Sunday...2.4.07

Because of net surfing my laptop got all messed up. I think I logged into some bad sites because by the end of last week I couldn't get online at all. Took baby to computer doctor and he fixed her up, reloaded everything and now on strict diet:-) Not all is forbidden, but staying away from anything political, too many hot heads with viruses lurking. Found a swap site that seems very friendly. Looking for a book swap also. Made decision about apartment that was offered. Its outside CH and in a tacky neighborhood. Decided to sit tight for now; rent is lower, space is fine for me. Just not ready to jump. Decided to wait until summer when I take vacation and will set aside funds to buy needed furniture and paint myself. Its too cold now to do it and not feeling well enough. Out of town job feelers have produced no results.
I have chronic pain and it seems to be getting worse in the last couple of months. Not sure if its stress or just progression...but its certainly spreading. I wake at night having to shift because of pressure on joints causing terrible pain. I haven't really cut back on anything I need to do because things must get done and there's no one but me to do them. But there's a price for everything, from just walking 20 blocks to store and back, to carrying heavy items like laundry or even an overloaded briefcase from office.

Today I made up a recipe for apricot bars, substituting ground oats for white flour and using apricot jam made with grape juice instead of sugar. They're delicious but next time a tart (raspberry or sour cherries) preserve would be better and a thinner crust. I started cooking on Sunday for the week instead of coming home at 7pm and just starting and eating by 8:30.I made split pea soup last week. This week I tried chili but used chuck steak instead of ground beef and added cinnamon to the spices to cut the heat. I remember when we lived upstate
and J. was a mashgiah for milk products. We had a man who lived in the house and shared mashgiah duties. Every Friday he cooked up a batch of cholent that stunk up the house. He packed it into old pickle jars and ate it all week. I hope this won't be quite as bad:-)