04 February 2015

Less stitching, more cooking, and other nonsense

We are couple days into February, and I am already trying to talk myself back into my year-long afghan square project. The first crochet square for January went fine, but instead of going on and doing the second January crochet square I thought I should make a start on my knit afghan square. Not only did I make a royal screw-up of the pattern, but it also hurt my hands so much that I haven't even looked at yarn since I posted the square-in-progress two weeks ago. For now at least, crochet seems to be easier on my hands than knitting. I feel like such a quitter dropping the knitted squares this early in the year, but I know myself. If I force myself to finish the knitted January square before I move on to anything else, then I will just keep putting it off and not get anything done. So for now, I'm setting the 2015 Block-A-Month Knit-along aside and moving forward with the crocheted squares.

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This week I've spent some quality time with my slow cooker on both of my days off.  I think I'm cooking to avoid my homework because I can't think of a premise for my project! At any rate, today I am trying my hand at making congee, which is an Asian rice porridge that you can dress up with any manner of flavorings. ABM accidentally made something similar when he tried to make chicken and rice soup and the kids enjoyed it, so I figured I should try making it on purpose.

C1 has expressed an interest in cooking her meals ahead for the week. I explained to her the concept of once-a-month cooking, and we may end up trying it. I tried it once 15+ years ago with little success and I keep meaning to try it again now that I am more experienced in the kitchen. There are also more once-a-month cookbooks out with different recipes that may work better for me.

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It's been over a year since I started my current job. I am still fighting the blues, but I guess you could say I am making some progress. I've gone from being physically ill before every shift to being resigned to the fact that this is my life right now. Even after ABM finds a job, I won't be able to quit because we've got to dig ourselves out of debt. So my life now isn't about me being happy; it's about keeping my head up for my kids. After 21 years, I'm finally learning what it means to sacrifice for your children.

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