How is it mid-May already??? The time has passed so weirdly during this pandemic and it’s truly hard to keep track. My last day of work was March 17, and then it felt like the last two weeks of March took 5 years to pass by. And then April was gone in a blink? And now it’s May?!?! Time really flies when you have nowhere to go and nothing to do I guess.
I officially completed my two online classes, which feels weird because May felt so far off when I started in January. (WHAT IS TIME???) I’m really happy to finally be done, and to have finished with good grades in both (patting myself on the back here). It really did make me feel bad for everyone at colleges and universities across the country who have had to transition to the online class format, which is a lot to get used to. I mean, in some ways it’s a nice break to be able to study on your own time and not have so much stress from all of the extras of college life, but it’s also really hard to stay motivated when you’re stuck at home 24/7. Anyway, I’m done and I know my family is very excited for me to finally get rid of my E. coli cultures that I’ve had to keep in the house.
What’s Cooking in Quarantine?
I lost my momentum last week, but bounced back a little bit this week by making ~toasted ravioli~. It was really easy to do, and it was easy to make enough to have some for later. It was a nostalgic kind of recipe that tapped into a very specific memory. Back when I was in elementary school, there was a fundraiser for our Home & School Association called Market Day, that sold unique groceries and frozen meals from a catalogue, and one that I specifically remember was toasted ravioli. We loved them, and for some reason I’ve never been able to find anything like it. So I made some myself.
We had a package of frozen beef ravioli from Wegman’s, so I let that thaw for a bit before starting my prep. All it takes is a classic flour-egg-breadcrumbs assembly line, and then baking in the oven until crisp. It’s important to coat in flour first, so that the egg has something to stick to, but overall it’s a pretty easy and standard method for breading anything.
What I really love about these, other than the nostalgia factor, is that you end up eating less ravioli than you would if you made a bowl of them. You can dip them in pasta sauce, and they’re a cute appetizer or snack that’s filling without being too much of a carb overload like an entire serving of pasta.
I’m trying to brainstorm more recipes to try, but I’m still feeling very lazy. I might go back to baking things, or maybe I’ll go on my Pinterest page and pick one of the random recipes I’ve pinned over the years. I have plenty of time to do it all so there’s no rush.
Other Hobbies to Pass the Time
I didn’t include my book club section because I’m still (sluggishly) reading the same book from last week, but hoping to make some progress this weekend when the weather warms up and I can sit out in the sun.
Speaking of weather, it has been COLD here this week. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t felt like it’s May yet? I’m just very ready for some summer weather so we can spend more time outside. I may even escape to Cape Cod with Alex once it gets warm enough, which would be a nice change of scenery for quarantine.
We’re also still watching Narcos, but have added Parks and Recreation to the mix for when we want to watch something light. Yes, I know it may be odd that I’ve never seen Parks and Rec, but it always just seemed like a worse version of The Office. To be fair, it kind of is. I’m not a HUGE fan of the show, and a lot of the characters annoy me, but Michael Schurr is such a genius comedy writer that a lot of it is pretty funny.
I’m so bored some days that I actually clean for fun. A few weeks ago I decided to mop our whole house, which honestly was pretty soothing, and now that I think about it I probably need to mop again soon. My daily chore that I’ve given myself is unloading and then re-loading the dishwasher, in addition to my other self-assigned task of being in charge of Roomba. Yesterday I vacuumed and cleaned out the Jeep that Luke and I share, and it was in desperate need of a good scrubbing, so I’m feeling accomplished. Is it time for my nap yet?
Linda and I took on the task of refinishing a piece of our furniture, and we started out a little rocky. Not really knowing how to do any of this, we got advice from our local hardware store staff (whom we love), and started our little project. We thought we had sanded it enough by hand, so we went ahead and put the stain on. We were wrong. The stain pretty much all came off immediately, so Linda ordered us an electric sander that instantly made our lives a million times easier.
I spent the afternoon on Mother’s Day sanding while Linda relaxed and watched me, and then we stained the top and it looked great. This week I’ve been working on painting the base a pretty ocean-y blue color to match the color scheme of our living room and we really love it so far. I need to finish the second coat and then we need to seal the stain and we’ll be all set! I’m not going to reveal the paint and stain until it’s done, so stay tuned for the finished product.
In my boredom I’ve also dyed my hair pink, but I’ll get into that later. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! PLEASE STAY HOME and keep social distancing. Just because businesses are opening back up doesn’t mean you can go back to normal yet! Our lawmakers are idiots and think we’ll be fine but there is still such a high risk of spreading it so PLEASE STAY HOME.
Mazel of the Week:
John Krasinski has been hosting an uplifting “news” show online called “Some Good News”, and it’s been adorable every single week, but this week he invited the cast of The Office to recreate their dance from Jim and Pam’s wedding. The dance has always been funny for how it accurately captures the personality of each character, so to see it brought back to life to bring a smile to everyone’s faces was perfect. It was a surprise for a newlywed couple, but it was enjoyed by Office fans around the world. Every episode has been so fun to watch, but I especially loved this one. Check them out on Youtube!
Jackhole of the Week
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has JUST NOW decided to arrest the two men responsible for murdering Ahmaud Arbery back in February. The fact that two white men tracked down, hunted, and murdered an innocent and unarmed black man is absolutely disgusting, but what’s even worse is that they were allowed to go about their normal life until the video surfaced and went viral this week. The police department and the GBI need to do better. If the video hadn’t gone viral, they wouldn’t have been pressured into acting on it. It’s hard to believe that in 2020 white people are allowed to get away with racist, hateful actions, but here we are.
Favorite Memes of the Week
Comments