Monday musings & the week ahead

All that is scheduled for this week is my Pilates session and dog grooming. I intend to focus on finishing the last procrastinated to dos, starting to get the backyard ready for outdoor enjoyment, continuing to ramp up exercising, and hopefully finalizing my clothing for the June 1st wedding.

I realized recently that I was very bored with my at home exercise routine and avoiding it. I found a YouTube channel with short doable Pilates mat exercises some using weights. For right now I am trying a 7 day beginner program with weights but doing them every other day. Once I can breeze through it in 7 days I’ll ramp up. That combined with my weekly session with a Pilates trainer and long walks without the dog a few times a week is where I am right now. I am considering adding/substituting swimming this summer.

Mentally I’ve put any costly or involved home improvement projects on hold for a while so it will probably just be small things for the rest of the year. That should check off a few more things on the aging to do list. We will see what happens.

I’m thinking of focusing on things like touch up paint for the three metal outdoor benches, thrifting paintings/prints for the large bedroom and our office, redoing a large outdoor pot, and maybe finding a small table and chairs for the family room for puzzles, art projects, sewing, etc.

I was asked at the Easter gathering if I had any desire to travel internationally and had to honestly answer not at this time. Between the pandemic, our move and the political situation not to mention disarray in air traffic control and safety, I just don’t have the desire. We have a standing invitation to visit a nephew’s family in Taiwan, family on the East Coast and I have a long held interest in seeing more of Europe but not right now. I want to put down roots and find my tribe.

I’ve also decided that listing our dinners for the week is getting repetitive so will only talk about interesting new recipes going forward.

Five on Friday - family time edition

1. Lots of family time this week. 

• Saturday morning with grandgirls & DIL at Fairyland for "choo-choo train rides", egg hunt and more. 
• Sunday with family at DIL's mother's house for Easter egg hunt and dinner - 3 kids, 8 adults & 2 dogs including our pup. As we were leaving our dog fell asleep in the car back seat before I was even able to get in the front seat so you know he partied hard 🐶
• Tuesday saw a couple of late afternoon hours babysitting the toddler who was cheerful, fun, very busy and cooperative. Then we had pizza and salad at their house. 
• Took our son out for a belated birthday lunch on Wednesday to his choice of the same brewery where we enjoyed our anniversary lunch. Always a treat to have adult time with him.
• Tonight is date night so going to our sons house to be there when older girl gets back from her evening at a friends. Get her ready for bed and have a short visit.

2. Bought 2 jars of our favorite Bon Mamam jams from the corner store's pre-tariff stock. I don't have the room or inclination to really stock up, but am getting ahead on a few things we use regularly that won't spoil. I may end up shopping for produce at our local farmer's markets if things jump in price as much as I expect. Seasonal eating for the win.

3. Sent my son home Wednesday with various bags (not purses) for older granddaughter to look at to see if she wants to use one for today's "anything but a backpack" theme day at school. She was asking Tuesday evening what bags they had that she could use so I dug out the ones I have to add as more options.

4. The dress I ordered for the wedding arrived and is too large! I could alter it but ordered a smaller size before deciding which to keep. I will return one dress and the necklace I bought as one I have works well. My sweater works too but all the shoes and sandals went back. More sandals were ordered. Sigh.

5. Set up the sewing machine and altered 3 tops so they fit my shoulders better. Pulled some weeds. Did some more procrastinated on paperwork. Life admin never ends.

FRUGAL ONE OFFS - Found a penny for a grand total of 13 cents so far this year. Used my Extrabucks before they expired for a B1G1 50% off on the eye drops I use daily. Saved $20.04 on a 120 day supply of an item I have to use the rest of my life.

Dinners & the week ahead

Happy 42nd birthday to our younger son on this Monday. We will celebrate at the Easter gathering Sunday but we will take him out for a birthday lunch on the day of his choosing this week.

We are babysitting the toddle Tuesday afternoon. I may go to a talk at the city rec center on Wednesday.

Hoping to get the replacement cellular shade up this week and some more paperwork done!

What we ate for dinner -

Monday - Dinner out with cousins @ Five Tacos and Beer. I had a shrimp taco that was delicious plus plenty of chips and guacamole and a good beer. Then we went back to our house and had gelato bars that I had picked up at the little neighborhood market.

Tuesday - Turkey burgers, boiled small red potatoes, large salads

Wednesday - Trader Joe's potstickers, large salads

Thursday - Leftover turkey burgers & potatoes, green beans

Friday - Vegetarian sweet potato chili (https://cookieandkate.com/sweet-potato-chili-recipe/) with leftover beef broth and half a beer subbed for veggie broth. It was good but will not go in rotation. Lots of leftovers frozen.

Saturday - Leftover rice and green beans, potstickers and half a pear for me. Hubby out with a friend.

Sunday - Easter dinner at DIL's mother's house. We took hearty nibbles for earlier in the afternoon.

Five plus on Friday - Wedding clothes shopping, books read, anniversary lunch

   

1. I got myself back on the freeway for 40 minutes and went to the largest and nicest mall near us. Now that I have been there once I would be more likely to go again. This time though I was focused and only went to the JJill store. I returned a dress I had ordered (but kept the PJ set) and then tried on a few more. I really liked this one as a summer formal wedding guest dress especially the color and fabric as it will be very hot. I ordered it in my usual size and also bought the necklace it was displayed with. Fingers crossed it fits. I may return the necklace despite the drive if one I already have will work. I have an ivory cardigan I can take for later in the evening and hope to borrow a dressy purse or just use a smallish regular shoulder bag I have.

I don’t usually wear something voluminous, but the color is great, it is a maxi and very airy. I'm sort of planning this look but with a different necklace and no bracelet. A stack of shoes & sandals have arrived so as soon as the dress gets here I will start trying things on and doing more returns lol!

2. Chipping away at my Outstanding Annoying Tasks. Finally finished a plant care guide by season for our re-landscaped yard. Did some yard work including the Spring fertilizing noted in the guide!

3. Saturday was our 44th anniversary and a gorgeous sunny day so we went out to lunch. We went to Headlands Brewery in Berkeley where all seating is outside and they were playing lively music. One BLAT for me and Deluxe Smash Burger with seasoned fries for hubby and beer for both. It was fun.

4. A dear friend called and after the usual chit chat clearly needed to talk about her health struggles. I was happy to listen, commiserate, and ask questions about possible options. So sad she is facing such struggles and wish I still lived nearby.

5. I enjoyed watching 2 seasons of Queens of Mystery via PBS Passport. Started the 4 season show Murder in Sweden and it is much darker as Nordic mysteries tend to be and British ones don't.

6. I've slowly been stocking on non-food items as I do regular shops for them or place orders if that is how we buy them. I'm mostly hoping to avoid the stress of shortages like we had during the pandemic. Are you doing any stocking up?

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So far this month I've read 3 books that fit into the 52 books challenge. I have 13 prompts left.

Prompt: Told in verse  - A very lovely and touching book. Quite sad at times though.

Prompt: Plot includes a heist - Ok but not a favorite

Prompt: Published in 2025 - Apparently the real life subject of this biography was prone to aggrandizing her life and it is unclear what was true and what wasn't. An interesting read.

Dinners & the week ahead

I am quite excited about Monday as one of my favorite cousins and her husband who live on the East Coast are going to stop by for a visit as they head out on vacation. We haven’t seen each other since before the pandemic although we do stay in touch.

Wednesday is Pilates before the instructor goes back on vacation for 2 more weeks after the prior 4. Hopefully I will actually go to the library mystery book club too. 

Nothing else planned yet but we need to figure out what we are taking for nibbles before an early Easter dinner and finish buying the grandgirls Easter gifts. The dress I ordered should arrive and hopefully will be a winner plus lots of shoes/sandals arriving to try on. 

I'd also like to make more progress on deep cleaning the kitchen and finishing Outstanding Annoying Tasks plus do something fun.

Dinners last week

Tuna chef salad

Tofu veggie stir fry, brown jasmine rice

BBQ chicken, boiled small red potatoes, carrots

Large dinner salad, leftover soup from freezer

Frittata with sweet Italian sausage, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and red pepper plus sourdough toast

Pasta salad over arugula

Pork chop, broccoli, leftover pasta salad

Five plus on Friday - Dress for niece’s wedding, project progress, Easter plans and more.

Let's start some good news for us - although in normal times we would expect these to be routine. My SS payment showed up in my bank account on Wednesday. We continue to find Kaiser N. California easy to use, providing what is contracted for through Medicare and Federal Employee Health Benefits and the staff has been very helpful and nice.

1. I drove to the closest Chico’s on Sunday to return lots of dresses ordered online that didn’t work. I still need to find one plus shoes and a dressy purse. I'm going to buy a dress and shoes I will wear again and up their formal quotient with accessories as I haven't found anything more formal that I like and fits. I'm out of patience with the process. Hoping to borrow a sparkly purse. I also decided to wear something I already have to the gathering the night before. It is from 8 to 10 with small bites and drinks at a restaurant. I expect I will be underdressed at both events but that is the way it is going to be and I'm probably the only one who will be bothered I hope.

2. My favorite cousin and her husband are coming for a visit! They live in NH as do my brother and SIL and another cousin (the other 2 cousins live in Massachusetts) but I haven't been there since before the pandemic. I am so happy that I will get to see them! 

3. Project progress 

• Purchased a replacement for the broken cellular shade one that came with the house as I was able to find the receipt for the original order from Blinds.com in the mass of paperwork we received from the sellers and they are still available. We got it on sale too and it should arrive next Wednesday.
• Reorganized garage for when our son's family has to store things during foundation replacement work on his house.
• I paid the final 10% on our insulation work since it passed inspection. 
• Went to recycling center to find out how tech recycling is handled and the bottom line is to feel comfortable I have to pull the hard drive and take it to be shredded.

4. Bought Easter gifts for the Grandgirls and their cousin at local bookstore. I like giving books/gift certificates for books. The older Grandgirl also is getting a second gift certificate for Jamba Juice. We are joining with our son and DIL on a set of Lord of the Rings books for their older cousin. We are invited to our DIL's Mom's Easter egg hunt and dinner where the kids are always given Easter gifts. It is nice to be included.

5.  California's State Library has just made over 300,000 e-books and audiobooks available to the public for free! So many books, so much to read. https://secretlosangeles.com/california-library-free-ebooks/

Plus - Found a dime so I came into money lol. That makes 21 cents so far this year. Not getting rich off of these random money finds.

Dinners & the week ahead

The week ahead -

Hmmm - looks pretty empty on the calendar except for the final inspection of the insulation work on Tuesday then on Saturday both the Friends of the Library book sale and our 44th anniversary.

It will be a good week to focus on self care, projects and some things left on the OATS list.

What we had for dinner -

Monday - Turkey chili, coleslaw, garlic bread

Tuesday - Salmon, spinach, mashed potatoes

Wednesday - Tofu, broccoli & red pepper stir fry, white rice

Thursday - Leftover turkey chili, 

Friday - Roasted chicken, toasted thick bread crumbs and arugula & current salad (Barefoot Contessa recipe). Dinner cooked by our son after we babysat the older grandgirl half the day

Saturday - Fish tacos (  ).Dinner cooked together with son and grandgirls at our house while DIL was at an event.

Sunday - Trader Joe’s frozen roasted veg pizza with added veggies.