The Kat Files

I spent a great deal of time in the kitchen this morning which is highly unusual for me since I despise cooking. I whipped up some French Toast for Andrew and me for breakfast. This is the first time that I have made French Toast using Brioche bread. The particular Brioche bread that I bought had cinnamon in it, so I did not need to add much cinnamon. I also added some vanilla extract this time. We both thought it tasted delicious. I also had some rather ripe bananas, so I decided to bake some banana bread. I know what you are thinking, dear reader…lots of carbs. Yep, and lots of comfort. Thankfully, I will not be cooking dinner this evening. My hubby plans to grill steaks for the three of us.

I have yet to create any kind of routine while being at home, and I think it is contributing to me being in some kind of funk. I’m not unhappy per se; I guess I feel kind of apathetic. I did NOT meditate once this week. Sadly, I have not made any more progress with Andrew’s Ireland scrapbook. On Thursday, I did receive an order from a company that sells grid paper for scrapbooking. The new paper will be a nice addition to my materials, and I’m hoping it will inspire me to get back to scrapbooking. Slowly but surely, I am making progress on the collection of short stories (Full Throttle) that I am reading by Joe Hill. They are terrific stories! Woefully, I am having trouble focusing on much of anything.

Fortunately, I am still walking daily with Levar Burton (skipped Saturday with Levar to finish listening to the latest episode of Office Ladies). It is a highlight of my day. This week I listened to five live episodes and episode #48. I enjoyed all six stories; however, “Driftglass” and “Mono No Aware” were my favorites.

• LIVE! in Toronto: “Four Stations in His Circle” by Austin Clarke
• LIVE! in Dallas: “In the City of Martyrs” by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
• Live! in D.C.: “A Dark Night” by Edward P. Jones
• LIVE! in New Jersey: “Driftglass” by Samuel R. Delany
• LIVE! in Boston: “Mono No Aware” by Ken Liu
• #48 “L’Aquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of the Stars)” by Dean Francis Alfar

I started listening to a new podcast that Laura Vanderkam launched on April 1st. It is called The New Corner Office by Laura Vanderkam. In each weekday morning episode, she offers strategies for working at home. It is a nice addition to her podcast, Before Breakfast with Laura Vanderkam.

This upcoming week is my spring break. It will last until April 13th with on-line school resuming on April 14th. Normally, my spring break begins on Good Friday and extends the week after Easter. However, when the Governor announced our first stay-at-home mandate that was going to end on April 13th, our school along with other schools in the Diocese of Baton Rouge decided to move spring break up a week. Now, we are mandated to stay at home until April 30th, but our spring break did not move back to its originally scheduled time. In the grand scheme of things, it is not a huge issue. However, my hubby took vacation the week we originally planned to be off. And, SLU is off, too. I guess the silver lining is that even though I will be working from home the week Andrew and Barry are off, we will still be home together.

Since I won’t have to focus on anything school-related for the next eight days, I really want to use the time to tackle some projects around the house. My house could thoroughly use some TLC. In truth, there is NO excuse for me not to be productive in the next few days. What have you been doing with your time, dear reader? Are you accomplishing anything, continuing to work, both, or are you also in a funk? Enjoy the remainder of today which also happens to be Palm Sunday. Happiness!

“Lord, we lift up your name. With hearts full of praise; Be exalted, O Lord my God! Hosanna in the highest!” ~ Carl Tuttle