2021 Project 365 – Week Forty-eight

I have been LAZY for the last couple of days. Well, not entirely lazy, but pretty lazy. In fact, there are clean sheets waiting to be put on my bed - guess I should take care of that at some point this evening...
Sunday, November 21^st    
I was still feeling puny from my vaccine booster so I stayed home from church. Later in the afternoon I worked on this dishcloth - pretty pleased with how it turned out! This will be a gift for a coworker. Too bad this might be the only Christmas color I have left - the other coworkers will just have to accept some odd colored Christmas trees. 

Monday, November 22^nd  
I had the brilliant idea to add sliced avocado and mushrooms to my frozen breakfast sandwich. Once again, I created a sandwich that I couldn’t actually eat with my hands. Another Knife and Forker! But it was delicious.

Ms. Rita and Miss Pinky say hello from the tub. 

Tuesday, November 23^rd   
A dad concoction - weenie soup! The secret ingredient isn’t the peas or cut up hotdogs - it’s the biscuits he tears up & drops in. It’s like weenies and dumplings! 

Wednesday, November 24^th   
No photo.

Thursday, November 25^th - Thanksgiving!     
We had a very nice meal with my dad’s side of the family. There were over 40 of us (and we were missing some folks so it would be closer to 50 if we were all there). My cousin graciously hosted us, and somehow Dr. M & I ended up not having to cook anything (I did take a cake that I had purchased). Dr. M was the photographer this year, and it was a little bit like herding cats to get us all organized. 

Friday, November 26^th   
I spent most of the day reading a book. I had planned to do some housework, but ah well - what can you do when you’re deep in the pages of a book? Anyway, we did eat leftovers later, but for brunch I made that weird naan egg parmesan thing, but this time I air fried it. GAME CHANGER. Man. 

Saturday, November 27^th    
This morning I went to church to help decorate, which is hilarious to me because figuring out where to put what on a tree is NOT my spiritual gift. But it felt nice to participate. 

Dr. M & I discussed how our family gathering seemed extra sweet this year - and my dad’s wife mentioned it too. No drama, no undercurrents, just fellowship and entirely too much food. It was nice. What did you do for Thanksgiving? 

2021 Project 365 – Week Forty-seven

We apparently weren’t really into taking pictures this week. So this should be short & sweet. Except for the days when I have a lot to say.
Sunday, November 14^th    
I had an excess of spinach & pomegranates and googled to see if there was a recipe (of course there was). It called for lentils, but I had barley. It was really good!
 

Monday, November 15^th     
No photo.
 
Tuesday, November 16^th
No photo.
 
Wednesday, November 17^th   
My view on my way home from work.
 

Thursday, November 18^th      
I was working this puzzle & was very excited to see this clue – of course I knew the answer since Olga spends so much time there!
 

Friday, November 19^th    
After work I visited with Daddy & Sue & helped with their new puzzle. Then I went to get my Pfizer booster shot!
 

The moon!
 

Saturday, November 20^th    
Pfizer booster: Day 2. It’s weird how people say that their vaccines kick their butts because that’s the one part of my anatomy that’s not achy, possibly because the antibodies thought it too great a foe to vanquish. (Note: I am a drama queen - I don’t feel that bad. Also, it’s possible that’s not how antibodies work. It’s also possible that it’s not even about antibodies. IDK I work in HR. I’m not a scientist.) Shortly after the second photo (my head was cold!) I figured out I had a fever. I’m a little slow.
 

Meanwhile, Dr. M was getting his booster! I love his post-booster selfie – ha!
 

I had another rough night – more fever – but I’m feeling much better this evening. I even started working on some Christmas crochet. This is the first year in a while that I’ve felt like I might not have a mad rush to buy gifts the week before Christmas (but I’d better not get complacent – I still have some more things to get). Are you ready for Christmas?
 

2021 Project 365 – Week Forty-six

Today is a very special day in our household – it’s Dr. M’s birthday! Let’s see, he went to take care of his dad, bought me cupcakes for his birthday, and heated up soup he had made yesterday for us to have for dinner. So as you can tell, he had a great day. OK, maybe I should step up my celebration game…
Sunday, November 7^th    
Today we lit candles at church in honor of people who have died & mine was for my mom. When I talked about her I mentioned her “Lucy-ness” which reminded me of this poem. I used to tag along to concerts with her & her best friend & on the way home we’d get donuts, which required several illegal u-turns with lots of maniacal laughter. This donut’s for you Momcat!
 

It’s Venus and the moon!
 

Monday, November 8^th     
When I woke up, my Fitbit was dead. After I got it rebooted, I saw this. I know I’m not a super active person, but even I can’t take negative 3,000 steps in an hour!
 

The moon!
 

Tuesday, November 9^th
The moon!
 

Wednesday, November 10^th   
No photo. Why didn’t Dr. M take another picture of the moon?
 
Thursday, November 11^th      
My caption from the socials: At least I like the racial diversity in these weird Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas hybrid Santas. (I just wrote & deleted a statement about how they’re tasty because 😳😳😳).
 

Friday, November 12^th    
Somehow my purse strap got completely entangled in my shawl. It was the weirdest thing & I had to completely take the shawl off to get it sorted out.

Dr. M got an early birthday present (that he bought for his own self) – a Braves World Series championship hat. Isn’t he the cutest thing?
 

Saturday, November 13^th    
Woo hoo to Dr. M! I bought him a couple of silly gifts – an Enneagram 4 t-shirt and some Enneagram 4 pencils. If you’d like to know what Dr. M is like, just read these. Ha!
 

Took a photo of Ms. Pinky & Ms. Rita before they were brought inside for the winter. Also, look at this crazy cosmos trying to bloom.
 

It has been absolutely gorgeous around here, but I haven’t tried to get any photos because what my camera captures is quite inferior to what my eye sees. I follow a person on Instagram who has taken some fabulous fall pictures – check her out here if you’d like to see some beauty. Where are you finding beauty these days?

Those Trees...

 

Those trees are wearing
mighty fancy dresses
as they sway to their
slumberous rhythm.
My summer was torpor
and sweat running
between middle-aged breasts.
I waited without patience
for the zing of cool
(which just now as I
write this makes me think
of Greatnanny’s Noxzema).
This morning I shivered
and felt a great awakening
readiness stir within me.
But those trees,
tarted up like ladies
on a street corner,
say your money
isn’t good here –
we’re ready for bed.

DWR 9/26/12
 
(The poem is from the “vault” but the photos are recent – I just used the Waterlogue app to “paint” them.)

2021 Project 365 – Week Forty-five

The time has changed here in the US, and I think that we can all agree – if not on which one to keep – that we need to PICK A TIME AND STICK TO IT. It’s ridiculous. What did I do with my “extra” hour this morning? Kept opening my eyes to check the clock because surely it was time to get up. VERY ANNOYING. Whew! Glad to get that off of my chest…
Sunday, October 31^st   
No photo from today. But here is one from a Halloween past of an adorable Dr. M.
 

Monday, November 1^st      
Morning and night sky (the first is on my way to work, and the second is Dr. M working some serious magic).
 

Tuesday, November 2^nd     
The Braves did NOT win on Sunday night, so they played today. Dr. M worked off some nervous energy by mowing his dad’s lawn (hopefully for the last time this season – although there will be leaf mulching later).
 

They did it!!! Woohoo!!! (I stole this photo from the Braves Instagram feed – all of my pictures were blurry and ridiculous due to too much jumping up & down.)
 

Wednesday, November 3^rd   
Tried a new recipe & it was DELICIOUS. I didn’t have all the ingredients (you can find the recipe in this post), but my substitutions were pretty good. I spread Laughing Cow cheese on some naan, added cilantro lime sauce & some mushrooms, cracked two eggs on top, added parm & baked for 10 minutes. I misread the recipe & set it for 450 instead of 425, so the edge of the bread got too done, but this dish is a keeper!
 

Thursday, November 4^th      
One of the cats at my father-in-law’s house – it has its own rocker!
 

Friday, November 5^th    
I’d been trying to figure out when to do a photo shoot of my temperature blanket (through October!), but there’s not enough light in the evenings when I get home from work. On Thursday I stopped & visited with Daddy & Sue & noticed this gorgeous tree in their front yard. I had the bright idea to go back on my lunch hour, and here you go!
 

Saturday, November 6^th    
Got caught up with the rest of the week - back into the blues!
 

Today on my way home from church I picked up a couple of donuts (you’ll find out why next week), and I ate them after lunch, and now my brain is mushy & sugar-addled. Every time I get donuts I swear it will be the last time, but here I am in a donut-coma state once again. Therefore, please feel free to talk amongst yourselves about how your week went!
 

Book Reviews – the September Edition

I’m writing this post on the last day of October, so even though it’s not posting until Wednesday, it’s still technically about “last month’s” books. Also, remember how I said that I was going to try to change this up a bit? This is me trying to change it up. Instead of copying and pasting the book description I’m going to just try to do a short summary (not my strong suit) & include a link in case you want to see a more detailed description. Just click the book title to read the Goodreads description. We’ll see how this goes.  
 

Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (Agatha Raisin #8) ★★★★, by MC Beaton. Agatha solves the mystery of the poisoning of a local hairdresser. As you may recall, I struggle with Agatha & her seemingly contradictory personality of bulldozer and caring what other people think. There was some of that in this book, but I enjoyed it more than some of the others. I know, glowing endorsement! But these are good books if you need something light and fluffy, with the added benefit of a good mystery. (It also helps to believe that Agatha is an Enneagram 3 – ha!)
 

Snatched (Will Trent #5.5) ★★★★ & Criminal (Will Trent #6) ★★★★★, by Karin Slaughter.   
In Snatched, as punishment, Will has been assigned bathroom duty at the Atlanta airport – catching men soliciting other men. He becomes suspicious about a man who brings a small girl into the bathroom & the rest of the short story is a mad chase to identify the girl (who was kidnaped) & track her down. It left me a little breathless, but it was very satisfactory. Criminal is the story of Will’s parents. His father, who is a serial killer who murdered his mother, is released from prison and starts up his old habits. This story is about that, but is also an excellent look into the life of a policewoman in the 1970s and the origin of Will’s boss Amanda & her coterie of “old gals.” I highly recommend it for that aspect of the story alone.
 

Forgotten in Death (In Death #53) ★★★★★, by J.D. Robb. In this latest Eve Dallas book, she is solving the murder of a sidewalk sleeper as well solving the mystery of the bones of a pregnant woman, both found on a construction site in NYC. It’s an interesting look at old money, Russian mobs, and young love. At this point in the series (#53! What the heck!), I just enjoy any opportunity to interact with old familiar characters.
 

The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #17) ★★★★★, by Louise Penny. This book is set in a fictional time after the pandemic when everything is mostly back to normal (wouldn’t that be nice!). The main story revolves around a woman researcher who has made a shocking recommendation to ensure that the next pandemic isn’t so deadly. I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you what it is, but [insert mind blown & cursing emojis here]. This is another series where it feels like you are visiting with old friends – and after the last one set in Paris, it’s nice to have everyone “back home” in Three Pines.
 
Did you notice that every book I read in September was part of a series? What can I say? When I feel stressed I reach for familiar characters. Unless I go crazy on this last day of October & finish another one, I’ve only read three books this month. One of them is technically a prequel, but the other two are stand-alone books (one is nonfiction). Hopefully it won’t take until the end of November to do a post about them!
 
Now, tell me what good things you’ve read lately!