Friday Five

As you are all aware, I have not had the best of weeks. But, TGIF. Some good things happened in with the bad things I was so focused on.

1. Making brownies.
2. Only the weekend to go, then I'm off to Maryland.
3. Lunch with a friend from my old office.
4. Skype w/ Lindsay. Sweet.
5. New plants in the garden from Chris' mum. She also brought me a beautiful necklace which was her grandmother's and then her mother's. I was really touched.

So yay Friday. Bring on Monday & Maryland!

IALAC.

I really hope that next week is the week I need to sort my head out. I am losing steam with everything lately. Well, just about everything. The gym and planning sessions are still going nicely and I'm still excited about them.

I am totally off my game this week. First, I realised I was slacking with the menu because I have very little inspiration to cook outside my comfort zone, yet want more new and interesting food. Then, it was 'lose your head if it's not attached to your body' because I was all over the place yesterday.

Today was ok. I accomplished some small tasks and made some plans for tomorrow. But I have had enough of this week and NaBloPoMo feels like it is kicking my butt. I am starting to find it hard to gather up the motivation and courage to post every day. Only 11 days to go though.

I will follow through with this post a day business. 11 days. Things will get better.

Next week is for me. I will come back to England, to C, to work, to menu planning and all the other nuances that make up my life with the ability to be better, do better and accomplish more. In the words of my high school health teacher, Mrs Susan Euker, 'I am loveable and capable'. Life will go on, I will strive to be better at holding onto it with both hands, instead of letting it drag me along.

Remember: I am loveable and capable.

Today should have been a duvet day.

I am supposed to start work at 10:30 a.m. This means I need to leave my house no later than 10 a.m. What time did I wake up this morning? Why yes, that would be 10 a.m. I'm not sure why I overslept because my alarm went off at its usual time, I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, etc. And GOT BACK IN BED!!!

So I jumped up at 10 a.m., dressed and put my hair up and ran out the door. I got to work with one minute to spare. And, wait for it...FORGOT MY UNIFORM. So drop my bag off and run home. Grab the uniform I left just inside the door and run back to work.

Finally clocked in, 30 minutes late. Thank dog for flex-time.

There were myriad things that just threw the day further into turmoil (at some point I sent an FML text to C). But the first few issues really had me frustrated. Because honestly, I should be in control of that stuff. And it frustrates me when I am forgetful and lazy and things just seem to be going wrong for no reason.

The day improved with the help of some of the lovely residents I work with and taking the time to let go of this morning's antics. How do you deal with days where the odds seem to be stacked against you?

There has got to be more than this.

I am stuck in a rut. A dinner rut, that is. I rotate the same ten or twelve meals and frankly, I am getting sick of it. Not sure whether C cares, but I'm sure he would be happy to have more variety.

Things I cook on a regular basis:

-Chicken Broccoli stir fry
-Mexican Beans and rice
-Chili
-Chicken, Mashed Potato and [insert vegetable]
-Turkey (or beef) burgers, wedges and raw vegetables
-Soup and toast or sandwich
-Mexican inspired food that fits in a tortilla
-Chicken and vegetable Curry
-Vegetarian Lasagne (C is not overly keen on this and then I end up with a lot of food leftover)
-Pasta

I need to find some inspiration for new, easy (and healthy!) dinners. Do you have a favourite dinner? Share the love? In the meantime, I guess I will pore over my cookbooks, Google and Martha Stewart for inspiration.

Back to reality.

After such a wonderful weekend, today was a bit tough to swallow. Even though I love my job.

Mondays are my long day and today was just like other Mondays, with extra assignments and questions to boot.

Some highlights of the fun:

-Whilst doing a 'quiz' with the residents, they were asked to complete the proverb given. I said, 'Every dog...' And one of the women said 'I know!' When asked what the rest of the proverb was she responds, "Every dog has a silver lining!"*

-We made Christmas cards today! It was fun to make a mess, be creative and play with scissors and glue.

-This evening I did a 'creative thinking' exercise based on Ernest Hemingway's short story: Baby shoes, for sale, never used. (Those six words are the entire story...) One of the residents told this story in six words: Car loses wheel, chauffeur takes charge. Another resident's story was 'wrought iron fence supports driver failure.'

And so things improved. When C picked me up, I was even happier. Friends and pub quiz made the night. I am glad that I am in a good spell now! Lots of goings on and laughing. Back to life, it is good.


*The correct answer was 'every dog has his day'. But the combining of 'every cloud has a silver lining' and 'every dog has his day' reminded me of Boondock Saints:

Doc: You know what they say: People in glass houses sink sh-sh-ships.
Rocco: Doc, I gotta buy you, like, a proverb book or something. This mix'n'match shit's gotta go.
Doc: What?
Connor: A penny saved is worth two in the bush, isn't it?
Murphy: And don't cross the road if you can't get out of the kitchen.

Another Sunday Poem

The October Garden
by Molly Fisk

If you were zinnia, still bright
in the October garden and I the last
orange cosmos. If you were catmint blue
draping yourself over the cinder block wall
and I the weed coming up through gravel.
If you were the bamboo pole, listing
under the weight of late green tomatoes
that will never ripen now, and I
the frayed string that binds them. If
you were heavy purple grapes dangling
over the canted railing and I the feasting
thrush. If you were summer's echo
in yellow coreopsis and I the tall sedum,
autumn-flushed. If you were the sun
breaking slant over that little grove of aspens
across the street, if you were hummingbird's
quick wing, if you were winter coming on
or the studious worm and I the turned
earth, the patch of moss beneath an oak,
the oak's sharp-edged leaf ready to crackle
underfoot, the white-throated sparrow's
familiar three descending notes in a minor
key, oh, if only I were sometimes
you and you were me.

-

This was a marvelous weekend. It was filled with gales of rain and laughter, cuddles and pie. We had family time and wedding time and couple time and alone time. And it was perfect.

American Pie

There has always been music in my life. And I think I can safely say that there will always be music in my life. I didn't grow up listening to 'kid' music. Sure, my brother and I had some Raffi tapes and we all know and love Baby Beluga.

I remember being about six years old, in the ski lift with my dad at Wisp Ski Resort in Deep Creek, Maryland. The lift was stopped and we were suspended in mid-air above the snow covered mountain (pretty sure it's a big hill, if I'm being honest). To keep me occupied and pass the time, Dad started singing. At first it was a bunch of songs I knew, 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, The Ants Go Marching, etc. But then my dad started singing a song that I'd heard before not knowing the words. It was a sad song, one my dad loved and probably still loves. I love it, too, just because of this memory.

A long, long time ago / I can still remember / how that music used to make me smile / and I knew if I had my chance / that I could make those people dance / and maybe they'd be happy for awhile...

On that ski lift I learned the words to American Pie by Don McLean. And when my dad was finished singing, I asked him what the song was about. I can't remember what his response was* but I remember feeling very sad and cold. Maybe the cold was more about dangling in mid-air in winter weather. I digress.

But February made me shiver / with every paper I delivered / the bad news on the doorstep / I couldn't take one more step / I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride / but something touched me deep inside / the day the music died.

And until I moved to England, whenever my dad and I would go skiing, if we were stuck on the ski lift, we began to sing this song.

So bye bye miss American pie / drove my Chevy to the levee / but the levee was dry / and them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye / singing this'll be the day that I die / this'll be the day that I die

I haven't been skiing for four years. I have seen my dad probably a dozen times since I moved and we have never sang American Pie or any other songs during any of those visits. Nor have we gone skiing.

Hopefully I can change that when I see my dad next week. Think it's too early for skiing?



*in the years since I asked what the song was about, I have learned. If you're curious, see the Wikipedia article here.