A couple weeks ago I was ordering DVDs for work and saw that Severance Season 1 was out! AppleTV is notorious for not releasing its shows to DVD so I was very excited because I’d heard rumbling of how amazing this show is. My husband was going to be at our beach cottage for a few days so I decided to check out the series and OH MY GOD it is SO FREAKING GOOD. As soon as my husband got back home he wanted to watch it and on my second viewing I picked up on so many little clues. Everything about the show is great — the acting, the music, the camerawork, and of course the story. Once all the Season 2 episodes have dropped I think we are going to get a trial of AppleTV just to watch them all! If you like shows like The Prisoner or Twin Peaks, this is right up your alley. It’s best to watch it without knowing much, so just borrow the DVD from your local library and enjoy!
Month: January 2025
Protecting My Peace
Wow, what a week, huh? And it’s only Wednesday. It’s been sad, honestly, but not surprising. It’s also been incredibly stupid, and tiresome, and frustrating. But we’ve been here before, and we all know how this is going to go. At least we are (somewhat) prepared for the chaos to come.
So, what am I going to do different this time around? First of all, I am not letting anger consume me. Am I angry? Yes. Of course. Anyone with a brain is angry. But I am also acknowledging that I can channel that anger into action. So instead of fuming, I plan to do thing like contact my political representation, attend more town halls when they are offered, and donate to organizations that align with my values.
Another thing I am doing is reevaluating my online presence. I’ve done another cull of the blogs I follow as well as who I follow on social media. That one is always hard, but ethical differences have become obvious with some accounts and in the interest of protecting my peace, they just don’t make the cut. I’ve moved over to BlueSky from Twitter (I refuse to call it anything else), and while I have not deleted my account, I don’t post or engage. Facebook and Instagram are more challenging. I need Facebook for work, and now that I have curated a good feed, Instagram is a nice escape with pretty photos of crochet, journaling, plants, books, cooking… things I really do love. As much as I loathe Meta, I haven’t figured out a way around dealing with it.
Along similar lines, I am making an effort to actively enjoy the things that I love. I spend my free time junk journaling, knitting and crocheting, trying new recipes, watching moving, and reading. I am trying to find balance in my news consumption. I’m dabbling in creative writing again, too! Channeling anger into art seems to be a popular theme among a lot of people these days, and I am here for it. Onward!
See you in the trees
Thank you for the art, David Lynch. You were amazing.
Monday Catch Up
Ah, another week begins… I’m starting it off by wearing my cool new Doc Martens. They were a present to myself and I love them! It was a good weekend here. My parents came down yesterday for a visit and a belated Christmas. I made a mini holiday dinner — turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and cranberry sauce. I gave my husband a Ninja Creami for Christmas so I also spun up a pint of mixed berry frozen yogurt for dessert. Delicious!
After they left we decided to watch an episode of “Man on the Inside” on Netflix, which turned into us binging the entire 8-episode series! It is such a sweet show — I highly recommend checking it out, especially with everything bad in the news. We also watched the new Goosebumps series on Hulu. We are big R.L. Stine fans in this house!
Not much to report aside from that. This week I am hoping to get back on track with my crochet projects. I have yet to finish my daughter’s infinity scarf, and I need to make progress on the two blankets I am making for the cottage. This coming weekend I’m taking a writing workshop with author Carol Goodman. I would really like to get back into a writing practice. Of course, I write a tremendous amount for my job, but reports and grant applications are not exactly the same as a story! When I saw this workshop being offered, I took it as a sign.
Fingers crossed my oldest may have very well found a full-time position! Not to jinx it, but he’s at the background check portion of the process! This week he is heading down to the city to look at apartments. I am very excited for him and hope it all works out. When I graduated from college I was hoping to move to Brooklyn (though I’m glad I ended up in Boston), so I may very well be living vicariously through him.
Other than that, I’m trying to do my best to manage my news intake. Shit is absolutely bananas, but I also want to stay informed, so it is a delicate balance. I’d love to find some new blogs to read, but I haven’t had much luck in that department. Generally, I’ve been swapping my scrolling for reading, which has been fabulous. This weekend I started All Fours by Miranda July, which I think is great so far. I’m also listening to Watch Us Dance by Lelia Slimani for my Global Lit book club. I’m slogging through it. It’s OK, but not a book I would pick up on my own.
I guess that’s about it! My late meeting tonight has been cancelled so I am thrilled to get two hours of my time back. I see some Brooklyn 99, some eggnog ice cream, and crochet in my future!
National Day of Mourning for President Jimmy Carter
In the car earlier I was listening to some of the eulogies spoken at Jimmy Carter’s funeral and truly he should be admired for his integrity and his strength of character. There are few public figures like him who can be such upstanding role models. A great president and a great man to be sure. I am just happy that he was able to get the service he deserved from this administration.
1/52 Recipes: Creamy Sausage Parmesan Soup
At the end of the year I decided that one of my 2025 goals would be to try a new recipe every week. In addition to helping me get out of a cooking rut, I thought it would also give me something to blog about. Well, last weekend I made my first new recipe of the year. If you’re on Facebook, you have probably seen a recipe for Creamy Sausage Parmesan Soup on your feed. I have had it saved for a while and finally made a pot of it on Sunday. The recipe makes a HUGE pot, and the leftovers taste just as good (if not better) than the day it is made. Here’s the recipe with my adjustments:
Creamy Sausage Parmesan Soup
Ingredients:
1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 box Green Giant frozen creamed spinach
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup half & half
1 cup small pasta (ditalini or elbow)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cook the Sausage in sausage in a large pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 3–4 minutes. Stir in the drained tomatoes and the frozen creamed spinach. Allow spinach to cook and then add chicken broth, dried basil & dried oregano. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the cooked, drained sausage to the soup. Add the pasta to the boiling broth mixture and cook until it is al dente, approximately 8–10 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the half & half and shredded Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Goodbye Holidays & Back to the Grind
Well, I will admit that I am quite happy the holidays are done and dusted. Don’t get me wrong – they were fun and they were fine – but I just wasn’t into it this year. I did take some time off around New Year’s, which was nice. We went up to the Cape, I did some organizing around the house, met a friend to catch up over breakfast, and started a new book (The Most by Jessica Anthony).
I didn’t do any of the crafting I wanted to do, and I spent the last weekend sick, but at least it is just a cold and not Covid, Norovirus, Bird Flu, or anything more sinister. So that catches everyone up.
Yesterday I tried my first new recipe of the new year — a recipe for Creamy Sausage Parmesan Soup that I’ve been seeing all over Facebook. It was a big hit and I’ll share my version later this week. Aside from that, it’s been pretty much “new year, same me.” I think the only thing I am trying to change is wearing less makeup. Perimenopause is wreaking havoc on my skin, so I’m trying out just moisturizer & mascara as my daily routine.
I’ve been working through a week’s worth of messages, emails, and to-do’s this morning. Ugh – sometimes I wonder if it is even worth taking the time off. Everything that I pushed to January since Thanksgiving is now sneaking back up on me!
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge this day — January 6th. Four years ago I was off for the day and watched live on TV as violent rioters stormed the Capitol. Right-wingers can whitewash it all they want, but we all know what we saw happen in real-time. And it is a disgrace that the person who incited it all had his electoral win certified today. Note that the certification happened without incident and you will not see headlines like these showing up tomorrow:
Sadly, it is what it is and we have to trust that some of our elected officials are going to stand up and do the right things to protect the Constitution and the people in this country. 2025 is going to be a wild ride, that’s for sure.