5 thing Friday - treats, firewood, Scout's birthday, ravioli, Black Violin

Lately I have been encouraged to do something nice for myself and practice more self-care.  Does that sometimes translate to baked goods in my mind? Why yes.

(but also naps, a good cry, a long shower, reading, eating a good meal...)

Next week is Radiologic Technology Week and typically we get fed treats so I expect there will be more treats like this at my desk.  This one was some kind of cinnamon roll twist from Trader Joe's and was delightful with my coffee.

I figured I was probably going to get more wood than I had space to store on the back patio, but I let the guy just go ahead and stack it neatly there one afternoon this week.  The whole process of buying wood was painless - from ordering it on-line to getting it delivered and stacked.  I asked for 1/8 cord of pecan (low smoke) double split into 12 inch logs.

The next day, I stored some of the excess in the garage and I thoroughly cleaned out my little tooty firepit.  And not a moment too soon as Fall made its grand appearance in Austin this week.  The lows are in the 40s and 50s and feel amazing!

I love this guest bed so much - it was less than $200, was easy to build, and is a super comfy afternoon nap spot.  Knowing that Scout was sleeping on a handmedown bed with 1982 box springs and a mattress from his freshman year in high school, I offered to buy him one for his birthday and go set it up.

I'm not a young chick but I managed to get it into Brigid and off we went.  It took us about 30 minutes to put the bed together, including putting linens on the new mattress.  He will have more storage space underneath and hopefully, better sleep.

While I was there I gave his rescue kitty Oscar lots of pets and love.

Happy Birthday, Scout!

Since the temps have fallen, I am enjoying the oven for no fuss meals.  This is TJ's pumpkin ravioli with their harvest pasta sauce baked in my little glass casserole dishes.  One for Friday, one for the freezer.  If I didn't cook once, eat twice, I likely wouldn't cook at all....but this and a crisp salad makes it easy to pack a nice lunch for work.

Last night I took myself out again - I have been enjoying concerts and such at The Long Center in downtown Austin.

I saw Black Violin with Anthony Abraham and all three gentlemen are very talented.  The BV guys in particular - think high energy hip hop meets classical violin.  Very cool!  I got to bed very late and will probably do a nice long nap today after lunch with The Girl.  Both are nice ways to begin my work week.  Happy weekend everyone!

Gina

5 thing Friday - step stool feet, chair seat, big decisions, tub drain cover, snack mix

About a year ago I replaced the rubber feet on the step stool I use often.  At the time, it was a tight fit and they were hard to put on.  Over time, the edge of the step stool foot cut into the rubber feet.  Time to replace them yet again.  Don't you hate it when you have to re-visit a project you thought was done?!

You can see how one is misshapen.

I ordered a different set of feet that were slightly larger.  Turns out, they were too large.  What to do? Returning a $6 pack of rubber chair feet to Amazon is also a pain in the rear.  And they automatically tried to send another set out, to which I said NO, I will figure out a way to make this work.

In the garage toolbox I found exactly enough 3M mounting tape (whatever that is) and wrapped it around the end of the leg like so.  It provided just enough extra width to make the rubber feet fit snug. Perfect.

Mission accomplished.  I use this stool all the time.  I bought it years and years ago for our first house.

I got to looking at that fabric I bought last week and it is so pretty I knew I had to use some of it to recover my antique sewing table chair.  So vintage-y and beautiful!  It took me a power stapler and all of 30 minutes and was a good creative project.

On Wednesday, Scout came over to help me move the leather sectional to the garage.  I am patiently awaiting the new one. I'm a little nervous - I think I picked the right style, right color couch for me.  But big purchases always do a number on me.  I do trust myself, its just that for years I had another person to bounce all of these things off of.  One day, these decisions will feel more natural to me.

I pulled off the caulk around the guest tub overflow drain cover and wanted to shriek.  In fact, I might have.  Looks like the plumber was right - I need a new tub insert.

But that's not going to happen right now, so I pulled out this peel and stick caulk I had purchased months ago.  Originally I planned on putting it at the base of the tub, but I never got around to it.

It looks like homemade sin and maybe like its loose, but its not.  I did add a small bead of clear caulk all-around it.  Its a temporary patch job, but it will work until such a time as I replace the tub insert in here.  This bathroom is rarely used.

I made some Fall-themed snack mix, courtesy of an idea on a blog I read often.  It made a LOT, so the extra went into a sealed container in my pantry for whenever I want a treat, which is often.  I found this storage jar at Home Goods and filled it to the brim for Scout - he is my Halloween babe.  If you like salty-sweet snacks*, I highly recommend.

Happy weekend!

Gina

*In mine is: cheese crackers, Cocoa Puffs cereal, honey roast peanuts, Brach's autumn mix and candy corn, raisins, peanut butter filled pretzels, and Reese's Pieces.

5 thing Friday - paint storage, thrifting, dinner with Scout, salad weather, tree woes

I really meant to do more painting this week, and organize the paint that I still have so that it doesn't dry out and I can use it in future, if I need to. 

I got the idea to make up these touch up pots that I can keep in the cleaning closet.  Each one will have a mini blender ball and a label with the paint's specifics.  Maybe this will make touch ups easier and the paint less likely to dry to a rock.  

I did a bit of thrifting this week, mainly to leave the house.  But also because I have a running list in my head of things to be on the lookout for, none of which I found this week.

I bought 2 books, 2 new bath towels, a workout tank top, and a cute Old Navy dress.  Total spent was $20 and included a senior discount that the cashier begrudgingly gave me after telling me I didn't look old enough.  Thank you?

Hooray for me not getting lost when visiting Scout for the first time since his move in February.  I took him some dinner, a giant "brookie", and some beer.  I got to meet his cat, Oscar, who is a sweet purr machine.  It was nice to see Scout and I need to do that more often!

He loves thrifting, too.  He saw this mug and thought of me. Sweet!

Its going to be salad season here for a loooong time.  I am leaning into it as it doesn't involve the oven and encourages me to eat more veggies and fruit.  I'm trying to do a better job of  eating healthy and staying away from fast food.

Yesterday I walked onto the deck with my morning coffee and thought there was something different with the view.  Oh yeah - a giant portion of the neighbor's tree is not where its supposed to be!

I aimed my phone over the fence.  Oh, Lord.

A portion of it is right against the fence - I hope it has done no lasting damage.  I never even heard it fall and we had no storm or wind.  So, yeah, I don't know how that happened. But I refuse to get worked up over it.  Things happen. And it didn't hit my tree or house, and a fence is fixable.

Its been a slow news week here - how are things in your world?

Gina

Monday menus #106

Shutterfly keeps sending me freebies, so I oblige them. 

A beautiful photo that Scout took years ago on a campout became a mousepad for my shared desk at work.  When I'm not there, my hope is that my co-workers feel inspired by it as well!

Monday - kitchen closed {freebie chicken nuggets and kale salad from Chik-Fil-A!}

Tuesday - Green Curry Pasta with Shrimp and Spinach {telehealth appt.}

Wednesday - Italian Chicken and Rice (two meals), green beans {meet with dietician}

Thursday - Brisket Salad with spring mix, purple onion, tomato, jalapenos, pickles, and lo-cal Ranch

Friday - Eat out {Scout moving to new apartment!}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed  {Happy Birthday, Firstborn!}

Gina

Christmas 2024, in brief

Christmas was everything I wanted it to be.

Luminarias lining the walkway to the front of the church

A beautiful service that filled me with hope

The tree ready to welcome my peeps

Time spent together as a family

Scout

Firstborn

Bubbie

The Girl and Teddy

A peaceful, loving day full of relaxation, good food, time together.

A beautiful ending to the year!

Gina

Monday menus #96

 Pizza rolls and pizza, along with chocolate chip cookies and Caesar Salad were enjoyed on Halloween night aka Scout's birthday.  The three of us listened to "spooky" music and ate by candlelight in the kitchen.

No candy was purchased, which solved two problems: having to hang out near the door or outside and hand candy out over the space of two hours, and/or having candy leftover, which I then would have had a hard time staying out of.  

Monday - kitchen closed

Tuesday - (freezer) Chicken Fajita Salad

Wednesday - BBQ Shrimp, skinny mashed potatoes, zucchini {morning telehealth appt.}

Thursday - Bowtie Pasta with Meaty Marinara, side salad (make an extra for the freezer), the rest of the chopped salad

Friday - Thanksgiving Sub - make an extra one for the weekend {morning audiologist appt.}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Hooray for November!

Gina

5 thing Friday - enchiladas, Scout, yards, protein, projects

 I'm doing OK with the "cook once, eat twice" method.  Last week I did a couple of small dishes of enchilada casserole using up some corn tortillas, cheese, taco meat, and sauce from the freezer.

These little glass dishes are perfect for that.  They come with lids that snap on, and they are easy to pack in my lunchkit.

This person (Scout) has a birthday coming up next week.  Its been a tough couple of years for him, and though I will miss him terribly,  I feel like I need to encourage him more to find an apartment and make a stab at autonomous living.  I'm going to make him some homemade cookies, buy a birthday gift or two, chat with him again.

I've said it before: parenting adults is hard.

My yards are fully into drought mode, the grass barely growing.  The sprinkler system went kaput and I spent a tiny fraction of time watering them over the summer.  It just seemed so pointless with the triple digit temps.  I read somewhere that we are wasting way too much water on our lawns and we really should be xeriscaping, with native grasses and plants.  There is ONE house on my entire block that has green grass and I imagine they water it often.

I bought some protein snacks at HEB that were buy two, get one free.  I'm actually not a fan of protein added foods - have you ever noticed they have a weird texture?  Its like sawdust is the prime ingredient.  That being said, I have managed to add more protein to my day, and according to the dermatologist, this is key for hair growth.

I got as far as purchasing the weather stripping for a couple of Fall projects - now if I could only get started on them. Procrastination is high at Camp Rustown, motivation is low.  If we could just get some Fall-like weather!

Gina

5 thing Friday - peaches, Thelma, fix-its, eating at home, walking

I have been absolutely loving me some peaches! 

I'm not sure if I have ever tried the white ones, but I love yellow peaches (and nectarines)  in the summer.  Add a small sprinkling of Tajin and OMG so good.  I would like to think of this as a healthy snack, even with the added salt and chile powder.  

On Tuesday, I took myself to a movie.  I think Mark would have approved.

Parts of it made me teary eyed, but mostly it made me cackle out loud.  I was 100% OK with being one of 5 people in the theatre, enjoying my medium size popcorn - I normally order a BUCKET.  Baby steps.  I should take in a movie more often!

I was putting up towels in the guest bathroom, then one thing led to another and I was doing a quick clean on the potty, noticing it didn't flush easily.  A small adjustment to the chain was all it needed.  In comes Scout telling me that one day last week the handle completely broke and he replaced it.

!

He didn't want me to stress out, so he just took care of it, he said.  I really didn't know what to think.  Scout and I are learning how to fix these small things, even without the guiding hand of Dad.

Yesterday I had my mind set on Chuy's, then thought, meh, I could just cook something I already have at home.  $20 vs. about $4, so I came out ahead of the game and still had a great meal.  Chicken and rice with avocado and green onions, topped with a bit of shredded cheddar was enjoyed.  With a fresh peach for dessert.

I'm committed to walking, even tho I begrudgingly go.  I always feel better when I get back after 30 minutes.  I've been walking four times a week, except when I'm off on Monday, then its 5 times.  I've noticed that I have more stamina and am fully heat acclimated, so I can go later in the morning if I need to.  Proof that some habits are harder to start than maintain, no?

Gina

Monday menus #44

Scout has a birthday coming up on Tuesday! How is it possible that he is 28?

The focus of my family blog has shifted away from my "kids" as they are all grown now.  But that doesn't mean that I don't celebrate them in real life. I wish I knew a way to bundle up enough birthday hugs that would last him for the next 50 years or so.

Monday - 15 Bean Soup with garlic knots (crockpot)

Tuesday - Fried Chicken, potato salad, corn on cob {Happy Birthday, Scout!}

Wednesday - Spinach Baked Gnocci, honey carrots {meet with Mom's executor in Brenham, on call in p.m.}

Thursday - Coconut Shrimp, chopped salad, sweet potato fries {lunchtime retirement planning webinar}

Friday - Chalupas (refried black beans, green chili seasoned taco meat, lettuce, tomato, sour cream) {payday, and putting my Christmas trees up!)

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed {Fall back!}

Gina