Domestication; Long Day

Wednesday lunch was a Reuben from Arby's. One sandwich is more than ample for two people. But, Tommy wanted a whole one. Okay.

On Wednesday, I lay down and made some phone calls in the afternoon. And, after an hour got up. But, I did not want to cook and didn't want to get anything out. I just wanted to go back and lie down.

Finally, I took a pack of chicken tenders from the freezer and let them sit out while I spent almost an hour washing dishes. I asked Tommy to come to the kitchen, spread a towel on the counter and had him spread one on my chair sitting by the sink and gave him a dish towel to dry. I put the washed dishes on the towel on the counter and he dried them and put them on the towel on the chair. He did it without attitude. Good for him. AND, he got everything dry. 

Funny thing--When I just had to sit down because of back pain and left the kitchen with a few things unwashed and even more not dried, he came to living room, too. I asked him if he finished. He had not. I asked why not. If he were hurting, I was not going to say anything. No, he did not know why he quit, and went back and finished. I was chuckling inside because he was quite a worker until I stopped. Funny man.

He is fascinated by how I cleaned the cast iron skillet. I heated it and then put water in it and boiled it while I scraped out cooked-on hamburger. It did boil dry as I intended. Eventually, I used a paper towel to get burned stuff out. 

Peanut oil, just a bit, and chicken tenders went into the pan and cooked on low and then higher. We had from a food pickup two trays of vegetables and dip. We had eaten most of one. He got broccoli, grape tomatoes, sugar peas and raspberry dressing. He ate that while the chicken cooked. I took a smallish potato and peeled it and sliced it in rounds and put in with the chicken. 

Do you remember how he pushed back at Raspberry Dressing? Well, he got a bottle from ones on the table and has been using it. ??? 

And, this clenches it! I think he is becoming domesticated! He grabbed the plastic bag I keep ads in and in the pink shopping bag. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was just checking the sale ads to see if there was anything he wanted. WHAT? 

He actually does know what I need to buy this time. We were discussing going to grocery today. So, he told me where Dasani was on sale and cheaper than the other ad I was perusing. He did the math. 

Remember? He would not allow a clock in here. I got one and propped it on a table and he said nothing. Last night, I asked him if he would help me decide where over the TV to hang the clock. He said he thought it would look better over the table where it is sitting. So, it is over the table. He wasted a lot of emotion over having a clock. Now, I never have to ask him the time. Sometimes, he has asked me since flowers were in front of it one time so he could not see most of the clock. It still rolls a bit where 10 or 11 is at the 12 position and it is confusing. No more. 

Thursday morning, I have a mission no matter how I feel. I will tell you later. If I feel well enough, we will make the rounds with the ads and our list. Okay, there were about 30 packages of a dozen Ball jars and I did not get even one. Then, on Thursday, Publix had two left. I forgot to get one and then had to make another trip in the same day. ugh

These shelves have no little edges to keep things from sliding off, so I have a plan--all food will be in something like a basket or bin. I have plenty of flats from food, but I want no corrugated boxes...well, unless I cover them with fabric or paint them. I don't want cans toppling. Example: only a few of the cans of tuna will be in the kitchen. The rest and great majority will be in the bedroom. It is a plan. 

Wednesday, I still felt ill and on Thursday was just tired and still running a bit of a temp. By 4 pm on Thursday, we were home and I am barely able to form a sentence. 

I carried in one small, light load of groceries and went back for another. Tommy made three trips into the house and I told him to leaves the jars in there and bring them in later. He did not argue. Sometimes, he says he will/can do it now.