monday: LABOR DAY

Leftovers from dinner out last night. It’s all very orange-brown, ha ha, but good!

I’m having one Katie birthday goodie every day.

Last day of vacation so I intentionally did not give myself any obligations. I slept late, had an egg sandwich from the deli, did some online shopping, finished up a few blogs and some client photos and was in bed by 10pm for the first day back to work tomorrow (from home, which makes the first day back a little easier!).

tuesday

First day back to work after vacation, but work from home helps that a bit. The second work was over I drove over to a nearby preserve where I wanted to walk, I’d just learned the path went around a pond and that sounded lovely.

It was not so lovely. The pond is mostly surrounded by wild trees and brambly bits so you can barely see the pond except for a few spots that have been cleared.

It’s a slow trail as the ground is very rooty and marshy…the wetter areas have these little wooden walkways over them. One of the wooden walkways was totally rotted through so you walked on half mushy tree root ground / half decayed wood. I have weird balance issues so this was not fun. And did not give me confidence about the remaining bridges and walkways on the rest of the trail.

This is the bridge where I dropped my keys and watched them almost fall over the edge to the stream below. I really need to get some leggings with pockets! They’re on the list!

Now I’ve been there, I can cross it off the list and find somewhere else to walk.

wednesday

Back to work at the office today. Birthday week continues with goodies from my office mates!  Inflated mylar unicorn for the win 10/10!

Had another date (appointment) with my boyfriend (chiropractor) after work and my back feels so good! Now I have a weird little catchy achey pain around my left shoulder blade (since Saturday)…don’t know if it’s related but I guess I’ll have to go back again (darn).

I watched this when I got home while I waited for dinner to cook…I’ve shared her videos before but this one…oh my.

thursday

Work from home today. I find I can focus on work better here than at work.

It was so humid today that I turned the ac on for probably the first time all month. Then I thought about going out for a walk but when I felt the air when I opened the door I said NOPE.

I had lunch so late (DiGiorno frozen pizza always good in a pinch) that I wasn’t hungry for dinner but later I wanted a little something, so I whipped up…Chocolate Surprise! I melted the last of a bag of semisweet chocolate chips (it was maybe 3 teaspoons worth)…added a couple spoonfuls of coffee ice cream, then folded in some Cool Whip. Yum. If you sandwiched it between two graham crackers it would be like an “indoor s’more.”

Came across this: The Companies That Help People Vanish and that sounds so appealing to me. Did you ever wish you could totally disappear and have a fresh start where no one knew you? I don’t really know how you do it financially, but…

friday

Work. Laundromat. Dinner with friends. Up til 4am.

Thinking about trying to ramp up FashionSchlub. IF there was a (email) newsletter…maybe monthly, no cost-just an email signup, more fashion-based than the blog (I get a little carried away with my own thoughts here sometimes…and pictures of chocolate glop…and daydreams about my cute chiropractor…), would you sign-up for that? Show of hands please? I’m thinking a 4-pager to start…I know people are busy and already reading tons of things. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time but could never think of enough ideas to fill a 4-page monthly newsletter but all of a sudden I’ve got ideas flooding into me!

saturday

I had a little meltdown today. I was being super productive and then my cousin sent me some pictures of her granddaughters and my Katie who met up today as one of the girls just started school in San Diego where Katie is living. And at first I was just like aww, I’m so happy they were able to meet up…and I’m so glad Katie is finally getting to spend some time with my side of the family. Growing up she mostly had access to Russell’s side of the family because all mine is on the west coast and my sister in South Carolina. And then I was like, sigh, I wish I was there with them. And then there were tears streaming down my face and I couldn’t breathe for sobbing. I miss her. I miss THEM. I am so increasingly despondent about being the only Rainwater/Ridgway left here. My sister is on the east coast, but all the way down by the South Carolina/Georgia border. My daughter, my aunt, and all my cousins are in California. None of these are “jump in the car and go” trips. And I can’t go ANYWHERE right now, anyway, what with NY’s Covid restrictions. So. I’m just feeling very far away. And sad.

I made a dump casserole. You know, when you have a bunch of odds and ends and leftovers and you don’t have the brain strength to think up anything real to make?? This was egg noodles, leftover rotisserie chicken, leftover broccoli, mixed together with a can of cream of mushroom soup (so 1960s!), a little bit of grated cheese, and some panko breadcrumbs. Seasoned with salt, pepper, a little garlic powder and paprika. Dumped into glass baking dish with a little more grated cheese and panko on top. 375 for 25 minutes til it was just a little golden on top. Dinner. It was ugly to look at but yummy to eat (although note to self: next time two cans of soup to one bag of noodles) so I will spare you the picture. But it will last me for several lunches during the week, so that’s good.

sunday

People ask (criticize) me about having so much crap in my car all the time. This is why. I’m already carrying so much stuff, I can’t manage more! And I am not a two-tripper! When I used to work at barns when I was young I would load my wheelbarrow as high as it would go. Was it hard to get up the ramp to the manure pile or truck?? Oh yeah. But it was better than making two trips! Two trips = twice the time. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Got a later start than expected then was challenged to shoot an outfit in the noonday sun (who says that?) at a boat launch ramp that normally is empty (possibly because I have always gone there in the dead of winter) but today had ALL the people and ALL the boats and ALL the kids watching me going DADDY DADDY DADDY WHAT IS THAT LADY DOING. Sigh. And I was trying ugh to use the cell phone again and MAN is that frustrating me so it was taking forever and I was getting hot in too many layers and I quit before I really knew if I had good shots. And I have yet to look at them so…Wednesday’s post could be a big fail.

I got an 8/10 egg sandwich from the deli on the way home, did some blog brainstorming and planning (amazing what I can come up with when I actually dedicate time to JUST THINK), then shot a flat-lay for an Instagram challenge I’ve known about since last weekend and am just squeaking in under the wire…and it was supposed to be styling one item three ways and it was all I could do to just show it one way and I thought…I could either just give up and not do it at all, no one’s going to notice…OR I can go with what I’ve got and at least be part of the challenge…so I went for it. 4/10 for me. Plus, I’m a terrible flatlayer 🙂

WHAT I’M READING/WATCHING

Watched nothing except YouTube…have only alloted myself snippets of reading time…started two different books that right away I was like NOPE, so allowed myself to just move on with no guilt: Special Topics in Calamity Physics by  Marisha Pessl and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I’m going to try and find TGOST in an audiobook because I’ve heard such great things but I just…I don’t know…couldn’t stay focused on it. The other one I was on the fence about anyway so I’m just going to release it back into the world (via PaperbackSwap).

And that is it! I can’t believe it’s time to start yet another week. The Mondays just keep coming, don’t they?