Thursday 24 January 2008

Monday night Bob and I decided to make a schedule. I'm sure I've suggested it before, but Bob listened to this tape and it sounded right to him, so we are working on it. Basically we tried to right down what our day is "normally" like and make a few improvements. So Tuesday was the first day of following a schedule, and Boy! did it stink. I'm not a good leader, and so my children are not good followers. By 10:00 I was ready to shred the thing. Went to bed grumpy, woke up grumpy Wednesday.

Wednesday I said fooey on the schedule, and we had a good day. So it needs a little work.

Before we even got to England, I'd found out that one can get organic vegetables delivered to one's doorstep. Now that we have an address, I've been looking at the idea pretty hard. So a few days ago I ordered a box, and it came Tuesday. You'd think the children had never seen another person before. They jumped up and down and squealed the whole time the van was parked in our driveway. The delivery guy thought it was pretty funny to see children so excited about vegetables. I paid 20GBP for a box full of veg, a box of fruit, and a bag of garlic. (I checked later at the grocery store online, and it would cost over 30GBP for the same items from the store.) We got, in the fruit box, kiwis, bananas, apples, and oranges, and a mango. We like all of that. In the veg box I got a broccoli, a cauliflower, a Hispi cabbage (maybe - the description said it is pointed and mine wasn't), a bag of carrots, some sweet potatoes, a box of mushrooms, some chickpea sprouts, and 2 swedes.
I'd never heard of a swede before, but in looking up recipes I discovered that it is what we call rutabaga, or yellow turnip. I've never eaten such a thing before, as far as I know, and I'd never have bought it if I had a choice. But since we had it, I thought I'd give it a try. Found a simple recipe for Glazed Swede: cut into 3/4" cubes, boil 15 minutes, drain, add 1/4 c butter and 2 T brown sugar; stir to melt; sprinkle with nutmeg. Well, that was too much butter, but I really enjoyed it. Taryn thought it was like potato and didn't like it, Naysha wasn't crazy about it but ate her spoonful, the boys thought it was yucky. Bob ate 2 helpings. So I wonder if we never had it because it's expensive in the States, or Mom didn't like it for some reason.
I also would never buy mushrooms, because I don't like them, but Bob likes them, so I will cook some for him today.
All in all I like the "veg box scheme" and will probably sign up for a regular delivery.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I wanted to put some boxes in the garage, but couldn't find the key. Called Bob to see if he knew where it was (he didn't, but we figured it out later), and he was pretty abrupt on the phone - said they had a "situation." I wasn't worried because I knew if there was a security breach he'd tell me somehow. When he called at 4:30 saying he was still there and would be for awhile I knew it was a bad day in the fuel shop. Turns out someone lost a tool. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you think about it, it is. If the tool was left in the fuel tank or some engine compartment on the airplane, it could cause serious damage. So both planes they had worked on last night were grounded until they could find the tool, and a grounded aircraft looks bad on the whole base.
Long and short? Bob will probably be put in charge of the tool room. This is a job he's had off and on since he was a E-3, and as an E-6 he feels it should be someone else's job by now. But he'll do anything to not have another day like yesterday.

Oh, I forgot to mention Tuesday's crowning glory. Bob came home and said he had bad news. In a week or two he will be moving to mid-shift. I was mostly grateful he didn't say he was going to the desert (around here they call it "down range"), but still! How is that supposed to work? He'll get home about breakfast time, while William is still asleep in our room, wanting to go to bed. Then we have to stay quiet all day while he sleeps. Like that can happen. Plus, he is light-sensitive, and we aren't allowed to hang curtains without written permission from our landlady, besides that curtains that will actually block light are quite expensive. And, how an I supposed to clean house and put away clothes while he's asleep in my room? And, Ella takes naps in the crib after lunch. So we'll have to move it somewhere, but where? William still eats in the night, so I'll have to get up and dress to go wherever we put him to feed him. Still grateful, but the logistics gets me. Not to mention he's 3rd ranking in the shop and should have his choice of shifts. Not that I'm bitter.

Anyway, I'm sure I have work to do.

Oh! William rolled 360* yesterday. Back - front - back again. He also gets up on his elbows pretty good, and is trying to push with his toes already.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting vegatable story. Too bad about the shift - this too shall pass. He can use a blindfold thing. Once one gets used to it - no bother. However, the children playing and you working in the house, that is hard. When it is warmer, maybe he can set up a bed in the garage.
jc

MamaOlive said...

LOL at bed in the garage. Maybe I can convince him to try a blindfold; it would sure be cheaper than blackout curtains. At least the master bedroom is on the opposite end of the house from the living room.

Ganeida said...

lol., mama. I know the shift thing all too well. What a pain. And the scheduling!! I've been trying to do that for years but the predictability makes me hugely depressed & I end up chucking the thing for sanity! We don't mind a little chaos around here.

Oh, I have a message up for you ! between the silence will link you. Enjoy. :)

Ganeida said...

Olive *cry* *cry* I've fiddled with my blog & lost your link. Do you mind e~mailing it to me so I can fiddle some more & lose something else? I so hate being a dork! Ta.

MamaOlive said...

Ganeida, I guess you found "my link" again. I don't even have my page bookmarked yet; I go to your blog and follow the link over here after I read you. (If you mean something else please clarify.)
I haven't even tried putting any side bars up or anything, so don't talk about "dork" to me! You know more than you think.

Ganeida said...

Yo, went & googled you & eventually worked out which bit I needed. I am learning but I am the lady who crashed a blog & am no wiser. All I know is if it says html then LEAVE IT ALONE! lol.

Constance said...

I like the blindfold idea and has Bob tried earplugs? What about some kind of "white noise" or a fan of some sort? Our daughter and her husband run the bathroom vent all night long so their girlies don't hear a lot of household noise when they're in bed.
Connie