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Just about the coolest thing ever.

No photo of the room yet because, though amazingly it was still light out when I got home, the afternoon was overcast and grey - not very appealing. I also was a bit frustrated by the time I got home, which took nearly an hour, so I'm not sure if I would have had the patience for it anyway. Kindly remember that I live in the same town in which I work. The reason for the delay... the line at the post office. Now, I am one of those people who always uses the automated postal machines because they are convenient, there hardly ever is a line, and after all, we are in the twenty-first century. But, on this occasion, in addition to mailing some other small packages I also was sending off my tax returns. This was something I did not want to screw up and have sent back to me postage due. The sooner I get my tax return the sooner I can stop thinking that I have to eat ramen for a month to offset the IKEA trip last weekend. Plus, my taxes were done two weeks ago - if I had gotten off my lazy butt and mailed them right away I might have even had my money by now. 

The post office in town is supposedly open until 6, but apparently after 5 everyone goes home and leaves one poor postal worker to deal with tens of irate customers all on her own. The customers are irate because they have been standing in line for a half hour watching their fingernails grow and being forced to endure the escapades of  children who, though cute after 5 minutes, were certainly not after 25.  I felt bad for this girl, but what sort of managerial incompetence schedules the PO to be open until 6 and then doesn't staff it properly to handle the after-work crowd that is sure to descend? Never again. From now on I will only use my beloved automated postal machine because what a ridiculous fiasco. (If there were some reasonable alternative to the USPS I might consider it, but alas, for regular correspondence, there is not.)

After the post office debacle I thought I would pop over to Trader Joe's, which is right next door, and stock up on some essentials. But, one turn about the place had me fleeing - there were too many people and I just couldn't deal after having to stand in that line. It's probably for the best, I need to stick to my all-ramen diet anyway, at least until the tax money comes in. 

I'm kidding about the all-ramen diet (kind of), but I am back on my Must Not Waste Food kick. It's going pretty well, though I have now pretty much run out of fresh produce. Today for dinner I had sauteed potatoes and onions, steamed broccoli with celery salt and parmesan cheese, and red quinoa. Not all that balanced, I know (there is no protein), but at least we have vegetables and a grain in there. Although technically I don't think quinoa is a grain, so I'm not sure how it fits into the dietary puzzle. Anyway, it looks like tomorrow's dinner will consist of one white onion, three sad apples, and some cranberries (fresh) that have been in the crisper since Christmas. Hm, I'll have to check those cranberries. I do have some oranges too, and a lemon and limes, but I don't think those will help this situation. Although... look what I just found. It's not so odd, apples and onions are a natural pairing (although I think you usually use yellow or brown onions for this sort of thing). I wonder what I could have it with; pretty much the only thing I have left in the pantry is rice, pasta, more quinoa, bulgar wheat, and lentils. Hm, lentils. Perhaps there's something there.  On the other hand, I could just eat Thin Mints for dinner like I did last Thursday.

So yes, trying to eat everything without letting it go bad has been fairly successful this past month, as evidenced by my nearly-empty refrigerator. (I didn't intend for it to be nearly-empty, it just happened that way.) I do have the porch produce, but it is limited, and I want to make it last. Speaking of which, one tiny basil baby poked its head through the soil today! I'm calling it sixteen days. Now only the parsley has yet to show. I will need to rig up some additional netting for trellis-like support on the peas very soon, within the next few days, or risk being overrun by the vines. One of the mustard greens has bolted, which probably means the rest will soon follow, so there's one more side dish to be eaten in the next few days.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch...

Sigh.

At any rate, the collar is about 1/2 done - the end is in sight! And speaking of ends, I actually wove in some of the offending ends, cursing myself the entire time for not doing it as I progressed instead of waiting until the end. They aren't all done, but there are many fewer, which is considerably less crazy-making. A dozen more rows on the collar, set in the sleeves, find new buttons (er...) and this one is done. How many more days? Any bets?