random thoughts – Day 2,317 (Sunday) – family life and suburbia

Jello poke cake for the birthday girl.

The July family birthday celebration episode took place today. The honoree was my youngest niece, who turns 22 on Tuesday and I still can’t understand how that is happening because I swear it was just a couple weeks ago that she was five.

My sister did some of her fabulous cooking and we feasted on pulled pork subs and turkey grinders with sides of coleslaw, half-sour pickles, and chips. This was followed by a strawberry Jello poke cake that was requested by the birthday gal. So delicious!

Later, back at home, I was able to catch the end of the World Cup final game (Spain for the win!). I loved watching the footage of the Spanish team on the presentation stage in the stadium stage and the live shots of the thousands of fans in Madrid, both groups jumping up and down like the world was a giant dance pit. It looked like fun. If only we could all be World Cup win happy more often.

To offset the big lunch and the cake and the brownies still to be eaten later, I took a longer walk around the neighborhood. Instead of a loop that hit only two of the three streets, I walked along all three streets to maximize the distance and hit all the hills.

Streetside wildflowers.

It was quiet, breezy, cool, and a perfect evening for walking. The lowering sun shone through the streetside wildflowers and across the manicured lawns. Some birds were squawking high in the trees, but none of the other local wildlife made itself known. 

A few human neighbors enjoyed the evening from chairs in the shed attached to the rear of their carport in what looked like the ideal summer hangout spot. A lady in a purple flowing dress watered the many flowers in her front yard garden. It was as if the neighborhood was the scene of suburban calm, carefully crafted for a movie.

random thoughts – Day 2,316 (Saturday) – food and home

Cool breezes blew through the house all day.  A couple times the breezes carried rain through the screens and onto the windowsills which are all nice and clean now they have been wiped dry and the windows closed. My feet got cold early in the afternoon and socks were added, and my shorts were traded out for sweatpants. A crime series set in New York streamed on TV.

There was a repeat of the terrific earlier in the week breakfast of fried egg, cheese, and homemade strawberry jam on an English muffin. Just like a few days ago, I was full from well into the afternoon. 

Supper.

Once settled in the not-going-out-anywhere because it was raining attire, it became all about eating and nesting. A photo was chosen and hung in the living room. Brownies were baked and enhanced with not enough chopped walnuts and a few too many butterscotch chips. They are just enough too sweet that I will likely pace myself in the consumption. 

For supper, there was a repeat of Friday's meal. For the next couple days it will be all about rice with beans, corn, salsa, various cheeses, and protein crumbles. Today's version included with a sliced avocado with everything seasoning.

Kiki spent her day lounging on the living room rug and posing on a windowsill during her Neighborhood Watch shift. Large chunks of the day were spent on the bed. Every once in a while, I would pass through the bedroom and pause and pet her sweet little face, scratch her head, tell her how great she is, and feed her a few treats.

Kiki on watch.

It was a good day to hang around the house, but time was spent expanding the list of fun summer activities for future days out of the house. Sis, Mom, and I started it to avoid the time suck of trying to figure out what to do. We’ve spent entire afternoons trying to figure out what to do and ended up doing nothing especially interesting or noteworthy, so we’re trying to fix that. Options currently include visits to various ice cream stands, Bridge of Flowers, the summit of Mount Wachusett, the alpaca farm, Red Apple Barn, and a few other places.

random thoughts – Day 2,315 (Friday) – pizza and nerdiness

Pizza!

It was a pizza party at Mom’s today when Sis blew in with the pizza to which we measure all others against. That would be Espresso Pizza in Fitchburg. When I was in high school, Espresso was a regular after school stop for a slice and a soda. The crust was thin, floppy, and foldable, and famous for having bubbles at the edges. The sauce was sweet, and the legend was that orange soda was an ingredient. 

When I lived in Lowell, I was thrilled to learn the Espresso Pizza location there produced the same tasty pizza I grew up with. Today’s pizza tasted just like it should. Sweet. Cheesy. Bubbles in the crust. Delicious.

After lunch, we played Yahtzee. The dice kept delivering nearly complete small and large straights on a high number of first rolls for all of us. So weird. The last time we played, my niece was with us and she kept rolling a full house. Also weird.

My nerd brain now wants to record all the Yahtzee rolls and track any patterns in our games going forward. I could fashion it after the charting I did of M&M vending machine bags during my corporate finance days. I tracked the number of candies in a bag and counts for each color. Then I would eat the M&Ms from the lowest count by color to the highest count. Good times. I doubt my family would tolerate the game delays required for my scientific recordkeeping.

random thoughts – Day 2,314 (Thursday) – breakfast and greenery

Most delicious breakfast.

It’s another week chugging along at breakneck speed. Thursday already? It's halfway through July and there is still not a summer fun plan on the calendar? How?!? I may stink at planning getaways. but at least I have conquered breakfasts. Today's was a fried egg and slice of onion with provolone cheese on an English muffin with a generous schmear of homemade strawberry jam gifted by a friend. So delicious. It carried me through the day until an unforgettable supper. 

It was another day with the smell of smoke in the air, but fainter than the past couple days. There was less smoke and haze in the air and the blue sky was visible.

My six-month dental cleaning, scheduled six months ago, was this afternoon. The travel in and back was smooth, and it was a mostly uneventful hour in the chair. I am now free for the next six months or until I break another tooth, whichever comes first. Fingers crossed for no more broken teeth. Like, ever.

Tight quarters.

As I was contemplating my evening walk, the wind picked up and I thought for sure there would be rain. As a result of my opinion, I stayed on the couch playing Words with Friends. I was wrong and it didn’t rain. 

To make up for the missed walk, I headed to the yard for “arm day” with the loppers and hedge trimmers. The greenery out front still encroaches on the walk on the frontside and is too close to the house on the backside, just a bit less than before. The goal is to create enough space behind the greenery for the contractor to be able to install the siding on the front of the house without needing a machete to smash through the hedge. It’s been baby steps, but I’ll get there.

random thoughts – Day 2,313 (Wednesday) – wildlife

Mama and fluff balls.

This week the wildlife has been promenading in the ‘hood. On Monday, I saw a mother turkey and counted seven tiny little fluff balls scattered around her. They were traveling at a brisk pace through my front yard and on to the next yard, the fluffy little ones doing a great job keeping up. A half-hour later, while on a walk, there were four toms congregated in a yard one street over from mine. 

Throughout the week, several times I’ve seen a lone bunny grazing in various yards. Most times the bunny would freeze, but once it ran away.

Bunny in a yard.

Twice now, I've spotted the neighborhood cat with the white legs and belly and two-tone black back and tail after months of absence. This was the cat that lounged with several turkeys under a bush in my back yard last fall. The black cat has been racing through yards, but there are a couple of other cats not seen since last fall.

Each day in the late afternoon, several crows gather in my yard and on roof of my house and carport. Between three and seven engage of them in takeoff and landing, squawking, and walking around. Two of them get right up close and squawk in each others faces and remind me of a bickering human couple.

Today’s evening walk also featured the red sun in the hazy sky. Weather services say it is due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota. There have been some spectacular photos of the oddly colored light and sky, just none done by me. My usually reliable camera kept autocorrecting the color of the sun from reddish-orange to white hot, and I couldn’t capture in pixels what I saw with my own eyes. It was most frustrating.

random thoughts – Day 2,312 (Tuesday) – cookbook, weather, and cherries

Cookbook arrived!

The threat of heat rolling in again and another heat advisory meant I took my walk to the mailbox in the morning instead of waiting until after dance class. Plus, I had a notice from the Post Office that my high calcium cookbook delivered and I was excited to have it. 

I now have 250 pages of high calcium recipes for dips and appetizers, entrees, desserts, and sauces and dressings. I flipped through it immediately and noticed that the key ingredients in many recipes are cottage cheese and nonfat dry milk. It turns out my instinct to add those two ingredients while cooking was correct. Now, I have lots of official recipes to help with the calcium consumption challenge.

There was a breeze this morning and most of the afternoon, and it was comfortable. At dance, the air conditioning was refreshing when we arrived, but we were all bathed in sweat after an hour with the second hour still to go. I used my just-bought knee pads today and they helped greatly. A lot of our dances include kneeling and one is done totally on the floor, which was not an issue when my knees were 17 years old, but it’s a different and painful situation now. Thank goodness for cushiony knee pads.

When I stopped for gas after dance, I noticed the sun was especially orange in the gray, overcast sky. Later, I learned the smoke from wildfires in Canada has reached us and tomorrow is supposed to be pretty bad again with the newest round of heat and humidity plus the smoke. It sounds like it might be a good day to stay inside, not that I usually need any encouragement.

Chilled cherries!

I bought two pounds of cherries on Monday. After I washed them, I set them in the fridge and they are perfectly chilled. I have been grabbing them by the handful and devouring them and will likely need more by Wednesday. 

Then, after a full week of cherry consumption, I should be all set with cherries for a bit. That is what seems to have happened with the green grapes I couldn't get enough of for a couple weeks and am suddenly no longer interested in. Most of last week’s grape acquisition was chucked into this week’s trash. It’s how my erratic and fickle tastebuds roll.  

random thoughts – Day 2,311 (Monday) –k-drama

The lead characters looking sharp.

I recently succumbed to the Netflix suggestions, and after a long stretch of not watching Korean dramas, I started watching Vincenzo. The premise: Korean guy sent as a young child to be raised in Italy rises to rank of Mafia consigliere. Now he’s back in Korea with a mission.

As usual, the cast includes the supremely attractive male and female leads, the ever-so-slightly less attractive male and female second leads, and the usual slew of character actors providing comic relief with their quirky personalities.

Crazy suit with a cutaway back.

The wardrobe in this show features impeccably tailored suits for the leads, along with some interesting designer pieces. The female lead is a lawyer and is usually dressed in beautifully fitted suits with five buttons on the sleeves. Five! Even in my corporate finance days of splurging on suits worn almost daily, the most I ever had was three buttons on the sleeves. 

One very weird suit jacket on the female lead had a full front with lapels and pockets, and a cutout back. So weird. Another dress on a female character looked like a sculpture in gray wool with an exaggerated shoulder line and rounded sleeves. Mostly, the clothes were normal. 

The businessmen are sporting crisp shirts, silky ties, and beautiful jackets. Vests and collar bars seem to have made a comeback. The watches look fancy and pricey. I have always had and continue to have a weakness for a man in nicely tailored suit, and this show is filled with my favorite fantasy attire. Sigh. Side note: X1, for all his shortcomings, liked to dress up and looked like a million bucks in a suit, and often better than my finance colleagues. My schlubby manager often commented (more like whined) that my home-builder husband had better suits than he did. 

Anticipating "the flick."

In this K-drama, there are running gags involving the consumption of roasted sweet potatoes. And there is “the flick” square to the forehead. Lose a bet? You have to close your eyes and get the forehead flick from the winner of the bet. The male and female leads shared moments of exaggerated romantic tension involving anticipation of the flick.

I forgot how much I liked K-dramas – in the original Korean with English subtitles. This show has pulled me back into the genre. The wardrobes, the furniture and decorating features like screens and room separators, and the food. Seeing the food makes me want to visit a Korean restaurant, but I usually end up just making ramen at home.

As a bonus, reading subtitles gets me to set the phone aside for a while, which is a good thing.