Love to everyone who's having a hard time. Be gentle with your marvelous selves.

Again, I will agree with smonster, for she is wise and wonderful.

I need to figure out what to cook for the two teenagers tomorrow. One is Vegetarian and one doesn't like many vegetables. The first week I did two types of pasta, one with meat and one with beans. Last week we ordered pizza, but that was too speedy. They have very healthy appetites.

Lasagna? Or some other casserole-type thing?

My apartment now has hot water! I can shower!

Yay hot water!

I think lasagna may be more work than I feel like doing for lunch. Maybe a homemade mac and cheese?

I'm a sucker for Chop't (a fast, casual restaurant) salads and have been making them at home. Excellent summer fodder when the temp 'feels like 107, etc.

The best part is, if you make the right dressing, they can be the stone-soup of cold meals and end up being tasty-tastic.

I use a huge bowl to mix everything up...and have to figure out how to keep myself from eating the whole thing. I'm at 100% fail on that point so far.

What I learned from Chop't: crunch makes every salad special. When you cut bits up small, you can sneak in stuff you might not love and it all goes down well. Umami is the bomb-y. For this, I often use canned chickpeas. For sweet, pickled beets...which I tell myself are healthier than I bet they are. Crushed tortilla chips are aMAZing in a salad.

I feel like I am winning at summer, low cost food...and entertaining. Since guest seldom make this sort of thing for themselves. Not sure why.

Is chopping discouraging because it seems labor intensive?

I have done nothing today except lie in bed and read stuff on my now one-year-old smart phone. That's awesome, but I do have stuff I need to do, so I'm just going to acknowledge that I'm lazy and move on. I've got to get to yoga at 2 though.

Now that I'm back home, I'm finally getting into some gardening again. I was watering up the hill where Java is buried, and all of a sudden, the dirt over the hole subsided about 6 inches. Sigh. I knew that was going to happen. I still miss him.

The fog poured in over the Marin hills last night, I was visiting a friend who's house sitting on an awesome houseboat in Sausalito. There is the chilliest breeze going now and it's just awesome. There's a 668 square foot house for sale in Larkspur for $800,000.... Our weather is one reason why real estate is expensive I think.

Our weather is one reason why real estate is expensive I think.

It's very appealing to contemplate chilly fog from a Utah summer.

Still! No! Headache!

I keep catching myself bracing for it. But then there's no headache there!

That's so awesome, Jilli!

I am feeling serious lack of motivation lately. Mostly due, I think, to work, but has spread to stuff like not having enough motivation to do laundry/dishes/take out trash/make appointments. New dose of meds doesn't seem to be helping much (admittedly it's only been just over a week, but still)

YAY, Jilli!!!

I am back to feeling human myself. I walked a few miles on Friday and Saturday. My PT said I can return to the gym (if I can haul my ass there, just to sub in the recumbent bike instead of the treadmill).

Today I bought ALL THE GROCERIES from Costco, Trader Joe's, and King Soopers because the cupboards were bare. Then my BFF and I made the most tastiest curry chicken EVAH! So much nom. And there will be coconut rice with mango for dessert.

Tomorrow I need to figure what I'm going to do about my trip to Tahoe for a family reunion. I originally wasn't going to go. Then my cousin who lives in Camino said she would drive me between the airport and her place plus let me stay in her guest room. That made the trip affordable. Over the weekend she texted to ask if I can rent a car while I'm there. I've been afraid to ask if I still have a place to stay. It is mid-August so I have a bit of time to figure this out, I'm just annoyed as she KNEW I was trying to keep expenses low.