Time Marches On

Today has been a "glorious" day.  When I went for my walk at 10AM, it was already warm and summery, absolutely splendid for the middle of November.  Last week was challenging, to say the least, and I was on a bummer; but, after lunch with Sharon on Saturday and Janeen today, I feel more encouraged.  I spent about three days talking to myself, defining what I'm able to affect in any significant way and what I can't.  Oprah (and life) convinced me that the only person I can really influence is me AND that each day we choose, one way or the other, what we bring to that day and what we get from it.  But, in my effort to make things the best I can, I'm met with criticism and failure.  So it's taken a while to get my head around it all and get back on an even keel.

The beginning of last week was fairly cold, or at least the first cool days we've had.  It seemed perfect for the Scotch Broth recipe provided by Eileen.  When they were here we had our Southern vegetable soup and I mentioned looking for a soup recipe using barley, which I wanted to try.  She immediately thought of Scotch Broth and sent the recipe upon their return to England.  It was thick, chock full of veggies and yummy.  Eileen and Tom may think I defiled it with Parmesan cheese, but to me it was a nice addition.....delicious!

Earlier I had made a Broccoli Cheese Soup and purchased a small take-and-bake loaf from Kroger.  I'm not usually that fond of soups but I find that I really like thick soups, especially when accompanied by a crusty bread.  So, it seemed the perfect time to try "Artisan bread in 5 minutes" which I'd learned of on my trip to visit Jan.  It truly is as quick, easy and tasty as advertised.  I've baked the second of a four loaf batch and both have turned out well.

My mother is slowly coming back from the negative effects of a 10 day round of antibiotics, which pretty much ripped her system from one end to the other.  After a week of trying to get lancets for her diabetes testing machine, we went to pick them up at the pharmacy, along with the test strips which we thought we only needed to refill online.  Once there we were told the doctor had to send a new script for the test strips, too!!  That was on a Thursday and I was so disheartened by it all that I surrendered until Monday, not being able to face the task immediately.  Lo and behold, on Saturday we get a message from the pharmacy saying that the strips were ready for pickup.  Unbelievable!!  One of her hearing aids is also on the fritz and was sent to NC for repair.  So, at the end of this week we'll pick it up and give my mother a few days at home......which may or may not be a good thing.  Ever the optimist, I hope things will settle a bit once we're back.