So, let's see, we all slept until about 11 am yesterday. I woke up to find Scott getting dressed and asked what time it was and was curtly informed that it was already 11 am. As if it's all my fault that he slept in, of course. He headed to the inlaw's house right away to get working on the garden, told me to get over as soon as Tay and I were ready.
We headed over about an hour later, after getting some coffee and getting dressed and getting the dogs BACK into their kennels. (And DANG did I feel bad about leaving them kenneled inside all day long, but the wind blew the door off the outside kennel again the other day, and Scott hasn't done anything about it, and it's too big for me to manage to get back on the hinges. So, putting them out for the day wasn't an option, unfortunately.)
Got over to the inlaw's house and got to see all my seedlings. I had a lot of broccoli and cabbage finally come up, but it's never gotten bigger than dinky. The onions still haven't sent up more than a couple of shoots. And none of the peppers came up. But I had 27 cucumber seedlings. And about that many tomato seedlings. I spent a couple of hours first punching holes in the bottom of empty coffee cans, then transplanting all the cucumber seedlings into empty coffee cans.
I won't go into all the detail now, so I have SOMETHING to share for my Independence Day Challenge this coming Sunday.
Suffice it to say, we got a LOT of work done yesterday. Not all of the planting, but a lot. And when the SIL and her boyfriend got there with the baby, they were actually ok.
But, once again I was reminded about the difference in my values and those of my SIL. She is understandably unable to help out in the garden right now, having just had a c-section 2 weeks ago, but she also didn't seem to think TOO much of it when her 4 year old son (who's staying with the inlaws right now) wanted to step all over the rows that Scott had been raking into shape. She wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't for the fact that Scott was about to blow a gasket when the little $#it started to run up the length of one row he'd so carefully just raked up into a good plateau. She yelled at the little boy who's never PREVIOUSLY been scolded for screwing up the garden, so he didn't know what the issue was. He just wanted to help "Unca Cott" flatten down this dirt. *sigh*
Then the SIL sat there in the chair as MIL and I and Tay were picking stones & rocks out of the dirt, and Scott and Dan (the boyfriend) were raking up another row, and laughed at us and joked about since when did we think we're all a bunch of farmers, and was that what Kati really wanted, was a farm?!?!?! I just told her that I don't have delusions of being a farmer, but I sure as hell think that we could reduce our grocery bill by a bit if we can get our garden to produce enough. After that, I turned her "Farmer Scott" and "Farmer Dan" comments around and started calling them "Gardener Scott" and "Gardener Dan". Incidentally, "Gardener Dan" didn't come back out to help with more planting after we ate supper. I think he was rather embarassed to be made fun of by his girlfriend for helping her family with their garden.
Once again, it becomes easy to see how quickly this relationship is going to end, if SIL isn't careful. She's already started belittling him over things that he DOES do right "Farmer Dan!" and turning things around that SHOULD be good points. ("He's SOOO protective of the baby!" now is going to quickly turn into "I wish he'd just leave her alone!" if yesterday's attitude is any indication.) Rather than encouraging him to be doing healthy, wholesome activities (like gardening!) with folks she knows won't encourage his over-drinking, she bitches & moans about what a mean drunk he is. Yesterday she actually called out to the garage on his cell phone and started harassing him over the phone about drinking too much and how she was going to kick his @$$, and I got out there to leave and Scott said that Dan hadn't had a single beer. *shaking head*
As I predicted this past Christmas when she told me they were engaged to be married in August (after the baby's born, so SIL can fit into a size 6 dress again, down from her fully-pregnant size 18), I told the hubby that I'd believe she's getting married when I see her walk down the aisle. Dan isn't the first guy to propose to her, she's had other fiancees. But she always finds a way to mutilate the relationship, turning the now-ex from a "great guy" into the "scum of the earth", and ruining a relationship that had good potential. And in her behavior toward Dan yesterday, I can already see the beginning signs. And the MIL's no better. She was making comments like "Oh, he's such a good daddy...... for NOW." and "He loves his baby girl SOOO much, I just hope he doesn't screw her up!" *sigh*
Anyway, yesterday was a day of mixed feelings. SIL never did say anything outright nasty to me or Tay. Except for being a bit snarky about the gardening efforts, and not really UNDERSTANDING why we want her sons kept out of the garden, she wasn't out & out nasty or anything. To us. But her attitude toward the world in general is just so tiring. Even when it's not aimed at oneself.
And, we DID get a lot done with the garden. FIL and Scott are going to do more tonight and tomorrow as well. And I'll be back over this next weekend for more planting still.
**********
I did NOT get to go to the concert last friday, actually. (Not "yelling" there, just clarifying. Hope nobody takes offense.) I actually spent the evening sick & feverish on the couch, watching movies. Scott took all those pics. My Father-in-law went on my ticket. That's ok. I really think I would have been miserable, and Scott said it was loud & so energetic and with a crazy light snow. Yeah. I don't think it would have been a good situation.
Sorry I didn't clarify the other day. Those pics weren't taken by me, enjoying the concert. They were the pics Scott took to share with me when he got home, except that he got home so late that I was all but asleep on the couch and promptly fell into bed in a sound sleep.
**********
Thanks for all the support on the penpal thing. I just hope Tay follows through better than I ever did. *wry smile* I could never find much to say, so I just didn't write more than 2 or 3 letters a year.
**********
Ok. I think that pretty well covers the last couple of days. I'm back to work today and not entirely looking forward to it. Still dealing with some stiffness and soreness, but otherwise feeling a lot better. But, to jump right back in with my longest day.... *sigh* Yeah. Still not looking forward to it.
Have a Blessed Day!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Looking for a PenPal!
Ok. So, Tay asked the other day if I knew of anybody who had a kiddo her age who wants a penpal. She wants a penpal. She's 10. Into hockey. Loves playing her DS and listening to music.
I'll only take "auditions" from folks here who I already know, for safety reasons. But, if any of you have a kiddo at the same general age who'd like a penpal like Tay, please let me know. She's been nagging and nagging. And these days it's not too easy to find a good, ol' fashioned penpal for one's kiddo. Of course, seeing as it's generally like pulling teeth to get her to write anything, I'm going to have to limit it to one, if I get more than one person who responds with a "yeah, my kiddo would like to". SO I'll probably just put the 2 or 3 names (at most, I'd guess) in a cup and pick one. So nobody feels hurt if Tay ends up writing to one person's child and not another.
*sigh* Really wish it wasn't so hard for the brat to find her own penpal, but as I said, these days it's not so easily done. It's not a safe proposition, to put one's personal info out there and share, back & forth with a stanger, the intricacies of one's life.
Thanks in advance!
I'll only take "auditions" from folks here who I already know, for safety reasons. But, if any of you have a kiddo at the same general age who'd like a penpal like Tay, please let me know. She's been nagging and nagging. And these days it's not too easy to find a good, ol' fashioned penpal for one's kiddo. Of course, seeing as it's generally like pulling teeth to get her to write anything, I'm going to have to limit it to one, if I get more than one person who responds with a "yeah, my kiddo would like to". SO I'll probably just put the 2 or 3 names (at most, I'd guess) in a cup and pick one. So nobody feels hurt if Tay ends up writing to one person's child and not another.
*sigh* Really wish it wasn't so hard for the brat to find her own penpal, but as I said, these days it's not so easily done. It's not a safe proposition, to put one's personal info out there and share, back & forth with a stanger, the intricacies of one's life.
Thanks in advance!
Lots & Lots of Pictures
First, the concert pics! Scott took a whole bunch. Not all of them turned out very well, but..... Here the are. I'm just going to post them one after another. Trace Adkins is the big guy holding either a mike or a guitar and standing in front of a mike.
Last but not least, here is a pic of the kiddo enjoying her first REAL concert. She said it was much better than the Daryl Worley concert she saw at the fair a couple of years back. *grin* Scott said he blinded her with the camera. He forgot that it was set on "indoor party" mode with like a dozen flashes before it actually clicks the picture.
**********
Next, my weekly Independence Days Challenge update:
Next, my weekly Independence Days Challenge update:
Suffice it to say it was a relatively sucky week here, as far as that goes:
Planted: Nothing
Harvested:
Well, yeah, yesterday I DID harvest something finally.
Well, yeah, yesterday I DID harvest something finally.This is dandilion greens. I knew I was making meatloaf for dinner.... What does one usually make with meatloaf but mashed potatoes, of course? And rather than regular ol' mashed potatoes, I've taken a liking to "Colcannon", which is simply potatoes with some greens added to the boiling then mashed together with half & half and butter. Somewhat healthier than JUST potatoes. I decided I'd do dandilion greens instead of the cabbage I usually use. So I went out along the south side of my house and picked handfuls of any clumps of dandilions that weren't already sprouting flowers. I got about 2 cups worth and figured that'd be good enough.
The hubby damned near threw a temper tantrum over the thought of eatting weeds, but finally decided to suck it up and give it a try.
This next pic is my Cooked. It's not a new recipe, but I DID use a new ingredient. This is simply the potatoes for the colcannon before I added the dandilion greens to the pot.
Tended: Well, I think my 5 little pots of seedlings in the kitchen window would qualify. Actually, only 4 pots have seedlings, the 5th seedling hasn't shown up and isn't likely to at this point. The two big ones in front are cucumbers. One's a "Bushy" type, the other is a "Parade". The two little ones in the back on either end are "Stupice" Tomatoes. These are going to be planted here at my house. I know where I'm going to put one of the tomatoes, but not the other yet. I also know where I'm going to put the cucumbers.Preserve something: Nothing.
Make Preparations: Nada
Managed Reserves: Nope
Work on/Toward local Food System: Sure didn't.
Composted Something (or, reduced waste): Composted, yes. Otherwise reducing waste: Nope. As a matter of fact, it seems like every time I try to reduce waste, by using rags instead of paper towels for example, the kiddo spills something and winds up using half a roll of paper towels to clean it up instead of just grabbing a rag and doing the job properly. *sigh*
Learned a New Skill: No, but I DID learn that Bronchitis often comes with the added side-effect of making one feel that one has been run over by a steam-roller. Ok, so that's information learned, not a skill. *wry smile*
Suffice to to say, because of said bronchitis issue this week, I didn't get a hell of a lot done. Hopefully now that the worst of the illness is (hopefully!) over, I can get on with my life. Because summer's too short to waste on being sick.
Besides, we've gotta get the seedlings over at the FIL's house into the ground tomorrow, and there are definitely enough that it's going to take all able hands. I guess none of the peppers ever did come up, but everything else finally did. INCLUDING the eggplant! *grin*
**********
I think this pretty well covers it for the week.
I think this pretty well covers it for the week.
Have a Blessed Day!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Gah!!! What a Week!
So, I know I haven't said anything here, but I didn't make it back to work this week. I'm going to try to go in this afternoon for my first summer Friday. We'll see if that works.
So, Tuesday I stayed home. By 8 pm that evening I could hardly catch my breath. AT ALL! I mean, my breathing was about 1/3 of what it usually is. I'd been short of breath for about a week already, but that was the worst it'd gotten. I thought it was allergies. It wasn't.
It was bronchitis. We headed to the Emergency Room at about 9 pm, got in to be seen at about 10. They first hopped me up on Ibuprofrin for the muscular aches, Lortab for the sore throat & head-ache, some anti-nausea stuff, and then gave me an albuterol treatment on a nebulizer. After finishing all that, I got to go have a chest X-ray done. Shortly after that was done, the Dr. came back and told me the diagnosis was bronchitis and that I was to stay home for the next couple of days and get plenty of bed rest, liquids, and oh by the way..... Here was a prescription for MORE Lortab, an Antibiotic, and more anti-nausea pills, and an inhaler for immediate use. And to be sure and be taking my ibuprofrin at home for the muscular aches & pains.
I woke up wednesday morning almost completely unable to move. I'm not joking. It took me 20 minutes to work my way out of bed. Every little movement made every joint & muscle in my body scream in agony. I felt like somebody had kicked me in each of my shins a couple of times, then taken baseball bats to my knees & thighs, my groin, my upper chest & shoulders, my elbows & even my wrists & the backs of my hands. My neck and jaw were also very, very stiff & sore.
Dad came to get me over to the grocery store's pharmacy to fill my prescrips. It's a good thing he did, too, because I probably would not have made it. Besides, the lortab that they sent me home with contains enough codine to make a horse loopy, much less me. The one pill I haven't really had a need for is the anti-nausea stuff. I get loopy, and slightly nauseous, but not enough so that I'm hurling my cookies everywhere. Hell, I've been so tired & sore that I haven't felt like eatting anything to hurl.
I did tell y'all, right, that I'm convinced the BEST weight loss plan is to get sick?!?! Seriously, if you don't eat anything, then you're working up a feverish sweat..... A girl can lose a good amount of weight that way. Too bad it takes so much else out of us, as well.
Anyway..... I spent all of Wednesday trying (not successfully, mind you) to get comfortable on the couch while watching tv and movies. Yesterday was a bit better. And I made myself walk down to check the mail. Today I'm still not feeling up to par. Still feel like somebody's got some pins stuck in the groin & shoulders & arms of a poppet made to represent me. But my knees are feeling better, which means I can walk better and get myself out of bed easier. Oh, and the irony is that you can't see ANY of the muscular or joint inflimation causing this EXCEPT on my hands. If you look at the palms of my hands, you can see where the last finger-joints are rather red & swollen. No other indication, from what I can tell, of how rough my body's been doing these last couple of days.
**********
On to brighter things. I just finished a good book I wanted to recommend.
It is _Garden Spells_ by Sarah Addison Allen. I'm actually somewhat astonished that Alice Hoffman hasn't come after this woman for plageurism. If anybody has ever read the book or seen the movie "Practical Magic", you'll be astonished to find so many similarities between that movie and this book. I DID read the book _Practical Magic_ but found it horribly written with too many characters, too many sub-plots, and no real line of thought. The movie was fabulous, though. Like somebody took the premise of the book and cut and weeded and narrowed and refined and came out with a great movie.
Anyway, reading this book was a LOT like watching that movie. As I said, enough so that I'm rather suprised this author hasn't been charged with plageurism. But, I felt like it was a good book and she did with the story what Alice Hoffman couldn't seem to. (For all that the premise is one that Alice Hoffman thought up/wrote up first.)
It is, two magical sisters, one magical house that's a part of their family history. One of the sisters has a child, one of the sisters has an abusive/controlling ex. One of them has major abandonment issues. There's no duo of wierd aunts, but a wierdly funny distant cousin who always knows just what somebody else needs, but never knows WHY that person needs this item. (At one point the cousin stops by the main character's house with a lighter and just gives it to the woman and says "here, this is for you". The character knows enough to tuck the lighter into her pocket and keep it with her for a couple of days. Sure enough, before the next day she's found an unexpected need for a lighter.)
It's a funny, sweet, magical book and I strongly recommend it. Not heavy reading. It only took me about 24 hours to read it. (Probably would have taken less time if it wasn't so danged hard finding a comfortable position in which to sit to read.)
**********
Ok. I need to find something to eat, and to take another puff on my inhaler.
Oh, and providing I'm still upright & moving at that point, we've got tickets to go see Trace Adkins in concert tonight. This is a concert Scott has been waiting years for. As in, years ago he said that Trace Adkins is one of the concerts he'd FIND ticket money for, if he came to town. Well, we found out that T.A. was coming to town, and immediately got us some tickets. Scott, Tay and I. Now I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. If I don't go, Scott's Dad will be going in my place. I know he'll enjoy the concert probably more than I will, but I still rather want to go. So, after working 4 hours this afternoon, I'm going to be turning around t come home, changing clothes, then turning BACK around and heading back to town with Scott and Tay. Hopefully. Inhaler and Ibuprofrin in tow.
Have a Blessed Day!
So, Tuesday I stayed home. By 8 pm that evening I could hardly catch my breath. AT ALL! I mean, my breathing was about 1/3 of what it usually is. I'd been short of breath for about a week already, but that was the worst it'd gotten. I thought it was allergies. It wasn't.
It was bronchitis. We headed to the Emergency Room at about 9 pm, got in to be seen at about 10. They first hopped me up on Ibuprofrin for the muscular aches, Lortab for the sore throat & head-ache, some anti-nausea stuff, and then gave me an albuterol treatment on a nebulizer. After finishing all that, I got to go have a chest X-ray done. Shortly after that was done, the Dr. came back and told me the diagnosis was bronchitis and that I was to stay home for the next couple of days and get plenty of bed rest, liquids, and oh by the way..... Here was a prescription for MORE Lortab, an Antibiotic, and more anti-nausea pills, and an inhaler for immediate use. And to be sure and be taking my ibuprofrin at home for the muscular aches & pains.
I woke up wednesday morning almost completely unable to move. I'm not joking. It took me 20 minutes to work my way out of bed. Every little movement made every joint & muscle in my body scream in agony. I felt like somebody had kicked me in each of my shins a couple of times, then taken baseball bats to my knees & thighs, my groin, my upper chest & shoulders, my elbows & even my wrists & the backs of my hands. My neck and jaw were also very, very stiff & sore.
Dad came to get me over to the grocery store's pharmacy to fill my prescrips. It's a good thing he did, too, because I probably would not have made it. Besides, the lortab that they sent me home with contains enough codine to make a horse loopy, much less me. The one pill I haven't really had a need for is the anti-nausea stuff. I get loopy, and slightly nauseous, but not enough so that I'm hurling my cookies everywhere. Hell, I've been so tired & sore that I haven't felt like eatting anything to hurl.
I did tell y'all, right, that I'm convinced the BEST weight loss plan is to get sick?!?! Seriously, if you don't eat anything, then you're working up a feverish sweat..... A girl can lose a good amount of weight that way. Too bad it takes so much else out of us, as well.
Anyway..... I spent all of Wednesday trying (not successfully, mind you) to get comfortable on the couch while watching tv and movies. Yesterday was a bit better. And I made myself walk down to check the mail. Today I'm still not feeling up to par. Still feel like somebody's got some pins stuck in the groin & shoulders & arms of a poppet made to represent me. But my knees are feeling better, which means I can walk better and get myself out of bed easier. Oh, and the irony is that you can't see ANY of the muscular or joint inflimation causing this EXCEPT on my hands. If you look at the palms of my hands, you can see where the last finger-joints are rather red & swollen. No other indication, from what I can tell, of how rough my body's been doing these last couple of days.
**********
On to brighter things. I just finished a good book I wanted to recommend.
It is _Garden Spells_ by Sarah Addison Allen. I'm actually somewhat astonished that Alice Hoffman hasn't come after this woman for plageurism. If anybody has ever read the book or seen the movie "Practical Magic", you'll be astonished to find so many similarities between that movie and this book. I DID read the book _Practical Magic_ but found it horribly written with too many characters, too many sub-plots, and no real line of thought. The movie was fabulous, though. Like somebody took the premise of the book and cut and weeded and narrowed and refined and came out with a great movie.
Anyway, reading this book was a LOT like watching that movie. As I said, enough so that I'm rather suprised this author hasn't been charged with plageurism. But, I felt like it was a good book and she did with the story what Alice Hoffman couldn't seem to. (For all that the premise is one that Alice Hoffman thought up/wrote up first.)
It is, two magical sisters, one magical house that's a part of their family history. One of the sisters has a child, one of the sisters has an abusive/controlling ex. One of them has major abandonment issues. There's no duo of wierd aunts, but a wierdly funny distant cousin who always knows just what somebody else needs, but never knows WHY that person needs this item. (At one point the cousin stops by the main character's house with a lighter and just gives it to the woman and says "here, this is for you". The character knows enough to tuck the lighter into her pocket and keep it with her for a couple of days. Sure enough, before the next day she's found an unexpected need for a lighter.)
It's a funny, sweet, magical book and I strongly recommend it. Not heavy reading. It only took me about 24 hours to read it. (Probably would have taken less time if it wasn't so danged hard finding a comfortable position in which to sit to read.)
**********
Ok. I need to find something to eat, and to take another puff on my inhaler.
Oh, and providing I'm still upright & moving at that point, we've got tickets to go see Trace Adkins in concert tonight. This is a concert Scott has been waiting years for. As in, years ago he said that Trace Adkins is one of the concerts he'd FIND ticket money for, if he came to town. Well, we found out that T.A. was coming to town, and immediately got us some tickets. Scott, Tay and I. Now I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. If I don't go, Scott's Dad will be going in my place. I know he'll enjoy the concert probably more than I will, but I still rather want to go. So, after working 4 hours this afternoon, I'm going to be turning around t come home, changing clothes, then turning BACK around and heading back to town with Scott and Tay. Hopefully. Inhaler and Ibuprofrin in tow.
Have a Blessed Day!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Another Project, Finished!
- So, here is my most recent finished project. It's a big granny square afghan. It's well over 6 feet long, and over 4 feet wide. I was kinda worried that it's so much narrower than I thought it would be when I started it, but now I'm figuring that it's still wide enough to be a good afghan. It'll make a great one for snuggling under on the couch. Esp. for the hubby on the night's he elects to sleep out there instead of in bed where he belongs. I was also rather worried that it might look TOO retro, with patches of pumpkin and gold and brown. But evidently combining it with the merlot and cream and a slightley blue-ish green, as well as the cornmeal colored edging, toned down the retro-ness of the other 3 colors. So, it's a nice autumnal colored afghan without being over the top & too 70's-ish. *grin* It's a good thing I didn't pick "avacado" green instead of the sagey color I did.
- Now to finish up a couple of shawls. But, this is 2 down of the afghans I'd listed in my "to be finished" list a while back. I think I've got one more afghan somewhere that needs to be done. I may put that one off for a good while longer though. *wink*
- **********
Thanks for the comments about Tay's sleeping. *grin* Even if I must take them with a grain of salt (and a squeeze of lime???), they were sufficent to make me chuckle. - Tay slept considerably better last night (seemed to think the previous night was because it was too bright in her room. I know that we have light all night now, but dang.... She was born & raised here, this shouldn't be bothering her. So, we put the quilt back up over her window last night before she went to bed. She said that it helped a LOT. *sigh* We REALLY need to get a black-out screen on her window. I don't want that heavy quilt on the window all summer, and I'd like her to be able to get some natural light in there during the day instead of relying on artificial light. *shrug* Just one more thing to be done around here, I guess.
- Unfortunately _I_ did not sleep any better last night. Had to get up once to use the bathroom, then I tossed & turned ALL NIGHT LONG. Had the wierdest dreams, but I don't remember enough this morning to describe what they were about. Suffice it to say, they didn't make for a restful night. They weren't BAD dreams or nightmares by any means, just wierd. And less-than-restful. And one thing's for sure, our comforter is coming OFF our bed tonight. It gets too dang hot in that room at night to keep the comforter on any longer. Of course, I guess it IS approaching the end of May, so that makes sense.
- *****
I wound up taking today off work. I don't know WHAT the hell is going on with my body again.... I'm leaning towards allergies this time. Except allergies have never affected me this way: shortness of breath, sore through, nasty head-ache (well, that's normal, but it's usually accompanying nasty sinus pressure), dizzy, no sinus pressure or stuffy-ness, body aches. I even had a slight fever on Sunday. Today my throat's so intollerably sore that it's all I can do to force myself to drink water or tea. I haven't eatten anything. My lymph nodes are swollen as well. *sigh* I just cannot figure out what the hell my body's doing lately. I swear that it and my brain are NOT in communication about what is going on. Needless to say, I feel like shit. - Anyway, like I said, I took the day off. Tried to take a nap but that's damned near impossible with Tay around. That child is innately noisy. Though she IS apologetic about it today. She knows I'm not feeling well.
- **********
Now for a Meme that Sian tagged me for a while back. - The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.
- 1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
- I was still a pretty new mom to a little girl approaching her first birthday. She was on the verge of walking. I still didn't have my driver's liscense, so any grocery shopping or what-have-you had to wait until the hubby or one of my parents or inlaws could take me. We lived in a tiny, 1 bedroom basement apartment with a wide-open living/kitchen area and no dining room to speak of. Tay slept in the enormous walk-in-closet in her crib. The hubby and I were having some less-than-thrilling times as a newly-wed couple. He always wanted to be hanging out at his Dad's after work, I wanted him at home helping me out with the kiddo. We fought like cats & dogs and frequently. I was still wearing a size 16 jeans, but just barely and only till the end of the summer. Winter hit and I quickly hit size 18. I greatly missed HS and frequently dreamed about being back there.
- 2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?
- I don't really have anything on my "to do" list today. I guess it should have looked like this:
- Wake up and get the kiddo breakfast and check my email & blog.
- Figure out what to make for dinner
- Work for 6 hours
- Come home & make dinner
- Try to get to bed at a decent time again tonight.
- 3. Snacks I enjoy.
- Popcorn, cheeze puffs, almonds, chocolate
- 4. Places I've lived- Germany, South Dakota, North Pole Alaska.
- 5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
- Pay off the house and the home equity loan, THEN the cars. Fix up the house as needed and figure out a way to get some renewable energy source such as solar or wind to power our home at least part of the time. I'd put enough aside to get Tay through a couple of years either in college or a trade school, whichever she decides to do after HS. Get my yard revamped & garden-friendly. Maybe even add a second floor on the house, if that's possible in a modular home. Figure out what the hell is up with my body lately and get Scott's teeth fixed. Bank what's left over.
- 6. 6 Peeps I want to know more about: I'm going to leave this one open-ended. If you do this meme, let me know so I can come see what you've written.
- Have a Blessed Day!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Exhaustion!
So, when folks ask WHY I'm always so tired...... I often simply say that it's because I'm a Mom. Recently my dad jumped all over me, telling me that even as a Mom, this doesn't explain why I'm always so tired. That I ought to get myself BACK in to see the Dr and have MORE bloodtests to find out why I'm always so tired. *sigh* And he actually got pissy with me about my insistance that it's more because Tay took 5 years to sleep through the night, and STILL isn't always good about that.
So, now that it's summer, we've told Tay she can stay out till 10 pm, but bedtime during the week is 11 pm. That's just what happened last night, and I went immediately to take my shower and get ready for bed myself. It was 12:15 when I climbed into bed myself. At 12:57, I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and open my eyes to see Tay standing in front of me on the side of the bed. She said she couldn't sleep. So, I followed her back to her room, tucked her BACK in, and told her that if she couldn't sleep maybe she should read for a little bit. Then I went back to bed myself.
1:30, I feel a tap on my shoulder again, pry out my earplug, and the kiddo is saying she can't sleep still. *sigh* Once again, follow her back to her room, tell her that if she can't sleep, AGAIN, she needs to either read for a bit or even pop in a quiet movie and watch it for a while. (She now has a good size TV and a DVD player in her bedroom.) Then I kissed her and went back to bed.
Just as I was dozing back off again, 2:30 now, guess who tapps me on the shoulder again. This time, Scott woke up too and told her to go the hell back to bed and watch a movie or read a book and STOP waking us up because WE have to work in the morning.
Then, of course, in his getting ready for work this morning, Scott was jostling the bed just a bit and making just enough noise that he woke me up a bit. So, after 6:30 what sleeping was done was a fitful tossing and turning.
My alarm clock was set originally for 8:30, I reset it for 9:30 instead. And guess who decided to come wake me up at 9:00 am this morning?!?!
So, when I say I don't get enough sleep because I'm a mom, you understand why I say that.
Have a Blessed Day!
So, now that it's summer, we've told Tay she can stay out till 10 pm, but bedtime during the week is 11 pm. That's just what happened last night, and I went immediately to take my shower and get ready for bed myself. It was 12:15 when I climbed into bed myself. At 12:57, I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and open my eyes to see Tay standing in front of me on the side of the bed. She said she couldn't sleep. So, I followed her back to her room, tucked her BACK in, and told her that if she couldn't sleep maybe she should read for a little bit. Then I went back to bed myself.
1:30, I feel a tap on my shoulder again, pry out my earplug, and the kiddo is saying she can't sleep still. *sigh* Once again, follow her back to her room, tell her that if she can't sleep, AGAIN, she needs to either read for a bit or even pop in a quiet movie and watch it for a while. (She now has a good size TV and a DVD player in her bedroom.) Then I kissed her and went back to bed.
Just as I was dozing back off again, 2:30 now, guess who tapps me on the shoulder again. This time, Scott woke up too and told her to go the hell back to bed and watch a movie or read a book and STOP waking us up because WE have to work in the morning.
Then, of course, in his getting ready for work this morning, Scott was jostling the bed just a bit and making just enough noise that he woke me up a bit. So, after 6:30 what sleeping was done was a fitful tossing and turning.
My alarm clock was set originally for 8:30, I reset it for 9:30 instead. And guess who decided to come wake me up at 9:00 am this morning?!?!
So, when I say I don't get enough sleep because I'm a mom, you understand why I say that.
Have a Blessed Day!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Compost Bins, and Babies....
Well, the first bit of news of the week.... Tuesday, May 13, 1:49 pm Brooklynn Danielle was born. That is, my new niece: my SIL's daughter. (That is, the hubby's sister.) She was born a couple of weeks early through c-section, since my SIL had already started showing signs of impending labor and vaginal delivery isn't an option for her.
Planted:
Five small seedling pots, two with cucumbers (the front two), three with tomatoes. I'm keeping these in my kitchen window which gets nice afternoon sun. These plants will be staying over here, though I'm not sure where all of the tomatoes will go, if they all come up.
These are pictures of my new compost bin! Scott helped me build it last Sunday night after we got home from my Mother's Day Dinner. (More on that in a bit.) It's a half-pallet, so it's like a foot & a half or 2 feet wide, and 3 and a half or 4 feet long. (Not sure of the exacts.) We nailed a piece of chicken wire over the bottom, to keep the compost IN the bin, then nailed more chicken wire in a ring around the whole bit. Filled it with a small layer of leaves
.
Had a bit of a chuckle when Tay went with my MIL to see the new baby at the hospital on Wednesday. She came home all giddy over how her new cousin already likes her and kept smiling at her and even grinned when she heard Tay's name. I decided I'm not going to tell my poor child that at a day and a half old, any "smiles" she saw out of Brooklynn are because the baby had gas. I think that'd kinda sour Tay's opinion of the baby if Tay realized that the baby was farting on her. *wink* Naw, we'll go with the "she likes me already" reasoning.
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We had some friends over for a bit of a cook-out last night, as well as my dad. This may well be the last time Dad comes over for supper on Saturday evening. He is going to be flying some of his belongings down to the my baby sis in Spokane next weekend. Then he's planning on starting his drive out of Alaska on Tuesday, June 3. It's just crazy to think that he's already at the point of leaving Alaska. He's been talking about it for years, but it's taken SOOOO long to actually make it happen, that I was wondering if it was ever actually GOING to happen.
We had some friends over for a bit of a cook-out last night, as well as my dad. This may well be the last time Dad comes over for supper on Saturday evening. He is going to be flying some of his belongings down to the my baby sis in Spokane next weekend. Then he's planning on starting his drive out of Alaska on Tuesday, June 3. It's just crazy to think that he's already at the point of leaving Alaska. He's been talking about it for years, but it's taken SOOOO long to actually make it happen, that I was wondering if it was ever actually GOING to happen.
Anyway, the friends we had over last night have 4 kids. Tony, a 5th grader. Aurora, a 3rd grader. Vinnie, 3 years old. And Emmy, 10 months. They are some CUTE kids. But dang could that Vinnie give Dennis the Menace a run for his money. Oh, they've all got good attitudes, but Vinnie has an ornery streak a mile & a half wide.
Emmy was the cutest baby, though. She & her older sis both have their mama's strawberry blond hair and very fair coloring. We were told by both M & B (Dad and Mom) that Emmy is usually rather reserved around strangers. She took to Dad and I like she'd known us since birth. *grin* Cuddling with both of us and grinning like a crazy fool when we'd talk to her. Dad was in 7th heaven, getting to cuddle a little one. I maintain that this tidbit is why she liked Dad so much, she intuited how much Dad likes babies. But ooooh, she was a cute one. ALMOST enough to make me wish for another. Almost. *wink* They got here at about 5, and she spent the next 3 hours being sweet & cuddly and VERY good humored, only starting to get fussy after 8 pm when it was time for "B.B.B." as her Daddy put it: Butt, Bottle, Bed. *smile* So B. and I came inside and talked for a bit longer while Scott & M. stood around outside battling mosquitos & goofing off with Vinnie.
I hope we get to hang out with M & B more often. They're kids would be good influences on Tay. They homeschool with the same program we'll be using. And their senses of humor and morals & values seem to line up with mine & Scott's pretty well. (Well, at least, Mine & B.'s line up, and Scott's & M's line up. But, in those same ways where the things that bug me about Scott will also likely bug me about M. But at least M. has to go home with B. *grin* I only have to put up with ONE of those bone-heads on a day-to-day basis.)
Just because I can, this is a pic of my little birch in the front yard. Scott wants to completely remove those supports, but I'm nervous that if we do we'll lose the little guy in one of our really strong winds. I think the compromise is to go ahead and losen the supporting strings and let the tree stand on it's own basis, while still keeping the strings and metal supports intact in case we need to give "him" a little extra support during an especially windy day.
Oh, and all pictures taken today were with my new camera. *grin*
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There seems to be so many little things that happened this week that I wanted to talk about here, but I just can't remember what they all were now. *sigh* Go figure. So I guess I'll get on into my "Independence Day Challenge" run-down for the week.
There seems to be so many little things that happened this week that I wanted to talk about here, but I just can't remember what they all were now. *sigh* Go figure. So I guess I'll get on into my "Independence Day Challenge" run-down for the week.
Planted:
Five small seedling pots, two with cucumbers (the front two), three with tomatoes. I'm keeping these in my kitchen window which gets nice afternoon sun. These plants will be staying over here, though I'm not sure where all of the tomatoes will go, if they all come up.Harvested: Well, I'd heard that fireweed is an reasonable substitute for asparagus when picked when it's still teeny tiny red-colored little sprouts. So, I figured I'd give it a try. *sigh* Can't say I was at all impressed with it. I may have steamed it a bit too long, as well. Anyway, it wasn't something I'm looking forward to trying again. I'd still like to try some dandilion green salad, though. And we're far enough behind everybody else that the dandilions still haven't started blossoming.
Tended: *shrug* My chives and rhubarb plants. Kinda. I REALLY need to get out & pull weeds and get my section of trellis where my bean-patch goes weeded so it's not so hard to plant in the next couple of weeks.
Preserved: Nothing.
Make Preparations: Does it count that I'm almost done with another afghan finally??? Another couple of rows of edging, and it'll be done. It's a nice long skinny granny-square afghan, perfect for covering up with when stretched out on the couch. I'll post pics as soon as I'm done with it and have it washed.
Cooked: I think the fireweed shoots also qualify for this. Not that I'll be making them again if I have any say in the matter.
Managed: Just the usual stocking and re-stocking of our canned goods and supplies as we use them.
Local Food Systems: Got to the farmer's market yesterday. Took in 3 empty egg cartons for one woman who sells home-grown eggs. Bought a cake and a couple of cream rolls from a woman who owns a local small bakery. She sells only at the farmer's market and makes the BEST cakes. And those cream rolls..... Damn!!! They're little waffle cone "rolls" (like canneloni, I think, but with "waffles") filled with a whipped cream mixture that is either lemon flavored, honey flavored, or vanilla flavored. She alternates back and forth between honey & vanilla, and always has lemon. I could eat 2 or 3 of the lemon rolls all by myself. *grin* I also bought a couple of bars of soap from a local soap-maker. Her soaps are good, but her hand-cream is better. She makes it all with goat's milk from her small herd of goats kept on her property up in Ester. So, yeah..... I supported local food (and crafty) systems this week. Oh, and I bought a bag of kettle corn. *grin* It's hard to pass up the home-cooked kettle corn from the Farmer's Market.
Composted:
These are pictures of my new compost bin! Scott helped me build it last Sunday night after we got home from my Mother's Day Dinner. (More on that in a bit.) It's a half-pallet, so it's like a foot & a half or 2 feet wide, and 3 and a half or 4 feet long. (Not sure of the exacts.) We nailed a piece of chicken wire over the bottom, to keep the compost IN the bin, then nailed more chicken wire in a ring around the whole bit. Filled it with a small layer of leaves
.Then I put in the bucket-full of composting goodies that I'd been "saving" all winter. It was pretty ripe. Anyway, covered THAT over with another layer of leaves, soaked it all down, then mixed it up with a rake. After adding more composted "goodies" all week, I just covered it last night with ANOTHER layer of leaves and soaked it down more, and mixed it up a bit more. I need to figure out how wet I'm supposed to keep it, though. I read it's supposed to be something like a wrung-out but wet sponge. Well, I am NOT sticking my hand in there to test that. *grin*
Learned a new skill: Does that include building the compost bin??? Between that and composting in it, instead of just tossing my food-scraps into a bucket on the back deck, I suppose that does qualify as learning a new skill. *grin*
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So, Mother's Day was pretty good last week. Besides the camera, Tay also gave me a new copy of that movie "P.S. I love you" I haven't watched it yet. And we went out to dinner at Two River's Lodge. I had shrimp scampi. It was VERY yummy! And Tay gave me a couple cute cards, one of which was made in school and had some flowers that you pulled out that were "coupons" for things she'd do for me around the house. I had to chuckle because on the inside of that one she wrote "I don't WANT to do this, but I'm doing it because I love you. Your wonderful daughter, Taylor." *grin* And one of the flowers had written that she'd do her math homework without whining. Ironically, she gave this to me one week before school ended. *wink*
So, Mother's Day was pretty good last week. Besides the camera, Tay also gave me a new copy of that movie "P.S. I love you" I haven't watched it yet. And we went out to dinner at Two River's Lodge. I had shrimp scampi. It was VERY yummy! And Tay gave me a couple cute cards, one of which was made in school and had some flowers that you pulled out that were "coupons" for things she'd do for me around the house. I had to chuckle because on the inside of that one she wrote "I don't WANT to do this, but I'm doing it because I love you. Your wonderful daughter, Taylor." *grin* And one of the flowers had written that she'd do her math homework without whining. Ironically, she gave this to me one week before school ended. *wink*
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And yes, thankfully school has ended! We're all very happy about this. Between that and hockey ending, we've now got about 2 weeks with nothing going on except work. Then soccer starts for the summer. And we will eventually have to do some paperwork and orientations for the homeschool program, but not for a bit.
And yes, thankfully school has ended! We're all very happy about this. Between that and hockey ending, we've now got about 2 weeks with nothing going on except work. Then soccer starts for the summer. And we will eventually have to do some paperwork and orientations for the homeschool program, but not for a bit.
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Ok. I've gotta get off here and get heading to work.
Ok. I've gotta get off here and get heading to work.
Have a Blessed Day!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Lotsa Stuff Goin' On....
Let's see.... It's been a busy freakin' week. Nothing major & new and fabulously exciting, but the usual, just busy.
We found out this week at work that 2 of our new coworkers are going to be leaving. No sooner do they get trained & let loose at the desk, then they give their notice. Well.... Actually, one of them is woman in her 50's who's decided to get the hell out of Alaska while the getting is good. She says she just can't afford to keep living here, even though she was born & raised here and has lived here MOST of her 50+ years. So, she's sold her house and is getting out. Moving to Washington state, where the climate is a little more tolerable even at it's coldest. Where more gardening can be done due to the more temperate weather.
The other person to leave is the only guy on the circ staff. He's a putz, and we're not at all sorry to see him go. Unfortunately he isn't being fired like he deserves. Instead he's been "called up" in the Marine Reserves and is getting shipped off to Afghanistan. All the rest of us can hope is that if his stupidity and lack of responsibility result in ANYBODY getting shot (which, it surely will), it's HIM who takes the bullet. Sorry. I know that sounds cruel, but he's so irresponsible and careless in a job that DOESN'T require a lot of hard work and conscienciousness on the job that none of us can imagine how he's going to possibly pull his head out of his @$$ to do a job as intense as being a Marine serving in Afghanistan. If he's even HALF as careless and stupid over there as he's been here, SOMEBODY is going to get shot on his watch. We only hope that if anybody gets hurt or killed because of his stupidity, it's him and not somebody else. (I say we, because all the rest of us pages are in agreement that this guy is a complete & utter freaking moron & dead weight. He is quite adamant about how he loves just skating through life on a wing & a prayer and he doesn't give a rat's behind about this job. He only signed on because it looks good on paper. But the rest of us have to clean up his mistakes and cover for his blatant carelessness.) Anyway, not only can our boss NOT fire him (which she badly wants to do), she has to keep his job vacant so that when he returns from Afghanistan he can go right back to being dead-weight and a drain on our energies. Unfortunately the fact that he's a complete & utter moron and LIKES it that way became apparent right at the same time as he got called up. So, even though the boss was just starting to see that this guy needs to be replaced, she found that out too late to do anything about it. If she fired him now, it'd look like it was done because he got called up, and not because he's an idiot.
Anyway. That will leave us short-staffed. Once again. The Boss Lady's kinda pissy & short-tempered lately, but for once I can actually see why, and commiserate. Needless to say, the rest of us are keeping our head's down.
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I've been trying to get myself back on track with the healthy goals, again. Eatting more fresh fruit (easier now that spring is here and the fruit at the grocery store is decent). Getting my morning exercise in (easier now that I'm not feeling sick in one way or another). Taking my vitamins (actually the hardest goal, right now). And getting out in the sunshine (also rather easy right now, at least during the weekend).
I may not be able to do anything about these cysts, but at least I can try to live the rest of my life as healthy as possible. Maybe the vitamins and fresh fruits & veggies and exercising regularly will help. Maybe it won't. All I can do is try.
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School ends in a week. Next Friday is the last day for both Tay and I.
Then I have one free Friday before I start my summer hours, which means I'll stop working Sundays and start working Monday through Friday. I don't like that schedual. It means starting with my longest day and ending with my shortest. It also means having a normal weekend, but that means getting sucked into ALL the family get togethers and even occasional church attendence. I much prefer starting the work week with my shortest work day, and ending on a short work day. I much prefer having Fridays off so I can have a day to myself without having to join in on everything. (Not that my Fridays this year were peaceful, what with the volunteering then weekly grocery shopping trip.)
*sigh* I'm just not looking forward to starting the summer schedual. On the other hand, it will mean the end of my volunteer time. That will free up another roughly 3 hours per week.
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Scott and Tay got me my mother's day gift a day early. It's a new digital camera. It's a Nikon CoolPix S51. It's a nice, tiny little thing. Not as teeny-tiny as some, but a hell of a lot smaller than my 10-year-old Kodak EasyShare. Hopefully the pics will have much higher resolution so that next time I try to get a pic of the Northern Lights, they'll actually turn out. Anyway, as I said, they gave it to me a day early so hopefully I can get some pics of Tay tonight doing a speech about Amelia Earhart for the grandparents. The 4th graders have an end-of-the-year project in which they have to research a famous personality from history (though some of the people are still living, such as Bill Gates) and develop a speech and poster about that person and their accomplishments. Then they do a "wax museum" presentation for the school and all the families. We had the actual presentation on Thursday evening (for which I got off work an hour early), then the kids did the "show" for the school on Friday. Of course all the grandparents were at school, so Tay's going to do her speech for them tonight, hopefully in costume. *grin*
She's enjoyed learning about Amelia Earhart because the lady was cool and did a lot of interesting things and wasn't stodgy and straightlaced. *grin* There's a clip of Amelia & Eleanor Roosevelt in evening dress, looking rather mischevious, during a state dinner or some such. Evidently another time after Amelia and her hubby had dined with the president & Mrs. R, A. and Mrs. R snuck out of the white house, borrowed a plain from Eastern Airlines and went flying, both in evening dress. Apparently Ameliawanted to show Eleanor how beautiful night flying is. *grin* That's something Tay can relate to, even if she doesn't know flying. She gets the sneaking out in of some boring dinner, while all gussied up, and going out & doing something fun with a good friend. So, she's now found a heroine who did cool things and had fun. Even after finishing writing her speach, Tay actually went to the public library and borrowed another book on A.E. that she's reading through right now. A big ol' fat book based around all these letters A.E. wrote to friends & family. *grin*
She's kinda like her Dad..... She doesn't read a LOT, and it's hard to find something that interests her enough to want to read books about it. BUT, when she DOES find something that piques her interest, she'll find books for herself to read on the subject. *smile* Ok.... So maybe she's not as avid a reader as I am, but I can certainly understand wanting to enjoy the subject you're reading about. Now, if only I could get her to finish a novel once in a while. She picks them up and they might interest her initially, but it's hard to get her to finish. And, since her reading grade this year has depended somewhat on her finishing a book and taking a quiz on it, this has been a sticking point. Her reading grade WOULD be higher than it is (and it's not really low, it's a "B") if she'd just finished some of the books she's started, so she could quiz on them.
I think this is going to be a hard spot next year..... We won't be doing Accelerated Reading tests, so her reading grade is going to need to include some book reports or summaries to illustrate that she's understanding what she's reading. I wonder if we should require one every 2 weeks, or only every month. I guess that's something we can work out once we get her registered.
We have decided to go with I.D.E.A. for the homeschool program. We've heard nothing but good about this program, and they've got a very good support system for homeschooling parents. The "teachers' who kind of monitor, are actually home-schooling parents themselves. Some, of course, homeschooled priorly but have grown-up kids now. Some are currently homeschooling themselves. And they're not teachers persay, but more like mentors who need to be checked in with periodically (once a month) to ensure that the parents and students stay active in their schooling. Just what we need.... Some structure without being strictly outlined. Of course, with homeschooling we can pull her back to 3rd grade level maths, while allowing her to be at a 5th grade reading level, and science and social studies and penmanship at whatever levels she's actually at. (And, penmanship IS another big issue for her. Just this morning we saw something she'd written at the beginning of this school year and were able to compare it to something she wrote just in the last week..... Her handwriting hasn't improved much at all. And, it hasn't improved much at all since first grade. Which means that a lot of what she writes is illegible.)
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The weather has been pretty nice, though we're getting rain-showers almost every afternoon. The mornings start out beautiful and breezy. By 3 or 4 the sky is clouding over and we get dumped on. We've had a couple smaller thunder & lightning storms, but nothing spectacular yet. Anyway, by evening the rain clouds move on and we're back to beautiful. I kinda wish the rain would wait till about 8 or 9 in the evening, but *shrug* At least we're getting some beautiful weather intermixed with the rain. It could be TOTALLY dry and sunny, or TOTALLY overcast & rainy.
The trees still haven't leafed out, though they're going to do it any minute now. The buds are popping open, slowly, but there's no green yet. I should take a pic of my little birch with the buds on his branches, as soon as the battery on my new camera is charged. That way I can compare in a few days time when the leaves pop open.
*****
Gardening wise, I haven't been over to the FIL's since LAST Sunday evening. As of then nothing had sprouted from the seed I bought. Scott said that a lot of the cabbage and broccoli is finally sprouting, but none of the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melon or onion has sprouted. *sigh* And evidently the FIL left everything outside over night on Thursday night. He thought it'd stay nice & warm, but the temp dropped so some of the stuff was looking pretty chilly yesterday morning when he went outside to leave for owrk. *big sigh* I KNEW I should have figured out some way to start my plants over here. I think I'm going to pull some of my plants out of my kitchen window and try sprouting a small pot of each of the two variety of tomato and each of the two variety of cucumber. Then at least hopefully I'll have one of each for MY place, even if nothing else comes of them over at the FIL's place. And, that's all I really have room for over here anyway.
I'm just so frustrated with all that. How am I ever supposed to develop some food self-sufficiency of things keep failing to sprout. For that matter, how am I supposed to do it if I can't grow things here, but only over at the FIL's house. I don't have time after work to go over there every evening after work. I NEED my stuff here, if I'm going to do much with it! There's been enough in the news that even Scott is starting to get my frustration. But, he's still not ready to be plowing up the front yard (or even part of the front yard) for a veggie garden.
I guess the FIL is talking about doing some potatoes over at his place too. I need to get out this evening and put my potato bins & compost bins up. But, the hubby has been rather slow about helping get the yard cleaned up and readied for any planting. He still hasn't ordered any gravel deliveries for our car-ports and the dog kennel, or the dirt for the other side of the yard where my laundry-tree and my potato bins and tiered planter are supposed to go. I don't know how he thinks I'm going to get to plant any Chard if he doesn't build me that tiered planter. And my strawberry crowns are supposed to be here next Saturday, and I still need him to commit to helping me with the bed we're going to plant the strawberries into. Either with plowing up the flower bed in front of our bedroom window & putting in some topsoil there, or building a new raised bed in the front yard. I kind of want a new raised bed, but think that using the existing flowerbed may be more conservative with space, since each strawberry crown needs up to 18 inches of space in either direction. If I stagger-plant them down the length of the flower bed, I won't need very much more space than has already been plowed up to date.
*sigh* Just frustrated.
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My coworker/Friend G.M. came over yesterday. She found a used futon over at the dump's transfer station a few weeks back, but has been hauling it around in the back seat of her car for about a month now because she needed help unloading it, shampooing it, and reloading it to get it up to her cabin, then unloading it there. So, we spent a couple of hours shampooing that thing on a tarp out on my front yard yesterday afternoon & evening. Then she stayed for dinner (spaghetti and garlic bread) before I went up to her cabin with her to unload the futon there. It was 10 pm before I got home, and 11 before Scott and Tay got home from buying Mother's Day gifts.
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Independence Day Challenge:
Plant Something: Flower seeds. Nothing major. Waiting for the temps to even out enough for veggie seeds.
Harvest Something: Nothing to be harvested yet. Even the dandilions greens are so small as to be barely visible. The Fireweed shoots should be popping up En Mass any day now, though.
Tend Something: My house plants. Nothing exciting here. Though I did also pull a couple of weeds out of my flower bed along the front of the house.
Preserve Something: Nada
Make Preparations: bought more fabric & wool ease yarn. Some of the fabric was from the store's clearance bin. Ok, so I should have been scouting the garage sales, but I haven't seen much in the way of sale adds in the weekend papers yet this year.
Cook Something: We grilled ShishKebabs tonight for us and the inlaws. Does that count??? I made that Lithuanian Chop Suey and it turned out pretty good. (And yeah, that was from scratch even if the beef wasn't organic or locally raised.)
Manage your Reserves: Not much to manage, at this point. Rotating my canned goods is kinda the norm when I buy more.
Work on/toward local Food Systems: nothing doing, yet, if you don't count the measly attempts at gardening with the FIL. This is the first weekend that the local Farmer's Market was opened. I didn't drive into town for it, though.
Compost Something: Yep. Almost every day.
Learn a New Skill: Nope. Unless you count constantly reminding myself that those bits of strawberry or that bunch of dead flowers can go in the compost bin as "learning" a new skill.
*sigh* And other folks go on about how THEY feel inadequate. Maybe this next week will be better??? I can only hope.
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Anyway, Scott and Tay just pulled up after hockey, so I better finish this post up and get back to tidying up the house. The inlaws and Dad are coming over for ShishKebabs tonight. I've gotten both toilets cleaned and need to tidy up the living room just a bit more.
To all my fellow Mom's: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I hope it's a VERY good one!
Have a Blessed Day!
We found out this week at work that 2 of our new coworkers are going to be leaving. No sooner do they get trained & let loose at the desk, then they give their notice. Well.... Actually, one of them is woman in her 50's who's decided to get the hell out of Alaska while the getting is good. She says she just can't afford to keep living here, even though she was born & raised here and has lived here MOST of her 50+ years. So, she's sold her house and is getting out. Moving to Washington state, where the climate is a little more tolerable even at it's coldest. Where more gardening can be done due to the more temperate weather.
The other person to leave is the only guy on the circ staff. He's a putz, and we're not at all sorry to see him go. Unfortunately he isn't being fired like he deserves. Instead he's been "called up" in the Marine Reserves and is getting shipped off to Afghanistan. All the rest of us can hope is that if his stupidity and lack of responsibility result in ANYBODY getting shot (which, it surely will), it's HIM who takes the bullet. Sorry. I know that sounds cruel, but he's so irresponsible and careless in a job that DOESN'T require a lot of hard work and conscienciousness on the job that none of us can imagine how he's going to possibly pull his head out of his @$$ to do a job as intense as being a Marine serving in Afghanistan. If he's even HALF as careless and stupid over there as he's been here, SOMEBODY is going to get shot on his watch. We only hope that if anybody gets hurt or killed because of his stupidity, it's him and not somebody else. (I say we, because all the rest of us pages are in agreement that this guy is a complete & utter freaking moron & dead weight. He is quite adamant about how he loves just skating through life on a wing & a prayer and he doesn't give a rat's behind about this job. He only signed on because it looks good on paper. But the rest of us have to clean up his mistakes and cover for his blatant carelessness.) Anyway, not only can our boss NOT fire him (which she badly wants to do), she has to keep his job vacant so that when he returns from Afghanistan he can go right back to being dead-weight and a drain on our energies. Unfortunately the fact that he's a complete & utter moron and LIKES it that way became apparent right at the same time as he got called up. So, even though the boss was just starting to see that this guy needs to be replaced, she found that out too late to do anything about it. If she fired him now, it'd look like it was done because he got called up, and not because he's an idiot.
Anyway. That will leave us short-staffed. Once again. The Boss Lady's kinda pissy & short-tempered lately, but for once I can actually see why, and commiserate. Needless to say, the rest of us are keeping our head's down.
**********
I've been trying to get myself back on track with the healthy goals, again. Eatting more fresh fruit (easier now that spring is here and the fruit at the grocery store is decent). Getting my morning exercise in (easier now that I'm not feeling sick in one way or another). Taking my vitamins (actually the hardest goal, right now). And getting out in the sunshine (also rather easy right now, at least during the weekend).
I may not be able to do anything about these cysts, but at least I can try to live the rest of my life as healthy as possible. Maybe the vitamins and fresh fruits & veggies and exercising regularly will help. Maybe it won't. All I can do is try.
**********
School ends in a week. Next Friday is the last day for both Tay and I.
Then I have one free Friday before I start my summer hours, which means I'll stop working Sundays and start working Monday through Friday. I don't like that schedual. It means starting with my longest day and ending with my shortest. It also means having a normal weekend, but that means getting sucked into ALL the family get togethers and even occasional church attendence. I much prefer starting the work week with my shortest work day, and ending on a short work day. I much prefer having Fridays off so I can have a day to myself without having to join in on everything. (Not that my Fridays this year were peaceful, what with the volunteering then weekly grocery shopping trip.)
*sigh* I'm just not looking forward to starting the summer schedual. On the other hand, it will mean the end of my volunteer time. That will free up another roughly 3 hours per week.
**********
Scott and Tay got me my mother's day gift a day early. It's a new digital camera. It's a Nikon CoolPix S51. It's a nice, tiny little thing. Not as teeny-tiny as some, but a hell of a lot smaller than my 10-year-old Kodak EasyShare. Hopefully the pics will have much higher resolution so that next time I try to get a pic of the Northern Lights, they'll actually turn out. Anyway, as I said, they gave it to me a day early so hopefully I can get some pics of Tay tonight doing a speech about Amelia Earhart for the grandparents. The 4th graders have an end-of-the-year project in which they have to research a famous personality from history (though some of the people are still living, such as Bill Gates) and develop a speech and poster about that person and their accomplishments. Then they do a "wax museum" presentation for the school and all the families. We had the actual presentation on Thursday evening (for which I got off work an hour early), then the kids did the "show" for the school on Friday. Of course all the grandparents were at school, so Tay's going to do her speech for them tonight, hopefully in costume. *grin*
She's enjoyed learning about Amelia Earhart because the lady was cool and did a lot of interesting things and wasn't stodgy and straightlaced. *grin* There's a clip of Amelia & Eleanor Roosevelt in evening dress, looking rather mischevious, during a state dinner or some such. Evidently another time after Amelia and her hubby had dined with the president & Mrs. R, A. and Mrs. R snuck out of the white house, borrowed a plain from Eastern Airlines and went flying, both in evening dress. Apparently Ameliawanted to show Eleanor how beautiful night flying is. *grin* That's something Tay can relate to, even if she doesn't know flying. She gets the sneaking out in of some boring dinner, while all gussied up, and going out & doing something fun with a good friend. So, she's now found a heroine who did cool things and had fun. Even after finishing writing her speach, Tay actually went to the public library and borrowed another book on A.E. that she's reading through right now. A big ol' fat book based around all these letters A.E. wrote to friends & family. *grin*
She's kinda like her Dad..... She doesn't read a LOT, and it's hard to find something that interests her enough to want to read books about it. BUT, when she DOES find something that piques her interest, she'll find books for herself to read on the subject. *smile* Ok.... So maybe she's not as avid a reader as I am, but I can certainly understand wanting to enjoy the subject you're reading about. Now, if only I could get her to finish a novel once in a while. She picks them up and they might interest her initially, but it's hard to get her to finish. And, since her reading grade this year has depended somewhat on her finishing a book and taking a quiz on it, this has been a sticking point. Her reading grade WOULD be higher than it is (and it's not really low, it's a "B") if she'd just finished some of the books she's started, so she could quiz on them.
I think this is going to be a hard spot next year..... We won't be doing Accelerated Reading tests, so her reading grade is going to need to include some book reports or summaries to illustrate that she's understanding what she's reading. I wonder if we should require one every 2 weeks, or only every month. I guess that's something we can work out once we get her registered.
We have decided to go with I.D.E.A. for the homeschool program. We've heard nothing but good about this program, and they've got a very good support system for homeschooling parents. The "teachers' who kind of monitor, are actually home-schooling parents themselves. Some, of course, homeschooled priorly but have grown-up kids now. Some are currently homeschooling themselves. And they're not teachers persay, but more like mentors who need to be checked in with periodically (once a month) to ensure that the parents and students stay active in their schooling. Just what we need.... Some structure without being strictly outlined. Of course, with homeschooling we can pull her back to 3rd grade level maths, while allowing her to be at a 5th grade reading level, and science and social studies and penmanship at whatever levels she's actually at. (And, penmanship IS another big issue for her. Just this morning we saw something she'd written at the beginning of this school year and were able to compare it to something she wrote just in the last week..... Her handwriting hasn't improved much at all. And, it hasn't improved much at all since first grade. Which means that a lot of what she writes is illegible.)
**********
The weather has been pretty nice, though we're getting rain-showers almost every afternoon. The mornings start out beautiful and breezy. By 3 or 4 the sky is clouding over and we get dumped on. We've had a couple smaller thunder & lightning storms, but nothing spectacular yet. Anyway, by evening the rain clouds move on and we're back to beautiful. I kinda wish the rain would wait till about 8 or 9 in the evening, but *shrug* At least we're getting some beautiful weather intermixed with the rain. It could be TOTALLY dry and sunny, or TOTALLY overcast & rainy.
The trees still haven't leafed out, though they're going to do it any minute now. The buds are popping open, slowly, but there's no green yet. I should take a pic of my little birch with the buds on his branches, as soon as the battery on my new camera is charged. That way I can compare in a few days time when the leaves pop open.
*****
Gardening wise, I haven't been over to the FIL's since LAST Sunday evening. As of then nothing had sprouted from the seed I bought. Scott said that a lot of the cabbage and broccoli is finally sprouting, but none of the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melon or onion has sprouted. *sigh* And evidently the FIL left everything outside over night on Thursday night. He thought it'd stay nice & warm, but the temp dropped so some of the stuff was looking pretty chilly yesterday morning when he went outside to leave for owrk. *big sigh* I KNEW I should have figured out some way to start my plants over here. I think I'm going to pull some of my plants out of my kitchen window and try sprouting a small pot of each of the two variety of tomato and each of the two variety of cucumber. Then at least hopefully I'll have one of each for MY place, even if nothing else comes of them over at the FIL's place. And, that's all I really have room for over here anyway.
I'm just so frustrated with all that. How am I ever supposed to develop some food self-sufficiency of things keep failing to sprout. For that matter, how am I supposed to do it if I can't grow things here, but only over at the FIL's house. I don't have time after work to go over there every evening after work. I NEED my stuff here, if I'm going to do much with it! There's been enough in the news that even Scott is starting to get my frustration. But, he's still not ready to be plowing up the front yard (or even part of the front yard) for a veggie garden.
I guess the FIL is talking about doing some potatoes over at his place too. I need to get out this evening and put my potato bins & compost bins up. But, the hubby has been rather slow about helping get the yard cleaned up and readied for any planting. He still hasn't ordered any gravel deliveries for our car-ports and the dog kennel, or the dirt for the other side of the yard where my laundry-tree and my potato bins and tiered planter are supposed to go. I don't know how he thinks I'm going to get to plant any Chard if he doesn't build me that tiered planter. And my strawberry crowns are supposed to be here next Saturday, and I still need him to commit to helping me with the bed we're going to plant the strawberries into. Either with plowing up the flower bed in front of our bedroom window & putting in some topsoil there, or building a new raised bed in the front yard. I kind of want a new raised bed, but think that using the existing flowerbed may be more conservative with space, since each strawberry crown needs up to 18 inches of space in either direction. If I stagger-plant them down the length of the flower bed, I won't need very much more space than has already been plowed up to date.
*sigh* Just frustrated.
**********
My coworker/Friend G.M. came over yesterday. She found a used futon over at the dump's transfer station a few weeks back, but has been hauling it around in the back seat of her car for about a month now because she needed help unloading it, shampooing it, and reloading it to get it up to her cabin, then unloading it there. So, we spent a couple of hours shampooing that thing on a tarp out on my front yard yesterday afternoon & evening. Then she stayed for dinner (spaghetti and garlic bread) before I went up to her cabin with her to unload the futon there. It was 10 pm before I got home, and 11 before Scott and Tay got home from buying Mother's Day gifts.
**********
Independence Day Challenge:
Plant Something: Flower seeds. Nothing major. Waiting for the temps to even out enough for veggie seeds.
Harvest Something: Nothing to be harvested yet. Even the dandilions greens are so small as to be barely visible. The Fireweed shoots should be popping up En Mass any day now, though.
Tend Something: My house plants. Nothing exciting here. Though I did also pull a couple of weeds out of my flower bed along the front of the house.
Preserve Something: Nada
Make Preparations: bought more fabric & wool ease yarn. Some of the fabric was from the store's clearance bin. Ok, so I should have been scouting the garage sales, but I haven't seen much in the way of sale adds in the weekend papers yet this year.
Cook Something: We grilled ShishKebabs tonight for us and the inlaws. Does that count??? I made that Lithuanian Chop Suey and it turned out pretty good. (And yeah, that was from scratch even if the beef wasn't organic or locally raised.)
Manage your Reserves: Not much to manage, at this point. Rotating my canned goods is kinda the norm when I buy more.
Work on/toward local Food Systems: nothing doing, yet, if you don't count the measly attempts at gardening with the FIL. This is the first weekend that the local Farmer's Market was opened. I didn't drive into town for it, though.
Compost Something: Yep. Almost every day.
Learn a New Skill: Nope. Unless you count constantly reminding myself that those bits of strawberry or that bunch of dead flowers can go in the compost bin as "learning" a new skill.
*sigh* And other folks go on about how THEY feel inadequate. Maybe this next week will be better??? I can only hope.
**********
Anyway, Scott and Tay just pulled up after hockey, so I better finish this post up and get back to tidying up the house. The inlaws and Dad are coming over for ShishKebabs tonight. I've gotten both toilets cleaned and need to tidy up the living room just a bit more.
To all my fellow Mom's: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I hope it's a VERY good one!
Have a Blessed Day!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Recipes and other things....
So, Dad was over for dinner again last night, and I tried a new recipe for roast chicken. It was OOOOOOooooooh so yummy!
Honey Glazed Chicken (from _Celtic Folklore Cooking_ by Joanne Asala)
1 (4 pound) roasting chicken
salt & pepper to taste
1 large apple, peeled, cored & quartered (I didn't bother peeling it.)
1 large onion, sliced (I cut this into large 8ths or so, actually.)
pinch of ground cloves, ground cinnamon, fresh-ground nutmeg (nutmeg was my addition)
4 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp honey, divided
Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the apple and onion with the cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, fill cavity of chicken and sew or tie shut. (My chicken was odd in that there wasn't a cavity for stuffing. Evidently it wasn't sompletely "gutted" in the cleaning process. But no nasty stuff was left in. So, I arranged the apple and onion around the base of the chicken instead.) Brush the chicken with melted butter and place in roasting pan. Brush 2 Tbsp of honey on top. (I melted the 2 Tbsp honey and butter together and brushed it all on at once.) Cook for about 1-1/2 hours at 325 deg. Fahrenheit, basting frequently. Halfway through the cooking, brush on remaining honey. Serve hot.
(Be careful of the chicken because the honey prompts it to get really browned really quick. You'll definitely want to cover the chicken for a good majority of the baking time to prevent over-browning. You may also want to increase the onion and apple to 2 each, because this makes for some VERY yummy eating along with the chicken. Especially if your chicken has the cavity for stuffing an apple and onion inside, make at least 1 more apple and onion each for arranging around the OUTSIDE of the chicken as well. The flavor of this chicken was absolutely delish!!! And the meat was very tender and not overdone at all. Then again, maybe that's because my oven's no longer heating nearly to capacity and even with the temp turned up to 350, the chicken took a lot longer to cook. More like 2-1/2 hours than 1-1/2.)
*****
Tonight's dinner will be Scotch Broth. This is an old favorite of myself and Scott from a Taste of Home Mag, over 10 years ago.
Scotch Broth
2 pounds meaty beef soup bones (I usually use a pound of ground beef, cooked & drained, but tonight I'm using a pound of stew meat.)
2 qts water
6 whole peppercorns (I also generally add a bay leaf.)
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 c chopped carrots
1 c chopped turnips
1 c chopped celery
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c medium pearl barley
In a large kettle, combine soup bones, water, peppercorns and salt. Cover and simmer for 2-1/2 hours or until meat comes easily off the bone. Remove bones. Strain broth; cool and chill. Skim off fat. Remove meat from bones; dice and return to broth along with remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until vegetables and barley are tender.
(I have also added such things as frozen chopped spinach, canned corn, and canned tomatoes to this. It's very yummy and very warming. And yet it's also not a thick, chowdery soup. More like a brothy warming, but not too hearty meal. Very good with some bread. Makes a great fall or spring soup because it ISN'T too heavy & hearty.)
*****
Last but not least is another recipe from my Depression cookbook. I haven't tried this one yet, but it's on the menu for Tuesday night.
Connie's Lithuanian Chop Suey
Saute 1 onion and 1 to 1-1/2 lbs of hamburger until burger is browned. Drain off fat. Slice a large head of cabbage into very thin strips, adding to hamburger mixture a little at a time. (Ok, you may want to replace some of the fat you drained off with some olive oil or veggie oil.) You may need to add a little water during cooking. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve with boiled potatoes (in skin), a tossed salad and dark brown or rye bread.
(I imagine that chopped onion would be an easy & good addition to this as well. With only burger, cabbage and potatoes being the primary ingredients, this is also a rather economical meal, even while including meat.)
**********
I did a little online research of ovarian cysts, and it sounds like the kind of cysts I keep developing are actually pretty normal. According to my minimal research, most women develope these cysts during their years of menstruation. What is ABNORMAL, it seems, is that I'm developing a lot of them. What may be worrisome is that several have developed where there is no ovary. Apparently the radiologist can see, via ultrasound, something of the density of said cysts, and therefore can often guage the likelyhood of them being cancerous. The Dr. and radiologist deemed my cysts to be unlikely to be cancerous, which is a big plus.
On the negative side, if I keep developing these cysts at such large numbers at my current age, it increases the likelyhood that in another 10 or so years the cysts I develope are more likely to be cancerous. There is also the possibility that developement of large amounts of cysts may point toward my being a PCOS "sufferer". Normally that may be a worry for women who are trying to conceive. I'm not in that group, so I'm not worried about PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom) diminishing my likelihood of conception. But, PCOS would bring with it other health concerns as well, including weight gain & larger waist-measurements, insulin resistance, and increased facial & body hair, among other things. *wry smile* The facial hair, of course, would be a nuisance, but managable. (Hopefully without a razor. I'd be willing to have monthly waxings to prevent mustach hair. *wink*)
Any way..... I guess for now I need to read what I can about ovarian cysts, but try not to let it worry me so much. What will be, will be. All I can do is take the best care of my body that I'm capable of. And that DEFINITELY means getting back on my exercise schedual. I DID exercise yesterday morning, but not this morning. I'm going to try to get in my 20 minutes again tomorrow morning.
**********
Yesterday was absolutely beautiful. It got up to 70 deg. here at my place. The sun was out. It was kinda cloudy, but not so much that it decreased the warmth we got. We had the windows open all day, till midnight last night. Then only turned on the furnace to 65 deg. in case the rain we started getting after 10 brought with it some cooler temps. (Or, heaven forbid, snow.) I don't think the furnace ever actually kicked on, though. This morning it's similar to yesterday. A little cloudier, but still warm enough that the windows are now open and the furnace is off.
**********
Ok. I've gotta get heading to work. This is one of the last 2 Sundays I'm going to be working until next fall. We have 3 more Sundays before our Summer hours kick in, but I'm taking next Sunday off for Mother's Day. (And thus preventing my getting chewed out by the MIL for having to work that day.)
Have a Blessed Day!
Honey Glazed Chicken (from _Celtic Folklore Cooking_ by Joanne Asala)
1 (4 pound) roasting chicken
salt & pepper to taste
1 large apple, peeled, cored & quartered (I didn't bother peeling it.)
1 large onion, sliced (I cut this into large 8ths or so, actually.)
pinch of ground cloves, ground cinnamon, fresh-ground nutmeg (nutmeg was my addition)
4 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp honey, divided
Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the apple and onion with the cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, fill cavity of chicken and sew or tie shut. (My chicken was odd in that there wasn't a cavity for stuffing. Evidently it wasn't sompletely "gutted" in the cleaning process. But no nasty stuff was left in. So, I arranged the apple and onion around the base of the chicken instead.) Brush the chicken with melted butter and place in roasting pan. Brush 2 Tbsp of honey on top. (I melted the 2 Tbsp honey and butter together and brushed it all on at once.) Cook for about 1-1/2 hours at 325 deg. Fahrenheit, basting frequently. Halfway through the cooking, brush on remaining honey. Serve hot.
(Be careful of the chicken because the honey prompts it to get really browned really quick. You'll definitely want to cover the chicken for a good majority of the baking time to prevent over-browning. You may also want to increase the onion and apple to 2 each, because this makes for some VERY yummy eating along with the chicken. Especially if your chicken has the cavity for stuffing an apple and onion inside, make at least 1 more apple and onion each for arranging around the OUTSIDE of the chicken as well. The flavor of this chicken was absolutely delish!!! And the meat was very tender and not overdone at all. Then again, maybe that's because my oven's no longer heating nearly to capacity and even with the temp turned up to 350, the chicken took a lot longer to cook. More like 2-1/2 hours than 1-1/2.)
*****
Tonight's dinner will be Scotch Broth. This is an old favorite of myself and Scott from a Taste of Home Mag, over 10 years ago.
Scotch Broth
2 pounds meaty beef soup bones (I usually use a pound of ground beef, cooked & drained, but tonight I'm using a pound of stew meat.)
2 qts water
6 whole peppercorns (I also generally add a bay leaf.)
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 c chopped carrots
1 c chopped turnips
1 c chopped celery
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c medium pearl barley
In a large kettle, combine soup bones, water, peppercorns and salt. Cover and simmer for 2-1/2 hours or until meat comes easily off the bone. Remove bones. Strain broth; cool and chill. Skim off fat. Remove meat from bones; dice and return to broth along with remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until vegetables and barley are tender.
(I have also added such things as frozen chopped spinach, canned corn, and canned tomatoes to this. It's very yummy and very warming. And yet it's also not a thick, chowdery soup. More like a brothy warming, but not too hearty meal. Very good with some bread. Makes a great fall or spring soup because it ISN'T too heavy & hearty.)
*****
Last but not least is another recipe from my Depression cookbook. I haven't tried this one yet, but it's on the menu for Tuesday night.
Connie's Lithuanian Chop Suey
Saute 1 onion and 1 to 1-1/2 lbs of hamburger until burger is browned. Drain off fat. Slice a large head of cabbage into very thin strips, adding to hamburger mixture a little at a time. (Ok, you may want to replace some of the fat you drained off with some olive oil or veggie oil.) You may need to add a little water during cooking. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve with boiled potatoes (in skin), a tossed salad and dark brown or rye bread.
(I imagine that chopped onion would be an easy & good addition to this as well. With only burger, cabbage and potatoes being the primary ingredients, this is also a rather economical meal, even while including meat.)
**********
I did a little online research of ovarian cysts, and it sounds like the kind of cysts I keep developing are actually pretty normal. According to my minimal research, most women develope these cysts during their years of menstruation. What is ABNORMAL, it seems, is that I'm developing a lot of them. What may be worrisome is that several have developed where there is no ovary. Apparently the radiologist can see, via ultrasound, something of the density of said cysts, and therefore can often guage the likelyhood of them being cancerous. The Dr. and radiologist deemed my cysts to be unlikely to be cancerous, which is a big plus.
On the negative side, if I keep developing these cysts at such large numbers at my current age, it increases the likelyhood that in another 10 or so years the cysts I develope are more likely to be cancerous. There is also the possibility that developement of large amounts of cysts may point toward my being a PCOS "sufferer". Normally that may be a worry for women who are trying to conceive. I'm not in that group, so I'm not worried about PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom) diminishing my likelihood of conception. But, PCOS would bring with it other health concerns as well, including weight gain & larger waist-measurements, insulin resistance, and increased facial & body hair, among other things. *wry smile* The facial hair, of course, would be a nuisance, but managable. (Hopefully without a razor. I'd be willing to have monthly waxings to prevent mustach hair. *wink*)
Any way..... I guess for now I need to read what I can about ovarian cysts, but try not to let it worry me so much. What will be, will be. All I can do is take the best care of my body that I'm capable of. And that DEFINITELY means getting back on my exercise schedual. I DID exercise yesterday morning, but not this morning. I'm going to try to get in my 20 minutes again tomorrow morning.
**********
Yesterday was absolutely beautiful. It got up to 70 deg. here at my place. The sun was out. It was kinda cloudy, but not so much that it decreased the warmth we got. We had the windows open all day, till midnight last night. Then only turned on the furnace to 65 deg. in case the rain we started getting after 10 brought with it some cooler temps. (Or, heaven forbid, snow.) I don't think the furnace ever actually kicked on, though. This morning it's similar to yesterday. A little cloudier, but still warm enough that the windows are now open and the furnace is off.
**********
Ok. I've gotta get heading to work. This is one of the last 2 Sundays I'm going to be working until next fall. We have 3 more Sundays before our Summer hours kick in, but I'm taking next Sunday off for Mother's Day. (And thus preventing my getting chewed out by the MIL for having to work that day.)
Have a Blessed Day!
Friday, May 02, 2008
Gimme a Freakin' Break!!!!
So, I just got a call from the Dr. about the results of my ultrasound a couple of weeks back. She's been trying to get ahold of me since Monday, but my schedual has had me at work every time she's tried calling. Now finally, she was able to get through. Kinda wish she hadn't, though, because now I'm stressing a bit.
Ok, remember, I had my left ovary removed 2 years ago because it had an accompanying cyst the size of a small cantelope. The right was in good condition without any sign of any cysts.
The results from the ultrasound showed that I now have multiple cysts in the space where my left ovary was, the largest of which is about an inch and a half in diameter. (1.5 inches, or over 3 centimeters) My right ovary (the only one I still retain) has a single smaller cyst attached.
I'm just peeved beyond belief about this!!! I mean.... I'm finally starting to feel healthy. I was worried about an ectopic, but I didn't figure for a moment they'd actually find any cysts.
Now, the Dr wants me to come back in 3 months for another Ultrasound to see what these cysts are doing. If they've grown, or increased in number, I'll be in for more tests to see what's going on.
The only GOOD news is that the radiologist seemed to feel the cysts are benign and not cancerous, otherwise I would've been in for more tests NOW instead of 3 months from now.
But..... I just feel like we can't get a break. It's always, ALWAYS something, it seems.
**********
Scott took my car to the dealership this morning to have it looked at because of the squealing noise it makes. He'd taken it in back in March, and he was told that this is a NORMAL sound for this make of vehical to make. *shaking head* What a load of bull!!! Well, the sound only got worst and more constant. So he took it back in today. Turns out the Serpentine belt was loose and needed to be tightened up. That's what my coworker, CM, suggested when she first heard the sound back in Feb. when I got the car. But nooooo, according to the dealership then, that's a sound that's "Normal" for this car. *snort* Idiots.
Scott told them that if the sound didn't clear up, he was going to bring the car right back in NEXT Friday and they were going to have a look at it again, and he'd keep bringing it back till they fix the problem. We'll see.
*****
Because he took my car, I walked to school with the kiddo and her two friends. It was a nice, sunny, breezy morning. Made for a nice little 15 minute walk. Then when I finished, I walked home, stopping in at the library to say hi to my former coworker and the other librarians before finishing my walk home. It took me about a half-hour to get home, because I stopped in at the lib. for 10 or so and checked the mail. But again, a nice day for it. Man.... I actually had to peel off my jacket, though, as I came into the neighbourhood because it was so warm.
After I got home I spent a bit of time outside watering my flower bed (which has a ton of little green sprouts showing up already. I wonder if I planted my flower seeds to thickly this spring. *grin* Unfortunately my irises at the bottom of the yard hadn't come up. I'd thought that the seeds might be small enough that the snow we got immediately afterwards might soak them into the ground like with the other flower seeds. Not so. Evidently they need to be pressed in and covered over lightly. So, I took more iris seeds out and did just that, then watered even more.
This afternoon the clouds have blown back in so it's semi-overcast, and the wind has picked up a bit. But, it was still nice enough today that I had the windows along the front of the house open from 1 pm (when I got home) till 6. And I haven't yet turned the furnace back on, though I'll do that before I go to bed tonight. But, lately we're keeping it set at about 65 all day & night, instead of 68. With the weather warming up outside, even though we may still need the furnace, we don't need it set quite as warm.
Which is a good thing because we're down to less than 50 gal. in the fuel tank. We're debating whether we should get it refilled NOW (knowing that we'd pay almost $1800 with the price it's at now) or wait till we're more likely to have ALL the money (we've only got just over a grand in savings right now), but prices will likely be higher. *sigh* The nice thing is that with pulling Tay out of daycare, we're actually building up a bit of savings finally. The bad thing is that there always seems to be SOMETHING to come along & take a nice chunk of that savings away from us. (Like the ultrasound. Like filling the fuel tank. Like a vehicular issue. Like Scott needing more dental work.)
**********
Ok. I think that pretty well covers things for now.
Have a Blessed Day!
Ok, remember, I had my left ovary removed 2 years ago because it had an accompanying cyst the size of a small cantelope. The right was in good condition without any sign of any cysts.
The results from the ultrasound showed that I now have multiple cysts in the space where my left ovary was, the largest of which is about an inch and a half in diameter. (1.5 inches, or over 3 centimeters) My right ovary (the only one I still retain) has a single smaller cyst attached.
I'm just peeved beyond belief about this!!! I mean.... I'm finally starting to feel healthy. I was worried about an ectopic, but I didn't figure for a moment they'd actually find any cysts.
Now, the Dr wants me to come back in 3 months for another Ultrasound to see what these cysts are doing. If they've grown, or increased in number, I'll be in for more tests to see what's going on.
The only GOOD news is that the radiologist seemed to feel the cysts are benign and not cancerous, otherwise I would've been in for more tests NOW instead of 3 months from now.
But..... I just feel like we can't get a break. It's always, ALWAYS something, it seems.
**********
Scott took my car to the dealership this morning to have it looked at because of the squealing noise it makes. He'd taken it in back in March, and he was told that this is a NORMAL sound for this make of vehical to make. *shaking head* What a load of bull!!! Well, the sound only got worst and more constant. So he took it back in today. Turns out the Serpentine belt was loose and needed to be tightened up. That's what my coworker, CM, suggested when she first heard the sound back in Feb. when I got the car. But nooooo, according to the dealership then, that's a sound that's "Normal" for this car. *snort* Idiots.
Scott told them that if the sound didn't clear up, he was going to bring the car right back in NEXT Friday and they were going to have a look at it again, and he'd keep bringing it back till they fix the problem. We'll see.
*****
Because he took my car, I walked to school with the kiddo and her two friends. It was a nice, sunny, breezy morning. Made for a nice little 15 minute walk. Then when I finished, I walked home, stopping in at the library to say hi to my former coworker and the other librarians before finishing my walk home. It took me about a half-hour to get home, because I stopped in at the lib. for 10 or so and checked the mail. But again, a nice day for it. Man.... I actually had to peel off my jacket, though, as I came into the neighbourhood because it was so warm.
After I got home I spent a bit of time outside watering my flower bed (which has a ton of little green sprouts showing up already. I wonder if I planted my flower seeds to thickly this spring. *grin* Unfortunately my irises at the bottom of the yard hadn't come up. I'd thought that the seeds might be small enough that the snow we got immediately afterwards might soak them into the ground like with the other flower seeds. Not so. Evidently they need to be pressed in and covered over lightly. So, I took more iris seeds out and did just that, then watered even more.
This afternoon the clouds have blown back in so it's semi-overcast, and the wind has picked up a bit. But, it was still nice enough today that I had the windows along the front of the house open from 1 pm (when I got home) till 6. And I haven't yet turned the furnace back on, though I'll do that before I go to bed tonight. But, lately we're keeping it set at about 65 all day & night, instead of 68. With the weather warming up outside, even though we may still need the furnace, we don't need it set quite as warm.
Which is a good thing because we're down to less than 50 gal. in the fuel tank. We're debating whether we should get it refilled NOW (knowing that we'd pay almost $1800 with the price it's at now) or wait till we're more likely to have ALL the money (we've only got just over a grand in savings right now), but prices will likely be higher. *sigh* The nice thing is that with pulling Tay out of daycare, we're actually building up a bit of savings finally. The bad thing is that there always seems to be SOMETHING to come along & take a nice chunk of that savings away from us. (Like the ultrasound. Like filling the fuel tank. Like a vehicular issue. Like Scott needing more dental work.)
**********
Ok. I think that pretty well covers things for now.
Have a Blessed Day!
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