E52: Pasta Salad & PSA
Welcome back everybody!Lady Jupiter Podcast is the audio accompaniment to LadyJupiter.com a lifestyle blog where I write about my family’s military life, our home life, casual fashion, and travel when possible. I’m happy that you’re here with me.
In this episode I’ll share an update on our life as affected by the U.S. military, continue with a blog update, then wrap up with my most recent domestic diversion.
Today in our military-affected lives I have nothing significant to update.
Since last episode I had two opportunities to embarrass myself, and I think I managed to appear medium normal and composed - instead of my usual humanoid manifestation of panic, nervousness, and sweat.
So the first event was in-person at the squadron. The squadron is temporarily in a different building, but we managed to gather and scatter pretty well in the newer, smaller building. Mister Jupiter committed to smoking some pork, and I committed to making a pasta salad. His pork started on the smoker as planned, then got moved to the Instant Pot to finish and easily transport. It was a success! My smoked Gouda pasta salad was delicious - but it took forever to make. I’ll link to the original recipe in the show notes ( ladyjupiterpodcast.wordpress.com ). I doubled the recipe, made a couple of substitutions, and added a small jar of pesto. So I spent over an hour the night before making the sauce, specifically dicing one and a quarter pounds of smoked gouda, plus two 16oz jars of fire roasted red peppers. Even though it took a long time to prepare, I was happy that the sauce got to rest in the fridge overnight before I tossed in the fresh pasta. But the day-of events is when things get interesting, right? I got a headache and needed to lie down - this resulted in me getting the pasta cooked later that planned, and Kid Jupiter didn’t wake from his nap as easily as usual, so that was fun. Luckily I wasn’t too late; I arrived shortly after others with a toddler, but also with a Radio Flier wagon of pasta salad, a small cooler, and some toys. It could have been smoother, but it could have been significantly worse.
📌 thekitchn.com/recipe-sinful-pasta-salad-with-smoked-gouda-roasted-red-peppers-and-artichoke-hearts
But wait, there’s more! Not all of the spouses could attend the in-person event, so we had a little version via Zoom to supplement. This one was shorter and just as casual, but without the potluck, loose children, or pudding shots. This friendly information sharing session started with me (the Zoom host) forgetting about it entirely because I forgot to look at my calendar all morning. Oy vey. So it started with my camera off, and mic muted while I panic dashed around the house to find my glasses, microwave my coffee, debate changing shirts, and grab Mister Jupiter. In the end I think we got the information out, but I wasn’t ready, so I didn’t have any prepared remarks, questions, or statements. Then for the rest of the day my brain felt out of sync with the rest of my body after a jarring event literally in my pajamas. But hey! I took a shower between the events so that made me appear normal, and the permanent makeup definitely helps me look put together when I am not. I had my winged eyeliner done in 2011! and I highly recommend it.
For today’s LadyJupiter.com update…I finished a post that I started three months ago! So Picks of the Week 29 is up and running. Those picks include a snack bar, cosmetic samples, a sleep supplement that tastes like candy, an obvious kitchen tool that I wish I bought years ago, and my favorite easy-to-pack fiber supplement.
My next blog-related task is to freshen up some old posts, including the photos. I actually like updating my old blog posts, because I enjoy editing and improving my own work. For me these updates are definitely progress on the website, but I don’t really talk about them. So if you pop over to ladyjupiter.com, These newly refreshed posts will not be at the top of the page, because they’re NOT new content, and I definitely want the new stuff at the top.
📌 Picks of the Week № 29
And now for my most recent domestic diversion, lately I have been not too behind on the laundry. Originally I planned on telling you about how I think that I have inattentive ADHD and that’s why I’m behind on the laundry, but the irony now is that my inability to get this podcast recorded in a timely manner give me the time instead to fold the laundry so being true to my suspected attention deficit disorder, I continued to leave important tasks unfinished, while completing lower priority tasks at random, in the night.
Something else that has been on my mind that I want to talk about real quick is something that has surprised me recently. One of my family members has not gotten their COVID-19 vaccine yet. I’m sure that there’s more than one person who fits that description, but I really only know about ONE SINGLE UNVACCINATED FAMILY MEMBER. These vaccines are readily available to all adults who don’t want to die from COVID-19. I understand that one single shot is convenient for most schedules, but thousands of people have made time for the two shot sequence, and so should you. Stop waiting for the convenient version, it’s not worth dying over. By waiting, you are showing me that you would rather be intubated than have a second shot. That doesn’t add up. Similarly, isolation is not a long term lifestyle. I want you to be safe in public. COVID isn’t going anywhere and this Delta variant loves killing unvaccinated people just like you. Please don’t become a statistic, don’t be another death that could have been avoided.
And for the record, I just don’t want to go to your funeral. Get the stupid shots. Both of them. If you can’t do it alone, call me and I’ll fly out for both of them.
📌 www.ladyjupiterpodcast.wordpress.com
And that’s it for today’s rant.
Show notes and transcript will be available on LadyJupiter.com/podcast - scroll down to the link for Episode № 52: Pasta Salad & PSA
📌Ladyjupiter.com/Podcast
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