Grandmothering #2

Jacob and Sophie

going to sleep

 

I knew today would be a better day because while Jacob and the dog were still asleep I weighed and found I'd lost three pounds in a week. Paying attention to what I eat really makes a difference for me, and I thought the weight loss was an omen of a good day. And it was indeed a better day, with much less electronics. We ate breakfast at the Grill--Jacob allowed later that maybe two pancakes are too much, and he should stick to one; I also felt over-served--asked for one egg soft scrambled but am quite sure I got two, and I ordered crispy hash browns. Too much for one used to eating cottage cheese for breakfast, and I came near having a sinking spell in the grocery store. But we did our shopping--and Jacob didn't beg for one thing! When I announced we had to stop at the liquor store, he said, "Oh, good, I love licorice." I had to explain the difference, and then he said "That's a yucky store. The last time, there was a barefoot man in there." When we got in, he said, loudly, "Look, there's that barefoot man again." I shushed him.
When I had the groceries unpacked and put away, he dictated his letter to Elizabeth--my goal of course is to get him to write it himself, but I complied again. Then he was off to lunch and a baseball game with his dad, and I worked a bit and napped a lot. Jacob's dad took him to the Old Neighborhood Grill, so that makes three meals in a row he's had there. Tonight we had dinner at home--but I let myself get talked into buying Spaghetti-Os.
This evening we've read--I think his parents settle for letting him read books that are too easy, so I made him read to me from The Boxcar Children and helped him sound out words he didn't know. Then I read some to revive his interest in the story. Now I have his promise that he'll shower in ten minutes. When we three--Jacob, me and the dog--sat together on the bed, I knew someone needed a bath. Sophie gets one Monday, and I'm not about to undertake that at this hour of the night, but I will stick Jacob in the shower. He loves my shower head on a flexible cord.
Big debate: are we going to church tomorrow? Jacob says no, but I pointed out we should go and tell God how grateful we are for all his blessings to us. Jacob answered, "I'll say a prayer tonight and tell him." I asked if he didn't pray every night, and he said, "No. My mom doesn't tell me to." Told him he's old enough not to have to be told. I think we'll go to church tomorrow, and then I'll fix grilled sandwiches of gruyere, carmelized onions, and sliced apples for his mom and me. He gets peanut butter. All in all, a nice weekend so far.
And, I've finished first edits on my novel. Will give it to my beta reader Monday at lunch and settle down to reading the last novel I have to for my class. Life is good.

Day Three of the Ice Siege

Day three--and it seems to get worse. I definitely have cabin fever, and I notice some anxiety, that old friend of mine. I'm working hard on it, trying to remain positive, but I really want to get in my car and go to the grocery store. The general consensus among those who care about me is that I should not do that even tomorrow, so Christian is going to get what I need to cook for company on Saturday night (the company includes him). They don't seem to realize that I grew up in Chicago and lived in northeast Missouri, the "icebox" corner of the state, for several years. I can drive on ice, even if I'm leery of walking on it. And I'm sure the handicapped spots at the grocery are ice-free. But no one else believes that, and I am left to savor the feeling that they care about me. It's not worth a battle.
My neighbor, Meredith, came over for an hour this morning, with her three-year-old daughter, Abby. She too is feeling housebound. Abby likes to play with the toys at my house because they're different from her own, but her attention span is short and she tires of them quickly, so she went through all I had to offer in a half hour. Another neighbor, Linda, was going to go to the new Sprouts grocery this afternoon and asked if I'd like to go, which I jumped at. But she went out on another errand and lost her nerve. Then Meredith, who is very pregnant, was going to Target when Abby woke from her nap. But by then it was almost 5 and I declined, much as I want those blasted groceries.
For one thing I wanted to watch the national news at 5:30 to see what's going on in Egypt. I'm  devotee of Channel 5, so I feel like Brian Williams and Lester Holt and others are friends, and when I heard they were beating and/or detaining foreign journalists I was concerned. I can't understand why we don't just pull our journalists out of there--and the story of the 76-year-old woman who is stranded in an apartment in central Cairo is horrifying. We're watching significant history, as uprisings spring up all across that region, like a contagion. Meanwhile, if you watch the local news you'd think nothing is going on in the world except the SuperBowl.
To make the day longer, I had no email. A pipe burst in the basement of the building where tech services is housed, and the server was down all day. When I finally got into it about 8:30 tonight, I had 105 emails. Fortunately, it didn't take me long to go through them--most needed no attention or response. But I have a stack of papers to take care of by email--tomorrow.
My big accomplishment today: I followed Smashwords directions carefully and created a Table of Contents with links to the short stories in my collection, Sue Ellen Learns to Dance. Tedious work, but the instructions are clear and I am really proud that I got it done. I'll post it on Smashwords in place of the version that's now up.
Ho hum. Another day at home tomorrow. I don't know that Scooby and I can either one stand being inside that long. He loves being out but I'm afraid to leave him for very long. I've noticed that he doesn't go in his house these days as he does in the rain--he lies in the snow and looks around alertly. He seems to really enjoy it. Wish I did.

Cleaning Your Kitchen

Want to know how clean your kitchen is? For a small fee, I will rent out my dog Scooby. Sunday night, after my brisket/grease disaster (see my post for 9/26), he spent a long time licking the kitchen floor that I thought I had cleaned so carefully. Then Wednesday night--three nights after the disaster--he discovered some grease that must have dripped out of the bottom of the oven and spent a good ten minutes licking it, until I finally told him it was time to go to bed. Sort of like a tracking dog, only for food remnants. Every dog has his special talents--and that's Scooby's, aside from being the most loveable, sweet animal ever!
Errands this morning--did you ever realize that you can buy a lot of groceries and spend a lot of money in much less time than it takes to unpack what you've bought? By the time I did that, went by the office, went to the vet for animal food, and took Jordan to the safe deposit box, I was pooped.
Tonight was the first session of my fall session of the evening writing class--I have nine enrollees, though two were absent tonight. A most interesting group--a minister, a psychotherapist, an aspiring fiction writer, four repeats from last session, a woman who took a similar class from me ten or twelve years ago. We had a good time. The talk was much more open and free than at the noon class I taught Monday--I hate to say this, but serving a glass of wine makes a difference. Anyway, it was a happy, encouraging evening, and I have great hopes for this group. I served bourbon hot dogs from the freezer, brownies that were so mushy and moist they were hard to deal with, and pimiento cheese that I bought at the store but spiked with a bit of cayenne that made it really good. I can see my lunch sandwich tomorrow!

A good retirement day

Sometimes I feel like this blog deteriorates into "and then I did this and then I did that," but that's exactly what's on my mind today. Today was the kind of day retirement should be. I had resolved to go to an 8 am. meeting of the Breakfast Ladies--a once a month gathering of ladies whose lives have revolved around books. I woke up at 6:45, looked at the clock, and decided I had time to linger. The next time I looked at the clock, it was 7:42--and you have never seen anybody move so fast. But stiill, hair washed, makeup in place, cat and dog fed and taken care of, I was there at 8:10-the restaurant is about a block from my house. Found one lonely member eating her breakfast. So I sat and visited with her and had my lean breakfast--one egg over easy and wheat toast with a bit of butter to sop up the egg.

Came home and actually did some work on the cookbook chapter that had me boggled. I have a handle on it now, and it made me feel good to be writing. Also called and handled some business about my retirement accounts--I hate dealing with that stuff!

At 11:30, I picked Charles up and we went to Lucille's Bistro where we split a Greek salad. He had said he had a lot to tell me, and mostly it was that he had just been to a fitness camp at the Prude Ranch in the Davis Mountains (remember that he's 91 years old) and he'd done yoga, which he never thought he could do. He was surprised at how inflexible he was but is very enthusiastic about learning more. I am going to try to hook him up with Elizabeth, my longtime friend and now yoga instructor. Then we went to Central Market so I could buy steak and baked potatoes for Christian's b'day dinner tomorrow night. Charles never shops there but he allowed as how if he could follow me around he might get comfortable in the store. So I'll start to take him on my regular Saturday morning runs.

Came home, worked, napped and then Jacob arrived to spend the evening, but not the night, even though he began insisting he wanted his jammies at 6:15. When I explained he wasn't spending the night, he protested that he wanted to. We had a pleasant evening, though he insisted on shedding his clothes--in preparation for jammies--and didn't eat much dinner but then said he wanted ice cream. I held firm--eat your dinner and then you can have ice cream. So he ate most of a pbj sandwich (okay I ate all his blueberries but two or three). I gave him strawberry ice cream which he loved and spilled all over the table, to his great amusement. Later when he said he wanted his froggie--which was lying on the flooor right be the day bed where he was lying--I told him to get down and get it. And he did. I ain't a soft-touch grandma.

So now the house is quiet. Scooby, Wywy and I have it to ourselves. I'm studing recipes to figure what I want to cook for guests Sunday night, and I'll read the blogs I regularly follow, and then do a little reading--part fun, part work. A truly satisfying day.

A writing day

Of course, I meant to devote the whole day to writing, but that didn't happen. Jacob woke at 6:45 and by 7 a.m. was crying, "I want out." So I stumbled out of bed and got him. Unlike last night, he was a live wire, into everything. But I eventually did manage to get both of us dressed, fed, and ready for the world by the time his folks came at ten. I immediately set off for Central Market with a longer list in hand than usual--I guess! I spent over a hundred dollars, and that included $10 off on a lb. of salmon.. I'm going to have to cut down on my indulgences. It also took me a long time to shop for some reason, so I rushed home, put up the groceries--almost everything I buy there is perishable--and then called my old and dear friend Margaret to say I'd pick her up for lunch. We ate at the Swiss Pastry Shop where my favorite meal is one bratwurst, potato salad (very mustardy) and kraut. Then I bamboozled her into going with me to the car wash so I'd have someone to talk to while I waited, which was a long time. Trouble is they didn't clean the back seat, which is all muddy and full of hair from Scooby's frantic two trips to the vet. I'll have to do that as soon as it's a warm day. Today was medium cold but so windy it felt frigid.
I came home, settled at my computer, wrote about a thousand words, and then had the loveliest long nap. Cooked myself Dover sole with mushrooms and scallions--delicious. And I splurged on a jar of hearts of palm (one of my indulgence

Thanks goodness it's Friday

I can't tell you how delighted I am it's Friday. The last few mornings I have definitely NOT wanted to get out of bed, and I look forward to sleeping late tomorrow. This morning, with Jacob here, I was so off my routine I almost forgot to put the dog out, never did read the newspaper nor check emails, and felt completely thrown together when I got to the office. But I had both of us dressed and fed by the time Jordan came for him about 8:30. And he was in a lovely cheerful mood all morning, though I couldn't convince him that he should let sleeping cats sleep.
I wasn't at work long before it was time to go to the shoulder doctor, who said the injury is so old that sugery probably wouldn't help it, therapy is NOT the thing, and occasional cortisone shots may help. I do think it feels some better, not that I don't know it's there. But it doesn't hurt a lot nor hamper a lot of my movement. I told him I do yoga but just not poses that hurt that shoulder, and he said that was good. I've noticed this week how much better I feel when I do my yoga--noticed because I had skipped it one or two days. Too much going on, but I felt stiff and sore those days and when I do my routine, I feel better the next day. And my feet are, I think, really getting better and stronger.
The grocery store where I've shopped for over twenty years has changed hands. They closed two weeks ago, opened earlier this week, and I made my first visit. It's where I buy toilet paper and soap and staples, while I buy produce and meat at Central Market. The new store is completely rearranged--it was like being in a foreign country! I had to go up and down every aisle looking for what I wanted--some of the rearranging made good sense, but it will take time to adjust. The prices may be a bit higher, but the aisles are wider and it has a new air to it. I didn't look closely but the produce really looks better.
And tonight I brought a major project home from the office but then decided I'd ignored my novel too long. Sent out two queries on the first novel, and did a lot of work on the second. I'm still going back and strengthening, adding suspects and strengthening their motives, etc. I think I'm making it a lot better, but I also realize I need to move ahead and write new text. It's probably my weekend project.

Food, Love, and the grocery store

My brother found a book that he thought sounded just right for me, so he and Cindy sent it to me for my birthday. It's titled Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love, only on the cover there's no word "Broccoli," just a drawing. It's a beautifully designed small book (when you publish you look for these things, and I really think small, off-size books are a new and cool thing). It's maybe 4-1/2 x 7 inches (most books are 6x9). It feels good in the hands.
The stories are about emigrants from Eastern Europe, stories in which so the flap tells us "food and love intersect." I've only read the first story, "A Bunch of Broccoli on the Third Shelf." It's one of those stories where I'm not sure I get the point, or maybe there is no point. It's a "slice of life story" that surely does not fit the standard formula I used to teach in creative writing classes--beginning, middle, and end. You know, rising action and denouement and all those things from the days we studied Shakespeare.
But I really identify with the main character. She shops every Saturday at a Russian grocery store and buys lots of vegetables that she never has time to cook during the week. Her husband pulls out soggy, drooping broccoli and asks why she buys it. But she tells the reader, she likes buying broccoli--and the end of the story involves a miraculously still-fresh bunch of broccoli that she and a new man cook together, but for my purposes that's neither here nor there.
I am that lady. I go to Central Market every Saturday, and I go wild in the produce department. Everything looks so delicious. Last week, I threw away a slimy bunch of green beans--I think they'd been in the back of the vegetale drawer for two weeks, three tomatoes (one really liquid and squishy and awful in the veggie tray on the counter) and two moldy nectarines. So what did I buy today? Nectarines and tomatoes. But I eat a lot of it--stir-fried veggies last night, broccoli with lemon butter tonight, blueberries with banana for lunch, raspberries after supper--the freshest, best of the season.
This morning I had a coupon that told me if I spent $40, I'd get $10 off on chicken breasts, which I can always keep in the freezer--I cryovac them--and pull out for sudden company, as I did last night. I thought I'd never spend $40 and almost didn't take the coupon; in fact I had to circle back to get it because I had left it at home. I spent $61, after the $10 discount. Most of it was produce. Well, there were also three chocolate bars--my newest passion is a milk chocolate bar flavored with peanuts and jalopenos. Now I would tell you that I do not much like peanuts and jalopenos not at all, but this is extraordinary.
It's close to 8 p.m., and since I've sworn off eating at night in my attempt to lose a few pounds, I need to stop writing about food! It's making me hungry, and that chocolate bar is right there in my desk drawer . . .