A Trip to the Vet

 Waiting for the vet to arrive.

Princess Hermes hates riding in the car. I suspect that this is because at the age of 2, she was taken from the home where she had lived all but the first 6 weeks of her life and dumped at the animal shelter. When I picked her up, the poor thing was so scared she threw up, pooped, and peed in the carrier on the way home. 

I’ve taken her to the vet 3 times since then. We were fostering to adopt with her, and once we made the decision to adopt, I filled out the paperwork and took her to the vet. We didn’t even make it out of the carport before she pooped, peed, and threw up all over the carrier. Keep in mind, we live 2 miles away from our Vet’s office.  

Last year, we made a full mile before she totally lost it.  The poor thing threw up again on the way home. My vet joked that it was nice of her to present a full stool sample when she walked in!

Last week, I was prepared for anything. I put her in her carrier – and I had a towel at the bottom. This time, I thought ahead and took an extra towel wrapped up in a plastic bag. We made it with no issues. And then, I picked up her carrier to take her into the vet. That's when she finally lost control. Fortunately, she only threw up.  

I whipped out the soiled towel once we were in the office and put the new one inside her carrier. The soiled towel went into the plastic bag to be washed when we got home.

She approves of the towel on the scale.

And Hermie? She had a great time. She explored everything and talked with the vet when she came in with a wide range of purrs and small “mrows” and only one hiss. She had no issues going home.

Considering that we’re moving in less than a month, I’m really hoping that we will do okay with the 30 minute drive to the apartment. There’s nothing worse than an upset cat trapped in a car.

Portland Japanese Tea Garden

 The cherry blossoms were in bloom when we were in Portland!  So beautiful!  Husband flew out on the last day of our conference and we spent another week exploring Oregon.  I had never been here before.  It is breathtaking country!

One of our first stops was the Japanese Tea Garden.  It was so elegant.  Somehow, we managed to snag tickets for the very first entry time.  It wasn't crowded during our first hour there, but it was getting crowded as we left! Sadly, I couldn't get reservations to the Tea House. I waited a little too long and lost any chance that I had at all of getting a reservation.  Take note of that - if you can get tickets ahead of time, snag your reservations for lunch at the Tea House at the same time.  I really wish that I had done that.

In the spirit of minimalism, I am not going to post my words with the images.  I am going to let the images speak for themselves!  

More information about the Portland Japanese Tea Garden: https://japanesegarden.org/

My Resolutions

 How are you doing on your Resolutions? I have a list of 12 things I wanted to accomplish this year. Just 12. That's one per month.  There are some big goals on here, but I think that we can manage them!

I haven't posted my progress since Feb. 1, so I am going to catch everyone up with where we are now. 

1) Post 1 book review a month on my YA blog. 

I have posted 6 reviews so far. Most of them were published in June, as that is when I was looking for and reading books to talk about with the schools. 

https://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/

2) Renovate the Master Bedroom & Bathroom. 

This is happening!!!!

3) Find good homes for the books  

I have about 20 more boxes of books...and someone to come and pick them up today.

4) Go explore 2 new to me places  

Who doesn't love an adventure? I have a list of places that I want to go see. I'm going to put out a map, and get some darts, and see where we end up.

1) Oregon

2) Turkey Run Park in Virginia

5) 40 Bags in 40 Days Lenten Challenge

These were kitchen size garbage bags full of stuff, along with several BIG boxes.

6) Get together with 1 friend each month  

I don't think I should have to write this down, but you know, it's been a weird couple of years. I want to make seeing people we love a priority. Doing this after 2 years of COVID Restrictions is going to make this an extra special challenge.

January - Jim & Kathy! We had a fire outside in the firepit and got to catch up over a couple of hours!

February -  Joe, James, Dan

March - Crissy, Gloria

April - This was the month we had Covid, so we saw nobody and went nowhere.

May - Vince & Suzanne, Judy

June - Sharon

7) Another stamp in my National Park Passport

The Mission Trail in San Antonio!

8) Landscape Front Yard 

This has been on the list for several years now. I really want to get this checked off this year!

9) Clean out the Garage

If you've read the blog for any length of time, you know that we bought this house 16 years ago from my in-laws. And you also know that they were borderline hoarders. We've made progress in the house, and while there is still clutter in the basement, I believe that we will have the last of it out by the end of this year. (See the 40 bags in 40 days challenge.) But the garage is another story. 16 years, and we have not yet been able to park our cars in the garage because of the amount of their stuff. Our goal is to be able to park a car in the garage by the end of the year.

10) Get the kayak out in the water once each month during May, June, July, August, September, and October.

Seriously, we have a kayak.  Why aren't we getting out in the water with the kayak more often? What is our excuse? The kids have moved out. We don't have to worry about finding a sitter or getting an extra kayak for them.

We didn't get it out in May.  We still have time left!

11) Get my Bike fixed and get out for some bike rides.

I bought my bike over 30 years ago. I rode it a lot before the kids got busy in high school. Now that everyone is out of the house, it is time to pull out some of the things I really used to love. The top of that list is riding my bike. In order to do that, I need to get the bike fixed. The tires are dry rotted, and I'm sure it's got a host of other issues going on.

12) Visit My Cousins in Texas (a trip postponed from 2020)

Done! We made it down over a long weekend in January! It was so good to see my cousins and my aunts and uncles!  I even posted a few pictures from the River Walk in San Antonio. It's been 10 years since I last got down here. I can't wait another 10 years to get back. Family is too important. And time is fleeting.

Breckinridge Park! We met up with my cousins at the same outdoor pavilion where I had my 5th birthday party! That pavilion is just off to the right from this picture.

Other Goals:

I’ve got a couple of other goals I would like to accomplish this year, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to get to them. If I do, I’ll be thrilled beyond words. If not? I’ll add them to the list of things I want to get to in 2023.

This is going to be so much fun!

Thrifty Thursday

If you work outside of the house, what do you find yourself doing for lunch every day? It's all too easy to stop somewhere fast, drive through a handy window somewhere, or stop in the cafeteria to pick up something fast so you can get back to work quickly. 

I admit - I close 2 nights a week at work, and the temptation to run across the street to one of the many restaurants is strong. Besides the usual fast food places, we have Indian, Ethiopian, and Japanese restaurants. I had never tried Ethiopian Food before that restaurant opened. It was love at first bite. But with a dinner from one of those restaurants running over $20 for just me, eating out has become a once a month treat.

As a result, I have begun prepping my lunches for the week on Sundays. 

This past week, I roasted 3 pounds of russet potatoes and a great big onion. I portioned them out into 5 containers.

But then, what do I put on those potatoes?

We had taco salad Saturday night. When I made the protein mixture, I stretched it out with 2 cans of black beans and corn, along with a can of diced tomatoes. I then took the extra protein mix and added a heaping quarter cup to the potatoes.

Now, because it's just the 2 of us at home, we had extra taco meat left over. I put it into a freezer bag and labeled it so that we could use it later.  I pulled it out last night for a quick dinner. I made a fusion stir fry.  We sliced up a head of broccoli, and stir fried that. We added that to cooked Ramen Noodles and the leftover taco meat.  I then added my sauce that I first started making back in college.  I don't think it's authentic anything, but it always adds a nice punch to whatever I make. 

3 pounds of russets, 1 pound of ground beef, 2 cans of corn, 2 cans of black beans, 1 bag of salad, 1 big onion, 1 head of broccoli, 1 package of gluten free ramen noodles, and 1 bag of corn chips.   The salsa I used? I canned that last summer at the height of tomato season.

That served me 5 lunches, husband took the leftover stir fry for lunch today, and the 2 meals for the two of us for a total of 10 servings.  

My favorite Stir Fry Sauce:

3 TBSP Soy Sauce

2 tsp corn starch

2 TBSP Dry Sherry

 1 tsp ginger

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Mix the ingredients together, set aside.  Pour over ingredients in skillet at the end. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Like I said, I don't think it's authentic anything. Maybe authentic 80's college student?

 

Oregon

 I went to a library conference in March. It was the first in-person conference in two years, and it was lovely!  I had an absolutely wonderful time! The conference was held in Portland. I had a great time exploring everything around the hotel and in the Convention Center. The food was amazing!  The weather was beautiful most days, even if it did rain most days.

I met a lot of authors.  A LOT of authors. Some are very well known and some will soon be well known. I went to their talks, I met them in the exhibits, and I saw them in the hotel lobby. It was awesome!

Here are some of the highlights of my days at the convention in Portland:

I love how the publishers highlight their books of note - they stick these bookmarks in with the names of the honors that the book has received.

 

What trip to Portland is complete without a pilgrimage to Powell's Books?

The food! Look at this presentation! And this was a carry out container!

The stone lion!

The elephant statue!

The books I picked up!  So many books!

Salmon in a banana leaf with blue rice. 

I'd never had blue rice before. It was so good!

Chicken Schwarma. I first tried it when I was searching for food in Quebec. Ever since then, one of my favorite go to travel foods is Chicken Schwarma. I got this from a food truck behind the hotel.

Such an elegant mountain. This was the only view I had of it the entire time I was there - while the weather was beautiful it was cloudy.

I love this elegant lion so much, I went back to visit him on another night.

 

 

Juevos Rancheros

House Renovations

I think I've mentioned here before that our house needs extensive home renovations. We had a contractor come in to look at a couple of issues in the house. When we sat down to talk, he said "We're going to have to tear it back to the studs" and the magic words "black mold, asbestos, lead paint".  Three phrases no homeowner ever wants to hear in the same sentence.

We have been saving for this possibility for the 15 years we've been in the house.  And since we've been saving, we will be able to fix our house so that it will be handicap compliant and we will be able to age in place if we so choose.

There's just one problem.  We are going to have to be completely out of the house. It has not been a pleasant task. I've been sifting through stuff. Much has gone to the storage unit. Still more has gone over to Goodwill. And still more has gone to the Landfill. 

Did you ever see the Veggie Tales Episode about Stuff Mart?  That feels like our house. 

I swear that the junk is breeding down there in the chaos. No matter how much stuff I pull out, when I go down the next day to tackle more, I swear that there's just as much stuff as there was the day before.  Who knows? Maybe that little part of the house is haunted?  That makes the most sense.

Our goal to get out of the house is July 1. That's just 24 days away. We don't have a start date yet, but we do know that all of our plans are sitting in the county permit office.  It usually takes 6 weeks to get through the county.  If it takes longer, that's okay. It means that we can clean out our house without having to hire someone to do it for us.  

So much stuff.  There's just so much stuff.  Keep us in your thoughts for the rest of this month as we work to get everything out.

Thrifty Thursday

 How do you dry your clothes?  In the dryer? On the line?  According to The Spruce, it costs $0.45 per load.  (https://www.thespruce.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-an-electric-dryer-1387954)  That might not seem like much, but it adds up fast.

We do 5 loads of laundry a week.  If we dried all 5 loads in the dryer, that would cost us $2.25/week, which ends up taking the cost out to  $117/year.  "No big deal" you say.  That's a minimal expense.

That Spruce's estimates are based upon a 12 cents per killowat hour. In Maryland, looking at the rates for BGE, they charge a flat 11 cents an hour or if you have a time of use meter it is 7 cents for off peak hours and 36 cents for on peak hours. It's still not outrageous.

But, in a world where we are facing rising energy costs, how stable are those numbers? My guess is that the cost for energy is going to continue to rise over the next year. And I'm all about saving a few dollars here and there.  $117 may not seem like a lot, but that is two tanks of gas for our Civic, or a decent amount of groceries.  

We have a time of use meter, and we have been consolidating our dryer usage for as long as I can remember. We do laundry on the weekend, when the rates are low. We don't live in an HOA neighborhood, so we are able to hang our laundry outside when the weather is nice.  

When the weather is not nice, or when we lived in an HOA neighborhood, we hung all of our shirts on hangars to dry, and placed on the top of the door frames around the house to dry.  There is always some stuff that goes on a drying rack in the bathtub.  But, we try to run all of the jeans at once, and all of the towels at once. Sheets and pillow cases get their own special turn in the dryer.

We're not saving huge amonts of money, but small amounts here and there. And those small amounts of money begin to add up over time!