Day One-hundred-and-seventy-five: One dish, two dish, three dish, more

Today was a food extravaganza. I first finished the olive bread by baking the loaves I made up last night. Then I baked the gingerbread for which I cooked the syrup while the olive bread was in its second raise. Not finally, I made a batch of vegan chocolate cupcakes using the last of the cocoa I brought with me.

During the less busy parts I researched and planned my evening menu and my shopping list for the items I needed to get from the grocery store. The basis for my menu was one of the dinner menus in Program for Reversing Heart Disease. Let's just say it was very instructional. Thank goodness I prepared alternative plans for the main course. While I only used three of the four burners, we wouldn't have eaten had my middle sister not come home and pitched in.

The main course became the polenta casserole instead of the eggplant lasagna. I allowed three hours for the food preparation and cooking. It took four and that was with my sister taking over the mushrooms and broccoli entirely. I still did the pea soup and the polenta casserole. I can't believe my sister's family all like gingerbread. My youngest sister's daughters wouldn't touch it.

While I used far more wine than it called for to braise the onions for the polenta, we managed to put away the remaining red and white that wasn't used in the cooking. My sister also has the ingredients for the eggplant lasagna but doesn't have the recipe. She will be buying the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook because the four people who ate some of it really liked it. I got the recipe from my oldest daughter's in-laws as that was one of the dishes they prepared especially for me.

We had a great conversation about parents, siblings, and children. (At least I think it was great. Three glasses of wine wouldn't have clouded my judgement that much.) What the wine did cloud are the conclusions we reached. But those kinds of conversations are less about conclusions than the feeling of camaraderie. Of course, more wine and less talk may have achieved the same result. However achieved, it is results that matter in this Life after Layoff.

Earlier this morning, after a breakfast of grapefruit and homemade bread toast, not my bread but my mother's, we played more Mystery Partner Euchre. In the third or fourth game, I was well on my way to winning, thanks to a four-point loaner I finally managed to deal myself without a bower turned up. Ultimately, I didn't win. My oldest sister, still younger than me, snatched my victory away from me.

I brushed the snow off my car when I went out to help my father do the same on his. This called for using one of the pair of three pair of gloves I brought. At the time the temperature was no more than ten degrees Fahrenheit. I was plenty warm for the time I was outside. Admittedly I did have my fleece vest and North Sierra jacket on, but I have not needed my silks. Nor have I needed my full sleeved fleece or the down gloves and scarf I bought to go on my first ski trip with Marilyn.

Tomorrow I drive to Columbus. I pick up my 26' chain, cleaned wedding bands, and corrected inscription heart from Diamond Cellar. My oldest daughter and her husband are supposed to be arriving at 11:00 AM. I don't know when we will be meeting, or where. After the Diamond Cellar, I will be heading to Marilyn's oldest sister's house, still younger than her. I both want to remember Marilyn's death, even revere her life, and not. I suppose with each remembrance I am healing. It is a much slower process and one with no end in sight, than I ever expected it to be.

Day One-hundred-and-forty-nine: Domestic Day on steroids

This morning has been just like I dreamed it would be, a nightmare of work but without the horrible feelings or ending.  Right off I did the dishes.  I started unloading the dishwasher only to realize that I had not in fact run it yet.  So, I quickly put back the things I had already taken out and added what I could.  Then, while really running it, I hand washed the remaining.

While they were drying I mowed the back yard, but only in one direction rather than cross-hatched like I normally do, and put my kitchen garbage and the clippings in the compost, along with the shredded newspaper and compromising documents.  Since I had noticed that the agapantha blossoms were all now seed stalks, I decided to cut them off and stuffed them in the green bin.  (Another reason never to take the compost from the recycling yard and agapantha seeds aren't likely to be the worst seeds in it.)  By this time it had started to drizzle but I decided to go ahead and vacuum out the Prius' deck.  It held off the serious rain until I had done so.  As I forgot to water down the compost, with its covering of paper, it is fortunate that I also did not put the cover on.  Now the rain is watering it down.  Hopefully I will remember to put the cover on before I leave.

Next I went inside and did the syrup for ginger bread and made two dozen vegan chocolate cupcakes.  Of course this required additional dish washing because I needed the mixing bowls and measuring spoons later today.

After a quick lunch of salad, a mix of the Fresh Herb Salad, green onion, garbanzo beans, radishes, and my flax oil apple vinegar vinaigrette, I took off for Whole Foods and REI.  After mailing the last of the Christmas Letters for which I had addresses, I remembered that I didn't have anything to hang the flyer with.  So, I turned around and went back to my house for the push pins.  Whole Foods approved its posting.  I almost wish I had a hammer.  It was not a cork board but one of those wood chip ply boards.  I also bought stuff from Whole Foods.

Then to REI for my Trekker Sleeping Pad and if I had stopped stopping there, I would have been home much sooner.  Instead I went to Macy's looking for a memory foam cushion.  They didn't have one but I did get a memory foam pillow on sale with a 20% discount on top of that and a 15% discount, if I used my Macy's card.  I didn't have my Macy's card and thought the card that Marilyn had was her card.  When I entered her SSN, there was no card.  (Yes, I still remember it.)  When I entered mine, it found one.  I don't know whether they have the right address or not.  I'm sure Marilyn didn't use her Macy's card since we moved.

As I was leaving Macy's my oldest daughter called to ask me to get some MandMs and a can of Fosters for the grilled beer turkey they are making tomorrow.  I went to Costco for them.  I'm glad I called back to find out which kind or I would have only bought Peanut M&Ms.  Since they wanted Plain MandMs, I got both, after I found them.  I had to walk all over Costco and ask a couple of people, unsuccessfully, before I found them.  However, I did find Beano.  A vegan diet that is heavy in legumes should use a lot of Beano.  The alternative isn't pretty.  Of course, MandM's and Beano aren't all that I bought.

Since Costco didn't have Fosters, Australian for beer, I stopped at Safeway.  There again I bought more than what I stopped for.

Finally back at home I mix up the Gingerbread and set the timer for 30 minutes.  While the Gingerbread was cooking, I completed the flyers by attaching the card holders.  I plan on giving my daughters a few, leaving me with nine or ten for posting across the country and in Columbus.  After I finished the flyers I realized that my timer should have gone off.  I hadn't started it.  The Gingerbread was done.  It may be dry but it doesn't appear to be burned.  Then I mixed up the whole wheat olive bread and whole wheat bread that I am baking tomorrow morning.

Some where in all of this, I fixed and ate my dinner.  Surprise, surprise, this leaves me with a kitchen of dirty dishes full circle back to this morning.

Still to go tonight, after this posting, I will vacuum the floors, which will require a decent amount of picking up, and clean off my HP laptop.  Today has been quite fulfilling, possibly the most so in my Life after Layoff.

Day Ninety-two: Sleeping my life away

I've gotten into a bad cycle, staying up late, getting up relatively early, and, at least today, taking a nap in the afternoon. Realizing I was in a late cycle, I decided to make the Almost No Knead whole wheat olive bread today. In previous bread making, I had always let it raise through the night for at least ten hours. Today I got it mixed up around 9:00 AM and started the second raising around 6:00 PM. Not only is this a shorter raising time than my normal minimum overnight time, it commits me to baking until after 9:00 PM. (Which also means that I will be eating some bread late but hopefully before or no later than 10:00 PM.) Yes, it is that good, which is also why my vegan diet has stopped losing weight.

Today, in addition to my continued outplacement education, I prepared my Life after Layoff budget. Due to my housing expenses, around $25,000/year, I need more than an ideal amount annually for early retirement, particularly with the current stock market volatility although today the volatility was at least the right direction.

All of this is means that I need to get more disciplined about my days, including a chore list. This sounds like a good application for a spreadsheet application. I could even write it on a Windows platform using Visual Basic Application but have yet to learn Apple Script. I am done with procrastination--after today, well, at least after this week, unless I just have to get out and have some fun.

Speaking of fun, it would be fun to travel to Nevada and do some gambling. However, my favorite form of gambling, the craps table, has been somewhat ruined because it appears to be McCain's favorite form of gambling. Does that similarity make me sound older? At least I'm not as compulsive about it as he appears to be. Nor am I as rich, not that I would have ever thought to ask for a table to be set up in my room. It would be a lot easier to go to bed more quickly and would be a non-smoking environment...

Day Sixty-six: Loss of productivity

I couldn't watch the Republican convention last night or the repeats. I find that I'm getting tired of the political speeches. This doesn't mean I don't have an Internet addiction. In fact, it's obvious that far too many people do. I read the blogs and particularly the comments, the comments that are added to before I can read all the ones that have already been posted. This is a tremendous drain on my productivity, or could be without some severe self-imposed restrictions.

I only do it while I'm waiting for something, or at the end of the day. Now it takes a certain amount of creativity to find things that have built in waiting time. Take this morning for example: I chose to fix myself steel cut oats because they were supposed to simmer a whole thirty minutes. I could have done something more productive with that time but my very portable laptop was on the table so I declared it "waiting time." Of course, my laptop being on the table also meant that I could "wait" between bites.

Leisurely meals are supposed to be healthier for a person...

The rest of my morning was truly one of productivity without progress. I did a load of laundry after I changed the sheets on the guest bed. I made a pot of chili, primarily to use up the cilantro that I had left from the earlier Mango Black Bean Salad, and to use some more of that delicious chili powder my daughter got me. I also made a double batch of chocolate cupcakes, 24, for Saturday. I enjoyed the chili for lunch and licking the bowl was dessert, although I didn't eat them in the traditional order. I do hold with the philosophy that since life is uncertain, one should eat dessert first. Eating when I want and what I want is The Secret of Life after Layoff.

I'd like to say that my productivity continued into the afternoon. I did start a couple loaves of bread possibly for Saturday. Both are Whole Wheat but one also has olives. I also put a lot of effort for little result in washing the truck's wheels, well two of them, one of them twice. I was following the instructions, including the use of rubber gloves. With my lack of progress and noticing holes in one of my gloves, I decided to try again when the sun wasn't so bright, hot, and burning. Oh, I did dry the laundry I washed this morning. My final bit of work this afternoon was the creation of a list, a list of all I still had to do. I kept it very high-level so as to not be overwhelmed. Lists are good for at least one thing, the crossing of completed items off of them. It is also a reason to put things that I know I will do, like bake the bread I now have raising. At least I didn't put things like get up (each day), ... But maybe a computer program/scheduler would be a good place for all of that. I know, I'll put it on a list.

Day Fifty-two: The perfect bread

The "Almost No Knead" bread I mixed up last night for raising, I baked this morning. It will definitely not last until my daughter, who loves olives, arrives tomorrow unless I go in there and freeze the half, or so, that remains. I waited for it to cool a little bit and then had a mid-morning snack of just the bread. While I like bread, particularly the homemade kind, and don't put a lot on more normal bread, this bread was made to be eaten by itself. Perfectly crusty. Delightfully soft inside. Tasty without being tart or salty. I got the split done right this time by wetting my knife with the water I had set to boiling before putting the pan in the oven with the bread to help its raising.

This bread snack allowed me to delay lunch while I was cooking wild rice for the Mango Black Bean Salad. I decided to make that salad as I was chopping up green onions for my flax oil base for my oil and vinegar salad dressing. Since it also takes crushed garlic, I ended up crushing a whole head, half for the flax oil and half for the Balsamic Vinaigrette I also made.

All this food discussion is just to say that I had more of the fresh olive bread in an open faced heirloom tomato sandwich, plus a large salad with radishes, "hot shot," some cherry tomatoes, and the Balsamic Vinaigrette I had just made. Then I went ahead and had some of my Mango Black Bean salad as well.

Then I had an early dinner, consisting of more Mango Black Bean salad, another slice of bread, and half a Tuscany melon. Half may have been too much but when I finished the quarter, I decided that it was so good that another quarter wouldn't be too much.

While I admit that I have spent a considerable portion of today either preparing or eating food, I have done some other things. I went to the store. Yes it was a grocery store but only one of three items was a food item. I also went to the Post Office to mail an item that was inadvertently left in my Prius to its rightful owner, presumably the person who left it. I have also spent a considerable time on three computers, one at a time, but at one time all three were on. At this moment I only have two on.

My trip to the Post Office compels me to make a special note. I like the Post Office because of its tradition of slowness. Today was no exception. When I arrived there was one clerk waiting on one person and two other people in line. Well, one was in line and the other one was finishing up a package in order to join the line. The package person went to join the line just as I did. I politely motioned her on ahead of me but she insisted I proceed ahead of her. The single person getting waited on was trying to buy 60 59 cent stamps, which the Post Office didn't carry. He ended up buying 60 58 cent stamps and 60 1 cent stamps. By this time another clerk came out from the back and started serving the person in line ahead of me. Then it was a race to see whether the multiple stamp person could complete his purchase before the new mailer could send his stuff off. The stamp person won and I stepped up for my turn.

I also like the fact that they also always ask if I want stamps. Since I have at least 200 of the forever stamps, I can say no.

Now, I didn't used to appreciate the Post Office traditions. In fact, I used to dread going to the Post Office. Admittedly, most of my previous trips were on large mailing days with much longer lines but just as slow service. The big thing that has changed is my appreciation for it. In my Life after Layoff, I am much more laid back. In my previous trips I always had something to get back to or on to. Plus, if it wasn't an errand at work, it was on the weekend and I really did want to get back to my wife or on to something fun with my wife. It's is much better now. I am much better.

Now my only concern is how I can continue this life, continue to be laid back. That is for another day, a day after September 20th. Until then, I still have a lot to do.

Day Fifty-one: Plant care

The best thing you can say about my plant care is that my recent lack of care doesn't appear to have killed anything new. I know when I've gone too long without watering when the bird bath is dry. I had to water both front and back today. I still haven't started watering the yard itself. To do that regularly, I still need to get another hose. I'm planning on watering Sunday morning before I leave for San Diego via Pasadena, but I don't know whether or not the plants will last over seven days.

I picked up my suits today and called for my new toilet. It's now been three weeks for a two week delivery. According to my online credit card report, they already have my money.

When I checked my former work email today, there was a request to do a last task, a partial review of the people who reported to me. I don't see how I can get it done before I get back from San Diego, or even started for that matter. To my surprise, there is still old work in my Life after Layoff.

I'm trying to make some olive bread. I left out the Parmesan and rosemary but added the olives. I thought about making an olive whole wheat but decided I should just vary one ingredient. The next time I make it, I will use already pitted olives. The Rosemary, Olive, Parmesan bread called for green olives. I had some I needed to use but the greens hold on to their pits a lot more.

I hope there is some left of the bread for my oldest daughter to try. Not only should I not eat it all, ever since she was a toddler, she has liked olives. I used to have an olive snack and she would want to eat what I was eating. So I gave her one. She made a face and asked for another one. Now she is an olive gourmet. I think of this because I am picking her up Friday night. Saturday, maybe even Friday night, she is to go visit her best friend who is around from Sweden for a brief time. I need to at least wash her ride's windows.

Today, though, I bought and ate some food. I washed a couple loads of clothes. I finished catching up in my blogs. And, I'm going to go to bed, in my now clean bed, early. Forget the Olympics. But wait, the women's beach volleyball gold is supposed to be on.