SUNDAY MORNING RAMBLINGS

Yesterday was Matt's and my five year anniversary of our first date.  Hard to believe it's been five years already.  So yesterday we went exploring and thrift storing, which are two of my favorite activities.  It was a beautiful sunny day although chilly with a temp of 9 and wind chill of -9.

I guess I can mention that dressing to go out here in North Dakota is different.  People are use to the cold temps and dress appropriately.  With temps in this range women don't dress in flimsy little tops to impress the guys, we dress in multiple layers for warmth.  Unfortunately most seem to think this means hooded sweatshirts nearly exclusively but for me it means beautiful sweaters.  To keep warm yesterday I wore a mock turtleneck under a hooded sweater with faux fur around the hood along with flannel lined jeans over which I wore my long down coat, which kept me warm and comfortable walking around town.

Even though we live only about 25 minutes away from Valley City, we haven't been there.  I'd heard they had a lot of neat little antique shops but hadn't heard much else about it so we decided to do some exploring.  They're also known as the City of Bridges.  Due to the chilly temps we didn't explore those but will wait until it's warmer out.  We'd heard from several people about Four Corner Pizza so we decided to stop there for lunch.  The thin crust pizza was awesome.  I'm not a fan of thin crust but I really liked their pizza, TONS of vegetables loaded on it, and the perfect amount of sauce. They slice the pizza in small squares which I liked but Matt would have preferred larger slices.

After fueling up we headed out to explore. Of course I then realized I had forgotten my camera and couldn't take pictures.  My phone has a decent camera but with the bright light yesterday it makes the screen impossible to see to take pictures.  The first thing that caught our attention, besides the jet displayed at the Veteran's Memorial Park across from the pizza joint, was the old buildings.  I love old buildings and especially the ones that were built with the original occupant's names on their fronts.

The antique shops were awesome.  I could have spent a fortune at one of them if I'd had a fortune to spend.  I have a feeling I'll be going back to pick up a couple things if she still has them.  There's a beautiful wood table at the one shop I'd love to get.  She also has 6 chairs with it (sold separately) that are pretty nice looking too.  I'd mentioned to Matt that I'd like to get a new tablet set this year and this one definitely grabbed my eye. 

We explored several thrift shops and a quilt store.  The quilt store had a huge selection of fabrics so I know where I will be going for fabric now if I can't get to Fargo.  Matt was quite impressed with their kitchen items at the front of the store.  We picked up several finds at the thrift stores including this beautiful log cabin tea pot ($5) and set of nutcracker salt & pepper shakers ($3) to add to my collections.  Matt picked up several books to read, so he should be set through at least the end of the year.  For my present to him I bought him a bookcase for his office/man cave to put his books in so now he needs to work on filling it up.

We ended the evening by going to City Lights for supper.  The food was good although not fabulous.  Matt ordered garlic mashed potatoes and was disappointed to find they were instant garlic flavored potatoes.  Considering the cost of their meals, they should be serving the real stuff.  I had similar problems with my loaded baked potato which just had cheese and bacon on it - they forgot the sour cream and butter so it was dry to say the least and the cheese was rubbery.  Our steaks were extremely good as was our dessert, a triple berry torte with ice cream, when we finally got it.  Matt's issue with his steak was that he'd ordered a ribeye and there was no bone in it.  I tried their tiramisu martini and loved it, it really tasted like tiramisu.  Our service initially was good but our waitress was the bartender and after the bar and restaurant started getting busy we didn't see her again.  It took nearly 45 minutes to get our dessert after we ordered it and we had to wait nearly that long to get our check so we could leave and Matt had to flag down another waitress to get it.  It was nice to try a new restaurant but I doubt we'll go back. 

SATURDAY RAMBLINGS AND NESTING

Today was my first weekend off in over seven months.  It felt so nice to be able to kick back in my pj's for the morning and just  relax.  I considered going into work for extra overtime but decided I really needed this weekend off to mentally recharged.  Next week starts mandatory overtime so I may not get a full weekend off again.  For me recharging can take many forms and this weekend I'm finding I need to nest before I can relax. 

I've been so busy I haven't gotten my fall cleaning done, so I started that this morning.  I didn't go crazy and do the whole house or even attempt to, I just started with the living room.  I think a room a weekend is probably reasonable.  I took down the curtains, washed them, and hung them back up wet so I wouldn't damage the thermal lining by drying them.  I had to run out for more pinched pleat hangers since they used the wrong ones and they were all bent from the weight of the curtains.  Unfortunately I had to get the same type because Walmart didn't have the ones I needed.  On our next trip to Fargo I'll see if I can find some or break down and order the ones I need.  I conditioned the leather couch.  Pulled most of the furniture out and vacuumed under it.  Dusted everything thoroughly and washed the dog beds from the living room and the throws I keep on the chairs. 

While I was at Walmart picking up the curtain hangers I also picked up a wooden circular candle holder and four dark green candles of various heights (evergreen scent) to put in it which I placed on the ottoman for a little decoration.  I need to get some evergreens or something to put around it for a bit of color.  I also picked up a small 3" candle to put in my candle holder on the dining room table. 

My second project today included cleaning and inventorying the chest freezer.  I bought two freezer baskets to help organize it from Walmart that are great.  I wish they had baskets with handles on them like the single basket it came with so I could hang one more basket.  I may pick up a couple more to use in the side-by-side if they fit.

While the pizza was cooking I started the dishwasher and cleaned off one of the counter tops in the kitchen.  One of my glass containers that I put flour in broke a couple weeks ago and I'd bought a replacement but hadn't gotten it put in the dishwasher yet so I could use it.  Tomorrow I'll put the flour in it so that counter is straightened up and looking better.

This past week both Matt and I have not felt particular well.  He's been outright sick with a fever that came and went and a lot of coughing while I've felt exhausted from fighting to keep from getting full blown sick.  Tuesday I felt horrible, all foggy and fatigued, and just wanted comfort food so Matt made me tuna noodle casserole.  For some reason it's a casserole I've never made since we've been together but it was what I was craving.  I had pulled a roasting chicken out last Friday to make soup but it took until Wednesday before it was thawed enough to roast.  I roasted it after massaging it with olive oil and Herb de Provence, stuffing it with onion and celery, and then sprinkling rosemary sprigs over it. I used a little bit of the chicken to make chicken salad with red grapes for my lunch Thursday and Matt put the leftover carcass in the pressure cooker and reduced it down to stock which he used Friday to make chicken noodle soup. I served this with a large mason jar mug of apple cider.  The perfect combination.  Lunch today was leftover chicken noodle soup and garlic naan bread (that I picked up on clearance at Walmart) baked with provolone slices on it which makes a great substitute for grilled cheese.  Dessert was red velvet cupcakes (four pack that I also picked up on clearance). I absolutely love these red ceramic soup bowls.  The perfect size for soups and stews.

 Supper tonight was homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella slices along with pepperoni and green peppers (freezer stash).  We picked up a the mozzarella while at Costco last weekend.  If you've never tried it, it's wonderful although more expensive then buying shredded.  Dessert was the last two cupcakes.

This is the pizza I made last week that's half pepperoni and half sausage.  I bought some great bulk Italian sausage at Hugo's that I used.  This was probably one of my best pizzas so far.  Matt's not a big sausage fan but I love it so that's why I only did half with sausage.  I use Fleishman's Pizza Yeast (3-pack) and the recipe on the back of the package for the dough.  Matt absolutely loves this crust.  I prefer a doughier crust myself but this is good.  Depending on what you put on your pizza and how much you typically pay if you purchase one, homemade pizzas may or may not be cheaper.  I think I've mentioned before we do not have many pizza options in town and none are great so even if I pay more to make one at home it's far superior taste and knowing I used good ingredients makes it worth the expense.

MONDAY'S RAMBLINGS

Before I start my ramblings I'd like to extend a Happy Veteran's Day to all my fellow Vets out there!  They go unappreciated for the most part and deserve to be honored for what they're willing to give up - their lives.

Well my best attempt at denial has failed.  I was firmly hoping if I denied winter was almost here or worse yet that it was actually here that it would stay away for a while until I was ready; although, I'm not sure when that would be.  This morning we woke to a temp of 6'.  As the radio announcer said, "At least it's positive 6'."  My tree has lost nearly all it's leaves now, even it could no longer deny winter's grasp.  The one blessing has been that we haven't gotten any snow yet.  I know, I know, it's coming.  I can't help but laugh that Michigan, were we moved from, has gotten snow before us this year.

Matt's had a cold for the past week with lots of coughing.  By Friday I was feeling a bit achy; although, not full out achy.  Today I feel blah.  Not totally sick, but my body is fighting it with everything it has and I'm exhausted and just a bit headachy and a bit foggy.  All I want to do is curl up with my blanket and dog in my recliner and veg until I feel better.  Debating on taking NyQuil before I go to bed tonight.  With his nighttime hacking waking me up it might be a good idea, that or a hot toddy.  Unfortunately I can't miss any days at work right now or I'll be short paid time off for my son's wedding.  I'm trying to keep my Vitamin C level up by eating kiwi for breakfast.

Saturday was my last day working at my second job!  I'm so excited to get my weekends back.  Now I can choose when I want to do extra overtime with my primary job.  Sunday we decided to celebrate and go to Fargo.  I needed to get a dress for the wedding.  Since I have been working 7 days a week, my schedule just didn't allow a trip for shopping unfortunately.  Thankfully I found a beautiful dress.  It was at the top of my price range that I wanted to spend but I'm okay with that, it's beautiful and I feel great in it.  By the time we got done at the mall we were both exhausted and still had the Costco stop to make. 

I detest shopping to say the least so thankfully these trips are rare.  The mall was busy which made me feel claustrophobic.  We really need to start planning regular trips there if we're going to keep our Costco memberships to pick up necessities like toilet paper, paper towel, and the most important item is my Tazo Chai Tea Concentrate.  To avoid weekend crowds we may start taking days off and going during the week.

Well the sand man is sprinkling his dust and my eyes are drooping so I think I will end this rambling and go get some much needed rest.