Scattered Sundays

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

It’s been a busy week of looking for flooring, dealing with ServPro (they’ve been lovely), navigating my dad having surgery, and then the covid he caught in the hospital.

But I also got to see my bestie who was in town for work and have dinner with her. And we’ve been enjoying the cold but gorgeously sunny weather. Life is never just one thing.

Thanks to all my health drama this year, I have more than met my health insurance deductible. For people in civilized countries with a national health care system, the idea of a deductible is likely ludicrous to you. ‘Merica.

But, I met mine, and that means, for the most part, any medical-related things from here until December 31st are covered/paid for, minus a copay. I’ve taken advantage of this, and this week I had four moles removed that have always driven me batty.

It’s not just a cosmetic thing, though. I’m basically a walking poster child for skin cancer, so no need to tempt fate and let those things just hang out. Byyyyyye!

In flooded basement life, we got good news mid-week. The weird linoleum chunks we found under the carpet and the drywall in the basement both tested negative for asbestos.

This is super good news because I didn’t know drywall could have asbestos and we definitely didn’t test for that before knocking down the walls and ceilings in the kitchen a few years ago. Phew!

We’re still waiting on the lead tests which should be back early next week. I’m shocked that it takes 7-10 days to test for lead. We don’t have a faster way to get results yet? I can put a q-tip up my kid’s nose and know in 15 minutes if he has the ‘rona or not. But lead takes more than a week?

We’re also the incredibly lucky homeowners who have the original blueprints for the house. That allowed my very knowledgeable brother-in-law to take a look at them and confirm that the wall I want to take down in the laundry room is not load-bearing. Who-hoo!!

This wall is only here for the plumbing for this teeny tiny shower. And yes, it looks like the world’s largest spider lives in this basement shower, but don’t worry, it’s just folding chairs and HVAC system filters. We’ve been treating this useless shower as a storage closet for years.

As I mentioned last week, this laundry/bathroom has always been laid out like it was designed by someone who was never showered or done laundry. The shower door can’t open fully because it bumps into the dryer. It’s pretty silly.

In my dreams, we’ll take down that wall between the shower and the toilet and replace that entire shower space with a floor-to-ceiling storage unit. What it’s going to look like is still in the imaging stage, as demo and construction aren’t part of our immediate future plans.

Yeah, the washer flooding the basement was a bit of a dumpster fire, but what I do know is that the laundry room will be more functional in the long run.

Also, to make sure this never ever ever happens again, we got this alarm for the washer that will alert us to any water in the future. I wish I could hop in a Delorean, go 88 mph, go back in time, and then buy that alarm 10 days ago.

My bestie, Anne, was in the Puget Sound area for work this week, and I got to go see her, hug her in person, and have dinner with her. It was delightful! Even if we accidentally dressed up like twins for the occasion.

She lives in Colorado, and in a good year, I get to see her once. I was there in September, so to get to see her twice in the same year is pretty dang awesome!

I had a dentist appointment this week for basic cleaning and all that entails. A few years ago my dentist had a heart attack and he seems to have reduced his days in the office to just 1-2. He’s been employing younger dentists to pick up the other days.

There is one dentist I have had each time I’ve gone in there, and he gets me. But this week…I’m pretty sure the new dentist I met with may have been a cyborg.

After my exam, he said “you have so little tartar, I’m barely having to scrape at all. How do you have so little tartar”?? I looked at him with a deadpan look on my face and said “well, I have one MilkBone in the morning, and if I’m good, I get another one at night as a special treat”.

My friends, it was like a record scratch and an entire office full of crickets. Seriously, zero reaction. I wanted to say “where’s the other guy? He thinks I’m funny”. Pfft.

PS, the “secret” is that I use a Sonicare. Not much of an actual secret since the dentist tells me to use it.

What I’m reading this week

I finished All Good People Here and overall, it was ok. I hated the ending. Hated it. Someone on Instagram told me she is still pissed about that ending.

Then I started/finished Five Total Strangers and it was meh. I think it must have been a Young Adult (YA) book and I hadn’t realized it. Which is fine, nothing wrong with YA books. The Hunger Games is YA.

And then my library is doing that thing where all the books I reserved are weeks out. It always seems to be feast or famine, but hey, libraries are the best and give me books for freeeeeee.

I downloaded How Beautiful We Were and have barely had a chance to start it.

READER SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Denise left this five-star review on our Sage Sausage Stuffing {Pin this recipe}. And I will say this because I haven’t written long boring stories in recipe posts for like four years (so you are welcome to stop sending me memes about food bloggers…), this recipe is my sister’s and it is famous in my family. It smells so damn good while it is baking and it’s easy to prep the day before Thanksgiving.

This is the stuffing I learned to make from my grandmother. Delicious every time. If you are feeling creative and have the time, make some homemade herb bread a few days before and use that for the stuffing. Really takes it up a notch. That is now my whole family’s request for Thanksgiving stuffing.

ON SUSTAINABLE COOKS THIS WEEK

Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings – A big bowl of Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings is pure delicious comfort food. Ready in a flash with an “it cooked all day” taste, you’ll flip over this tasty recipe! {Pin this recipe}

Air Fryer Popcorn Shrimp – Making frozen air fryer popcorn shrimp is incredibly easy and fast. This easy grab-and-go air fryer snack is simple to make and cooks in about 6 minutes. {Pin this recipe}

Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes – This deliciously fluffy Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes recipe makes the best make-ahead potato side dish! Creamy and lump-free, these heavenly fluffy mashed potatoes will be the star of any meal. {Pin this recipe}