Let’s see. I have quite possibly gotten over my end-of-summer crankiness (although I reserve the right to revert at any time). Maybe I am even, a teeny tiny bit, getting into the idea of fall???? My kid is feeling better. My husband is now sick. I have a scratchy throat and am wondering why I thought having covid would be protective against whatever non-covid illness Carla had.
What else? The cat had a traumatic experience: my husband accidentally set off the burglar alarm when he left the house the other day, and no one was home. This reminds me of the time when my housekeeper accidentally set off the burglar alarm while I was dropping Carla off at school. I had no idea until the alarm company called to ask me what was up. When I got home, ten-ish minutes later, our poor sweet housekeeper was still shaking. And she was a HUMAN who presumably understood what was going on. The cat is a CAT and, based on the blank but searching stare he gives me whenever I try to talk to him, he does not understand a lick of English. Carla and I came home to the cat hiding under my bed, which seems to have become his Place of Refuge. (My husband accidentally knocked over a chair the cat was sitting on while Carla and I were out of town, and the cat sought Refuge under our bed and my husband endured several worried hours where the cat remained entrenched under the bed; he had to resort to poking him with a broom.) No one can reach him under the bed unless a broom is called to service; very safe. Carla sat in my room with him, tempting him with treats, for three hours until he decided to grace her with his presence. He seems fine now.
I would like to make a change to how we celebrate holidays here in the United States (and possibly elsewhere; I know nothing). Instead of celebrating holidays on a specific date, I want to switch to celebrating holidays on the nearest Monday or Friday to that particular holiday. You know – the way we do Election Day on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November or Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. These are imperfect examples, though, because they are Tuesdays and Thursdays and I want ALL HOLIDAYS to take place on Monday or Friday. That way, we can avoid having a random Tuesday off (I’m looking at you this year, Rosh Hashanah), which messes up my entire week. Listen, I really hope I am not being wildly insensitive to religious tradition by making this suggestion. I am banking on it being the tradition that counts, and not necessarily the specific date. I mean, Easter always falls on a Sunday, right? Couldn’t the work-restricted portions of Yom Kippur and Christmas and Ramadan and Passover and Eid all fall on a Friday or a Monday? Please? More long weekends and fewer random mid-week days off. If you are or know someone who can arrange this, I assume you will get right on it.
Speaking of Rosh Hashanah, which I was, briefly, this Apple Honey Cake is calling my name. Alas, a person can not live by apple honey cake alone. What else can I make this week?
Dinners for the Week of September 22-29
- Red Wine Braised Short Ribs with Anything But Carrots: Maybe I’ll do sweet potatoes instead of carrots. I love raw carrots, but cannot abide them cooked.
- Sriracha Seared Salmon Cakes: Yum. You know I love a good salmon cake and these sound like a good alternative to my regular recipe. I think they would be tasty alongside this apple and fennel slaw.
- Roasted Chicken and Goat Cheese Pasta: Sometimes a gal just wants fancy mac and cheese.
- Chicken Noodle Soup: I am making a big pot of this for a loved one who is having surgery. The recipe makes a TON of soup, so I am going to withhold enough for me and my husband to eat for dinner one night. I don’t really like chicken noodle soup (and somehow I always misspell “noodle” as “noddle” which is irritating), but my mom swears by its healing powers, so why not enjoy some of whatever benefits it confers?
Oh! We are having out-of-town friends visit this coming weekend! That is super exciting. No idea what I will feed them, but I choose to leave that for Future Suzanne to deal with.
Hahahaha I have always felt that way about Halloween – Halloween should be the closest Saturday to Oct 31. Or at least that’s when all the kids should be out trick-or-treating. I have always felt deeply sorry for teachers on Nov 1!
Halloween should DEFINITELY be moved to Saturday. It’s such a waste of a day at school when they’ve been up late, stuffing themselves with sugar, the night before.
I’m with you about celebrating holidays by attaching them to a weekend. I’d be more inclined to enjoy them when organized like that rather than the willy-nilly way they are now.
They do feel rather willy-nilly, don’t they? I mostly object to feeling completely confused about what day it is all week when we have a random day off in the middle.
I’m all for more long weekends.
Sorry your kitty got a scare.
Alllllllll the long weekends, Steph!
Yes yes YES to holidays being Monday or Friday. I LOVE random long weekends. And your husband is a doctor, so it’s not even like you’re being that self-serving, since I assume he doesn’t always have weekends off, if he does , whatever.
AND we are back in lockstep with the carrots. And I DO want fancy mac and cheese. I am doing well just making dinner off of your posts, so thank-you once again. of course, I am alone for two weeks now, so i can cook one thing and eat it for five days.
The dog next door got skunked and the doggy door in our fence is briefly blocked, and i feel SO bad for poor Lucy and Riley who don’t understand why they can’t play right now. Three HOURS. Props to Carla for tenacity.
You definitely want fancy mac and cheese. That is a perfect meal for when your husband is out of town.
You are totally right that my husband doesn’t always have weekends off. Nor does he really get any holidays off, except the Big Four (Christmas, New Year’s, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving). He usually works one of those anyway.
My brother in law who is a doctor actually likes working the actual big holidays because it tends to be quieter – for bad reasons, like grampa doesn’t want to disrupt Christmas so doesn’t say he feels like he’s having a heart attack, but still…
Oh that poor poor kitty!
Umm, YES to the fancy mac and cheese. I wonder if I can convince Mr we need to have something similar …
Oh I hope so! It’s such a comforting meal.
When I taught, those middle of the week days off were very unsettling. I’m glad that you’re feeling less grumpy. I personally would prefer the holidays more spaced out. Thanksgiving and Christmas are too close together; could we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving instead?
Yes! While we’re making holiday alterations, let’s definitely switch to Canadian Thanksgiving. Excellent idea.
Poor cat– how scary! LOVE Halloween on a Friday– kids can deal with their excitement all day at school instead of asking me every 10 minutes if it is time to ToT, AND we can have a party– it’s perfect.
YES.
Poor Leo! He’s going to need a lot of cuddles to make up for the alarm.
I second your motion to move all of the holidays to the nearest Monday or Friday, and also if a holiday falls on a weekend, let’s move it to the nearest weekday so that we’re guaranteed a break. The Jewish holidays are tricky because they’re not on a fixed date and then they all happen at once.
Excellent amendment, Birchie. I agree that we should AT LEAST get a three day weekend out of any hoilday.
Your poor kitty. Sending hugs.
I love the idea of fancy mac and cheese!
I also love the idea of long weekends. 💜
Long weekends and fancy mac and cheese… perfect combo.
Yes!!
Ack! The burglar alarm is SO LOUD, poor Lenny Kravitz!
While typing this comment, NPR had a story about AI boyfriends. Crazy.
I already have Fridays off, so I vote all holidays be on Mondays, so I get a long weekend. Further, I vote that we actually celebrate them on Sunday, so we can enjoy without having to go to work the next day.
Wait, the AI boyfriend thing was Nicole’s post, that I read right before this one…
Ha! I knew exactly what you were referencing. 🙂
Yes, good plan! All Monday holidays! And YES, I am fine celebrating on Sunday so we can have a rest day.
Kitty trauma!!!!! Poor baby. I’m sure he is fine but three hours tempting with treats? Good for Carla, she is committed!!
I agree 100% for the dates like Tuesdays and Thursdays. I would love that very much.
My kid is SO good with animals. Unlimited patience.
Regular comment:
That cake looks gorgeous! I made a honey-applesauce cake which is rather humble-looking but just perfect for us.
I am so sorry the cat suffered through the burglar alarm.
You are entitled to return to crankiness any time. It seems called for these days. But I am glad to hear that has subsided for the moment.
Honey applesauce cake sounds yummy!
Pedantic comment:
Maimonides set up the Jewish calendar so that Passover never begins on the night of Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday. It seems Maimonides was most concerned about Yom Kippur not starting on a Thursday night, and the result of that rule guides the weekdays on which Passover can start. If Yom Kippur would start on a Thursday night, then it would immediately precede Shabbat (which starts on Friday night). That would be two solid days of numerous prohibitions against doing various things.
I don’t know what this means about what day of the week Rosh Hashanah is on.
This is FASCINATING. I knew the Jewish calendar was carefully planned, but I didn’t know HOW carefully. Does this mean that a holiday can never take place ON Shabbat? I should probably do more reading myself. Thank you for sharing!
Yes! I’m with you about changing holidays to make a long weekend. Why hasn’t anyone done anything about this? Let’s end daylight savings time as well! I hope your cold is a quick one and that you feel better soon!
Good plan, Michelle! Wow, we’re really making some good progress in improving things around here. 😉
Suzanne, I am WELL ACQUAINTED whit the hiding under the bed trick. That’s what Muffin did for three straight days after she came back from the vet. I was supposed to give her an appetite stimulant, which was a gel to be rubbed on her ear- so I was slithering under the bed while she backed as far away from me as possible… I think I may have gotten one dose on her. Anyway- they do come out when they’re ready!
Yes to the holidays. I would like to add that “Superbowl Monday” be a thing, so I can enjoy the Superbowl and not have to get up early the next day. You might get some pushback on changing the date of Christmas (and any other religious holiday, for that matter) but it’s worth a try. We’ll start a petition.
Hahaha – yes, let’s start a petition. I will happily include Super Bowl Monday.
I’m laughing at how you might revert back . . . understandable.
The house alarm – poor kitty. You raise a good point about school holidays. Makes so much more sense to lump them in with a weekend. We are eating (well not me – gluten eaters only) a lot of pasta as I hosted a pasta party here on Sunday for Curly’s volleyball team. Then I think Italian Beef in the crockpot.
My previous dogs would lose their marbles when the alarm was set off. The frenchies, haven’t experienced this yet.
I’m picturing poor Lenny, seeking refuge under the bed while a weird long stick is coming at him.
That apple cake looks SO good!
I vote YES for Monday and Friday holidays.
I have designed a new calendar where we have one day per year that is not a regular day and then everything would be on the same day every year. And then once every four years, there are two days like this to accommodate leap year. But if you take seven days in a week and multiply by fifty two weeks in a year, you get 364 days. So close. And then we could carefully arrange all the holidays properly and then there would be no more of this moving everything around every year.
My plan also involves Jencember, a month that comes after December so that all months have exactly four weeks (364 days per year divided by 13 months equals 28 days each). As you can see, this is a flawless plan and I will have no trouble getting the entire world to adopt it.
JEN FOR PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD!
Yes to more long weekends.
On second thought, how about four-day work and school weeks for all? I could get behind that. (Although, um, I work all day everyday most weeks, so…yeah. It’s the thought that counts? LOL.)
I will note that there are no Leo pictures in this post. Please rectify this situation.