November 1 is the 1st anniversary of my divorce. After being married for 28 years, this first year of NOT being married has been interesting. After all, I was married to Dan longer than I was NOT married to Dan.
I can't remember the last time I cried over my divorce. The other day I cried. But not over my divorce. My Mom and Sister were in IL for a wedding and for some stupid reason, I never thought once about staying in IL for a few days to enjoy their company. Not until I was nearly back home here in Indiana. I was tired, I was happy I'd seen everybody, I was sad I didn't stay longer, and just frustrated in general.
So I cried. What a relief to realize that I wasn't crying over the divorce! :)
Monday, October 31st is the last day I'm officially a renter of my Beech Grove apartment. I'm moving on, sharing a home with a friend. We've spent the last month working on his house, taking advantage of the emptiness to redo floors and rip out/insulate/wash/paint walls; he's also had some time to sort his stuff out before my stuff showed up, looking for a merge. Really, Tuesday, November 1, is the first day of my new life. I've spent an entire year November 1 - November 1 thinking, crying, working things out, coming to grips, and yep, I can honestly say, I'm ready finally to move on.
The entire year of 2011, I took a picture a day and posted it on Facebook. I am so happy I have that, because it became a chronicle of my OLD life. BD. Before Divorce. Before the house I'd spent 18 years in was sold, before my children grew up, before I was all befuddled about what to do now. I took pictures of the birds I saw out my kitchen window as I washed dishes, I took pictures of my flowers and trees and bushes I'd worked on for years, and I took pictures of some of the people in my life.
I think I'm going to make the attempt to do another Pic-a-day, starting with November 1, 2011...the first year of my NEW life. I'll post them here as well as on FB. Hmm, I'm heading to Lafayette tomorrow - mebbe I'll start tomorrow..just a few days early. The Purdue Campus should be pretty and my cousins are meeting up with my son and his wife for a campus tour. I just might.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
10.15.2011 What IS this Really?
All my life I've thought that these types of things were little bundles of warmth put together by squirrels, little nests for them to sleep in at night. There are two in the tree right outside my sliding glass door...for the first time I can get a fairly decent look at one. Hmmm...I dunno. Is it a Squirrel Nest? It doesn't look very comfy OR very warm.
Friday, October 14, 2011
10.14.2011 Where did the past 26 years go?
A friend of mine posted today on FaceBook today that her son was newly 18 years old - and where had the last 18 years gone?
I countered with "where has the past 26 years gone?
And where are my little boys?"
I miss my herd of little boys. Oh I love the men they've become, but I miss dreadfully my pile of little boys.
They're all so grown up; two have wives and the youngest has a girlfiend. Any apron string that attached them to me has long frayed away. How has time passed so quickly that my Josh, Tim, and Sam are all grown up and gone? On nights like this - when it's dark, windy and rainy outside, when I'm alone, and the laundry is sloshing and tumbling, I certainly wish I had a boy or two or three about, wanting some cookies or banana bread, fighting over who got to be my couch pal for the night.
10.14.2011 SHEPHERD'S PIE
When chatting with my Favorite Third Son Sam yesterday, the subject of Pot Pie came up. He'd bought a few of those Banquet Pot Pies ("Only 88 cents each!") I remember having those when I was a kid. I don't remember if it was the novelty of having my own little pie that made them so good to my young self, or mebbe the actual pie really did reflect the picture on the box 40 years ago. ... because they certainly don't reflect that picture now.
Anyway - I told him the 5 bucks he spent for 5 little pies of bad crust, thin gravy and the occasional piece of chicken would be better spent on creating his own pot pie that would feed him for quite a few days...if he was lucky and the neighbors somehow missed the wonderful smell wafting from his kitchen window and they didn't come drooooling to his door begging.
Hanging up, I was overcome with longing for my own pot pie and so headed to the store for what i needed.
SIDE NOTE: A Facebook Friend of Mine is currently walking down the path (in looser shoes!) of Eating Naked (http://yearofeatingnaked.blogspot.com/) That is to say, she is eating as close to the basics as she can - fresh food without a myriad of ingredients on the label. I've been a label reader for quite a few years and those who know me agree that I eat fairly "naked" anyway...but Susan's journey has inspired me to be even more on the lookout for nasty on the label AND perhaps even passing by those cans and bottles and boxes completely.
So there I was, at Wal Mart (yah, I know..but it's on the way home) picking up stuff for my own Quick Pot Pie.
1. Crust - hmmm, trying to steer clear of having to make a crust i decided to instead put cornbread on the top. JIFFY CORNBREAD has been around for decades - and soo inexpensive! 50 cents gets you a yum pan of cornbread! YAY ... OH NO, I read the label. Sadly, i put the box back on the shelf and picked up a small bag of yellow cornbread. May not be as easy as simply adding an egg and some milk, but durn it, follow the program!
2. Frozen Veggies - yep, decided to do this route. (I AM sick with a chest cold after all.) a huge bag of frozen veggies for 6 bucks. I chose the squash, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. bag.
3. Can of soup for broth - oh ugh. UGH UGH UGH. should never look at the ingredients of a can of campbell's soup. Hmm. I'll make my own somehow out of .. something.
4. Cooked Chicken - WHAT? The Deli guy was apologetic, but nope, no chickens. Ok. So I'll boil my own, usually I would anyway, but i was hoping to eat before midnight. But that solves my broth dilemma. I'll have a whole pot of broth after boiling chunks of chicken! Off to grab a tray of fresh chicken breasts...which are better anyway if I'm following the Naked Path.
5, Butter, Milk, and home.
Into the kitchen with little counter space.
Chunk up half the chicken and throw them into a pot of water. Boil!
Grab 5 white potatoes and 1 sweet potato and start peeling. Hey, SHEPHERD'S PIE sounds better than Pot pie - yum mashed taters on top! Chop up the white and put on to boil.
Get out my veggie steamer - get that going. Put the chopped sweet potato on the bottom, cover that with a load of frozen veggies.
Three pots on the stove, bubbling away. This better be good!
Whoa...it's all coming together at the same time. How did i manage this?
Chicken boiled to a nice texture, veggies steamed - TOSS TOGETHER!
Scott shows up and gets put to work - he makes a yum broth with 2 cups of the chicken broth, some milk, butter and cornstarch.
Toss that onto the veggies! Make the mashed with some butter and milk!
Dump the filling into my big casserole dish and then layer with the mashed potatoes - throw into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
DUMP THE POTATO WATER INTO THE CHICKEN BROTH! SAVE FOR ANOTHER DAY! WASH ALL THE PANS! THROW AWAY ALL THE PEELINGS! CLEAN UP THE FLOOR!
Buzzer goes off! The aroma is wonderful!
I dish up 2 big bowls of Shepherd's Pie.
Oh wow. Soooo good on a chilly day! Scott looks at me and says "YUM... I love it!"
We eat our Pie slowly...
Back to the Kitchen! Wash up the dishes! Put the kitchen to rights! Put the leftovers into little dishes for lunches!
Collapse on the couch.
Two hours from Start to Finish.
I was tired.
But wow, that bowl of Shepherd's Pie? Blew a frozen Pot Pie from the freezer case outta the kitchen!
Anyway - I told him the 5 bucks he spent for 5 little pies of bad crust, thin gravy and the occasional piece of chicken would be better spent on creating his own pot pie that would feed him for quite a few days...if he was lucky and the neighbors somehow missed the wonderful smell wafting from his kitchen window and they didn't come drooooling to his door begging.
Hanging up, I was overcome with longing for my own pot pie and so headed to the store for what i needed.
SIDE NOTE: A Facebook Friend of Mine is currently walking down the path (in looser shoes!) of Eating Naked (http://yearofeatingnaked.blogspot.com/) That is to say, she is eating as close to the basics as she can - fresh food without a myriad of ingredients on the label. I've been a label reader for quite a few years and those who know me agree that I eat fairly "naked" anyway...but Susan's journey has inspired me to be even more on the lookout for nasty on the label AND perhaps even passing by those cans and bottles and boxes completely.
So there I was, at Wal Mart (yah, I know..but it's on the way home) picking up stuff for my own Quick Pot Pie.
1. Crust - hmmm, trying to steer clear of having to make a crust i decided to instead put cornbread on the top. JIFFY CORNBREAD has been around for decades - and soo inexpensive! 50 cents gets you a yum pan of cornbread! YAY ... OH NO, I read the label. Sadly, i put the box back on the shelf and picked up a small bag of yellow cornbread. May not be as easy as simply adding an egg and some milk, but durn it, follow the program!
2. Frozen Veggies - yep, decided to do this route. (I AM sick with a chest cold after all.) a huge bag of frozen veggies for 6 bucks. I chose the squash, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. bag.
3. Can of soup for broth - oh ugh. UGH UGH UGH. should never look at the ingredients of a can of campbell's soup. Hmm. I'll make my own somehow out of .. something.
4. Cooked Chicken - WHAT? The Deli guy was apologetic, but nope, no chickens. Ok. So I'll boil my own, usually I would anyway, but i was hoping to eat before midnight. But that solves my broth dilemma. I'll have a whole pot of broth after boiling chunks of chicken! Off to grab a tray of fresh chicken breasts...which are better anyway if I'm following the Naked Path.
5, Butter, Milk, and home.
Into the kitchen with little counter space.
Chunk up half the chicken and throw them into a pot of water. Boil!
Grab 5 white potatoes and 1 sweet potato and start peeling. Hey, SHEPHERD'S PIE sounds better than Pot pie - yum mashed taters on top! Chop up the white and put on to boil.
Get out my veggie steamer - get that going. Put the chopped sweet potato on the bottom, cover that with a load of frozen veggies.
Three pots on the stove, bubbling away. This better be good!
Whoa...it's all coming together at the same time. How did i manage this?
Chicken boiled to a nice texture, veggies steamed - TOSS TOGETHER!
Scott shows up and gets put to work - he makes a yum broth with 2 cups of the chicken broth, some milk, butter and cornstarch.
Toss that onto the veggies! Make the mashed with some butter and milk!
Dump the filling into my big casserole dish and then layer with the mashed potatoes - throw into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
DUMP THE POTATO WATER INTO THE CHICKEN BROTH! SAVE FOR ANOTHER DAY! WASH ALL THE PANS! THROW AWAY ALL THE PEELINGS! CLEAN UP THE FLOOR!
Buzzer goes off! The aroma is wonderful!
I dish up 2 big bowls of Shepherd's Pie.
Oh wow. Soooo good on a chilly day! Scott looks at me and says "YUM... I love it!"
We eat our Pie slowly...
Back to the Kitchen! Wash up the dishes! Put the kitchen to rights! Put the leftovers into little dishes for lunches!
Collapse on the couch.
Two hours from Start to Finish.
I was tired.
But wow, that bowl of Shepherd's Pie? Blew a frozen Pot Pie from the freezer case outta the kitchen!
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