What's Been Going On: 15-17 November, 2021

 

Hello, hello!

Bit of a quiet start to the week around here, for the most part. We’ve had a mix of warmer-for-this-time-of-year weather and some chilly days, and mostly gray skies and rain, but I never mind that. There’s nothing like curling up with a crocheted blanket in my big reading chair when the weather is dreary.

Here's what I’ve been up to so far this week.

 

Monday, 15 November, 2021

 

My back wasn’t great when I woke up; my left side was really unhappy with me. Not a fun start to the week!

After getting dressed and having breakfast with my daughter, I unloaded the dishwasher and ran it empty to clean it, then tidied the kitchen and the living room. I dropped my daughter off at school, and after I pulled into the driveway, I took a minute to collect all the recycling from inside the car (my family is MESSY!) into a bag that I had brought out for that purpose, and I placed those items in the recycling bin.

I took the compost out, then prepared the vegetables and sauce for Sheet Pan Cashew Tofu (and made another run out to the compost). I then spent 20 minutes straightening the basement, which VERY badly needed it. You could hardly walk down there, and now the floor is clean! I feel really good about that. : )

I wrote and posted my review for The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harness the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live by Danielle Dreilinger. Afterwards, I relaxed in my chair and checked in on some of my favorite homemaking blogs.

I took my daughter her lunch, and after pulling back in the driveway, I cleaned the trash out of the car into a bag I’d brought out specifically for that. All the trash went directly into the outdoor trash can!

After lunch, I took out the recycling, sliced the tofu to marinate, made my daughter’s bed, and spent a few extra minutes straightening some things in the basement. Upstairs, I swept the living room and kitchen, decided against doing Pilates because my back was still feeling cranky, and spent 30 minutes with my Read Harder book (The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World’s Religious Traditions by Peter Occhiogrosso).

Upon further contemplation, I remembered that the last time I made Sheet Pan Cashew Tofu, I had wished I’d doubled the sauce, so I made another batch. I put the rice in the rice cooker, finished going through my favorite homemaking blogs, then tidied a few of my daughter’s toys that had been moldering away in the hallway for weeks.

I played around online for a bit to rest, helped my daughter with her homework, put the vegetable/tofu mix in the oven to roast, and refilled my olive oil container (I buy olive oil in 3 liter cans, which is really impractical to pour from, so I pour it into a repurposed coffee creamer bottle. Not the fanciest, but it works just fine!).

 

Read to roast! 

And ready to eat!

Dinner was DELICIOUS- if you’re craving any kind of Asian delivery but don’t want to spend the money, make this (I linked it above). Double the sauce, and if you don’t do tofu, you can substitute chicken or whatever kind of meat you eat. It’s so, so good. I did my Duolingo, put the rest of dinner away, cleaned the kitchen, took out the garbage and recycling again and dragged the cans to the road, and then I went and showered.

I put my daughter to bed and read my book until my husband came upstairs, and we watched two episodes of Forensic Files.

 

Tuesday, 16 November, 2021

After getting dressed and ready, I scooped the litterbox. Such a fun way to start the morning! I love my old man cat, though, so I never mind.

I cooked up some taco-spiced lentils in the Instant Pot, then wiped down the stovetop and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher before dropping my daughter off at school. At home, I spent twenty minutes organizing the basement bookshelves, then cleaned off my daughter’s toys from the stairs (they’d also been there for weeks!). Finally, I was able to fully sweep the upstairs hallway and stairs, and I swept the living room as well.

It was early, but I picked up The Joy of Sects and read for 30 minutes (started the section on Taoism), and then I cooked up some chopped green pepper and made a taco lentil rice casserole kind of thing that I just kind of invented in order to use up a bunch of leftover rice I didn’t want going bad (I stirred the rice together with four eggs- it was a LOT of rice!- the green pepper, the lentils I’d cooked earlier, and a bunch of salsa). I put that in the fridge, prepared my daughter’s lunch, and took it over to her at the school.

After lunch, I did a new twenty-minute Pilates video, since my back was feeling- not quite okay, but at least up to the task, and since I was up afterwards, I took out the compost. I read White Tears/Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad until my husband got home, and then it was time for a library run. My daughter’s book was overdue, yikes! I grabbed her several new books; I also picked out three books for me.

 

 

What I’ll be reading next.

I continued reading at home until I needed to help my daughter with her math, then threw the casserole in the oven. It turned out fantastic, and I’ll definitely continue making that to use up leftover rice. I did my Duolingo, cleaned the kitchen, and ran the dishwasher. After showering, I read my book, and my husband and I watched two episodes of Forensic Files.

 

Wednesday, 17 November, 2021

Grocery day! After breakfast and getting ready, I made out my grocery list. Nothing really great on sale this week, unfortunately. I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and dropped my daughter off at school.

Two grocery stores to stop at this week; $14 at a local store, and $51 at Aldi, which is about normal for us ($5 of that Aldi total was for a gift for my daughter!). At home, I put the groceries away and settled down to do an hour of volunteer work while listening to JBSTV. Today, I compiled lists of mental health resources for my state (I’m almost done with this list!) while listening to an interview with author Tal Keinan. He was such an intriguing interviewee that when my hour was up, I put his book, God Is in the Crowd: A Model for Post-Diaspora Judaism on hold via interlibrary loan.

I prepared my daughter’s lunch and took it to her at school. At home, I had lunch, did my 20 minutes of Pilates and 30 minutes of my Personal Read Harder challenge, and then, due to a terrible night’s sleep, took a nap for about an hour in my reading chair. Some days, it’s the only thing you can do!

I baked a pizza from Aldi for dinner and helped my daughter with her spelling words afterwards. I visited a few homemaking blogs, showered, and cleaned up the kitchen. I finished checking the blogs, then put my daughter to bed and read until my husband came upstairs. We watched two episodes of Forensic Files before going to bed.

 

And that’s it for now! We’ll see how today goes. My back seems to be okay, but I woke up with a headache that’s just this side of a migraine. NOT FUN. I don’t know how much I’ll get done today; I suppose that all depends on how this headache goes. Wish me luck, and I hope you’re all doing well and having a productive week!