Thursday, January 6, 2011

My Retirement, Day 2

Day 2 of retirement and doing OK.  I am planning on getting my life and junk in order and I hope to be as enthusiastic about this next week as I am this week.  However, my feeling is that my adult attention deficit will kick in on about Thursday or maybe sooner.  It may have already begun.

Yesterday I  took down the Christmas decorations and started classifying them in boxes in my basement.  The key word is "started".  Two of the nine containers are completed.  The rest of the stuff is in different piles on the floor waiting for me to sort out which goes and which stays. At my age I know that two boxes of decorations is enough, but disposing of memories is difficult. I intended to get back to that today but I noticed my new steamer cleaner and chose to do my floors instead. Woo Hoo, such excitement.  The floors look great and the steamer works well.  It usually takes me between 15 to 30 minutes to mop but with my super-duper steamer, it took most of my morning.  Yes, life could not get better.

Last night I decided to actually cook a meal using my new stainless steel oven.   As a working woman, eating out or microwaving 5 minute meals was always OK with me.  I have actually had the oven for 1 1/2 years but other than holidays and occasional heating up of frozen appetizers, it has had minimal use.  I decided on scalloped potatoes, steak and a side salad; a good healthy dinner and it would be a surprise for my husband Bob - and oh, how I love to surprise Bob.  Not having real potatoes handy, I went to my overstocked pantry (which is full of Triscuts and cans of food that I give to the boyscouts once a year) and found some boxes of cheese potatoes.  Easy!!!  I poured the potatoes into my casserole dish, mixed the cheese with the butter, milk and water, poured the mix over the dried potatoes and put it in the oven at 450 degrees.  I got distracted and forgot the salad, but what the heck, Bob is basically a meat and potato man and was excited to have a dinner at home PLUS HE WAS IN A GOOD MOOD - an extra!!  All was going well.  I put the potatoes on my plate and they looked so good and tasted yummy.  The steak was tender and done just right.  Bob enjoyed his meal also and went to take seconds of the potatoes.  All of a sudden I hear him say, "What is this?"  He had pulled out this long piece of cellophane out of the yummy potatoes.  Now, I remember cutting the top of the cheese packet and throwing it away, but I did not remember any cellophane being in the package.  Bob (Mr. Q/C)  investigated and found another box in the pantry and "politely" pointed out to me that the potatoes came in a cellophane wrapping.  This possibly happened when in my enthusiasm for cooking a home cooked meal, I tore the wrapping in such glee, that a piece fell into the food without me seeing it.  Before he went to bed last night Bob suggested I pick out a restaurant to eat in tonight.  However, I am undaunted and will continue to cultivate my culinary talents. 

It's about 3 pm so I guess I should wash my hair and get dressed.  I wouldn't want Bob to think I am going to pot.  I'll only have to wear something "daytime" for a few hours though, I can get back into my pj's by 6 pm. Now I understand why senior citizens wear elastic waist pants, daytime and nighttime clothes are the same.  What you wear to bed, you can wear everywhere.  I am deciding that this is maybe a plus.  Sometime when I get the energy to go out past my mailbox, I'll shop for a few pairs of black "loungewear". 

My plan tomorrow is to clean out a closet, or maybe a cupboard, or maybe I will go back in the basement and look at the nice neat piles I have created and think of another excuse to put that off.

1 comment:

  1. Arleen,

    Retirement is not what it is cracked up to be! What I can tell you is never ever get hooked on Free Cell. It is very addictive and if the wash doesn't get done....so be it. If you have not clean underware.....well, that just becomes an excuse to go shopping. Now, as for this cooking thing...I love to cook. What I don't like to do is deciding what to cook. Ike is so easy, he just says...whatever I want. It would just be so much simplier if he would say....how about a meatloaf (or something). I have found that if you start to have a glass of wine while you are cooking (or thinking about what to prepare) the meal tastes so much better. Also, if you get a complaint, like some foreign paper in the meal, it really doesn't bother you.
    Have fun,
    Kathy

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