I just need to start by saying that one of my simple pleasures in life is iced tea. Not that brown sugar water you find down south (sorry Lynn), but real, plain, strong Lipton iced tea without any additions. I made the first pitcher of the year last week in celebration of a day that almost hit 70 degrees. We grilled hamburgers from our new stock pile of grass fed beef. I made rice crispy treats. There is something extra special about iced tea and rice crispy treats together. They are a reproducible, edible piece of my childhood. They bring back memories of visits to my Grandma P’s; cookouts with dozens of cousins and aunts and uncles running around, sleeping on these fold out bed cushion things, playing with my Mom’s old toys. Since we ate the entire pan of rice crispys embarrassingly quickly, I enjoyed some iced tea at lunch today with Doritos. I hate to admit it, but Doritos are another of my life's simple pleasures. I almost never buy them, mostly because then I eat them, but also because J doesn’t like them (what?!). But dang it I’ve really been wanting Doritos, and I’m pregnant, and I knew I had iced tea at home and so I bought some! Doritos and iced tea. Another thing that reminds me of summer time and being a kid and not caring what I ate and baked beans and hot dogs and my Mom and siblings and swimming… I really don’t crave Doritos until the weather starts to get nice. Anyway, I have really been enjoying iced tea, crispy treats and Doritos this past week. And I felt like it needed to be recorded for posterity. It really is the little things sometimes.
And have I mentioned on here, doubtful because I’ve blogged so little lately, that we bought an eighth of a cow last week? Yup. Grass fed beef from our doula. They had two cows they recently had processed and when I heard we could get as much or little as we wanted I jumped on it. Typically you have to buy a minimum of a quarter of an animal, most of the time more than that. The eighth was perfect for the two of us and our small deep freeze and the fact that we don’t actually eat very much red meat. But I got carried away by the romantic idea of local grass fed meat and lots of warm summer evenings when it stays light until 11pm and grilling burgers and steaks. So we bought the cow, well an eighth of the cow. The hamburgers by the way were delicious!
The weather here has been up and down. This past week it’s been pretty chilly with high’s in the 30’s. This is of course a major heat wave compared with most of our winter, but after about a week of 50-60 degrees it feels nippy. It’s supposed to warm up again starting tomorrow and start staying in the 40-50 range. Aside from what’s left of the huge piles of snow we are snow free (knock on wood).
We took advantage of the really nice weather last week and cleaned out the garage. That was a big item on my nesting list that I wasn’t sure was going to actually happen before baby arrived. Very happy it’s done! The patio furniture and grill are back outside, we threw away and recycled a ton of junk that had built up over the winter. J swept out the dirt, dust and yuck. I reorganized the shelving. The very last bits of Christmas finally got put away. Don’t judge about the Christmas stuff, I’d forgotten we put lights up because they were under feet of snow for so long.
Today whilst cleaning the laundry room and kitchen I got distracted and the entire pantry got cleaned out and reorganized. It’s been on my radar, but I’ve been so busy sewing or too tired to get around to it. Hooray for yet another area cleaned out and neat! I think it’s safe to say I’m nesting. Or at least that the 5 hour stretch of sleep I got last night made a huge difference to my energy level. The last big thing on my nesting list is the cars. They both need cleaned, as in professionally detailed, inside and out! After a winter as cold and gross and snowy as we had they’re a mess. Luckily you can pay people to do that and there’s a great place in town! I’ve started having visions of cleaning out our master closet… but I wont die if that doesn’t happen. That project wasn’t on my original list, and I really can’t do it without J’s help. We shall see.
Today I finished my quilting for Bean’s quilt! The binding is cut and sewed together. Now I just need to trim up the quilt itself and iron the binding. Once I get the binding sewn on the front all that left is hand stitching. I’m wanting to be done with it by Monday! I’ve got a few other smaller sewing projects I’d like to get done before Bean arrives. And I really just want to see the quilt completed!!
What else is going on in life around here…
J has been busy. He had a PT test yesterday which he passed. 98%! He’s also been busy doing his pre-check list of sims, flights, and school work for his instructor upgrade. He starts his formal class for instructor Monday. He also got asked by his boss to stay on as his exec in the office until October. This job, originally supposed to be a short few month gig, will have turned into an entire year! But his boss said he really liked J and didn’t want to give him up. I can understand that, he’s a keeper. That means he will be headed to Alabama at the end of October for a 2 month school. We thought that might happen this summer. That also means we have a lot to figure out regarding our new little family for those two months; who will go where and how and when, etc. But the details can wait! As always, everything is subject to change.
I’m heading into town shortly for a pedicure. So I’m going to go work on the quilt some more until then.
Last piece of news is so big it deserves it’s own post. Tomorrow! :-)
