6 more days...

We're in the final countdown for our trip.  I'm getting excited, but I also can't help feeling a little skittish about the whole thing.  I know that what happened before can't happen again, but I still have this anxious feeling that something awful could happen.  I wish I could shake it.

Today I spent a couple of hours redoing the "bible" of schedules and instructions that I'm leaving behind for my sister and brother-in-law while they watch our kids, and I redid all the menus.  Then Lily and I went to the grocery store and bought everything we need for the coming week, plus all the nonperishable stuff for the following week.  That way, on Thursday morning, I'll just have to go buy a little bit of produce.

After our shopping trip, I spent another couple of hours chopping and processing all of our Bountiful Baskets produce.  I also did laundry and made cookies for our next door neighbor whose husband died a couple of days ago.  My heart hurts for her.  Then Curtis helped me get about 15 delicata squash halved and de-gooped for our lunch tomorrow.  I'm going to stuff them with a mixture of quinoa, mushrooms, cranberries and pumpkin seeds.  We're also having a strawberry-pineapple frisee salad, rolls, and raspberry pie for dessert.  On Tuesday we're having roasted veggies and beer bread with vegan fondue.  I can't wait for that.  Yum.  :o)  After that, it's easy stuff like potato-leek soup and BLTs with tempeh bacon.  I have to keep things easy toward the end of the week so we can get everything repacked.

Now I'm sitting here typing and watching an old episode of 21 Jump Street.  Somehow I've managed to get readdicted to this show.  I blame Hulu.  It's SOOO lame this time around, but I can't stop watching! The clothes!  The hair!  The music!  It's like watching a train wreck; I can't look away.  Normally I'd be working on my lesson for my Sunday School class, but I have a new job that I'll start the Sunday we get back.  I'm the new chorister for Primary, our children's program.  I'm really excited to have this job because I've done it before and loved it, but it's bittersweet because this is the job my mom had.

I'm not going in chronological order, here, but on Valentine's Day, I gave Curtis a "soda sampler" and I made him a vegan Texas sheet cake (which was AMAZING, if I do say so myself!).  He sent me flowers, which were beautiful, and he made veggie fajitas for us for dinner.  It was a perfect night.  Last night we went out to dinner and then came home and watched two movies.  The first one was Here Comes the Boom, and the second one was Shanghai Calling.  We LOVED them both!  It was another perfect night.

Sorry there's no menu again this week.  There aren't many who wait with baited breath for them, but there are a few people who like them.  ;o)  I promise I'll get back into the swing of things once we get back from China.