Another Blackened Friday

Considering how many hours I'd spent with my very long road trip out to Northwest Iowa yesterday, I wasn't surprised to find myself feeling this morning as if I'd been overworked the day before. For whatever reason, traveling does have an exhaustive effect on me the following day, but I'm not complaining one bit because that was definitely a memorable journey which I've already shared with a few, so hopefully they'll decide to do some vacationing in the Iowa Lakes area.

Not much was happening in the arena of real estate which came as no surprise because another blackened Friday arrived, and I'm sure there were many shoppers out looking for bargains which I've never consider them such, and after being informed by someone who does a great deal of research, I'll definitely not allow myself to get talked into buying anything at those big box stores. According to my researcher, such stores buy inferior goods that are specially made for today's event, so if you think you're getting a really good by on something, think again. I dare say there are too many people with nothing better to do than shop.

I did stop at a grocery store which had a large surplus of fresh turkeys which they reduced to a third of their original price, so I didn't even think twice about buying one because I'll be cutting it up and placing portions of it in vacuum freezer bags for future use. You'll likely think me crazy when telling you that I cut the breast into slices that are about the size of a smaller pork tenderloin, and without a doubt after being breaded and fried, they taste better than pork fritters. How can a person go wrong when paying only ninety-nine cents per pound? I still don't understand why more people don't have freezers which save big bucks on food bills over the course of a year. As a footnote, I'll be giving that 'big bird' a good soaking before cutting it up because those sellers always add juices of their own which they think enhance taste. No thank you.

With some time to kill, I went back and started cracking those black walnuts I picked up this Fall, and for whatever reason, they're bigger than last year's and noticeably easier to crack, and since I don't even have near the number of last year's nuts, they'll likely be fully-cracked in record time. About an hour into my monotonous job, I suddenly realized I'd fallen right back into the deep-thinking that gets ahold of me. Yes, cracking nuts in a quiet place, definitely offers up an abundant amount of time for reflection.

Since the first of December is just around the corner, I've already started making plans for my Christmas gifting, and each year I always add something new to those gift bags, but as of now, I still haven't decided on what it'll be. I'll have to go begging again for donations from several businesses I work with on a regular basis.

I'm actually glad I didn't have to be outdoors much, because that exceptionally cold wind was definitely feeling like January, so instead of putzing outside, I scratched around indoors. I'd say by the time 2025 arrives, I'll have my office fully de-cluttered. I finally made up my mind to refinish the top of a walnut table I'd gifted my mother a number of years ago which fit perfectly in her kitchen. I'd been using it at my office as a work table, but when looking at it closer today, I'll be put to a better use in my breakfast room once the top is refinished.

I'm hoping all of you had a delightfully memorable day yesterday without any feelings being hurt or new axes being prepared for the grinding.

Tonight's One-liner is: As in the rankest soil the most beautiful flowers are grown, so in the dark soil of poverty, the choicest flowers of humanity have developed and bloomed.

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