Cable, Basil, & a Flea Bag Motel

#31: Give Up Cable:  Well, we finally pulled the plug.  I knew it was time when Jenelle from Teen Mom 2 got a new lawyer and I barely noticed.  So far I’m not missing being able to veg out on the couch, but I’m not the only person who lives in this house so we’ll see how long this lasts.

 

Caption: Feeling smug about our cancelation paperwork.

 

I should point out that this is not our first time being a cable-free household.  We didn’t have cable when we lived in New Mexico, and sometimes we would go stay in a hotel just to watch “LA Ink” and “Flip This House.”

 

I use the word “hotel” lightly, by the way.  At best, these places were “motels”. At worst they were “flea bag motels.”  But they had cable.  

 

Don’t worry:  the first time I’m tempted to go get a room at the roadhouse, I’ll be back on the horn with Cincinnati Bell.

#1: Run a Half Marathon: I registered for the Queen Bee, which is October 11th.  I’ve been in FULL TRAINING MODE, which basically means I’m eating everything in sight.  Last night I found myself in the kitchen at midnight, eating half a jar of peanut butter with a spoon.  When I finally came to bed, Donnie asked what I had been doing and I had to admit that I had been “smashing.”  This was after I had eaten TWO black bean burgers and a peanut butter brownie for dinner.  

If anyone tries to tell you that distance running will make you lose weight, don’t believe them. Running just makes you hungry.  

The good news is I feel great, especially considering that in May I was limping from a phantom stress fracture.  And last weekend I ran farther than I’ve ever run in my life: 13.25 miles.  This is longer than a half-marathon so I feel half inclined to go ahead and check the box next to this one, but it wasn’t in a race so I don’t know if it technically meets my “This is the Year” goal.  

But as long as I can stay injury-free (and stay off Web MD) until October I should be fine.  

 

Caption:  Feeling smug after a long run.

 

#6: Study Yoga:  I forgot to mention that when Donnie and I went to Michigan at the beginning of this month, we put on a running and yoga camp for ourselves. The way this worked is that every morning Donnie would accompany me on a training run and every evening I would lead a 30-minute yoga flow.  Except while I was leading the yoga flow, Donnie would be sitting in the bedroom drinking a beer and watching the tube.  
 

This was my view during evening yoga:  

 

 

#5: Plant My Own Herbs:  Since I moved my basil to the back porch and let the sun apply its mystical powers of photosynthesis, this bush has really blossomed.  Here is a photo progression:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last two photos are two of the things I’ve made with my homegrown basil:  zucchini-basil tacos and basil-gouda snacks for our Sunday block party.  

 

#15: Join a Book Club:  We had our August book club meeting at Ashley and Tony's house by their pool.  The selection was, appropriately, “We are Water”.  

 

Donnie kicked some book club butt by providing a detailed analysis of the allusions to Greek mythology.  It’s great and also slightly irritating to have someone with two degrees in English Literature/Creative Writing in the book club.  Sometimes I just want to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down and throw one back.  

 

Just kidding.  

 

 

Sort of.

-K.

#10: Get a Week's Worth of Groceries at Findlay Market

 

 

To me, shopping at a market is like eating a food truck: great concept, hard for me to execute.

 

When it comes to food trucks, I struggle with standing in line and waiting for my food while standing up. What am I supposed to do while I wait, pace?  It makes me feel impatient. I also really dislike eating while standing up. Because where do I sit my wine glass?  Strangely, I also hate eating while reclining. Call me old fashioned, but given the choice I prefer to eat in a chair at a table.

Markets are tough because of having to lug around your purchases and pay for things in multiple transactions. I could never buy a watermelon at a market because, hello, who’s going to carry that thing?

 

Let me just say, I fully support markets and food trucks and know that in many ways they each embody the kind of vibrancy that cities have to have. However, I am sort of a freak about creating efficiencies in my day-to-day.  And there isn’t much efficiency in hauling watermelons through hoards of people.   

 

Which is why I’ve never bought all of my groceries at Findlay Market even though I know the prices are great and the food is fresh and the vendors are local and it keeps my cash in town.  And all the cool kids are doing it.  

Donnie and I arranged to meet Maggie and Carol in the biergarten, and although it was way too early for a bier, it is never too early to chill in your jorts:  

 

 

Now, typically my grocery list looks like this:

 

 

This is two weeks of dinners laid out on top and my frequently purchased items listed on the bottom.  I knew this wouldn’t work at Findlay Market, namely because I made this template to mirror the layout of Trader Joes (see “efficiencies in daily living”, above).  

 

 

I was going to have to improvise at the market, so I drafted this little list of things I absolutely had to get to survive the week:

 

Of course, before I could look for any of this, I was distracted by the Market’s new chocolate shop, which is the city’s first “bean-to-bar” chocolate company.  The owner of Maverick gave us samples and talked to us about how the beans made into chocolate bars.

 

 

Not a day goes by that I don’t eat a couple squares of dark chocolate so I was hanging on his every word.  At $7.95 a bar this stuff isn’t cheap, but I splurged and bought a bar of the Fahrenheit 513, which is a dark chocolate with a spicy finish.  Here is a shot of where the magic happens:

 

Next, we wandered through the farmer stands, sampling tomatoes and apples and loading up on what seemed like a dozen different kinds of kale.  

 

 

We couldn’t have picked a better morning to give it a shot:  a mid-August day that felt like October, the summer produce at its peak.

 

 

 

Inside, I bought a pound of fresh cottage cheese from Gibbs but wasn’t able to find any yogurt or almonds.  I also skipped on buying the only bag of coffee beans I could find because I had blown my budget for luxury items on chocolate and balked  at the $17 price tag.  

 

 

I also left without bananas because I was worried about bruising them while carrying so much other stuff.  I will undoubtedly regret this when my potassium-deficient legs cramp up in the middle of the night.    

 

When we got home, I unloaded our haul on the island so we could see how we made out:

 

 

All of this for about $45, including the chocolate, not including the cat.  Good thing I like salads.  

Emer was interested, but Donnie said that he cannot survive on kale and is worried he will be hungry all week.  

 

 

 

 

He must have forgotten that I keep enough oatmeal in my cupboard to feed an entire summer camp.  I’m sure we’ll be fine. 

 

 

 

-K.