You know when you’re cooking or baking and the smell fills the whole house and it just feels good and right? This post is like that. Pull up a chair and I’ll make the drinks; let’s talk about the week that was.
Monday was the first day of our summer hours: four ten-hour days with Friday off. It was also the first day back after Commencement, meaning that regular office work hadn’t been done since Thursday. It’s planned that way, but it still makes for a long day. However it was also Apple Pie Day, and the thought of going home and making just such a pie kept me going.
As I walked out to the parking lot, I realized I had enough energy to either go to the grocery store or make a pie but not both. I decided to go home and trust I had enough flour and sugar to make a pie as well a pitcher of tea if need be. I chose wisely, and found making the pie to be quite relaxing. I did forget to vent the pie, causing some bubbling and tenting in the crust but it still tasted great.
Monday was also fun as it really set the tone for my social media for the week. Usually I get only a few replies to my posts, if any at all, but this week I seemed to really connect with people. I had wonderful conversations about Apple Pie Day, which also happened to be Cocktail Day, and we collectively agreed that pie and cocktails would be a pleasant way to spend an evening.
I think I’ll make a pitcher of Pimm’s for the long Memorial Day weekend . . .
Tuesday was National Brioche Day, and to celebrate I made brioche grilled cheese with provolone and Jarlsberg cheeses and served it up with “enhanced” tomato soup: Campbell’s condensed soup made with whole milk and various spices. I’ve always made tomato soup with milk, and recently heard of some folks who make it with half-and-half or heavy cream and I’m thinking I might have to try that.
Also on Tuesday I started rewatching the Lord of the Rings movies. Someone asked me if I was watching the extended version or the “regular” version, but to me the extended versions are the regular versions! As of right now I’ve finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy and 5/6 of the Hobbit trilogy – each movie has two discs and I’ve watched half of the last movie, Battle of the Five Armies.
Wednesday was a day for reliving the past by listening to the first music one bought with their own money, so of course I had to ask everyone I could what music they first bought. Here’s what I collected:
- The Chick’s Wide Open Spaces (album)
- Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force album Planet Rock
- 8 track – KC and the Sunshine Band
- alien ant farm anthology CD
- a transistor radio in 1970, so I could listen to Bobby Sherman Julie Do Ya Love Me and Smokey Robinson Tears of a Clown
- The Beatles – I Want to Hold Your Hand (45)
- ELO Xanadu
- Herbie Hancock’s Future Shock (cassette)
- The Monkee’s I’m a Believer (45)
- Elvis – Live on Stage in Memphis (cassette)
- Janet Jackson cassette
- The Eagles or Doobie Brothers
- Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw
- Hard Day’s Night LP (two people!)
- Soundtrack to Les Miserables (original cast recording)
- Vinyl. Dave Brubeck Quartet, Take Five
- The Beatles – I Feel Fine
- Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits
- No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom
- The Offspring’s Smash and The Pixies Trompe le Monde
- 16 candles by the Crests. 1958
- The Archies – Sugar, Sugar or Dizzy by Tommy Roe
I made them all into a playlist!
This was a popular day not just for music, but also for food as a coworker brought in donuts for everyone, and later on in the evening I got into a quite pleasant conversation online about kielbasa and cabbage and pierogi and oh I just remembered I promised someone I would find my crock pot cabbage recipe . . .
Thursday was all about notebooks and I was so glad to find others like me that have a hard time writing in their notebooks for fear of ruining them because we have this idea that what goes into the notebook needs to be perfect.
I used to be that way but I’ve tried to get better by keeping my own commonplace book of things I see shared online. Someone else shared that they buy plain covered notebooks to cover with stickers, and because they don’t want the stickers to go to waste, they write in their notebooks. I like that method, and realize I did something similar with my commonplace book and by book of Online Pets.
Thursday ended the workweek and at Krystal’s request I made kielbasa and potatoes.
Thursday was also fun in that I had the following internal monologue:
And if that weren’t enough, I also connected with a new group of MSTie’s on line! My favorite MST3K riff is Hobgoblins; I even made this meme some time ago and have it ready to go whenever needed:
I went to bed Thursday night knowing I didn’t have to set an alarm for Friday, so of course I woke up a half hour earlier than normal. Such is life. I read for a little bit, finishing Terry’s Pratchett’s Moving Pictures and staring The Truth and then went back to bed for a bit before enjoying a lazy morning and then heading out around 11:00 to do some necessary shopping. I wondered how much my social battery would last, but I successfully went to Walmart, Academy Sports, Publix, and Aldi. Then I went to Bojangles and took Krystal launch before going home.
At Walmart I bought razor blades for the first time in years. Between generally not shaving but for a few times a year and being given razors over the years I really don’t think I’ve had to buy a razor in 15 years. Can that be right? I think it is. Anyway, I had the handle and decided to buy the four-pack of replacement blades, which should last 3-4 months, and it was an experience.
The razors are now locked up, so I had to wait for an associate to unlock the case. Then they were required to place them into one of those magnet lockboxes, meaning I couldn’t use self-checkout but had to go to a regular line. And here I thought the store would want to take my money! Krystal said I should check out Target as their shaving stuff isn’t so restricted, at least not yet.
Academy Sports gave me a bout of unexpected grief as I went in for some body glide and there was Savannah Bananas merch and I though of my friend Logan who was a major team supporter and whose daughter was the first-ever Banana Baby. I hope you rest easy, my friend . . .
I got all my actual grocery shopping done in two stores instead of three or four – yay! – and got some salmon on sale, which I was more than happy to do up in the cast iron for supper:
Apparently the picture was so good even my mom wanted to try it, and she doesn’t particularly care for salmon! Maybe next time we’re together I’ll have to make some for her.
Friday was also our D&D night (which will be changing to Wednesdays beginning next week, I think) and it was a fun session and I finally felt connected to my PC thanks to talking things through with Krystal. Of course you can always read our adventures (we’re up to session thirteen!) but the short version is: we went to a church for our third funeral in under 24 hours and now have twenty-five days to defeat the vampire lord Strahd to even having a chance of curing the priest’s son from his vampirism. Fun times.
Saturday I did some cleaning and went out for groceries I forgot to get (hot dog buns and rinse aid for the dishwasher) and then made my first summer simmer pot (yes, I know the calendar says it’s still spring, but I’m going off vibes here). Lemon and lime and salt and vanilla and rum and rosemary and a bay leaf had the house smelling lovely:
Krystal and I took her folks out to eat for Mother’s Day, both Krystal and her mom having been under the weather on the actual day. We went to Olive Garden and I had the “build your own pasta” with rigatoni and mushroom sauce and salad. I didn’t take a picture of the entree but I did take a picture of my tiramisu dessert:
Looking at this picture I also realize that my water mimicked my simmer pot: I had both lemon and lime in my water . . .
Then we went to Burlington Coat Factory where I got a belt and some hair scrunchies since I can no longer keep my hair out of my face while shaving or working on my makeup (on makeup-required days) and then we went home as storms kept moving through and the deer were out in numbers on the side of the road.
I finished out the day with the last of my pie and a shot of whiskey with a large square ice cube for Whiskey Day and tumbled off to sleep.
I woke up around 7:30 this morning and scrolled my social media before making some coffee that I enjoyed with toast and a stroopwafel while listening to Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me! before starting to type up this blog post and now Wait Wait is over and I’m listening to a podcast about the 1955 film Odet.
What have you been up to?
Running In My Head 