Pantry and Freezer Challenge

I have decided to do a pantry and freezer challenge this month. I have 37 days to go before my mini vacation in Edinburgh. I do not know if I can stretch the stuff in my freezer till then but, my pantry is well stocked.

I will only buy fresh produce and eggs till everything from my freezer is eaten up.

I enjoyed my vegetarian day so much yesterday and ended up with quiet a bit of leftovers that, I decided to postpone the salmon and have another vegetarian day today. I have some peppers, zucchini and tomatoes that I need to use up. I will sautee them as soon as I post this.

The weather is still cool therefore, I am thinking of making a chili later this week. I do not add sour cream (very hard to find in this country) or cheese (to make it less caloric) to my chili but, I think, it is tasty enough all by itself. 

I am not a big fruit eater but, I did buy one of those small watermelons and 2 pounds of sweet cherries last week. The watermelon looks great and tastes more like cucumber. Bummer!

The tart cherries are not out yet but, as soon as they come out, I want to freeze a significant amount because they help lowering my uric acid level. Another good reason to empty the freezer. I can buy them frozen but the price on frozen tart cherries is ridiculuous. I'd rather freeze enough for a few months at least. If I had space for an extra freezer, I would certanly freeze a year's worth.

It's pouring outside so, I'm going to need to walk on the treadmill.

Chill Weekend

Yesterday, I did absolutely nothing. I was tired of all the walking I did on Friday with a friend around the Old Town in Istanbul. She is visiting her son and we always meet up when she is around.

I did only two loads of laundry and started the dishwasher. Other than that, I binge watched episodes of The Rookie. 

Today, I decided to drag my lazy self outside for a long walk after a very late breakfast. I talked to my American friend M while I was resting. She is going through some rough time due to health issues in her immediate family. 

I walked some more and had a cup of coffee before I came home. I know, it's not frugal. I should have made the cofee at home but, what's done is done.

As soon as I got home, I jumped in the shower and it felt so good. After I post this, I will go dress myself and prepare dinner. I decided today should be a vegetarian day so, I am going to make myself a bowl with wild rice, lentils, carrots and greens. Tomorrow, there will be salmon and sweet potatoes for dinner. 

Last night, I woke up to the noise of the thunder. It rained a lot during the night.  This year, the weather has been quiet weird. They say it is because of El Nino or La Nina, can't remember which.

Hope, you had a relaxing weekend. 

I Had to Post This

 Now, I do not know this is real or not but, I found this on Facebook. Enjoy!

"THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS" FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS:

1. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."

2. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."

3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."

4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."

5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."

6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."

7. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallartato close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned."

8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."

9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."

10. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."

12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."

13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."

14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort.' We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."

15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners."

16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."

17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."

18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes."

19. "My fiancée and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

Tüm ifadeler:

26 B26 B

Back Home

I am back from Izmir. Had a good trip and a very nice birthday dinner with my SIS and BIL.

Izmir was way too hot so, I did not feel like doing much at all. 

I went shopping yesterday and purchased some things in bulk. It was an expensive trip but, I will not need laundry detergent, dish soap, liquid hand soap, hand soap, diswashing tablets, toilet paper and napkins for at least till the end of the year if not more. I have enough fish and chicken in the freezer at least for a month. I would like to stretch them till July 23rd if I can.

I am planning to take a carry-on backpack to my trip in Scotland. I will stay in the same hotel room for 7 days, so I will pack very lightly. I am not planning to purchase any souvenirs or gifts. 

Today, the cleaning lady came and my home smells fresh. I will keep it tidy, I promise.

Birthday Week

On Monday, I finally got my new tires installed. I am going to have to buy new winter tires come Fall. Oh joy! This year has been an expensive one so far but, all were necessary expenses. Also, next year, I will have none of these expenses. New tires last at least 4 years, car inspection comes around every two years, a laptop lasts me usually about 7-8 years if not more. 

I also needed to go to the safety deposit box that I share with my SIS. The bank is right in the middle of the city center in Ankara. I have fond memories of the neighborhood so, I strolled around a bit and found that it no longer is the place I remember. There used to be nice shops, restaurants, amazing bookstores that I loved as a kid. Every Saturday, mom and I had a routine of doing our shopping, having lunch and then buying books for me. It was lively but, not as crowded as it is now. Besides people were much nicer. Nowadays people walk right at you or jump in front of you entering a place. Young people and men are no longer as gentle as my generation used to be.

 After that, I went to visit my BIL's dad. Each time I see him, I observe that he is getting older and more frail. 

I hit the road around 10 a.m. and it took me 7 hours to drive to Izmir. I stopped only twice to get a cup of coffee and use the bathroom. I made sandwiches and 8-10 fresh apricots so, I did not have to eat at the overpriced and mediocre places on the road. As I was driving, I cried a little thinking about our travels with mom. Having her death anniversary on my birthday is hard but not as hard as it used to be so, I guess I have healed a lot since her passing three years ago.

As soon as I got to my sister's home, I took a nice shower and felt fresh. They took me to a nice restaurant by the seashore for my 56th birthday and the weather was great. 

As I type this, my phone is charging and they are at work. I need to get a new cable for the charger so, I will just go to the nice mall nearby and may be sit at a cafe for a while. I slept in today and then watched some Turkish reality show. 

I do not know why I am hooked to these stupid shows. There was this disgusting woman who wants her son back from the claws of this "tramp" who lives in Izmir. She says they were probably doing drugs and even selling them. She also said that her son was not a mentally stable person and even blamed the young girl's dad, saying things like her son was being held captive due to brainwashing and drugs. She seems to be very religious and she does not like the fact that, her son no longer fasts during Ramadan or go to the mosque. WTF!? He is an adult. He can decide for himself. 

The guy turned out to be a very level headed 24 year old, who graduated Computer Engineering in 2020. He has a solid job as a software engineer and is sharing an apartment with two other guys. He is dating this nice girl who is described as a witch and a tramp by his mom. She is also a university graduate with a steady job. They have become friends 7 years ago and then they decided they wanted to date. They are not even talking marriage yet or living together. They could have and that would be quite normal. 

He submitted official medical reports to prove that he is not on any drugs. He said that he had a lot of anxiety issues because his mom does not want him to live his own life. She was saying things like, he was hers because she gave birth to him and that they should live together. What kind of a sick mind is that? She does not believe the official medical documents and is going to go to the court to seek legal guardianship of her son because she thinks he is mentally challenged. What a wicked witch! 

Most of us are not grateful enough to recognize how important it is to be born into a regular, normal family. 

Thank you Mom and Dad for being great parents, insisting on a good education, letting us shape our own careers and loving us unconditionally. SIS and I are so grateful.

Relief in a Weird Way

I have been struggling to fill a position for one of our current customers for a while now. The requirements are hard to meet and not a lot of people want to change their jobs when the economy is so unstable. Can't say, I blame them. 

Yesterday, I sent the Customer a report for a new potential candidate and lined up 3 more to intervew this week. However, yesterday night, I had this weird feeling that this position may be done away with because as I thought about the current organization structure of the company, I somehow thought adding another person to the head count seemed a little too much. They just opened a new office in Dubai and I am thinking, that must have cost a pretty penny. 

Lo and behold, today I received an e-mail telling me that the position is postponed for at least 6 months. I am sort of relieved but also, frustrated that we worked really hard to find the right candidates for the job. 

Oh well... Not a big deal for me but, the owner of our company who is a long time friend may be upset over this because, she had been complaining that the business was too slow lately. 

On another note, I went to see a dermatologist yesterday because of a red rash on my skin on the left side of my waist. I ovserved it for a while and then used a cortisone cream but that caused the rash to get bumpier and bigger. The doctor told me it must be a fungal infection and prescribed a cream for it. If it does not start to get any better in a week, I should go see her again so that they can biopsy it. Yikes! I am hoping that, it is indeed a fungal infection. Getting old is such a joy, isn't it? Always a new trouble.

Tomorrow, I am going to Ankara for a week or so. My 56th birthday is coming up on June 6 which also marks the 3rd anniversary of mom's passing. I can't believe it has already been three years. I still miss her so much that it hurts. She was my rock and best travel buddy. 

I remember one day as we were watching a trashy reality show on TV, she was sort of pestering me to get up and re-organize my closet which really needed it. I told her stop presurring me or else, I would run away from home like the stupid teen on the show we were watching. She said: "That would be quiet idiotic, wouldn't it? This is your home. Where are you running to?" We had a good laugh and joked about how she would go on the show to find her 50+ daughter who ran away from her own home just because her mom wanted her to tidy up her closet.

Nowadays, my closet is almost always in order because I purged so much. My sister has a theory that, when people pass, parts of their souls go into their loved ones and that is how they live forever. Ever since mom passed, I started doing certain things her way and keeping a tidier home. So does my uncle. My SIS may have a point after all.

Gotta go and straighten out some things.

Ouch!

I went to see my dentist friend today and had two fillings. Two of my molars are too close to each other but somehow, food gets in between and as I try to get rid of it, I was hurting my gum and make it bleed. I also thought, I could not keep the area clean enough. Well, I was right and right in between there were cavities on both teeth that went down under the gum line

My friend tried very hard to fix it and he put in two fillings. However, he thinks that may or may not work in the long run. Right now I need a pain killer because the anesthesia wore out. Ouchies!

Tomorrow I am going to have my car inspected and then go see a friend who knows someone who can assess the value of two antique (or so we think) rugs that belong to uncle. I never had anything like that done before so, it will be interesting.