Twelfth of Never - Johnny Mathis

 I listened to a Johnny Mathis album the other day and I had not heard this song in a long time.  It's still one of my favorites of his.  I wanted to start my week out with something beautiful.  Hope you enjoy!

Thought for the day - Taking Sunday off

 I have decided to take Sunday off.  It is the day of rest, after all!  Now, I'm very much a list person, as you know.  Each day I have a list of things I want to get done before and after work and on the weekends.  I try to be as productive as possible so that I don't feel like I'm wasting my day away.  This week, I have been pretty good with things.  Each day, I try to get at least 5 things done on my list.  There are always 10 things on my list, by the way.  And this week, I have done that.  Each day I have gotten at least 5 of the 10 things done and I am happy with that accomplishment.  

So, as I sit here having my coffee, I decided that today, I'm just going to see what life brings to me.  I don't want to be obligated to get anything done or be anywhere at a certain time.  It's a very freeing feeling to have.  Now, this is not to say that I won't do anything.  I am just not going to pressure myself to do anything. If something productive gets done, great.  If not, great.  I am just going to relax and enjoy this day.  Hopefully this will be something that I can do every Sunday.  I think it's important and a vital part of self care to give myself a day off each week.  I work hard during the week and I think I deserve that.

So, now, I'm going to refill my coffee mug and ponder what I may or may not do today, with a smile on my face.

That is all.

Taking back the house

 I need to take back control over my house.  Over the last few months, since Christmas, it's pretty much been a huge mess.  It is in complete disarray.  There are piles of stuff everywhere.  It is not like I have been living in filth or anything, just chaos.  And, because of that, I am really feeling isolated more than normal.  Now, I am not one to have friends over much, for many reasons, but the house being in the condition that it's in is definitely one reason I don't at the present time.

Providing a nice home has always been high on my list.  However, that is one reason that I am in the situation that I am in currently.  I focused on that too much.  Oh, well.  Still, it's part of who I am and I have let that slip.  I need to reignite that desire and get my house in order.  Even as I write this, I am sitting in a room full of piles and boxes and it is driving me crazy.  My dining room table and buffet are covered in stuff.  I want that to go away so that I can use them again.  I'm so tired of eating all of my meals in my bedroom.  I do that because that's where my television is currently and I don't want to eat at the computer LOL

So, this weekend I am going to work on getting things back in order.  I think that I have not been doing it because it's one of the reasons I am single again.  I need to embrace that part of my life again just on the off chance that I have someone stop by to hang out.  I need both of those things in my life.  It may take awhile to get back to that, but I will do it.  I will feel better, for sure.

That is all.

Recipe of the week - Mushroom Swiss Cubed Steak

 

This is a recipe that I just threw together on my own.  While I am sure that there are recipes for this out there, this is my take on it.  I don't often trust my own culinary instincts, but I had all of the ingredients and in my mind this sounded good.  Turns out, it was very good and I will definitely do it again.  The steak turned out better than most times I cook it and could cut it with a fork, so that was a good thing.  Hope you enjoy!

Mushroom Swiss Cubed Steak

6 cubed steaks

Olive Oil

1 onion, chopped

8 oz mushroom slices

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

6 slices Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  In a pan, heat olive oil and sear off your cubed steaks.  Set aside on a paper towel to drain.  In the same pan add your onions, mushroom and Worcestershire.  Cook until the veggies are nice and soft.  Place your steaks in a pyrex.  I used 2 pyrex dishes to give the steaks plenty of room.  Top each steak with the veggie mixture.  Cover with foil.  Place the steaks in the oven and reduce temperature to 325. Cook for 40 minutes.  Take the steaks out and remove the foil.  Place a slice of cheese on top of each steak and return to ove for 20 more minutes, uncovered.  Enjoy!

Quote of the week

 This just struck a chord with me this morning! 

Seeing old friends

 Weekend before last, I took a trip up to the Hickory area to see some old friends and go to a show.  It had been a long time since I had done anything like that for myself.  I know it was at least before the pandemic and probably several years prior to that, even.  For a long time, for many reasons, doing things just for myself was not something I did.  I always tend to put others' happiness before mine and would often end up doing things that weren't necessarily up my alley but it made others happy.  That's not exactly a bad thing, but for me it was unbalanced.  So, this little day trip was exactly what I needed.

Of the three friends I was seeing, Tammy is the one I have seen the most.  Her daughter came to school in Greensboro, so several times I got to catch up with her and that has been wonderful.  She rented an airbnb on Lake Hickory for us.  It was a charming little house and the views were gorgeous.  It wasn't too big or too small.  It had everything we needed for our time together.  DH I had last seen several years before the pandemic when we met up for dinner when he was in town one night.  It was good to see him again.  And Lacy I had not seen in over 20 years since she graduated from UNCG, so I was very much looking forward to seeing her.

In so many ways, it was like time had stood still.  We just picked up where we left off with our lives together.  And this time, we just had more things to discuss besides theater.  Our lives have all changed, for better or worse, but our spirits have not.  We enjoyed our time together.  We had great food, watched a fun show, went to a few bars and saw some drag.  It was a hoot and a half.  But most importantly, it was the connection that I value most.  Just being in the same room with these wonderful people put me on a spiritual high that I have not been on in a very long time.  This was our first time all being together in over 20 years, but it will not be our last.  And it will not be another 20 years before we get together again.  I love them all very much!

5 reasons to quit vaping

 It has been over 3 years since I have had an actual cigarette.  While I am very proud of that, I have been vaping and in some ways, that's just as bad.  It's time to give that up.  I need to be healthier as I embark on a new journey in life.  Here are some of my reasons for doing so:

1.  Cost

Vaping isn't cheap.  With my monthly budget soon to be less than half of what it is now, I simply cannot afford it anymore.  Even though I enjoy it, it's one of those things that I need to find something else to enjoy in its place that is cheaper or even free!  

2.  Being able to breathe better

I find that my breathing is much more labored than it used to be because of this addiction.  With spring here now, I want to be able to take a deep breath without coughing.  Hell, I want to be able to sit still without coughing.  I don't think that's too much to ask.

3.  Better circulation

All four of my limbs are suffering from poor circulation and vaping is not helping that.  I want to get my heart healthier and increase my blood flow.  Hoping that quitting vaping will motivate me to exercise and get my arms and legs feeling better.  They are asleep almost all of the time these days and I don't like how that feels.

4.  Changing my routine

So much of my routine revolves around vaping.  It's the first thing I do in the morning after I get my coffee started and it just goes down hill from there.  I set my daily routine around it, both at work and at home and I want to find other ways to spend my time.  I think it will help my efficiency and productivity, especially at work.

5.  Prove that I can do it

I simply need to show to myself, and no one else, that I can do this.  I can take back control of my life from this addiction.  It's important for me, especially at this age, to be able to conquer this.  It will make me feel much better about myself and will hopefully motivate other changes in my life.  

Thought for the day - anxiety

 

My anxiety has been pretty high for the past few days.  I hate that the way it affects me not only mentally but physically.  I've been plagued with that feeling of my stomach about to drop any moment.  Let me tell you, it's difficult to work under those conditions LOL  I am hoping that these feelings will subside soon.  I don't have any kind of anxiety medication to take, which I'm thankful for....I think.  I don't need one more pill to take or some other substance to rely on for whatever.  There's nothing wrong with taking meds for that, it's just a personal mindset for me.  

I have been really worried about my future this week.  Most days, I'm pretty confident that I can handle whatever comes my way, that I can make it on my own and take care of myself.  But every now and then I have these days when I just feel defeated and scared.  The past few days have been like that with no light at the end of my tunnel.  I know that it will pass, it just sucks in the meantime.

Luckily, I have a therapy session tomorrow and can talk some of this out.  It really is beneficial, but I've still got another day to get through with these anxious thoughts and feelings.  I will make it through, I'm just not looking forward to it.

That is all.

Rebuilding Life

 "White.  A blank page or canvas.  The challenge:  bring order to the whole.  Through design, composition, tension, balance, light and harmony."

                        Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George

I love these lyrics and they are very appropriate to life right now.  Things change rapidly these days and it is time for me to start rebuilding who I am.  That is something that has gotten lost in the mix over thepast decade.  This is both a very scary and a very exciting time in my life.  I am a blank page and will begin building from the ground up.  

Over the next few months, my focus will be on the following things:  finances, career, family, friends and happiness.  I will rediscover these things that I feel I have let go of.  While I am sad that I am at that point, meaning these things need a major overhaul, I am excited to start anew.  Hopefully I will be able to multitask and work on all of these cohesively.  

I am putting myself back in control of my own life, of my own happiness.  While I do enjoy seeing to it that others are happy, it is time for some self-care.  In the end, that will make seeing others happy all the more satisfying for me.  

There is a long road ahead, but I am ready for the journey.

That is all.

People - Nancy Wilson

 

I wanted to start the week off with a song by the late, great Nancy Wilson.  I listened to this album on the record player this past weekend and it has so many wonderful tracks on it.  The song "People" from Funny Girl is mostly associated with Barbra Streisand.  But Nancy's version is simply lovely and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Cooking is a passion

 Cooking is one of those things in life that I absolutely love doing.  And the older I get, the better cook I become.  We all have things that we do that relax us, and cooking is one of those things for me.  I love to get into the kitchen and create.  It's my art.  I can't draw or paint worth a damn, but I can cook.  That's one of the reasons my Facebook page gets filled with pictures of what I cook.  I love to share my passion with people and I feel very proud of the things I make.

I love cooking for others.  It's been awhile since I've had people over for a meal, but I always enjoy it.  Of course, I love doing things like setting the table and making sure everything looks great, but it's the cooking for that is at the heart of entertaining.  The planning of the meals, the buying of the groceries.  I love it all.  I need more of that in my life!

The more experienced cook that I become, I am finding myself being a little more creative with things.  And this comes in the form of using what I already have in the fridge or freezer or cabinets.  Trying to keep my cooking cost effective by thinking ahead.  Yesterday, I created what I call a Bob's cobb salad.  I called it that because it was not the traditional cobb salad, yet one I made using what I had.  Also, I don't like blue cheese, so it wasn't going to be traditional right off the bat LOL  But, I enjoyed finding ways to creatively use the ingredients that I have on hand.  It saves me money and it feeds my creative soul.

Cooking is one of my passions.  I wish I had started cooking at an earlier age and that I could have soaked up more of what Mom and Grandmother taught me in the kitchen, but I sure did get a good bit of knowledge from them. And when I'm cooking, they are with me.  And that is important.

That is all.

Quote of the week

 I found this to be inspirational and appropriate for me right now.  Good advice that I intend on listening to!  

Cutting back time on Social websites

 Being on the internet has always been fun, especially over the last few years.  It was one thing that made the pandemic bearable.  But, as life continuously changes, it's time for me to change with it.  One of the things that I have decided to change is the amount of time that I spend on social websites.  There are several reasons for this.  One is that, simply put, I spend far too much time on the internet and there are so many other things I could be doing.  The other one is that I need to be more present in real life.  The internet is a great escape, but I have found myself to be escaping too much.  I want to be more active in my life and one way to help with that is to limit my time on these sites.

I am maintaining my Facebook account.  There are simply too many people that I actually know on there to let that one go.  However, I'm not going to be on there for hours at a time.  That's also one of the reasons I do not, and have no intention of, putting FB messenger on my phone.  That's pushing it too far for me LOL  But I have a handful of other sites that I participate in and I just need to cut back.  At first, I thought I would delete the profiles all together, but I decided against that.  One day, I would like to revisit them and don't want the headache of creating new profiles.  And hopefully by the time I get back to them, I will be able to do some serious updating of myself on there.

But, this is a challenge that I am going to enjoy simply because it will help me to do other things with my time.  Who knows, I may even get myself out of the house LOL  Like I said, I'll return to them one day, just not today.

That is all.

Recipe of the week - Shrimp Salad

 I love shrimp!  I always keep my eyes open for sales on shrimp at the grocery store.  Usually it's bogo on frozen shrimp, which is just fine with me!  Fresh shrimp is wonderful but as I do not live at the coast, it's a bit more expensive so I don't usually get that.  Anyway, I'm always looking for new ways to make shrimp.  I came across this recipe in an issue of Our State magazine.  I copied it onto a card and tucked it away in one of my recipe boxes a long time ago and pulled it out recently and decided to try it.  I was quite pleased with the results and will definitely add this to my recipe repertoire!

Shrimp Salad

1 lb cooked large shrimp*

1/2 cup Mayo

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

2 Tbsp finely diced red onion

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

2 tsp Old Bay

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp Worcestershire

1/8 tsp cayenne (optional)

Mix all ingredients and chill for 1-3 hours.  Serve over greens w/lemon wedges.

*the original recipe leaves the shrimp whole.  I chop mine and the salad can double as a dip that way.

Enjoy!