I'm baking this: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-no-knead-wheat-bread/b0456e68-c887-42e3-88f8-3a8fd9a3ad2a It smells so good. I can't stop eating it.
Watching: The Super Bowl. I know. I’m not an Eagles fan, or really a football fan in general (I’m more a hockey/baseball person) but I am watching the hometown team VERY anxiously. For my family, my friends, my pretty city of Philadelphia, I want them to win.
I’m angrily watching Justin Timberlake because if Janet Jackson doesn’t come out and rip his pants off, I’m going to be pissed. Never forget.
Win or lose, I’m DAMN glad–
— oh he did NOT invoke the image of Prince there. Oh, I’ll give you two fingers, Timberlake….
–I’m DAMN glad I’m working from home tomorrow. It’s either going to be crazy in town, or crazy in town.
Baking: More bread.
Aching: Because I finished my 30 days of yoga, and today hopped onto the Total Gym.
Sewing: A red “A” pillow for my Favorite Kid for Valentine’s Day. In the time it’ll take for me to make this, I would be able to build a Wal-Mart, source this pillow from China and have it shipped to me.
Reading: The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand, a name I can never remember how to spell. I picked this book up from the library because I am COLD and need some beach in my life.
Eating: Martha Stewart’s Snickerdoodle Crumb Bars. I had the ingredients on-hand today so I figured what the heck. They are tasty, but I had to bake them 15 minutes more than the recipe indicated for the middle to bake completely. That burned the bottom a bit, but I sliced off that part. Also, my streusel didn’t clump up like it should have. I’ll try them again for sure, but I think I’m going to bake it at 375 instead of 350 and adjust the streusel proportions so that it’s chunkier.
Watching: WWE No Mercy Pay-per-View. I pay $9.99 a month for the WWE network and get all of the monthly specials, so we turn them on. Even the lesser ones. On regulart TV this fall I’ll be watching The Good Place because I have a soft spot for the world of Mike Schur TV shows. I’m going to give the Will & Grace (slight) reboot a shot. I enjoyed it way back when until it became the Jack and Karen show. And I’ll probably start recording Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party because I am obviously still a member of the cult of Martha. Fuller House Season 3 is out, but I stopped watching Season 2 when 55 year old Aunt Becky decided she needed another baby. I didn’t even get to the NKOTB episode.
Losing: Words with Friends. STILL. Look at this shame…
I want to say I’m improving, but I’m really not. I’ll keep trying, though.
Aching because I started exercising again.
Reading:Chemistry by Weike Wang. Actually, I’ll start it tomorrow on the train. This weekend I read Luvvie Ajayi’s I’m Judging You, one of the books from my impromptu library trip Thursday night.
I can’t quit Elizabeth Gilbert. I want to, but am unable to.
Searching: For a nice photo editing app for my Surface that will let me resize photos and adjust the levels. Right now I’m resorting to Paint and Paint 3D. I know there has to be better.
Today was my last Summer Friday of the season. (Boooo!) And it rained most of the morning (BOOOO!) so no beach for me. Bah.
Instead, we went to see The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It was okay. I went in expecting a comedy and got a HEAPING side of violence and genocide. The funny parts were funny, Samuel L. Jackson continues to be a national treasure. and the big recliners offset any disappointment.
And then we went to the library to return my books, which I forgot at home. (BOOOOOOO!)
My sourdough starter was a bust. I tried to make a leaven with it last night. The leaven is supposed to be all bubbly and float. No bubbles. No float. (BOOOOOOOOOOO!) It also developed some sour-smelling fermented liquid. I’ll reevaluate my methodology and try again. I already spent $10 on an artisan bread proofing basket – can’t turn back now!
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And now it’s time for the Friday 5 — this week the theme is Homecoming. Let’s get to it!
1. What’s the crime like in your neighborhood?
Low, low, low. Once a year a house gets broken into. Sometimes a poltical sign gets yanked from a yard. Literary Lane is a very quiet enclave of beautifully boring suburbia. While I still miss the DeeLuxe Apartment in the Sky, the crime there was rising every year. The last year we lived there, someone in our building — ON OUR FLOOR — was stabbed. And three floors down, someone was murdered.
2. If you could have attended one of those high schools with a specific academic focus, such as performing arts, studio arts, sustainability, science and technology, international languages and diplomacy, or some option you thought of yourself, which would you have chosen when you were thirteen?
When I was 13, I wanted to be a lawyer and eventually a Senator, so I would have gone to the international languages & diplomacy school for sure. Even though my jobs now skew STEM-ward, I was never ever a STEM kid.
3. What was memorable about a party you remember from high school?
I went to some Sweet Sixteen parties, but they were a far cry from what they are now. Mostly basement parties or occasionally a hall. At one of them, I danced with the boy who would become my first boyfriend. The song was “Always” by Atlantic Starr. (sips Ensure, sits on rocker and reminisces)
4. Which of your older relatives is (or was) the handsomest or prettiest?
My super-distant cousin George O’Dowd has always been very distinctively attractive.
5. What was homecoming like at your high school? How did you feel about it?
Homecoming was a football game on Thanksgiving weekend against the high school on the other side of town. My disinterest for football combined with my distinct lack of social skills and popularity in high school meant that I gave no craps about homecoming. I think I went once in my 4 years there. My school didn’t even have a homecoming dance until 2008!
I'm baking this: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-no-knead-wheat-bread/b0456e68-c887-42e3-88f8-3a8fd9a3ad2a It smells so good. I can't stop eating it.