A sort of nothing weekend
Usually I plan ahead and seethat there are good things on my calendar for weekends, but this weekend?Nothing! It’s a bit of vanity to realize that one reason was that I couldn’twash my hair. Sounds silly and frivolous but I think it’s true. I had thatthingie removed from my scalp on Friday, and the doctor said to wait two daysto shampoo. That was Friday late morning, so does Friday count as one of the days?I decided to err on the side of caution and wait until Monday. But my hair had Vaselinein it from the procedure and was generally a mess, and I was self-consciousabout it. Tomorrow I am going to wash it first thing in the morning, and Iexpect the world to be a lot better.We hoped to hear about the newdog we are interested in today—hear as in an invitation to greet and meet. Butit didn’t happen. The wheels of dog adoption, like a lot of other wheels, moveslowly. Having adopted four children, I should not be surprised at this slowprocedure, but I guess I expected pet adoption to be easier. It’s probably agood thing for pets that it is not. The foster said she wasn’t able to getapproval of my application today, so we wait (I am already conditionally approved).I was afraid that the poor boy was so attached to his foster that he wouldn’twant to be uprooted, but Jordan found out that agencies rotate dogs, not lettingthem stay too long with any foster for just that reason. I suppose that alsocuts down on foster fail, where fosters fall so in love with the dog, theydecide to be the permanent adoptive family. We did hear that the boy we haveour eye on has been in foster care for two years, which makes me so sad I wantto rescue him immediately. But we have also heard that he is afraid of “everything,”and that gives me pause. I had an experience with a fearful dog at Christmaswhen my granddaughter’s dog was afraid of my walker. And I want a dog with somespirit. So I am uncertain.
Weekends are usually goodcooking times for me but that too went awry this weekend. I planned last nightto make cod in a butter/lemon sauce, so with my grocery order I requested a lb.of cod. I got a quarter lb.—enough for no one else but me. We had garlickychicken thighs in an anchovy/lemon sauce. Good, but I wanted to cook the fish,partly because I like fish and partly because I’d like to add more of it to ourdiet. Jacob has been wanting spaghetti, so tonight I made a recipe calledWeeknight Bolognese. I can’t recommend it. I chose to make it on Sunday so Icould cook all day, but the recipe really didn’t take that long—except for browningtwo-and-a-half lbs. of ground meat (beef and Italian sausage). I got widepappardelle noodles, but the sauce wasn’t as rich and thick as I wanted. Infact, it was thin. Good flavor, but not what I want in an Italian sauce. And Ithought it was way too much meat in proportion to the sauce. Jacob didn’t say anything,but I noticed he didn’t eat much. I’m going to plan soon to make an old-fashioned,Italian nonna kind of Sunday soup that cooks all day. Honest we could have usedthe bottled Rao marinara sauce Jordan bought, and it would have made mehappier.
It's ten o’clock, and I havejust had my second nap of the day. I relish my afternoon nap—it’s become a partof my routine, and I think it healthy. But when I fall asleep at my computer ateight-thirty, it’s a clear sign that I am not engaged in what I’m doing. Sothat too will have to change. I find I almost never want to go backand pick up where I left off—clearly I abandoned them because I wasn’t thatinterested. So I’m on a mission to find a book that absorbs my attention andcalls me back.
All of this leaves me with alot of resolves to kick up my interest in life. Fortunately, I understand thatthese dull, down periods are a part of life and are regularly more than balancedby periods of high activity and engagement. It’s up to me, so I resolve to be anew person (again!) starting tomorrow. Now who’s got plans for next weekend?
