NaBloPoMo

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Tuesday Randomosity: Last Minute Edition

Today was a snow day and also my houseguests arrived, so you will forgive me for showing up so late to the NaBloPoMo party. I am wrung out from Being With People all day, even if those people are people I love and I just want to curl up in a dark, quiet room for awhile.

Here are a few very random things floating around in my brain tonight.

  1. My windshield needs to be replaced. On my brand new car. Well, the car isn’t so much brand new anymore (although it’s still pretty effing new), but the crack in the windshield started when I hadn’t yet had it a month. Due to the placement (central) and intensity (intense) of the crack, the entire windshield needs replacing, which means that I will be submitting an insurance claim for the very first time in my life. I called my insurance office, and the person I spoke to transferred me to some sort of claims call center, and the claims call center person took my information and said they would contact my “shop of choice” (the dealership, because this car is leased; they will only allow me to replace the windshield with factory glass). Then I didn’t hear anything for three weeks and today I got a voicemail and two emails and my husband also got two emails. All of which said that they had not been able to contact my “shop of choice” and I need to submit a bill or estimate. So… I just get the windshield replaced, right? Like, I don’t really have a choice, right? The insurance company will either cover it or they won’t; I can’t really get a second opinion when I am bound by the terms of my lease to use factory glass. I feel very out of my depth here. 
  2. I have finally learned how to wash my face without drenching my entire body. As with most things in life she chooses to comment on, Nicole has turned out to be right about face washing. (Elisabeth: look away.) Due to a combination of laziness and misplacing my stash of washcloths during the move, I have been resorting to washing my face with my hands for the past several months and I am not going back. It is so much better! The key, I have found, is to keep my arms perpendicular to the sink rather than parallel, as I originally thought. I was trying to wash my face with my elbows jutted out to the sides, to prevent water from sluicing down my wrists. But it wasn’t working. Turns out it was the arm position! In trying to prevent the cascading water, I was making it worse! Even though it’s counterintuitive, at least to me, a person who overthinks all things, keeping my elbows close to my trunk really keeps the water from splashing me all over. Today, I even washed my face whilst wearing a long sleeved shirt and my sleeves did not get wet. At all. And now I don’t have to deal with pesky washcloths! Woo!
  3. What is the best book you’ve read lately? I am listening to The Paper Palace in the car, and it’s interesting enough. The writing is good. Through no fault of its own, however, it is the third? fourth? book I’ve read in recent months that takes place at a beach house, and I’m a little weary of the whole situation. Adultery, swimming, complex family relationships, quaint cottages – it’s all kind of blurring together for me into one endless story and I need a fresh storyline. Probably doesn’t help things that all the names kind of bleed into one another: Happy Place, The Summer Place, Same Time Next Summer. Which book am I reading again? Speaking of books with similar titles: Physical book reading has been extremely infrequent since the move, although I did get a wild hare over the weekend to reread The Secret Place by Tana French and I am loving it even more on a reread than I did when I first read it in 2014. Anyway: what non-beach-house book should I listen to next? 

That’s all I can do tonight, Internet. Catch you on the flippety flop.

I am kinda sorta attempting to complete NaBloPoMo, with the full expectation that life will make it impossible any day now. If you want to follow along, or join the fun, check out San’s blog here. 

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Dinners This Week

This week, we will have our second shot at having houseguests! My husband and I are also going on a mini-vacay for our anniversary, so I will not be cooking dinner for two consecutive nights. Woo hoo! 

Dinners for the Week of November 27-December 3

  • Taco Pizza: I have a craving for something that is the opposite of Thanksgiving food, and this is at the top of my list. The way I make taco pizza is to spread refried beans on a pizza crust, top with seasoned ground beef and cheddar cheese, and cook until melty. Then top as I would a taco. (Lettuce, onion, plenty of hot sauce.) YUM. Also, leftover taco pizza is delicious.
  • Seared Salmon with Red Pepper Aioli and Steamed Broccoli: We didn’t get to make this last week, so it’s back on the menu. 
  • Greek Salad: I think this salad will be a hit with my in laws. 
  • Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken and Veggies: This recipe calls for salmon, but I don’t think I can persuade my husband to eat salmon twice in a week.
  • Golden Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls: I can’t remember if I’ve ever made these before, but they sound so delicious. Probably I will make some chicken for my husband to eat with his.

If you made taco pizza, what would you put on it? 

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Seven Snapshots on a Sunday

Carla has been home with me since the Friday before Thanksgiving, and finally goes back to school tomorrow. My husband took Thursday and Friday off. We’ve been watching movies together and playing games and doing our separate creative pursuits. It’s been lovely spending time with them and I know I’ll feel a little sad when the house is empty. But we have all of today together, although I think it will be mostly a day of laundry and cleaning and preparing for our houseguests.

Here are a few snapshots of what started out on a low note, but ended up being pretty lovely. 

`1. Carla decorated the table for Thanksgiving.

We put out a selection of cheeses to munch on while cooking. I am partial to the caramelized onion cheese (right most) from Trader Joe’s. And yes, those are Hanukkah plates we used for the cheese and crackers.

2. We were in the car and Carla was marveling at how gorgeous the sky was.

She asked me to hand her my phone and this is the photo she took. I love that she is so attuned to the beauty of the world around us.

3. The only finished room in our house.

My husband and I finally hung artwork up in our bedroom and it finally feels finished. It’s smaller than our previous bedroom, but I love it. I am also loving our flannel sheets, which are SO soft. It is very difficult to get out of bed in the morning when I’m so cozy in these sheets! I still don’t have a lamp for my bedside table, but my husband ordered some this weekend.

4. A funny tweet (if one with questionable grammar) that I sent to my best friend and her other best friend.

My best friend and I have slowly been rebuilding our friendship and it’s such a relief and a comfort to me. The three of us are going to plan a Zoom call, 2020 style, later this month since we all live in different states. I don’t know why we don’t do them more often, but we got out of the habit.

5. My breakfast for the past three days.

These are the only Thanksgiving leftovers I care about: garlic goat cheese mashed potatoes and gravy. (With plenty of pepper.) For some reason, the gravy didn’t turn out particularly well this year. My mother saved it, but it wasn’t the rich, dreamy gravy of Thanksgivings past. Some combination of me messing up the proportions and our new oven not cooking the turkey and pan veggies to the deep caramelized brown necessary for developing rich, delicious pan drippings. But Past Suzanne was smart and ordered a container of mushroom gravy from Whole Foods, and it is QUITE delicious. Especially when paired with mashed potatoes.

6. I can hardly believe it, but our holiday cards are IN THE MAIL.

The only reason we pushed to get them out so soon this year is because they are serving as change-of-address notifications, too, and I’m hoping they reach most people before they send their own cards. We’ll see if that calculation works in our favor. But they are OUT. Woo! This is literally the only thing I have done to prepare for the holidays.

7. The very first hint of Christmas around my house.

My mother is much better at being on top of holiday planning than I am. This beautiful wreath arrived the day after Thanksgiving. It smells like Christmas! That doesn’t mean I am ready yet to decorate, but I am ready to think about decorating, which at least is a step in the right direction.

Happy Sunday, Internet!