Monday (one week after surgery)

I awoke at 5:00 AM on Monday to go to the bathroom, so I filled out the Blog, printed off a copy for my Mom and then went back to bed (chair). I got a phone call (which I appreciated, BTW) at 6:20 AM that woke me back up. I did get back in that chair to see if there was any more sleep left in me, but it was a losing battle.

I can now appreciate the problems retirees face. Sounds nice to be home 24/7, right? Well, without the structure of weekdays and weekends, my normal routines are all screwed up. For example, it dawned on me this morning that I'd completely missed washing the bedding over the weekend. So, I stripped the bed and got that started.

Consequently, I shaved and showered late. In doing so, I missed a call from Lu and didn't check the phone immediately after getting cleaned up. Once I checked for voicemail, I returned her call a few hours later.

BTW, weather-wise, it's again hot and humid, but with a chance of showers today. It was sprinkling here around 11:00 AM, but that was it, so far. I got the clean bedding from the drier and made the bed.

In the afternoon, I drove to Kroger's to get some kitty litter (garbage day tomorrow). Since I was out and there anyway, I grabbed a few more items (ground chuck, unsalted butter and tuna fish) that I was low on. Picking up that 30 pound bag of kitty litter one-handed reminded me of something I was thinking about the other day.

The muscles in my right arm have been going downhill for months from deliberately not using it (hurt too much). So, I fear when this is all said and done, I'm gonna have a Popeye-sized left arm and a wimpy girly-man right arm! Sigh...

Back home and unpacked, I popped a pain pill and took an hour nap. When I got up, I started on making some coleslaw. On impulse, I bought a bag of shredded carrots and cabbage. But, for some reason, the traditional creamy dressing (mayonnaise and/or sour cream based) sounded too heavy (I think it's the heat).

It took a while, but I found an alternative dressing online. It was for broccoli slaw (which I don't have) but I think it will work. So, I got to work.

It called for a jalapeno pepper (which I also didn't have) so I went out to the raised bed garden and picked a "hot" yellow banana pepper (it had already started turning red, BTW). I cut it in half, stripped out the seeds and the white membranes and then minced it. After last night's ham disaster, I took a couple of itzy-bitzy pieces and tasted them.

Holy Moly, Guacamole! My lips were numb and I could not stop crying! There should be some warning label on these damn things! I admit, not being a spicy food aficionado, I don't know jack about hot peppers. I would have thought they would be less hot than a jalapeno pepper, but not these bad boys.

To sum up my limited knowledge, bell peppers (red, yellow or green) are my go-to guys. If I want a little hot, I use poblanos. If I want to walk on the wild side, I use deseeded jalapenos. And, only my grandson Joe can eat a habenero and live.

I am guessing these hot yellow peppers are somewhere between a jalapeno and a habenero.

But, back to my coleslaw: I thin-sliced half of a red onion and added that to the coleslaw mix and minced pepper. I mixed it up and set it aside.

For the dressing, I took a saucepan and added in 1/4 cup of cider vinegar, the zest of one lime, the juice of the same lime, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, two tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon of cracked black pepper. I brought that slowly to a boil, whisking constantly. When I had a light boil, I shut it off and set it aside to cool.

Once it was cool, I added in two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. I whisked that in and added it to the coleslaw. I tossed it and then set the bowl in the fridge to get happy (it was 7:00 PM. BTW).

I got out the grille pan and a package of hot dogs along with a small can of Bush's baked beans. While they were both heating up, I diced half of a Vidalia onion. I grilled the hot dogs and plated two on buns with yellow mustard and onions. I put some beans in a small bowl and added some coleslaw to the plate.

I went in to watch TV while eating dinner. The hot dogs and beans were good, if predictable, but the slaw? Whew! WAY too spicy for me!! I'll try it tomorrow again, but I think this is headed for the trash! Still, I think it was a good concept. I should be able to tone back the ingredients and eventually get good, non-dairy coleslaw.

I gave up on TV at 10:00 and went to the living room to sleep.