Days of Our Socially Distanced Lives V1

    

My favorite part of my office-but the cob webs build quick.

    Look at me trying to reinvent my blog these days. I'm coming up with a little bit of a pattern, but when I do so little other than work, go for walks, ride Penny, and engage in too much screen time, there is not a lot to write about. I want to take more pictures and perhaps doing a day in a life kind of posts might  both give me reason to take pictures but give a little more visual interest to my blog. One thing I want t share because my days might look odd otherwise, I'll work with head down blinders on for several hours on a task or project, get to a certain point where I need a deliberate transition  then take  mind break. That's when I might start or read a blog post or two and comment, visit Facebook, check personal e-mails, or take a walk or now, a quick bike ride. Then, I dive back in again. I have always worked this way. I rarely take a normal lunch break,but rather eat while working-sometimes taking  a long time to eat lunch because it is a bite here and there. I do this when clean the whole house or tackle a home project. I need to go hard, and then take intentional breaks. The problem at home though is I sometimes let myself take too long of breaks if I have no pressing deadline, like people coming over or hosting a party.

     With this work style, I get a a large volume of work done and done well as I clear  my brain a bit between changing focus. When in the office, I tended to be at my desk by 7:30, and didn't leave until 5:30 or later if I see the freeway I have to take is backed up as we can see the traffic flow from the office. Waiting 15 minutes to leave often meant no time difference getting home. I often logged in before leaving for work to handle anything that came up overnight, or sometimes brought work home to finish. I'm supposed to be on a 44-36 hour (8  nine hour work days and 1 eight) two week schedule, taking every other Friday off. I'm sort of on call 24/7, some weeks more on call than others. Here's a glimpse of the last few days of my socially distanced life. I'll post these later on day two so I can cover a couple days at a time. 

September 4

     I actually slept pretty hard Thursday night, despite odd dreams lately. I think at one point I might have coughed in my sleep, right on DH as I vaguely remember him being woken up and appalled. Maybe it was a dream as he didn't say anything this morning. I started the coffee, took  a quick shower, and got the dog outside while in my bathrobe. After getting his breakfast, 1/4 cup of moist dog food, two heaping tablespoons of pumpkin, warmed up, then dropped on top of 3/4 cups of Purina One dry, and he was set.

     I logged  in by 7:00, sent a quick e-mail to my team as to my day priorities, took care of the overnight, and even earlier than me e-mails, then got dressed before my 8:00 meeting. DH took off for work about 8:30 and I realized when my meeting was done that I never did pour my coffee and horrors, we were out of milk. I rode Penny over to the store and bought 1/2 gallon, along with grapes, and a reduced priced Hot Pocket to have for lunch later. I never did make the strawberry bread I mentioned yesterday and darn if I didn't forget to buy cinnamon. I thought this was vaguely reminiscent of someone taking an impromptu mid morning walk over to Target for missing office snack provisions, the deli counter, bakery, or  a  Starbucks. I liked that Target a lot.

     Back home and my brew the perfect milky white,  I worked through the morning. I was ghosted on a 12:00 meeting-which now has me worried as to why the other party didn't show up. She was on the road and planned to be back in plenty of time. The worrier in me! I had lunch, and proceeded to finish my work day, logging off at 4:30-early for me, but hey it was Friday of a three day weekend. All day I had the BBC World Service streaming. If my schedule allows, I usually listen to the Minnesota daily briefs, but just didn't on Friday. I was on the fence about heading to Aldi for the September stock up, but decided the weather was just too nice for a 15 minute both direction car ride and pushing the cart up and down aisles when we have plenty of food, particular after my bike ride to the store, if not through the weekend, at least through tomorrow. Instead, pup and I went outside and I pulled weeds, and watered the plants. There-that looks better.I also took care of those cob webs and swept my outdoor office, AKA, the porch. 

We need more rock to cover the  poor performing weed barrier.

The hostas just did their thing this summer. 

If you can identify this, please do!

     Remember the yellow flowered hanging plant from May? Well it has long since died, fried to a crisp, but I put this plant, dug up for my friends yard to eventually go somewhere in mine, in the planter. I cannot remember what the plant is. If you recognize, let me know. For supper, we had some homemade air fryer fires and  Sloppy Joe's, premade ones from Kwik Trip. I ended the evening sipping on wine while sitting on the porch, worked some more this post that I started earlier in the day and actually published before putting back to draft, reading blogs until it got too dark, then reading a few more pages of The Hate U Give, followed by an episode of Death in Paradise on BritBox. I haven't been in a strong book reading mood, hence only a few pages  into this books so far.I slept poorly once DH went to bed, and eventually just got up and went way downstairs to the family room where I fell asleep to a YouTube video. 

September 5

     Groggy this morning, I got up, took care of the dog, both outside and his food. I mixed up the bread I was going to make yesterday, and got two perfect little loaves for my efforts.  I saved the coffee not drank yesterday to reheat today. It works but not as good as freshly brewed. My pot takes so long I figure I might as well do a full pot. Witt my goal to limit myself to two cups of coffee a day, I never said what size cup. I got one load washed, and in the dryer, started a second and sorted a couple small loads. Then I swept all the hard floor surfaces, vacuumed up the dust piles and fur balls before hang another cup of coffee. The excitement of my morning continued as I cleaned out the vacuum, even taking a scissors to the wheelie part to get the tangled out, then the whole house got a good vacuum. I dusted, then did a quick run with the vacuum again, working quick to get to the Farmers Market by 11:00.

Forgot cinnamon so added extra splash of vanilla to these strawberry banana loaves. 

     At this point I still hadn't decided if I'll go to Aldi or not. It is an awful nice day again, and I can get creative with meals for the rest of the weekend and perhaps Monday is not looking good weather wise, so maybe a good day to shop instead. Back from the market as well as a stop at Kwik Trip which sealed the deal that I was not going to go to Aldi. Here's my  farmers market haul. 

 I bought this huge bouquet for $8.00. Not having a vase large enough, I  split into two arrangements, one for my living room and one for the dining room. What a gorgeous splurge. 

Sun sweet tomatoes, jalapenos, and cherry tomatoes-all for $12, fresh picked.

     Kwik Trip was just bananas, colby cheese slices, sour dough buns, hamburger (to make into patties for the lake tomorrow) tortillas, and a package of Italian sausages at $1.99 a pound. I should have gotten another package as well as the bulk version for future. Lunch was a slice of the bread-so yummy and I realized I hadn't eaten anything yet today, so gobbled it,some cottage cheese, and a salad with the last of my sunflower seeds and craisins, a few little pieces of cheddar and a sliced hard boiled egg. I spent the afternoon taking care of the laundry cleaning up the kitchen and emptying the dishwasher, then a quick clean of the bathroom. It was too nice to stay inside, so I spent part of the afternoon  repotting this plant into two. 

One of the two found a new home in my dining room.

     Supper is spinach and mozzarella ravioli tossed in a olive oil Parmesan, and some of the cherry tomatoes,  heated together until the tomatoes blistered, and a cople scoops of  bruschetta topping. While the water heated for the ravioli, I made four substantial burger patties, mixing a 1/2 chopped onion, garlic powder, and some steak seasoning into the ground beef, ready to take tomorrow to throw on the grill.. I'll slice one of the tomatoes and bring some of the  colby cheese for the burgers. After the ravioli cooked, I used the hot water to cook the last cup 1/2 of dry penne pasta, then tossed with  a canned  three bean salad mix, more of the cherry tomatoes, the remaining TJ's olive tapenade  and a bit  of Italian dressing to marinate it all in. The salad, burgers and fixings, a few bananas and grapes will be lunch tomorrow. I made enough for DH's mom to eat with us if she chooses. She pretty much gets her pick of lunches! I'm going to end this post here as we are about to sit down and eat as the ravioli has well absorbed the sauce. 

     I imagine the night will be a long walk for pup, and I may just have a nice glass of wine while catching up on blog posts and another attempt at the book. I hope you are enjoying your Saturday.Tell me what you think of this type of day  or days in the life kind of blog post. I enjoy peeking in others lives so hope you enjoyed a peek into mine.

This was super delicious-would recommend it from Aldi.