Today felt like a really lazy day
I got up this morning, a bit earlier than normal and felt like I was moving so slowly. I fed the cats, got my yogurt and coffee and sat down to check my blog, email and Facebook page. Pretty much a normal day. And yet… I managed to evade the promise I’d made to myself to go to the gym today.
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen.
Wednesday, I took the four quarts of turkey stock left over from Thanksgiving out of the freezer to defrost. By yesterday morning, they were nearly liquid again so I moved them to the refrigerator. However, as the Queen of Baking is here again, this time to make a Hobbit hole wedding cake (gluten free, of course!), I had to give up a large portion of my refrigerator to her project, thus forcing me to dive into my own whether I was ready or not.
You might recall that I set out to refill my freezer last week as it had begun to like like a barren frozen wasteland. This is a bad thing on two levels. First, the cupboard is bare, but more importantly, it results in my grabbing a bite to eat from Subway or Baja Fresh instead of eating my own healthy, portion controlled meals. Though the realistic side of me knows that no matter how good I am, I will not be fitting into the size 12 black taffeta skirt by April 17th that does not mean I can’t follow healthy habits so I have more energy and simply feel better. So, today was turkey stewp day, and I had to fit it in between Heather’s work on the cake, though at one point, we actually managed to share the kitchen, she to carve and me to chop. 
At the end of the day, she had created yet another masterpiece and I had turned four quarts of turkey stock, six pounds of turkey and a plethora of vegetables (I just love the word “plethora”. It’s right up there with “cornucopia”!) into about twenty servings of soup.
From frozen wasteland to an exercise in Tetrissing
When added to last 
week’s batches of chili, stir fry and spaghetti squash, and this week’s spaghetti sauce, I now have the freezer of my dreams…and about a month’s worth of no cooking unless I really want to! I’ve also gone completely through my stock of single serving containers and a good way into the larger ones. I guess I’ll have to stop for a couple of weeks until those stacks go down!
Did the laziness end there?
You might think that several hours of chopping, cooking, storing and cleaning would be enough for one day, but I’m afraid there was more to be done. I needed Heather’s help to put up the white board I bought a couple of weeks ago, and tomorrow, we’ll be heading in different directions. By the time I get home from my critique group, she’ll probably be headed home so she can prepare for another of her insanely busy days on Sunday, so the white board had to go up today or wait until the next time she visits, which is about a month away. That simply would not do!
In all fairness, I was the fetcher and she did most of the work, but the end result is exactly like I envisioned, with the bookshelf below serving as a place to collect the appropriate supplies. (of course, Dylan has already been up there to check things out. Yet the file racks which previously occupied this space, rather messily, I might add, would have been far more interesting with papers and such hanging out. But no human living has ever truly been able to figure out a cat!)
Somewhere in the midst of it all, I had two pieces to critique for tomorrow (thankfully, I submitted one this time so my work load was reduced by a third). Though I received them Wednesday night, I had equal parts procrastination and spending time with my daughter to blame for waiting until what I felt was the last minute. Thankfully, our group leader sent critique forms for this week’s work which made the job a whole lot easier. I was able to just read the pieces, spend some time letting them meander through my brain, then fill in my thoughts in the appropriate places. All in all, I think it will make for a much better forum tomorrow.
With any luck, tomorrow’s post will feature a picture of the amazing Hobbit hole cake (or maybe even two if I can get Heather to send me a couple of different angles!)
For now, I will leave you with a shorter than average post and my gratitudes.
1. I am grateful for a full freezer.
2. I am grateful for some kitchen time with my daughter, reliving some very silly, happy memories.
3. I am grateful for my critique groups which are helping me to be a better writer.
4. I am grateful for how my office is slowly cleaning up and turning into a true writer’s den. (all accounting related accoutrements are safely stashed in drawers and cabinets when not in use, the better to keep me focused on writing related activities.)
5. I am grateful for abundance, love, support, lessons, discoveries, evolution, joy, inspiration, challenges, health, harmony, peace and prosperity. Spread it all around!
Blessed Be!
And now for some shameless self-promotion:
I’d love it if you’d visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SheriLevensteinConawayAuthor?ref=aymt_homepage_panel. I’ve created this page as a means of positive affirmation and would be very grateful if you’d “like” it or leave a comment! Thank you!
