1.  THAT’S RIGHT, PEOPLE, I’M BACK!!

2.  Let me say right off I cannot believe I made it a stinking year with this series only to get wiped out and miss last week.

3.  It’s not like I had a choice. Short of typing forty asterisks and hitting publish there was no way I could stay awake long enough to write that post. Boo.

4.  Side note: Thanks to the folks who missed it. You guys are too kind. 🙂

5.  Now, back to food. Skipping last Friday was unfortunate. I made a real winner of a dinner on Tuesday.

6.  We had Sriracha Honey Cashew Chicken over rice and it was scrum-diddly-umptious.

7.  We enjoy a lot of stir fry around here. Most of my recipes have a more liquidy sauce but this one’s sticky and clings to veggies, sealing in the yum with every bite.

8.  It’s also forgiving as far as ingredients go. Not a snow pea fan? Swap them out for more bell peppers or broccoli. Hate bell peppers? Add julienned carrots instead. Make your people happy.

9.  But again, that sauce? Sweet, tangy, with a bit of bite…mmm mmm good.

10.  Smoothies are coming back to the forefront now that the weather’s warmer.

11.  I tried this PB&J smoothie for lunch yesterday and it was delicious.

12.  Disclaimer: I know they’re saying it’s for weight loss but unless you’re replacing a daily Big Mac and fries with this thing I don’t really get that. Also, there’s no way the nutrition panel was correct so trust your own math.

13.  Also threw together this easy peasy smoothie the other day with a bit of protein powder to fill me up. I liked it well enough.

14.  Full disclosure: I have Vega protein powder in the house and don’t exactly love it but that detox cleanse stuff puts everything into perspective. I’m trying something new next week but will take gluten free/dairy free/vanilla flavor suggestions if you’ve got ’em.

15.  So I’m finishing up that huge project I’ve been working on. You know how you have all those loose ends to tie up before you can check the box? Yeah, that’s where I am.

16.  Ask me if I’m done next week. We should be celebrating by then.

17.  But I’m closer to finishing up and apparently that meant the difference between drowning in clutter and having the energy to clean up part of the family room and kitchen.

18.  It ain’t perfect but baby steps.

19.  Lots of stuff has happened over the last two weeks. Lots.of.stuff.

20.  After a painstaking prosecution the jury took just over ten hours to convict Derek Chauvin on all three charges in the murder of George Floyd. It’s a start.

21.  I know, I know, this is supposed to be accountability, right? The thing we were all demanding? We should be happy.

22.  Finding Chavin guilty was a giant and, admittedly, surprising step forward for our criminal system. Accountability will come on June 25th.

23.  That’s when the judge hands down Chauvin’s jail sentence. We’ll talk accountability then.

24.  But in the larger scheme of things police officers fatally shot at least six people in the twenty-four hours following that guilty verdict. There were varying circumstances surrounding each death but still, the rate’s worth noting.

25.  We’re fooling ourselves if we think finding this one police officer guilty will change a system so deeply flawed.

26.  Right now we’ve got a lot of attention focused on Elizabeth City, NC for a fatal police shooting there.

27.  My big fat question is this: if wearing active body cameras is law enforcement’s claim to being transparent, why isn’t body cam footage public record in North Carolina?

28.  Right now that isn’t the case because of how the law’s written but why isn’t the sheriff’s department petitioning the court to have it released?

29.  Turns out at the moment they’re waiting for the State Bureau of Investigation to give them some sort of all clear.

30.  In the end I can’t help thinking okay, you say the shooting’s justified? Then go to court and release the footage. How hard is this??

31.  On the lighter (except not) side, The Handmaid’s Tale dropped three episodes of its new season onto Hulu this week PRAISE JESUS.

32.  Yes, it’s just as disturbing as ever but dang, it’s good tv.

33.  Some pretty big news about Matt Gaetz broke last night and I’ll wager nobody was surprised by any of it.

34.  Don’t get me started on people who’ve been forced to resign for rumors when this numb nut is still going to work like there isn’t actual evidence of illegal activity out there.

35.  I’ve purposefully steered clear of commenting on Tim Scott’s response to Biden’s address. Seems like a solid mental health choice for me.

36.  I’ll say this. It’s been one hell of a #100daysofBiden for me.

37.  Have I mentioned it’s been in the upper eighties here? At 11pm last night it was still 73°. What IS that?!

38.  We’ve arrived at the last day in April. For those of us in the south that means we’ve entered serious Boob Sweat days.

39.  Who am I kidding, I’m a perimenopausal woman, every day is a Boob Sweat day. Good times.

40.  As we head into May I say let’s celebrate standing up for ourselves, honest talk, self-care, naps, bird song, and the perfect milkshake at the end of a long hard day.