Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

I got the pickles done this morning. I think they taste great, but DS didn't care for them and neither did my friend L.

DS had an appointment with a psychololgist this afternoon, regarding his depression and social anxiety. The best thing to come out of that was that he feels that DS could do a lot for his depression by working on changing his sleep cycle to a more normal one, getting a little excercise, and a few natural supplements like Vitamins D and B6, and St. John's Wort. He also got DS thinking about a hobby. Years back, DS was into model kits; now he'd like to try them again. He had given it up because there aren't any good shops in town for them, but I pointed out that he could buy model kits online these days. Looking at Amazon.com, he saw several models that looked interesting; I told him if he were to put some of those on his wish list, well... he has a birthday and Christmas coming up in the next few months...

The amazing thing was, just thinking about that got him cheered up some. I'm hoping this counseling will really help. As far as excercise, he and I decided we'll take the dogs for walks at least a couple of times a week to start; it should help both of us, and the dogs will be ecstatic.

Simple dinner tonight of sauteed sausages and cabbage/onion. It's an old favorite around here. Thank goodness it's not too cold to leave the windows open though, lol!

i make cabbage and kielbasa all the time, love it

I love cabbage and sausage! DH can't stand the smell of cooked cabbage so I only make it when he is not home.

If you're mad at him and want to drive him out of the house, you could make it.

our DS doesn't care for it, so when we make sausage and cabbage, he usually makes himself something like boxed mac and cheese (I only like it if I add extra real cheese to it)

I've got Boston Baked Beans started for tonight's dinner. I'll have to use some of the commercially made brown bread, because I'm all out of rye flour. I was impressed when I read the ingredients though; they didn't list any preservatives at all, only the ingredients I would use myself!

The days have definitely taken on a cooler Autumn feeling now. It's much nicer working out there now. I still have a lot of clutter/junk that needs to be cleared out so we don't look like the local dump, so that's what we'll be doing today. Nice to have dinner taken care of so all we have to do is come in and warm up the bread and make a salad.
Hmm, maybe I have time to make a Rustic Apple Tart as well?

I've been cooking more from our stores lately, because I'm using every penny to pay off that big debt by November. It's tight, but having that goal in sight makes it so much easier to deal with it. I found a calendar for DH, and every day, he crosses off another day toward his retirement (334 days today!).

I'm jealous! I've got over 4 years to retirement....sigh. Baked beans and brown bread sounds delicious, and save me some of that tart, lol!

That sounds like 2 good goals.

I went to the MOVE class yesterday (a diet support group/class through the VA); as I'd figured, I only lost 1 pound in the last 3 weeks. I had fallen down on keeping a food journal, and it really makes a difference. At least I still lost, rather than gaining back those hard-won pounds!
Having weight loss on my mind, I made Asian Lettuce Wraps for dinner last night: ground turkey with minced carrot, mushrooms, and water chestnuts with teriyaki, peanut butter and hoisin sauce... served in lettuce leaf wraps. DH and I love them, DS... not so much; he only ate about half of his share and then went and made himself some ramen.

Tonight we'll have fish tacos using sauteed (from frozen) catfish nuggets, shredded cabbage, and a jalapeno-spiced tartar sauce on home made corn tortillas. Cooking from our food storage requires a bit of creativity but so far we are doing great. I only have 2 fresh tomatoes and half a head of lettuce though... after that it will get a little harder, I love my salads. Time to get the seed sprouter going!

One of the women I have coffee with regularly lost her husband earlier this week. The hospital was going to do a CT scan; when they laid him down flat, his heart stopped and they were not able to get it going again. She has asked us to leave her alone for a while; he had requested no funeral so they are just having a private memorial- family only. But one of the other women, R, in the coffeeklatch refuses to accept that; she's been calling me trying to get me to agree that we need to bring tons of food for the memorial service (and of course we would stay.) I'm getting kind of upset with her wanting to ignore what we were asked to do. We are all trying to hold her back, but she accuses us of not caring for J, the widow.

DS had a phone interview with Social Security Admin, regarding his application for disability. Although I hate the idea of him being on the dole, apparently this is a vital first step in him getting the help he needs to get a job and become independent (sort of bass-ackwards, if you ask me) I guess we'll hear whether he's been accepted within a couple of months.

Wonderful goals --- pay the bills and quit working for others.

Retirement sounds good but it's not everything you think before it gets here. For most of us on this forum, we have plenty planned to do and will do those. Then, reality sets in and you actually miss some of the structure (AND paycheck) that you were used to. I "retired" at 65 and have worked, to some extent, every year since. I missed the routine of having a check and besides, I have expenses (mainly livestock feed) that I would not have if I got rid of them... mainly non productive, retired mini horses. Not gonna happen soon

So, I work at PT jobs that allow me to set my own schedule during the week, about 99% of the time. Nice. I have been past the "reduced" SS depending on income for quite a while.
The SSA reviews earnings and sometimes adjusts your check upward a dollar or two. I figure it preserves what I have for retirement by using what I earn, rather than dipping into other funds. BUT -- one day I will stay home on the farm all the time, as soon as I can earn enough from it to pay most of the feed bills. It's working up some, couple more years and I will be there I believe.

I can understand where both of your friends are coming from. Can you maybe send her a card from everyone just to let her know you're all thinking of her? That way, you aren't ignoring her request, but at the same time, she can see that y'all are concerned and care about her.