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just what I needed
September 04, 2017,
I hadn't realized JUST how bad I needed a day to be by myself, until I got
one. (Well, actually I got two, because I had a sick day last Tuesday. But it
doesn't really count, because I really was legit sick--puky, poopy, weak and
shaky, flu/food-poisoning sick.)
But today was lovely. Spouse's work week runs Sunday-
Wednesday, so he got Sunday off, and had to work Monday. I had Labor
Day itself off. Result? Me with a guilt-free, solitary, relaxing day. I didn't
really do much--made myself a lovely omelet for breakfast, did a little
housework, a little yardwork, some reading, geeked out over a few
passions, loaded up my tumblr with some stuff. Mainly, I reveled in the
fact that it was just me and the dog. I introverted, and it was all good. I
think that getting back to having some regular time to myself is really
going to help with my emotional balance; it usually does.
And, I found out, that in addition to having Sundays to myself going
forward, I will also have Thursday evenings for the next several weeks,
because Spouse's class for this semester changed from a daytime class in
Racine to an evening class in Kenosha. Whoo-Hoo!
So. This weekend wasn't anything special; ran a few errands on Friday
after I got off work, came home and had a restful afternoon followed by
grilled steak, salad and baked potato for dinner.
Saturday, I got up and made a pan of cinnamon rolls, before we had to
take B to the vet for a re-check on his skin issues. After that, I ran over
to the St.Vincent dePaul thrift store to kill some time and get away from
him for a while. Found a Corningware Pop-ins 20-oz mug for 99 cents,
missing the lid but I didn't care, since I wanted it for mug cakes. They are
around $9.00 new, so that was a good saving. Tried on a couple of things;
the Lee jeans didn't fit and the sweater had a hole in it. Didn't find
anything else I was interested in. After we got home, we really just
bummed around until time to get ready to go out for dinner.
Spouse had decided he wanted to try Bucca di Beppo, so we had a date
night. Got dressed up and went down to Wheeling for dinner. Verdict? It
was...okay. I think I would like it better if I went with a group, because
they serve family-style and I had to settle for whatever Spouse would like.
Which was pretty basic.
He wanted spaghetti, but I don't eat long noodles in public--especially
when I'm dressed up. We compromised on a bowl of penne (al-dente, so
they say, but underdone, says I.) with meatballs, some additional diced
roma tomatoes thrown in, and the meat sauce. I thought it was stupid to
get the meat sauce, since we ordered the meatballs. But I ended up glad
we had both, because I couldn't eat the meatballs. My throat closed up
after two bites, because they were full of red pepper flakes. (Boy, will I
ever be glad when THAT food fad is over!) The mozzarella garlic bread
was awesome, though. I wouldn't say any of it was worth a two-hour
round-trip, though.
They say that the small order feeds three, but I would say closer to four
or five, because we ended up hauling home about two thirds of it, even
after we ate generous helpings. No biggie--they packed it into a covered
foil pan, so I froze it and we will have it for dinner some night soon.
We headed right home after dinner, just making a quick stop on the way
to pick up butter. Spouse was having quite a bit of an IBS flare this
weekend, so the steaks and the Bucca di Beppo didn't sit well,
unfortunately. He got to the point where he lost interest in food. Sunday
breakfast, I just cooked up some sausage we had in the freezer, and he
had toaster waffles with his. I had a couple of scrambled eggs with toast.
After we ate and got the mess cleaned up, I baked. I needed something absorbing to take my mind off of the incredibly sad news that Walter Becker passed away. As longtime, hardcore Steely Dan fans, this news hit Spouse and I very hard.
So. Challenging myself to
get past my history of failures with baking sugar cookies, I found a recipe
that I felt would emulate my dear, departed Great Auntie's sugar cookies,
with some minimal tweaking, and dug out all my favorite cookie gear.
I even used the air-bake pans that I hardly ever use because they are such
a pain, but I was shooting for perfection and willing to do whatever I
needed to do to get it. (Things take much longer to bake on them, and
you have to wait a really long time for them to cool back down before
you can refill them.)
These are the kind of sugar cookie that you roll into balls, then press with
the bottom of a glass to flatten, so I pressed them with an antique sherbet
dish that had a starburst pattern in the base.
Well, I said I was shooting for perfection...and I got it! They came out
perfect! 6 and a half dozen, all perfectly gorgeous. Light, crisp, well-
baked-but-not-browned, and perfectly shaped and sized. Spouse sang
high praise of them, and that was my final validation--sugar cookies are
actually his favorite cookie, so I was ecstatic to finally be able to bake a
batch for him that were edible! TRIUMPH!
It did take all morning, though. But I transcribed the recipe JUST as I
executed it, for future reference. Times, temps, equipment--everything
very specific. I will be making these again, I assure you.
Didn't matter how long it took, though, since he was still feeling punk and
didn't want to do anything. He rested all afternoon, and we had a very
simple dinner. He had soup and a sandwich, and went right back to bed.
I made myself a nice julienne salad with 1,000 Island dressing, and stayed
up late because I could.
As for today, see above. He got home about 3:30, and I made frozen shrimp and fries for dinner--took it easy. Tomorrow is a work day, once more. Supposed to be cool, so I will probably walk on the outdoor trail at work in the morning. It is too dark now to walk the parking lots; too dangerous. The walking trail isn't my fave, since it is gravel. But it is hilly, which makes for better exercise.
I'm doing okay, weight-wise, considering how little attention I have been paying to my diet. The exercise seems to be helping me to maintain, though. With him up and getting ready in the morning, he has taken over the dog duties and that gives me extra time so I can be out the door earlier, and get more walking time in when I get to work.--at least for the beginning of the week! Thursdays and Fridays, he doesn't have to be up, so we will see how those go.
And I have to remember to call my dad tomorrow--it's his birthday!
Reading:Finished the first and into the second of a vintage girl's
series I found on PG: "The Automobile Girls at Newport, Or, Watching
the Summer Parade" and "The Automobile Girls in the Berkshires, OR
The Ghost of Lost Man's Trail", both from 1910 and both by Laura Dent
Crane (probably a house pseudonym of the Howard E. Altemus
publishing syndicate)
Listening: OCR of RENT
Inked Up: The Bexley 10th Anniversary with custom orange
ink, Jin-Hao X750, with Iroshizuku Kon Peki,Conklin Duragraph with
Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown.
And in pen other news, I ordered myself a Hero 616 (burgundy/chrome)
and a bottle of Iroshizuku Yama-Budo off of Amazon yesterday, because
I decided that even if I can't afford a vintage Parker 51--I could spare
$25.00 to make myself happy. $7.50 for the pen, $17.60 for the ink, and I
made the free shipping threshold by ten whole cents! I would have
bought the Kon-Peki instead, but for some reason it was eleven cents
cheaper--and $24.99 left me a penny short for free shipping. So I went with my second-fave.
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