Averygoodun's Personal File

So far, I am not loving Tuesdays. Something has to change, because the week cannot start this way for the rest of the semester. Especially as relying on Geoff to be here to help is looking like a bad idea/assumption.

I'm thinking Page is going to be going into after-school 2 days a week after all, no matter how he feels about it. Oh, how I am looking forward to that conversation.

Humbug.

And hopefully it will only be a moment. Still loads and loads to do, though not loads of laundry. The last load is in the washer right now. Yay!

I have slowly, slowly started the household catch-up, and while the results wouldn't be visible to a guest, they are noticeable to me. If only because the pile of recycling is out of the house. And the risk of stepping on Legos has been reduced by 200%. And the lack of an impassible pile of clothes on the upstairs landing...

I haven't gotten around to preparing the vegetables/roast yet, though. Bad momma bear, me.

Good momma bear, me, I made Page help by shucking the brussel sprouts. I didn't force the issue on his peeling the carrots, though. Which means more work for me. ;-]

Also very nice momma bear, me, I made a diet-compliant version of chicken nuggets today. Chicken strips dipped in egg and coated in a mix of almond and coconut flours with a bunch of salt mixed in. I fried them up and then put them in the oven for a few minutes to make sure they were completely cooked. They were tasty.

The leftover egg and flour fritters were also tasty, if a bit charred.

But, god, I hate preparing vegetables. I love eating them when they're well prepared, but what a time-sink and nuisance.

Ach well. It's late, so I'd better end my moment and get to it. Yep.

...I say without being ironic or sarcastic or anything.

Now that the sun has set, I'm ready to go to bed so as to welcome Tuesday, but honestly, this has been a pretty good day despite lots.

( Pretty rote listing of done dids and other happenings )

Oh, and a moon meme:
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Though really, that was a very easy test. But still, I am pleased I got another 100%.

I need to get back to work pretty quick, as there are a few things that I'm against the clock on today (mainly getting bills and invitations out!), but I thought I'd mention a couple of things.

First is that I'm really glad my parents are now home. They were gone for three weeks, and I missed my talks with my mum! So it was nice to hear from her on Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, it was a rough weekend. ( A bit of TMI of the girly kind, and then a bit of a rant of the wifely kind )

And now I have most of the day to myself. I really need to get stuff done, but dang, that couch is tempting! However, I think it would be better to stay up and struggle through because if I do lie down for a nap, it's going to be a long one. Better to just go to bed early tonight.

But I have to go. Mail lady will be here in less than an hour. Lots to do before then!

I just exploded my big pyrex pan.

On the plus side, the explosion was all contained within the oven and nothing came out to get me or the surrounding area. On the down side, my heart rate is still a bit high and I'm down a good pan. However, another plus side is there's one less dish to worry about cleaning. And it was going to be hell to clean, which was how I came to break it in the first place...

See, I forgot about the concept of temperature differentials, and that glass, even pyrex, is fragile stuff where temperature changes are concerned. Corningware it is not. So I put warmish tap water into the pan to refill it rather than boiling water.

Oops.

At least pyrex shards in the electric oven should be easier to clean up than glass shards on the gas stove.

*breathes deep*

Right. Just thought I'd share my little act of stupidity.

The eggs curdled in the two seconds I was not stirring the stupid custard. And it was literally two seconds, not five or ten. Two. Dos. 2.

Bah humbug.

I'm looking for an easier recipe now. I've found two that look promising, one of which I'll try later today. After I've recovered my chefly pride.

In the meantime, I suppose I should make the sugar cookie dough. Must have that on hand so we can roll them out, decorate and bake them for Santa tomorrow. And seeing as I will be at church for four hours tomorrow, that needs to be done now (though the rolling and baking can be done tomorrow).

At least the cranberry sauce is made.

But first, I think I'll clean. *nods* That will be best for lifting my mood.

I just went through all of my friends' story lists (if you self-pimped. If you didn't, then you either need to tell me or keladry or lovedraughts pronto!) and nominated what I liked.

Now the rest of the week's spare time can be spent going through everyone else's work.

But that's spare time. Next priority (computer based priority, that is) is working on the SBB piece cuz I'm seriously running out of time, considering how slow progress has been.

But first, I need to put the pumpkin and squash in the oven. And maybe put the apples on to simmer. (It is so annoying that I can't eat either of those things! SO BLOODY ANNOYING! I am obviously living in the wrong part of the world.)

Minus five at the moment. That's Farenheit. Minus 21 centigrade. Now, I know that's nothing compared to those of you out in the midwest. I bow down to your deep-freezingness, but, you know, considering the furnace has to come on every hour to maintain the evening inside temperature of sixty-five degrees, I'd say it's note-worthy.

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So, anyway, besides that and a very, very tasty grilled cheese and spaghetti sauce sandwich on my yummy homemade bread, nothing noteworthy happened today. Besides it being the coldest day yet this winter, that is.

Does anyone know a good substitute for wine for spaghetti sauce? The sauce I made needs some wine to make it decent, but I don't have any on hand.

Except for still being parched, I feel much better today, although I'm not going to try overdoing anything. I want to have lots of energy for tomorrow.

Did I mention that Geoff, Babe and I were invited up to the Lakes region for Thanksgiving? A member of choir said her family, another choir member's family and a third family are all getting together at a lodge and we'd be welcome to join them. Babe will be the only child there, and, counting me and Geoff, there will be ten adults. A nice size for Thanksgiving.

And I don't have to cook!!!!

Well, that's not quite true. I'm making an apple custard pie tonight and I'm responsible for the mashed potatoes tomorrow, but otherwise I'm home free! If I'm up for it, I will also make a Waldorf salad, but they don't know that.

Oh, and I also bought some mincemeat to make into tarts. They don't know that, either. :-)

I haven't decided whether I will make the tarts tonight so as to take up for breakfast and snacks tomorrow, or tomorrow for well-after-supper treats. I know I'll have more time tomorrow... But having something to nosh on while cooking is always a plus... I guess I'll figure it out tonight. Apple pie is the priority, so after that's done, I'll decide.

So, well, I guess I will be doing some cooking, but it's so hard to consider baking as cooking, you know?


On a separate note, I had a George Harrison song stuck in my head this morning... I think it's George Harrison, anyway, and that, combined with the remains of the snow from yesterday (first snow! And early!) has morphed into Paul McCartney(?) Christmas song. oh. yay.

Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas, and I enjoy Christmas songs, but the fact that one of our two classic rock stations has been playing nothing but Christmas music for the last two weeks, combined with Christmas decorations going up all over the place (not just stores), and Thanksgiving being in the FUTURE, it makes me kind of grumpy.

Especially as Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays this country offers that is available to ALL Americans, not just one group. Although, yes, the Natives do 'celebrate' it as a day of mourning. I'm sure they wish they'd let the Pilgrims starve. But even they could celebrate that their ancestors were compassionate people.

Of course, that's going by the widespread myth of the first Thanksgiving. I know the reality was different, but I can't remember what it was at the moment. Well, what it's proported to be. ;-)

Anyway, it's a shame that greed overwhelms gratitude. (I suspect that very few who look forward to Christmas so early are looking forward to it solely as the birth of their savior. But perhaps I'm being overly cynical?)


And back to being sick for a last thought. Employers really, really should enforce the use of sick days. Not only does it prevent everyone being infected, but, well, I tried to work yesterday (on my exchange piece) and, well... Work suffers when sick. It just does.

So, employers, make your employees stay home if they're sick!