I weep for my lack of late mornings abed!
Actually, being unable (for the most part) to sleep in anymore is both a blessing and a curse. Since I've been getting up before 5:30 in the mornings for so long, it's difficult for me to sleep in. That doesn't mean I hop right out of bed on the weekends, but it does mean that sleeping past 7-7:30 in the morning is pretty much a thing of the past, no matter how late I stayed up the night before.
OTOH, getting up so early means my day off is longer, and that's pretty important sometimes. Not because I necessarily have so much to do (I'm too lazy for that), but because then it actually seems to me that I have some significant time away from work.
So far today I've had a lovely pancake (low carb!) breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, hand washed a few things and hung them on the balcony to dry, had a BLT for lunch with a nice salad with a homemade herb vinaigrette for lunch, watched an inferior copy of Pacific Rim (can't really afford to go to the movies right now), read several Highlander fic, and prepped a lot of stuff for dinner/lunches this week! A most productive morning.
My desire to cook is an on-again-off-again thing. Sometimes I'm satisfied with a grilled cheese and some canned green beans. Last night I made a lovely fresh salmon chowder. I bought some very inexpensive packages of thin tail-end fillets of wild caught salmon awhile back. They're really to thin to cook on their own without drying out too badly, so I decided to try a chowder. It worked very nicely. I didn't have any peas to add which I think would have been lovely. Next time. I might also try to rig up a homemade stove-top smoker (seems pretty simple and inexpensive) because I think smoked salmon chowder would be delicious.
I'm in one of my clean-out-the-freezer phases. I stock up when I find good sales. It's great for when money is a little tight. This time it was the salmon and a whole chicken. It's already cut up and lightly pan-seared and waiting to go in a casserole with tomatoes and vegetables. I have onions, celery, carrots, garlic and tons of fresh herbs - and on a whim I picked up some baby bella mushrooms and a nice zucchini. I also have a little leftover frozen okra from the gumbo I made awhile back to throw in it. It'll be wonderful over a little brown rice for lunches this week.
*sigh* My two favorite ways to avoid thinking about work - food and fanfic.
Work has been stressful as usual, but the last week even more so. We have a new Market Manager (that's the direct boss above store level) who doesn't seem to like the store manager (Dave) and it's rolling downhill onto everyone. Then this past week Dave got into a panic because he found out on Tues afternoon that the higher-ups were in town. Right after lunch instead of doing already late price changes I was called over and instructed that the consumables area of infants (food, diapers, wipes, bottles and sippy cups) had to a a 'perfect zone'. Not just me but all consumables areas. That took the rest of the day and they didn't even show up. Wed it all began again and we couldn't do any projects that didn't involve making the store look immaculate. I can see the reasoning, but it was taken to extremes. They came, they saw, they tore things apart anyway. Thursday, we in softlines (clothing) were told that the Fall shops (the new arrangements of the departments - all according to the booklets we get each new season) had to be set by end of day on Friday. So what we're normally given a week to do was supposed to be done in 2 days. And of course it wasn't. I stayed an extra 1.5 hours on Thurs to try finish something he wanted done but then had to take off the time on Friday so there wouldn't be any overtime. During my 2.5 hour lunch I sat too long and got a horrendous cramp on the inside of my right thigh. The damn thing is still sore.
Tomorrow I need to start dealing with all the late shit that couldn't get done last week. And then inventory is in a about 6 wks and it'll take that long to get ready for it. Inventory is both mentally and physically stressful, that's why I save a week of vacation for afterward and before the rush to prep for Christmas starts. Ah, vacation at the end of September. It's like a beautiful mirage. At this point it doesn't seem quite real.
*headdesk* I have to get off my ass and beginning job hunting again. This one is killing me.
And strangely, Phouka has taken to napping in the bathtub and on the bathmat. I've had cats that like to lay in the tub before, but usually when I had no A/C and it was hot, and I think it freaks me out a little because I've also had cats that do it when they're not feeling good. Phouka exhibits no signs of being ill, but at over 8 yrs. old he is beginning to slow down just a little. I need to find the money to take him to the vet for a 'well kitty' check-up just to be sure. I think I'll call around and find out what it would cost.
Meanwhile, more Highlander fic is calling to me.
OTOH, getting up so early means my day off is longer, and that's pretty important sometimes. Not because I necessarily have so much to do (I'm too lazy for that), but because then it actually seems to me that I have some significant time away from work.
So far today I've had a lovely pancake (low carb!) breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, hand washed a few things and hung them on the balcony to dry, had a BLT for lunch with a nice salad with a homemade herb vinaigrette for lunch, watched an inferior copy of Pacific Rim (can't really afford to go to the movies right now), read several Highlander fic, and prepped a lot of stuff for dinner/lunches this week! A most productive morning.
My desire to cook is an on-again-off-again thing. Sometimes I'm satisfied with a grilled cheese and some canned green beans. Last night I made a lovely fresh salmon chowder. I bought some very inexpensive packages of thin tail-end fillets of wild caught salmon awhile back. They're really to thin to cook on their own without drying out too badly, so I decided to try a chowder. It worked very nicely. I didn't have any peas to add which I think would have been lovely. Next time. I might also try to rig up a homemade stove-top smoker (seems pretty simple and inexpensive) because I think smoked salmon chowder would be delicious.
I'm in one of my clean-out-the-freezer phases. I stock up when I find good sales. It's great for when money is a little tight. This time it was the salmon and a whole chicken. It's already cut up and lightly pan-seared and waiting to go in a casserole with tomatoes and vegetables. I have onions, celery, carrots, garlic and tons of fresh herbs - and on a whim I picked up some baby bella mushrooms and a nice zucchini. I also have a little leftover frozen okra from the gumbo I made awhile back to throw in it. It'll be wonderful over a little brown rice for lunches this week.
*sigh* My two favorite ways to avoid thinking about work - food and fanfic.
Work has been stressful as usual, but the last week even more so. We have a new Market Manager (that's the direct boss above store level) who doesn't seem to like the store manager (Dave) and it's rolling downhill onto everyone. Then this past week Dave got into a panic because he found out on Tues afternoon that the higher-ups were in town. Right after lunch instead of doing already late price changes I was called over and instructed that the consumables area of infants (food, diapers, wipes, bottles and sippy cups) had to a a 'perfect zone'. Not just me but all consumables areas. That took the rest of the day and they didn't even show up. Wed it all began again and we couldn't do any projects that didn't involve making the store look immaculate. I can see the reasoning, but it was taken to extremes. They came, they saw, they tore things apart anyway. Thursday, we in softlines (clothing) were told that the Fall shops (the new arrangements of the departments - all according to the booklets we get each new season) had to be set by end of day on Friday. So what we're normally given a week to do was supposed to be done in 2 days. And of course it wasn't. I stayed an extra 1.5 hours on Thurs to try finish something he wanted done but then had to take off the time on Friday so there wouldn't be any overtime. During my 2.5 hour lunch I sat too long and got a horrendous cramp on the inside of my right thigh. The damn thing is still sore.
Tomorrow I need to start dealing with all the late shit that couldn't get done last week. And then inventory is in a about 6 wks and it'll take that long to get ready for it. Inventory is both mentally and physically stressful, that's why I save a week of vacation for afterward and before the rush to prep for Christmas starts. Ah, vacation at the end of September. It's like a beautiful mirage. At this point it doesn't seem quite real.
*headdesk* I have to get off my ass and beginning job hunting again. This one is killing me.
And strangely, Phouka has taken to napping in the bathtub and on the bathmat. I've had cats that like to lay in the tub before, but usually when I had no A/C and it was hot, and I think it freaks me out a little because I've also had cats that do it when they're not feeling good. Phouka exhibits no signs of being ill, but at over 8 yrs. old he is beginning to slow down just a little. I need to find the money to take him to the vet for a 'well kitty' check-up just to be sure. I think I'll call around and find out what it would cost.
Meanwhile, more Highlander fic is calling to me.