It's the little things...

I'm so happy to report that I had another good day today.  I mean, there are always going to be some annoyances, but as long as they're minor I'm totally fine with that.  Yesterday I set some minor goals for myself that would probably seem routine to most other people, but as I get back to the land of the living, it's baby steps for me and I'm not going to be afraid to celebrate every small win - even if it's just within myself.  And that's why I'm so happy to report that not only did I meet my three goals but also did a little extra.  I worked all day today but it was slow (starting Monday it's going to be insane because everyone is going to be coming back and suddenly panicking that they didn't do XYZ) and I spent a little time reading after work ended.  I started Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell back in May when I was in rehab, but it was pretty hard to concentrate on anything in the hospital and rehab because there are near-constant interruptions; plus I was sitting in a wheelchair most of the day and that wasn't super conducive to relaxing with a book.  Anyway, once I backtracked a bit to remember what the hell was going on I read a few chapters.  I don't know... her books have become so boring lately; they basically deal with one day in the life of Scarpetta and everything is super detail-oriented, which I would normally applaud, but this is just plodding and unnecessary.  It's like she's putting these books out at the expense of intrigue and plot, which is just plain lazy.  And yet, I continue to read them!  I think it's because I started reading her in either late high school or early college and it's just habit at this point.

Anyway, after that I took a little nap before making a pork loin for dinner, served with some really good corn I doctored up with seasonings and butter and some biscuits that were an absolute disaster.  I totally used the wrong kind of cooking vessel for them and they came out raw and weird.  Chris was fine with them, so he got all but one that I managed to choke down LOL  Then I cleaned up, put away the leftovers for him, and got the blu rays for the Yankee Swap ready for mailing tomorrow.  So that was the end of my goals, but I went a little further.  I made all of Chris's sandwiches for lunch for the next 8 days (somehow even though he's not working he still can't do that himself, but hey, I could theoretically get my own ice for my big ice water mug but he does it for me so I'm not going to make a big thing of it.)  

I also watched Color Adjustment, a documentary by Marlon Riggs about Black representation on television throughout history (through 1990 when the documentary was presumably filmed.)  I think it could have gone a lot farther and been researched better, and the production values brought to mind a local PBS documentary, but it had some decent and thought-provoking moments.  Unfortunately what I came away with was that a demographic (any demographic group) is going to be critical regardless.  Anyway, I'm glad I watched it, and it wasn't amazing but it was the first film I watched in 2026 and it was my first 2026 Criterion Challenge film so I feel good about that.  I really want to finish the challenge early this year instead of a few days before 12/31.

My goals for tomorrow will include:

  1. Inventorying and organizing all of my many, MANY spices once Chris fixes (hopefully) the caster wheels on the cart I want to use for them.  I purchased some silver Sharpies to write the spice names on the top of the jars, so I'm going to be all fancy.  
  2. Inventorying and cleaning out the pantry with Chris.  There is likely a lot of expired food in there we will need to get rid of, and I need to know what kind of staples I need to purchase.
  3. In conjunction with the pantry work, seeing if we can move some stuff off the baker's rack so I can put more useful things on there to make cooking easier and more efficient for me.  I'm not going to use things if I either don't know I have them or if they're not nearby.
  4. Cook dinner again - I'm thinking burgers and I guess a side dish is up in the air until I know what we've got.  I wish he liked macaroni and cheese because I have some nice gourmet versions.
  5. Maybe make some brownies?  I am going to keep that as an optional goal...LOL
  6. Read more of my book.  It may be dull right now, but I'm enjoying the act of reading!
  7. Maybe watch another movie.  This is going to be another optional goal.
  8. Continue with blog posting and report my progress!
That's a lot of goals but I have to think about how nice Sunday may be knowing that the kitchen disasters are settled.  And now it's past 11pm (late for this old lady) so I'm going to get ready for bed and maybe read another chapter before hopefully hitting the sack for a good night's sleep.

xoxo Shelly


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