Weekending

- We had training for coaches on Saturday, so I took the opportunity to try a new recipe I'd had pinned for awhile: pumpkin snickerdoodles. So so so good!!! I'm not much of a cookie person, but these are definitely in the running for one of the best cookies of my life. I also made a big batch of what was supposed to be a gluten and dairy free version, but ended up being just gluten free after I got distracted and used real butter by accident. They actually held together and tasted ok, which is a first in my gluten free baking history, so yay!

-  Another new recipe I made this weekend: red beans and rice in the crockpot. One of the cheapest meals in the world if you have a stocked pantry cost me almost $30 since I was totally out of beans and almost every spice! ;) I looked at a ton of recipes and in the end combined elements from several, and it turned out beautifully! It was a lovely, fragrant meal to let simmer all day in the crockpot. :)

- And while we're talking about cajun food, here's a happy memory that flooded back to me as I was hunting for cajun seasoning: it was a little over four years ago, one of the last summers I spent in Alabama, and my best friend was dating the man who later became her husband. On one particular day, I had a huge allergic reaction to something (theme of my life) and I was absolutely miserable with a pounding head, running nose, watery eyes, and sneezing that just would not stop. Joe had invited us over to lunch and announced that he was making gumbo, and by the time we got there I was a complete hot mess. We walked in, I apologized for the sneezing, and Joe handed me a bowl of gumbo and a bottle of hot sauce that I'd never seen before. "Try this," he told me, and I poured it on generously and started eating.  Ten minutes later, my sinuses had cleared, I'd stopped sneezing, and I'd decided that my BFF should marry him. ;) (Just kidding - I pretty much knew he was the one for her the first time I saw them together!)

- The triplets traded in their cable for Netflix, and while I'm not a huge fan (to me, screentime is still screentime no matter what's playing, but now it seems like something Is always playing, and it drives me a little nuts) I stumbled across a new show this week that's won me over a little called Sing It On. It follows college acapella groups as they compete to make it in the national competition, and I'm loving the music. (Although, gotta admit, I want to see All-Night Yahtzee go DOWN lol.)

- I say this a lot, I know, but - I AM SO TIRED. :( I tried so hard this fall to balance all the schedules, to say no to projects that would have been fun but would have pushed me into dangerously overloaded, to create breathing room, etc... but I'm thinking I might need more margin than I originally thought. I was venting this week that I was already having trouble finding time to do things like make it to the bank or grocery store, nevermind tackling projects that need my attention. Feeling crappy most of the week definitely didn't help. Not sure yet what I'm going to do about it.