Me & My Big Mouth

I had to tell my trainer this afternoon that she'd gone kind of easy on me last Thursday so she devised a quintet of subversive exercises that felt like nothing when I was doing them and then about an hour later my back muscles, shoulder muscles, and arm muscles all got together and said, "What the h-e-double toothpicks did you do???"  I took aspirin when I got home, Tylenol when I got out of the shower, and will probably have an aspirin bedtime snack just so I have a ghost of a chance of sleeping through the night.  On the plus side, my leg muscles are only mildly achy which is good since I laid in supplies for a whole table full of Investment Cooking recipes to make over the next few days.

I started this round of Investment Cooking after lunch today, stirring together a double batch of WW Marinara Sauce made with cans of plum tomatoes, onions (more than called for), garlic, S&P, and Italian Herb blend.  I also tossed in some diced poblano and bell peppers, and a half-pound of sauteed crimini mushrooms.  I picked up some nice Glad 1-cup containers so I've got 8 2-serving containers of sauce in the freezer.  Tomorrow I'll make some chicken and rice in the oven (4 servings), some grilled Honey-Ginger Chicken Breasts (4 servings--supposed to be thighs but breasts is what I have plus breasts are 0 points, thighs aren't), BBQ rotisserie chicken meat with Cauliflower Grits (4 servings), Spicy Chicken Curry (served over rice) (4 servings), and Asian Turkey Meatballs (6 servings).  On Wednesday I'll get the Chicken (drumsticks), Mushrooms, and Brown Rice casserole (8 servings) into the slow cooker while I'm out and about.  I also want to make the Lemony Beet Hummus recipe that I found last week and roasted the beets for because I bought jicama to use as a hummus delivery vehicle, doesn't that sound good?  I thought about making another batch of Slow-Cooker French Onion Soup but I found a big bowl of lentil soup in the downstairs freezer and there's another big bowl of chicken soup too so I'll hold off.




It was seriously demoralizing to see that the birdbath was half-frozen this morning but then a male Goldfinch stopped by and perked me right up.  It was sunny today and that really helped in the "cheerful" department.

When I leaned over to pick up the newspaper I saw that a little feather was stuck to the plastic bag it's delivered in.  I don't know what kind of bird this feather is from but I'm a big fan of little gray feathers.  I always decide that they're from owls.  They probably aren't but I want so badly to see an owl in the wild that I'm sure that's where they come from.




After I left the Y I stopped at Walmart for IC supplies and to shop for a birthday gift for OJ.  I asked him on Saturday what he'd like for his birthday and he immediately said, "a digger, a bulldozer, and a dump truck."  So that's what I looked for.  I found a marginally acceptable substitute but it needs batteries and I thought that isn't a great idea for a 3 year old.  So I stopped at Meijer and look what I found--a Tonka toy set with a digger, a dump truck, and a front-end loader, which I think is a reasonable substitute for a bulldozer.  Meemaw wins birthday shopping!  At least today.  Plus I saw a Mickey hat; he likes Mickey so I bought that too.



Only one more inch of knitting and the April Seaman's Cowl will be done.  I can knit rounds in between stirring stuff tomorrow.







15 April--Winslow Homer, The Croquet Game.

Like inverted flowers
ladies pace across the lawn,
hoop skirts sway,
gloved hands grip mallets.
Despite their corsets
and the restrictions of propriety,
they are fierce competitors.
~~~~~

I looked at the painting and thought, how can they breathe and play the game?  But I guess they could.  Women are tough.  I keep telling myself that as more muscle groups join the clamor.  Will they stop aching before my next session on Thursday morning?  Fingers crossed.  And I went to the chiropractor this morning too.  Are your taxes in the mail?  If not, you're late.
--Barbara