover bacon, leftover ham, eggs nearing their date, and a few herbs--and a light sprinkle of sharp cheddar on my side of it. It came out wonderfully puffy in the convection oven, and then we toasted up the last of the bakery bread, poured some OJ and more coffee, and had a really nice breakfast. He has really gotten into these oven breakfasts, and the new oven is going to make them even easier.

I don't have to worry about that thing getting utilized--we bought it last Wednesday, and so far, he's used it to bake cinnamon rolls, make macaroni and cheese, toast bread, bake beans, heat leftovers, roast carrots, and cook an oven omelet.

And, in the fine tradition of the man who broke his new bed before it was even assembled--he managed to accidently melt a package of hamburger buns to the top of it. He set the buns on top of it when we got home from shopping, and forgot to take them off when he heated it up. I managed to catch that before it got completely gooey, but it did leave a mark I can't get off. Now we have a rule. Never, ever, ever, set anything on top of the convection oven, unless you just took it OUT of the convection oven. That sucker gets hot!

Of course, I am a right one to talk--I managed to create an avalanche on my dresser that sent the little dish holding my jewelry flying, and scattering earrings, necklaces, and rings flying all over the room. Not to mention partial, which I now cannot wear with out some serious re-adjusting. Can't even get it in. So now I have THAT to deal with. Ugh. It probably will be covered by my dental insurance, but they've whittled that down so much I hate to eat it up with something so stupid.

I had a couple of projects planned for Sunday, and was eager to start on them, but that got pushed off a bit so we could get cleaned up and go get him a tablet. And some spices at Penzeys, and a couple of items at Walgreens. But we got all that done pretty quickly, and I got back home to my laundry and my projects.

I took the Christmas tree "down"--downstairs, that is. I left it assembled, and merely bagged it up in a couple of large trash bags to keep the dust off. I put away one or two other things I had out, and that was Christmas dealt with. Then, it was on to my real project of the day.

What I wanted to accomplish was to continue in the kitchen with what Spouse's Christmas presents started. Next on my agenda: clean out the big dish cupboard. I got rid of a lot of stuff from my mother that I didn't want anymore (or ever, LOL), but had held onto as long as Mom was alive. A set of soda fountain dishes--sherbet, sundae, and shake glasses. A SH*T load of Pfaltzgraff. Part of my old mug collection. Miscellaneous crap. Taken down, boxed up, put in the car, and dropped off at the Goodwill, all in about an hour. And now, I have room for my kitchen scale and my juicer, so they don't have to sit out when I am not using them.

Eventually, I want to clean out the cupboard over the stovetop, and move some of the items we have stored there over to the top shelf of the big corner dish cupboard, then move my Pyrex over there. I suppose I'll get there eventually--there are still a lot of winter weekends ahead.

I met all my objectives for the day by about two o'clock, Spouse was busy with his new tablet, and it was cold in the house, so I ended up taking another nap--I was just going to read, but once I got all warm under the quilt, I zonked. Got up at 4:30 and took care of the B, then threw dinner in the oven--a lazy meal of potatoes, carrots, chicken tenders, and a pouch of Campbell's oven sauce, "Classic Roast Chicken" flavor. Easy to prep, one pan, bung it in the oven, and you can go from zero to dinner in about an hour. It was actually pretty tasty. We bought this stuff to try after having good luck with their slow-cooker and skillet sauces. I wouldn't make a steady diet of that kind of thing, but it fills in very nicely when you don't want to bust your hinder over dinner. And he liked it, which was fortunate!

After dinner, he diseappeared again with his tablet, and I cleaned up the kitchen and got my ducks in a row for Monday morning, then fiddled around on the computer played some games, and watched the latest two episodes of QI before bed. Carrie Fisher looks like hell, but she was hilarious. I think she and Stephen Fry are probably pretty simpatico--both bi-polar, both actors, both novelists, both funny as hell. Really cool to see them working together.
TUESDAY
I have been suffering from a bit of reader's block lately--I can't get into it. I've been filling the gaps with some games, but they are starting to lose their charm as well. I was cold, and tired, and bored last evening, and I just gave up and went to bed at 8:30. I'd turned on the electric blanket about 7:00, to pre-heat the bed--and it was just heavenly to climb into that warm coccoon and let go of the day. And normally, such actions would result in me being wide awake at 3:00 am--but I was so far gone when the alarm went off this morning that it took me five whole minutes to even pry my eyes open.

That was the start of a day-long game of catch-up that is only just now starting to even out. I feel like it's been a battle to keep even, and a close battle, at that. The dog, red lights, traffic, work deadlines, work loads, co-workers...a zillion little bumps in the road.

I need to ask Spouse if this trip to AZ is the only vacation I'm getting.

Because I have not had a vacation where I went anywhere that wasn't to visit relatives since 2008--and I am really starting to feel it. (And it wasn't like I was alone on that trip, anyway--I had Spouse to contend with.)