Whirlwind of the Ordinary

The Photo is of my two favorite heat seekers.  Gracie senged her tail and smelled like burned hair the rest of the evening.

Monday Madness: I try to squeeze way too much into Mondays. Today: 3 loads of laundry, lots of cooking and time at the desk. I reward myself with a break from 9 to 9:15 to watch Regis and Kelly banter and then again at 10 to 10:15 for the hot topics on the view. This morning I had a lunch date with girlfriends and needed to be out of the house by 11 so a lot got crowed in. After lunch it was just a couple of errands and back to the desk.

Big confession, I bought shrimp on sale and ‘put it in the freezer’ and it is not on the menu yet. The freezer is looking much better but I still felt a little guilty. It is so much better when I am using up instead of adding too.

I haven’t made a dent in the yarn stash but I haven’t bought any yarn either. Stiches is three weeks away. Today in the mail I got my list of homework assignments for my stitches classes and I have some knitting to do; 6 swatches and then more research also, plus putting together the supplies for each class.

Terrific Tuesdays: I love my job. I love getting to work on Tuesdays and remembering how much I like my job. I love the people, and now that I have been at this office a while there are patients who look forward to seeing me again also and then I love the ‘art and craft’ of what I do, making each tooth clean, smooth and shiny which also means healthy. Then I look forward to Tuesday nights and seeing the nieces and having family dinner. This week it is Indian and I hope it goes over okay.
midWeek Wednesdays: I am getting tired. I get good rest but I am running down. Food has become leftover that I am getting tired of and after lunch at work I know I only have a few more patients for the week. I have to start working myself up to going to exercise but it was too beautiful today and so I went home and talked BK into going for a walk with me. We went to Redmond and walked from the Senior Center towards the new hotel and back it was about a 45 minute walk and it was just wonderful. The sights to see were amazing; the birds, spring flowers, bicyclist, rollerbladers, lots of people with dogs, one dog had on four little blue boots. We had a great time. Then we came home and had leftovers from Tuesday night.
Thursdays is all about Knitting: I sleep in a little and then sorted and messed around the house awhile and then went to Crossroads for my Grandma Knits Group. Sometimes I will go into Seattle to Tricoter after Crossroads but this week Bill and I decided to meet up at home for a date and good dinner. So I made the salmon and veggies I had planned for Wednesday night.

Formula Friday: I did a little work at the desk, some planning for the week and went off to a Book Club Group lunch. We usually meet here at the house but this month we decided to try a new place, Northwest College Dining Hall. Turned out it was good, a little loud for talking but after a lot of the students cleared out we finished discussing "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. I enjoyed the book and there is a lot to think about with his views of people and cultures, but ways to find the tipping point and make a difference as an individual still leaves me a bit, maybe a lot, puzzled.

Saturday I did a lot of knitting and watched a couple of movies, one was Inkheart. PG. About a story teller that could make the words on a page come to life. Savanna would have liked it I think. BK got home from Portland mid afternoon and we had a great evening together. We took a short walk, talked a lot and streamed a couple of television shows we had missed.
Sunday we both had errands to run and we did some together and some separately. I did a lot of grocery and pantry stocking. Probably the last big run before I leave for Atlanta. I have been wanting a new stock pot. Non stick preferably, not to heavy and 10 to 12 quarts, so we did some comparison shopping and came home and got something from Amazon.com. It should come this week. I also downloaded a couple of new books and bought a couple of Stephanie Pearl McPhee’s books that I didn’t have. So the packages just keep coming.

That brings us back to not so Mad Monday and at the end of the day the bills are paid, laundry is done, I had my blood draw and we had a great dinner, (Bill roasted chicken and I had steak :-0 ) Yummy…. So on with the week.

Freaking Fridays Fly Fast

Formula Friday:


Yikes! It is cold outside today. That may explain the ‘intruders’ we have had lately. (see photos) It is 9 am and it is 36 degrees outside. Heck, yesterday it was almost 65 in the afternoon. It was an awesome beautiful day.

Looking Ahead:

Saturday: we have tickets to hear the Butch Thompson trio, they do classic jazz and ragtime. I love ragtime. Chicken chili  (FTF)  for lunch before we go and Dinner out

Sunday: I am spending a little extra time with Amanda. This is a good thing and I am looking forward to seeing the headway she has made in organizing her office.  For Dinner - Chicken pot pie  (FTF),  salad.

Monday:  Turkey Lasagna  (FTF)  and salad

Tuesday: Family Dinner - Rice , Chicken Masala  (FTF), curry w/ potatoes and peas (FTF), chickpeas, and cauliflower curry, sesame green beans, wilted spinach w/ peanut sauce

Wednesday: salmon, broccoli and sweet potatos

Thursday: out

Friday: Book Club group @ noon and Friday Night Dessert Group in the evening

Now it is off to run some errands and then a friend is coming over to knit a while.

Formula Friday's

That is a stupid name but it is the day I look ahead and do my planning. The coming week is looking uneventful so far and that is good. Sunday I did some shopping to get ready for cooking on Monday.

Sunday: Mexican Chicken Casserole, with guacamole
Monday: lemon tilapia w/ steamed rice and corn pilaf
Tuesday: Family Dinner
   hummus and hot bread
   Brisket

   squashed potatoes

   Chicken, broccoli and pasta casserole

   Broiled tomatoes

   Steamed pea pods and green peas
Wednesday: salmon & shrimp, wilted spinach w/ peanut sauce,
Thursday: out
Friday:

Saturday: some good soup for lunch or dinner (w/ M&C for other meal out)

What’s off the needles: February Lady, my lime green cardigan, I think I like it, a lot. I am looking forward to wearing it.

What’s new on the needles: I started a tee I am calling Diamonds to Gold because the yarn is soft variegated brown rayon with a gold metallic thread in it and the stitch pattern is the shape of diamonds with the purl bumps. I am making this one up on the fly with a few ideas in my head. I am looking forward to Atlanta and taking the class on designing your own patterns. Maybe I will learn the right way.

I also cast on for a new skirt. The pattern is called Sasha the yarn is linen. Bill rolled every ball of yarn for me yesterday, 12 balls. This will be my mindless knitting project for a very long time as it is stockinet stitch for 40 inches of black linen. Then you pick up stitches 3 different places and knit on overlapping ruffles in coordinating colors. Mine are gray, brown, and something else dark. I hope it is pretty.

I also started a scarf, but for me I need to be alone and sitting at a table with good light to work on it, so it may not go too fast. I really want to learn the technique because I want to put this swirl element into a tank top I am thinking about.

I realized I have a few UFO’s that I ought to acknowledge and maybe get back to some time. One is Phyllis’ second mitten, The other is a turquoise tee but I am taking that to Atlanta to seek professional help.

February Lady

February Lady is a very popular knitting pattern and I started it about the first of February.   It is a 'knitting from the top down' pattern.  When you are knitting from the top down you can try the sweater on from time to time and see how it fits.   This is a great advantage in sweater making because even if it is working up completely right to the measurments that does not mean it is going to look good or fit well on and this can happen for many different reasons.    When I had finished about 7 inches of this cardigan I tried it on for the first time.  It was easy to see that this sweater was going to be too small.   I wanted it big enough that the button band would overlap and look good with buttons.   So back to the drawing board.    I started over with a new ball of yarn and that is when I decided this project could be my 'knitting olympics' project.  That is another story and I didn't finish it by closing ceremony so I will skip that part of the story.   I did cast-on the project durning the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics and the knitting began.    I went up two sizes from where I had started the first time now my big concern was if I was going to have enough yarn.   The yarn was a gift from a friend and I only had 6 balls of yarn.    I knew I was going to make shorter sleeves than the pattern so I was hoping this would give me an advantage.   When I divided the body for the sleeves I then started knitting back the first sweater project, instead of unwinding it and balling it up and then reknitting it.   When that yarn was gone I did the sleeves and got them to the length I wanted, just above the elbows.   That way I knew both sleeves were done and I would not run out after doing one sleeve and not have enough for the second sleeve.    That left me with one more ball of yarn.   I was able to knit about two more repeats of the lace pattern before I started getting nervous and started the garter stitch finish rows.       

What's Cooking

I usually look at what's cooking for the week ahead on the weekend so that I get my shopping done and do the major cooking while I am working at home on Mondays.   I have friends who do 'meal plan mondays' so here is my look at this week.

Monday:  chicken spagetti casserole  (from the freezer :-) - FTF )
Tuesday: Family Dinner   (big night of the week)  6 people this week
   Appetizer:
    Crab Cakes (from the pantry) w/ hummus
  Main meal:
    Italian Chicken, (FTF)
    Tomatoe Basil Pasta (FTF)  w? Wilted Spinach w/ pine nuts
    Aspargus and Pea Rissoto (fresh)
    Stir-fried brussel sprouts and carrots
    Roasted Aspargus and Green Beans
Wednesday:  probably leftovers but I am taking Crock-Pot Lasagna to work for 
        lunch on Thursday so I will put that together Wednesday night.  (ps the sauce is FTF.)
Thursday :  night out, each different places.
Friday:  We are going to friends for an early St Patricks party.   I'm bring Lime Cheesecake  that I will put together Friday morning.
Saturday:  I work all day so maybe I can talk Bill into doing some salmon.

And that is all we have planned this week.  

Normal?

There is something to be said for routine. I have not planned any travel for a while because Bill might have needed me while he was recovering from surgery, the good news is he did very well is fast on the way to a complete recovery. While I have been home I have been cleaning – sorting – and organizing some. Recently I redid my recipe box. I should have taken a before photo. It sure looks great to me now. Years ago I told Bill I needed a recipe box and told him the size I wanted. He went out and found some lumber and made me just what I ask for. I failed to mention that making it ‘beautiful’ would be nice and it never occurred to him, so it is not a beautiful box, but his heart was in it and I have always loved that box and I can tell you this, it will never fall apart. As I look ahead the next few weeks are looking pretty normal also, just work, working out, eating with friends, knitting, cooking, time to read. I hate to get excited in the calm for fear it will go away. Normal can be a good thing.

Using Up

One of my knitting challenges for this year is to knit 6 sweaters and I have decided that they need to be from my stash. That would be a good thing. I still have not finished my Knitting Olympics project, but the yarn did come from my stash. It is a lime green cotton and it was a gift from a friend. I did buy some yarn recently at my Local Yarn Shop (LYS), on sale, to go with some yarn I all ready had. Now there is enough for a sweater. The yarn I had was a grey silk with glass beads on it and the new yarn is a variegated gray silk by the same company but it has some shades of turquoise in it.

The other stash I want to burn through some is the freezers, yes multiple. I have a large freezer in the garage and two small freezers attached to the two fridges I have. Can you be a hoarder of food? We put 90 pounds of blueberries in the freezer every year for Bill's breakfast smoothies. Then I have maybe 15 quarts of lemon juice in there also. Every time I go to California and my Aunt Jeanne's trees have fruit, I squeeze as much juice as I can, put it in quart Ziploc bags and freeze it and bring it home with me. She has a Meyer Lemon tree and the juice is delicious. I make lemon bars now and then but mostly it is about Greek food; lemon chicken, lemon potatoes, lemon soup, lemon rice and oh, did I mention lemon drops. I also stock up on brisket. When I go to Texas I buy, freeze and bring home smoked brisket. It is delicious and I have never found anything like it in the Pacific Northwest. I think the biggest problem is that when I cook I have a tendency to cook big which often results in leftovers and I freeze them and that is the part I need to use up, but I don't want to use them too soon from the first time in case they feel too much like leftovers. Right now I know there is Chicken chili, Vegetable stew, Tomato and Rice soup, Shepherd's Pie, and last night I put a container of Turkey Masala and Curried Potatoes in there. There is still two packages of ham from Christmas and some roasted chicken. I usually buy 2 or 3 roasted chickens at Costco and pull the meat off the bones and package it in usable portions. The last time I was at Costco I noticed they are selling the packaged meat all ready pulled off the bones for you. How nice. I almost bought some and then I put it back because I didn't want to put it in the freezer.

Monday's

First I need to explain that I have alphabet dysfunction. I am a bit OCD or ADHD or some other condition like that, so in the interest of ordering and controlling my world I decided to schedule my time better. I work Tuesdays and Wednesday’s so that’s easy. Tuesday night’s the nieces come over for family dinner, more about that some other time. Wednesday nights I stop by Curves for a work out and run a few errands on the way home. Thursday is my ‘day of rest’; I sleep in a little and knit around, like meet up with friends different places and knit and visit. Friday’s are open for appointments and errands and whatever else needs to be done. Monday’s are my ‘day at home’. That is when I do laundry, pay bills, and cook for the week. In the afternoon I get to Curves and miscellaneous appointments and errands. That all sounds good and certainly organized but in reality it might not be working so well.

Last Monday I did get my desk cleared off, and the laundry done but the cooking…. Oh the cooking. I had a big week ahead and I didn’t finish the cooking until bed time and boy was I tired. I had made a nice dinner for Bill and I; salmon, stir-fried brussel sprouts and a barley pilaf with spinach and feta. For family dinner I had done the slicing and dicing for: Artichoke spread w/ pita chips and Hummus, apple sausages, cauliflower veggie pie in potato crust from Moosewood cookbook, pea pods and peppers stir-fry, and chicken ravioli pasta w/ sauce, just to taste Wednesday’s recipe and as always the chocolate basket is dessert. Wednesday I was cooking dinner for the Teen Center in Redmond and I made the spaghetti sauce on Monday. It was in my very largest pot and I thought it was enough for 50. Ha! They were hungry this month, or the spaghetti was really great. Anyway it was vegetarian sauce and it had tons of onions, carrots, celery, artichokes, peppers, eggplant and white beans for the protein with whole wheat pasta. You can guess the slicing and dicing and cooking for that took a while also. Then Friday we were having our Friday Night Dessert group over for dinner and to observe and play with our grandchildren. On Monday’s cooking I also put together a dozen turkey chili enchiladas for Friday night’s dinner. Bill kept coming in the kitchen and saying, “CeLinda you need to sit down for a while” and I would go knit for a few minutes and then I would be up cooking again. I think I need to plan my weeks better.

This week, it is 10:45AM I am sitting at the desk, the bills are payed, the laundry is done, and there is no cooking to do. Tomorrow Bill is busy and so the nieces and I are going out to dinner in the city. I caught up on lots of paperwork and after lunch I went to Curves for a workout, sold a bag of books back to Half Price Books, picked up some groceries and came home. Dinner tonight is Turkey Masala, Curried potatoes with green peas and steamed rice. The turkey is from the freezer. My newest personal challenge and game is to eat out of the freezers and not to buy more for the freezers until, well for a long time, I think.