Gobble gobble giggle

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The turkey is stuffed and in the oven, the leftover stuffing is in a pan, the sweet potatoes are in a car on their way here, the cranberries were accidentally left in PA, and the other stuff (mashed potatoes and green bean casserole) can wait until later.  John and I have spent the morning in the kitchen with oldies on Pandora for food prep.  Now that we’re in clean-up mode, we’ve moved on to 80s pop.  It’s been fun.  Only sad part?  It’s not really cold enough for a fire.  Maybe at pie time.  (Well, that’s not the only sad part, but who wants to get serious now?  Miss you, family of mine!)

Happy Turkey Day!

Pie update

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My sweet potato pie was a HUGE success today.  Everyone LOVED it.  Everyone being the seven people who got to try it, but still.  Big hit.  Yay pie!  Now it’s time to make the rest, if I can get Riley out of my lap long enough.  He’s being a little clingy.

Perks

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Two pies down, another two to four to go.  I’ll do the others tomorrow.  I always forget how easy they are.  It’s a little time-consuming (boiling the sweet potatoes takes 40-45 minutes, then they have to cool, and then the pies take about an hour in the oven), but the mixing part is easy and goes fast.  The rest is just waiting.  Of course, when I’m as tired as I am, the waiting is scary (oh god, I can’t go to bed until I pull the pies out of the oven), which is why I’m only doing one round of pies tonight.  I wouldn’t even be doing it tonight except that I need one for work tomorrow.  I bet you guys wish you worked with me now!

Freedom!

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We are free from our manipulative real estate agent!  Hooray for us!  She actually fired us.  🙂  It was kind of awesome.  She said she couldn’t sell it at this price, we said we weren’t willing to change it, and she suggested we sign a release from the agreement.  We win!  And now we’ll take a little time, maybe enjoy the holiday season, and do it on our own soon.

I was doing so well with keeping up here, and then last week started.  It was a horrible, crazily busy, totally exhausting week.  Work was nuts, our evenings were not our own, and we just got back from a whirlwind 36-hour trip to PA and back for Emily’s engagement party.  I can barely keep my eyes open.  We braved Wegmans to get the basic pre-Thanksgiving shopping done, mostly because I have pies to make.  Lots of pies.  This year I actually need to double my recipe.

I’m too tired to make any more sense, so I’m going to shut down the computer, heat up dinner (we scored leftovers from the party last night), and watch TV with John.  I might last another hour, max.  I will try really really hard to post regularly again.  I like it.

What I should have said to our real estate agent

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The relationship between a real estate agent and her client is purely business (or should be).  Just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I don’t like you, but please remember that I hired you.  We’re not friends.  I don’t have to like you, and you don’t have to like me.  It’s nice when we like each other, sure.  And we certainly started that way.  But I reserve the right to stop liking you when you don’t listen to what I’m saying, completely disregard my opinion, assume I’m greedy, and then try to manipulate me into doing what you want.  EVEN THOUGH WHAT YOU WANT IS NOT IN MY BEST INTEREST.  It’s in YOURS, certainly, but not in mine.

Emotional blackmail will get you nowhere.  This is no longer a relationship (business or personal) I want to be in.  Luckily, we only have to wait a few weeks before we are free of you.

See this movie

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John and I went out to the movies tonight and saw About Time.  Go see it.  I loved it.  I laughed, I cried (like, really cried – no polite sniffles and quiet tears for me), and it took me a while after it was over to get it together.  Seriously.  John drove home.

Go see it.

Trying out insufferable

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I feel virtuous.  I RAN to my polling place this morning and voted and then ran home.  I exercised my rights as a citizen of this country while exercising.  (John did, too.)  I am proudly wearing my “I voted” sticker, which has so far managed to stay stuck to my sweater, so EVERYONE knows how citizenly and more-civic-minded-than-thou I feel today.

And with that, I think my period of insufferableness (insufferability?) needs to end.  I’m tired, and I’d like to take a nap.

Ow

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Still achy this morning, but it occurred to me that maybe my legs are achy not just because I didn’t pay attention to my pace yesterday but maybe also because I spent several hours standing around in heels while trying on bridesmaid dresses with Emily AFTER being stupid about my speed.  I thought running through the ache this morning would be good for me.  Maybe it was.  (It’s hard to say.)  But that wasn’t the only reason I ran this morning.  (It wasn’t even the main reason.)  Mostly, I ran because I felt obligated to.  I spend so much time complaining about how I don’t like to run in the dark that I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to run at my usual time (just before 6am) and see the sun.  It was nice (if a little cold).  Also nice?  John told me that I looked super-skinny in my running clothes.  I think I’ll keep him.

Fall perfection

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I was a little too ridiculously happy this morning.  Maybe it’s that extra hour of sleep, except no, that can’t be it.  John and I deliberately set an alarm for 7 today.  7 felt like 8, which is when we usually get up (or when we usually aim to get up – sometimes we miss), but wasn’t.  Because it was 7.  So we used the extra hour this morning to get up and run.  And that was fantastic.  It was a little chilly to start (mid-40s), but I ran a little over 5 miles, and by the time I got halfway, I had my jacket wrapped around my waist and was running in just a tank top.  (And pants.  I swear I was wearing pants.)  It felt great.  And the sky was blue and the sun was shining and all the trees are changing colors and I had a silly grin plastered on my face because it was all just so beautiful.  Of course, my legs are a little achy now, but that’s my own fault – I got carried away and ran a bit too fast, considering that I haven’t been running as regularly as I should.  I’m paying for that.  But still – happy!

Food decisions are hard

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I almost wish I didn’t care how food tastes.  This is not a diet post (I can handle eating normal portions (and handle it when I eat other-than-normal portions)).  This is about decision fatigue.  There are too many choices!  Every day I have to make a decision about where I’m going to get lunch, and every night, John and I have to decide what we’re having for dinner.  We have too many choices and too many decisions to make.  We bring it on ourselves, I know.  We NEVER go to the grocery store, so we have almost no food in the house.  If we had food in the house, we’d have fewer choices about what to eat (which would make the decisions easier), but getting food into the house involves making choices about what to get, and – WORSE – it means making choices about what we’re going to eat DAYS IN ADVANCE.  That’s just crazy.

If all food tasted the same, this wouldn’t be a problem.  Somebody should get on that.

It was great

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I had a glorious weekend.  So much time to READ.  Tempting as it was, though, I didn’t read ALL weekend.  I did some stuff for others – I spent a couple of hours on Saturday trying on bridesmaid dresses and taking pictures of them (or notes where pictures weren’t allowed) for Emily (no, you may not see those pictures), and I helped John test out his new recording toy.  (I may have enjoyed doing both of those things, but that doesn’t change the fact that I did them primarily to help John and Emily.)  On Saturday afternoon, John and I went for a run together, something we haven’t done in a while.  I think I enjoy it more than he does.  (I’ve heard I sometimes talk too much.  I don’t know who starts these rumors.)  But Sunday?  Yeah, I spent hours and hours reading.  It was heavenly.

I guess it made a lot of money

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John and I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture last night.  The theory (not counting the new reboot and its sequel) is that the even-numbered Star Trek movies are good, and the odd-numbered ones are bad.  Before last night, the only one I’d ever seen was the one with the whales (the fourth one – one of the supposed good ones).  Question: if the first one (the one we just watched) was so bad, why would the studio ever agree to make a second?  And I have to say, it wasn’t very good.  It was the slowest-paced movie I think I’ve ever seen.  Not a lot of plot going on for a movie over two hours long.

I’m trying to distract myself from the fact that it’s a beautiful sunny October Saturday and no one is coming by to look at our house.  I keep reminding myself that it’s okay.  Really.  I got out this morning to do some bridesmaid dress scouting for Emily (found some nice ones), and I want to go for a run this afternoon (it’ll be a nice change to run in daylight again), and I have a whole list of things I’d like to do today and tomorrow.  Distractions abound.  I just need them to work so I can stop obsessing.

My new obsession

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The new Athleta catalog came today.  I want everything in it.  (I bought a sleeveless dress last spring – love it.)  They have a whole travel clothes section, and just looking at the pictures makes me want to pack up and GO.  I’d like to be a well-dressed (but still comfortable) traveler.  I want to go for walks in fields and hikes in forests and strolls on wintery beaches wearing the chicest of chic travel clothes.  (Hell, I’d dress like the Von Trapps crossing the Alps if I thought I’d be warm and comfortable enough.  Who needs chic?)

I would totally wear Liesl’s hat.

Of course, there are some ridiculous assumptions in their descriptions.  They’ve got a cowl neck tunic-length cashmere sweater (beautiful, of course, and not cheap), but the description assumes you’re going to want to wrap yourself in it after your workout.  Who would put that on when they’re still sweaty from a workout?  Maybe they mean you’d want to wear it after you shower, but then it’s just clothes, not post-workout clothes.  And the picture shows a woman in a yoga studio with her mat hanging from her shoulder while wearing that sweater.  I get sweaty during yoga, but maybe she doesn’t.  Maybe if I had 15 cowl neck cashmere sweaters, I’d feel comfortable designating one to be my sweaty post-workout comfy sweater.  Maybe.

For your viewing enjoyment

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Riley keeping watch for squirrels:

Riley saying hi:

Right this very minute, he’s curled up in a ray of sunshine on the floor, feet twitching while he dreams.

He’s doing really well.  Still not eating enough, but he does eat and he’s keeping it all down.  He gets tired easily, but he starts out with lots of energy, so that doesn’t seem too worrisome, either.  (Hopping everywhere you go takes a lot out of you.  I know.  I tried.)  He’s having blood drawn this evening to check on his cell counts, and the next round of chemo is next week.  I’ll keep you posted.

What’s the rush?

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I’m running out of steam on this house-selling business, which is silly, really.  It’s only been seven days, and the only thing I have to do is leave work occasionally to take the dog for a walk while people look at our house.  Hardly taxing.  We’re not in any hurry to sell – we don’t have any deadlines.  It would be nice to get rid of the mortgage, but I’m okay with putting off the actual move (that’s hard work).  I’m not sure how I have any steam to run out of, actually.  What would the steam be for?  If I have steam, I should put it to better use (like to Step 4).  This steam metaphor is putting Kylie Minogue’s “Locomotion” in my head.  After years of silence, I’ve heard it twice in the last few weeks – once on my mix tape and once at IHOP (we had pancakes for dinner on John’s birthday).

Now that I’ve established how little use I have for steam where the sale of the house is concerned, I will take a deep breath, enjoy the quiet of a clean and uncluttered house, and relax.  Om mani padme hum.