I had a really hard time getting out of bed this morning. Despite my plans for a walk or some exercise or even some yard work, I was in bed until after 7. I didn’t shower, but I did have enough time to eat breakfast and prepare for work.
The work day was interrupted by my annual physical this afternoon. For the first time in many years, I had to get a pap smear done. That was about as fun as it usually is. Overall, it was a good appointment. I’m going to go back next week in the morning for a fasting blood draw to check on my cholesterol. I’m particularly interested in that because my dad’s has been high, and mine is periodically high as well. I let the doctor know all about my eye issues over the past year as well as the A1C findings from when I donated blood last November.
Work was mostly meetings for me today, which was probably a good thing because I’ve been feeling distracted. Or maybe just feeling grief would be a good way to put it. The grief that I’m feeling is distracting. I want to spend time with the grief, but I can’t do that while working.
After work, I finished the last of the blended bean pasta sauce with the spinach and cheese tortellini, plus a salad with Italian dressing. I’ll have to cook something tomorrow. I want to make something that uses a lot of green onions because I am currently flush with them thanks to my neighbor. I reached out to both that neighbor and another one offering muffins and they both accepted so I am officially out of muffins. It was nice to be able to provide something to people who have done a lot for me since I moved out here, and especially since Ambrose died. And there will be more since I plan on baking the second attempt tomorrow.
The wind kicked up just as I was finishing dinner, which spoiled my plans to mow because I really don’t like mowing in high winds. Something about all the dust and detritus blowing into my eyes and nose just doesn’t appeal. But I still wanted to get something done in the yard, so I went and dug out all the thistles that were trying to establish themselves. I put the plants into heavy duty garbage bags that I’d bought just for that. The garbage bags turned out to be scented and not very heavy duty. The thistles poked holes in them with ease, so I double bagged them. I’ve got three bags of thistles to dispose of now.
Then I brought the muffins to my neighbor down the hill, riding my trike. The same tire that was flat before was lower than it should have been. I’m going to have to refill it, but I decided that it would work for today, and it did. I ended up chatting with these neighbors for almost an hour before heading home when my bedtime alarm went off at 8:30.
I still had to do my exercises, so I just did a quick 15 minute session, and then showered off the sweat from the thistles and the trike ride. Once I post this, it’s bed for me.
I think Ambrose would appreciate my muffin experimentation. He knew how to bake, but he didn’t do very much baking with me. Our oven served as storage space for most of the year when we lived in Boise. But he was an experimenter in the kitchen. His food rarely came out the same from batch to batch. Sometimes, he’d make something incredible and when I’d ask him to make it again, it would come out different. Sometimes as good, sometimes not so much, but very rarely exactly the same. I like consistency in my food, so that took some getting used to. I guess I’m doing that now, with my pasta sauces. And other meals where I’m not using a recipe, like when I toss a bunch of veggies into a pasta side and mix in some meat. I should try adding spices more often.