a day in the kitchen
A day in the kitchen. Sometimes it happens. :) It's not often that I spend so much time fixing food because I don't really enjoy the process, but I'm working on trying to change some of thing things I eat to see if it helps increase my energy level and the process is forcing me to be more deliberate about what I eat. It's good, but it takes effort. Times are approximate. :)
5:09am -- Wide awake! This is not my time of day, why am I awake???
6:50am -- Hit snooze on my alarm clock.
6:55am -- Hit snooze on my alarm clock.
7:00am -- Hit snooze on my alarm clock.
7:03isham -- Stumbled out of bed and found my market money. Pulled a skirt and sweatshirt over my pajamas.
7:10am -- Out the door. It's too early in the day to be around large groups of people.
7:25am -- Arrived at market (I walk slow, especially in the morning) and checked my list.
7:40am -- Spend time trying to figure out who belongs to the sweet potatoes on a flour sack on the ground that I want to buy. No one is around and no one seems to notice me standing there next to them. Ponder going to another spot down the row that has less appealing produce, when finally someone appears.
7:45am -- Start walking (even slower now that I'm carrying three bags of produce) home with my market finds: carrots, lemons, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, garlic, chilies, green peppers, tomatoes, avocados, strawberries, and blackberries.
7:57am -- Run into a local friend who knew my parents when they lived here, she gave me a bouquet of gardenias and told me to tell my parents hello when I talked to them next.
8:02am -- Struggled to open the front door with my hands full.
8:10am -- Fill the sink with the strawberries and blackberries to soak/rinse, but get distracted by a knock on the door. Find the key to the shed for the lady who works for me once a week doing yard work (yard meri).
8:15am -- Start pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator for a breakfast green smoothie. Mistakenly put in the juice of two small lemons because they were small.
8:20am -- Cut tops off some strawberries from the fridge for the smoothie
8:35am -- Convince the blender that it really does want to smoothify the ingredients.
8:45am -- Open my computer to check my email and grimace at how sour my smoothie is. Find out that the skype time with my parents may be a bit later than nine.
9:08am -- Skype with my parents and say hi to other family including: Uncle Paul, Lucky (the dog), Grandpa, Grandma, Cousin Tyler, and a friend of Tyler.
10:00am -- Realize that I forgot to boil water for tea time with my yard meri and hurry to do that. Take tea and biscuits outside.
10:15am -- Peel and cut carrot sticks
10:45pm -- Agree to host a TEA (Translators Expecting Allocations - a group of unallocated translators that gather to pray and get information about the different opportunities in the country) meeting at my house tomorrow which means I desperately need to clean!!!
11:45am -- Realize that I forgot to drink the tea that I made myself and now it's cold. Think about what it would be like to have a microwave. Drink the tea cold.
11:58am -- Remember that the berries are still soaking in the sink. They are now a bit soft. Decide to puree them now for smoothies later.
12:03pm -- Interrupt the berry project to scramble to put together some food for my yard meri and go sit outside with her for a while.
12:45pm -- Store the berries in the fridge and eat some cold vegetable soup from yesterday. Think again about the strange contraption you can use to reheat (quickly) food.
1:07pm -- Run (at a slow walk pace) out the door to go to the training center for an afternoon spent with the language group I'm helping with this month. A consultant is going to meet with them and check their translation of Genesis 22:1-19.
1:27pm -- Find the classroom and wait.
1:37pm -- Find out the the schedule was changed at the last minute and I missed the session. Sigh.
1:40pm -- Hear about a language program that needs an allocation and commit to praying about the possibility.
2:00pm -- Stop by to see some friends working on a preparing for the Junior/Senior Banquet for the teens this weekend.
2:30pm -- Stop by the post office and find two pieces of mail! :) One about my taxes and one from a friend. YAY!!!
2:40pm -- Collapse for a few minutes at home.
3:23pm -- Tackle a new recipe for Avocado Gazpacho, even though the avocados from market weren't quite as ripe as I thought, which I discovered partway through the project.
4:02pm -- Collapse for a few minutes.
5:24pm -- Make salsa with produce from market.
6:00pm -- Collapse for a few minutes.
6:45pm -- Walk to a TEA meeting with our supervisor to discuss what we have learned so far about language programs and hear her perspective.
9:45pm -- Arrive home and realize what a long day it has been.
10:00pm -- Write some emails and finish this blog post and then put in a tv episode to watch before bed.
Now, I'm at the end of the day and I am completely exhausted even though when I look back at what I did today I don't feel like I accomplished a large amount of things. It is nice to open my refrigerator and have several healthy options to eat. And speaking of refrigerators, I am thankful that I have one because it takes a lot more effort to eat without things like a refrigerator, stove, oven, a sink with running water, blender and electricity. Lots to be thankful for!
 |
| beautiful gardenias from a friend |
5:09am -- Wide awake! This is not my time of day, why am I awake???
6:50am -- Hit snooze on my alarm clock.
6:55am -- Hit snooze on my alarm clock.
7:00am -- Hit snooze on my alarm clock.
7:03isham -- Stumbled out of bed and found my market money. Pulled a skirt and sweatshirt over my pajamas.
7:10am -- Out the door. It's too early in the day to be around large groups of people.
7:25am -- Arrived at market (I walk slow, especially in the morning) and checked my list.
7:40am -- Spend time trying to figure out who belongs to the sweet potatoes on a flour sack on the ground that I want to buy. No one is around and no one seems to notice me standing there next to them. Ponder going to another spot down the row that has less appealing produce, when finally someone appears.
 |
| These purple skinned sweet potatoes are really good. |
7:45am -- Start walking (even slower now that I'm carrying three bags of produce) home with my market finds: carrots, lemons, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, garlic, chilies, green peppers, tomatoes, avocados, strawberries, and blackberries.
 |
| These are two plastic string bilums that I use to carry my market produce. |
7:57am -- Run into a local friend who knew my parents when they lived here, she gave me a bouquet of gardenias and told me to tell my parents hello when I talked to them next.
8:02am -- Struggled to open the front door with my hands full.
8:10am -- Fill the sink with the strawberries and blackberries to soak/rinse, but get distracted by a knock on the door. Find the key to the shed for the lady who works for me once a week doing yard work (yard meri).
8:15am -- Start pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator for a breakfast green smoothie. Mistakenly put in the juice of two small lemons because they were small.
8:20am -- Cut tops off some strawberries from the fridge for the smoothie
8:35am -- Convince the blender that it really does want to smoothify the ingredients.
8:45am -- Open my computer to check my email and grimace at how sour my smoothie is. Find out that the skype time with my parents may be a bit later than nine.
9:08am -- Skype with my parents and say hi to other family including: Uncle Paul, Lucky (the dog), Grandpa, Grandma, Cousin Tyler, and a friend of Tyler.
10:00am -- Realize that I forgot to boil water for tea time with my yard meri and hurry to do that. Take tea and biscuits outside.
10:15am -- Peel and cut carrot sticks
10:45pm -- Agree to host a TEA (Translators Expecting Allocations - a group of unallocated translators that gather to pray and get information about the different opportunities in the country) meeting at my house tomorrow which means I desperately need to clean!!!
11:45am -- Realize that I forgot to drink the tea that I made myself and now it's cold. Think about what it would be like to have a microwave. Drink the tea cold.
11:58am -- Remember that the berries are still soaking in the sink. They are now a bit soft. Decide to puree them now for smoothies later.
12:03pm -- Interrupt the berry project to scramble to put together some food for my yard meri and go sit outside with her for a while.
12:45pm -- Store the berries in the fridge and eat some cold vegetable soup from yesterday. Think again about the strange contraption you can use to reheat (quickly) food.
1:07pm -- Run (at a slow walk pace) out the door to go to the training center for an afternoon spent with the language group I'm helping with this month. A consultant is going to meet with them and check their translation of Genesis 22:1-19.
1:27pm -- Find the classroom and wait.
1:37pm -- Find out the the schedule was changed at the last minute and I missed the session. Sigh.
1:40pm -- Hear about a language program that needs an allocation and commit to praying about the possibility.
2:00pm -- Stop by to see some friends working on a preparing for the Junior/Senior Banquet for the teens this weekend.
2:30pm -- Stop by the post office and find two pieces of mail! :) One about my taxes and one from a friend. YAY!!!
2:40pm -- Collapse for a few minutes at home.
3:23pm -- Tackle a new recipe for Avocado Gazpacho, even though the avocados from market weren't quite as ripe as I thought, which I discovered partway through the project.
 |
| Some cucumbers and passionfruit |
4:02pm -- Collapse for a few minutes.
5:24pm -- Make salsa with produce from market.
6:00pm -- Collapse for a few minutes.
6:45pm -- Walk to a TEA meeting with our supervisor to discuss what we have learned so far about language programs and hear her perspective.
9:45pm -- Arrive home and realize what a long day it has been.
10:00pm -- Write some emails and finish this blog post and then put in a tv episode to watch before bed.
 |
| top left - avocado gazpacho; middle - salsa; lower back - pureed strawberries; top back - blackberries; front right - veggie soup I made yesterday |
Now, I'm at the end of the day and I am completely exhausted even though when I look back at what I did today I don't feel like I accomplished a large amount of things. It is nice to open my refrigerator and have several healthy options to eat. And speaking of refrigerators, I am thankful that I have one because it takes a lot more effort to eat without things like a refrigerator, stove, oven, a sink with running water, blender and electricity. Lots to be thankful for!
Ooh, I miss gardenias. Of course, I get things like daffodils, but they don't smell as pretty. :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't have one of those new-fangled-quick-heating-electrical-wave devices either. I do, however, sometimes use the one at work. :-p For at home, I have found that you can do many, many things with a toaster oven - is that an option for you? It might be a pain to find one, though, huh...
Anyway, just thought I'd throw my two cents in. And it does seem like you had quite the day to me, even if you don't feel like you accomplished a large amount of things. :-) I know how that feels.
~Ruth