Scattered Sundays

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I finally was able to get a hair cut this week. A firm declaration of first-world issues. My last one was in February before the shut down started.

I have very fine hair and it wasn’t like my hair was out of control, but it was definitely longer than it had been in four years. I felt quite scraggly and plus it was so nice to do something that felt normal. Remember how easy it used to be to get hair cuts??

Because my hair is so fine, my stylist cuts it dry. She says it allows her to account for every precious strand and means the final product isn’t choppy. Since it takes her less time, she only charges me for a kid’s cut. A little boy’s haircut to be exact. 🙂 

Thanks to the kid cut price, I spend less than $120 a year on haircuts, including generous tips. I know the salon industry was really hard hit by the shutdown, so I’ve been squirreling away cash since this whole thing started. I was able to give my stylist a giant cash tip yesterday. But I wish I could have given her a hug too. I miss hugs.

All three males in my house get their hair cut by yours truly. It saves us a ton of money, salon closures don’t impact us, and generally, it doesn’t take too much time. We use these clippers and they pay for themselves after about two months.

Bennett’s is the hardest to cut because he’s four and wiggly. His hair is also pretty fine but he has a lot of it. Warnings of “don’t move” rarely mean much to him, and thus, sometimes this happens.

We finally took the boys to get their well-checks at the pediatrician. We love their doctor. If you believe that God ordains a life calling in people, their doctor was chosen to be a pediatrician at birth. He’s just incredible and I wish he could be cloned and shared with the world.

He remembers little details about the boys that mean so much (like Jack wants to be a video game designer, and Bennett wants to grow up to be a kitten named Mittens. They both have big dreams..). And he is incredible with Jack and has a super-calm demeanor when dealing with his anxious tendencies. 

On the little form that Jack had to fill out before the appointment (first time they have given him a questionnaire!), there was a question that said “do you have any concerns you want to talk about”. In true Jack fashion, he wrote “will there be sports in fall”?

Doctor K was SO great with discussing it with him. His stance was “there is some crazy and weird stuff going on in the world right now, but you don’t have to give up being a kid. In fact, you have to work harder to be a kid and have fun right now, but it’s totally doable”. And then he gave Jack some guidelines that I think all kids (and adults…) need to hear:

1. Don’t pick your nose
2. Wash your hands
3. Do hang out with friends, but don’t get so close that you can smell their farts.
4. Exercise your body and brain every single day.
5. Wear a mask because that gives you more freedom to do more things.
6. Be kind to people and don’t act like a turd.

I mean…you have a mad crush on our ped now too, don’t you? He’s so so SO good! And he truly knows his audience – kids will 100% pay attention to you if you say farts and turd. And um, their mom too.

Oh, and both boys are healthy and lanky. Jack has finally topped 5 feet and is 76 pounds dripping weight. His BMI was 8 and Bennett’s was 9. Our doc mentioned that we grow some string bean kids.

“Did someone say shots”???

And now for a segment, we call “Sarah has a tiny rant because she wants her kids back in school”. Can we just stop with the masks being divisive? A piece of cloth keeping your snot and spit against your face is not a political statement.

And how do I know? Well, I worked in politics for five years. Lean in close, because I’m about to tell you a secret. Ready? There is no institution in the US that cares enough about you to try to control you by making you wear a mask. It’s true. THEY DON’T GIVE TWO CRAPS ABOUT YOU. Remember, insider information here.

If someone asks you to wear a mask it is because they want to stop the damn virus so they can open schools and keep the economy from falling further off of a cliff. They care about the economy, not you. The liberal think tank of Goldman Sachs (<—sarcasm, they’re conservative AF) has said the economy would be better off if collectively we wore masks.

I’m potentially the world’s oldest millennial and I have to giggle when people call our generation entitled. In first grade, we had a curriculum about self-esteem where three times a week I was taught that I was special! So when you want to know where it comes from, it comes from the generation before us teaching us all that.

And yet, here I am, a person with a lifetime of being told I’m special, telling the (collective) YOU that we’re not special. Mask mandates truly aren’t about you. Nooooooooobody cares about you. They want businesses open again. If you need me to get Herman the self-esteem puppet (true story) to share this message, I will. I bet he has a song about it too.

Here, I’ll make up a song we can all sing about masks. Ready? “Masks suck! This is true, but at the end of it the day, it’s not about YOU. Guidelines have been confusing to date, and messaging about masks has not been great. But now we know that a mask means we can go have fun. If you find a cute one they can even be cool…and Sarah needs her damn kids back in school. All this silliness has created a stench, so realize it’s just a mask and go ahead and unclench”.

I have no idea what the tune to that song should be. That’s not my specialty. But clearly lyrics are! 🙂

I farking hate wearing masks. I hate that it has to be a thing. But I think of my asthmatic nephew’s sweet face when I’m complaining about putting that dang thing on just to go to the store. And I also think about the fact that if more of us wore masks, my damn kids could get out of my freaking house and go back to school.

So if it comes to this, I will pay you to wear a mask to get my kids out of my face. We cool with that? I love my boys, but I want to like them again.

And that concludes the segment, we call “Sarah has a tiny rant because she wants her kids back in school”.

This is their home now. GTFU out!

The first blackberries of the season are starting to ripen in vacant lots, along the road, and basically everywhere in the Seattle area. Blackberries grow everywhere and are free for the picking! Our neighbor moved here from Texas and the first time I took her blackberry picking she asked about snakes. Not a thing here my friend, welcome to paradise!

Our blackberry picking is very predictable each summer. First, we eat a TON. Well, the boys eat a ton, I actually pick them. Then, we make blackberry crisp and drink blackberry and peach mule mocktails. After that, blackberry freezer jam, then some blackberry syrup, and finally, when I can’t look at one more blackberry, we freeze them. 

In the Garden This Week

Bennett stole my phone on Thursday and gave Instagram an impromptu garden tour. It’s very Blair Witch Project, has some extreme close-ups of his face, shows a lot of running feet, and has some creepy windchimes as the soundtrack (they’re our neighbors).

But he was so proud of his video and the garden. You can see it by going to Instagram and then clicking on the circle that says “gardening” in my profile.

Other than that, we’re still picking berries and watching the tomatoes not ripening. This has been the coolest spring/summer I can remember in over nine years. It’s not awesome for the garden, but it is wonderful in terms of boob sweat.

I still haven’t planted green beans and at this point, I’m thinking it’s probably a lost cause. The garden bed that the beans would go in really needs to be replaced because the wood has rotten. I’m tempted to just throw in the towel and have Troy build a new one and just focus on fall planting for that space.

And yes, it’s already time to start thinking about fall planting! Bananas, huh? What are you planning to grow this fall/over winter? Our climate allows us to overwinter garlic with absolutely no issue (related: How to Plant Garlic Step by Step), carrots, beets, spinach, brussels sprouts, and lacinato kale.

We can only grow things during winter in our raised beds instead of our giant planting area because of our neighbor’s enormous cedar tree. During the winter we get a max of eight hours of daylight and this monster tree blocks our main planting area for 50% of the day. 

Housekeeping

Vesta Precision makes fantastic sous vide circulators and vacuum sealers (I used it for this post on how to freeze potatoes), and that makes freezing summer produce a breeze! My readers can take 10% off any purchase through this link.

What I’m Listening To This Week

The Hello Seven podcast has been a favorite of mine for over a year now. The host is an attorney turned business coach who is insanely successful but still very relatable. Even though this is a business podcast, there is an explicit warning that you should heed if little ears are listening.

What I’m Reading This Week

I’m taking a break from The Body: A Guide for Occupants. I love Bill Bryson but I am having a hard time really getting into this one. It seems like it might be a better cozy winter reading book.

Instead, I started Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, and it is so good. I am trying to get my hands on the juvenile version from our library for Jack. And you can see all my 2020 reads here.

Reader Spotlight of the Week

Christina left this five-star review on our Homemade Pub Cheese {Pin this recipe}:

Sooo…good! I was looking for an easy cheese spread that didn’t have cream cheese or beer in it. Duh! Use broth! Next time I’ll add the dash of hot sauce and some bacon. ????

On Sustainable Cooks This Week

Kale Chopped Salad – This delicious Kale Chopped Salad is a powerhouse of veggies with a touch of {optional} bacon. A hearty make-ahead salad that is packed with so much flavor, it might just become your new favorite side dish. {Pin this recipe}

How to Freeze Carrots – Learning how to freeze carrots is a great way to preserve this essential ingredient that is a staple of so many comforting recipes. A freezer stash of frozen produce opens the door to amazing and speedy meals. {Pin this tutorial}

Instant Pot Tortellini – This delicious Instant Pot Tortellini is an easy weeknight dinner that the whole family will love. Packed with flavor and ready in a flash, you’ll find yourself making this pressure cooker pasta every week! {Pin this recipe}

The Five Most Popular Posts This Week

Yeppers, the Mojito Mocktail was on top again, so let’s take a little look-see at the other top posts of the week.

1. The Ultimate Homemade Peach Ice Cream – Climbing up FOUR spots on the leaderboard. The 4th of July saw this post get really hot as everyone was looking for some homemade treats. {Pin this recipe}
2. Canning Peaches – To save all the leftover peaches from ice cream!  {Pin this tutorial}
3. Instant Pot Garlic Parmesan Rice –  this recipe goes with EVERYTHING. And, as always, non-Instant Pot instructions are included in the post. {Pin this recipe}
4. Air Fryer Pickles – As always, non-air fryer instructions are included in the post.  {Pin this recipe}
5. Freezing Spinach – With temps climbing, spinach is starting to bolt (go to seed) and home gardeners are scrambling for a way to preserve it. Food waste is lame.  {Pin this tutorial}

Meal Plan

Monday:: Chef’s salad and biscuits (or rolls to my overseas readers).

Tuesday:: Takeout to support a local small business.

Wednesday:: Paleo Salmon Cakes and grilled veggies.

Thursday:: A new recipe I am testing.

Friday:: Popcorn, leftovers, and movie night.

Saturday:: Takeout to support a local small business.

Sunday:: A new recipe I’m photographing.

What are you having this week?

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