School Bells and Repurposed Salads

I worked from home yesterday. And am working from home today, as well. I hadn't planned on being at home this morning, but I fell into the email abyss at 7:30 and before I knew it, the school bell had rung at 8:20 and I was going to be "late" for work. I live next to an elementary school. There is an 8:15 warning bell and an 8:20 "butts in seats bell". One of my favorite things about these bells is that the 8:15 evokes a scream from all of the kids on the playground. Throughout the day, you can hear the children laughing and playing at their different recesses, but it doesn't matter if it is the first day of school or the last, the kids always scream at the 8:15 bell. It is an interesting phenomenon, and I'm sure someone, somewhere has studied this, but is it a scream of "OMG I Have to go to school!" or a scream of "let's go, let's go, don't be late"? Whichever it is, it makes me smile. The innocence of childhood. The joy of play. It makes me happy.

I find that I tend to work longer hours when at home. I get caught up into the groove and time has passed. I guess it is that feeling that you have to "prove" you are working. I am trying hard, though, to use my time given. We have an hour for lunch. Most of the time, I work through it. I have to be intentional about using my lunch break and when I do, it makes the rest of the day so much better! Today's break is bringing you this lovely post! Are you good about using your lunch break?

One advantage of working from home is that I have access to my kitchen. I guess this can be a disadvantage, too, as then I have access to the bad things in my kitchen! At least in the office, if I'm hungry, I can't go and rummage the pantry or the fridge. But, yesterday, I made myself a tasty salad for lunch with some chicken sausage pulled from the freezer and warmed up. I went ahead and made a huge salad so that dinner's salad would be ready for consumption. The plan yesterday was to finish working at 5 and head to the gym. Before I knew it, it was 5:45 and Matt was getting home! Oops. So, the gym plan was reconstructed to a puppy dog run and bike ride. I've been working on teaching Dillon to ride alongside the bike, while on the leash. This has made for some slow bike rides, but she is getting the hang of it all, so am hopeful that we will soon be able to adapt this new found skill from the mountain bike to the road bike and none of us get seriously injured. We rode with Dillon over the dam by the house and to the dog park. She was a bundle of energy at the park! The ride home was certainly slower for the four legged friend, as she was tired. When we got home, Matt asked what dinner plans were, and I revealed my salad and that there was chicken marinating. He declared his desire for a margarita and mexican food. Thus, my thinking ahead salad and dinner plans got shifted to tonight's dinner. We will have some well marinated chicken!

We rode our bikes to the town center and had a lovely dinner. I didn't have a margarita, but I did indulge on some chips and salsa. Tasty tortilla chips are yet another food weakness. Oh to have amazing will power! But, I did get a lovely salad with pumpkin seeds, a little goat cheese, avocado, and steak. It was awesome. Since it was also huge, I brought part of it home with me, which brings me to today's lunch. While my salad didn't have much dressing, it did have some that I'd added, so the lettuce was wimpy and sad. So, for today's lunch, I repurposed some of the salad meant for dinner last night with my steak salad, added some almond slices and voila, lunch is served and was just as tasty. And without tortilla chips, a much healthier meal than yesterday. I also added some fresh cilantro from the garden. Yum Yum!

Repurposed salad - My homemade salad on bottom, restaurant salad on top

Fresh cilantro!

Speaking of gardens, my little seedlings are growing! I have been good about actually pruning back the growth so only one or two seedlings fill a pod. That still makes me sad, but the outcome is much better. Here are some pics of the growing plants.

Tomato plants - two kinds!

The bell peppers have finally begun to sprout. I will wait a few more days before pruning.

Basil, basil and more basil!!!! Can't wait for pesto!

Zucchini squash - zucchini bread anyone? :)

Cucumbers!

I find it so interesting that all of these plants have their "carrier" leaves that help them emerge from the ground, gather light and then they grow their "full time" leaves. You can see the full timer just emerging on the zucchini and the middle sprouts on the cucumber. The different patterns on the tomato seedlings are so fun, too! Ah, I am getting anxious to plant these fun plants outside and watch them take off!