My Skin Hack

I have had adult acne for years. It hasn't gone away with menopause, but I can say that it is not as bad as it used to be. Prescription strength Retinol cream was a real life-saver for me.  That might sound dramatic, but it's hard to face the world, when your face is full of pimples. When it was at its worst, a kid asked me if  I had chicken pocks!

New Goals

One of my new goals, is to lose 25 pounds.  Being chained to a desk and stressed out has taken its toll on my health.  We gave ourselves a Sous Vide for Christmas so we could better cook meats and fish, and it's been a great gadget to have around.  The tool allows you to slow cook in a sealed, air-tight bag, with minimal effort.  We use a little bit of oil, but not a lot.  Tonight we made Ahi Tuna steaks. They were finished with a pan sear on the stove.  I baked up cauliflower and potato wedges in our convection oven.  While the picture from my phone doesn't do the plate justice, this was a meal that came in under 600 calories (including wine).

Vacation

I had carried over 68 hours of vacation from last year.  Doesn't that say a lot about how impossible it was to get away from my job?  We had a Caribbean vacation planned all along, so my last working day was a week ahead of my last day of employment.  However, I considered my last day on the job my last day, and was looking forward to jetting off to Jamaica the next morning.  Our original plans were for St. Martin, but the hurricanes in August/September decimated the resort.  As a result, our group was moved to Jamaica.  We just got back last night.  It was an interesting week!

Thank You!

Thank you for all the kind and encouraging comments I got on my last post.  It is wonderful to get such a positive message!  I am looking forward to many small moments of joy as I move on to the next chapter of my life.  Just being able to let go of a lot of the anxiety that I carry around each day will be a big help.  I've spent the last year and a half dealing with extreme pressure and problems and letting that go will free me up to better experience life.

Living the Dream?

I must admit to being a bit of a hypocrite lately.   My absence from blogging has been the result of having too much going on.  In the past few years, I have moved slowly away from my objective of living small, swayed by the comfort of a growing salary and the obsession of amassing as much investment income as possible.  My house has been neglected, my health and my husband's health have suffered, and I've rationalized it all with the thought that "Of course what you do is hard, that's why they pay you so much money."  The other truth is that I've gotten careless with spending that money because I had more of it than I ever had before.  Luckily, I have come to my senses and have been gifted with an opportunity to jump off the corporate merry-go-round, and get back the the place where I had originally planned to be in my mid-fifties.

I am a Horrible Person -- The Holiday Edition

Tomorrow is ugly sweater day at work.  We will have a contest and a Secret Santa swap.  Having never owned a truly ugly Christmas sweater, I was loath to go out and purposely buy one.  It is not easy to find them second-hand this time of year and I refuse to spend $$ on something that is intentionally ugly and only wearable for one cliched event a year.  My version is inspired by Calvin and Hobbes as well as South Park.  My boss will probably not let me join in any reindeer games once she sees it.  But I am happy with it.

Convincing me to Buy - Wine

 

Who goes wine tasting in the winter?  We do!  When you live in the Buffalo/Niagara region, winter is wine time.  While I'm not a big fan of Ice Wine, the Niagara escarpment is known to be one of the best regions for growing vidal grapes - a hybrid white variety that is very sweet.  The sweetness is condensed when they freeze.  It is a big deal when the first freeze occurs -- hordes of wine enthusiasts swarm to the vineyards and help harvest the grapes.  They must be picked at the first frost and the window of opportunity is short.  The wine produced from the fruit is very sweet -- and fairly expensive!

It's a Wrap!

 For me, wrapping presents is like cleaning house.  You have to get really messy first!  This is how our dining room table looked on Sunday.  I had the gift bags for work assembled and then I had to wrap presents.  This past year I cleaned up my home office and put away all my wrapping supplies. That meant I had to pull it all out and bring it downstairs.  Most years, I buy supplies at the end of the season, but I didn't do that much last year because I already had a lot.  This year I'm going to have to do it again as I had feared I would run out of paper and ribbons -- yes, I am fearful even though I have all this stuff!

Christmas at Work

 

Every year I make some sort of holiday offering for my co-workers.  This year, there are six people on my team, along with others who are temporarily squished into our row too.  There are also a couple of my other cronies I wanted to gift.  Last year I gave out big bars of cranberry soap.  This year I made small gift bags.  I used an assortment of items that I could buy in batches of a dozen.

Made it Ahead -- Last Week!

I made a big hunk of beef last Sunday.  It was an inexpensive bottom round cut.  It was pan seared and then baked on a cookie sheet with carrots and radishes, along with assorted small potatoes.  We had a nice dinner and it was a swell way to wind-up the weekend.  The meal was made with the intention that it would turn into stew -- bottom round isn't the most tender cut of meat.

Lavender Scent-Crafts

 This is my home-made version of a reed scent diffuser.  With a huge cache of lavender harvested before the first freeze, I had to do something with the stems I had left after pulling all the leaves off.  The oil in the bottom is a mixture of canola and drops of scent oil (the type you put into a wall-plug diffuser).  I had a small mayonnaise jar with a plastic lid. I was able to drill a messy hole into it and stuff in a few wooden skewers and stems.  We will see if it scents my bedroom.

We have had only one electrical outlet outside and had to run really long extension cords to use the weed-wacker or edger in the front.  Any time I wanted to vacuum a car, I had to run an extension cord out the front door.  It was a pain.  Once I bought the old car with the diesel engine, it became necessary to have a place to plug it in so we could keep the engine block warm on freezing nights. It's only going to be necessary to plug in on cold nights when I know I'll be driving the wagon the next day.  Because it's never seen road salt and we want it to last, I'm not going to drive it in cruddy weather so we've decided to hold on to the old Chevy (it's a 2003 with 75K miles on it).  

Using it All - The Cauliflower Edition

 Anyone who reads my blog knows I hate to waste food!  I used every last scrap on Thanksgiving and created a cauliflower recipe while I was at it.  I love to broil this white cruciferous veggie.  This year, I cut the florets off the stems, threw them in a baking dish, then added EVOO, ranch dressing, peppercorns, a little honey, lemon zest and freshly grated parm.  I let that soak for the day and then baked it covered in foil.  Once it was almost done, I put it under the broiler to crisp up.  Yum!

It Starts with The Tree

 

We did not decorate the house last year. This year, I put up the tree right after Thanksgiving.  I had wanted a "pencil" tree and scoped one out at Big Lots.  It was $75 and that was the price I was looking to beat anywhere else. I went back to the store on Black Friday and it was on sale for $50 -- so it came home with me.  There was no need to buy any new decorations as I like what we have just fine.  Many of the ornaments were too big for the "white princess" tree I had been decorating in the past -- so I'd hang one in each window.  This year, they are all on the tree, which will make putting it all away that much easier.

We are Non-Traditional

I like any holiday associated with food.  Having been married 29 years, I've hosted 25 Turkey Day Dinners.  Some were big, some were small, mostly sticking to the tried and true turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, cranberries, biscuits, and pie fare.  Regardless of the size of the gathering, I generally made it all myself -- starting at the crack of dawn and working in my jammies.   This year, we went intentionally small -- just the two of us.  Rather than a whole bird, The Big Guy insisted on making a turkey roulade.  I took responsibility for everything else.  We had an awesome meal and a nice day to boot.

My Bargain-Based Life

 

Of course my fabulous life is really bargain basement.  I would love to be able to truly afford the best and be one of those sophisticated people who don't buy much, but when they do, they only buy the best.  On the other hand, I hate cheap and shoddy stuff.  My consumerism is based on price, quality and convenience.  There is nothing sophisticated about that.  I love my new faux-leopard coat, but I wear it to a desk job because the reality is that I need to earn money.  Boy would I rather be wearing it out to lunch or drinks with my girlfriends at some sort of chi-chi martini bar.  Yes, I'd drive there in my Mercedes Benz, but the reality is that my 33 year old used car isn't that luxe.  Right now, the heater isn't working.

Shredded

We have been in our "Small Life" house for just about five years now.  There are still boxes in our garage that have not been moved inside.  I am trying to get stuff cleared out before I attack what's left in boxes and one thing I needed to do, was shred old documents.  There were multiple tax returns well over ten years old, and all of the pay stubs and financial material that went with them.  We also had paperwork from two old mortgages and a number of loans.  None of this stuff could go out in our recycling bin.

Can't Change My Spots

 This lady loves leopard.  Each year, I splurge on a piece of leopard patterned outerwear.  Last year it was a vest.  For the up coming winter, it's a coat.  The plush faux fur is right up my alley and I could not resist the buy.  After heading down to Hamburg, NY to meet a friend for breakfast, my goal was to make a stop into the Park Avenue Coat Company -- a great place to find marked-down outerwear.  There are many brands and products, overstock, last season, irregular and what-not from a variety of sources from  Betsy Johnson to Walmart.  Most coats are $35 each or three for $99.

 I just needed one coat.  The one I have had for a few years is getting admittedly a little small.  It also came from the same store.  When it comes to coats, I no longer buy second hand.  It's easier to find something new at a discount for less than it would cost to buy thrift and then dry-clean.   Methinks I will look quite stylish sporting this fun fake in my old Mercedes.  I can't wait for us to go out together!

Dog-O-Ween

Goth is not a good look for me!  I painted my face white and put on black lipstick and spent Halloween day as a witch.  Lots of people at work were dressed up, but unfortunately I missed the big office picture because I had to host a conference call.  One thing I like about working in an office of "millennials" is that they get involved.  They don't think it's silly to dress up or participate in events.  They are willing to walk away from their desk and see what's going on.  I think more folks in my age group need to stop thinking their image and what they do is so important that they can't dress up or join in.  Of course, I really couldn't get out of the call -- and I was bummed!

Teddy and I had matching outfits.  Unfortunately, it was a dreary, cold and wet day.  We got maybe eight groups of kids.  And she waited at the door hoping for more!  Teddy loves Halloween.  She tolerates her costume and leaves it alone.  A couple of groups asked if they could take a picture with her, so that made it even more of a treat for her.  It's just sad that we had the same costume and it looked so much better on her!  Oh well, who can compete with a cute dog?  Certainly not a 55 year old woman!

Not to Roll....

 

One thing that I think makes a confident cook, is the ability to deal with what you mess up and not get discouraged.  For me, part of that comes out of my refusal to waste.  If I make a mistake, by effort turns into something else.  I think that it is important not to strive for perfection.  That's not to say that you should expect to serve something that doesn't taste good.  One cooking show I used to watch years ago, was The Frugal Gourmet.  One less learned then, was if something doesn't turn out the way it's supposed to, call it something else.  Julia Child also said that any dish that looked perfect had too many hands touching it.  Those are my two mantras.