Diary of a Homemaker: New Days Ahead, Part 2

 

Sunday:  Up early this morning as John was off to church and I had Caleb coming so that Katie could work an extra shift.     After John left home, I realized with a start that he'd had no breakfast.  I was so in the Caleb schedule zone that I never even thought of making anything before he arrived.   As for John, I hate he left without eating, but we (including himself) all know that he knows where foods are kept and how to make them.  I like doing things such as that for him but if it's obvious I'm unwell or zoned into a different schedule he can make anything he likes without fuss from me.

Katie arrived about 15 minutes after John left.   She had a cup of coffee, and we talked a little bit about the weekend behind, the weekend coming up, then she left to start her workday.   Caleb and I had a simple peanut butter toast breakfast.  He asked for a mandarin to go with his.   I washed a load of clothes and he and I headed into the living room to watch this morning's early church service together.   I was singing along with some of the songs played and after watching me a moment, he started to sing along, too.

When the service was over, we headed back to the kitchen. I gathered things from the freezer and fridge, gathering Thanksgiving fragments to make into other dishes.   

I was unloading clothes from the washer into the dryer when the dogs started barking.  Caleb was 'helping' by pulling out the wet clothes from the dryer and running to lay them on my chair in the kitchen sitting area.  I had asked for his help, but he refused to take directions, lol.  I'll train him up though.  Anyway, the dogs barked, and it was Katie.  She'd logged on but no calls were coming through, the work dashboard was silent, and no one would answer her calls at the office.  She was confused about why they'd scheduled her to work but when she realized that no one was working, she came out to get Caleb.   She took home a pan of dressing, a jar of turkey gravy, another of cranberry sauce, and a chunk of breast meat for their dinner today.  

I put more dressing in the oven to heat up for John's lunch.  I thawed gravy and cranberry sauce and set aside some turkey meat for our big lunch.   I had leftovers after we'd eaten, and I put two portions into the freezer for future sides for John and me.   I'm starting to feel a bit like gobbling...Anyone else with me?

Everything else was prepped into freezer meals. Here's what I did or have planned for a bit later:

*Gathered Fragments*

Turkey pot pie: used some of the leftover dark meat, leftover gravy, frozen mixed vegetables, frozen pre-made pie crust.  I'll assemble then wrap and refreeze.

Turkey Tetrazzini Lasagna:  Some of the turkey gravy seasoned up with Parmesan and sherry, nutmeg and canned mushrooms, as well as some frozen Malabar spinach that I kept coming across, leftover breast meat and whole wheat lasagna noodles.   I'd planned to make Tetrazzini but discovered I only have one box of spaghetti...I've added that to my list to restock.  I like to keep about six pounds on hand which is enough for us to have a spaghetti dish once a month for a year.

2 Turkey Strata:  Leftover bread cubed, breast meat, onion and celery that was cooked in butter, a can of cream of soup, eggs and milk.  I seasoned with salt, pepper, sage.   When I get ready to bake, I'll top with a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.  

I lined my smaller loaf pans (regular sized pans that I no longer use for bread since I purchased the pullman loaf pans) with foil and sprayed well then packed in the lasagna and strata casseroles.   The turkey pot pie is in a pie pan, the same one I took the pie crust out of.  

I'll be making a Cottage Pie from green bean casserole (I thawed it partially and managed to get half out of the container I'd frozen it in).  I'll brown ground venison with onions tomorrow and perhaps a can of mushrooms, make a little beef gravy and then mix with the green bean casserole. I plan to top with leftover mashed potatoes, and I'm going to use a portion of the leftover French-Fried onions and some cheddar cheese on top. I think that will be our supper tomorrow night.

I have left in the freezer: dark turkey meat (mostly thighs), turkey frame, turkey legs/wings to be boiled for soups (John has mentioned wanting both a thick turkey rice soup and a turkey noodle soup.  I should manage both just fine with these meaty boney pieces), and a container of mashed potatoes in addition to the things I'd mentioned already putting back in the freezer.  Oh, and I forgot the sweet potato casserole which I'm still considering how I might use.  I'm thinking a sweet potato pie and possibly some sweet potato biscuits.  

While I'm sharing Gathered Fragments* for today, let me also share one from this past week.  I'd made a meal of mac and cheese (freezer) with roasted zucchini, tomatoes, onions and peppers on the side.  John didn't care for it and Caleb wouldn't eat it either.  That was the day John got up and made Caleb a PBJ sandwich...Anyway, I wasn't about to throw away the leftovers even if what they guys didn't eat went into the dogs' pans.  

I had about 1/2 a jar of Aldi Marinara sauce, which is a very good Marinara by the way and less than $1 a jar, and the roasted vegetables...When making pizza Friday evening, I dumped it all into the blender and made a thick tomato sauce for our pizzas.  It added lots of good flavors and the kids got a nice dose of vegetables without anyone begging them to eat some.

Monday:  I didn't want to get up this morning and very nearly didn't...Apparently, I'd forgotten to turn back on my weekly alarm and so it was that I stayed abed until 7:45 this morning!   I can't say I'm sorry I got that extra bit of sleep, but it did make me put my feet under myself and get busy right away this morning.

I made biscuits using some of the buttermilk Bess sent over.   The biscuit dough was super wet this morning, so I kept adding in flour.  In the end, I had biscuits for breakfast, biscuits for the freezer and biscuit dough to wrap pigs in blankets.  There are also leftover biscuits to have another morning.  I made biscuits!

As I was cutting shortening into flour, I sat in my chair and listened to a lovely song that I heard at service two weeks ago called "Gratitude".  I have it on repeat on my phone.  I went into my playlist after that and pulled up other praise and worship songs that floor me.  It was a lovely way to start my day and one I plan to cultivate daily.

I've just enough buttermilk left at the moment to culture some more, but I need milk to do it with.  I can always tell when the end of the month is pending.  There's a whole slew of outages that I note along about this time of the month.  We're supposed to shop this week.

I made gravy to go over our biscuits. I used ground venison this morning. I told John I don't know why it never occurred to me before now, but I'm paying far less for ground venison per pound than I am for turkey sausage meat.   For the record it was very good.  I seasoned the same way I do the turkey sausage I've used to make gravy.

We've had a nice day with Caleb.  He loves music so and John has now introduced him to Appalachia clogging music.  It's fun to watch the little boy move his feet as though he were clogging.  

I went out to the shed and got out wreaths, and the Christmas tree and the container the tree goes in.  I also got stuck in a glue trap the pest control people put in the shed.  I mean STUCK.  I didn't think I was going to get the darned thing off my sock, lol.   I had to pull hard to get that off and then my hand got stuck.    It was meant to catch mice, but so far it has caught spiders, lizards, a grasshopper and me.  I'm sad about the lizards.  I don't mind them so much if I can't see them and I know they do a good job of eating insects.   There does not appear to be any mice.  If there are, they are very smart mice.  There are about nineteen thousand of those Mexican bean beetles out there that are dead, too.  These fool many people because they look like ladybugs but are orange instead of red and emit a nasty little smell as their defense system.  

While I was outdoors, UPS arrived and delivered the next round of Christmas gifts.  I have a few more arriving later this week.  I need to get busy and get the last of things ordered...and at the same time I don't want to make rushed purchasing decisions.  I find that is the very time one makes purchases that are either make do or far over budget and I don't mean to make those sorts of decisions.   So, I'm forcing myself to really think about what I want to get and what will last.  I'm so interested in one item for the boys to share that I am just convinced won't last a day...that's the sort of thing I want to avoid, as well.

Tuesday:  I'm sitting here with bright sunshine pouring in the windows, looking at the bare trees and listening to Jake Westbrook's Vintage Winter Music.  So pleasant to hear...but admittedly it's not cold here and there's no danger of snow.

The Christmas tree is still lying on the back porch (in a protective bag) and all the Christmas decorating I've managed thus far is to put some ribbon around my wreath and hang it on the back door.  I've been to the shed twice now and the ribbon was what I brought back this time around, and a pretty Edwin Knowles plate with a wintry farm scene on it.  

Caleb has been down for a bit over an hour and hasn't slept a bit.  He's giggled and laughed and hooted and tumbled about in his bed and knocked on the wall.   I know that in a little bit I shall have to give in and get him up, but he can stand the quieter activity that the pack and play forces rather than running himself to pieces out here in the main portion of the house.

Look who joined the family last night:

My granddaughter's baby arrived sometime after midnight last night.  Hasn't she got bright eyes?  She weighed 7 pounds on the button and is 19 inches long.  Her name is Artemisia Rae.   I asked what they planned to call her, but Amie simply replied with her full name.   I seriously doubt that shall be what they call her.  Under that cap, she has a long dark hair.  It's not as thick a head of hair as Amie had when she arrived but it's far more than her mama had for the better part of a year!

My mother is now a great great grandmother, I'm a great grandma and Amie a grandma.   Amie's two stepchildren have children of their own but for one reason and another Amie will not be a part of their lives and it has been a heartbreak for her.  It was my prayer this morning that this child, first child of Amie's first child, will be a blessing and a realization of what being a Gramma can be.  I haven't thought to ask Amie what she herself has chosen as her grandmother name.  That's an important step, too, agreed?  later note:  Amie is thinking of a Lithuanian name, Selene (Sah ly nyah).  No, we are not Lithuanian, and neither is anyone else...

My next thought was that it's been a long time since I saw Josie and Amie...and the odds that I shall ever see this little one in this life are very slim.  However, as I sat in deep prayer over Josie and Amie, I had a vision of sorts, perhaps only a drifting into a dream, but I held that baby.  I could feel the warmth and weight of her body in my arms. I rubbed her back and could feel the texture of her blanket.   I kissed her forehead, and she opened her eyes and looked deep into mine and I blessed her.  And then I was there in the kitchen sitting all over again, holding only a cup of coffee, but feeling very much that I had visited with this little girl, and we knew one another in that space of time.  I shall hold onto that vision/dream for the rest of my life.  I felt it was a lovely gift.

While I was sitting in the kitchen this morning, several jobs brought themselves to my attention.  They were the sort that once seen can't be unseen and so I found myself after lunching washing windows and cleaning the entire surface of the freezer and the kitchen cabinet doors.  I really need to paint the kitchen cabinets once again but when?  Not as long as I've got Caleb.  The master bath has big splotches of paint on the walls, but I've not gotten back around to that task either.  Well....I simply shall not think about the big projects I can't tackle.  It's enough to tackle these small extra bits of cleaning and count it good.

John's out having lunch with his former work partner and friend and will stop by to see another friend while he's in that town.   I'm glad he's had a chance to get out and go visit.  It's been months since he's been out to lunch.  

My new bedroom curtains arrived yesterday, and I am so pleased with them!   I got them from an Amazon seller and chose to purchase returned products because the price was so very good.  I'd love to share a link but can't find an associate link at all.  They are from the Amazon Basics line.  These panels come in pairs and the curtains are heavy, black out drapes with a silky feel to the fabric.  I paid about $18 per pair, which is less than half the cost of new.  I'm not in the least sorry I opted to do that.  I hung them this morning when I was straightening up the bedroom.

It's obvious that boy is not napping this afternoon.  Let me go rescue him...

Wednesday:  Yesterday afternoon proved to be exhausting.  Caleb, when tired, is about half wild and he was tired indeed with no nap.  By the time he went home I felt as though I'd been hit by a freight train.   John's patience was very thin and that made things harder since my own patience was being severely taxed. 

No alarm again this morning but I was awake about daylight and got up in a timely manner at just after 7am.  I spent my coffee time listening to snippets of sermons and different praise and worship songs.  It is really a peaceful way to start the day.  I'm going to try and keep this habit up.

Yesterday at noon I'd put on the legs/wings and frame of the turkey to make bone broth.  It simmered on the stove until 10pm last night.  That stock pot of broth was still very warm this morning when I got up.  I pulled out the strainer that container seasoning vegetables and then fished out the meat and bones.  I let those sit and cool completely while I made breakfast.  After breakfast I picked over the meaty pieces and saved skin, soft gristle and harder grittier bits of meat near joints for the dogs.   I gathered about six cups of meat from the bones.  I packaged up two 2-cup portions and set a third portion aside for Turkey and rice soup.

Then I strained out the broth.  I put 5 quarts in the freezer, 3 quarts in the fridge and used a quart and a half to make my simple turkey rice soup.  Goodness but that soup tasted good for lunch today.  I didn't serve it to Caleb, because even though I was careful to pick the meat over three times, I knew there would still be little bits of bones.  I fed him something different for lunch.

The remaining broth in the fridge will likely make Turkey noodle soup next week, something else that John requested.  There was about a portion of the Turkey rice soup left today.  I'll add more broth to that and serve again later in the week or over the weekend.

I had to dig out the deep freeze in order to get to the bottom where I keep broth.  I got so frustrated with the whole process because every single thing had to come out of the freezer and baskets of frozen food are heavy.  Caleb was snatching things up and running with them as I'd lift out the baskets.  I scraped my knuckles and kept dropping baskets and overturning them and having to scoop things up once more.   John fetched Caleb and held him on his lap and Caleb screamed his head off...

I was half crazed with stress by the time I finally got it all arranged and back in the freezer.  My back was aching when I was done, because I'd repeatedly lifted thirty- or forty-pound baskets. I am now debating how much longer I want a chest freezer and if perhaps a large upright wouldn't be a better option for me.   It's something to think about.

I went to the back to get a two-quart jar to put the last of the broth in and saw the food grade buckets.  We got the gamma lids yesterday to fit them and got them on last night.  I thought while I was back there, I'd just go on and fill up the flour and sugar buckets.   I opened the hermetically sealed bin that the flour was in and discovered it was full of thrip like bugs.  It was not a weevil but was much smaller and finer. The darned things infiltrated every bag of flour.  I was so upset.   

However, as I cleaned the pantry and checked the other bins, I felt somewhat better because that was the only infected bin.  This is good news.  It means those hermetic seals truly do work well on those bins!  I hate losing 20 pounds of flour but I'm so grateful there weren't bugs in other areas of my pantry!  I closed the bin right back up and then put it outside the back door.

I figured while I was already in the pantry checking bins, I might as well get busy and clean the floor in there, since all the bins were out.  Caleb was not happy about my working in the pantry.  I had closed the door to the room so he couldn't come in and he stood at the door knocking and whining and crying.  Neither of us was having a very good morning of it, I'm afraid.  

I plan to add bay leaves to my buckets and will try to freeze bags of flour in the future.  I usually don't have the freezer space to do so but I shall just have to make a way.  It does rather cut me out of buying the 25-pound bags though.   

I am well pleased with the buckets.  I can stack them at the little space between the first set of shelves and the door.  I've two hermetic bins I might fill with something else which means I can separate foods a little more by category.

I studied about what bugs I might have, and they appear to be grain mites.  It's been years and years since I had any bugs in foods in my home and I hope that I caught this quick enough that it's not an issue in the future.  Two weeks ago, there was no sign of bugs and I have to suspect it was the last bags of flour bought at Aldi that were the culprit, since I had no bugs when I took out the last bag from Walmart to use.

Well, the morning pretty much disappeared.  I fed Caleb and put him down for a nap which he has taken today.   I made our bed after lunch.  I've cleaned the bins I removed from the back.  When they are thoroughly dry, I'll put them back in the pantry.  I will have to buy flour, sigh, but I shall buy no more than 10 pounds and will freeze it before packing into the gamma lid buckets.

Thursday:  How lovely to sleep this morning!  I had thought I'd be up early, but I wasn't.  I slept until past 8am and while that is hardly late it's a good bit later than I've slept this week.  It felt good and I didn't feel I needed more nor less.  It was, as the Three Bears tell us, "Just right..."

I took a shower right away this morning and discovered John had put out a fresh cake of soap for me.  He's far more prone to replace my soap than I am.  I tend to use it until it's a mere tiny sliver and it's a gentle reminder from him that I needn't work quite so hard at savings as I sometimes will tend to do.  John made breakfast this morning, too, a big one.  He cooked eggs, grits and made toast.  He also had my coffee set up for me.  I felt very cared for this morning, and it's a lovely thing to feel.

We were both ready to leave home earlier than we typically are without an appointment.  We will never be accused of being quick to leave home to do anything except maybe for vacation.  After a brief discussion we determined we'd go to Publix to do our shopping.  And why were we shopping?  Because we were gifted a sum to spend to restock our freezer with meats.   We were told last month we were to do this.  I just needed to empty enough out over Thanksgiving to give me room to put our purchases.   

Yesterday while I was struggling with the baskets and such and putting away turkey stock, I also was rearranging things to fit more compactly.  I had a nice space which I hoped I might fill.  I took time yesterday to view sales at Publix, Kroger and Aldi.  Publix actually had some decent sales on meat this week and after looking over the offerings of all three stores, we decided to head there.

John and I wanted to be good stewards of this gift and we determined we were going to stick pretty hard to what we typically use, feeling it also meant we'd get big bang for the funds.  So, we concentrated on things like chicken breasts, chuck roast, and ground beef.  

Then we walked up and down the meat case and looked hard at various cuts with an eye towards giving ourselves a little variety.   Many of the items we bought were on sale or sold as a buy one get one deal.  The only item we purchased that had dropped in price was the Godshall turkey bacon we so enjoy.  That price had dropped by were over $10 per pound.  I told John that was higher than steak prices in my book and far too dear to consider chicken wings as a budget meal as I did once upon a time.  I think if in future we want chicken wings I'll resort to my old form of cutting up whole chickens and separating into parts.  But I won't be doing that for quite a while after today's purchases.  The only other meat we might have bought but were shocked at was Corned Beef Brisket.  We are accustomed to $3.99 a pound and felt it might be a little higher but like chicken wings it was over $10 per pound.  We put that package of meat back rather quickly.   

 I chose to buy stew meat.  Typically, I'd buy chuck roast and cut it up, but stew beef was priced no higher per pound than chuck roasts.  We found a lovely chuck roast, but the rest were very fatty.  I picked up sliced beef shank which was quite well priced compared to other cuts.  We don't normally see this except in winter months.  I prefer it over short ribs myself and it was far less per pound than short ribs.  A big sirloin steak was our only 'steak' purchase which I cut into meal portions.   I also got turkey bacon, turkey breakfast sausage, a package of uncured beef hot dogs, and a package of turkey Italian sausage.  

The one thing I'd meant to buy today and completely forgot: flour.  I didn't even think of it until we were home, and I began to think of tomorrow and the things I mean to attend to then, which include making bread.

John and I went out to eat this afternoon when we were done with our shopping.  We went to our favorite restaurant and as always, the meal was delicious.  Our waiter was a little slow, but not horribly so.   It gave us the feeling we had all the time in the world to sit and talk.  So that's just what we did.  Sit and talk and enjoyed ourselves.  After lunch we stopped for an ice cream cone.  It might seem an odd thing to have ice cream in December but here in Georgia, one hardly gets to enjoy an ice cream cone in summer.  You must eat it very fast or have a melting mess in hand.   In December, on a 73f day, one can eat it far more leisurely.   It was a nice treat.

Once home this afternoon, I had two goals.  Clear off the kitchen counters and put away things properly and to divide up the meats we'd purchased.  John was very impressed when I said we'd get 42 meals.   I don't mean single servings, but meals that will be enough for anywhere from two to eight servings.  That's why we bought the sort of things we did.  We wanted to be good stewards of a gift and I think we were.  

This was a blessing to us and that is a fact.  We are well able to buy our own groceries, but I think you all know that the idea of more fully stocking my freezer and my pantry have been something I've longed to do for the past three months.  That we were gifted and asked to stock our freezer was a wonderful gift and we are deeply appreciative.

I forgot to mention one other blessing I've received in the past week: a big bottle of Med-line Remedy lotion.  I'd mentioned here that I used it and liked it and one of my guests at Thanksgiving had had an opportunity to get a huge bottle.   She thought of me and brought it to me.   I am so grateful for that gift, as well.

Friday:  Up early and mixed waffle batter right away.  I dragged out my waffle iron, too.  It was my first time ever just winging it mixing up batter for the waffle iron.  I usually look up a recipe and follow that but today I decided I'd mixed often enough I might manage it just fine.  I did.  Our waffles were delicious.

But to beat the half dead horse, I hate my waffle iron.  It is a very nice name brand waffle iron but it's heavy as can be and it holds heat like cast iron, so it takes forever to cool.  It makes six rectangle sized waffles and frankly I'd prefer round ones.  There is no rhyme or reason as to how much batter one might put on it because it always overflows if you have enough batter for six full waffles.  It's safest to just fill the middle two and take whatever you can get of the side ones.  And if it does overflow and it's going to at least once during any waffle making session, the stuff oozes out and into the control and into a bottom lip that does not come off.   I made up my mind this morning that I've had this thing for a long time and I've yet to have any pleasure in using it.  It's always an aggravation and a trial to clean.  I'm going to look for something I like better after Christmas and I'll give away or donate this one.  I'm over it.

Caleb didn't come today either.  He stayed home as his dad was visiting with him.  Katie had him from lunch on by herself.  Yesterday we gave ourselves a free day.  So how did I spend my day today?

After I'd cleaned up the messy waffle iron (again Ugh!), I looked around the kitchen and realized I had a lot to do to bring it up to par for the day.  John stripped the bed and started laundry and I started bread.  Then I cleaned the kitchen.  

I hung out the laundry and then I went outdoors on the back porch to do something, can't remember what, but I couldn't stand the sheer dirt of it all any longer.  Dust and damp had done lots of the damage but the dogs added to it.  The end of the porch where Maddie likes to lay was greasy grimy and the pathway from the back door to the steps is all dirty decking.  I picked up the blower and blew off the loose dirt and grime and then I picked up a little hard stiff deck brush we'd bought for Josh when he was Caleb's age.  I discovered today that will lift the dog hair off the door mat.  I was pretty pleased to find that out!

I started shifting furniture from the door end of the porch to the other end and got myself a bucket of hot water with pine oil cleaner and started scrubbing the decking.  I cleaned off the tool holder that John put on the porch for my convenience, the dog food container, the chairs and tables and the rails.  I scrubbed the floors and rinsed them.  I cleaned the bottom of the back door where Maddie leans her weight at night.  I wiped down the siding.  I got about one/third of the way done before I quit from sheer tiredness.  But boy oh boy does that one/third look so much better!  I told John it might take me weeks to complete this task from here but I'm going to work at it a little along.  

Now mind you all, I thought many times about that stupid pressure washer that was bought to 'save me' which I've had the joy of using only once in the past 5 years or so and I told John that if I have another free day and the weather is as nice, he can just plan to haul it out so I can use it.  Seriously, I am getting far too old to work as hard at some jobs as I do when I could work smarter.  

After that task (you thought I was done for the day?  Oh no!), I came in to take bread from the oven and slid in leftovers for lunch.  I sorted out my fridge and organized it once again.   

Do you all have a certain way you like to have things on the door arranged?  I try to keep jellies and syrups together on the top shelf and I put condiments, salad dressings and pickles on the second.  Down on the third is drinks and water bottles.   It kills me that no one but myself can see this plan.  Take out a bottle of salad dressing, put it back with the salad dressings, right?  Oh no.  It has to be crammed on the top shelf between the big bottles of juice and the jellies and syrups.   Ditto for if the mayonnaise or mustard.  Not on the second shelf when it's returned.  Nope.  It's likely shoved hard between the grape juice and apple juice. Or forced under the butter dish.  Sigh.

I started stew for supper in the slow cooker.  Then I put up the Christmas tree.  I am only a week or so late but it's up and the branches are fluffed.  I don't think this tree has nearly enough lights.  I think I'm going to get another 100 light strand and add to it.  

We had our lunch and then we got ready to go over to the discount grocery in the next town.  I like to wander around in there about the first of each month and I needed to pick up the flour I forgot yesterday.  We stopped by Katie's to drop off something, I held the boy for a minute and then he said bye and shut the door in my face.  He doesn't need Gramma when he has Mama.  As it should be!

We were surprised to find the store far less crowded than usual.  John stayed in the car.  I don't think he's ever been in this store.  I had suggested I'd go over alone but he decided to go with me.   

I was thinking just last night about pansies and how much I wanted some this winter.  I picked up three four-packs today.  I walked around with them in my cart, and they smelled so nice!  I walked around the store and looked hard at things and prices.  The reduced-price produce shelf was empty so no bargains there.  I walked and looked and almost forgot flour! lol.   I reminded myself that was why I was there and took myself right off to the baking aisle and bought three bags.  I paid about twice or more what a bag at Aldi would cost me, but I need flour now and I didn't feel like driving another 15 miles further to get a better price.  

I went by the meat aisle and noted the meat prices were reasonable enough, about what they are elsewhere but not quite as high as the prices in the town where we typically shop.  Then I spotted these t-bone steaks that were cut super thick and weighed in at 2 pounds apiece.  The price was really good on them, too. Two pounds of steak for less than the price of Chicken Wings?  You betcha!  I chose two and told John we'll tuck them in the back of the freezer and save them for special occasions.  These steaks are the sort you cook and slice into servings for several rather than eat all by yourself.

I didn't pick up junk but really just noted what was in stock and what was out.  There was a whole section of the juice aisle that was empty.  Nothing at all there.   I noted too that the cost of frozen orange juice concentrate was around $2.50.  I bought a jug of Simply Orange for $2.69 instead.  I mean if I'm saving nothing for adding my own water, why not buy a superior tasting product?

When we came home I honestly had it in mind to just have a nice sit and call it a day.   One look at my kitchen showed me that was a pipe dream.  I had dishes stacked to dry that I'd washed, and two sinks filled with dishes to be loaded or washed.  The counters were crowded with items I'd pulled out to make meals.  The clothes were still on the line and the plants in the front porch bin needed water.  Plus, that porch needed to be blown off.  Then there were the groceries I'd just bought which needed to be put away.  No, I wasn't about to just have a nice sit down and coffee.  I got busy right away.

Finally, I told John, "If you'll make us coffee, I'll do this last task and then will quit working."  He'd vacuumed the floors while I was busy and had just sat down himself, but he got right up and made coffee.  I kept my promise and finished blowing off the porch and watering plants and then came in to sit down and have coffee.

And that winds up the week.  Here in about 20 minutes, we'll be having Shabat and lighting the Channukah candles.  The week is finished.  The house is clean.  Tomorrow is a true day of rest for us.  I have meals planned for the weekend ahead.  The tree is lit and supper smells wonderful.   It's been a nice week.

How was yours?