“Upgraded” our pantry storage today. This process might be construed as “downgrading” our dining room area, but it will make things much easier to find, store safely and use. We bought a classic metal rolling shelf unit like you would find in a professional kitchen or shop. It’s tucked into the corner near my bookshelves, and is now filled with sugar bins, cans of hominy, a whole box of large bottles of spices, 20 pounds of cocoa, couscous, rice, beans, various flours and grains… It is much easier to get to things, but my dining room looks less than glamorous. Not that anything in my house has ever been glamorous, but the “not glamor” has increased. Because, it ends up that running a restaurant out of your house is pretty all-encompassing.
Prep day today. Willi worked here in the morning, then went up to Santa Rosa to use his friend, Sam’s, smoker to do the chicken. I stayed home and baked Cobbler and a million corn muffins.
Got a sweet note of encouragement from a good friend today.. a theatre friend… who, like all of us, is drowning in the uncertainty, the directionless thought-wandering and general worry. He said something in his note about how I was managing to keep busy, create something with Willi and generally seem productive and energetic. I appreciated his kind words, but immediately returned the email reassuring him not to be fooled by the face out to the world. That there is a lot of crying going on along with the productivity. As I so eloquently stated, a “fuck-ton” of crying. Daily crying, pretty much. But I think, I am just a person who isn’t comfortable with relaxing… or at least, my go-to position is one of keeping busy no matter what. I think poor Willi has often wondered what he got himself into by hanging out with me.
I know, however, that the need to keep busy isn’t always very good for me. That my body is tired, my eating habits are currently crap, my sleep is light. I seem to need the house to be picked up or at least not a total mess, in order to relax. And that is sometimes hard to manage, when our schedule is crazy. This week, at least, I am finished with the things that I needed to do today before midnight. The last two Thursdays I have stayed up until 4am getting things done for various reasons. Tonight, I am going to be in bed before midnight! Just like Cindy-rella. Willi is staying up late tonight cooking a fresh batch of Ragu…
I hope the evening has been good to you. Tomorrow I am up early and we have Meals on Heels as well as our regular customers. Ribs and Chicken and Skewers, oh my! Until tomorrow, sleep well and sweet dreams of better times. Stay safe and hug yourselves for me xoxo