Thursday, July 19

So it finally rained. In the middle of the night. Accompanied by thunder and lightning, making it hard to sleep through! We got maybe half an hour of rain which at least is enough to mean we won't need to water the garden for a few days. But--even better--is the fact that the air has cooled down. The forecast has been promising this for awhile but it never quite got here till now.

With the smell of rain still heavy in the air at 6:30 a.m., I decided a bike ride was in order so that I could enjoy it! So I got in a 45 minute ride before arriving back home for a shower and breakfast (soaked oats, fruit salad, vanilla yogurt, mocha).

As I try to get my life somewhat organized, I'm seeing that a major needy area is meal planning. I used to be really good at shopping every two weeks, with only a stop or two in between for milk and bananas. In the past couple years, I hate to tell you how many days I go to the grocery store after work, hunting for something that looks like dinner.

But Thursday the problem was lunch. I just didn't have anything in the house that looked appealing, so I packed snap peas and cherries in containers so I'd at least have a proper snack. At lunchtime I went to my favorite lunch spot in town and ordered a Thai Chicken Salad. This is really a very healthy meal and I hadn't been for quite awhile. It consists of romaine lettuce, sliced grilled chicken breast, a few peanuts, a few crunchy chow mien noodles, mandarin orange slices, and a zippy Thai dressing. I need to analyze that dressing so I can make it at home sometime. It also came with a ww roll (butter).

After work I put in a bit of time weeding, so after three days my raspberry bed is in good shape. Sadly not all the raspberry plants have survived the heat wave. I just couldn't come up with any ambition for any further house work so I read before, during, and after supper. (Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy--finished it!)

Supper: I stir-fried a yellow zucchini (yay, the first from the garden) with onion, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes. And I pulled from the freezer a meal of brown & wild rice with barbecued meatballs from a few weeks ago.

Had a banana milkshake and cleaned the kitchen before bed, so at least I am no further behind for the evening off.