Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Metro extended the track work they were doing this weekend into today, meaning I got to take the long way around to get to work. I don’t subscribe to any alerts, so it was a surprise when I got to the station this morning. Just took it as more time to read my book.

It might extend into tomorrow, and Wednesday they’re single tracking part of the way, so I’m just planning on longer commutes.

The husband and I met up on Metro on the way home, mostly avoiding the rain. Got him home in time to grab some packages he needed to send out from UPS and FedEx, got those dropped off at their respective outlets, and then to Mod Pizza for dinner. That was fun – I’ve ordered delivery from them many times (they have vegan cheese), but never eaten in the actual restaurant. Was a pleasant change getting the pizza right out of the oven.

Over dinner I started a discussion with the husband about what retirement for me in three years might look like. I’d be open to moving for his work, so I planted that seed with him. All depends on finances, of course, but if we’re no longer tied to DC for my job, why not? Also had him think about that that might look like in eight years versus three. Or perhaps somewhere in between.

I bought hair clips today. Not because I need them for my hair; I’m far too lazy to keep and/or style much more than the inch (2.5cm) or so on top of my head. No, I bought them for yarn. Specifically, for holding the end of a yarn ball in place so it doesn’t unravel. And once I wind up a new ball or two I’ll let y’all know how it works. I also finished the dancing droplet scarf, but it’s still blocking downstairs, so no pictures quite yet, mainly because the towel I have it on as it dries clashes badly with the colors.

Rest day today from exercise because my male cat uncharacteristically slept on the bed last night and managed to find his way into the middle of where my legs normally go. Not wanting to disturb his majesty (the things we do for pets), I contorted myself into shapes that were not conducive to the most restful sleep. Ah well, it was probably a needed rest in any case.

Comics run this evening, then tried a different branch of the TGI Friday’s chain. The food was good, but we almost left because there were only two waitresses who were both slower than a bowl of molasses in January. A Target run after that, then home to wrap up the evening. Work officially extended our telework through the end of this week so they can finish the cable work, and the husband should be home the next two days as well (which is good because a sewage pipe burst in his work building this morning, and it sounded like the smell was pretty bad). We’re planning on catching Practical Magic 2 this weekend, and hoping it has fewer plot holes than the original (which I love, but which has plot holes you could drive convoys through).

Got all my workouts in this week. Got the silly thing done for and sent back to the lord high muckety-mucks in the Mad King’s administration (redrafting part of a draft rule that they got a shit ton of negative comments on because, surprise surprise, they wrote it badly, and ended up farming out edits to a bunch of us in the agencies, which I got stuck with at my agency). Got half a day off from the career guy in charge of the agency for the holiday on Monday, and checked out at lunch time. Done and done.

The husband was not so lucky, though he was also working from home today. Did knock off a little early, so I ran him to the post office to mail a package off (he’s been selling collectibles we’ve gotten over the years and no longer need or want), then to the local Whole Foods for some staples. I especially wanted to get some gluten free bread from their frozen section because I have a recipe to try and the dough for it starts with commercial gluten free bread that you grind up, rather than trying to fiddle up your own ratios of obscure flours to make a home made dough. The cookbook is about ten years old, written before commercial gluten free flour mixes became as easy to find as they are now. I’m fascinated by the concept, so I can’t wait to try it.

Still plugging away at comics, still. Made a sizable dent this afternoon, hoping to continue that through the weekend.

Thankful that Congress passed a continuing funding resolution so early and the Mad King actually signed it, so we know we have funding through early December. it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll react after the election this fall, so all bets are off for a lapse in funding after this runs out, but at least we’re good until then.

Odd because of the holiday, and the heat. It’s forecast to be in the low 100s F (38-40C) here around DC, and combing that and (for Federal workers) the observed holiday today, my boss told us all to telework yesterday. Meant I had to do some cleaning of my desk at home to relocate stuff that had accumulated on it. I am my parents’ child – if there’s a surface, stuff gets put on it, at least in my office; I’m better about the rest of the house because the husband won’t put up with out there. Yesterday was also odd because the local power company reached into our thermostat and set the temperature up 4 degrees, as they do from time to time to avoid brownouts, and in exchange for slightly better electricity rates. Normally those will go for 2-3 hours, typically 4pm to 6pm, but yesterday it ran from sometime in the afternoon all the way to 10pm. And they never sent a notice that they were doing it, even after the fact. Annoying,.

We laid low yesterday, but braved the heat today. Out to an Uno’s Pizzeria for a treat, hit Target for some toiletries (and a clay garden gnome on clearance for the back yard), Barnes & Noble to pick up the third book in a trilogy I’ve really enjoyed (Rebel Blade by Davinia Evans). Hit a theater on the way home to see the new Minions movie, which was cute. It was more an opportunity to do something outside that house that wasn’t impossibly hot than anything else. Remembered to put some internal window covers on the sunroof of our Mini so it wouldn’t get quite so hot inside the car. Also remembered to put bags over the (black) front seats where they’d get sunlight while parked so we didn’t fry our legs when we got back. Makes me ever so glad we bought a townhouse with a garage – that always makes the initial temperature setting easier when taking off from home.

Have a potluck on Sunday with the neighbors but haven’t decided what we want to make yet. Looking forward to meeting more folks in person.

(thinking about this entry caused me to discover I hadn’t posted the catching up entry)

Let no one tell you that mayonnaise is difficult to make. It is not. Most sources online will tell you to go through this complicated drill, getting the eggs to room temperature, drizzling oil slowly into a food processor, and watching nervously in hopes that the emulsion will take. Pure poppycock.

All you need is a quart sized mason jar and an immersion blender. Toss in one and a quarter cups of a neutral oil (canola, vegetable or “light tasting” olive oil), one large egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and blend the stuff right in the mason jar. Easy peasy. If it doesn’t come together, something is wrong with your ratios (i.e., you put too much oil in) or something is wrong with one of the ingredients. I know this because I had two batches not come together this afternoon because the oil was off. Switched oils (with fresh other ingredients, naturally), and voila, came together like a champ. Hardest part is getting the immersion blender blade assembly out of the jar and scooping the mayo off of it and into the jar.

Trying to add in my fruits and veggies to my diet, because as a typical ‘Murrikan I need more of those. Which is great, aside from the gas as ye olde bodye gets used to processing more fiber.

The husband and I went to see the premier of a new musical put on at a local arts center. Ninety minutes, ten-ish musical numbers. There was a good story in there, but it needed a bit more polish yet, and perhaps more experienced actors (as opposed to the author and their local theater arts friends). All that said, I did enjoy it, and I’m glad we went.

Bed at a normalish time yesterday, but still slept in until 7 or 8 something this morning. We watched Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves last night because our young friend had read some Reddit post about it being a good post-breakup movie (?), he hadn’t seen it, and we love it, so it worked. Ordered pizza in for them, a sub for me, and movie time. Perfect.

This morning the husband did some more of his graduated Xmas cleanup. Two of the three trees are now down, and all of the legos. Supposedly the focus on the rest of the stuff will be this weekend. I just show up and help, and happily leave the organizing to him.

Because of the young friend’s moving to his own place and needing to get new furniture the husband has been spending a lot of time with him at the local Ikea, and I think he’s grabbing some shelves to help organize the utility closet downstairs. He showed me what he’s thinking, but again I’m leaving this to him.

Currently waiting for the new bread maker he got me for Xmas to finish the first loaf. The volume versus weight measures seemed a little off in their recipe, or the flour was too tightly packed, but I ran with weight side, as that’s usually safer when baking. This first loaf is all for the husband, being regular wheat flour and having dried milk in the ingredients (both of which bother my digestive system). I’ll try a piece, but that’s probably it. Next will be trying a gluten free loaf with brown rice flour and the manufacturer’s recipe.

‘Twas a good Xmas day. Gifts handed out, silly games indulged, too much candy had by all. Not much in the way of “regular” food because few people felt hungry, post-candy, which was fine by me as the main cook.

The drive back home was cold and uneventful. We stopped at the Annapolis mothership branch of our local comic shop since we were driving by, to do some stocking stuffer shopping before the rest of the family gets here next weekend. Unpacked, dealt with cat messes, fed myself some plain and boring Moose’s-gut-friendly food (he wasn’t hungry), then took a nap with a cat on my legs for a bit.

Realized as I was trying to find homes for things that I hadn’t yet unpacked all of the stuff I brought home from work, but that’s a tomorrow problem. Or maybe an all-this-week problem. I’m definitely not dealing with it tonight.

Picked up the key from our neighbors, a lesbian couple who watched our cats for us, and dropped off a tea towel we bought them, embroidered with “My favorite season is the fall of the patriarchy.” Saw that at the Con and could not resist it. They got a good chuckle out of it, which was the hope.

Snow this morning was pretty, and no issues on the roads. The wind, however, picked up in the afternoon as the temperature dropped. As I type this it’s 21F (-6C), feels like -3F (-19C). Brrr. We decided to stay in the hotel for dinner rather than deal with the wind and cold tonight.

The last day of the Con was fun. We went to a session on drawing comics covers, taught by a professor in the art program at the local college. He was a lot of fun, and very informative about how things get put on covers to ‘sell’ the comic, and to draw the eye to various elements of the page. And the husband may reach out to him to coordinate on some research that ties into his own on media representations of higher education.

Quick, light late lunch, then we hit a local bookstore and wine bar, where we happened to run into the author of a book we picked up to buy when his book club came in to sip and talk. That was fun, especially as the author and the husband went to the same graduate school (well, the husband’s first graduate school, as he attended three for his various MAs and PhD, so far).

Quiet afternoon reading and trying to deal with the inevitable stomach upset of eating badly (for me). I look forward to a lot of rice and eggs when I get home.