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Extended Vacation
Bug and I were supposed to go home on the 25th but guess what? We’re still here! I thought two weeks at a friend’s house would be too long and we would smell like old fish BUT there was still so much unpacking to be done.
The fun projects, like hanging pictures and organizing the laundry room still needed to be done. I know I’m a freak to like doing these sorts of tasks but they give me such a sense of accomplishment. I love jobs that have a completion point and don’t go on forever and ever like cleaning the toilet or laundry. Also, I love daydreaming about moving into my own home someday.
I’ve totally daydreamed about how I would set up Bethany’s laundry room if it were my own. The soap would go there, a little coin jar for miscellaneous change and things that people leave in their pockets would go there…maybe I’d even paint an old-fashioned sign that said CLEAN or Launderette or something in blue and white to hang over there… It might be a chore to most people but to me it’s like a diving board into my own dream world.
Bethany and I were bemoaning the fact that we were just days from finishing the whole project. If I could just stay a little bit longer we could finish AND do some more sight-seeing. Then Bethany proposed extending my airplane ticket a few days. While she hashed out the details with Troy, I called Toby to see if he could survive on In-N-Out for a few more days. Amazingly, he said he could so Bethany hopped on her laptop, tapped out some kind of travel website magic and ta-dah! Our little vacation was extended five days!
Fish schmish! If you help out enough around the house, you can stay for weeks and weeks! So YES! I am staying here for the Cherry Blossoms, Grandma! I’ll post more later on that. I’m also cooking dinner when I can to make sure I don’t wear out my welcome. Last night I made “Vegiladas” and took photos so I can finally post that here. (They are my latest version of my enchiladas just tweaked and packed with vegetables.) A few of my friends have been asking for the recipe so stay tuned for a food post and some cherry blossom photos!
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Lemon Week: The End
So um. I guess this is the end of Lemon Week. I was calling it citrus week earlier because I had tangelos too but we just ate those plain or gave them away. So there’s nothing all that exciting to report on the tangelo front. I still have a freezer full of lemon juice and zest so I guess I could continue with lemon week but it’s not the same as when you have a bowl of fresh ones on your counter threatening to mold if you don’t use them up.
As you can see I did not complete my mission successfully. When I looked at the fruit bowl this morning it was a sad sight. This week was fun though. My mom still has a tree full of lemons so maybe I’ll try it again next time I visit her.
I cook with lemon juice all the time just to “brighten” things up but this week was extra fun because it forced me to try new recipes and you all know how I am about recipes. They are a challenge! I actually had fun though and discovered some new things I like.
I made this Oregano-Lemon Chicken dish which I admit I was so not excited about. I did not expect it to taste good at all. It was way too easy to make and felt like I was just dumping some chicken in a pan, dumping some lemon juice with oregano in it and calling it a day. I was actually pleasantly surprised when 45 minutes later the chicken tasted pretty good.
It was a late night cooking so I took no photos of the completed dish. The light is horrible in my kitchen once the sun goes down. Also, it was the day before I needed to go grocery shopping so I was out of everything and just served it with boring old white rice and a side of butternut squash (TWO starches, as my mom would say disapprovingly). It wasn’t exactly photogenic.
However! Today I chopped it up and put it in a pita sandwich with sprouts, grape tomatoes, cucumbers and some plain yogurt and it was delicious!
I say anything that tastes good the next day cold is a winner!
Even Bug liked it!
