Friday, September 16, 2016

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?

11 comments:

  1. I'm so happy you are finally feeling better as it was a long haul! And I hope you can regain your stamina and feel 100% soon.
    I love that hat and also your knitting plans! You will have busy hands this fall!
    Good luck with Oscar tonight!

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  2. SO glad you are feeling better!!! It's been a very long road I know!!! Thankful to hear you have a fun weekend planned!!!

    I'm excited to see your projects that you will be working on! I think it's so cool you have the ability to create special works of art for your friends and family!

    I'm looking forward to the bike tour recap!!!

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  3. So glad to hear you are finally starting to feel better! Fingers crossed for no more sickness or surgeries for a long time for you! :)

    I need to get back into reading- I go through spurts of reading lots and then not at all. Must find a good book to read!

    Your weekend sounds like it will be fun :) Haha taking Oscar to the vet requiring two people reminds me of taking Amelia for her vaccinations. It's a two person job!

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  4. So glad you're finally feeling better and can get back to exercising. I know you missed it.

    I am looking forward to seeing your knitting progress... and let me know how you like crocheting in comparison ;)

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  5. SO happy you are finally feeling better! I hope your return to exercise goes well :)

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  6. I laughed when you said your fun weekend was starting out with a visit to the vet! Fun? Not so sure!

    But I'm very relieved that the cough is subsiding. I was going to email you this morning to ask that very thing, so glad to see this. Sounds like you are definitely getting back on track. Three cheers!

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  7. So glad to hear you're feeling better; that cough hung on a long time!

    Hmmm, not much going on in my world - just feeling really busy with the first couple weeks back to work. I need to get into the groove, and it seems harder this year.

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  8. I'm so happy to hear your cough is finally going away!!

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  9. Sooo glad to hear you're feeling better! I am excited to dig my knitting needles out again too. I totally fell out of it over the summer but I think it will be more of a fall/winter hobby for me anyways. Especially in this new northern / cold climate! Perfect activity to hunker down with :)

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  10. I am sooo happy you are feeling better! I was so frustrated with how long you felt crappy! Yay!!

    I am a tad envious of your fall temps. But I"ll take what we are getting. We got cloud cover at the cross country meet - which was a God-sent ...because those poor kids have been running their meets in 100-degree temps all season and I've been running with them at practice! Yuck! The loops are only about 2-3 miles, but it's still so dang hot!

    What's new in my life: we are just very busy working on yard projects. Living on 1.4 acres of desert means never-ending projects! We need to get our yard "snake proofed" before Miles gets here! So we have been shoveling rocks and hanging wire fencing. So excited to have him back for walks.

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