Getting It Done

I was going to blog about what I accomplished off my "to do" list, and why I didn't get everything done, and then decided who cares about that. However, I will digress and say that when I got to Goodyear Saturday morning to drop off the Tahoe, I was NOT expecting the big hunking black widow spider that greeted me. I got my envelope, looked at her for a moment, then shut the door. Too bad no camera, could have made for an interesting blog. I left a note for the mechanic about said spider, and inquired later if it was exterminated, as it should have been, and received an infirmative. I was able to do 6 miles with minimal pain, which is good, and incorporated the walk/job home from Goodyear, and felt pretty good about the whole thing.

On the "Get 'er done" meter- combine the mental and physical energy used, add the 45 minutes of rain, subtract the 2 hours I spent hand washing dishes over the weekend, I'd say I accomplished about 80% of what was on my "list", and since I was home today by 5:00, the accomplishment rating jumped to about 92%. Not bad considering how much I usually lay on myself.

Packing for Cleveland- done
Pool time on Saturday- done
4- Birthday cards-done
Sunday School lesson- game plan figured out for presentation, and images from books scanned- done
Reading- done--
nearly finished with The Constant Princess,
can't say that it's my favorite Philippa Gregory book, but court intrique is just that intriguing

Next, the the weekend food exploits. I've decided that I like "cooking" much better than "baking", as cooking is much more forgiving and easier to fix, much like knitting.




First off- here's the blueberries I used for the cobbler, later called "blueberry soup"



This is the final product that I took to the Pot Luck, it was yummy, but not enough cobbler for my taste, could be that I used a peach cobbler recipe [don't know]

Next up the Mac'n'cheese. I like creamy MNC vs eggy (custardy). I found a recipe in Gourmet a couple months ago, Croque Madame, that had a cheese sauce, when I made it there was left over cheese sauce, so I worked a little magic :) and made MNC, and the kids loved it, so I'm in the process of recreating the dish for the "Family Recipe" book, I need to put together for the boys--another project, NO!

This was really good, but I think I need a thinner sauce next time. As a final touch I add a thin layer of shredded cheese, then Panko crumbs, then another layer of cheese--can't have too much cheese can you???!!!

I also love my Longaberger Pottery, the purple- cause I like purple, and the spice because it looks so nice in the kitchen.



Anyway, final dish of the weekend. Frogmore Stew, don't know why it has this name, but apparently there is a place in SC called Frogmore, this was pretty much a low county boil except you add Old Bay Seasoning.


It was so-so on the "Mom you gotta make this again" meter.


Now a knitting update,

I managed to finish, block, gift wrap and make the card for blanket #3, which went to another co-worker of Steve's, a lovely shade of blue/gray in the standard block pattern.
Cast-on blanket #5 and worked on it during the WOC pajama party and video.
Found out Saturday that blanket #4 is for a GIRL!!! yea, so I picked up the adorable cotton candy/bubble gummy color,

will take this to Cleveland, and will probably have it finished by the end of the week.



Next up is the Filatura di Crosa yarn I got at the Purly Gates when they closed--60% off, totally lovin' that!. Sad they are closed, it was my favorite LYS (Local Yarn Shop :-( -Will be knitting a sweater I found on the knitty website--Summer 07 issue the sweater is Tangerine Twist.
Can't seem to create a link- may need Mary's help.
It's not often I find a sweater that has size as the finished size. Finally got going on this, will be going to Cleveland to knit in the hotel room without distractions- can't wait!




Next up are the sock, had to look for another pattern, and if this one doesn't work, I'll have to give in, and buy thicker yarn and use bigger needles, I had really wanted to use what I had, this pattern is also from knitty. Quill lace found in the archives.

We'll see how it comes, but it's NOT going to Cleveland, Tennessee maybe-
The last project to start is using the Jo Sharp wool and the Jo Sharp pattern, that deserves a blog posting all it's own- Polly remember the poncho I started while we were down for Spring Break? it's getting a make over!

TTFN

I "met" the Yarn Harlot!

Well sort of . . I read on her blog that she was going to be on "Knitty Gritty" June 29, so I recorded it out of curiosity. Of course, what were they discussing and demonstrating? SOCKS! Apparently there is a difference in knitting socks from a recipe as opposed to using a pattern.

I think the YH was going with the recipe style which I guess means do whatever kind of stitch combination you want as long as you stick with the basic components of a sock-- the ribbing, leg, heel and foot.

I think I still like using a pattern. I don't think I could remember to put twice as many on one needle, and half as many on the other two, decrease to the middle, etc. Yea, I know more confusing than reading a pattern, but whatever works. I was surprised by the YH voice, not what I was expecting.

Plans for the weekend:

Run on Saturday

Make blueberry cobbler and macaroni and cheese for pot luck Saturday night

Frogmore Stew (from Williams and Sonoma catalog) for Sunday "lunch"

Finish SS lesson- (I so don't want to take this on vacation to finish!)

Pool time (Saturday and Sunday, I hope)

Re-start anklets- yes I had to rip out what I'd done- will probably try the toe down instructions (working from the toe to the leg) as the pattern has a lace leg, and a lace cast on, which is the part I started with since I was following the leg down instructions. What was I thinking?!
I know what I was thinking, and that was I already had the sock yarn, I needed a pattern that required the same type of yarn, the label emphasized that the yarn was durable, and therefore a great yarn for socks, we'll see. Maybe a solid foundation will be easier to work.

Maybe make some cards?

Cast-on other 2 projects- blog time with photos?

Get stuff together for Cleveland- done the meal prep, so all that the family needs to do is thaw stuff out, and heat it up, you think they can manage that?

"Sick Day"

A Sick Day that isn’t for when you’re sick can be highly productive and exhausting. . .

Mom and PJ had appointments, and since I haven’t taken a sick day so far this year [knock on wood]; I figured I might as well take the whole day off. Which is good as it turned out that I was able to get in to see the doctor about my knee. No sign of injury as far as he could tell, but referred me to an orthopedist just to make sure.
He said, “no more road races, at least not until next year. If it hurts don’t do it, if it doesn’t hurt, do it”. So I guess I’ll try my 6 miles on Saturday and see how things go. Would have so loved to done it this morning, so I could get it out of the way, but hey. . . stop whining, at least you have legs that move!!

Anyway . . . was up by 4:30 did my Upper Room devotional, and had some nice quiet, reflective time to myself. THEN I got started on the 2 batches of Oatmeal Cranberry cookies I had obligated myself to make. I had already pre-measured the dry ingredients on Sunday, so I took the bowl and hand mixer to the basement to mix everything up [didn't want to wake anyone].

I love this recipe from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham [not Richie’s Mother!]. I have had this cookbook for about 15 years, and use it whenever I want something “old fashioned”. You can tell from the food stains how much I use it!




I had to divide them up among several people: 2 ½ dozen for the 3 people at the office with birthdays- 1 ½ dozen to “Santa” for getting me the road race number, 1 dozen Steve took to his office, and then the rest stayed at home for the family . . . yum!


Picked the two ripe tomatoes . .



and noticed there were two more that should be ready to pick by the weekend. Update on the jalapeno Andrew picked . . . . very hot!

Also managed to scrub the back splash as I didn't get a chance when we moved in, and I was a bit tired of finding "stuff" from the previous owners. Now it sparkles and makes a lovely back drop for the photos. I have decided that people that photograph food for magazines, books, etc. have a unique talent that I don't possess.

Headed out about 9:30 with the intention of getting an emissions test done; when I got there the guy said it would be a “few minutes”, they were waiting for the Pennzoil truck to do something, and then leave. After 15 minutes I inquired if I’d be able to get out of there by 10:00, as I had an appointment. The guy tells me again, he’s waiting for the Pennzoil truck to back up, well duh, I can see that, so I asked again if he’d be able to get me out by 10. If not, I needed to leave, I wasn’t going to wait around [puhlease!]

So I left and headed to Starbucks for a pound of Café Verona for home brewing, a cup of coffee and a biscotti, blood pressure level is returning to normal, ah a few more sips, that's better. Stopped by Wolf Camera to get photos I had dropped off, then on to Kaiser Permanente for an appointment. Was in and out, including x-rays by 11:40, placed call to PJ, and requested a turkey sandwich [what did we do before cell phones?!] with tomato since I had to take Mom [Jean] to the dermatologist in Marietta, and would have just enough time to "wolf" down something before I left again, totally starving by the time I got home.

12:05-12:13- ate requested turkey sandwich [delish] while watching the Barefoot Contessa on Food Network. She was making chive biscuits to go with the soups she was preparing- the biscuits looked yummy- Mary do you have the recipe?

Anyway, back out the door at 12:15, with Mom in tow, in and out of the office by 1:30, then receive call from PJ saying “Nana” had left her baggie of prescriptions at the doctor’s office, so we turned around and headed back, retrieved said bag and headed home.

Dropped Mom off, and loaded up PJ, and went to Michael’s Craft Store to see if they had any double pointed needles- I need 5 #3’s and I only had 4 #3’s. . . rats. . . no luck there. So we headed to Goodyear to see if I could get an oil change in an hour's time,

and as it turned out I didn't need an emissions for the Tahoe, but for the Alero, which is what I was driving earlier in the day, so more musical cars to follow. No luck on a quicky [hee hee, get your mind out of the gutter],

and it was determined that this would have to be done on Saturday. All that being said my earlier attempt at getting an emissions would have been for naught since it didn't need one anyway! Sometimes things just have a way of working themselves out, despite our frustration, and desire to say "uuuggh!".

On the road again [hey that's a song!] for more stops--tryingt to see how much we can get done in an hour's time- ready, set, GO!

PJ was in dire need of a hair cut, so we stopped and took care of that [bummer didn’t take a photo].

Decided to go to my least favorite local yarn shop [LFLYS], and get the double pointed needles. Sent PJ in for this--as that’s what boys should do for their Mamas-- and then went to get the emissions done in the right vehicle this time-- yes, sometime during this episode, I managed to go back to the house and get the Alero--emission done in record time.

After emissions headed to the 4:00 orthodontist appointment, where I had to dispense another $35 for a band to be repaired, and hear another lecture -- “PJ, you really need to do a better job of brushing your teeth, wearing your rubber bands, blah, blah, blah].

If they can think of a better way to improve the overall hygienic practices of teenage boys let me know, nagging doesn’t help, hello! I’ve decided that if teenage girls knew how totally gross it was to live with a teenage boy, they wouldn’t be so anxious to have boyfriends! Ewwwww.

Left the orthodontist and went by Ryan’s to pick Andrew up, and then headed home, at least for a while. Got dinner started- scallop and shrimp risotto and salad.

The pictures of the risotto weren’t very good, so I’m not including them, but the food was tasty. Ate---got the kitchen squared away and headed out the door--again-- for the Ministry Team Meeting [a regular monthly meeting] at church. . . . finally home by 8:00, one last check of emails, and other bits for work on Wednesday, in bed working on my anklets by 8:40, read for a few minutes then lights out by 9:15 [or so]

IT’S A GOOD THING I WASN’T ACTUALLY SICK! I think I need another day off to recover

An Agenda-less Weekend

It was really nice not having any “plans” for the weekend. Nowhere I “had” to be on Saturday or having anyone over, and just typical church stuff on Sunday. I had to be at church at 7:45 to open for Daniel. I was up at 5, so I was raring to go by the time I needed to leave, but that was Sunday.
There was some fun to be had on Friday.
PJ had a birthday party to go to, so Mom, Steve, Andrew and I headed to see Evan Almighty. It was totally hilarious. I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard while watching a movie in a while. I know people around me thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t help myself, and I’ll most likely never see those people again anyway. . .

Saturday morning, still up early, but since I had already run my 6 miles on Wednesday, and my knee was still out of commission, there was no exercise for me. I did manage 3 walking miles on Friday, but manage was just it.

Did some preparation for my Sunday School lesson on church buildings and changes in architecture (using cathedrals as primary examples)

Accomplished some other desktop stuff while I had the house to “myself”, mail, emails, etc.

Headed out about 9:30 to do some errands- go by Wolf camera, dry cleaners, Publix, etc.

Back home to marinate chicken and veggies for the grill later, and get other stuff ready for the week, [I usually do dinner preparations for the following week] I have 4 weeknight things this coming week, and I’m out of town for a few days the following week, so "productivity" [let's make the quote marks together here] was the buzz word for the day.

Assembled the Brie with apricot chutney from the Flavors of Bon Apetit 1997.



It tasted wonderful, but mine isn't as pretty as the one in the cookbook. Will try it again some other time with some mods.

Had a glass of wine while I was manning the grill, or was it 2? Veggie kabobs, grilled chicken and brown rice. . . yum!

Watched Iron Chef America during dinner, we don’t do this often and it was a real treat. I love Mario Batali, and the secret ingredient was crawfish, so I was curious to see where they’d go with that one. I’m totally inspired to go by some old- fashioned TV trays, so we can do it more often, in relative comfort.

Managed to knit on blanket #3, and assembled the necessary tools for my next 3 projects. More about them on another blog posting.

Sunday, hanging out at the pool, some knitting, reading, and a couple loads of wash. Chauffering the boys to youth group and instrumental praise practice.

Sometimes it’s nice not having a plan just go with what the day allows. Accomplishing tasks, and being able to enjoy the things you love to do
. . a “perfect” balance of work and play.

Our Garden

We decided to keep our vegetable garden small this year. Since I love tomatoes, we got two tomato plants, and Andrew wanted to try his hand at jalapenos. I didn't take any photos of the plants when we first set them out, but they have certainly grown since Memorial Weekend.

One tomato looks about ready to pick, and Andrew picked two peppers for later on tonight.
I envision this area to be a patio filled with lots of containers and flowers year round, and I'd love a bistro set, so I can enjoy the mornings out here, it is on the west side of our house just outside the basement French doors. Totally love this area.


Other views of the "garden".

Battle of the Trucks

The White Truck was a nice chardonnay, nothing outstanding, but not terrible either. The Pink Truck while it has a totally cool label, notice the chick standing nearby. It had a very heavy honey bouquet, and was equally heavy in taste. I hadn’t tried anything quite like it before. These two wines follow their precursor Red Truck. What’s next- yellow cab?!!

Father's Day Recap

The guys I work with agreed that Steve had the best Father’s Day. Saturday night we had “Breakfast” for dinner




Potato sausage [Polly keeps us supplied] hash brown casserole, cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, homemade banana bread and fruit. We did this for Steve’s special lunch/dinner because we had other stuff going on Sunday, so we made a wee adjustment.

Sunday, Steve got his card and gift- $25 Barnes and Noble gift card [maybe use for a book on CD? We’ll see. After church, Steve spent some time trimming the bushes, made his conference call to Roy, along with Mary and Karen,




and then relaxed with a beer and the US Open [I think]. Nobody bothered him the rest of the day!

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY STEVE