Sunday, January 12, 2014

It's Sunday Evening and I'm Pooped!

I think weekends are supposed to be for unwinding and relaxing, but this one . . . well very little of that occurred!

Friday night we headed out to do some errands --- pickup some office supplies at Staples and some items at Home Depot, so we decided to try a new restaurant featuring Latin American food.  We did our errands first and then headed to the eatery.  Unfortunately, apparently so did half the population of the area because we couldn't even find a parking place!  So we reluctantly re-set our taste buds away from some Cuban specialties,  and headed to a neighboring Chinese restaurant.  The food there is always good, it was packed too, but we did get a parking place and a table.

Saturday my best friend and I headed out dress shopping.  Since Younger Son is getting married in May, the situation is getting a tad desperate.  I had found something that would work locally, but I just didn't love it.  I was not eager to spend over $300 for something I was just settling for.  I'd been told about a bridal shop about an hour away (NOT a chain!), so we headed there on a miserable cold foggy rainy day.  It had been icy earlier in the morning so we almost didn't go.  I am so very happy that we did!  Not only did the shop have many dresses in my plus size that I could try on, but the service was wonderful.  I found a gorgeous dress, one that I would never have considered in my wildest dreams, and I tried it on.  It was perfect!  The best part of it was that although the ticket on it said it was $448, it also said it was on sale.   The sale price was $348  --- at least at first.  It turned out that there was a further discount because it was a discontinued style, and it was "off the rack."  By the time I checked out the total price for the dress AND all the alterations was $229!  Over a $100 less than the dress I'd almost settled for!

As you can see, it need major shortening in both length and sleeves, and the shoulders need taking in.  But I'm in love with it!

After that we visited the companion lingerie store and I found appropriate undergarments to wear with it!  Of course this shopping expedition consumed the greater part of the day, especially when it included a very late lunch.  I wasn't hungry when I got home, so DH happily heated up fish sticks and french fries for himself!

Today was equally busy.  Two loads of laundry, taking down the Christmas tree, packaging up the 3 of the 4 pair of shoes I ordered for the wedding to send back to Zappos, and cleaning up the hard drive of my laptop which will become a laptop for the business.  My husband hired an operations manager who needs a computer, and rather than buying a new one, I offered him my personal laptop which in not being used.  I just needed to remove a few files but that took longer than I'd expected.

And the big doing of the day was my return to church.  I have not attended services at my church since last Lent due to some major issues.   Those particular issues have been resolved, so I finally felt willing to return.  It was fairly stressful on my part, and in many ways quite unsettling.  I'm working through those feelings now, but it's just another reason why I'm feeling pooped!

Today's cooking was easy!  I just made a huge pot of beef-based refrigerator soup which we dipped into as the mood struck.

I browned about 3/4 lb of hamburg in a large pot with 1 large diced onion and 2 diced cloves of garlic.  I drained off the fat, and then added a 32 oz box of beef broth, a large can of diced tomatoes, about 3/4 c red wine, and 1/2 jar of leftover jarred spaghetti sauce.  I also added 1/4 head of chopped cabbage, about 5 small chopped parsnips, 3 small turnips, about 4 stalks of celery, some oregano and basil, and a couple of splashes of fish sauce.  If I'd had carrots I would have added those too.  It just simmered away for about an hour and a half, and then we started sampling it!  It was yummy, and there's enough for some lunches this week.

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