DST (Dead, Sleepy, Tired)

Or Daylight Saving Time. You know. Either way.

How did you survive the time change? Here are some of the things I did to ease into this new schedule.

The last month of weekends have been way too busy for my liking. But this weekend, no one came over, we cleaned nothing, we went (almost) nowhere and I LOVED IT.

While I don't like leaving things on my to-do list, I have learned to recognize when it's time to relax. Sunday flew by so fast, I'm almost not sure if it ever existed. It's good I didn't rush around like usual.

Friday, I got to work from home because Adam had to have blood drawn and I wanted to drive him. It was actually the best needle interaction he's ever had (thank goodness), but I'm still glad I got to be there for moral support. In the late afternoon, he took off with Patrick for his Heroclix tournament. I did my weight loss yoga video and then showered, plopped onto the couch with dinner and pulled up Netflix.

Since Netflix apparently doesn't care whether its search option ever works, I couldn't manage to pull up the movie I wanted to watch even though I knew they had it. So I resorted to watching food documentaries instead. You know, like anyone would.

I watched Food, Inc. and Ingredients: the first being more famous and covering the topic of food industry practices and their failings; the second focusing on buying from local farms. Both are very good, though a little unsettling at times. Actually, to be accurate, I both got very angry and cried during Food, Inc. I'm sure my mouth dropped open a few times.

Anyway, all that's to say that I immediately felt a renewed urgency to hit up the farmers market over the weekend. We went to the Winter Park one on Saturday, but I still want to check out the one at Lake Eola next Sunday for comparison.

I'd totally slacked on creating any sort of grocery list, so the trip wasn't as complete as I hope it will be next weekend, but we picked up blueberries, strawberries, an onion and  a couple of red bell peppers, all grown in Florida. We also got a basket of mushrooms (unlabeled) and some garlic (China). Hopefully I'll get better (read: bolder) about asking questions next week. To find out what farm they're from if their tent doesn't say, to see where something is from if it's not labeled, etc.

The blueberries were immediately transformed into amazing muffins with streusel on top from my new cookbook. They made a great brunch!

There were quite a few items from other states, which is counterproductive for me if I'm taking the trouble to go to a farmers market, but if I can begin to buy the bulk of my produce locally, I won't sweat over a few items that were shipped. I do wish more of it was organic, but I realize I live in Orlando, not San Francisco or Portland.

I'm sure there will be a learning curve as I begin to ask questions and try harder to cook by the season. I'm not quite comfortable enough to become a member of the local co-op yet, but it's an option for maybe a few months from now when I've learned more. It's nice because you can fill up your basket online with whatever you want, then pick it up twice a week. They also label what farms they're coming from (and I think that includes meat). My only hesitance is that I'm not used to cooking with what's available. I'm used to picking meals and then buying what I need, regardless of season. It will take some time to learn the ways of my great-grandparents.

Anyway, that's enough preaching. Let's look at some pictures!

(The photo at the top is of Chinese eggplants. Not sure what the round variety next to them are called.)

Below are gourmet zucchini. I overheard the seller explaining that you prepare them the same way as regular zucchini.

Lastly from the farmer's market, here's a Florida spring onion that we bought. It smells delicious!

The rest of the weekend I mostly spent working on a Wizard of Oz puzzle I got for Christmas. It's much farther along now, but I love this view of endless pieces.

My puzzle helper. She wanted to sit in my lap, so I made her a bed instead.

And finally, one of my succulents has been growing a long stem for a couple weeks now. I just noticed it now has a flower! I hate not knowing what these particular plants are called, so if anyone can inform me, I'd appreciate it! The closest identity I've come to for the one flower is Haworthia. i don't know what the one on the right is.

Well, that's all. I hope everyone else found some fun things to do this weekend too!