Weekend accomplishments: Thanksgiving edition
Thursday I made all the food, but as previously noted it was mostly putting things that had already been made in the oven. I could make a pumpkin pie in my sleep, and the bacon jam is a little time-consuming but not difficult. It can mostly be left alone during the 90 minutes it has to simmer and cook down. The 'rents watched football and I read on the couch--finishing my re-read of The Haunting of Hill House and starting a re-read of Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks From Hell--and drank wine and took the dog for a couple of walks (it was nicely chilly all weekend). Even David was more sociable than usual. I wish Lori and Jeremy would have made it, but oh well.
In the evening I watched the first couple episodes of the new season of Fargo. Hwhwat kind of accent is Jennifer Jason Leigh attempting? It's like Minnesota by way of Texas. So far it's better than the last season though, which was so long ago I barely remember it. Not that it matters, the show's seasons don't really have much connective tissue to each other, or the film.
Friday I got kolaches for breakfast, then drove to Baton Rouge. I got lucky with my timing; there wasn't more than the usual amount of weekend traffic, probably because people who make Black Friday a thing get going at dawn. (But also it seems like maybe it wasn't really a thing this year? I think people are catching on to the fact that the "deals" you get in store are artificial, as they'll just raise prices on, say, a flat screen TV during the month of November, so they can then drop it and advertise "15% off!".) And on the way back there was some kind of gnarly accident on the other side of the Basin Bridge that had traffic completely fucked.
I went to Cove for a bulgogi burger, then to Capital City Records. On the way home I had to drive past the Trader Joe's, so I ducked inside real quick to get Mom those almond lacey cookies she likes, and a tin of peppermint bark for me. I like TJ's because everyone sells peppermint bark in tins, and a lot of times you'll open it to find a very stingy amount, like did I just pay $10 for the fucking tin, which I don't need and most likely will throw away? TJ's actually gives you an amount that makes it feel worth the price.
I heated up leftovers for supper, and afterwards I finished Bodies.
Saturday I made eggs and toast, then did the usual Saturday shit (picked up a prescription, went to CVS/carwash/grocery store). I put away groceries and made snacks for the 'rents, then went back out with my Polaroid Go because there was a cane field burning down the street--once it's been cut, the stubble is usually set on fire and allowed to burn down, which I guess returns some kind of nutrient to the soil. If it's close by, you'll get black ash falling, what's sometimes called "Cajun snow". Anyway, I couldn't get close enough to really get a good photo of the flame; they aren't large, the stubble is only a few inches high and they usually only set a few spots on fire at once.
However, the sky was really interesting:
We had planned to get Mexican food for my belated birthday dinner, but come to find out the one good Mexican restaurant in town has closed. So instead we got Shucks and I picked it up at the window. Shucks is crazy on a Saturday night anyway, but the Saturday after Thanksgiving is something else. You know, people are visiting from out of town, everyone's tired of leftovers. The scariest traffic I experienced all weekend was in the Shucks parking lot, with people driving around and around, trying to find a parking spot, or parked in places they really shouldn't have been. Anyway, worth it. I got a stuffed crab and half a dozen fried shrimp with their remoulade, and sweet potato fries.
I forgot I only need to take half of a delta 11 gummy and decided the best way to deal with that was by watching A Haunting in Venice. Like I knew it would be kind of dumb, but visually interesting. The tone was so weird though! Like I just don't associate "Hercule Poirot" with "haunted house". I don't hate turning Ariadne Oliver into an American, though. Honestly, it kind of works. And as much as I run down Branagh's Poirot movies, I do always seem to end up watching them. He did do this one thing I really liked, where there were always like, statues in the foreground or paintings in the background, so there always seemed to be extra, unspoken, eerie presences in every scene.
Sunday I made sausage biscuits with turkey sausage patties and Pillsbury Grands (the ones with all the flaky layers). I changed/washed my bed sheets, and painted for a couple of hours while I watched the new episodes of For All Mankind and Monarch (no new Datelines on the holiday weekend). I made lunch for the 'rents in the afternoon, and cut Penny's toenails, which she absolutely hates. I did it quick though, before she had a chance to get real squirmy and start trying to pull her paw out of my hand, which always makes me worry I'm going to accidentally yank out her entire nail. She yipped once, and shook the entire time, but mostly she was a good girl about it. I think even she knew her nails were way too long.
I baked the peanut butter bread from Baking Yesteryear, did a load of laundry, had some wine and read, finishing Paperbacks From Hell, and starting Siren Queen, which so far I love. For dinner I got one more meal out of the turkey before whatever's left goes in the freezer, making open-faced sandwiches on toasted sourdough with a packet of turkey gravy--packet gravy is delicious and everyone needs to stop being a snob and pretending it isn't.
After supper I watched the first couple episodes of Lessons in Chemistry. It's good but I'm not sure it's really "for me" so I don't know if I'll watch the rest of it.
In the evening I watched the first couple episodes of the new season of Fargo. Hwhwat kind of accent is Jennifer Jason Leigh attempting? It's like Minnesota by way of Texas. So far it's better than the last season though, which was so long ago I barely remember it. Not that it matters, the show's seasons don't really have much connective tissue to each other, or the film.
Friday I got kolaches for breakfast, then drove to Baton Rouge. I got lucky with my timing; there wasn't more than the usual amount of weekend traffic, probably because people who make Black Friday a thing get going at dawn. (But also it seems like maybe it wasn't really a thing this year? I think people are catching on to the fact that the "deals" you get in store are artificial, as they'll just raise prices on, say, a flat screen TV during the month of November, so they can then drop it and advertise "15% off!".) And on the way back there was some kind of gnarly accident on the other side of the Basin Bridge that had traffic completely fucked.
I went to Cove for a bulgogi burger, then to Capital City Records. On the way home I had to drive past the Trader Joe's, so I ducked inside real quick to get Mom those almond lacey cookies she likes, and a tin of peppermint bark for me. I like TJ's because everyone sells peppermint bark in tins, and a lot of times you'll open it to find a very stingy amount, like did I just pay $10 for the fucking tin, which I don't need and most likely will throw away? TJ's actually gives you an amount that makes it feel worth the price.
I heated up leftovers for supper, and afterwards I finished Bodies.
Saturday I made eggs and toast, then did the usual Saturday shit (picked up a prescription, went to CVS/carwash/grocery store). I put away groceries and made snacks for the 'rents, then went back out with my Polaroid Go because there was a cane field burning down the street--once it's been cut, the stubble is usually set on fire and allowed to burn down, which I guess returns some kind of nutrient to the soil. If it's close by, you'll get black ash falling, what's sometimes called "Cajun snow". Anyway, I couldn't get close enough to really get a good photo of the flame; they aren't large, the stubble is only a few inches high and they usually only set a few spots on fire at once.
However, the sky was really interesting:
We had planned to get Mexican food for my belated birthday dinner, but come to find out the one good Mexican restaurant in town has closed. So instead we got Shucks and I picked it up at the window. Shucks is crazy on a Saturday night anyway, but the Saturday after Thanksgiving is something else. You know, people are visiting from out of town, everyone's tired of leftovers. The scariest traffic I experienced all weekend was in the Shucks parking lot, with people driving around and around, trying to find a parking spot, or parked in places they really shouldn't have been. Anyway, worth it. I got a stuffed crab and half a dozen fried shrimp with their remoulade, and sweet potato fries.
I forgot I only need to take half of a delta 11 gummy and decided the best way to deal with that was by watching A Haunting in Venice. Like I knew it would be kind of dumb, but visually interesting. The tone was so weird though! Like I just don't associate "Hercule Poirot" with "haunted house". I don't hate turning Ariadne Oliver into an American, though. Honestly, it kind of works. And as much as I run down Branagh's Poirot movies, I do always seem to end up watching them. He did do this one thing I really liked, where there were always like, statues in the foreground or paintings in the background, so there always seemed to be extra, unspoken, eerie presences in every scene.
Sunday I made sausage biscuits with turkey sausage patties and Pillsbury Grands (the ones with all the flaky layers). I changed/washed my bed sheets, and painted for a couple of hours while I watched the new episodes of For All Mankind and Monarch (no new Datelines on the holiday weekend). I made lunch for the 'rents in the afternoon, and cut Penny's toenails, which she absolutely hates. I did it quick though, before she had a chance to get real squirmy and start trying to pull her paw out of my hand, which always makes me worry I'm going to accidentally yank out her entire nail. She yipped once, and shook the entire time, but mostly she was a good girl about it. I think even she knew her nails were way too long.
I baked the peanut butter bread from Baking Yesteryear, did a load of laundry, had some wine and read, finishing Paperbacks From Hell, and starting Siren Queen, which so far I love. For dinner I got one more meal out of the turkey before whatever's left goes in the freezer, making open-faced sandwiches on toasted sourdough with a packet of turkey gravy--packet gravy is delicious and everyone needs to stop being a snob and pretending it isn't.
After supper I watched the first couple episodes of Lessons in Chemistry. It's good but I'm not sure it's really "for me" so I don't know if I'll watch the rest of it.