The things we’re doing

The weather has been just lovely here lately. We’ve been walking to the library and the playground, stopping along the way to pick up especially pretty leaves or to examine a flower or a bug or sometimes just a rock.

A very small amount of progress has been made around the house. Rockford put my plate display things on the wall over the weekend, and I ordered a loveseat from the internet. It arrived yesterday. It isn’t hideous, but I probably won’t order furniture online again. It’s smaller than I’d pictured it to be, and it’s much more blue than grey. But you can sit on it, and the living room was very much in need of something that fit that description.

Things I still need to do:

  • Decide on a paint color for the living room. It’s still primer white. I’ll probably go with something bright and neutral.
  • Tame the flower beds. The house has a very nice landscaped spot in front and a few flowerbeds around the sides, but they’re overrun with weeds. I’ve never done any gardening before, so I’m a little intimidated. I guess I’m just going to have to get in there and start yanking things out.
  • Finish unpacking. A resumption of unpacking would help. We still have quite a few boxes in the back of the basement, and I haven’t opened one in quite a while.
  • I know there are other things, but I keep getting distracted by the sounds of construction from next door, and by the breeze, and by the cat, and by paint samples. Which brings me to this: I’m having a hard time writing here lately. I’m hoping NaBloPoMo will pull me out of the writing funk. We’ll see.

    I think I just wanted to put something up here that wasn’t a menu plan, even though I can’t really think of anything to say.

    Seven days of the dinner

    Saturday: “Country-style Steak” and mashed potatoes

    The temperatures dropped on Friday night. After several “bonus” weeks of summer weather, Saturday was almost breathtakingly brisk. So I was awfully glad that I’d put something as stick-to-your-ribs as this on the menu. It was my first attempt at making cube steak. Rockford loved it, but it wasn’t as tender as I’d hoped it would be. C’est la viande, I suppose.

    Sunday: Chicken Taco Soup

    Some members of my family might tell you that I became a little too attached to taco soup and variations thereupon a few years ago. I made it at least once a week for awhile there. I haven’t made it in quite a long time, though, and did I mention that it’s suddenly cold outside? A nice spicy chicken taco soup is just the thing when it’s suddenly cold outside.

    Monday: Red beans & rice

    Something else we used to eat frequently: Zatarain’s rice mixes. Then I hit the Zatarain’s wall and didn’t make it for a long, long time. I seem to have gotten over the wall, though, because it’s back!Menu Plan Monday

    Tuesday: Spaghetti

    Our local grocery store had a super deal on pasta sauce last week. Rockford is now referring to the pantry as “the spaghetti sauce room.” (There isn’t that much in there. I’m no April Blum. Speaking of Zatarain’s.)

    Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner

    Eggs. Veggie sausages. The kids love it. I … will eat something else, probably.

    Thursday: Stuffed baked potatoes

    Food Network Magazine has a feature every month on 50 different ways to make something. This month, it’s baked potatoes. I’m giving their “pizza-stuffed” potatoes a go. Because pizza-flavored things are always good (see: Combos, Doritos, pizza).

    Friday: Pizza

    Too much pizza in one week? Not hardly.