Weekly recap: 11/5/2018

Has anyone else noticed that fall is particularly gorgeous this year? I don't have any pictures, but I've been in absolute awe as I've driven around town this week. The past few years have been overall disappointing, but man, it seems like there are super gorgeous trees of every autumn hue every few feet. I overheard someone say it was because we had such early cold weather. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's been an absolute joy to see. :)

A mixed bag of a week for me, so let's get down to the recap, shall we?


MONDAY

I emptied and refilled the dishwasher before my mom showed up to babysit, and then it was off to everyone's least favorite place-

the dentist.

Ugh. (My apologies to any dentist reading this.)

It was a good appointment; no cavities and everything looks fine, but I haaaaaaaaaate going to the dentist. My first pregnancy destroyed my teeth and I spent several years getting the damage repaired (not a joke, I had a dentist appointment every four or five weeks for almost two years, plus three root canals, plus an extraction and bridge replacement. Don't get hyperemesis gravidarum, kids!), so I've developed a deep fear of the dentist. I still go every six months, though, and I floss and brush like crazy. It was a relief to hear the dentist say that everything looked good, so I scheduled my next checkup and floored it out of there.

Mostly so I could go home, change clothes, throw some black beans in the Instant Pot, and head off to physical therapy! It never stops around here. We kept it light and easy since I haven't been feeling great lately. I picked my mom and daughter up afterwards and bought my mom a birthday lunch at Panera Bread.

I had the modern Greek salad with quinoa. SO good.

We had enough time for me to swing by Walgreens to pick up a prescription, and then we had to drive to the high school to pick up my son and his friend from Monday's choir practice. At home, I threw together beans and rice for dinner (it's my go-to meal on days when I don't have time to cook anything else!), and then I took my daughter to the library like I'd been promising I would. 

That evening, I cleaned the kitchen, put away dinner, took the trash to the curb, did my PT exercises, and my husband and I watched two episodes of Supernatural before going to bed. Phew!


TUESDAY

After I dropped my daughter off at school, I ran to Walmart for cat food and litter. While I was there, I checked out the prices of dry milk- HOLY COW, has that gone up!!! I like to keep some on hand to bake with (so I don't have to use up the milk the kids are drinking), but not at THAT price. It's actually cheaper for me to use liquid milk than it is dry. So weird. After that, I ran to the Dollar Store for a card, more barrettes (I swear, my daughter goes through these things like air), and a hairbrush (since whenever my husband does my daughter's hair, he leaves the hairbrush wherever he is, forcing me to have to comb out my wet, tangled hair with an open hair clip after I get out of the shower at night and discover the brush is missing...). And since I had time, I stopped by Mariano's to pick up the free ketchup I'd downloaded a coupon for the Friday before. Free ketchup is always good. ;)

I picked my daughter up, ran the dishwasher, and threw the ingredients for bread in the bread machine before making us lunch, and during naptime, I made a lovely batch of Potato Cauliflower soup at my daughter's request. It's her absolute favorite and she asks for it all the time (I'll put up a recipe soon, I have all the pictures for it! Not great pictures, but still, pictures!). When that was in the Instant Pot, I did a yoga video, baked the bread, and then, as I was blending the soup, a muscle on my right side in my back started spasming like crazy. OW. It did that on and off most of the rest of the week, too. HMPH.

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, then we had to drop my son off at school. As there wasn't really enough time to go back home, my daughter and I hung out at the library until it was time for my husband to arrive, which was a good thing because I had a book that was in. :)

My daughter put this together. She said it's a chair and was very proud of it!

After dinner, I did my exercises, picked my son up, and my husband and I watched two episodes of Supernatural before bed.

WEDNESDAY

Happy Halloween!

I dropped my daughter off at school in full Nature Cat costume and ran to Aldi, where I picked up groceries and a pizza for dinner. I drove home, put the groceries away, cleaned up the kitchen, and then it was back to school to pick up my daughter, who had decided six hours before trick or treating that she wanted to change her costume.

Um.

No. 

But I did get the chance to quickly discuss having a playdate with another parent, whose son apparently really loves my daughter, so we're going to try to schedule that coming up soon. I'm looking forward to this, I desperately need more human interaction!

We ran to a second grocery store, where my daughter was SUPER excited about my purchases of...cabbage and Brussels sprouts? Not the norm for a four year old, but my daughter is anything but normal. ;) (And yes, she happily eats both. The last time I had Brussels sprouts, she pitched a fit because I said we could share them. She wanted her own- and she ate every last bite when I gave her her own bowl!) 

At home, I put the groceries away, swept the floor, did two yoga videos, and managed to mop the floor before my mom arrived. She goes trick or treating with us every year, which is pretty special. :) I picked my husband up early, we got my daughter ready, and then it was time for trick or treating around the neighborhood.

Cutest Nature Cat ever! You can't see it, but she has a tail.

Of course, everyone thought she was Robin Hood, but that was okay. :)

We had SUPER gorgeous weather on Halloween. It was cool and crisp, but not cold, just absolutely perfect for walking around the neighborhood. I was fine up until the end, when that stupid right-side-back muscle started spasming and my hips REALLY hurt. It was a relief to get home and sit down with that Aldi pizza...and maybe a piece or two of candy. ;)

Trick or treat!

I did some- not all- of my PT exercises that night; I figured with all the walking, I should be careful, and I stayed away from anything that didn't feel good. I read my Kindle book before going to bed. 

THURSDAY

I did my basement chores (litterbox, refilling the Air Washer), cleaned the kitchen, and filled and ran the dishwasher before heading off to my last day of physical therapy. They sent me home with a packet of exercises I can do to work all the different muscles that act like jerks because my skeleton is an even bigger jerk. I'm glad to have my days back to myself again, but I'm going to miss all the physical therapists' elbows jamming into my spasming muscles! (That's not sarcasm, that actually helps so much!!!)

For dinner, I made Instant Pot Baingan Bharta (Mashed Spiced Eggplant), to which I added cooked lentils and some spinach I needed to use up, and I served it over rice. Now, I love love LOVE Indian food- it's my favorite cuisine, hands down, but I don't feel like I'm great at cooking it. Eventually I want to find a really good Indian cookbook (vegetarian, of course), and work my way through it, because a lot of the time, I'm disappointed by my attempts to cook Indian food at home. Not this, though- this was really good, and it was extra awesome because I'm really picky about how I like my eggplant cooked. This was FANTASTIC, and I'll absolutely make it again!!!

I unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, and then it was time to run out and...pick my son's best friend up from detention. ;) His grandma, whom he lives with, was at home with her mom and the home healthcare worker, so we ran over to the school and grabbed him and dropped him off at home. And then my daughter and I went to the library, again, where she played and I read my Kindle book. I cleaned the kitchen after dinner, loaded and ran the dishwasher, read more of my Kindle book, and my husband and I watched two episodes of Supernatural before bed.


FRIDAY

A local church was having an indoor yard sale, so my daughter and I headed over there early in the morning. She got a stuffed My Little Pony and a stuffed Peppa Pig (the small, Beanie Baby-sized stuffies; she actually does play with these a LOT, so I had no qualms about bringing these home). I picked up a kid's chef hat/apron set, which I'll give to my daughter for Christmas; two children's sewing patterns; a baking sheet; a snap fastener tool; and two metal water bottles, which I'll give to my son for Christmas. For all this, I paid $4.25, which I thought was an extremely good deal!

My daughter had been asking to play at a library in another town, and I had a book from there that I needed to return, so we went and did that. Afterwards, I dropped off some paperwork at my pain doctor's office. When my daughter went down for a nap, I read my library book and rested for a bit. 

He likes to rest with me sometimes. Occasionally on me.

I unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, and for dinner, I made a batch of Velvety Vegan Alfredo Sauce to go with linguine. I usually make this with broccoli, but since I was out, I threw some spinach in there and it was awesome- I think I'll make it like that from now on!

After dinner, I attended an interfaith Shabbat service here in town. The congregation is attended by someone who lost family in last week's synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, and it felt extremely important to me to attend this healing ceremony. They had set up seating for 700 people, and it was standing room only, a beautiful testament to the strength and love that exists in our community. Among the attendees was the guy running for my House district (he wasn't campaigning, just attending as a normal citizen; I merely recognized him. Not attending was the incumbent, which didn't surprise me at all, because he's known for basically fleeing his constituents every chance he gets). It was a lovely, moving service, with speakers not only from the Jewish community, but from members of the local Muslim community, and from many branches of Christian churches as well. I'm so glad I was able to attend, and I deeply hope that another service like this is never again necessary.


SATURDAY

This morning was dedicated to everyone's other favorite experience:

the DMV.

*cue horror music*

My son was getting his license (*CUE MORE INTENSE HORROR MUSIC*), and he finally understood all the jokes about how awful the DMV is (anyone else remember that scene from Zootopia? He finally got why the character working at the DMV desk is a sloth and he laughed the entire way home). We got in the first like at 7:50 and didn't leave until almost 11:00. We stood in ten different lines while we were there (why yes, it was painful! Thanks for asking). He got a paper copy of his license, and the hard copy will arrive by mail in a few weeks. I was so exhausted and pained from all that standing that after I ate lunch, I fell asleep in the chair while my husband and daughter watched Puss In Boots.

After that, I drove my son and his friend to the high school football game (their team had made the playoffs), and came home to read my library book. It wasn't too long before my son called; the game was going SO poorly that they didn't want to see the season end in a massacre, and could I come get them. Yes, I could, and I did. Back home, I finished my library book, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and folded my basket of laundry. That night, I did my PT exercises, and I watched three episodes of Supernatural while my husband snored on the couch next to me. ;)

SUNDAY

I was COLD in the morning! For whatever reason, I couldn't get warm, so I snuggled under my heated blanket and read my Kindle book.

While the cat sat and stared at me for like ten minutes. What the heck, man???

And then...I cleaned up the kitchen and proceeded to attack the leftovers of the apples we still had from apple picking. I had let everyone in the house eat what they wanted out of the bags, and it seemed like some of the apples were starting to spoil (we did indeed lose a few, which went into the compost), and then it was my turn. I spent from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm canning apple pie filling. Last year I made a ton of jars of apple pie jam (we still have quite a few of these left), so I wanted to try something different this year). This seemed a lot easier and slightly less sticky.

12 jars total.

I also started a batch of apple cider vinegar. I don't know if this will work for me; I'm considering it more of an experiment, so we'll see how it goes. I'm entirely expecting it to turn into a disgusting moldy mess, so if anything else happens, I'll consider it a happy surprise.

I still had a little bit of pie filling left over, and I didn't want to open another pack of jars, so I grabbed my Fannie Farmer cookbook and turned to the pie crust recipes. I made a double crust and tossed the leftover pie filling in there, then baked it. No pictures, because my pie crust always resembles a Picasso painting, but they always taste good. :)

I did get some reading/snuggling under the blanket time afterwards, and we ended up with Chinese takeout for dinner. I could have cooked, but honestly, I was pretty worn out and my hips hurt after standing for four hours already. After getting my daughter into bed, I picked my son up from his friend's house, did my PT exercises, and my husband and I watched three episodes of Supernatural (at this point, I think it's a toss-up what gets Sam and Dean in the end: demons, or all those concussions. Not to mention the condition their backs must be in after being throw into walls and bookshelves and across the room all the time, ouch!) before going to bed.

And that was it! It's already shaping up to be a busy week here. My daughter has a dentist appointment today, I have my SI joint injection procedure on Thursday (they'll be knocking me out for it, so at least I get a nap out of the procedure, right?). Friday, my daughter has school to make up for not having school on Tuesday (I already voted, yay me!), so hopefully I'll be feeling up to doing drop-off and pick up. Saturday, my mother and son and I are going to see the school musical, and Sunday, we're going to a Scandinavian-themed local festival.

I already need a nap thinking about all of this! Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze some work in on some projects here and there. I have a few things I'd like to make for Christmas, so I'll do my best, but it's going to be a tight squeeze this week!

How did you do last week?