5 Things Friday

Happy Friday, everyone!  I'm capping off the week with a "5 Things Friday" post.  

1. I'm a reading machine these days. I started my 5th book of the month earlier this week (Underground Airlines). The reason I have read so much is because I was still quite sick at the beginning of the month so I spent a lot of time on the couch or in bed reading. I imagine the pace of my reading will slow down, but in the mean time it's been a great escape and distraction for me!

2. I made a new recipe this week:  Red Lentil Chili from Minimalist Baker. It's been cool and fall-like this week, so this was the perfect cozy meal to make. Ours turned out a bit less thick than it looks in the blog post photos as I had to puree the diced tomatoes as Phil doesn't like tomato chunks (he's not very picky and doesn't request many accommodations, so I try to accommodate requests like no tomato chunks). But it was really good! I recently bought the Minimalist Baker cookbook as I had a 40% off coupon for Barnes and Noble and wanted a new cookbook to give me some meal planning inspiration. I love how her recipes are plant-based (we aren't big meat eaters), tend to be 10 ingredients or less, and are often 1-pot kind of meals. I'll definitely be making more of her recipes in the coming months!

3. I'm finally feeling better!!  It's been a long 6-7 week road to getting back to full health but I am happy to say that I am coughing very infrequently. I still have pain in my lungs and back so I haven't been able to return to cardio activities yet, but I am planning to try to go to body pump at the Y tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed I can make it through the class. I feel like I've lost so much ground this summer in terms of my level of fitness between my hip surgery and the death virus I fought for the last 1.5 months. Hopefully I can get back on track this fall and regain some of the level of fitness that I lost over the last 4-5 months.

4. Now that the weather is cooling off, I'm really in the mood to get back to knitting. I went through my knitting supply bin last weekend and found a couple of patterns to work on. I started my first project this week, which is a hat for winter. I'll share photos when it's done! Next I will knit a scarf for Phil's mom which will be part of her Christmas gift. I'm also in the mood to learn some new tricks! Besides taking a crochet class that starts in October, I'm also considering taking a classes on how to simultaneously knit 2 socks on 2 circular needles and how to knit a fair isle hat (here's an example of a fair isle pattern in case you aren't familiar with it).

5. Lastly, TGIF! After a stretch of 4-day (or less) work weeks, a 5-day work week felt so long! I have a fun weekend on deck. After work, Phil and I are taking Oscar to her annual vet appointment (it's a 2-person job as she is quite "spunky"). Afterwards we are eating some leftovers and then walking to a local malt shop for dessert! Then some friends are coming over for cards later that evening. We are all about card nights these days! Tomorrow I'm planning to go to body pump and then will spend the rest of the day cleaning and getting things organized around the house. We don't have plans that night so I'll probably make dinner. Sunday will be a busy day! I'm doing the Minneapolis bike tour in the morning, followed by brunch with one of the friends that is doing the bike tour. Then in the late afternoon I'm going to a friend's son's birthday party at their home, and I'll cap off the day with a video chat with a faraway friend. I'm glad Saturday is mostly unplanned since Sunday is a bit on the busy side!

What's new in your world/on your mind these days?