Today was hard—one of those days where I thought I had all my ducks in a row only to be asked why the sheep were still out to pasture.
A goofy image, but how I feel.
The teenager and I have been eating well. My neighbor has been sharing some of her Hungryroot deliveries. If she doesn’t like it, she sends it to my house.
That’s how I discovered that I like polenta.
So this weekend, I made spaghetti with Hungryroot’s Spicy Thai peanut sauce and sautéed fresh radishes and frozen stir fry vegetables in sesame oil and Bragg’s liquid aminos.
For breakfast that morning we’d had scrambled eggs in homemade crepes with turkey bacon, Gouda and a pickle.
Today for breakfast, the teenager had the last of the Thai peanut sauce and bacon on a bagel.
For lunch today we had leftover spaghetti, vegetable dumplings and Green Giant Steamfresh superfood edamame mix. So yummy.
Dinner was salad with sesame dressing and Hungryroot lemongrass tofu.
And yesterday the teenager baked me the most amazing dark chocolate cookies with dark chocolate chips and piles of fresh coconut.
My dear friend and traveling companion M got to meet Nala over FaceTime today and commented how she was more cuddly and quiet than he expected.
She’s been very tired lately, but she’s been waking often in the night.
Nana sleeping on my chest
And for one last burst of cheer, here’s a pile of kittens:
My teenager wanted junk food and wanted out of the house so she accompanied her father grocery shopping. At Target. Her choice.
I made her a list, downloaded the Target Circle app to her phone, logged her into my account and loaded all my coupon.
We weren’t at the point where we needed groceries, but if things are going to get scarce, I want to be ready. I’m not hoarding but I’m trying to stay ahead of what people want next.
I use a lot of bleach, white vinegar, Borax powder and baking soda when I clean because of all the animals so I asked her to grab them if she saw them.
Flour, cooking oil, tuna fish, peanut butter. Things like that. Well, tuna is getting more scarce so I asked her to get canned chicken. It was that or the expensive tuna. Next time we’ll grab some Spam.
She even nabbed a bottle of acetaminophen— PM. But hey, if I need the acetaminophen I might need sleep, too.
This morning for breakfast we had the last of our homemade crepes, turkey bacon, scrambled egg and smoked Gouda (with pickles).
The teenager and I FaceTimed my parents— which was a riot because I don’t think they ever FaceTimed before so they were struggling with the camera angles and my stepmom was showing me pages from her cookbook while my daughter chased cats around the house.
And then I got a text. My prescription was ready at CVS.
The teen and I had a 30% off coupon expiring today so we walked the half mile to the pharmacy. I got my prescription. We got a bottle of acetaminophen without sleep aid. And she got a gallon of Arizona iced tea. We got some other impulse buys that included a strawberry Twinkie, which resulted in a very silly video of us:
Even before these Coronavirus quarantine times and empty grocery store shelves, I have long practiced frugal living and using everything I can of my groceries— down to composting my food waste.
For example, every time my little dog friend comes to visit, she brings a rotisserie chicken for her meals. I always save the carcass in my freezer to make chicken bone broth in my crock pot.
So a couple weeks ago I was cleaning the fridge, I found a pack of flour tortilla shells that said “use by December 30, 2019.” But I didn’t throw them out. They were actually still soft, but there’s nothing worse than going to wrap a taco or make a sandwich and the shell splits in the middle because it was dry and stale.
I put the shells aside to make homemade Doritos.
I decided today was the day.
First, I cut these four shells into eight triangles each.
Because I am low on oil, I opted for a small pan and a big dollop of coconut oil. I heated the oil until it was bubbly but not sputtering.
I dropped the triangles in, turning each after about 30 seconds as they browned very quickly.
I dropped them into a small bowl where the teenager sprinkled them with spices and Parmesan I had put out for her to choose.
5. Then she moved them back to the main plate.
These were amazing. Crunchy yet fluffy. Though the teenager did overdo it on the chili powder so some were very spicy.
The teenager and I made crepes with Nutella and banana for breakfast and while they were delicious— let me assure you neither of us will be employed as a street vendor in France any time soon.
Our crepes were either small or large and reminiscent of cartoon characters.
The teenager is preparing to go to her dad’s for a few days. So later she’ll practice some low brass musical instruments for me. And I’ll come to terms with the fact that somehow the weekend is ending.
But let me relish the crepe memory:
An unexpected surprised— my friends Rachel called. She moved to Florida years ago and I don’t see her as much as I used to.
She was one of my freelance writers when I served as managing editor of Lehigh Valley News Group.
March was shaping up to be an exhausting month at work before it even started because of all the grants I had to finish— I forget how many so we’ll round to ten. And a couple needed reports.
Then we added a couple last minute important government opportunities and dealt with some EITC issues… if you don’t know what EITC is don’t worry about it, it’s a Pennsylvania tax program for corporations that benefits education.
And then we hit the state emergency of Corona virus/COVID-19 shutdown.
My employer has the largest full-choice food pantry in the County and we serve hundreds of households every month. We educated about a hundred people daily in our classrooms. We serve students in the schools. Provide assistance to walk-ins, existing clients and referrals.
So this has changed everything. The CEO is scrambling. Meetings are going virtual. Our educators are looking at distance learning. Our food pantry staff and volunteers are bagging food instead of letting clients shop.
And now we need to design a schedule and a work plan to use our homes as offices.
Ideally, we no more than 3 people in our admin building at a time. (There are only six of us.)
Tomorrow I have to take the old MacBook Air into the office and hope I can get it to connect to the remote server. Otherwise, I am not allowed to work from home.
And I forgot my journal on my desk, and my planner, but my planner I can survive without. But my journal? Noooooooo!
Every morning, I get up, pour a cup of mostly decaf coffee and write in my journal while the cats eat. Not having this ritual will be upsetting.
To lighten the mood, here is a cat photo from the freshly cleaned room of the teenager:
And an unboxing of this months treats— a Universal Yums box from Brazil (featuring Nala, my naughty Goffin’s cockatoo):
My mom and I went to Grocery Outlet because I wanted some fresh produce. Got blood oranges, spaghetti squash, cabbage, potatoes, radishes, and fresh Brussel sprouts. I was looking for items that would store nicely if something does confine us with COVID-19.
When I got home, the teenager helped me dig a splinter out of my foot and treat it with betadine.
We did two loads of laundry and the teen taught the budgies to hand feed.
We stripped and made both our beds— which ended up with some Oz antics.
And I made two delicious meals for myself prior to my fasting bloodwork tomorrow: leftover sesame chicken with pan-seared Brussel sprouts seasoned with four color peppercorns and tofu burger on whole grain wheat with avocado, sautéed radish and dill havarti cheese.
Of course, the afternoon led to some discussions among my neighbors of whether or not Coronavirus is worse than the normal flu. Does it matter? Flu outbreaks have killed people at fairly regular intervals. I’m not concerned that I will die from it, but I am concerned that I could help spread it if I’m not careful.
The neighbor we went to dinner last night spent the evening playing Yahtzee with another neighbor whose son just came home from college. The son woke up with a 102 degree fever today coughing. And his lab partner just got home from Germany.
And there’s a presumptive positive case in the next town over where my in-laws live. So it’s coming.
And I’m not an alarmist or panic-stricken but I agree that we all should be limiting our interactions. The more careful we are now, hopefully we can minimize the impact on our community and our economy.
I woke up this morning worried about things I can’t control, and to a cat coughing up a hairball somewhere in the darkness of my room. It was 4 a.m. and to get myself back to sleep, I keep imagining a cleansing white light.
I imagined the white light getting brighter and brighter. It filled my house, came up my stairs and saturated my room. It brought me calm and helped me get to sleep.
I finally gave up on sleep around 7 a.m. but laid in bed until 7:30. I got up, fed the cats, started a load of laundry and cared for the birds.
Then I finished the first season of Hell’s Kitchen while folding clean laundry and hanging wet wash.
I had a piece of toast, put dishes away, washed the pots and pans, and scrubbed the kitchen counter (even the trivet and the toaster— have to periodically get those crumbs out of the toaster.)
And I found what could be very handy if COVID-19 ends up in my neighborhood: a bottle of Hibiclens the doctor told the teenager to use in the shower before her surgery in November.
My college professor neighbor and I had coffee on her porch, while I was clad in my African dress that I bought in Djibouti for my trip to Somalia.
I vacuumed the sun porch. Did some necessary paperwork. Gave Nala, my Goffin’s cockatoo, a shower. Scrubbed the tub, but not as well as I would have liked.
But I didn’t strip my bed or play with my new make up.
This evening my other neighbor took us to dinner at La Bella’s as a thank you for watching her dog.
Amazing Bread
The teenager decided to compliment our server every time she came to the table. I had chicken penne vodka. The child had seafood spaghetti vodka. The portions were ginormous and the seafood seemed good. I’m not a seafood fan.
See those bumpy calamari?
I think I’ll have enough leftovers for TWO lunches. As with the teen. And my neighbor. And then my neighbor took us to Owwowcow for ice cream. I got cinnamon bourbon.
The food was scrumptious but made me sad because I’m still having mild dental issues. My neighbor is looking at a root canal so we’re a good pair.
And now we’re home. Roomba is vacuuming my bedroom.
The teen is trying cone incense for the first time. She tried to pick natural varieties that wouldn’t burn my eyes and sinuses. She asked me what to burn, so we went for the cleansing sandalwood— vanilla sandalwood to be exact.
I used to use sandalwood soap to bathe before I practiced rituals and vanilla is a very pure, comforting flavor and scent to me.
I asked the teen, who now has her own altar with her own selected candles on it, why do you burn incense?
She answered, “because it clears my sinuses and helps me focus.”
As you may have been able to tell from my posts about dentists (Tooth and nail) and budgets (Budgeting and Budgeting, part 2), I had a hard week. Not to mention the whole Do I have high blood pressure? issue. So I’m going to lighten it up a bit tonight— we’re going to “unbox” my Ipsy Glam Bag.
And if you noticed that odd photo that is the featured image for this blog post that is Fog, the feral kitten we trapped last trying to get to Nala, my Goffin’s cockatoo. Fog is getting sooooo big (as is her brother, Misty) but the teenager didn’t believe me when I said they’d doubled in size.
March 2020 Ipsy Glam Bag without my cat
But anyway… it’s Friday night and I had to work late unexpectedly so by the time I got home, the teen was leaving to have dinner with her grandparents and spend the night with her dad.
Which means I get to have Vanilla Coke Zero and peanut butter pretzels for dinner. I gave one to Nala. Well, more accurately, she demanded I share.
So I started the dishwasher, and a load of laundry, and took my peanut butter pretzels and my Diet Coke out to see if my neighbor wanted to unbox my Ipsy package with me since the teenager wasn’t home. My neighbor is an economics professor and faces a midterm deadline. I thought it best not to bother her. Nala and I ate our pretzels and opened the makeup.
We also kept Fog at bay, while her brother frolicked in the basement.
Then my neighbor texted she had coffee ready at 6:30ish at night. That’s pretty wild for my Friday night.
I walked out the door and met my other neighbor, whose adorable Yorkie-Maltese mix likes to visit instead of go for a walk. We all went to the professor’s house and even the dogs got to visit.
I got home, retrieved the laundry and the kitten from the basement, and fed my mini-pride of lions before hanging the laundry.
Nala joined me while I hung wash, watching Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. Roomba vacuumed my room.
Now I’m in bed, taking a breath, playing a little Words with Friends and listening to kittens play. I’m going to watch more Gordon. Hell’s Kitchen is not my favorite but I finished Kitchen Nightmares on Hulu, as I also finished 24 Hours To Hell and Back.
I can’t find any more Hotel Hell and for some reason, The F Word is starting to bore me. I think it’s because Gordon Ramsay is a nice guy on that program.
More on that another day. I’m hoping to formally review Gordon’s shows one of these days.
Gordon has inspired me to try harder with my cooking. Last night, I actually trimmed my chicken, made a marinade, and chilled the chicken in the marinade before cooking.
The marinade was:
Low sodium soy sauce
Honey
Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
Minced Garlic
Fresh Ginger
Water
Sesame Seeds
Lemon Juice
Sesame Oil
I cooked that, and sautéed a bag of broccoli slaw in the leftover marinade and reheated some leftover rice and seasoned roasted chick peas I had made earlier in the week. It was delicious.
But remember that Glam Bag?
I promise I’ll play with it tomorrow. For $12 I received:
A studded teal bag (it matches my room!)
A full sized eye shadow
A full sized chapstick/lip balm
A sample nail polish in a mild creamy cafe au lait color
So tonight our family is going to see Heddatron at Lafayette College. My office colleague’s husband is the technical director at the college and she invited us to come.
The teenager’s dad works at Lafayette (as I once did many, many moons ago) and I earned a second bachelors degree there, graduating with the class of 2013.
I invited him to join us for the show. He agreed. He and the teenager will be heading to the laundromat after the performance. Sounds like a good time!
We decided to go to Dubs on Fifth in West Easton for dinner. While just a sports pub, they have some vintage arcade games and good burgers. They also have an eclectic menu of grilled cheeses. They also have a sign over the bar that makes me smile:
I love Jesus but I drink a little.”
Dubs on Fifth
After dinner I mentioned that Dairy Queen has a Buy One Get One For 80 cents in honor of the eightieth anniversary.
So, of course, the teen wanted ice cream. She and her dad both got mediums. I got two minis. That way I could have TWO flavors.
And the teenager just realized her father has no neck. And thanked me for hers.
We’re enjoying a lot of silliness together. And that feels good.
I have a plethora of potential topics to blog about but none of them feels right for tonight. It’s Wednesday, which means quasi-deep cleans for the bird cages and garbage collection.
The top two topics on my mind are sharing my “frugal hacks”/budgeting process and my journey with my blood pressure which is also connected to my cerebral palsy.
But they are such serious topics.
The teen just suggested cats.
Oz is jealous
Both the boys—our cats who turn 9 this month—are in my room right now. I just got done with the roomba and am waiting for the “white” laundry to get done in the washing machine.
I didn’t sleep well last night but I also did not dream. My shoulders are so tense they hurt. But I had a really peaceful productive day at work.
I mixed the last of my coffee from Jamaica with some decaf and, if Dunkin made my drink correctly, my afternoon latte was a decaf. Only caffeine today came from a half cup of coffee.
Meals today… 3. Content not too bad. I totally forgot the connection between high blood pressure and sodium so I’m being more cognizant of that.
Breakfast: mostly decaf coffee with half and half, 12 ounces water, one everything bagel toasted, half with roasted red pepper hummus, half with Brie.
Approximate morning water: 50 ounces.
Late morning treat: decaf black tea with Yogi ginger tea.
Lunch: iceberg lettuce salad with purple cabbage and carrots, leftover dark meat from a rotisserie chicken, some real bacon crumbles, some imitation bacon bits, some processed chicken bites (three popcorn chicken size bites) and blue cheese dressing.
Afternoon: 20 ounces tap water
Meal break: iced coconut (unsweetened flavor) latte with skim milk, light ice and one pump caramel and about 10 gummy bears.
Supper: grilled cheese on cheap stoneground wheat bread, made with light mayonnaise instead of butter, with cheese from last night’s cheese platter and tuna. Vegetable was baked sweet potato fries. Another 12 ounces water.
Vitamins: multi, zinc, calcium/magnesium/zinc combo and B-complex.
As for other pet news, Nala is peacefully cuddly today and seems to be filling in feathers nicely.
Nala, my Goffin’s cockatoo
And in exciting news, Fog, the newest member of our household almost voluntarily got into my lap. She also rolled onto her back and let me pet her belly until I got tired of it.
Six weeks ago Fog was a feral kitten who had never been indoors!
Angel Ackerman 