January is halfway over and for that, I am sad. This My January Rest has not been as restful as I would have liked. There is still half a month to go, so there remains hope.
It is amazing. I actually have space in my freezer. I can see things and find things more easily. Space created.
Anna wanted avocados for making guacamole. I told her no, to which she reminded me that they are fresh. She’s smart. And I said, “Yes, but the goal is to use what we have.” So we made a seven layer taco dip, using what we already had. I think it even had seven layers as I used two types of salsa. Yes it would’ve been nice to have guacamole and sour cream, but it turned out good, was less expensive, and less work. We complimented our spicy taco dip supper with cool lemonade. I had a partial container of leftover lemonade in the freezer from making lemonade cake this summer.
I went grocery shopping once this last week. I only bought a handful of items: 1 gallon of milk, a bag of apples, a few grapefruit, fresh spinach and lettuce, and whole wheat bread for our guest. My wallet is bare when it was stuffed with receipts in December!
I found a can of potatoes dated 2007! Where in the world did they come from? Who is sneaking into my pantry? I suspect that one of my friends and husband are playing a joke on me, ha! Seriously, I used to keep them on hand to make a quick breakfast for my father-in-law. I would cut them up, sautéed them with onion, pepper, seasoning salt, and serve them with eggs. He really liked it.
Olive oil was on my February grocery list, but then I purchased it. Yes, I could use up my already open salad dressings in the refrigerator, but I generally buy those for guests. We like my homemade balsamic vinegar and it is much healthier… and the point of eating salads is for good health. So I bought the olive oil in January.
When my husband and I went on our date and we had hot chocolate, he asked why that was ok. I explained and he understood. I hadn’t thought to say no hot chocolate, because my focus was on cooling it with the coffee consumption (cream, sugar and other yummy fun flavors). So, an occasional hot chocolate is fine. If I start to have it every day, and replace black coffee with hot chocolate, that is cheating. If I put hot chocolate into my black coffee, that is cheating. IF I start to make hot chocolate and put a shot of coffee in it, that is definitely cheating. I did however dunk my chocolate-covered, chocolate-almond biscotti in my black coffee and I’m not sorry! All this typing about chocolate is making me want some! Speaking of chocolate, locals, come visit my studio on February 6th, 2015 from 5-8pm for this year’s Tour de Chocolat. Yum, fun and art!
When I had Panera coffee at a meeting this week, it wasn’t so good. I miss cream and sugar. Sigh.
I was definitely going to run out of mascara, and because most women can relate to that being problematic, I posted it on Facebook for sympathy! My friend saw my post, and when she saw me at church, hugged me and slipped a tube in my coat pocket. It happened to be the same one that I was already using, because she happens to be the same person who gave me a sample previously when she was clearing some things out before she moved. She said she had more than she needed. So sweet. I didn’t expect to be rescued, but I loved it! I also had a friend give me coffee and another offer coffee filters. Running out left a mark on more than me.
While walking the other day, I almost purchased a song. It was SO cheery that I wanted to see who it was. When I looked, the little button said “Buy” and I thought, “It would be nice to have that song.” So I pressed the button. When it then said, “Purchase” I froze in mid-step. “Oops” I thought. “Close one!” and I cleared the screen. Then when I was looking up what category of gift to purchase for year 16 of marriage, I looked down and there were shopping selections, ready to go! I wasn’t wanting to shop, only look at what the category is! Our society is inundated with shopping ops. I can’t even look something up without being solicited to buy. I quickly cleared the page.
Facebook has been more difficult than I imagined. Since I do use it for art and MJR, it has been too easy to see something, like or even look at something. I have posted more than I planned. It is an area I need to reconsider. Sometimes all or nothing is easier! Extra texting—nonessential—has been more difficult too. It is the bits and pieces, that I think to share that has tempted me to stray. It’s cause me to realize, how much I communicate with snippets of words and pictures. For example, I normally text my mother-in-law when it snows. Why, because she cares!
I’ve pitched some not-so fresh Christmas candycane soap that I’ve had for years, getting it in and out each Christmas. It was time to ho-ho-go. I’ve finished up some shower gel samples, and polished off a shampoo, but inherited my daughter’s partially used conditioner.
And, one of the funnier scenarios happened when I offered our guest juice, she preferred the cherry juice. The cherry juice was what my daughter coerced me to purchase before The Rest began. We had four bottles of apple juice and one can of apple juice in the freezer. The cherry juice was the hit until it was gone. I had to break it to our guest that I wasn’t purchasing more juice until the apple juice was gone. Then I had an idea. I found a package of cherry Kool Aid and added it to the apple juice. It was good. Problem solved. Except that we only had one package of cherry. Let’s just say we have tried some interesting combinations. The only hard part was adding Kool Aid to organic apple juice, but it was a way to make Kool Aid with NO sugar!
The fun continues. I wonder what the next several weeks will bring. Making food is getting more interesting as options dwindle and doing this while having a house guest, who is a great sport about it, makes it even more interesting!
Are you resting from anything? What has your experience been? I’d love to hear from you!
Uncovered 