Horse Feathers

So this morning, I woke up just absolutely starving. I don’t know why, but I was wayyy hungrier than usual. I also got ready really quickly this morning, so Emerson and I were both dressed & ready to go a full 10 minutes early. So we went to Taco Bell before school to grab breakfast! I parked at school, and let her sit in the front seat next to me, to share my bacon Crunchwrap, and I think you’d say she enjoyed it. Both the front seat and the food! Actually, when I first put her up here, she said, “I drive?!” And I told her, “Not yet, little one.”

Then she was so cute and sweet, and ready to walk to her classroom!

A few minutes after leaving daycare, I finished an audio book. But I was less than impressed with this one. It’s actually filed under the “science fiction” genre, but I’m not so sure it belonged there. A mysterious virus causes almost an entire small town to fall asleep for varying amounts of time (some weeks, others almost a year), but it’s never explained why or what, and then abruptly people just start waking up and it’s all over. And life goes on. And I was just left feeling, blah. I wasn’t really connected to any of the characters, and I just thought there would be morrreee…. something. I don’t know. I just didn’t do much for me. Two stars.

But then at a stoplight, I immediately started up the next audio book on my library holds shelf. (For those who might not know – you can “check out” digital audio books through the local library, using the Libby app. I’ll help you figure it out if you want to try it, it’s great!) This one is about a 19-year-old girl who kind of accidentally joins “community” (read: cult), living off-grid in the mountains of North Carolina, and then people start disappearing. It’s a an interesting premise, so we’ll see how this one goes. by the end of today, I’m at 16 or 18%, and I’m a little weary. But I tried to always give it to at least 25 or 30% before I decide if I want to continue or abandon. So I’ll listen a little longer and then decide tomorrow.

My work friend Heather randomly received an entire case of “damaged” peanut butter that couldn’t be sold, so she brought some in to give out to all of us today. The only damage is dented bottoms, so I’m not to fancy for that! I’ve never heard of this brand before, but we will store it away with our hurricane supplies, in case of emergency…

For lunch, I had some leftovers from dinner last night (hot dog, tiny bit of Velveeta shells & cheese), and started my next library book. “The Nickel Boys” is a fictional novel, based off the real-life “reform school,” The Dozier School, in Marianna, Florida. There is a lot of tragic history surrounding the “school,” and so while this will not be a light, fun read, I do anticipate it to be a good, interesting read. (I actually read this article from the Tampa Bay Times a few months ago, and was disgusted by the entire situation. It’s hard to understand how things like this happened {and were ignored} 100+ years ago, but this continued until 2011, which is almost unfathomable.)

OK, so that last bit was pretty heavy. Much more intense than my normal blog content, so let’s move on to happy photos of Emmie-cille having a great day at school!

This girl loves the rice table! Looks like she’s about to just dive right on in!

The caption for the photo below said they were pretending the puzzle pieces were their ears, haha!

At one some today, apparently Emerson took off one of her shoes (like she often does lately) and hid it in the classroom. About four or five teachers were all searching for it for a very long time, and turned their classroom upside down in the search. Luckily though, it was finally found late this afternoon! You can see in the report below that Ms. Kristin was glad it was finally found!

After work, I picked up my little nugget, and then we made a quick trip to Trader Joe’s for a few items, to complete tonight’s dinner. (Apparently I just blanked when making last weekends shopping list, and forgot a few key ingredients, like the MEAT.)

Then once we got home, the boys played with Emmie, while I got working on dinner. I made an old, but new-to-me goulash recipe! I grew up eating this made by my Mama and my Grandmommie, but I’ve never made it myself. My Grandmommie actually calls it “horse feathers,” because her sister randomly named it that, and it stuck for the whole family!

It’s just browned ground turkey (or you can use beef, I just always use turkey these days), sauteed with onions & garlic, with diced tomatoes, tomato paste, then add chicken or beef broth and cook the elbow macaroni all in the same pot. Plus some additional seasonings like S&P, oregano, and Worchestershire sauce. Then melt some cheddar cheese on top (this is not how we ate it growing up, but I saw it in a lot of recipes online), and we had salad with it. Yum! Super simple, very comforting and cozy meal. It’s basically just one-pot, “rustic” spaghetti.

Everyone liked it, and all bowls were empty by the end of dinner. Then we were talking about plans for tomorrow, and I suggested just eating cereal for breakfast. So Emmie got it in her head she needed some right now, so why not eat honey nut Cheerios for her dessert?! 😂

And a major plus of this recipe, it makes enough for a small army! All four of us had decent size helpings tonight (Emmie’s portion was small), and we still had at least half of it left. But this makes great leftovers, so it will be great for lunches next week!

After dinner, Jeff and the boys left to go help a friend move their new piano off of a truck. But on the way there, they said their neighbors helped, and they didn’t need Jeff anymore. So instead, they went to first Friday in Railroad Square, and Emmie and I started the night-night routine. Jammies, cookies on the couch (her request of course), books, prayers and lullabies. She was really sweet tonight, and really easy to put down, so I was grateful for that.

The boys had rinsed out all of our dinner bowls when we finished eating, and I left my Dutch oven soaking in the sink. Then after getting Emmie down, I decided to neglect doing the dishes, in favor of a little bit of quiet, self-care, alone-time for me, since I’m home by myself for the first time in a long time! I’m going to watch a show, and paint my fingernails and toenails, and I just lit my favorite candle. I’ve literally been hoarding this the last few weeks, and not burning it at all, wanting to save it for special times so I could really enjoy it and not burn (ha, pun intended) through it too quickly. And I think tonight counts as a special night!

Good night & happy Friday!