I woke up tired this morning. It was hard to get moving. I gave myself a little time to meditate in bed, but I just fell right back asleep and into dreams. I got up, made and ate breakfast, and then decided to start using the trimmer on the rock pile.
I worked out there for about an hour before family zoom. The trimmer did well, and I could have just used the trimmer and probably finished the area, but instead I tried to do some work to make the next time I mow a bit easier. I picked up rocks and moved them around. Moved them from being buried in the dirt to being in a pile. I tore plants out of the ground where it was too hard to get the trimmer in. I thought that trimming would be easy, but I worked myself into quite a sweat in that hour. And I still have trimming – and rock relocation – left to do.
Family zoom was good. My brother had some good news that I hope turns into better news. I got dishes done, including the cleaning of my water bladder and flask. I’m very proud that I’ve not been letting those sit out too long before cleaning them. Ambrose was usually the one to clean those after our trips. I just had to get mine to the sink and he’d take care of them.
After the zoom, I drove to Nampa to pick up the things I’d inadvertently sent to my friend’s house. It wasn’t a bad thing to see her again, but I would rather have not had to drive so far again this weekend. It’s about 90 minutes one way, made longer because I had to make a pit stop and filled up on gas when I found it priced under $3 a gallon. We chatted a bit, and I got to say hi to her sweet toddler.
Then I went shopping at the nearby Winco. Ambrose and I used to shop at Winco in Boise all the time, but there isn’t one close enough to me to warrant a regular trip now. There’s a Waremart about an hour away, which is owned by Winco, but it’s not the same. But what really got me was this Winco was across the street from the place where Ambrose and I first met in person, at a Moxie Java that is no longer there. It got me all up in my feelings before I went in.
I had thought about doing a bean soup with the ham hocks that I have in my fridge, but after looking at recipes, I decided I didn’t have the time to do a bean thing. I wasn’t up to soaking the beans and spending a couple hours cooking. So, I decided to do a very veggie Friday spaghetti instead, and bought what I needed along with the other items on my list, and a yogurt drink to drink on the way home.
When I got home around 4, I considered whether I might do a mowing session before starting to cook. But after I brought the packages and groceries inside, I decided to listen to my body, which was telling me I needed to give myself a break. So I got to cooking after I put everything up.
In addition to the traditional ingredients in Friday spaghetti, I added red bell pepper, jalapenos (without the seeds, so not much spice), and water chestnuts. I really like the way it turned out. There’s good crunch to it, and the jalapenos add a nice touch of green. I’m not sure what I might add next time. I was thinking maybe a slurry of lentils or beans to add protein, but I don’t know if I’m up for cooking that yet. For now, this is a delicious meal I can have for dinner every night this week. Hurray!
After eating, I took a shower to rinse the morning’s sweat off me before bed. And then I just relaxed for the rest of the evening. Giving my body a chance to recover. It’s kind of windy outside right now, but I’m thinking of sitting outside for a bit before bed. Or maybe a short bath. Something relaxing. I’m planning on a run tomorrow morning – switching from a Friday run to a Monday run because I’m going to be driving 4 hours after work on Friday and I don’t want to be falling asleep at the wheel.
I sent out my entry about yesterday’s hike to a few people over text. I think I’ll post it on social media tomorrow. It’s a nice post. I’m happy with it. I think Ambrose would have liked it, too.
