Day 51 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

L.’s Sangria…

Saturday. 10/17/20

6:00 – I wake up because I can hear light traffic.  I put my earbuds in, turn on a podcast, and go back to sleep.

8:30 – 9:30 - I crawl out of the tent and head for the shower. I slept really well last night.

9:30 – 11:00 - B. wakes up and I make us coffee.  We sit outside on the patio table, look out at his “golf-course backyard”, and talk politics. I eat a plain yogurt with apples and walnuts that I brought from home.

11:00 – 12:45 - I load everything in my car and take off. I drive straight to Food 4 Less and buy bags of salad and Keurig cups.

12:45 – 1:10 – Gas

1:10-1:30 –To Starbucks for another coffee with my gift card.

1:40-2:30 – I unpack everything, start a load of laundry, and start boiling chicken and eggs.

2:30-4:30 – I continue grading papers from Specialty Class No. 2.

4:30 - 6:00 - Just when I’m ready to start doing yard work, my neighbor starts his barbecue and waves upon waves of smoke pour into the yard. I stay inside and start making the chicken soup. The chicken is done boiling and I shred it and put it in a Dutch Oven. I’m ready to add the chicken broth but realize that I forgot to put it on L.’s list a few days ago!!!

I talk to L. and we also discuss how best to make the Sangria completely alcohol-free as we had originally planned on adding Triple Sec for the orange flavor. L. says she actually needs orange extract but couldn’t find it anywhere, even though she and her friend, N., called several grocery stores. I’m certain it’s at Ralphs, on McBean. This is a grocery store in an expensive area and carries niche items. L. is going to N.’s work to get some lights for our soiree and says she will pick up chicken broth and orange extract on the way home.

While I wait, I steam baby carrots in the microwave, then chop celery. When the carrots are done, I add them to the chicken soup and then steam the celery, too. In the interim, I clean the kitchen multiple times and go through the refrigerator, organizing and getting rid of older food items to make room for the soiree food items. I listen to Tom Brown’s Body, an excellent cold crime series!! Highly recommend. L. returns with SIX bottles of extract, when I think she will only use a few drops. Spoiler Alert - L. ends up using one bottle of orange extract for the sangria.

6:00 - 9:30 - the smoke is finally gone so I can start my yard work. I clean the red-rock bed of ALL leaves which is sooo time consuming - they have to be removed by hand and because it’s so late, I have to use a flashlight. I also pull out every blue/green crystal from the rock bed so I can wash them in dishwashing soap and return their shine. There is a ton of sweeping and trimming to be done, followed by hosing down the astroturf and watering all of my plants. I remove the pillow cases from the outdoor pillows and start a load of laundry. The yard is done - I just need to set it up tomorrow. I listen to the entire series of Underdog: Beto vs. Cruz, about Beto O’Rourke’s senatorial loss to Senator Ted Cruz in the state of Texas. The series was pretty good.

L. returns with the chicken broth and orange extract, then makes the Sangria, which turns out AMAZING!!! I spike mine with champagne and it is so good.

9:30 - 10:30 - Back inside, and I add the chicken broth, then saute a sliced onion separately, to soften, and add to the soup. More kitchen clean up and I put the soup in the fridge. It’s done. I listen to more episodes of Tom Brown’s Body.

11:00 - R. comes over and brings me a Peppermint Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. Thanks R!!

11:00-12:00 - I record an AUDIO Syllabus for my new 8-week class and L. air drops it just in time since it’s almost Sunday and I.T. is supposed to be performing an upgrade the entire day and Canvas will be down. I’m not sure when they’re starting, however. I check Canvas and it’s still up so I send an email blast to all of my enrolled students, welcoming them to the class, and instructing them to sign onto the Discussion Board at 8:30 on Monday. I also tell them that Canvas will be down most of Sunday.

12:00-1:00 - I make the Red Lobster buttermilk biscuits. I eat some of the biscuit batter - I can’t help myself, it’s so good. Kitchen duty afterwards.

1:00-2:00 - I shut all the Halloween lights off and lock up. Night time routine and bed.