What I Did On My Staycation

Someone at work said staycations are "out," but I beg to differ. I took a few days off prior to the 4th, so with the holiday weekend thrown in, I enjoyed 6.5 glorious days at home to do, for the most part, whatever the hell I wanted. It was the perfect mix of relaxing, accomplishing, playing, doing chores and visiting. After years of traveling, it was nice to spend so much time at home with my only agenda a to-do list that I (and I alone) created.

Lenore couldn't play too much on account of her recovering from the "permanent accessory" installation (i.e., she got her boobs), but she joined in on few activities. Not totally in order, the majority of "ing" things accomplished included:

Farmer's marketing (2 different markets!)
Kayaking
Biking
Black raspberry picking (lots!)
Bread baking
Gardening (weeding, planting, edging, mulching...)
Bush trimming (with dad's help)
Facebooking
Reading
Napping
Hoops snuggling
Mowing
Food savoring (with the food saver thingee)
Bandidts watching
Eating
Fireworks watching
Menards browsing

Also, we munched the summer's first sweet corn (corm!) and we made pancakes in the crockpot (!!). Seriously -- here's proof. Comes out like a giant scone! (This was an organic, whole grain/birdseed mix, but I think you could use any mix or recipe -- just grease your crock and "bake" for 2-3 hours on high.)



A few notes on the list above:
The days leading up to the 4th were cool and not humid, so I broke out the bread-baking supplies and made a few whole grain, no-knead loaves of bread. I had gotten a "new" covered Pyrex casserole dish at a rummage sale, so I had to try it out (it works great!). (Note, if you watch the video from the hyperlink, I don't bother with the steam, I just use a covered dish instead.) We froze and food savored the loaves for subsequent hot days.

Also, I have to summarize my many berry picking excursions. I found a great spot, but since it's on a well-traveled road, I think other poachers were visiting it. There was one lady who actually had the GALL to make a move toward picking berries RIGHT NEXT TO ME!! Hello? I had an overwhelming urge to pee on the bushes. But I didn't, and luckily, she moved on. My next ploy, however, was to enthusiastically talk to her about accepting Jesus as her personal savior. I know that'd make *me* move along.

Luckily, I found an even better spot, somewhat more secluded, and with bigger, sweeter berries (no, I'm not telling!). However, one couple did happen along, and the woman commented to her beau that they "should come back and pick some berries!" Again, I refrained from marking my territory, but I did comment lightly, "Yeah, they're good, you just have to watch out for snakes..." Then she was all, "OMG, snakes! I'm not going in there!" Heh heh. It's not like I was lying -- you should always be on the lookout for snakes, shouldn't you? Lenore says I'm going to hell.



The Chicago Bandits game (dad went too) was a hoot, because once again we had entertaining fans in front of us. This time it was an extended family of young parents and their sunburned offspring, all with sun bleached hair and nonstop activity. One of the kids discovered that the ticket stubs entitled the bearer to THREE free items from the concession stand. I cannot begin to describe the excitement that rippled through this family, but suffice it to say, as my dad observed, "These guys are like a hoard of locusts! There's not going to be anything left!" As it turns out, that special deal was supposed to be for people in the VIP section (who paid a lot more for their tickets than us'ns in the cheap seats), but nobody bothered to tell the kids working the concession stand. Oops. If that weren't enough, these industrious chilluns also discovered they could win two-for-one passes by pitching a ball through a hoop behind the bleachers, so they spent a good deal of time rotating through that line numerous times. Impressed, I considered hiring one to win me a pass, or perhaps adopting one or two of them.

Later that same weekend, we attended a "Death by Chocolate" Fourth of July party, to which we brought special-order "Bite Me" cookies from my high school friend Pattie. She made special chocolate sugar cookies for me and gave me a deal, since it was her first time making chocolate. Are they not divine? My co workers enjoyed leftovers.



Since the name is "bite me," I had to prove that I could follow directions.



Steph and Jane were hosts, and since Steph is village president of Sleepy Hollow (the only town that even had fireworks in Dundee Township this year, despite the fact that they have virtually no sales tax income -- now that's how you set priorities!), we got ringside seats. Steph also made the most wonderful lemon zest beer ... fantastic!




Speaking of eating (and aren't we always?), I bought some *really* expensive rosemary olive oil at the market, which I'm putting on just about everything (in keeping with our attempt to follow a more Mediterranean diet), Lenore and I lunched with mom at Diamond Jim's, where Lenore had a fantastic Tallgrass Beef burger, and we also visited one of our favorite eateries, ReMark's Cafe. We had not been in around Lenore's birthday, so Renee made sure Lenore got a belated treat (not on the M. diet, but also not bad, as it's a lemon "pound" cake made with yogurt).




As part of my depot board duties, I helped design and procure some reusable shopping bags for the farmer's market. They turned out really cute -- only $2 each, so everyone should prolly get one in each color, don't you think? A gal should always match her shoes with her bag...



Gosh, I had kind of procrastinated posting this recap, because I thought it would be difficult to summarize, but I guess I'm done. After such an active break, I kind of hated going back to my sedentary desk job. Kind of confirms, though, that I cannot wait for retirement!