More about that

I am sitting in the parking lot of The Home Depot waiting for James to get off work. Driving him to and picking him up from work was not on my agenda for the day, but while his knee is getting better, swelling in his ankle and stress on that area from how he's had to hold his lower leg to prevent pain in his knee means that he's wearing a boot. When he got into the car this morning, he realized that he probably couldn't drive with the boot but he definitely could not hold his knee at the correct angle to be able to drive at all.

I think he's a trooper for continuing to go to work, and very fortunate that he still has training to do so they are putting him on a computer to ensure that he won't be walking around all day.

It is helping me realize that I really enjoy not doing anything. Most of my days start pretty early. I usually get out of bed between 6:00 and 6:30, go on a walk, feed the cats, and get ready for my morning by getting some caffeine and doing some puzzle games online while everyone else is still asleep.

Since Malcolm stays up much later than I do at night, this is the one time during the day that is truly mine.

Except for right now. And I'm not mad, but I am tired.

When I first get up, I am making James some breakfast so he can take whatever medications he needs to take. If he has to go to work, we make sure that he is dressed before I leave for my walk. He has trouble putting on one of his socks and also getting his pant leg over his foot. He can't bend his knee very far, and his foot actually hurts now. 

After that is done, I do go on my walk. But this morning by the time I got home, I needed to help James get into the boot before he left. 

When he was out the door, I went in the bedroom to get dressed and ready to start my day with some caffeine and breakfast. I knew that someone had texted me, but I didn't have a chance to check it. He was halfway back to to the house (he is going the long way through the yard because the stairs on the side of the house nearest the vehicles are very deep) before I realized that he was telling me he could not drive the car.

I left a note for Mal and drove James to work, then went back and finally had breakfast at around 10 AM, which is super late for me.

Then I cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms, my normal Friday chore.

When I finished, the groceries were arriving. I put those up then it was time to start on lunch because I wanted it ready when James came home, and also before D has to go to work at three.

Today, we are having a baked rotini, marinara, and cheese dish with a side of green beans. I had the pasta in the oven for about half an hour before I had to leave, so I did get to sit down and do my puzzles right around noon.

James should be out of the car at any minute, and then we'll go home and have lunch. I need to get Mal to Urban Air at 4 PM today, and then when we get home I will need to clean the litter boxes and feed the cats. This is something that James has been doing for about the past year, but he just can't right now.

When I write this out, it kind of just seems like a normal day. But it helps me see how much James does do around the house, for himself and for the rest of us.

One thing I did get to do this week was visit the newly-reopened Hope Outdoor Gallery.
It's near the airport now, and I swung by on my way to get D, who was coming back from Minnesota.

Some More Changes (We're Trying!), and Spring Cleaning?

This morning, I was trying to find the Ball jar seal toppers that I knew we had in our kitchen. This resulted in not only eventually finding the lids, but also in cleaning out one drawer and two cabinets, doing a load of laundry, and doing a load of dishes. I'm a little post-workout-sore from the bending and reaching and moving and whatnot.

I think I'm in... fall cleaning mode? Is that a thing? During the past week or so, I've cleaned out my side of the closet, donating 6 bags of clothes that I didn't ABSOLUTELY love (and, yeah, I know I don't need that many clothes, let alone that many excess clothes); moved a bunch of stuff from James's office under the house and straightened and cleaned in there (it's pretty tidy for what it is, but you're not allowed to judge my house-keeping by it please); I want to get to the storage shed (again); and then today, I got a lot of stuff done!

It seems like it's finally "cooled down" (highs in the 80s instead of 90s or low 100s) enough that I have energy to do more than the normal "sweep, wipe, wash" routine that I can't avoid regardless of temperature.

So... this morning I was looking for the jar lids because it occurred to me the other day that I could make split pea soup, which is one of D's staples, for significantly cheaper than the Progresso I've been buying. Those cans are typically between $1.80 and $3.00, depending on the store. Meanwhile, a bag of dried split peas is $.80 at the most expensive local store; I used 2 onions that probably cost around $3, and then I already had spices, salt, and a bit of oil. In the end, I only had 4 servings, so it was only about 1/3 the cost of buying from the store. But I'll be able to make 6 servings, probably, when we have an immersion blender. I lost a bit from transferring the mixture to a blender, then to a bowl, then back to the pot... and then when I realized it was a little "crunchy," I moved it to the Instant Pot. But it was after I'd added milk, so some solidified at the bottom of the pot, and I didn't try to mix it into the soup in case it tasted burnt. Lesson learned: Get an immersion blender, do the whole thing in the Instant Pot, and... that'll make it a lot cheaper.

Also, it's vegetarian, which the Progresso soup is not. I like the ham flavor, and I think D does, but this stuff is good, too. We're taking further steps to move our diet more toward plant-based. James and I both like vegetarian food and often eat vegetarian or vegan dishes when we eat out. D has been more resistant to this in the past, but with our having birds has stopped eating fowl (which is in SO MUCH STUFF... like even pepperoni Bagel Bites and Pizza Rolls!!). And I think I mentioned trying to eat less beef just because of how environmentally exhausting it is to raise cattle for meat. We'd been getting most of our meat from pigs, and even then, I was only cooking meat about 3 times a week. We've been having fish about once every couple of weeks. I know that needs to come up. And D mentioned that pork isn't a favorite, so...

We switched our eMeals from diabetic back to vegetarian. We tried it and 2/3 of us loved it a year or two ago. I've since honed in to the fact that D doesn't like peppers of any kind (like me! though I'm able to eat small bits of bell pepper cooked into dishes), tomatoes, or cucumber. Actually, D doesn't like lettuce, either. Basically salad stuff. Spinach cooked into dishes seems to be okay. I'll try to choose our meals wisely to avoid these things and cook dishes we'll all enjoy.

Meanwhile, Mal has narrowed down the pool of foods he will eat to: chicken nuggets, corn dogs, French fries, apples, ice cream, candy, mashed potatoes, watermelon, cheese pizza, cupcakes, ham and cheese sandwiches, boxed macaroni and cheese, butter noodles, and the white part of a boiled egg. How is he still alive? I don't know. He used to eat a wider variety of foods, though still not a whole lot. And he's committed to only eating foods he's eaten before, so dropping things like broccoli and grapes and scrambled eggs makes it very difficult to make sure he's getting the proper nutrition. We're back on vitamins after having stopped at some point in the past when I felt he was probably getting 'most everything he needed. Sigh.

On the upside with Mal, he has started letting us use toothpaste with fluoride! Given his sensitivities (which are FAR more extreme at his age than D's were at this age), that was a hard sell! But a couple of months ago, I noticed a grey spot on one of his non-capped molars. Double sigh. However, we've kept at it and after a while, it went back to white. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow we have someone coming out to give me an estimate on replacing our windows. We do not have the money to do this, but we're also losing a lot of climate controlled air from our craptastic windows. Just to satisfy our curiosity and perhaps develop a savings strategy, we're going to see what we might be looking at. Man, trying to be energy-wise is super expensive!

Okay, idiots. That's it for today. Thanks for reading! And drop me an email if you'd like, since as far as I can tell, the comments still aren't working. My email address is firstname.lastname@hotmail.com, except, you know, with my name. Au revoir!

Slice of (Real) Life

Our weekend and beyond:

Saturday morning, Mal and I went to the park to meet a friend and play a while. It was getting HOT, but nice enough with a breeze and in the shade. By the time we got home at noonish, James was up and around and getting hungry. His idea was to head into town to pick up his med refill and find something to eat. 

Mal wasn't having it. He begged James to stay home, but in the end, James said he needed to get out. Mal was devastated. James asked, "Do you want to go with me?" Mal did! Mal had James put the carseat into the "red car" and they ended up at Taco Cabana.

Photo credit: James

They also went to Walgreen's and Eileen's Colossal Cookies, so it sounds like a cool day! Then when they got home, D wanted to get out with me, so we headed into Cedar Park. It was a nice time, even though of the three things we tried to do, none of them worked out exactly (one didn't work out twice), but D ended up with a new fidget spinner, so didn't walk away empty-handed.

We spent the evening playing with Mal in the back yard, fortunately after the sun was behind the trees and we could enjoy the shade. We've been here six months now, and I'm still captivated by our back yard.

Yesterday morning, Father's Day, I noticed an idyllic scene just as we were getting ready to head out to church: Mal was sitting in the big blue recliner with James, petting Aish. The cat usually jumps up whenever the toddler is around, but this time, she was being super chill. It was so cute that I grabbed my camera to memorialize this Father's Day moment.

And just as I did, Mal spilled the soda he was drinking, and realized that he wasn't going to be able to wear his beloved grey and blue shirt to church. So this is the moment I captured.

That's about as real as it gets, people. That's how our Father's Day started. A few minutes later, when Mal howled, "No, thank you!" about every option I offered as an alternative, I might have sworn a few times, angry at myself for "letting" him drink when he spills every single time, and frustrated that he'd been ready to leave more than half an hour early but I hadn't been... and wishing I had and that we could have just driven around. 

But, it all ended fine and we got on different clothes, went to church, then met James at Qdoba for lunch. Father's Day food is more challenging when your guy is avoiding meat in order to avoid a gout attack. He got their veggie bowl, and I got a tropical shrimp taco (seasonal) then realized I was probably being a jerk for eating something he can't. I also got about 1/4 of a cup of diet Mello Yello before the Freestyle machine ran out. D'oh!

After lunch, we walked over to PetSmart. We usually get our cat food through Amazon Subscribe and Save, but it's not a perfectly-timed game. Sometimes, we get food before the old stuff runs out. This time, it wasn't going to happen. Approaching the door, I noticed on a chalkboard outside that if you texted "summer" to their number, you'd get a coupon. The coupon was for $10 off of $40 (and, sadly, the cat food we get is $46 a bag there)... OR $40 off of $100. So we ended up getting two bags of cat food and a box of litter for the same price we would have gotten just the two bags of food with Amazon (which is $10 cheaper per bag of food than PetSmart, barring sales and special coupons like this). Woo hoo!

James took Mal home and I swung by Walmart to pick up our groceries -- By the way, if you haven't tried Walmart Grocery pickup, you totally should. Pick out what you need online, prices the same as in the store, and they shop and bring it out to your car for you. It keeps the best part of Walmart (prices) and does away with the worst part of Walmart (shopping at Walmart). If you decide to do this for the first time, please click here and save us both $10!

The rest of the day, we hung out and played with Mal, including playing in the back yard quite a bit in the late afternoon. Dangggg, it's hot. But Mal was comfy, naked, and even managed to slide a few times after we got him a "magic carpet" (beach towel). I don't love privacy fences, but given Mal's proclivity to nudity, right now it's probably for the best.

For dinner, I made James "chicken" and waffles, using veggie protein tenders instead of chicken. It was delicious, and I think that substituting so much of our meat with non-meat has made zero difference to the teen. I don't care much whether we have meat or not, but I was concerned that we wouldn't have anything D wanted to eat. Mal also ate two tenders and an entire waffle, which is kind of a lot for him to consume in one sitting.

Also, miraculously, every single waffle of this batch turned out perfectly. Maybe it's because I used some whole wheat? I'll let you know next time I try it again.

This morning, Mal announced bright and early (before 9) that he wanted to go play in a ball pit. There's a place I've been meaning to take him, anyway, as a substitute for his beloved My Gym, but we just hadn't made it yet. So I ran and put on some clothes, decided my Monday chore could wait until we returned, and went back to get Mal ready. At this point, his tune was, "No way! Mal's very tired!" Sigh.

I got my chores done (cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms) and by then, Mal was less tired and eager to go. He got dressed, and we went to Little Land. They're preparing to open one closer to us, and when they do, I think we'll buy a membership. Mal loved it, and they had so much to do! In addition to the "gymmy" stuff, they also had a "fine motor skills" area with trains, puzzles, dress-up, puppet show, and a tiny grand piano that Mal banged on for probably 80x longer than anyone in that room wanted him to play it.

Then it all fell apart when, after about an hour, Mal discovered the baby area, meant for kids 18 months and under. There were fun things there, including an even tinier baby piano. I made him get out of that area because he was bowling over this sweet little crawler, and he was destroyed. "I want the baby piano!" It was so sad, and he couldn't calm down, not even to go sit and get a snack and some water. He tried, but just erupted in tears again at the injustice of being denied the use of the baby piano. So we left. 

We needed to get some grocery staples, but I was starting to get hungry, so we went to Chick-fil-A. Mal went into the play area and was enjoying the other kids when it was reported that someone had peed in the play area, and they closed it down for like half an hour to clean and let the cleaner dry up. 

Most of the kids left during that time, but we ate lunch and waited. There were a couple of 8-ish-year-olds standing there when the guy was checking to make sure the cleaner was dry, and one of them said, "I'd clean up pee if they paid me a million dollars." Man, the job market is going to be a rude awakening to him.

Mal played a bit longer, then was ready to go. It had started raining when we were inside, so we got to get wet, which is so much better than just being sweltering in the sun.

We went to 365 by Whole Foods and, in addition to the staples, I got six mochi. They have them individually, buffet-style, so we are getting to sample black sesame, matcha green tea, strawberry, coffee, red bean, and mango.

And we got rained on even more. 

Oh! I was out of gas... literally OUT. I was planning to get some on the way home, and either the storm had messed up the railroad crossing on Whitestone or they were testing it. But whatever, the gate was down and lights were on, but there was no train. I was already cutting it close, so started to get nervous. Then the gates went up and the lights went out!

About three cars went through when the lights started up again. So this time, we waited a few minutes, while I debated whether it was better to leave car idling or turn it off and hope it restarted. Fortunately, we got to the gas station on time. 

So that's our weekend and today. Not too much excitement, just our everyday life. And twenty years from now, I might want to remember what it was like.