Stuff That Happened Yesterday and Today

Stuff that happened yesterday is in bold...

Pop made danish from scratch

Jamie tried dark chocolate with chilis (it's very, very good and not spicy at all). This is unusual because my nieces are not adventurous when it comes to food. Jamie wouldn't even try Mawmaw's cheesecake on Austin's birthday. My mom makes the best cheesecake. It's a no bake cheesecake made out of eagle brand milk and cream cheese. Very creamy, almost like a key lime pie. But Jamie checked out my snack basket and saw the chocolate and gave it a shot.

I fixed Jamie my famous "double hot chocolate". I use two packets of hot chocolate instead of one.

I watched How I Met Your Mother. I'm very invested in this show and love the little snippets we're seeing of Ted with The Mother but this season has been a bit of a letdown. It's like they're jumping the shark every episode.

Bonus points if you can tell me where the term, "jump the shark" came from.

I (almost) finished reading "Tales From Bed" by Jenifer Estess. She was the founder of Project ALS and died from the disease in 2003. Reading the story of someone who becomes so profoundly disabled in such a short period of time really changes my "woe is me" to a "life ain't so bad". I can't do a lot of the things I used to do but I am still able to do just about everything I need to do. I say that I almost finished because there were only a few pages left but I was so very sleepy that I wanted to wait until I was more alert to finish it.

I started reading a book about clothing in England for the past millennium. My love of history and my love of fashion collide in this book and although it's not necessarily a fast read, it is fascinating.

Next up is a book about the Hatfields and McCoys. I finished the book by Truett Cathy on Sunday. I'm reading a lot. I also downloaded a biography on Amelia Earhart on my Nook. I have 156 unread books on my Nook and a stack of four library books still to read. I think we'll refer to this season of life as my Literary Expansion. I'm loving learning new things and expanding my knowledge and just immersing myself in the stories of peoples' lives.

It's overcast and cool here but at least it's not snowing. I worried about my oldest son making the drive from Macon, Georgia to Pennsylvania on Sunday so that he could beat the storm. He did. And then we worried about my sister-in-law Angie being able to get out of Indianapolis yesterday. She did. It's cold here today but it just means that my parents get to have another fire in the fireplace and it means that I "put the kettle on" for hot tea a little more frequently. In other words, it's not really an inconvenience at all. Back in the childrearing years this would be the beginning of baseball season and I would be sitting at the ballpark wrapped up in a sleeping bag trying not to freeze to death.

I found some dresses on zulily that I really want. During the Summer I wear a lot of dresses rather than shorts.I'm not sure if I should spend the money but a new dress or two would help stretch the old "lounge wardrobe". I try to wear things that are comfortable but could be worn in public. The other day I had on leggings and a sundress of tshirt material with a cardigan over it. My brother asked why I was dressed up! You can seriously be comfortable without "letting yourself go".

Someone asked for my turkey-veggie meatloaf recipe. I use a pound or two of ground turkey and add a can or two of chickpeas that have been mushed to smithereens by the food processor. To that mixture I add a variety of mushed to smithereens vegetables and fruit. Last time I used a granny smith apple, two different colors of bell peppers, parsnips, spinach and cabbage. I've also used beets, carrots, onion, celery, pears... anything and everything you can image. It's a great way to incorporate a lot of produce into your daily diet. Once I've got all the meat and veggies ready, I add in a grain - last time I used regular oatmeal - and an egg or two. The amounts of eggs and grains is just enough to bind everything together. This time I used teriyaki sauce to flavor it so I didn't use salt. You could use tomato sauce, barbeque sauce, whatever you like. With a big variety of veggies you don't need to add a lot of seasonings but use whatever you like. Seriously, this is very versatile and it never comes out the same way twice. I form into loaves and bake at 425 until it's all done.

We had fish sticks, turnip greens, rice and blackeyed peas for dinner. Very simple but really, very good. I'm ready for farm stand (or backyard garden) vegetables.

My back has been bothering me more than usual. I emptied litter boxes and carried laundry upstairs over the past two days and honestly, that's about all it takes to begin a "pain episode". I don't HAVE to do those things but sometimes things need to be done and I don't want to ask someone else to do them. Of course, then I do them and can't do anything else for days.

Right now I'm watching Saturday Night Live that I recorded from last weekend. Jim Parsons was the guest host and I absolutely adore him. He reminds me so much of Purple Michael. Michael's partner Ross doesn't see it but I do. I feel like I'm watching Michael whenever I'm watching Jim.

Anyways... nothing on the agenda for this week. Reading, working on my family tree and stuff like that. Happy Tuesday! Love and hugs, y'all!