Pizza night!

Saturday night is traditionally pizza and a movie night. We’ve been trying various pizza sauce recipes that people were kind enough to leave on my fabric giveaway post. We found the perfect sauce!

Pizza before baking

1 T. olive oil
3/4 cup onion
4-5 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups tomatoes (from a jar, NOT a can)
3/4 t. oregano
1/8 t. salt

1. Heat up the olive oil in a skillet.
2. Add onion. Cook until almost translucent.
3. Add garlic. Cook until lightly browned.
4. Add tomatoes, oregano, and salt.
5. Simmer until the sauce has thickened.

Baked pizza

Tonight’s pizza has mushrooms, fresh basil, and Daiya “cheese” on top. It was really, really good.

The movie? Not as good. We watched The Day After Tomorrow as my husband hadn’t seen it. In his opinion, and mine, 2012 was much better.

Barely Sick Day #4

Today I feel almost normal! My biggest problem is exhaustion. I am so tired and have no staying power. But at least my headache is almost gone and my sinuses are clearing up! Hurray!

I had a few books due soon at the library so we made a quick jaunt last night. I was able to pick up two of my Fall Into Reading books but couldn’t locate the third. The catalog said it was available but it wasn’t on the shelf.

In addition to the challenge books, I picked up several other Christian novels that are on my to-read list. Every month, when the Nightstand link up is posted, my to-read list grows. I am determined that it will shrink this month!

I also dug around in my craft bins and found some leftover pink yarn. I started the kitty blanket! After all, every cat needs a hot pink blanket, right?

Of course, the real reason we left the house last night is that we ran out of cat food. Our cats are demanding eaters and I know they would be crying if they didn’t get dinner. So we picked out a new cat food per vet’s orders. Do you know how hard it is to find a cat food with no fish? We exhausted almost their entire shelf before finding a natural food with no grains and no fish. What a difficult combination!

We couldn’t help but bring home a new cat toy. Is this creepy or just realistic?

If I catch a glimpse of this toy out of the corner of my eye, I wonder what the cat dragged in and left in the middle of the living room floor. It’s a catnip toy and our older cat seems to love it. Our cats are so spoiled!

Hubby got paid today so we’re off to the yarn store to pick up some supplies for a couple Christmas presents. I sure hope my family likes handmade gifts!

Sick Day #3

I really don’t have the energy to post something intelligent. So I won’t! 🙂

Today was more of the same except less of a headache. Maybe tomorrow will be the day I feel normal! My house is getting messy and I’m itching to clean.

The only news from today is that I started a new knitting project. With my limited supplies, I frequently run into one of two problems.

1 – Yarn with the wrong sized needles.
2 – Needles with no appropriate yarn.

Luckily, I discovered most of a skein left from the yarn for my very first project, a practice scarf. It’s acrylic Walmart yarn that will work great for a small cat blanket. It’ll probably look hideous but at least the cats will have something else to lie on! Pictures to come once I have something more to show.

Sick Day #2

Today was another sick day. The headache is ongoing but now it’s moved forward and is definitely in my sinuses. Fun! At least those I know better how to deal with. I’ve been taking hot showers, sleeping when I can, standing over a pot of boiling water on the stove, and will be eating a spicy curry dinner. Hopefully something will loosen things up so that I can start to recover!

I spent a lot of time today catching up on my RSS feed. I’ve been ruthlessly cutting the number of blogs I follow because I know that I spend way too much time reading about other people’s lives and not living my own.

I also spent some time looking through quilt books to pick out a pattern for my nephew’s quilt. I have it narrowed down to three options and need to decide soon. He’s due to be born in only two months!

And of course, we’ve watched a couple episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond. That show points out the ridiculous things we do to our spouse like not being completely honest or putting work ahead of the spouse or putting parents ahead of the spouse. Eek!

I’m still reading this book:

I have a feeling I shouldn’t have waited to really get into it until two weeks before having to return it to the library. It’s not one to be read quickly, but instead to ponder and take action on some of the principles that shold be applied in my marriage. At least I’ll know if it’s worth purchasing my own copy.

Thus ends a random post for a very random day.

Sick Day

Wouldn’t it figure that today, a day in which I am motivated to tackle the world, happened to be a sick day? I woke up with a massive headache and it still hasn’t gone away. I’m trying so hard to take it easy but I am a terrible patient.

Thankfully, I was able to complete all of my Bible in 90 Days reading this morning. I don’t want to fall behind! This week marks the half way point of the program.

I read this entire book today, spent some time giggling over quilting humor.

I also introduced my husband to one of my favorite television shows, Everybody Loves Raymond. Did you know that Netflix has all nine seasons available to watch online? I don’t think we’ll be watching the entire show anytime soon but it’s a good sick day television show.

Once hubby gets off his conference call, he’s heading to Subway to pick up dinner. I’m so blessed! He’s going out to get sandwiches so that I don’t have to cook or wash dishes.

As much as I enjoy the royal treatment, I sure hope that I wake up tomorrow feeling normal!

30 day challenges

I wasn’t planning on undertaking a 30 day challenge in October. Last month’s homemaking challenge was kind of a failure, partly due to circumstances beyond my control and partly due to a varying level of motivation. Considering homemaking is my job, I should be able to rise above the lack of motivation and complete my job regardless of how I feel. However, that was only partially successful.

This month I am going to continue my homemaking challenge. I came up with a good cleaning schedule last month. I started a loose routine. This month I want to work on my menu planning and grocery lists and price sheets. I might throw in something else as well but that’s what I am going to concentrate on.

Then I stumbled across this:

31 days of blogging! October is my birthday month, the start of fall, and the first chance we have to sleep on a comfortable bed every night. Things are looking up! Hopefully this means I will have more to talk about and can get into a comfortable blogging rhythm. I want to post more often and I have tons of photos from the past several months of exploring Seattle and surrounding areas.

Is anyone else participating in the Blogtoberfest or something similar?

Fall into Reading

I’ve seen this reading challenge come and go over the past several years but have never participated. Katrina wrote that the point of the challenge is to “read some books I might not otherwise read.” I have a few books that I intend to read but procrastinate because they are too intimidating. It’s time to tackle several of them!

Fiction

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell – I have yet to start reading this book even though I’ve borrowed it from the library several times.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – I asked my husband if he had any suggestions for this reading challenge. This was his immediate response. He’s only been suggesting it for the past three years; it’s probably time I accept his challenge.

Nonfiction

My Life by Bill Clinton – Another recommendation from my husband as he had heard that it was really good.

I’m a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to get through all three of these books! Each one is really long – 452, 735, and 957 pages respectively. Oh, well. That’s why it’s called a challenge, right?

What’s on my Nightstand?

What's On Your Nightstand

Last month I decided to try an experiment. When I read through each of the Nightstand posts, I kept track of how many books were added to my to-read list due to others’ recommendations. Normally there are three or four. Last month I added 16! Nine nonfiction books and seven fiction.

Throughout the month, I kept track of how many books I finished off my to-read list, as opposed to those I picked up randomly at the library or those I was mailed to review. I finished one nonfction book (I am Nujood) and two fiction books (Evelina and William Henry is a Fine Name).

And this, my fellow readers, is why my to-read list keeps getting longer each month in spite of the numerous books I finish.

This month I read:

Bible

  • Genesis
  • Exodus
  • Leviticus
  • Numbers
  • Deuteronomy
  • Joshua
  • Judges
  • Ruth
  • 1 Samuel
  • 2 Samuel
  • Job

Christian Fiction

  • Whence Came a Prince
    by Liz Curtis Higgs – 2.5 stars. Mixed feelings. The writing is terrific. But this retelling of Jacob and Leah and Rachel is SO far off the Biblical story that it should be its own story. I was very unhappy with the ending.
  • Love’s Sacred Song
    by Mesu Andrews – 4 stars. Fantastic book! I am anxiously awaiting Andrews’ next book publication.

Memoir

  • Mr. CSI: How a Vegas Dreamer Made a Killing in Hollywood, One Body at a Time – 3 stars. Not really about CSI but an interesting and inspiring account of a man trying and trying and trying again until he succeeds.

Secular Fiction

  • South of Superior
    by Ellen Airgood – Barely 3 stars. It’s an adult coming-of-age book where nothing happens. I felt it was saying that life is hopeless.
  • Evelina Or, the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance Into the World by Fanny Burney – 3.5 stars. One of my favorite September reads. Very witty lines and it’s obvious why Jane Austen was inspired by Burney. I can’t wait to read more of her works, especially since I’ve read Evelina is one of her weakest novels!

Currently Reading

  • Time and Again by Jack Finney – I am almost done with this story and thoroughly enjoying it. I’ve not read many time travel books but I’ve seen a ton of movies. Once I finish the book, I’ll dig around to see if they ever made it into a movie.
  • The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade – My current classic. I’m not sure how I came across this book but it’s interesting thus far (pg 50 out of 785).

Happy reading!

A hallmark day!

Our bedroom at 11:25am

Our bedroom at 11:55am

Praise the Lord! We have a bed!

It’s a queen sized organic EcoMemory Foam mattress, covered in bamboo fabric, made in California, and is produced with zero emissions.

Best of all?

We paid cash!!

It was a very long eleven week fight with multiple air mattresses but worth the sacrifice to avoid debt. We finally saved up enough money to order the bed on Friday. Thankfully, the mattress store had one in stock and could deliver this morning.

I am in desperate need of a good night of sleep. Thank you, Lord, for a new bed!!