Hmm, Anything to Talk About?

      I appreciate comments as it helps me think I'm having conversations with people other than myself. When alone, I talk to myself, and when frustrated about something, to DH. This week was, let me find the word, stuporous. I just felt like I was going through the motions all week and in a fog. I suppose it had to do with the hot temps to a point and the lack of any enthusiasm towards my job right now. Getting outside for walks were needed for dogs and humans, but they weren't enjoyable. No dangerous heat conditions for me as we have full functioning central air, so I'll quit complaining. I am heart broken reading about weather related tragedies, and know I am extremely fortunate with my living situation. Still, look at this picture of the Minneapolis skyline from my office on Tuesday. The air quality was horrible and it was hazy. This was mid afternoon and not a rainy kind of day.

     Meals is always a good subject to share in blogs. I don't have recipe links as all was just winging it. Here's a few from the past week.

• Saturday- Crockpot cheese ravioli with zucchini and mushrooms
• Sunday- Just me for supper so had toast with cucumber and hummus, fruit and yogurt, but earlier made breakfast of fruit, scrambled eggs and homemade muffins, plus we both nibbled on leftovers for lunch
• Monday- Tuna hotdish 
• Tuesday- Chickpea and vegetable masala 
• Wednesday-Homemade chicken taquitos/floutus with rice and refried beans
• Thursday- Spaghetti with a tomato, mushrooms, and zucchini sauce
• Friday- Leftovers, and will probably be through the weekend. My older daughter is helping with things, but not much of my leftover's fit her vegan diet. 

     Lunches were leftovers, egg salad, veggies and hummus, fruit, rice and veggies ( DD2 just loves rice so makes a pot to have over a few days).  The batch of raspberry muffins were eaten for snacks and meals too. Several went into the freezer. I'm trying to eat down the pantry and refrigerator and have a clean start in August. I've picked up a few good buys for the freezer though, two 12 oz packages of bacon, and a couple one pound packages of  ground beef. It stretches very far with just DD2 and I. I'm out of milk, bread, and bananas, so probably will just stop at Kwik Trip.

     Book club was Monday night. Lessons in Chemistry was our selection and I found it a good read and was fodder for good conversation. Next up is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The copy I read of Chemistry was my daughter's, bought in a bookstore in Oxford, so she wanted me to take special care of it. Books are her thing. There's a branch of the St Paul library within a short walking distance of her new apartment. 

     I like the neighborhood she'll be living in. It's very easy access to connecting highways and freeways, yet very walkable to parks , restaurants, and coffee shops. Likely she'll need to drive for groceries, but in a pinch there's a C store near her. Bonus, it's on my route to work and I have a friend and a friendly retired former coworker very close to her (blocks) as well should an emergency happen. Actually, I have lots of St Paul people connections that wouldn't hesitate to intervene if needed. 

     I got more purged from laundry room and need to get a few things dropped off for donation. Much was trashed in the regular garbage pick up. I need it cleaned out, a shelf moved, so I can order and get a new washing machine. Mine is too far gone so expensive to get fixed, though will be repurposed if anything is salvageable. I used my daughter's house as a laundromat twice. I think we're good for at least another week but I'll need to use her house again or pay the machine costs in town as it's going to be a while before I'm ready for more chaos in the house. At my daughter's house is a cute laundry room set up. It's in a hallway pass between her kitchen and dining room, across from her lower bathroom. My dryer seems fine, but I'm contemplating replacing both. That really would be wasteful though. 

     I avoided a lot of popular culture stuff. I didn't partake much in our towns annual festival, with the exception of a quick walk through the craft fair and then stopping to hear the marching band concert. No Barbie viewing for me either. I moved a lot of the wood pile, continuing to invite others to help themselves. The log holder came, but I will request my daughter's help assembling. I got some weed pulling, lopping, and whacking done after 8:00 when it cooled down a bit. I moved grandpups kennel to better access the garage now that we can use it for bikes and the car. Oh, and scheduled haul away of the old refrigerator. The tanning bed disposal will be a while from now project as the bulbs need to come out to be disposed of separately. The fee was atrocious too, so it might stay tucked on the side of the garage for a while. Why is it here????

     My kind neighbor, the first one that tackled the wood pile, finished my last two pines, plus trimmed the maple. He's hauling stuff for me today. A gift card to treat him and his wife hardly seems enough, but I'll make sure I have his Blue Moon on hand too. The patio project starts next week. Picture to show the current chaos back there. Once all the debris is hauled off and the patio poured, I can tackle the remnants of sticks and pine needles get some grass seed down. I need to research what to do to neutralize the acidity under the pine trees, but minimally I'll need to get a bit of top soil down. 

     I can really blather on about nothing. If you're still reading, thank you for stopping by. Maybe next week will be something of substance. Have a good week.