My Tireless Retirement – Week 142

 

Hello my friends!  Are you all ready for Christmas?  I am very much ready for the holiday and all that I’ve got planned.  Quite easily I think this is the most prepared I’ve ever been so all the busyness of my past week was just me being busy.  Last Friday I began my week after a rough night’s sleep.  Not sure why it was that way but my brain was busy with the excitement of things to come and I just couldn’t quiet it down.  I worked all day that day, rode the bus to work and back home and by the time I got to the house I was completely spent.  It was all I could do to fix myself some dinner.  I made myself a chicken quesadilla and a salad although I really wanted to skip eating altogether and went to bed early.  It is because of days like that I want to up my game and be even better prepared with my meal planning and prepping.

 

Tea & fruitcake

I slept like a log that night and even allowed myself to stay in bed until 8:30 Saturday morning.  Then I got up and enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee while I started my day with a little bit of quiet reflecting and some writing.  Slowing down after a busy, busy week is a good thing to do and I was ready to unplug for awhile and enjoy some downtime.  I lit a candle on the fireplace mantle and played some Christmas music and fixed myself another cup of coffee.  I had no plans for the day at all and it felt great.  I was thoroughly happy to just sit, relax and enjoy the cozy atmosphere inside the home I’ve created for myself.

 

I used a pint of home canned beans, 1/3 pound of ground
beef and some chopped onion to make the burrito filling

Beef & bean burritos with some grated cheese too
I ended up freezing four of these and ate one for supper

Later in the afternoon I made some beef and bean burritos.  I kept one of them in the refrigerator for a meal this week and froze the remaining four for later on.  I love having my own frozen burritos on hand for a quick and easy dinner entrée whenever I need one.  I’m hoping to fill the freezer portion of my refrigerator with many more frozen meal options for my busy days ahead.

 

Favorite meal of the week!
Pork fried rice, hot & sour soup, cabbage salad

Later in the afternoon I had to run a quick errand to the pharmacy to pick up some medication.  When I got home I boiled some pasta and made some rice so I could complete a couple more freezer meals.  I made penne with meat sauce and pork fried rice.  One of each into the fridge and the rest into the freezer.

 

Quick & easy!
Home canned roast beef & gravy over mashed potatoes
with seasoned green beans

Sunday was ultra quiet and relaxing, just what this girl needed.  I didn’t do much at all, in fact I made it a pajama day.  There was also plenty of kitty snuggling.  My dinner was a simple affair of heating up pot roast I had home canned in au jus, heating up mashed potatoes I had taken out of the freezer and thawed, and heating up a can of French green beans I seasoned and buttered.  It was perfect!  And plenty of leftovers for two more meals!

 

My Winco haul on Monday
I'm planning ahead for 2025!

More 2025 shopping from my list and another butter stock up!

These were free!

I worked half a day on Monday and Tuesday.  We had rainy weather, which is good as we need the precipitation, so I drove to and from work those days.  On Wednesday I made it an errand day.  I started off by going to the bank, dropped off my glass recycling and even got a jumpstart on some of the items on my January shopping list.  The sales ads this past week were pretty good.

 

All the glass recycling loaded and ready for drop off

When I got home from running errands I made a pan of fudge.  I will keep some for myself, but the rest is going to be shared with others.  I don’t need that much fudge in the house, believe me!

 

I was back to work for another half day on Thursday and delivered all of the little jars of pear butter to my co-workers.  It was fun to see their expressions and know they will enjoy this little gift from my kitchen and my heart.

 

It was a very tasty week as I continued to test out 
my new meal planning strategy for 2025

And just like that another week in my retirement life came to an end.  Since my “to do” list is “ta-done!” I am still getting used to the idea that I really have nothing pressing to do right now and just enjoying the downtime.  I think I should do this every year, especially this time of year, from here on out.  What do you think?  I hope you all enjoyed a joyous week.  Christmas is coming!  Have a great week ahead!