Snow Day Hits And Misses

It’s no secret that introverts do well on our own. So a Level Three snow emergency that keeps me at home is basically something I have spent a lifetime training for.

I was awake some Saturday night checking out the snow so I slept later than normal yesterday. After a shower and fresh pjs, I went stomping around in the snow for a while and fed my birds before settling down to work on a new puzzle.

Then I flipped on the television for some noise and found myself captivated by a show called The Last Wright House. A mother/daughter duo had purchased a Frank Lloyd Wright residence in northern Ohio and it came with plans for a second home on the same property. These plans were for the last home that Wright designed and were on his table when he died.

That was over sixty years ago and the home never got built.

The show follows this unlikely duo as they attempt to build the house true to Wright’s specs and preferences. He was notoriously particular about literally every detail.

This was quite a chore in this modern world where building codes and materials are drastically different than in the fifties when the house was designed. Asbestos boards didn’t make it past the modern code enforcement board.

You see them agonize over materials, tour other Wright homes, and even chat with the 100-year-old original owner of a Wright home. It was fascinating, sometimes painful to watch, and absolutely inspiring that they really pulled it off.

You can stay there and I’m desperate to do it. Tragically, it’s far outside my budget and not something I’ll be doing unless I hit the lottery – not a big lottery – just a really big scratch off ticket and I feel like treating myself.

Sigh. Someday.

Next I watched Samantha Brown on PBS as she traveled on Route 66, toured the World War II Museum in New Orleans, explored Michigan’s lower peninsula and hit some of the highlights in South Dakota.

I have been desperate to visit that World War II Museum and am sort of dying to go back to Michigan. I didn’t want to leave Petoskey, Michigan or Sleeping Bear Dunes or really anything else I saw there a couple of years ago.

Touring these places with Samatha Brown didn’t help this at all. My feet are now miserably itchy and I am months away from being free to travel.

Sigh. Later.

In my quest to use up some things that are languishing in my freezer, I got the bright idea to make a breakfast casserole using a sad bag of frozen blueberries. A while back, I picked up a boxed protein pancake mix that was positively awful. I typically like Aldi brand products but these appear to be the knock off of Kodiak brand protein pancakes. They’re also awful.

But everything can be dressed up, right?

Wrong.

I used the mix as a base for the blueberries, some maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla and just a smidge of stevia. I mixed it well and baked it in a 13×9” cake pan thinking it could be paired with scrambled eggs for breakfasts this week. I knew I couldn’t use it all but figured leftovers could be frozen for another day.

Friends, I’m not convinced that I want to preserve the leftovers. It’s not terrible, exactly. It just doesn’t taste good enough to enjoy.

Honestly, I’m not sold on this notion that protein needs to be added to everything and am especially not sold on the value of so many processed foods in the first place. If I want pancakes, I have a wonderful, easy recipe that uses real ingredients and nothing that can’t be pronounced.

I don’t know what possessed me to try this mix other than blind optimism and a flash of stupidity.

We learn.

So now I have a pan of questionable something-or-other and a desire to pack a bag and point myself south to New Orleans. North to Michigan would be a terrible idea in all this snow.

But, I will stay put and enjoy the solitude of my snow globe world. There are puzzles, books, and kitchen experiments in waiting!

Finally! Resting On Vacation

I always try to take vacation around the holidays and was fortunate again this year to have off an extended amount of time that began last Friday. And yet, this is the first time I have nothing to do on my vacation. There’s nothing to wrap or cook. There’s nothing to buy or return. No one is coming over and I refuse to leave the house unless it’s to take out the trash. On second thought, that can wait till tomorrow.

My house is a mess but I’m struggling to care. I am going to do a little de-Christmasing this afternoon. One of my two Christmas trees and a few small decorations from around the house will be taken down. I like all the greenery and lights so a lot of decor will stay up through January. 

Scout got a toy for Christmas that is way bigger than expected (always read product dimensions before you buy). In my defense, it is rare for a product to exceed expectations these days. We need to figure out a home for his new Kitty City 2.0 starter kit. Here he is living his best life, cuddled up for a midday nap.

Otherwise, I may read until I get tired and take a nap. Perhaps I’ll work on a puzzle or watch a movie. Whatever I do will be low key. I’m still nursing my mouth. An emergency tooth extraction last week left a cavernous hole in my gum and the nature of the issue caused enough trauma to my jaw and the area around the tooth that the pain is distracting. 

All of this (minus the oral health issue) is part of my intentional winding down of the busy season and transition into my No Spend Challenge. This means fewer adventures and more quiet time at home. I’m taking a cue from nature and choosing to embrace hibernation and healing for the remainder of winter. All of this is a different story for another day.

Keep coming back. We will talk about more of this year’s adventures that I haven’t covered yet (there are many stories to tell) and we will talk about hibernation, not spending and a little about bucking social expectations.

How are you spending these last days of 2024? I would love to hear about it.