The hubby and I had a night out celebrating our friend’s 11th birthday at the Panthers game. It was a lot of fun to see all our hockey peeps again. Unfortunately, it’s been way too long since we saw them last. I rarely go out anymore, let alone on a school night, so this was a big deal for me. Hey, I even put on regular clothes and makeup. I overachieved yesterday, which I guess is appropriate given the day only comes around once every four years.
The game was a ton of fun. First of all, our friends had a suite for the birthday celebration, which makes for a great game experience. Secondly, the food was pretty darn good. I know I don’t get out much, so I’m probably not the most reliable food critic, but the sliders were amazing. Thirdly, it was an awesome game that the Panthers won in a shootout. Finally, and most, importantly we spent the evening with great people and great conversation. It truly was the perfect night out.
Do you believe in fate/destiny?
Maybe. It’s an interesting question to start the month of March. I do believe in fate, but also that our decisions impact that fate.
We finished the transition work yesterday with the assembly of the treadmill. I say “we,” but my Hubby is the one that did the proverbial heavy lifting on both projects. While he worked on the treadmill, I worked on cleaning up the kitchen and making sure all the marble and sawdust were gone. Additionally, I’m still in the process of decluttering the space, so it was a productive day. I didn’t bake anything this weekend as I’m told injecting marble dust isn’t good for you.
We also made an appearance a the rink as the Mayor’s team had a tournament locally. While he doesn’t have to travel with them for away games, we felt that his absence at local games was unacceptable. After all, you’re part of a team, you need to be there for them. It doesn’t matter if it’s your career or if you’re an amateur, you support the steam. does suck to have to watch from the sidelines and not be able to help the team. As for me, it was nice to get out of the house and see some hockey folks.
Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.
I love my On Cloud running shoes! They’ve been with me to Boston, Minneapolis, Canada, and have even hiked the Mighty Five. I got my first pair of On Cloud sneakers from a friend who didn’t like the way they fit. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I liked them at first either. Until I started running in them regularly and stopped having pain in my knees and ankles. I love these shoes!
The Mayor is feeling a bit discouraged this Valentine’s Day, due to some disappointing news from his hand surgeon. We had hoped he’d be able to play at the state tournament, but she put an end to our hopes today. Unfortunately, even though the pins are being removed in two weeks, there hasn’t been enough healing and regrowth of the bone for him to safely play the tournament. Realistically, we’re looking at a return to the ice well into the spring. Naturally, he’s pretty upset as he had hoped to play with his team.
He assuaged his disappointment, however with some sweet treats and a Publix sub for lunch. Originally, he asked to go to Publix for a gift bag. Curiously, he came back with a gift bag, some sodas, a pub sub, and some candy. Do you think he shared any goodies with me and the puppies? Not. He did, however, offer to pick me up some Starbucks this afternoon. Despite the lack of quality sleep lately, I may take him up on the offer since it doesn’t seem to matter anyway. We’re all a bit discouraged around here today. I do have a new treadmill and stand mixer coming today, which is pretty exciting.
If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?
If there was a biography about me it would be: “Hot Mess Express, lessons in perseverance.” I don’t think the title needs much explanation.
After the holidays, I decided I wanted to keep refining my baking skills by adding sourdough to the mix. Consequently, I loaded up my Amazon cart with all the goodies and accouterments one would need to start their sourdough journey. Amazon has millions of options to help you here which can be overwhelming. I’ll walk you through the items I bought later in the post.
Baking with sourdough is a labor of love and patience. It can take a couple of weeks for your starter to get going and be strong enough to use for bread. Once I received all my goodies from Amazon, I got to work on my starters. I started with two starters in case I messed up one of them. The first one I started, I used a culture I had bought from Amazon. The second one I started, I used the recipe that came with the sourdough starter kit. As for the recipe, it couldn’t have been more simple as it was just flour and water.
Patience is a virtue I don’t have, so you can imagine how anxious I was to get baking. Once the starter had been established for a little over a week, I decided it was time to rumble. Consequently, I found a sourdough recipe in my Better Homes & Garden cookbook that was fairly straightforward. The first loaves turned out a bit stodgy but tasted good. I have now made the recipe three times with each attempt looking and tasty progressively better. They say that sourdough practice makes perfect and honestly my family loves all the fresh bread.
I did try Paul Hollywood’s sourdough baguette recipe a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I got desperately ill between the first rise and the second rise. My hubby had to finish shaping the loaves and getting them set for their overnight rise. The following morning I did manage to get them in the oven looking semi-respectable.
If you’re looking to get started on a sourdough journey of your own, here are my must-haves:
Sourdough Starter Jar Kit that includes two starter jars, recipes, jar labels, a starter guide, and a marker
Banneton Bread Proofing Basket Kit which comes with: an oval proofing basket, bread-making tool supplies including scoring lame, metal and plastic scrapers, basket liner, and cleaning brush
Airtight container to hold flour for a starter. I created a 50/50 mix of white and wheat flour.
Write about your first computer.
My first computer was a Dell desktop that I custom-built and bought for myself as a college freshman. I was so proud of my purchase. At the time, it was a cutting-edge computer. Now it would be an absolute dinosaur. At the moment, I’m rocking with a MacBook Pro having left my PC days just for my nine to five days.
The patient’s finger is healing nicely. These simple words spoken by his orthopedic PA were music to our ears. They took some X-rays, removed the stitches, and cast. For the first time since he broke the finger, I saw him wince with pain as they removed the bandages. Unfortunately, he still has the pins in for the foreseeable future. We’re hopeful that they’ll be able to remove the pins at his next follow-up appointment two weeks from today. Crossing my fingers that it’s still healing nicely at our next follow-up!
In the meantime, he’s in a smaller bandaged splint. He’s supposed to remove the splint and work the lower joint on the finer several times a day. This will prevent the joint from getting stiff. Additionally, he still has to keep the cast and his claw, I mean pins, dry. Not that he is one to spend a lot of time in the pool or ocean. He also has to be careful not to knock the pins as they extend beyond the tip of his finger.
What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it?
I would love to scuba dive but I’m terrified of the water and can’t swim. It’s hard to reconcile my abject fear of water with the desire to Scuba, but life underwater looks so peaceful and beautiful. I’m not sure there’s anything that could convince me to get into the deep.
We had a great weekend around these parts. Our patient continues to heal nicely even if he is a bit cranky and annoying. Fortunately, he is not experiencing a lot of pain. Unfortunately, the lack of pain makes it harder to keep him compliant with his activity restrictions, icing the finger, and taking his medications. It’s been a constant battle for the hubby and me to get him to ice and elevate the injury. No matter how many times we tell him these things are designed to facilitate his recovery, he ignores them.
Thankfully, both Friday and Saturday nights provided a respite for me. Friday night I had the house to myself as the Mayor was at his girlfriend’s house and the hubby had a hockey game. I cooked a nice dinner, courtesy of HelloFresh, watched TV, and cuddled with the dogs. By the time, the Hubby got home dinner was waiting for him, but I had already fallen asleep. I was still exhausted from being ill earlier in the week.
I worked Saturday, but it was completely dead. It was an absolute waste of time. I would have been equally productive as an outfitter. Nevertheless, I spent the day counting down the hours to dinner and a show. After work, we headed to HardRock to have dinner and see Seinfeld with our besties. Dinner at Cipresso was outstanding. I had the best veal parmigiana I have ever tasted and our appetizers were equally as tasty. Afterward, we hit the slots before heading to see Jerry. The slots were kind to us, which was a bonus.
The comedy show started late as people came in to find their seats. Honestly, it probably got off to a late start because the concessions (aka alcohol) were closing once the show started. I didn’t mind the late start as it would have been disruptive to start while people were still finding their way to their seats. The opener was Mario Joyner, who was fantastic. He had us laughing throughout his entire set.
And then came Jerry. I’m a huge Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, so seeing him live was a big deal. He lived up to, nay surpassed my expectations. His set and material were so relatable. We can all relate to going on a family vacation just to “fight at a hotel” instead of at home. His take on marriage, cell phones, and water features in Florida neighborhoods was hysterical. We didn’t stop laughing the entire time he was on stage. He is so incredibly talented. I’m glad we had the opportunity to experience it in person.
Naturally, we stayed up a bit later Saturday night than we are accustomed to doing. Consequently, we slept on Sunday. I had grandiose plans of baking cookies, and bread, planting herbs/tomatoes in terracotta pots for the patio, and trimming the hibiscus. Regrettably, fatigue prevented me from making my way outside to engage in any gardening activities. On the other hand, I found plenty of time to bake cookies and bread. It was my third attempt at a sourdough loaf and it turned out pretty good. They say practice makes perfect, so I’ll keep working on it.
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?
This may surprise all of you, given the name of my blog, but my favorite sport to watch and play is hockey. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to get back on the ice someday. I had to retire after tearing a tendon in my ankle and the whole thyroid thing. Nevertheless, I enjoy watching hockey whether it’s youth, high school (MN,) college, or the NHL. Each level of hockey brings something to the experience of being a hockey fan. It’s the greatest sport and community in the world. Our hockey journey has blessed us with the opportunity to meet some incredible people.
We’re home from the Mayor’s surgery. Everything went well. The eighty or so minutes he was in surgery were not super fun. I really didn’t like the helpless feeling that comes with waiting for a loved one to get out of surgery. His finger was quite a mess since it had already started healing. For the next week or so, he’ll have two pins in the bone to facilitate the healing. We’ll see his surgeon in about a week. She said he was dancing and giggling on his way out of the operating room to the post-op area. Needless to say, the nurses appreciated the levity he brought and a happy patient in recovery is better than a cranky one.
She estimates he’s facing a four to six-week recovery. We’re all hoping for a quick recovery, so he can play in the state tournament. Of course, his recovery is predicated on him being a compliant patient. This, of course, is where things will get complicated. He doesn’t want to wear the sling or sit down. At this point, he should be sitting down and relaxing, but he’s fighting us at every turn. Lastly, he’s insistent on having Chic Fil-A tonight for dinner, which may be a bit difficult on his tummy.
The funniest thing I noticed was he wrote himself a reminder on his leg, so he wouldn’t forget he wanted Chic Fil-A. As if, he’d ever forget he wanted food. In the post-op room, he was saying all sorts of funny things. He opted to wear sticky socks at home instead of his shoes. Halfway home he forgot he had worn the socks and was wondering where he left his shoes. At any rate, we’re glad to be home with our funny yet challenging patient.
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
I’d love to visit Stiltsville, a collection of silted houses located off the coast of Miami. Builders started constructing these houses in Biscayne Bay in the 1930s. There were a lot more of them, but hurricanes and fires have left only seven remaining.
Just a quick update on the Mayor. They rolled him back into the OR about 15 minutes ago. As expected, he was quite nervous about going under general anesthesia. I also am quite nervous about him going under general. Everyone at the surgical center has been amazing, professional and kind. He, naturally, was a big hit with the nurses. I’ll try to post another update once the surgery is over.
I’m a bundle of nerves over here as we’re now twenty-four hours out from the Mayor’s surgery. Of course, some of the shakiness may be low blood sugar due to a lack of food since Saturday. Fortunately, I am starting to feel somewhat human again. My stomach isn’t fantastic, but I no longer feel like I’m going to throw up every time I stand up. Which is a win, so I’ll take it. Thankfully, my neck, shoulder, and back muscles no longer feel like they’re in a vice grip. Nevertheless, I’m staying away from the Mayor so he doesn’t get whatever this is. I took two Covid tests and both were negative.
The urgent care doctor gave me a note excusing me from work today and tomorrow. Knowing that I’m already scheduled for surgery tomorrow, I didn’t want to miss today. Plus, now that I’m not constantly throwing up, there’s no reason I can’t work. I work from home, so I won’t expose anyone else by going to work. The alternative was to lay in bed all day and get sucked into the black hole that is streaming.
Yesterday, I finished Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall on Masterpiece Theater. First of all, I love Mantle’s work and am so sad we lost her last year. Secondly, the show is well done. I can’t wait for them to finish the remainder of the trilogy. Thankfully, I also felt well enough to read last night, so I was transported to yesteryear via Alison Weir’s work on Medieval Queens. Her first book in the Queen series takes on the Queens of Conquest starting with William the Conquerer’s Queen Matilda and ending with the ascent of the Playangenets. So far it’s a good read. She does a good job telling the story with some brio.
I wanted to drop a brief update on the Mayor. He saw the surgeon this morning with the hubby. I’ve been bed-bound since Saturday with some sort of nasty bug, so I attended briefly via FaceTime. The bottom line she’ll be operating on him Wednesday afternoon. Since the break occurred earlier than he let on, she could see healing on the X-ray, it’s going to be a bit more extensive. To be fair to him, there was some swelling when he got home from Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t extensive and he had a full range of motion.
It also sounds like she’s treated plenty of hockey players. The doctor made comments on the toughness of hockey players and continuing to play through injuries. We had hoped that they’d be able to for surgery while he was awake. Unfortunately, given the extent of the damage and healing that has already started, he’ll need to be put under. Naturally, this makes all of us quite nervous. Today, the urgent care doctor I saw advised me to stay away from him until after the surgery to prevent him from contracting the nasty bug I’m currently fighting.
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
I wish my pets understood how much we love them. I think they have an idea. However, I would love them to know they’re completely and unconditionally loved. Both Anakin and Arrow have been at my side since I got sick. Anakin hasn’t left my side except to eat and go outside. I crated Arrow overnight since he marks, otherwise he would have spent the night by my side.
