Good Stuff

Above, a small but divine tin of designer hot chocolate for the family that my personal shopper delivered--SHOPPING LINK. The $16 price on Sarabeth's website is steeper than the $14.29 + tax Instacart price at Kings.

Definitely still speed bumps in the road--but whose life doesn't have bumps, right?

Positive notes today: 

1. Cautiously happy about a new writing client that seems right up my alley. #gratititude
2. Placed Instacart order and got ingredients for Creamy Tomato Bisque from Ina's new Modern Comfort Food. I won't lie, a big pot of soup calls for 2 cups of cream....also, saffron threads, but the store was out of them. Will do without. Punch said she will make dinner Wednesdays, so I'm hopeful, especially since she was in the mood for tomato soup yesterday.
3. In that delivery, I also made sure to get basic foods I count on: frozen cinnamon-raisin Ezekiel English muffins; jumbo Fage 2 percent Greek yogurt; canned organic pumpkin; cottage cheese; and a good whole-grain Bread Alone loaf from the Catskills. Plus: 3 cardboard half-gallons of organic whole milk (Ina's soup calls for a full quart, and Dan and I use A LOT of milk in coffee....). I'm trying to not buy single-use plastic, including gallon milk jugs, when possible.
4. One of Punchy's middle school teachers had a monthly "Among Us" night, where he and the kids play that wildly popular online game. I can't explain it, so let WIKIPEDIA: check this LINK. I loved overhearing P interacting with her school friends (and they can see each other on Zoom if they use two devices, I guess). Her friend, whose house she pods at (with his sister), came over to play, too. I made them hot chocolate and offered mini marshmallows and squirt whipped cream (Cool Whip for P.). It turns out these things were tempting for me--no surprise--but in the end, I stopped myself and walked away. Sarabeth's Hot Chocolate is the very best, and I got that in my Kings Instacart order, too.
5. Planning some nice walks this week.
6. Standing by through P's Algebra class seems to be helping us both. We are both taking notes and solving (or trying to solve) equations in live time. She has been teaching me things, such as how to define an "open equation."
7. Short walk down the hill and up again.
8. My friend served me a delicious kale salad with tahini-lemon dressing. Yum.
9. I ordered a dress I have been eyeing on Karina Dresses, which is based in Kingston, New York, Kim. They have beautiful styles; I had a $10 reward. The three dresses I have stand up well to machine washing, etc and are very comfortable and pretty.
10. Ordered Hanukkah foods with recipes from a local organic co-op for this week. P wants to be Jewish, and I like making some Jewish foods. Hoping Dan makes his very good latkes, because the produce box include Yukon Gold potatoes. Ordered chocolate gelt for the three kids in the pod, too. Also vegan stocking-stuffer treat for Figgy and something for Dan. And regional farm-sourced items like jam; sour cream; applesauce.
11. Asked my Google speaker to play Italian holiday music and she complied. Fun.

I have to sleep. My turn to get P up by 7. Kim, Lin, Nan, Liz, thanks for the nice notes--I can't comment on this laptop right now, tho I tried.

Good night.