Fried Chicken Extravaganza

My month-long birthday celebration has ended with the Fried Chicken Extravaganza with co-workers this last Tuesday. What is a Fried Chicken Extravaganza? It is my attempt to have a birthday celebration with my co-workers that does not include the traditional birthday cake.

Someone mentioned they wanted fried chicken and I said that I did too. Then it dawned on me that maybe the staff would enjoy a fried chicken lunch together instead of cake and I was right. Everyone seemed rather excited about ordering out chicken. I had to put a creative spin on the whole thing so I named it the Fried Chicken Extravaganza. (I’ve found if you put the word “extravaganza” at the end of almost anything it sounds more festive.) I thought about decorating the office with rubber chickens but I didn’t have the time or money for that kind of detail.

Everyone had a great time. (Except for one co-worker who threw up right after lunch.)

Wheat Bread

O.k. my unplanned weekend was rather boring. I made wheat bread for the first time. The first loaf, with olive oil in it, was perfect. The second loaf (without oil) was terrible. I'd like to make a low fat wheat bread so I'm going to try again without the oil and maybe I will use skim milk instead of water. I also made lemon bread and gave away little loaves to my mom, aunt and neighbor. The lemon bread was perfect.

Nothing exciting about this weekend. I took my 92 year old aunt out grocery shopping, while I shopped for myself and my mother who is recovering from surgery. My aunt is blind but very independent. I tried to casually help her find things in the store. (If I give her too much help she doesn't like it.) I rented DVD's and I'm disappointed that many of the popular movies are really dumb. The only one I liked was "The Curse of the Were Rabbit" which is a Wallace and Gromit movie. I'm a big fan of their work and it was creative and funny. They promote their movie as the world's first vegetarian horror movie.

The rest of the weekend was filled with cleaning, laundry and bill paying. I felt like a hermit this weekend, as I did not socialize very much. I suppose a boring weekend like this helps make a planned weekend seem so much better. I have an arts conference to go to this upcoming Saturday and a party on Saturday night so next weekend should be much more exciting.

Robert Randolph Band & other thoughts

I just finished seeing the Robert Randolph Band at the Michigan Theater and it was GREAT! Listening to live music really does something to me to make a mood better.

Today was a frustrating day but it was mostly of my own making. I've heard you can focus on the good things in life or on the things that make you unhappy. It is all a choice. I made bad choices and wallowed in the all the unhappy thoughts, not even giving mind to the fact that maybe the good things in life were better to focus on. I might have even missed something really good because I had no room in my mind for the good things! A very sweet thing actually did happen today. A co-worker made me a homemade blueberry pie for my birthday. My initials were carved into the crust as a personal touch. Very thoughtful!

I'm the type of person that likes to plan. I always need a fun plan to look forward to and I don't have a plan for this weekend. Ugh, I will just have to let life happen and see what unfolds. I've recently taken up a hobby that is very time consuming and I've found it is a wonderful thing to do to fill up weekends that have no definition. It is bread making. I don't make it in a bread machine I do it the old fashioned way. I've been using the book Beard on Bread by James Beard. It has been fun. I feel centered and purposeful when I make bread. I find mixing the ingredients with a wooden spoon and kneeding with my hands relaxing. I thought bread making would be difficult but it isn't. It is just time consuming. My co-workers love to come into the office on a Monday morning and sample whatever I made over the weekend. Sometimes they get my mistakes (and many of my mistakes taste pretty good but don't look so great) and sometimes they get a nearly perfect loaf. The bread everyone likes the most is Moravian Bread. It tastes great and the texture of the bread in the dough form is a pleasure to work with. Oh gosh .... I guess I'm a bit of a breakmaking freak. This too shall pass!

I'm looking forward to spring when I can ride my mountain bike and then I will leave the breadmaking for next winter. I just bought a Trek mountain bike last summer and I rode about 300 miles from June to September. There is a bike path by my home and it is easy to take a 25 mile ride when you have the time. The path I take is surrounded by lovely trees and a river. I long to see the lush green of spring and summer. Nature is another passion of mine and if I had space for a garden I'd grow my own vegatables and flowers. I like the idea of walking out in your back yard and gathering food or flowers for the table. I also like the idea of working the ground. I tend not to wear gloves when I garden because I like the feel of the cold, moist dirt in my hand. I have fond memories of working with my grandma in her flower garden when I was a little girl. Such good memories.

Now the weekend is before me. I will have to see if a weekend that is unplanned is better than a weekend that is planned.

I guess I must post something

This is the very first blog of my life. How exciting!!! I have no idea what to say but it appears I must say something.

I didn't realize you have to name your blog so I picked "A parking space for thoughts" I think it works well for me. I had to make this decision quickly because I am at work and shouldn't be doing this in the first place.