Laboring for the weekend

Ah, another Labor Day weekend, come and gone. I think this is the first in many, many years that we did not have a pool party invitation. Not even family.

Except for Friday night, I stayed home the entire weekend. Oh, Friday night, how exhausting you can be. After my husband and my boyfriend (J/K, it's his college buddy) got it together, we met at the Vig near my office. I've actually never been there; I've been to the Vig Uptown, which is barely farther away. Once I figured out that I was at the wrong location, I met Mick at the right one and we got a table while waiting for our partner in crime and his date. Surprise--it wasn't a date but his "friend" L who he used to date but they are trying to be friends now. I like her a lot but he's my friend so I'm staying out of it.



All you need to know is posole.

I was able to have Tito's with fresh squeezed orange juice. Well, I had two. I should have only had one. I didn't have a drink at our next stop. L drove my "electric car" there.

Anyhoo, I had ceviche while Mick had fundido and they had wings. The waitress brought corn tortillas for me; the corn chips went to the table.



R and I both ordered the posole. It was a giant bowl of soupy goodness. I will go there with anyone, anytime now that I know I can have that. (Watch, the next time I go someone will tell me I can't have it because it has X in it, where X is one of the dirty 8 I can't have.)


Jenga!

We headed to the Woody Owl for some Jenga playing. These had things written on them like my Truth or Dare set. I have a couple of sets but I really think "they" need to make a giant outdoor set for me.

We walked over to Milagro Grill. It was not at all busy enough for a Friday night. But we had some chips and a hot salsa flight--the waitress brought corn tortillas out for me instead of chips. I was only able to have one of the salsas because they do use soy in some of them and one had cream cheese in it. I heard it was good. Mine wasn't even the hottest but it was plenty hot for me. We also shared some guacamole--yum. And she made me a Milagro margarita, also yum.

We were there for a while and then left, took them back to their cars and headed home.

*****

Mick's helpers came Saturday to deal with the busted water softener and the yard work. I feel bad but it's too damn hot for me to be out there helping. I did some kitchen and laundry stuff and then worked on some online stuff. It probably looked like I wasn't doing anything but I was tired after making a quadruple batch of waffles to share with everyone. I had berries and bacon to share too. They liked my special waffles enough to go back for more! That. That is exactly how I want my recipes to work. Even if they aren't MY recipes...

*****

Sunday was more of the same but just me and the hubby.

*****

One of his helpers returned Monday, helping him with finishing up a lot of the Saturday projects. He was also trying to fix my computer. I apparently broke it by leaving it on. (I don't understand this but that's what I've been told--don't leave it on--but I did.) He brought an old video/graphics card and got it running again. Whew!

I really kicked into gear and managed to get several loads of laundry done, cleaned the kitchen again (never ending), and cleaned out most of the refrigerator. I started moving things around in a couple of cabinets, trying to find a good location for my lunchbots and other containers that haven't found a permanent home yet.

I made buckwheat and sausage for breakfast (enough for a few days), coffee creamer, cherry sauce and cherry Garcia ice cream, hot Italian sausage pasta (Mick was not a fan of the kale I threw in, trying to use it up--shocking, I know.) I also made these morning glory muffins from the allergy cookbook I borrowed from the library. They came out okay but seemed overcooked. Yes, that does mean dry. What now? Do I try again or throw out the recipe? I may try another first...

muffins

My back was killing me so I tried to take lots of breaks but I was also somewhat motivated to get stuff done. It's hard to listen to the pain when you're raring to go. And too often in pain.

If it's not my aching back, it's my eyes. Or this weekend, my ears. O. M. F. G. I woke up one day with my left ear hurting so freaking bad. It finally stopped and I realized the right ear had been hurting but I hadn't noticed because of the excruciating pain in the left. The right ear just got worse. Or maybe it seemed worse cause the left wasn't hurting so much, I don't know. Two days so far, and it is slightly better. But it hurts to swallow. This is the shit Dr. Q has been "adjusting" my face to deal with. I think my new eye ask may be putting pressure on the wrong places. I wonder if I can sell a "gently used" eye mask.

Update: the jaw/ear is still hurting Tuesday but it is lessening. I also noticed a tightening or pulling ache in the top of my right shoulder. I think it's related. I don't see Dr. Q till next week. I can only pray this corrects itself rather quickly as I really don't want to spend more than a week, almost two, dealing with this.