TToT – Later, January!
Goodbye, January! I’m so over you. Why? Because Polar Vortex, that’s why. I never thought I’d be so happy to see the temperature read 32 degrees in my life.
Let’s get right down to business.
First, I’m going with the theme of being thankful for others’ happiness. Monday of this week, the Fab Hub took a trip to our favorite mountain to stomp around in the snow. He’s been talking about doing this forever. And so he seized a moment and went.
Well worth the trip, I think. It’s a whole different kind of beauty in the cold, winter air. I’m sorry I didn’t get to see it firsthand, but I’m glad he finally got to experience that. While purchasing a hat for his bald head in the visitor center, he also picked up a copy of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods for me! That brings me right to my second thing, which is a new book to read!
![20140201_121856[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140201_1218561-e1391289608395.jpg)
The book tucked underneath, by the way, is also Bryson. The Mother Tongue is a fantastic little romp through the ridiculous idiosyncrasies of the English language. Check him out.
I’d like to say thankful the Christmas tree is down and the first layer of de-cluttering and such is over. But, we’re not quite there. The tree is coming down TODAY and the last of the first sweep of de-cluttering will be finished by the end of the weekend. I gave myself a two-day extension for that goal due to the fact that my perfect storm of deadlines forced me to dump my fifteen minutes a day plan for about a whole week. And I will also do a little spiral dance past the Secret Guard Virgins and invoke the rule from the Polar Vortex appendix of the Book of Secret Rules/Secret Book of rules that says you can predict potential future thankfulness.
And while we’re on that subject, I am overjoyed to report that the perfect storm of deadlines has passed. All requirements have been met and it’s back to business as usual.
At some point in the last week, I figured out – albeit I think completely inadvertently – how to get a photo on my Bloglovin’ feed blurb. Did you notice that? Oh, not following me on Bloglovin’ you say? Well, go up there on the right side of the page and click that little button.
Speaking of following blogs, I got a nice little shout out on Dakotapam’s blog – and just when I thought nobody liked my Soup of the Week posts. It kind of looked like nobody was reading them and I was seriously sad about that so the mention was really nice.
I saw a couple of trailers for the movie Maleficent this week. You can check those out here. Whether you like her or not, tell me Angelina Jolie is not perfect for this part?
Kidzilla and I both week of school that included five full school days for the first time since Thanksgiving and managed to survive. We’re pretty tired since we’re so out of practice, but we’re here to tell the tale.
Last night, the BFF and I had a girls’ night date for Friday night nachos and a couple of Margaritas. We had one of the best long chats we’ve had, I think. That was completely awesome. We stayed out way past our bedtimes, but that connection time is important so I’m really glad we did it.
I actually put together a grocery list this week and shopped with purpose for some intentionally-planned meals. I feel like I haven’t been sticking to that very well in the last few weeks. It feels good to get back on track, which will fit perfectly with my February One Word goals. Come back in the early part of next week for more on that.
Finally, driving home the other evening, I got to see the fieriest pink sunset I think I’ve ever seen. It was stunning. There was one little white cloud punctuating it…just beautiful. I was driving, so a photo was not possible. The Fab Hub grabbed a photo from home, but the photo, while cool, simply does not do it justice…imagine the pinkest pink you’ve ever seen. Like Crayola’s Carnation Pink? And then set it on fire. That’s what I saw. It changed in less than a minute, but it was a perfect moment to see.
That does it for me for right now. I have a Christmas tree to put away…
While I’m doing that, share your moments of thankfulness for the week in the comments. Or even better, link ’em up and join the party!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love this? Share the love and tell someone!
41 Comments
Comments are closed.
1. I read you soup posts, enjoy them, and actually have one to suggest.
2. I am not past my deadlines so I will try to get that link to you sometime next week.
3. Also a Bryson fan! Why am I not surprised? I’ve read those two. Have you read the one about the history of the house and common things in the house. I might like that one best. The problem is, they’re so chock full of facts, I forget them all as I turn the page.
Oh, please do send a soup! Monday’s soup post is going to be one someone suggested and it was great! It’s like soup swap. 🙂
Not surprised we both like Bryson. I don’t think I’ve read that one, though.
Good luck on the deadlines!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Corn-Soup-Topped-with-Roasted-Corn-Guacamole-352975
This was really interesting and delicious, but I feel the need to warn you the lime taste is strong (but good). What’s amazing is that The Dude doesn’t like a strong citrus taste, and he thought this soup was amazing. Also, I used frozen corn, a white onion, no jalapeno (because my kids can’t handle heat), and ended up having to forego the avocado (to my disappointment) because ours was hard as a rock. I’d use one next time, though. Also, used an immersion blender rather than moving the soup back and forth from pot to food processor. That seemed like unnecessary work and dish doing.
Oh, I did add some Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning instead of salt to give it a little zip. As Tony recommends, I “use it on everything.” I grew up in Cajun country so I love the stuff.
That does look delicious. We all love lime, so no worries there. I’d probably have to skip the jalapeno for Zilla because she definitely isn’t up to the heat of those yet. I could keep the avocado for Zilla and me, but the Hub won’t touch it. I’d have to do salsa on top for him, I think, but it would work. I agree the immersion blender would be the way to go – that switching thing is nonsense. If all I ever use my immersion for is soup, it’s well worth the price. This would definitely be a good one to try – and a challenge to get everybody’s preferences in line! 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion – I pinned it and it’s on the list! I may try it with frozen corn, but I’m already looking forward to the CSA box and some fresh ears!
A Walk in the Woods was my first introduction to Bill Bryson. I love his books.
Also, I love your soup of the week posts. Keep ’em coming!
I’ve never read A Walk in the Woods, but since we’ve started hiking together, it looked like a great read. I must’ve picked it up and put it back on the shelf ten times when we were up at the mountain sanctuary. But now I can finally read it!
Glad you like the soups – and I definitely have more! This week we’re having a lentil soup – nice and hearty!
I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear someone else’s tree is still up… All the ornaments are put away, but the tree (ok – tree*s*) are still there.
Great post and fun blog hop! 😉
Well, the tree is now down and packed away, but it took over a month to get it there! Thanks for coming by, Lisa – and yes, it is a great blog hop!
Yay for putting holiday stuff away and decluttering! I love sunsets, and the pink sounds amazin. Great you made it through your first weeks of 5-days a week school again. I remember how hard it was going back to work after I was sick, and I could not take my afternoon nap any more 🙂 Have a great weekend, Lisa!!
I am happy to report that the tree is actually put away! Finally!
Oh, the afternoon naps…yeah, those have been part of my snow days for sure. Looks like we might be looking at more this week. I’m trying to decide if that’s a bad thing or a good thing…
How did I not know about Maleficent?! We are a total Disney movie family. The kids still get at least one Disney movie every Christmas though now I buy them three at a time since they travel off with them in different directions. This in on my list!
I saw some really early press on it a long time ago and then it disappeared. I was starting to wonder if they hadn’t pulled the plug. Definitely hasn’t seen as much hype as most Disney ventures. But now that there are trailers out, I’m so excited to see this!
Have you seen Frozen? Gosh, we just loved that one! Best one I’ve seen in a long time.
A Walk in the Woods… fab book! Lovely pictures of the snow tromp!
congrats on meeting the deadlines and getting in a full school week! with margueritas thrown in for good measure how can ya go wrong?
After the full week of school, we needed the Margaritas! 😀 Glad so many people liked this book – now I really want to tear into it!
Oh my gosh! I love Bill Bryson! I have a copy of A Walk in the Woods that I recently bought and look forward to reading when I’m done with Blue Highways.
Such an awesome hubby you have for buying it for you!
Hi, Kim. I keep trying to decide if I should bust into the Bryson right away or finish the Guinevere trilogy I have waiting…and waiting…poor girl keeps getting pushed to the back of the pile. 🙂 And yeah, he’s pretty great.
That description of the sunset you saw is simply DELICIOUS! I’m glad you got to see it.
WOW! OKAY so I’ve been TOTALLY under a rock because I had NO IDEA AT ALL about that movie, and it’s going to be INCREDIBLE! I love Anglina Jolie and if Disney haven’t made a complete mess of it, I reckon it’ll be a really good film. Hearkens a *little* of Narnia and LOTR, to see some of the battle scenes previewed, though, so I really hope they’ve worked hard to make it special and a bit different.
Congrats on your shout-out for the soup. I’m undecided about soup, generally. I eat it, but I don’t seek it out.
I LOVE that you had BFF time, even if it made you late for bed. It sounds so worthwhile.
And those photos. Too cold. GOODBYE WINTER – TAKE THE HINT AND LEAVE ALREADY!
Yeah, it was absolutely gorgeous – and the photo just didn’t even come close, so it wasn’t worth bothering. Had to try and capture it in words.
The battle scenes immediately made me think Narnia and LOTR – which is not a bad thing, but you’re right. I’d like a little something different. But maybe that part will convince the Fab Hub to go with me.
Yeah, the photos were lovely but the cold would have been a bit much for me. He has a much higher tolerance for cold than I do.
OH! And, if you like Bill Bryson or books about English, you will LOVE David Crystal. He’s like BB to the power of a million wonderfuls.
Crystal – thanks for the recommendation. I really gotta get myself on Goodreads.
Glad you made your deadlines and got great books from your hubby on his trek to the mountains. Those were gorgeous pictures. I will follow you on bloglovin and I want to see the picture of the sunset. It sounds so lovely. I enjoyed reading your post tonight.
Oh, the picture the Hub took of the sunset is nowhere close to what I saw, Mary – it’s not even close. 🙂 Thanks for following and for reading! Glad you enjoyed the post.
It sounds like you guys had a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing it with us!! Those were awesome photos!
Well, I was warm inside – only the Hub went on this one. Solo walk. I think the snow on the mountain is indeed beautiful, but that’s way too cold for me!
I so with you on never being so happy in my life for seeing 32 degrees and feeling as though we won the lottery and having a heatwave all at once! If I never see it that cold again my life it will be too soon. And we also had a full week finally of school here again and it was glorious!! 🙂
Glorious and exhausting – it’s like nobody knows how to go a full week anymore. Sadly…we have snow and ice in our forecast for two days this week. Argh!
“the Book of Secret Rules/Secret Book of rules that says you can predict potential future thankfulness.”
excellent Secret Rulificationing there, Ms. Me!
Thank you, Clark. Thank you very much. And may I say that rulificationing is a fabulous use of the language! 😉
I hear ya. Growing up in NY, at first everyone is so happy to see snow, but this is the time when it starts getting old really quick. I’m so glad to hear your little one had their first full week of school since Thanksgiving. Wow! Stay warm!
Yes, “old” is exactly how this snow feels. SO over it. I’m not a warm weather freak, but I’ll be pretty happy to see spring this year!
That view looks amazing in your second photo. So beautiful!
And you have just shown me that they are doing a Disney Villain movie – so I am now very excited about that. Thanks so much! I tweeted you in thanks – but you don’t seem to have twitter (unless I missed it), so you may just have to take my word for that …. Ursula is my favourite – but Angelina as Malificent has potential…. wee!
That is probably our favorite view on that trail. I love how different it looks, depending on the season.
No, you didn’t miss it – I don’t have a Twitter or a Facebook or any of those. Other than this blog, I’m kind of a social media hater, I guess. 🙂 I do like my Pinterest, though – mostly because I find so many recipes to try!
Ursula is also a fantastic villain – LOVE her song “Poor Unfortunate Souls” in that movie.
Oh my, the polar vortex…it certainly makes for some good photos. Your photos look really awesome. However, I wouldn’t want to be going through that anytime soon. And right now I’m thinking about how grateful I don’t have to experience it. I was in the heart of it in Minnesota a year ago and now I”m all the way down in Houston, TX enjoying the mild weather. It’s crazy how often I get to go out in only a long sleeve shirt in January. That’s one reason why i’m glad I moved.
Yeah, we’re not exactly loving the frigid temps – when it hit 32 yesterday, we thought it was spring! And in the 40s today? Heat wave.
And tonight into tomorrow…more snow. Oh, well. Makes for great photos, right?
I have never heard of Bill Bryson! I will have to put him on my must read list.
Sounds like a wonderful night with your friend. I love nights like that.
Yay to being done with all of the deadlines and being able to get back to decluttering! Glad you were able to get the tree down like you wanted.
Oh how I love a good sunset. Too bad they never look as good in a photo as they do in real life. But then, it’s probably better that way. Such things really snap you into the moment and get you to stop thinking about your to-do list.
Bill Bryson is great – kind of like humor meets satire meets travel writing and other stuff. He’s very funny – I think you’d like him.
The sunsets probably should just stay a moment in time and memory – then they can just be awesome. But it was a shame not to be able to really share it. 🙁
The tree is gone and I am back to de-cluttering…looks like more snow and ice this week, so there will likely be plenty of time to catch up. Can’t decide if that’s a yay or a sigh reaction.
I’m excited for Meleficient and you are going to love A Walk in the Woods- that was sweet of him to bring you home a book!
Well, it’s snowing and school’s cancelled (again) so I think I’ll do some cooking, cleaning, and reading. Not a bad way to spend a day.
I do love your soup posts. You have a knack for making soup-making very entertaining and warm and easy and delicious.
Yesterday the Maleficent trailer came on the TV while my daughter and I were in the living room together doing something else but not watching TV. It was like the music stopped as it caught our attention simultaneously – we sat transfixed to the screen. I can’t wait for this one!!!
Aw, thanks! They are one of my favorite things that I do on the blog. I just really think that some people hate soup because of the whole canned soup thing – it’s why my Hub hated it. Well that and his mom used to buy him copious amounts of it when he was a young bachelor. Soup can be good and satisfying and not a half-baked meal. Maybe that just comes through.
I am SO excited for Maleficent. I don’t think we’ll be taking Zilla to this one although she is absolutely transfixed by the trailers. Maybe we should wonder about this movie…hmm.
[…] times, always promising to grab it somewhere when I saw a better price. I never did buy it and he surprised me with it when he took his solo trip up there to photograph the mountain in the snow. I had it on my nightstand, but shelved it during The Great Clean and Purge and kind of forgot […]