I was ready for a Thursday morning run today! Last night we had some fierce winds blowing through, and I had totally anticipated going to the gym for a treadmill run this morning as I don’t like running in the cold and wind. Cold is okay, but not both (wuss). It was 38 degrees and I saw the flags still, so I decided to run outside as the sun came up. I had a Balance bar (desperately seeking any natural light here).
New flavor of S’mores and pretty yummy, I have to say. I bundled up and headed out. It was a nice run today. Just through the neighborhood, passing kids waiting for the bus. The sun peeked out over the horizon and I just zoned out with my tunes on. 4 miles later and I was back at home!
I was ready to eat a filling carby breakfast, so I made up some steel cut oats. What I do with these is to put a serving of these in a container and cover with a cup of boiling water. Then I put it in the fridge overnight. The next day, they only take about 8 minutes to cook instead of the 20 it takes if you do them from scratch. I am all about saving time, especially when I am hungry!
Done pumpkin custard style and topped with craisins (10g) and pecans (5 whole). I add some molasses to the cooking water, which gives this a fabulous flavor (and some iron!).
Lots of work to do for job 2 today. Well, pretty much every day with them. It’s nice with them in that I don’t have to work holidays or even weekends unless I choose to, as an independent contractor. Job #1 actually have to work on Thanksgiving since my regular work days include Thursdays as an employee. We do get extra for working holidays and there is not always a lot of work except for the NICU, which never closes. I don’t mind so much, though. I can take my computer down to my sister’s house where dinner will be and check in from there.
Lunch time:
That”s gravy on that chicken! I got some at the store for some unknown reason. I was surprised at how low calorie it really is. It was a nice change to add that instead of hot sauce.
Finally finished up the soap order. Now I am feeling some relief from getting that done, although I am loving how the house smells. Here is a quick chemistry lesson of how it is made. Soap is a combo of oils, water, and an alkali (aka lye). The lye combines with the oils and creates a chemical reaction called saponification – and the result are soap, water, and glycerin molecules. Melting the solid oils (cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil)
The lye solution (must be extremely careful with this stuff – very caustic)
Melted solid oils, olive oil, and goat milk in a bucket and the added lye solution:
Scent and color added. Blended up until it gets to be a gravy-like consistency. Then poured into molds:
Then it sits in the mold overnight. During this time, the soap will actually get very hot as it goes through its chemical reaction. Funny how such weird ingredients make some good stuff. Pretty cool!
Snack time included a latte:
Plus a couple mint cups:
Unfortunately, my football picks let me down this week and I owed John dinner. He chose Arthur’s:
Someone didn’t really want his picture taken:
I started off with a salad:
Then we split a cheese calzone with feta inside:
Come to momma! The crust at Arthur’s is more biscuit like – similar to Chicago deep dish style. Good stuff. I went to pay and found out they didn’t take cards and I don’t carry much cash on me most days. That meant John ended up paying. Ooops! That’s one way to cheat out a meal 
There will be a gingerbread donut from Dunkins tonight while we geek out to MST3K, but I don’t have a photo of it. Just to let you all know…
Question: Have you ever had a job where you had to work on holidays?
You are BRAVE for biking in nasty weather! I cannot do it. It’s so miserable. I’ve been caught out on bike rides with a short rain storm, which was okay, but a constant downpour would be miserable! (Which is what Portland will be like until May now…)
When I worked in retail I always worked the holidays. It sucked!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Every Night Should End With Cheesecake =-.
Yes, I have one now. Being a nurse is a year round job. I have to work one major holiday per year, so I’m working Christmas this year. No optimal but it’s wonderful to have a job and other than working that weekend, Rob and I have two weeks off together. Yay!
.-= Andra´s last blog ..How Average Are You =-.
Love those pumpkin oats. I can’t get over how filling they are!
Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen MST3K in so long.
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..Wicked Texans =-.
*Have I* ever had a job where I work holidays. Only for 24 years, that’s all. I’ve made my peace with it, but it kind of bugs me when I tell a friend or a family member that I am working, say, Thanksgiving, and they act all surprised and like ‘that’s not fair.’ I guess they are trying to be sympathetic, but really, where have you been for the last 24 years. Oops. Hot-button topic, I guess. That’s really interesting about soap. I still don’t quite understand how the caustic lye turns into something so lovely and soothing.
Good job on the run in the cold weather!
.-= debby´s last blog ..Post in Real Time =-.
I used to work retail jobs so I’ve worked a few holidays. The worst was when my store was closing in Jan so we had to rearrange everything – for 14 hours on Christmas Eve. Yeah. Not fun.
Why do I just lovelove the dynamic between you two?!
and the holidays? I always offered to work chrismas eve day when I was in retail.
and the morning after christmas.
I never minded 😉
.-= MizFit´s last blog ..Never say never guest post =-.
When I was a teenager I worked as a waitress in a restaurant which meant I had to work on the holidays but when I finished school at 18 and got a “real” job I’ve never worked on holidays and now I wouldn’t want to either.
You’re smart: little cash and John pays 😆
R. doesn’t want me to put photos of him anymore on my blog without his permission, he doesn’t like it if I do it.
Miz is such a jokester!
I’m with you on the no wind running… remember that virtual run I did with Shelley in the big wind? (How did she talk me into that?!) I swear I was exhausted for days after just from pushing into the wind.
I don’t know why but your food looks especially appealing to me today!
WOW I could just taste that cheese calzone. Looks sooooo yummy.
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.-= Mabel @ Eat, Move & Live!´s last blog ..Friday Night Dinner =-.
I’ve had seasonal jobs where I’ve had to work the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas eve, but not on the actual holiday itself. That would be hard.
Nice that you got out of paying for dinner! 😉
And thanks for the soap tutorial – funny how caustic ingredients become something we rub on our bodies. I always think your “loaf of soap” looks good enough to eat, btw.
.-= Shelley B´s last blog ..Friday Mishmash =-.
I flipped through a soap-making book (“your” book), thinking I might give it a try and then decided it was awfully complicated. I’ll support the industry though! 🙂
At my previous job, I sometimes had to work New Year’s Day or Fourth of July, but never Christmas or Thanksgiving. In the big Y2K scare, there was some talk of having us close the books a week early, which would have meant working Christmas Day, but there was a minor storm (led by yours truly) over that one, so they passed on the idea. 🙂
Have a great weekend!
.-= cammy@tippytoediet´s last blog ..Nighttime Snacking- What’s Funny About It =-.
Hey Lori! Silent long time reader here:-). I’ve been wondering for a while now — but feel free to ignore this question if it’s a bit too intrusive, I will completely understand– do you and John have separate finances? if so, can I ask why?
We do have separate checking accounts. Always have. It just is easier that way.
Ohhh what a great idea for the steel cut oatmeal! I never make it because it takes too long; but the instant is just a little too salty tasting for me. I’ll try this out!
On your soap – is that one long mold – do you cut slices from that? I’ve never seen soap being made (with the exception of on the movie Fight Club!)
.-= Lori (MommyOntheRun)´s last blog .. =-.
Yes- the soap gets unmolded and is about like a cheddar cheese. Then it gets sliced into bars.
I have had to work many holidays through the years, but I don’t have to work them now.
Thanks for the primer on the soap – I was curious about this.