Catching Up

Last week was crazy.  I mean, really crazy.  I had an 80-hour work week in the Park and then started my second job at Coffee Crossing, which is right next to the movie theatre in Livingston.  More on that another time.

The Saturday before last, Amanda and I cooked for an entire day to get some meals in the freezer.  We pooled our supplies and grocery shopped for what we didn't have.  We ended up buying about $35 worth of food and made 10 recipes.

We made:
Chicken in Red Wine Sauce
Spinach Cakes
Peach sauce for ice cream
Crustless Pumpkin Pie
Creamy White Chili
Elk and Beef Red Chili
Turkey and Bean Stew
Meatloaf
Thai Chicken
Pork in Enchilada Sauce

My freezer is packed!  I am so stoked, although I forgot to bring something for lunch today except for some hummus and red peppers and nuts.  Dangit!

But it was a lot of fun to cook so much and it's great to look in the freezer and feel stocked up for winter.  Even though it's been in the upper 80s here all last week and weekend.  What is UP with the weather?! 

What a surprise!

I got on the bus this morning to a wonderful surprise.  One of my favorite men of all time was on the bus and sat with me for the ride to Mammoth.  Bob is 85 years old and has been working seasonally and as a volunteer here in Yellowstone every summer since the late 1960s.  He's a treasure-trove of stories and not afraid to say what he thinks.  He's a curmudgeon of the first degree, but somehow he's taken a liking to me and we have a great time.  He fascinates me because he was educated at Exeter, Princeton, and Stanford, was a WWII soldier, and worked as an engineer for a few years before he gave it all up to be a Yellowstone Park ranger during summers and a southern California surfer during the winters.  He's hard of hearing, which makes conversation tough, but I relish every moment I have with him.  If only he were...40 or 50 years younger--I'd have a huge crush.  I've seen the pictures--he was a handsome devil in his younger days!  He had to take an ambulance ride to Livingston last night (he's ok, thank goodness), which is why he was catching a ride back to the park this morning.  So, I didn't get my nap, but it was worth it to sit by my friend and gossip at the top of our voices the entire ride to work this morning.

Blah.

I'm feeling blah today.  As is the world outside.  It's been cloudy and kinda breezy for the entire day, but without any real gumption.  Even nature is feeling apathetic and listless on this September Tuesday.  I can't wait to get on the bus and slip into sweet oblivion as the dual narcotic of British BBC voices over my I-Pod and the hum and slight vibration of the bus work their magic on my eyelids.  It's only 2:30?  On Tuesday?  Ho hum.

Squirreling Stuff Away

It's definitely autumn!  The crisp light and intoxicating air makes me so, so happy.  But also nostalgic and kind of pensive.  I get really strong impulses this time of year.  I want...no, need to buy school supplies.  Even though I'm not in school and neither do I have children.  A more sensible impulse is my need to preserve foods and fill up the freezer.  I froze a bunch of strawberries, raspberries, roast beef, and chicken this weekend and reorganized my big freezer to see how much meat I have going into snow season.  I have a lot.  It's awesome in there.  I also drooled over squashes and bought apples to bake.  What can I find to put away next?

Bittersweet

This has been a generally really bad weekend.  Suffice it to say that some people are really not who you think they are.  Also, I'm looking for a second job. Which will no longer be a luxury, but rather a necessity.  BUT...thank God for family.  Aaron, Karen, & Brian soothed my jangled nerves last night, Amanda has been a rock who has seriously saved my sanity and sense of me this week, and Tom and Bonnie sheltered me for a few hours so my shoulders could "un-hunch" this afternoon.  Over the phone, my folks offered measured and much-needed advise and reminded me that "this too shall pass."  Thank you, everyone.

New Office

Gosh, it seems like all I do these days is move.  This move, though, should take considerably less time.  I'm moving into my new office today!  Yay!  I am very excited to finally have my own space, where I can close the door to make calls and I can actually concentrate while I'm editing stuff.  And I'll no longer be mistaken for the office receptionist.  These are all really good things. 

I went home last night and took Ruffers for a quick walk around downtown Livingston, looking at shop windows to see if anyone had any "Help Wanted" signs.  No one did.  But it was a beautiful evening--in the upper 60s and no wind.  We stopped at one house down the block to let a small child--maybe 2 years old--pet Ruffers.  The kid and his dad were pretty stoked and Ruffers was good about it, although he just wanted to keep going!

There was a beautiful sunrise over Mt. Everts this morning when I got off the bus.  Pink streaked clouds against a luminous pale blue sky.  Still haven't heard any bugling elk, but maybe they'll get going today.

Labor Day Weekend...AKA Lots-of-Labor-Days Weekend

Whew!  What a weekend!  Emily moved in this weekend, so it was a major push to get all my stuff out of her room and then get her room & closet painted.  It looks pretty good in there, thanks to the efforts of Amanda and Emily.  We also got the dining nook almost done--just one more coat on the trim and it'll be finis.  Yay!  I also got the living room kind of arranged...I like how it's going.

The bummer was that the toilet gave up the ghost, so I had to call in a plumber yesterday to come and do emergency repairs.  Happily, he seems to have fixed it and the bill wasn't too excruciating.  Nevertheless, I foresee a lot of quick meals in the future that come from my pantry and/or freezer--mamma's not buying anything for the next couple weeks!

Tom, Amanda, and I took down the big mountain ash in my front yard on Sunday.  Boy, that was an intense hour and a half.  A few limbs landed pretty heavily on roof and fence, but miraculously, there were no major problems--only a slightly bent gutter.  Whew!  But that was really crazy.  Tom's giving me their old wood stove, so I kept the wood for the day that I can get it installed.  Yay!  I can't wait for the warmth of wood heat!

So many people have helped me so much on the house and it's been really fun working together as a team.  I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't been very good about donating my work time in the past.  I'll chalk it up to pure selfishness and due in some part to my illness, but I hope to make up for lost time now.  I helped Manda paint her rental last night, which was actually fun--I like working as a team for these types of things.

Manda and I fixed dinner and watched the movie The Brothers Bloom on Sunday night.  I really liked that movie!  I kind of want to watch it again because I think I missed a bunch.

Yummy autumn recipe:
Saute 1 lb. of ground beef.  Drain. 
Saute 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 1 onion (all sliced), 2 cloves  minced garlic, and 1 lb sliced mushrooms in the fat from the beef.
Add 1 jar olive red pasta sauce (I used some from Culinary Circle) & the beef.
Cook till warm and sauce thickens a bit.
Serve over spaghetti squash & sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Be prepared to feed a few people or have left overs.
Feel virtuous because you cooked a cheap meal that is healthy and tasty.