A (Short) List of Things I Can Control
+ an *incredible* dinner recipe 🍗 and Teacher Lists 🍎!
Switching things up this week! Instead of The Weekly List, I’m going to save up my reading/watching/listening to/making/shopping content for next Friday, and offer something different this week. I’ve been thinking, actually, and I may start doing The Weekly List every other Friday with a random grab bag Free Friday letter in-between. Sometimes it’ll be an essay, sometimes it’ll be a listicle, sometimes it’ll be… who knows what. How do we feel about that? Let me know in the comments!
So, my anxiety has been extremely high lately, and the list of reasons for why is very, very long. Everything from the unrelenting Texas heat to my keratosis pilaris spreading to my face and making my skin feel like braille to politics to the daily claustrophobia I’m feeling during this renovation and not being able to cook and bake to the general state of our world… it’s all causing my anxiety to spike in a way it hasn’t in a very long time.
I was lamenting about all the above to a few trusted confidantes this week, and one suggested I make a list of things I can control to ground myself. Normally I’m not into those journal-adjacent sort of suggestions, but I decided to give it a shot and am sharing it here in case anyone is feeling out of control and needs some inspo to create a similar list of their own. So, here goes.
Things I Can Control
A short list by Emma Miller
Taking care of my dogs. I love them so much, and they are a huge source of comfort for me. They are struggling during this reno as much as I am, so ensuring they are comfy, fed, hydrated, and feeling loved is in my control and I strive to do so to the nth degree every day.
Here they are napping with their paws intertwined. Content I consume. I don’t have to follow or watch or listen to anything that doesn’t do it for me. If I want to rewatch The Office or old episode of Guy’s Grocery Games every single day for the rest of my pregnancy purely for the comfort it brings me or only listen to silly, unserious, comedic podcasts, then I should. I also have the power to turn it all off and read instead, which I’ve been doing a lot lately and it’s so lovely. When in doubt, read a book.
The content I create and share. I am who I am and I write what I write and I say what I say and I conduct my life as I want, and none of it can appease nor appeal to everyone. That’s impossible. I share what I want because I want to, and if people are gonna peace out, that’s their choice. Taking my life over what turned them away is a waste of energy.
How I spend my days. I am so lucky in that my schedule is incredibly flexible, which means my days play out how I want/need them to for the most part. While I can’t enjoy the full breadth of my house right now and I can’t go outside without sweating bullets and feeling like I’m gonna collapse from the heat index and I sort of have to be “on call” in case things come up during the reno that Zac can’t escape work to handle, I have almost full control over my schedule and that’s not something to be taken for granted.
How I nourish my body. Truth be told, my current setup is making it really hard to do this well. Without being able to cook for myself and dining out for nearly every meal, it’s difficult to make “good” choices on the daily. But I’m trying.
My nails. Seems silly but at this juncture, they’re like the one body part I can manipulate to my liking right now, if that makes sense? One of my go-to lines during this pregnancy is “nail polish is the only thing that fits me right now” because it’s funny… and also true. Anyway, I’ve been getting regular pedicures and not feeling bad about it, and I’m trying to keep my fingers clean and shaped and smooth. It’s such a small thing, but it helps.
Daydreaming about my son’s arrival. I’m not exactly in nesting mode just yet (kind of hard to be with the state of our home), but in the meantime, I can start my registry, write lists of things I need, save images I find online to get inspired for his nursery, finalize my baby shower invite list, etc.
What I give energy to. Seems obvious, but sometimes emotions can overtake the more logical side of your brain and make you react in funny, over-the-top, unhealthy ways. What matters in my day-to-day life from sun up to sundown is what deserves my energy (food, friends, family). Everything else is just unnecessary noise.
Now, for an incredibly delicious, easy recipe.
When I was in Tulsa, my best friend offered up her kitchen to me since I’m missing mine so much. I quickly scrolled through my hundreds of saved Instagram food posts, found this reel, and went for it.
Following recipe directions via a caption is annoying to me, so I’m going to write it out here for you guys to refer back to. This meal has so much depth of flavor, it’s insane. I had never used sumac spice before and I’m now hooked. I cannot wait to make this dinner again once our kitchen is back up and running!
One Pan Sumac Chicken Thighs with Avocado Cucumber Salad
Ingredients for the chicken:
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 red onion
1 large lemon
2 TBSP tomato paste
2 TBSP olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 TBSP paprika, garlic powder, and sumac
1/2 TBSP oregano
Ingredients for the avocado cucumber salad:
2 Persian cucumbers
1 small avocado, cubed
1/4 cup chopped small red onion
2 TBSP fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 TBSP olive oil
Salt, pepper, lemon or lime juice to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 425º.
Thinly slice red onion and place slices at the base of an oven-safe dish. Grab chicken thighs, dab them dry with a paper towel, and add them on top of the sliced onions in the oven-safe dish. Let chicken come to room temp while you work the sauce in the next step.
For the sauce paste, grab a medium mixing bowl. Add the juice of large lemon, tomato paste, olive oil, a couple generous pinches salt, pepper, sweet paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and sumac. Mix well.
Brush the sauce paste all over the chicken, covering all sides. Reserve some for later.
Cook chicken for 35 minutes. At 35 minutes, remove the chicken, brush with the remaining sauce paste, and put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
While chicken cooks, make the cucumber avocado salad by finely dicing the Persian cucumbers, cubing the avocado, and dicing the red onion, then mix it all together with fresh cilantro, tsp dried oregano, olive oil, and salt & pepper. Taste and adjust with lemon or lime juice!
Remove the chicken from the oven and serve it with the salad. Top both with a little more. Serve this with whatever base you like! (We did white rice).
Lastly, let’s talk Teacher Lists. It’s that time of year — when the most selfless people I know (teachers) are gearing up to start yet another school year. Teachers have to buy any extras (ya know, the special things that make school worth going to and falling in love with) themselves and create wishlists via Amazon in hopes people like you and me will clear their lists.
I asked my audience to send me their lists and got several, so please scroll through and show our teachers some serious love for the 2024-2025 school year! 🍎✏️🫶
Ms. Fisher’s List
Ms. Houston’s List
Ms. Paulson’s List
Ms. Pozek’s List
Ms. K’s List
Ms. Guilliams’ List
Ms. Mente’s List
Ms. Martinez’s List
Ms. Specht’s List
Ms. Ruiz’s List
Ms. Nation’s List
Ms. Moyer’s List
Ms. Smith’s List
Ms. Brake’s List
Ms. Cermak’s List
Our renovation is coming along beautifully, and if you want the dirt on it all, be sure to upgrade your subscription!
Thank you for being a subscriber of The Weekly Digress. If you liked or loved this letter, hit that little heart at the bottom to show some love. A little love goes a LONG way around here ❤️
xo,
EGM
I will read whatever you send out, WHENEVER you send it out. You can make the choice of what works for you...one more thing to add to your list of"things I can control"!
LOVE YOU, Emma!! You express yourself so very well, easily enabling me to feel and understand your experiences…. Your methods of coping are inspiring, thoughtful, original… and I applaud you!! The challenges are real — duh. I’m among the many who are in your court, who are rooting for YOU, for your loving and supportive Zach, and your moving-right-along pregnancy with Baby Boy…. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻