Monday menus #38

When I worked at the larger hospital, I used to like to pause and take a photo at the end of the day.  I was almost always at the top of a 6 floor parking garage and could look out over downtown Austin.  Those days seem so far away to me now.  A lot has happened over the last couple of years, so it all has blurred together.

Nowadays, the view is street level, looking out towards the west around 8:30 p.m.  Sometimes I am rewarded with sunset, sometimes a storm, always a short walk to my car, and much shorter drive home.

I kinda love it.

Monday - Buffalo Chicken Salads with Frank's Red Hot Dressing {Brenham today}

Tuesday - Crockpot Ribs, ranch beans, watermelon {working today}

Wednesday - Broccoli Cheese Soup, garlic toast {on call}

Thursday - I bought some Trader Joe's Autumnal Pasta Sauce so I'm going to experiment with that  {flu shot day}

Friday - Skillet Shrimp, roasted corn and black beans {yardwork}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Gina

5 thing Friday - Fall (or the lack thereof), yards, Frosty, tires, Mom

 The weather here has only eased up the teensiest bit.  Seems like everyone else is like "yay! cooler days!  I'm so happy its Fall!"  Its definitely not Fall here, but the 100 degree temp days are more like 92, so...yay?

In protest of the heat I have placed some apple cinnamon pinecones in an otherwise empty basket in the den.  {goodbye, National Geographic magazine collection}

And to the hanging basket on the front door, I added some Fall-ish sprays. The glass eye pendant is not doing it's job of warding off evil spirits, but I like it, so it stays.

Yesterday I spent two hours mowing, edging, raking, blowing, and etc.  I had not tended to the yards in weeks.  That's what a drought does - makes mowing so much easier.  Today a tree company is coming to do some pruning that the homeowners insurance company is requiring.  This has been a pricey week.

My honest assessment of the pumpkin spice Frosty is that it has a fake nutty pumpkin flavor, a little heavy on the spice, and verrrry sweet.  Did I finish it, though?  Yes I did.  It was my reward for getting the oil changed on my car - a job that's been on my to do list for weeks.

In the "it doesn't take whiskers" category - I fished the air compressor out of the storage bin in the back of my car (thank you to my mother), aired up a completely flat tire, then drove over to Discount Tires for new tires.  Did I mention its been an expensive week?

I am doing my level best to help my sister with my mom and I know I am failing.  I keep repeating to myself: you cannot move mom to your house, you did not create this situation, and you are doing what you can to help.  I am already managing her money and setting things in motion to get some income generated to help her and I have spent hours on the phone with the long term care insurance company, the banks, the financial advisor, and her neighbors.  I have driven to Brenham twice to check on her house and arrange her mail being re-routed, taking out her rotten food and full trashcans, as well as scrubbing her potty and setting off a bug bomb since the roaches seem to be taking over.  I regularly visit her at my sister's house, helping to feed her, taking home laundry to ease the burden.

Life hasn't been real fun lately.

I will be so glad when this year is over.

Gina

Monday menus #37

 Here's where the blue frame that I bought at the neighbor's estate sale ended up:

My little office is a calm oasis to get things done lately.  None of the things are fun (except for blogging) and I feel stressed almost 100% of the time.  So adding in a family picture grounds me a bit.  I miss Mark even more lately.  He was so calm and assuring.  Just the sound of his voice put me at ease.  I replay it in my head often.

Monday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, salad, Spanish rice* {bulky trash pick up}

Tuesday - One Pot Pasta with Meatballs, side salad {dealing with car issues today, then work on finding Mom a place to live}

Wednesday - Glazed Meatloaf, chopped Italian Salad, skillet sweet potatoes {check on Mom's house, pick up groceries in p.m.}

Thursday - Ba$tard BBQ Chicken, carrots, corn casserole (freeze 1/2)

Friday - Tilapia, brussels sprouts, rest of the Spanish rice {payday - I have been dreaming of a Mexican Martinis from here}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Gina

*I'm going to go ahead and plan a meal for Mondays, even if its leftovers or something I fix in advance on plates.  On Monday nights, I'm hungry, the boys are hungry, and its one of the last remaining small things I can do at home as a mom.

5 thing Friday - Chinese lunch, Fall decor, thrifting, sweet treats, Happy Birthday to Coco!

 One day last week I took myself to lunch at a Chinese restaurant I hadn't been to in years.  The Chinese Eggplant with minced pork is my favorite thing.

Its in a spicy sweet sauce loaded with garlic and they bring you so much of it that I always have enough leftover for another meal, which as it turns out was one of my "kitchen closed" nights.

The empty but sentimental frame I have hanging near the kitchen got some new fall sprays.  You can't see them very well here, because its hard to get a picture in this shadowy recessed spot.

All of my Fall decor is pretty minimal this year.

At a neighbor's estate sale I loaded up a paper bag with: a neck pillow, glue gun and an almost full bag of glue sticks, Pyrex bowl, Calphalon lid for my crockpot, new paintbrush, tiny Christmas tree, glazed pottery pumpkin, and blue frame.  I probably could have added more, but it was 100 degrees in the shade and I had leftover Chinese food sitting in the car...

A snack while reading - they were actually pretty good.  I am all about the Season of Pumpkin.  A sweet treat that is somewhat healthy.

Also, I made a Pumpkin Dump Cake for The Girl's birthday and even though I did not follow the directions carefully...it came out great.  We had beef soft tacos, rice, beans, and street corn and I served the cake with Redi-Whip.  I hope The Girl had a good birthday and felt the love that we have for her.  Birthdays might feel different now, but that doesn't mean we won't keep celebrating them.

Happy Weekend,

Gina 

Monday menus #36

 One day last week I made what my mother used to call "goulash" for breakfast; basically a one skillet dish of meat and potato.

I peeled and cubed a couple small potatoes and boiled them in the microwave for a couple minutes while I heated my small cast iron skillet with olive oil, then I browned them in the hot skillet, adding in about 1/2 cup of leftover pulled pork, and when it all was crispy I cracked in an egg and cooked that over easy.  I topped with That Green Sauce from HEB and it was EXCELLENT.  Kept me full alllll morning.  And yes, I ate it right out of the skillet!

Monday - Chipotle Roasted Chicken Drums, mashed potatoes, Brown Sugar Bacon Green Beans {afternoon class at work}

Tuesday - Beef Tacos, Roast Corn with peppers {Happy Birthday to The Girl!}

Wednesday - Lime BBQ Shrimp, Parma Rosa pasta with spinach {on call in the evening}

Thursday - Skillet Pork Chops, Garlic Parm White Beans {Big Trash out to curb}

Friday - Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs, zucchini

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed 

Gina

5 thing Friday - Mom, driveway, garage, wine fridge, walks

 These are going to be in no particular order because its been one of those weeks.

Please give me your best thoughts on how to write an obituary for someone who is not yet departed from this world.  Because writing obituaries at all is bad (how do you condense a life into a few short paragraphs?), but imagining yourself handing it to someone when the time comes?  Also terrible.

I won't go in to details about the week as it relates to mom.  But I feel like this laundry basket of her things sitting by my front door today should serve as a cryptic reminder to me to keep paddling.  I want to do the right things for her and I think I am.  But that doesn't make it less difficult, even for simple tasks like laundry.

Yes, we are those people who load up the driveway with vehicles.  I need to make a decision soon about the truck and the Baja.  There are only three drivers living here, and although that is a temporary situation, the car rodeo out front is a pain in the neck and I'm sure the neighbors don't love looking at it.  My goal is to park my own car in the garage nightly.

To that end, I am still purging and cleaning the garage occasionally.  I don't know how much longer that will take....when I say it was full, I am not kidding.  At least I won't be bringing any more things from Highlands and as far as I know, Scout and Bubbie won't be adding anything else  Every 6 months or so I haul a bunch of crap out to the curb for Big Trash Day.  Its a dirty, sweaty, stressful chore.

But I like the direction its going.  So I keep going.  I know where 100% of my things are.

What's missing from this photo? (its not a rug, although I do want to add one to this room)  Hint:

The wine fridge is going.

I think I can say now, with certainty - I'm over it.  I no longer write for Texas Wine Lover,  cancelled the last wine club I had, stored the wine away in one of my kitchen cabinets (it can be used for Christmas or birthday gifts), and made a decision to never again buy beer or any hard liquor and keep family holidays completely dry.  It was fun while it lasted, but its not something that will be part of my life going forward.

We have a pretty nice exercise room at work that we can access at any time.  And since my knee is feeling so much better, and since I do far too much sitting at work, I will be visiting it more often when we aren't busy.  When the weather cools I will add neighborhood walks, but its just too hot here for that right now.  I know people do that in the heat, but I'm not one of those people!

So looking forward to Fall...

Gina

Monday menus #35

I realize I still haven't talked about what's going on with my mom on this blog...

 I feel like I have a lot of unhappy things to say about how August played out. 

Its been a rough few weeks.  I am trying to compartmentalize it and do a good job of not sinking.  I am taking care of my home, buying groceries and fixing meals, paying bills, trying to do my own job of mothering...but its a very heavy time.

Monday - (freezer) Pulled Pork Sammies, fritos {Happy Labor Day, work my regular shift today}

Tuesday - Chicken Fajita Tacos, refrieds {visit mom}

Wednesday - Sausage and Bean Skillet with O&P {on call, go to Brenham}

Thursday - Thai Chicken Noodles, broccoli {visit mom, work on the garage yet again}

Friday - Crockpot Ribs, sweet potatoes, salad {change air filters, catch up items at home}

Saturday - Bubbie cook {maybe beef stir fry}

Sunday - kitchen closed

Gina

5 thing Friday - mom's house, beer, good advice, fresh spaces for Fall, teeth

 I've been bringing home sacks of things from Mom's house to attend to.  Some of it is bills, some is laundry, some is things to be shredded, some items I want to protect from burglary.

I'm taking my responsibilities to my mom pretty seriously.  In everything, I am guided by the thought of "what would I want done for me?".  Do I know 100% what I am doing?  No.

I brought the blue and white tote bag home this week, intending to wash it and use it for files as I am traveling about.  There are many things for me to attend to.  Always I take an empty laundry basket with me to corral items.

One of the neighbors sniffed that the chicken and garden lot was "overgrown".  A few bean vines might be overgrown along the fence, but the grass itself was mowed by my niece and hubby and it looks like they picked up trash, too.  Still, the neighbor paying attention is not a bad thing.  

I feel a little horrified running my hands through my mother's things, invading her privacy.  But there is not a lot of organization that makes sense to me, and I have to locate files and paperwork without her there to guide me.  I would like to think she would forgive me for that - my intentions are very above-board.  Still, its hard, knowing that she is a person who deserves dignity, respect, and my best detective skills.  How to balance it all?  Very tricky.

While I was waiting on the bank to call me about an appointment related to handling her affairs, I stopped at a local brewery with my basket of things to sort.  People come to breweries during the day to have a beer while they work on their laptops.  I need a job like that!

Or maybe I just need to work at a brewery.  I think I would like it.

I feel like haven't had a lot of time to just relax at home lately. But I did freshen up some spaces yesterday.  Things got dusted, swept, 

...sheets washed, comforter switched out, rooms vacuumed, floors mopped.  My home is still 100% the greatest source of sanctuary and comfort for me.  If I only get to reconnect with it sparingly during the week, it can at least be clean and smell nice.

An overdue teeth cleaning yesterday and a plan to spend some time freshening up myself, as well. Happy September.  I, for one, am glad August is over.

Gina