Growing up as an Only Child . . .
What does growing up as an only child have to do with anything?
Turns out, a lot . . .
I grew up as an only child of a single parent. After my dad died, my mom moved back home to her mother's, so I had my mom and my grandmother pretty much until I started to go to school. But eventually my mom had to go to work, and my Gramma passed away.
I think most people think that growing up as an only child is a sad thing. I don't think that ever occurred to me. It's just the way my life was, and I had plenty of cousins around me most of the time. When I was very young, there was just me, with adults who were mostly tired by the end of the day - I remember being very excited when my mom would play Candy Land, or Shutes and Ladders with me :-) And as I grew, at the end of the day, it was always just me, and my mom. (Full disclosure: I do have a half-brother, but we did not grow up together and did not meet each other until we were adults.)
When you are an only child of a single parent, you learn at a very young age to enjoy your own company. For me, that was books, music, a very active imagination, and learning to amuse myself on my own. I've always spent a lot of time at home. I had a roommate forever ago who used to get very irritated with me - she'd say, "you're always here!" And I remember thinking, "Where else would I be? I LIVE here." We had our own rooms, but shared communal space - I offered to spend an evening a week at the local library, but that wasn't good enough and she eventually moved out.
All that to say that I am not finding staying at home to be particularly difficult. I'm happy here and I have plenty to amuse me. Still plenty of books on the shelves to read, there's telly to watch, journaling to do, puzzles to do, knitting to do, plants to work on, a podcast to produce, and cooking to experiment with.
I do have to go out once in awhile, though. Yesterday I had to go to the post office. I wanted to send J one of the masks my cousin made for me - it was smaller, and I have a very large head. J does not, so I sent it to him. My local post office is literally down the block and around the corner. I timed it well for a Saturday - one person was leaving just as I got there. To my horror, I realized that while I'd put my clean mask on, I forgot to glove up.
Gah!
I used my coat sleeve to open the door, and it was like walking into a dystopian vision of the future . . . clear plastic sheeting hanging from the ceiling and lines taped to the floor to get people to stay 6 feet apart. The postal worker was wearing blue gloves and there was hand sanitizer - which I used - since I had to touch the pen to put my code in the card reader. I got there at a good time - someone was leaving and I was the only one there. I was in and out quickly, but there was already one person in line behind me when I left.
I decided to take a lap around the pond for a little exercise, and I was very focused on not touching my face. It was a gloomy day and I didn't see anyone else walking. My timing was inspired - on my return, there were a LOT of cars at the post office.
Some knitting is happening here. I cast on for Isabell Kraemer's Purl Code Cardigan.
This is a very cool pattern. It's basically a fingering weight cardigan, but you can knit words and phrases into it using Morse code! So far I have my guardian angels' names on my shoulders, and I'm working on some other quotes that mean a lot to me. The yarn is Madeline Tosh Twist Light. It's a little more blue than the photo would have you believe.
My friend, Michelle, at Boulderneigh asked for the Black-eyed Pea "Sausage" recipe. I got it from from a lady in the kidney stone group I'm in on FB. Here it is - oh, you can use one regular sized can of black-eyed peas if you don't want to deal with prepping dried ones. That's what I did.
The woman who shared it said her great grandmother fed a family of 14 off of variations of this recipe! As mentioned, I will definitely make these again - I'd like to tweak the spices a bit, I think - maybe add a little more fennel that's crushed? And next time I would either use garlic-infused olive oil to pan fry, or add a tiny bit of garlic to regular olive oil. They seems a little greasy with plain oil. I made four patties and then saved the rest for the next day. The flavors had definitely melded better with an overnight sit. You can actually brown the mixture similar to how you brown ground beef (I tried it with the remainder and it worked), so it's pretty versatile.
I wonder how it would be with other bean types? Michelle? You're the vegetarian - any thoughts?
I just made some Jiffy corn muffins. I made them using flax milk. I'll let you know how they turned out :-D
The harmonies and rhythm in this tune get me every time.
Turns out, a lot . . .
I grew up as an only child of a single parent. After my dad died, my mom moved back home to her mother's, so I had my mom and my grandmother pretty much until I started to go to school. But eventually my mom had to go to work, and my Gramma passed away.
I think most people think that growing up as an only child is a sad thing. I don't think that ever occurred to me. It's just the way my life was, and I had plenty of cousins around me most of the time. When I was very young, there was just me, with adults who were mostly tired by the end of the day - I remember being very excited when my mom would play Candy Land, or Shutes and Ladders with me :-) And as I grew, at the end of the day, it was always just me, and my mom. (Full disclosure: I do have a half-brother, but we did not grow up together and did not meet each other until we were adults.)
When you are an only child of a single parent, you learn at a very young age to enjoy your own company. For me, that was books, music, a very active imagination, and learning to amuse myself on my own. I've always spent a lot of time at home. I had a roommate forever ago who used to get very irritated with me - she'd say, "you're always here!" And I remember thinking, "Where else would I be? I LIVE here." We had our own rooms, but shared communal space - I offered to spend an evening a week at the local library, but that wasn't good enough and she eventually moved out.
All that to say that I am not finding staying at home to be particularly difficult. I'm happy here and I have plenty to amuse me. Still plenty of books on the shelves to read, there's telly to watch, journaling to do, puzzles to do, knitting to do, plants to work on, a podcast to produce, and cooking to experiment with.
I do have to go out once in awhile, though. Yesterday I had to go to the post office. I wanted to send J one of the masks my cousin made for me - it was smaller, and I have a very large head. J does not, so I sent it to him. My local post office is literally down the block and around the corner. I timed it well for a Saturday - one person was leaving just as I got there. To my horror, I realized that while I'd put my clean mask on, I forgot to glove up.
Gah!
I used my coat sleeve to open the door, and it was like walking into a dystopian vision of the future . . . clear plastic sheeting hanging from the ceiling and lines taped to the floor to get people to stay 6 feet apart. The postal worker was wearing blue gloves and there was hand sanitizer - which I used - since I had to touch the pen to put my code in the card reader. I got there at a good time - someone was leaving and I was the only one there. I was in and out quickly, but there was already one person in line behind me when I left.
I decided to take a lap around the pond for a little exercise, and I was very focused on not touching my face. It was a gloomy day and I didn't see anyone else walking. My timing was inspired - on my return, there were a LOT of cars at the post office.
Some knitting is happening here. I cast on for Isabell Kraemer's Purl Code Cardigan.
This is a very cool pattern. It's basically a fingering weight cardigan, but you can knit words and phrases into it using Morse code! So far I have my guardian angels' names on my shoulders, and I'm working on some other quotes that mean a lot to me. The yarn is Madeline Tosh Twist Light. It's a little more blue than the photo would have you believe.
My friend, Michelle, at Boulderneigh asked for the Black-eyed Pea "Sausage" recipe. I got it from from a lady in the kidney stone group I'm in on FB. Here it is - oh, you can use one regular sized can of black-eyed peas if you don't want to deal with prepping dried ones. That's what I did.
The woman who shared it said her great grandmother fed a family of 14 off of variations of this recipe! As mentioned, I will definitely make these again - I'd like to tweak the spices a bit, I think - maybe add a little more fennel that's crushed? And next time I would either use garlic-infused olive oil to pan fry, or add a tiny bit of garlic to regular olive oil. They seems a little greasy with plain oil. I made four patties and then saved the rest for the next day. The flavors had definitely melded better with an overnight sit. You can actually brown the mixture similar to how you brown ground beef (I tried it with the remainder and it worked), so it's pretty versatile.
I wonder how it would be with other bean types? Michelle? You're the vegetarian - any thoughts?
I just made some Jiffy corn muffins. I made them using flax milk. I'll let you know how they turned out :-D
The harmonies and rhythm in this tune get me every time.
Comments
I think of myself as an only child even though I'm not; I got a step-brother at 7 or 8, and a half-sister at 13. But I LOVED to read and draw and played with my Breyer horses and smaller plastic animals for HOURS; being alone is my comfortable default. But I need to have a pet around....