Week 26 - Back on Track

Slow but sure, I’m getting back to normal. For the second week in a row, I didn’t go to the pool (don’t ask) so split my free evenings between having fun and reclaiming my life.

I started Monday at the podiatrist’s office and finished at the dentist’s office. Both my feet and my teeth were smooth as silk. I started getting organized before heading to the library to knit, which was fun. Tuesday found me running errands at lunch – dropping stuff at Goodwill and buying new lampshades and shelves to go under my shoe rack. Target didn’t have the Liberty of London sheets I wanted to I ordered them that night before cooking some shrimp and broccoli for supper and orange scented chocolate chocolate chip bread pudding (see recipe below) – yum! It was the first cooking I’d done in a long time and even felt remotely healthy (the shrimp, not the pudding.)

After work Wednesday I was driving to Whole Foods in Omaha to meet Anne, who was at a week-long conference in Council Bluffs, for supper and another night of knitting, this time with the Food and Fibers group. There were about 25-30 people there and they were very friendly. A couple of people were spinning and one woman had hand dyed sock yarn for sale. While I can’t say I’d drive up there every week, I would definitely go if I needed something (need?) at Whole Foods.

The whole point of going to Omaha was to go to Urban Outfitters, which is way down by the river, to get the perfect area rug for my bedroom. But a quick phone call confirmed that they didn’t have it so I ordered it online before I left for Omaha. At least I found out before driving 90 blocks in the wrong direction from Whole Foods. Since the fuschia lamp shade had worked (I’d been concerned about it not allowing enough light through to read in bed), I was all set to keep the fuschia drawers for the shoe cubby I’d bought. I think my short list of purchases for step one of my post-painting redecoration was done.

Thursday night was book club at the library and I’d planned to mow before I left since Friday and the weekend were supposed to be blazing hot and the grass was tall after the butt loads of rain we’d gotten (6+ inches in just a few days.) But I decided on the way home that it was the perfect time to hire Andrew Hart to mow because I could pick him up, show him the ropes and then drop him on my way to the library. This all would have worked perfectly except it takes a string bean eleven year old much longer to mow than an adult. He wasn’t even half done when I needed to leave so I called his parents and arranged to have them pick him up. Cross that off the list. The next day was Friday and I planned to shop on my way out of Lincoln so I’d have everything I needed to finish the painting over the weekend.

That said, you just know it didn’t work out. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. with an upset stomach but fought through it and was able to fall back asleep. But when I woke up a few hours later, my intestines were in an uproar. I went to work but only made it to 11:00 before having to leave. No Menard’s run, no HyVee. I bolted home and just sat for the rest of the day. The cramps subsided by mid afternoon but I wasn’t headed out of town just to get supplies. The heat and humidity had already set in so I just made a list of things I could do with what I had on hand. And I did get plenty done.

The totes are unpacked, the curtains washed and rehung, the shoe cubby is set up and pretty, my laundry is caught up, my refrigerator is stocked with food for the week and most of my chores got done. I never did leave the house between coming home early on Friday and leaving Monday morning but I managed to enjoy the weekend, avoid most of the heat and get a lot done. Not bad for Plan B.

Chocolate Orange Bread Pudding
4 slices of bread torn into small chunks (~4 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
1 tsp. orange extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix bread, sugar and eggs in 1.5 quart casserole. Nuke milk with baking chocolate for 5 minutes until milk is steaming and chocolate is melted. Add to bread mixture. Stir in extract and chips. Place casserole in a baking pan with 1" of hot water in bottom and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Enjoy warm or cold. Yum!