Great Friday 1: Surprise Dinner Guests and Sourdough Pancakes

I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a weekly personal update/gratitude list post for a while. It may sound dumb, but I’ve been holding out because I wasn’t sure what to call it. I was thinking it’d be a mix of Tim Ferriss’s 5-Bullet Friday newsletter and my friend Cat’s “Daily Bread” uplifting Instagram story (which she sends via WhatsApp because I’m still off the ‘gram.)

A good, catchy name goes a long way. I couldn’t start without one.

Thankfully, my long-awaited answer arrived this morning in the form of a Wordle guess. I entered “GREAT” into my first line, leading to my 13th Wordle win on the second guess! A sure sign it’s going to be a good day! I’m not going to give away the answer in case you haven’t gotten it, yet.

That’s when it hit me—Good Friday is already a thing, so why don’t I call my weekly update Great Friday? Brilliant!

In case you’re wondering, this won’t have anything to do with Christianity or religion at all. It’s just a clever name, and I sincerely hope that reading it helps you have a Great Friday!

What I’m Doing, Loving, and Grateful for This Week

Hearing How My Words Have Changed Lives

Jason saw one of his former co-workers last weekend. He said he hardly recognized her because she looked so happy and healthy. She told him she’s been reading my old, archived blog, which inspired her to quit smoking and start running! My heart burst open and tears ran down my cheeks immediately upon hearing this. Publish your stories and share your art, people! You never know who you might inspire.

Getting a Surprise Dinner Guest and Totally Pulling it Off

I mentioned in my last post about Mabon/Fall Equinox that we were planning to have a friend over for dinner on Thursday. Well, apparently that friend understood the invitation to be for Wednesday. He came over as I was working in the garden, dressed in my pink coveralls and witch’s hat, and covered in dirt. The house was a mess. In short, we were not prepared to host.

But it was our guest’s first time visiting, and we didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable, so we went with it. Thankfully, Jason was planning to make lasagna for dinner. He made a separate, plant-based lasagna for me, so there was more than plenty of food. I quickly cleared off a chair in my cluttered kitchen and offered it to our guest. While he sat and chatted with Jason—who was making the pasta from scratch—I frantically cleaned the house behind his back and changed into a normal outfit.

Dinner was a great success! The next day, Jason told our guest that we had been expecting him Thursday, not Wednesday. They all had a good laugh about it. He claimed he didn’t notice anything amiss, but I dunno… I thought we were pretty dang awkward and frazzled.

Knowing Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Still Relevant

Sourdough Pancakes

My last post also mentioned that I recently acquired a sourdough starter. For my first experiment, I tried this recipe for sourdough pancakes from Homestead and Chill. I also bought my starter from the Homestead and Chill shop and followed their directions for reactivating it.

The cakes are freaking delicious, and taste kind of like sourdough pretzels. I didn’t use the vanilla (because we’re out) or the cinnamon (because Jason doesn’t like it—weirdo, I know!) so perhaps that’s why. I’m stoked for more sourdough to come!

Cannabis for Canines

Our largest dog, Sampson, has been dealing with joint pain for a while. We give him cannabis tincture daily, which helps a lot. But we ran out last week and had to give him an anti-inflammatory the vet prescribed. While I think the prescription meds help him, they seem to make his pain and stiffness worse the next day. They also make him sad and grumpy. It’s difficult to witness.

I’m grateful Jason brought home a whole pint of canine cannabis tincture this week, because nothing seems to comfort him as well. Sam also seems to enjoy being a stoner in his retirement.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out this article I wrote for Nugg a while ago: Cannabis Can Help Your Arthritic Canine.

Must Be the Season of the Witch Meme

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That’s all for this week! If you feel inspired, please leave a comment with a thing or two that’s bringing joy to your life. There’s a lot of crazy shit going around the internet. We need to keep the good news moving around!

Happy Weekend 🙂

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