It's the very last day of August. Since it's the middle of the week it doesn't seem to be anything monumental and I'm not sure it should be anything bigger than another day. It always makes me think of tomorrow when something makes that turn to a stopping point. It makes me think toward the future and what I should be setting as goals for these last four months of this year 2016.
It seems too late to be thinking of setting any goals now. That is supposed to be done in January every year. Goals aren't for September. So don't call them goals if reflections are better. I'm reflecting on what I want to accomplish in the next four months. I'm merely thinking of what I would do and how I want to do it. It doesn't matter to me what time of the year it might be at the moment because some things don't wait or shouldn't.
I can't be sitting around until January, twittling my thumbs, wasting my time. If I have the notion to get started and if this last day of the month of August is an incentive to get started, I will use that as motivation. Time to get a move on.
TT
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Friday, August 19, 2016
Last on the List
I've been going back and forth with a story. I have only approximately 7500 words written but those words were put down two years ago. Somewhere in-between I edited those same words and changed the beginning.
I went back recently to start working on it again and re-read the original opening. It was far better than the edited/changed version. I knew where I was going to start out but manipulated it into something else at the time thinking it was the right thing to do. It wasn't and I'm back to looking at it with a more objective eye since being separated from it for all this time.
My real problem is my recent work or the lack thereof. It isn't the 7500 words, or the editing, or the going back to the beginning. The issue isn't the steps I've taken to read, assess, and get the proper objectives in line for the story. The real issue is my total procrastination about working on it at all. The amount of time I just described was probably a total of 15 minutes in at least a two week time frame.
I'm not exactly happy with that amount and even though I think in the back of my brain that I should be spending more time on this, I simply haven't. On my never ending list of tasks it is always the one thing that get's left undone. I guess that happens and that is when I need to make adjustments on the things I choose to do. It's time to choose the priorities on my own list and stop leaving the ones I'd rather spend time on left undone. This story obviously isn't going to write itself.
TT
I went back recently to start working on it again and re-read the original opening. It was far better than the edited/changed version. I knew where I was going to start out but manipulated it into something else at the time thinking it was the right thing to do. It wasn't and I'm back to looking at it with a more objective eye since being separated from it for all this time.
My real problem is my recent work or the lack thereof. It isn't the 7500 words, or the editing, or the going back to the beginning. The issue isn't the steps I've taken to read, assess, and get the proper objectives in line for the story. The real issue is my total procrastination about working on it at all. The amount of time I just described was probably a total of 15 minutes in at least a two week time frame.
I'm not exactly happy with that amount and even though I think in the back of my brain that I should be spending more time on this, I simply haven't. On my never ending list of tasks it is always the one thing that get's left undone. I guess that happens and that is when I need to make adjustments on the things I choose to do. It's time to choose the priorities on my own list and stop leaving the ones I'd rather spend time on left undone. This story obviously isn't going to write itself.
TT
Sunday, August 14, 2016
The Whole Day Ahead
It's Sunday morning and you can bet I will take the most advantage of my day. Kitchen is already cleaned up and some chile guisado is already ready for those huevos we will be frying up a little later. The food parade will continue.
I think I'll make up a batch of sugar cookies. I can keep those fresh in a tin. I have a little more ground beef and pork I can make into some meatballs. I might even go ahead and roll out more pasta and cut into fettuccine. There will be good eating this week.
That still gives me plenty of free time. I can watch a movie, read my book, even write a little more. The agenda is really wide open to anything. Let me give it some thought and see what unfolds.
TT
I think I'll make up a batch of sugar cookies. I can keep those fresh in a tin. I have a little more ground beef and pork I can make into some meatballs. I might even go ahead and roll out more pasta and cut into fettuccine. There will be good eating this week.
That still gives me plenty of free time. I can watch a movie, read my book, even write a little more. The agenda is really wide open to anything. Let me give it some thought and see what unfolds.
TT
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Humming in the Kitchen
I think I am winding down my day. It started with a 6 miler. A good easy run with a nice little rain from about mile 2.5 until almost the 4 mile mark. But it was a nice easy rain and the drops felt like heavenly kisses on my shoulders. It was utterly the best way to start out the day.
After I got back from my run, it was a short trip to the grocery store. I wanted to get the essential items on my list and to also get back home to do some cooking. The deli roast beef was running over $12.00 a pound so I picked up a beef roast for $7.90. It was when I got home that things started to hum in the kitchen.
The roast was seasoned up and put into the oven. I started up my bread machine and let it loose. Then I pulled out my old fashioned, stainless steel, clamp to the table and crank by hand pasta machine. I whipped up some pasta dough and ran it through the machine. What a relief it is from rolling the dough out with a rolling pin. I went ahead and cooked up some ground beef and pork together. I threw in some spices, parsley, and stirred in some ricotta cheese and garlic for a filling. Yeah...that dough is now beef ravioli.
The roast beef turned out perfectly and I sliced it up thin. It will be tasting mighty good on that rustic wheat bread which I already had all the ingredients to make. I weighed the beef after I sliced it and it was 2.3 lbs. meaning if I bought that amount at the deli it would have cost $27.60. So I figured I saved $19.70. The ravioli didn't cost much either if you figure I only used 1 1/4 of semolina flour and two eggs for the dough. The filling amount I made was approximately $3.77. I made about 32 ravioli's.
I even made jello and a from scratch white cake I baked in a loaf pan. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, too but those were already given away.
Good day to be in the kitchen. Some really good smells can perk up any rainy day. We need the rain, we love the food. What better way to spend the day.
TT
After I got back from my run, it was a short trip to the grocery store. I wanted to get the essential items on my list and to also get back home to do some cooking. The deli roast beef was running over $12.00 a pound so I picked up a beef roast for $7.90. It was when I got home that things started to hum in the kitchen.
The roast was seasoned up and put into the oven. I started up my bread machine and let it loose. Then I pulled out my old fashioned, stainless steel, clamp to the table and crank by hand pasta machine. I whipped up some pasta dough and ran it through the machine. What a relief it is from rolling the dough out with a rolling pin. I went ahead and cooked up some ground beef and pork together. I threw in some spices, parsley, and stirred in some ricotta cheese and garlic for a filling. Yeah...that dough is now beef ravioli.
The roast beef turned out perfectly and I sliced it up thin. It will be tasting mighty good on that rustic wheat bread which I already had all the ingredients to make. I weighed the beef after I sliced it and it was 2.3 lbs. meaning if I bought that amount at the deli it would have cost $27.60. So I figured I saved $19.70. The ravioli didn't cost much either if you figure I only used 1 1/4 of semolina flour and two eggs for the dough. The filling amount I made was approximately $3.77. I made about 32 ravioli's.
I even made jello and a from scratch white cake I baked in a loaf pan. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, too but those were already given away.
Good day to be in the kitchen. Some really good smells can perk up any rainy day. We need the rain, we love the food. What better way to spend the day.
TT
Busy schedule
It's not too bad when you have a few days off, go back to work for two days, and then find yourself with a couple more days off. The weekend has arrived again and I am more than overjoyed! Free time, free time - let the song begin.
That was a little over the top and it's not like I haven't had my share of time-off lately but you can't knock a girl for wanting to make her own schedule. It's what I plan on doing. I've already started the day and I have the next item to get busy with doing. Gotta run, now, and then see what the next thing might be.
TT
That was a little over the top and it's not like I haven't had my share of time-off lately but you can't knock a girl for wanting to make her own schedule. It's what I plan on doing. I've already started the day and I have the next item to get busy with doing. Gotta run, now, and then see what the next thing might be.
TT
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Some time off
It's early Sunday morning and I've been up for a while. It hasn't sunk in yet that I am taking a few days off. It still feels like I am supposed to be doing my regular routine. It's all sort of jumbled up right now and I'm going with the flow until it straightens itself out. I'm not sure how long that will take. It's possible I will float through the entire time and not realize it took place. Or I will get my head together and it will all fall into place.
A few days off from work, some time to stretch and pull away from the normal routine is what is needed. Sometimes the routine gets so balled up and rolling so fast it's hard to pull away from that sort of forward momentum. It's needed but putting the breaks on it can sometimes take some time to happen. It's this fuzzy state I'm in right now of not really having the reality of time off right here in my lap.
But it's okay, it's fine, really. I'll be in another place soon enough. I'll have packed a bag and moved down the coast and be sitting near the water's edge like that is the normal routine instead of the other less desirable everyday hired desk. It's early enough for it all to sink in.
TT
A few days off from work, some time to stretch and pull away from the normal routine is what is needed. Sometimes the routine gets so balled up and rolling so fast it's hard to pull away from that sort of forward momentum. It's needed but putting the breaks on it can sometimes take some time to happen. It's this fuzzy state I'm in right now of not really having the reality of time off right here in my lap.
But it's okay, it's fine, really. I'll be in another place soon enough. I'll have packed a bag and moved down the coast and be sitting near the water's edge like that is the normal routine instead of the other less desirable everyday hired desk. It's early enough for it all to sink in.
TT
Monday, August 1, 2016
What's the condition
I was up at 4:20 am this morning. It is becoming a habit. It was intentional and not caused by any malady, insomnia, or condition. I meant to get up and run and it's what I did. Granted, at that hour I am only allowed to run at the gym since it's pitch dark outside and going out doors alone isn't allowed to me under those circumstances.
It's the first day of August and also a Monday. It's perfect timing to renew my goals and motivations. I've been working toward getting more miles and finding ways to gettting them done. I allowed myself the time and patience to experiment with different times and it wasn't happening in the afternoons.
I started giving the mornings a try even if it meant I had time for only 3 miles on the treadmill at that early hour. I managed a quick, half cup of coffee, drove the half block to the gym and ran half a 10K. Then I would rush home to shower, dress, and change to be at my desk by my normal 6:30 am. The times I did this in July worked well. I adjusted to it and my miles accumulated better than in the past few months.
So August has started and I've already banked a few miles. I'm renewed and motivated. The early morning gym stops are working. I checked to see what condition my condition was in and it turned out I'm in pretty good condition.
Bring it.
TT
It's the first day of August and also a Monday. It's perfect timing to renew my goals and motivations. I've been working toward getting more miles and finding ways to gettting them done. I allowed myself the time and patience to experiment with different times and it wasn't happening in the afternoons.
I started giving the mornings a try even if it meant I had time for only 3 miles on the treadmill at that early hour. I managed a quick, half cup of coffee, drove the half block to the gym and ran half a 10K. Then I would rush home to shower, dress, and change to be at my desk by my normal 6:30 am. The times I did this in July worked well. I adjusted to it and my miles accumulated better than in the past few months.
So August has started and I've already banked a few miles. I'm renewed and motivated. The early morning gym stops are working. I checked to see what condition my condition was in and it turned out I'm in pretty good condition.
Bring it.
TT
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