Even More Merry!

I just up and took Monday off! I had plenty of PTO days left, and Shan was suprirsed I was planning to be here Monday the 23rd, and she said, as she handed me a Peppermint Mocha she bought for me, "it isn't too late to request it..." So I did! And she approved. Yay! (Isn't she the best boss? I am very lucky.)

Now I get a whole week for Christmas and today is IT, and the last half of today I'm going to work from home anyway, because Alex, my dear 15yo Alex who spends so many of his half-days and days off at our house, without transportation or anyplace to go, just him and the cats.... was invited to "hang out with" 3 boys from his Spanish 2 class. The kid never asks for anything, and so even though we don't know the other kids, we are trusting him and trusting that their parents will be home (fingers crossed) and shifting our plans so he can go socialize for a while. (I'll stay home with Kate instead of him staying with her, as was planned.)

All this to say, I'm so happy we've finally made it to the end of this week. NOTHING is going on at my office anyway, or inside my laptop. No emails. Our German headquarters is already closed for the next 2 weeks, and our sales force, whom I support, has checked out. (I mean, Salespeople, they're on their own schedules all year round, right?)

Next Monday, Kate has scheduled a little lunch-date with her current group of girl friends, and I also have a lunch-date scheduled with my girl friend, and so it's starting to feel pretty festive slash laid-back around here.

We successfully prepared and ate our 2 meals from Hello, Fresh. The Bulgogi Pork with jasmine rice and roasted carrots was DELICIOUS. The Pineapple Chicken Quesadillas were, too, but less impressive since we eat quesadillas and pico often enough. But there's something I can't put my finger on about the HF meals... something about how "fussy" they seem to prepare. Maybe it's all the garnishing? (White sesame seeds AND lime zest AND finely chopped green onion? I would never do all that for my own recpies, although I guess the plates looked nice...) Or is it the packaging? When I cook with regular grocery-store bottles and boxes, things get put away back into the pantry -- but with HF, every time you use an ingredient, you have to throw something away. OR in my case, set it aside to be rinsed/recycled later, making the countertops seem messy and the whole affair unfinished... maybe it's that. I can't decide. Maybe I just felt rushed because they were planned for school nights. I liked the meals, though, and it's a good way to get out of a meal-making rut. I have skipped the next couple of weeks, but will plan to order at least one more time after the holidays. It is a pretty good deal, cost-wise. Thanks, Suz!! Anyone want a free box? I have invites.

I messed up a pot of ham and white beans the other night. HOW in the world I messed them up, I have no idea. I forgot to soak them overnight, but I know a trick for that: bring them to a boil, cover and let sit for an hour. Presto! Mom has done that for years. I've done it before. So that's what I did, then put them in the crockpot for 6.5 hours on low, as my recipe suggested. But they came out HARD! Not at all soft, even though ONE thing I messed up was I think I doubled the amount of water. Still, it doesn't seem like that would make a difference. Seems like it would even help! But no, the entire pot had to be thrown out, after we'd tasted and tried to eat them. At least beans are cheap. I bought them at Target, maybe they were defective? Who knows. Alex has been teasing me about "not even being able to cook BEANS." As if HE knows how. ;)