Break Day

I woke up this morning (at 10 am) and the swelling was almost all gone! Amazing. The redness and itching has decreased exceptionally. Unfortunately, I then pushed myself by going out into Carrboro and going exploring- went to a bunch of thrift stores and to the grocery store, wore a long sleeve shirt the entire time (both to protect myself from the sun and to stop people walking away from me in a ten foot radius like I am a leper).

It is a really, really cool town and I very much enjoyed meeting the people that I met and seeing the hippie town on foot. People are so friendly down here! I didn't buy anything (I am definitely getting low on cash), though I almost bought a mug for Geoff that said "friends don't let friends get cats"- he absolutely hates cats, which I find amusing since he works at a big cat rescue. Anyway, once I started to get tired after about two hours out, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a foil roasting pan, a 3 pound round roast, carrots, celery and potatoes for dinner. Figured with how nice the boys have been to me I should do a little something for them. I also picked up a southern treat- Cheerwine, a cherry-flavored soda that is only slightly carbonated and mildly sweet, but very, very good. I am definitely picking up a couple cases on my way home, money shortage or not. I will be glad to be paid for my pet sitting when I get back home!

I noticed when I got back to the townhouse that my hand had re-swollen some, and my right arm as well. Now I know what happens when I push myself! I then relaxed, played rock band with Josh and Bill (Geoff works on Saturdays), and put the roast in the oven... and so began the disaster that was attempting to make dinner. I chopped up potatoes, threw them in a pot, chopped up zucchini and squash, had everything cooking and set up to finish with the roast at 6:45pm  (2 hours of roast-in-oven). No potato masher, no hand mixer... Hmmm... found a meat mallet and a gallon sized bag and went to town. This actually worked pretty well for my mashed potatoes, and got me some mildly chunky results. Then realized I didn't have enough butter for my mashed potatoes and my zucchini, so I sacrificed the zucchini and just salted and peppered them. The timer goes off, I pull the roast out of the oven, cut it open.... and it is still rare! Yikes. I forgot to take into account that I was using a foil pan and not an actual roasting pan, and so it would need about 1/2 hour- 45 minutes longer- but everything else was done. So I pulled out the roast and cut off the edges that were well-medium cooked, and put the rest back in the oven. Of course in the cutting off, I didn't think to pull the roast out of the pan, poked a hole in the foil, lost half my juice all over the stove top, shoved a plate underneath... etc. A mess. I will never again take all of my kitchen tools for granted!!

I made some gravy in the microwave (as I normally just use the roasting pan on the stove), and by then I had enough food to feed Bill and Josh- Geoff had a date so he missed out tonight. They were happy enough with my food, went back for thirds and practically licked their plates clean! By the time the rest of the roast was done, we had just finished up the first part of it, so it worked out pretty well, with plenty of leftovers. And a lot of cleanup. But it was warm, hot food that didn't come from a microwaveable package, so my stomach was quite happy. Josh and Bill also cleaned up the dishes/mess for me, so that was incredibly nice.

At the end of my day, I am quite tired... thinking of slipping into  a lukewarm bath (the doctor mentioned that this helps with the poison) and relaxing some more with a good book- then to bed! Not sure what I will do tomorrow, but I know I need to make sure I keep it pretty laid back because I missed all the big kitties today and I want to make sure I am in top shape for Monday!

An update on the home front: A couple weeks ago, my mom began reclaiming the extra/unneeded furniture around the house for Serenity (the house in VA). It is practically unfurnished down there, and with a house full of unappreciated or not necessarily needed furniture (the one I am living in), my mom rightly saw no need to buy more. So we have been pulling all the non-essentials and taking them down to VA. Me and Jared have begun to look for our own furniture for the house, mostly at auctions. So far we have gotten a coffee table and two end tables that are oak and extremely nice, and yesterday my aunt shot me a facebook message saying that she and her new husband had a lot of extra furniture after combining households. Well the timing could not have been better! My sweet Jared is going down tomorrow with truck and trailer and bringing home a house full of new stuff! I cannot wait to see it (or what he does with it all). While I have always hated change (especially of furniture, houses, people, etc.), my jaunt to NC has so far helped me to get past this... with both a sense of humor and an adventurous attitude. I guess you never know what things you will learn about yourself when you completely uproot and surround yourself with strangers and a strange environment. So far I have learned that I have much more courage, strength and humor within me than I ever thought, as well as some rusty social skills that polish off quite nicely. Who knew?

~Rich With Life~