Calm Before the Storm

Sitting here getting my grays covered up and my hair cut, ahead of my work trip to Arizona. I leave next Sunday.

Trying to enjoy fall in New Jersey before heading to the desert. However, we’ve got a nor’easter blowing in today, so we can’t do much outside. The worst of it will be tonight into tomorrow. Thankfully I’m working from home tomorrow.

Yesterday (Saturday) was rainy, but not too windy. I had a reunion with former coworkers in Philly in the afternoon. Before that I did a little garden harvesting, drove F. to get bagels and cream cheese, and cleaned up a bit.

I also worked on my “How to Grow” posts, as you may have noticed. My plan is to get this website renovated a bit and have a separate section for those posts.

Once my hair is done I need to take a look at my clothes and figure out if I need to buy any pieces. My mom has one cardigan I definitely want to borrow again, as I did last year, to go with a certain dress. I should be able to hit Goodwill this week. I usually buy snacks ahead of time to bring on the plane. Other than that, all my needs will be covered for the week. Oh, and sunglasses — I really can’t wear my rickety, scratched-up sunglasses another second. As far as shoes, I can probably make do with what I have.

I hope the government shutdown is resolved by the time I leave so there are no flight delays or missing air traffic controllers…

Speaking of buying stuff, this article about Klarna and other “buy now, pay later” companies was kind of heartbreaking. It’s hard to reject consumerism when you are young. There’s so much you haven’t owned or experienced yet. Me, I’ve bought everything from cars and houses to coats and sunglasses to blenders and dog toys. Some high-end, some middle of the road. I’m over it. The article reminds me that I need to continue to talk to all the kids about responsible ways of purchasing. I was one of those ’90s kids mentioned in the article who got a credit card in college. If memory serves, one of my roommates ran up a crazy bill on hers.

Garden activity continues to slow down. I finished drying out the second batch of tomato seeds. I’m feeling good because this was something I’ve always wanted to do, but the extra step of removing the gel always made me pause. They’re not as easy as some other seeds. Now hopefully these seeds will grow really great plants, with the genes to thrive in my microclimate!

Thursday night brought the first frost advisory of the season:

But we only actually got down to about 46 here in Collingswood. I did bring my small potted basil inside a few days before.

I’ve continued to watch the More Than Farmers videos on YouTube. Maybe I can’t can 24 quarts of applesauce, but watching the video reminds me to look in my fridge and freeze the quart of chicken broth I opened, to make a lunch for tomorrow, to do something with the apples, to freeze cheese, etc.

On Sunday, I made apple cinnamon overnight oats, to use up some apples and oats. They were pretty tasty and I always like trying something different.

Wednesday night I made cinnamon apples (I have a lot of Macintosh ones I bought mistakenly for F).

They were tasty on their own and also with oatmeal, and with granola. I learned I’d rather have hot instant oatmeal than cold overnight oats.

Meals this week:

Sunday: baked chicken thighs seasoned two ways: Italian-style and teriyaki, plus broccoli and baked potatoes with sour cream and green onions (from the garden). Used green onion in the teriyaki sauce as well.

Monday: leftover chicken and potato for me; Wawa for the rest (F’s volleyball games went pretty late).

Tuesday: grilled chicken with sweet chili sauce (Tom’s brainchild) and scalloped potatoes au gratin.

Wednesday: Hot roast beef sandwiches

Thursday: Ordered from Circles Thai, plus sauteed green beans

Friday: PJ Whelihan’s (I BLAME TOM)

Saturday: Maggiano’s for me (work reunion)

So, a lot of takeout and eating out, but at least there were plenty of leftovers and they didn’t go to waste.

Lunches: turkey sandwich with avocado and bought a side of mac n cheese; leftover teriyaki chicken and scalloped potatoes; leftover Thai food (“Amazing Stir-Fry”).

That’s right, another week of not spending $30+ on buying lunch.

I think I can push grocery shopping off a day or two. We have a lot of food at home. Don’t want to do it in the rain. Once I get sprung from this salon chair, I’ll go home and see what we can pull together for dinner. Then Tom and I have to finish our taxes (we got an extension). That ought to be fun… but I’m hopeful that we will get a refund this year.

This weekend went way too fast, and I wish I had had more puttering time. Once my work trip is past, though, I have some days off on the calendar, and more that I have to use up before the end of the year!