First, Mick went out of town last Friday early, early, early, so I've been on my own since then. Thank goodness he'll be home in a few hours. We redheads miss him. But when he's gone I really try to NOT spend all my time in front of my computer (since I spend enough time at my desk when I tutor, anyway ... but more on that in a sec).
Second, since we're essentially committed to moving this summer, I've been trying to organize/sort/purge. There's also a neighborhood yard sale this coming Friday and Saturday, and if I can capitalize on that traffic and sit in my garage with some unwanted stuff for a few hours each day, I would like to, so that's been a good motivator. (Personally, I like yard sales. I don't know why, but I do. My sister and I try to have one every summer if we can swing it. It's not a lot of work and gives us an excuse to sit outside in the warmth, chat all day, people watch, and then it usually buys us dinner.) So I've been sort-of packing and sort-of sorting, and sort-of checking out what's going to the sale ... nothing's priced, of course, but I can do that as the sale happens. Not worried about little details like that! Nothing some masking tape and a Sharpie can't fix!
I have also had -- yet again, I feel like -- an unusual number of tutoring cancellations and yesterday was especially frustrating. Three kids cancelled or just flat-out didn't show up, in a span of two hours. That's a serious chunk of change, and since I don't work outside the home and the school year ends in about two weeks, I was ... hmmm ... stressed? Freaking? SERIOUSLY annoyed? All of the above, really. Anyway, that's been a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I've been able to take that time to play with the kids (have you seen our living room? We add on every day!) But a curse because, as I said, this is my mini-livelihood. We have made a lot of sacrifices for me to stay at home and the tutoring I do really helps!
Okay, no one really cares about that. What else has been going on?
I haven't been cooking much. I've been making the PW chicken breasts from her Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe* and just using them with pasta and rice. I went on a serious chicken kick this week and really need to scale it back.
Also, I was craving tuna salad, so I opened a GIANT can of tuna we had in our pantry.
Big mistake.
I thought it was about 4 times the size of a regular can. Umm, no. I don't know what made me think that, looking back on it. But that was a grave mistake.
You see, it's more ten times the size of a regular can, if not bigger. Normally when we make tuna, we make two cans and there's leftover for a Scooby Snack. This, my friends, is not leftovers. This is enough to feed a marching band.
I seriously have a lifetime supply of tuna salad. I love tuna, but even I can only eat so much. I hope Mick's in the mood for tuna, because I hate to throw it away, but unless I drive over to the local high school and serve it in the lunch line, it's looking like we're throwing away food this week. Whoops.
What else ... well, CAM and I finally sat down and did all her thank you notes from her birthday party. They came out super cute, and I wrote the message and she signed her name. What a blessing to have a hand cramp from all the thank-you's we had to write!
And I applied for that job, so now I am just trying to revise my resume to apply for a few more where there's not such a time crunch. Wish me luck!
--Jen
*My simplified recipe: take boneless, skinless chicken breasts and put them on a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Brush them with oil. (I use light olive oil so it's not got a very strong taste of its own.) Mix together 2 parts cumin, 2 parts chili powder, 1 part garlic powder, and 1 part salt and sprinkle all over the chicken. Go heavier on any of the four you think you want to stand out. Bake at 375 20-40 minutes until the chicken is done. Seriously it is the juciest, most flavorful chicken, EVERY time! And so easy to clean up -- one pan and one small bowl to mix your seasonings!
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