Cracking Good Time

As so often happens, because I had a “bad” week last week in terms of spending too much on takeout and work lunches, I was motivated to do better this week.

We “only” had takeout one night, and I bought lunch just once (and stretched it to be my dinner also). And I haven’t bought a single solitary thing besides food this week. Consider that my protest, since I didn’t go to No Kings. Just another week and weekend of entertaining myself with gardening on the cheap, reading, and smashing ceramics. (OK, and HBO; we’re watching The Staircase, having seen the first iteration way back when. So good! And N is working his way through The Sopranos and The Leftovers. We only have HBO and Hulu right now.)

It was chilly on Saturday but bright. Today was warmer. The onions and lettuce are thisclose to getting planted; they’ve spent a lot of time outside. I also potted on the tomatoes again. Tom finished drilling holes in the top row of the new planter, and I filled it with soil. The carrots have all sprouted, the hostas are poking out of the ground, and there’s buds on the hydrangea.

Until the gardening really gets going, I have the mosaic idea for distraction. I broke more ceramic yesterday, and started playing around with designs. I also measured the surface area of the planter and did the math on just how much tile I need (answer: a lot more than what I have now).

I’m going to try to enjoy the process of this and not feel like I have to rush to get it done.

On Saturday, I was up relatively early, baking bread. I love the way it makes the house smell! But that was quickly covered up by lavender (mopping floors) and garlic, meat and tomatoes (made gravy). Later, I had to play chauffeur for a while. I was also smashing pottery, refilling the bird feeder, doing wash and trying to declutter.

Today I slept way too late, accidentally. But I still got a lot done: more chauffeuring, grocery shopping, cleaning. I washed and froze strawberries that nobody ever ate, and grilled some chicken to use for lunches.

It  felt like one of the most productive weekends I had in a while.

Meals this week:

Monday: Fish patties, mashed potatoes, grandma noodles

Tuesday: Spaghetti and garlic bread

Wednesday: Chicken and pasta alfredo (premade that Tom picked up somewhere).

Thursday: Osaka (fried rice, sushi, dumplings)

Friday: One half a chicken cheesesteak (saved from lunch)

Saturday: Egg noodles/broccoli/carrot/ peanut sauce stir-fry

Sunday: Tacos: hard and soft shell, beef and also salsa chicken cooked in the InstantPot.

Some of these were group meals, some solo.

Tuesday lunch: Leftover fish, potatoes and noodles

Wednesday lunch: Free Jersey Mike’s sandwiches (let the record show I packed tuna by mistake, so that was Thursday’s lunch)

Friday lunch: Bought: One half a chicken cheesesteak

Wednesday night, I made meatballs, baking them for a change, and freezing them til I had a chance to make the gravy.

I earned another $25 Target gift card from Fetch yesterday. I’m going to need it, with prices the way they are. When shopping today, I noticed that olive oil was really high, to the point that I bought the store brand, which I never do for OO.

This week: looking ahead to Easter and spring break…