A Blissful Long Weekend

This 3-day weekend actually turned into a 5-day weekend for me as I was home on Thursday and Friday with yet another RA flare. That's the 4th one in a month and probably my most painful one so far as it involved both shoulder joints. I was in so much pain and had very limited arm mobility so I had to swallow my pride and sense of independence and ask for help to get to the doctor for my steroid injections. Luckily, my mother-in-law was more than happy to help (unfortunately Phil couldn't leave work as they had a big IT update and he had to stay after market close to help with testing). The steroid injection was effective but this last flare really took a tole on my mental health and overall feeling of well-being - I'm just sick to death of this string of painful flares. I'm hoping and praying that September is a much better month.

That said, I really needed a relaxing and restorative long weekend - and that is exactly what I got! We usually go to the lake for Labor Day weekend but even before these flares hit, we had decided to stay home so we could have a quiet weekend together. I love being up at the lake with family but a quiet weekend at home with very little planned was exactly what the doctor ordered!  Here's how we filled it!

On Friday night we each had leftovers for dinner and settled in to watch No Country for Old Men. Phil picked it out. He had seen it before and said he thought I would like it.  WRONG!! Oh my gosh, I did not like this movie at all. I know it's critically acclaimed but it was way too dark and violent for me. And then the ending was so vague. Phil knows my tastes so well so I am surprised he got this movie pick so wrong. Towards the end of the movie I remembered that it was based on a book by Cormac McCarthy, which is an author I do not like at all (again, I know he is critically acclaimed but his books are way too dark for me). Had I remembered that before we watched it, I would have vetoed this choice. Oh well, now Phil owes me a movie of my choice!  :)

On Saturday morning I started off the morning with some reading.

After relaxing for awhile, I was finally feeling well enough to be a bit more active (I'd spent the majority of the last 2 days on the couch). I walked to my garden and came home with lots of zucchini, green peppers and tomatillos and some green beans and cherry tomatoes. When I got back, Phil made brunch (hashbrowns and scrambled eggs topped with a leftover pork tamale from his lunch the previous day - I love this combination!).

On Saturday afternoon, I went to the grocery store and got to work in the kitchen. First I chopped up a watermelon - it's the best one I have bought all summer! Phil doesn't like watermelon (he thinks melons are "filler fruits") so I get this all to myself! And yes, I can eat an entire large watermelon in a week!

After that I got to work on using some of the zucchini I had picked. First I made a chocolate chip zucchini bread. I found the recipe in one of the many cookbooks I own (the recipe came from Peas and Thank You - it wasn't GF but it was easy to modify as I just swapped in GF flour for whole wheat flour and added 1/2 t. of xanthan gum). It turned out really good! I only ended up keeping 3 slices for us - the rest went to Phil's mom and several friends! I love to bake, but don't need to eat A LOAF of chocolatey zucchini bread!! And even though it's GF, I think it's good enough to share with people who can eat gluten.

I also did some prep work for the dinner we would be having later that day.  Then I settled on the couch with another cook book. This cookbook had been recommended by Jolene from Everyday Foodie (this girl and her husband have mad cooking skills - check it out but be prepared to drool over all the amazing meals they whip up each week!), which prompted me to add it to our wedding registry! My younger sister is coming to visit next weekend and we both LOVE Indian food so it seemed like the perfect time to break out this cookbook and find some yummy things to make. My sister and I both love to cook - can't wait to bond with her in the kitchen next weekend!

As you can see, I tagged "just a few" dishes for consideration!!

On Saturday evening, I walked over to church. It was a really good mass. All the songs were played on the piano (I'm much prefer the piano to the organ) and I loved all the songs they played so I came home with a full and happy heart.

When I got home, it was time to start dinner! I had done some of the prep work while the zucchini bread was baking so this dinner came together in about 40 minutes and it was SO DELICIOUS! It was quite the Minnesota Plate as the corn was locally grown, the cheeseburgers were made with locally-raised beef, and the cheesy zucchini rice (highly recommend this recipe!) was made with zucchini from my garden. It was a beautiful summer night so we enjoyed this meal on our deck.

Since it was such a beautiful night, we decided to walk to a local malt shop that is just under a mile away for an indulgent dessert! I kind of paid for this dessert as my stomach does not handle dairy very well, but it was worth it!

Reese's pb cup for her, hot fudge for him - we shared so we could eat get a taste of both malts

On Sunday morning, I started my morning off with some pumpkin spice herbal tea.

When Phil got up, he helped me set up the hammock that we received as wedding present. It was going to be a beautiful day so I am glad he suggested setting it up!

On Sunday afternoon, I headed to the west metro to visit one of best college friends to see the house they moved into back in June (can't believe it took me 2.5 months to get out there!). They made a delicious GF lunch for me and we spent 2 hours catching up on life.

The rest of the afternoon was a lazy one, especially for Oscar. Phil had made a "kitty cup" for her before he left for his mom's (he always makes one before he leaves the house - he's such a good cat dad) and she slept in it for most of the afternoon!

I did some relaxing of my own and spent 3 hours in the hammock, reading and dozing. I finished The God of Small Things. This book was the Man Booker Prize and is critically acclaimed. I thought I would love it but I really struggled through it due to the writing style. I have to say, the books that are award-winning are often total misses for me. Maybe I am not 'literary' enough to enjoy them? Who knows.

On Sunday evening, I watched a couple of episodes of Suits and picked up a crochet project that I hadn't touched since last winter. It's a mustard and gray afghan. My goal is to finish it by Thanksgiving!  When Phil got home we watched Gone Baby Gone together (such a good movie!) and then headed to bed.

On Monday morning, I got up and enjoyed a GF banana chocolate chip muffin that my friend had bought for me at the Farmer's Market on Sunday (not pictured is the cinnamon roll she also bought me which I had as part of my dinner the night before!). 

When Phil got up, I got going on breakfast. He had a mid-day tee time so wanted something filling and delicious to get him through his 18 holes (he always walks instead of renting a cart so does a lot of walking/burns a lot of calories). It's pretty simple - sweet potatoes, green pepper (from my garden!), onion, garlic, and chicken sausage, seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne.

Phil and Oscar bonded a bit before he headed out to the links (you know Oscar is super relaxed when she presents her belly and lets him rub it!).

Monday afternoon was low key. I did some closet purging, napped, cuddled with Oscar and read a good chunk of Marlena, which is a debut novel that I got from my Book of the Month membership this spring! It's a bit on the dark side but really, really good so far.

On Monday evening, we had Crockpot White Chicken Chili for dinner. It was really good but next time I will double the recipe as it only yielded about 3 servings.

It was a wonderful, restorative weekend. I hope and pray that all this rest and relaxation will ward off any future RA flares!!

How did you spend your long weekend?