A Day in the Life of ....

Do you ever wonder how people spend their day?  Every waking hour / minute / second?

I imagine some (or most or everyone but me) have these great days where they wake up and there's fresh flowers, get a quick workout in, meet with friends throughout the day, hang with family, try new things, go to fun places, have a wonderful dinner, go for a nice walk or hike, maybe read a little and go to bed.

I'm sure that's what you do, right?

My day starts with me rolling out of bed (after not getting a lot of sleep), feeding the dog (which involves me watching him eat), washing a few dishes left during the night, getting Bella to the bus stop, going for a quick walk, washing breakfast dishes left for me at the sink, shower, work (if I work that day)*, come home, wash more dishes (because they somehow multiply at the sink), make dinner, wash dishes, make lunches, wash more dishes, watch a show on TV or read a little, maybe do a small load of dishes and then go to sleep.

*If not working, I am running a million errands, cleaning and doing a thousand loads of laundry (among the million extra loads of dishes that need to be washed)

I'm thinking I need to switch things up a bit and make my life simpler so I can start to have those perfect days.

What is your day like?

Block Party

We had our block party yesterday. The party is located at a park right by our house.  We brought a side dish. Lots of food to eat, games to play, music playing and then a movie in the park.  It was a beautiful night. Perfect for a movie.

Since the party was so close to home, we ran back and forth to get things or drop them off.  I say "we" loosely because it was mainly me running back and forth.  The last time I was walking back to the party I realized all of this running back and forth is probably worth at least one walk. Good thing because I missed a couple last week. 

Roasted and Stuffed Poblano Peppers

My poblano plant in my garden went a little crazy this year.  I was adding them into salsas and tacos. One day I went to the garden and picked 8 poblanos.  I decided to try and roast them.  Here is my take on:

Roasted and Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Ingredients:

8-10 poblano peppers
1 cup cooked rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8 oz) spanish style tomato sauce
1/2 cup corn
a few sprigs of cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion or green onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

Cook rice according to directions.

Cut tops off poblanos and take out seeds.  Place on cookie sheet and put in oven that is set to broil.  After 5-7 minutes, turn peppers over for another 5 minutes.  Once you pull the peppers out of the oven, place them into a zip lock bag, seal and wait about 10 minutes.

While you are waiting....

Mix rice, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, onion, cheese, cilantro in a bowl.

Take peppers out of bag and peel skins off.

Spoon rice mixture into poblanos and place on greased cookie sheet or baking dish.

Place poblanos in oven at 350F for about 20 minutes.



*sorry I didn't measure out quantities.  I'm an "eyeballer" when it comes to cooking.  If it looks right, then it's right.  :)

**I used brown rice.  You can substitute farro or quinoa for rice.

If you try making them, let me know how they turned out!

Enjoy!

Hey!  Bella is enrolled in two dance classes this year. That means I have more time to write up some blog posts (lucky you).

Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling good the first day of one class so (again, lucky you) no posts from this dance class. Let's hope she feels better next week.

On the subject of hoarding.....

We have been slowly going through 60+ years of stuff collected (saved) by my parents.  I say "we" loosely, because it's mostly been my brother, Steve, doing the work.

My parents weren't hoarders.  But, (you knew there was going to be a "but") they did save quite a bit of stuff.  Things that none of us really want to keep for ourselves.  Some items should have been used (or thrown out or donated) years ago.  Some items my kids could have played with when they were younger.  Some items should just never have been kept at all.

I'm not a collector (at all).  I don't see the point, I guess.  I also think I would hate to dust around a bunch of collectibles.  And, where would I put them?  My mom has a few items that some people might collect.  Even though they were hers and she kept them all of these years I still don't want any of them.  Hey, I can just store memories of them in my mind (it's already cluttered up there, why not add more, right?).

My house is definitely not clutter free, but, after seeing what we are going through I have decided that I need to pare down even more.  Release the clutter and all the excess nonsense.  If it has no importance or hold any deep feelings, then get rid of it!  I don't want my kids to have to go through my stuff and wonder what the h_ll I was saving all of this c__p for.  I know I won't be able to get rid of everything, but, the more I get rid of the better off everyone will be many, many years from now.

Are you a collector?  What do you collect?  How do you store (and dust) your collectibles?  Do you live with a collector?  How's that going?

Responsibility

So, the neighbors decided to ask Bella to watch their cat while they are on vacation in Europe. Bella was quite excited. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to learn responsibility.

The first day went great. Bella came home and told me how the cat followed her everywhere. She sat down and the cat jumped in her lap. She petted the cat and it purred and purred.

I thought, "This is great!"

Day two. Bella is excited. Runs over. Next thing you know she's back. I said, "You should stay longer. Give Spooky some attention" (Spooky is the cat's name) Bella says, "I can't get back into the house."  I thought she was joking. Bella started crying and I realize it isn't a joke. Apparently, Bella ran outside to get the paper and the mail. Not sure why she didn't just bring it in when she was walking up the driveway. 

So, the sheet of paper with the sister's phone number is in the house. I'm trying to contact neighbors to see if anyone has a key (no one does). I try messaging the neighbor on Facebook. I even send her son (the one she is visiting) a message on Facebook.  I put off texting her. The cat was fed so we had some time before we had to go over there and feed her again. So, I guess the whole responsibility thing kind of went out the window. 

The next morning, I went outside to stretch and go for my walk. I look up and see the sisters car in the driveway. I'm so excited that I run over there and ring the bell. After explaining everything that happened I got the key and the piece of paper with the phone numbers. I made a copy and made sure that they are on the cork board by my desk. 

Bella and I went together to feed Spooky. We talked about how she should bring the mail and newspaper in when she is going into the house. And that she should keep the key (which is on one of those stretchy cords you can wear as a bracelet) on her arm the entire time. If she is leaving the house make sure the key is on your wrist. 

Let's hope we survive the rest of the week without incident.  Wish us luck!

Last Fling at the Pool

Glad we could spend some quality (sunny and warm) days at the pool this weekend. 

Always a sad time of year when the pool closes.  I'm not ready for fall, are you?