Sunday, April 29, 2012

Trying To Stay Busy

I don't know if it is nervous energy, or  if I am trying to stay occupied with everyday life so I don't have to think about my next appointment, pill, treatment or the pain, the bigger picture.  I do know that I sure have been cramming a lot of the mundane in the past few weeks.
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I haven't been posting lately because I have recently begun to lose my train of thought.  I like to call it "side effect #419".  I just can't seem to get the essence of what I want to say across. It can be very frustrating to me.  It even happens when I am talking to my family and friends here in our pond.
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I know [hope?] y'all understand.  You have been a great source of support to us with your comments and mail, so I thought maybe I would leave you ::breathless:: with a list of my activities these past few days.
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I hope you enjoy. I know we sure did! [Warning:  There are amazingly l-o-n-g run on sentences to follow. Oops!]
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Friday was pizza and movie night, at home, but before we could begin Wallene had to take an on line algebra quiz. It had to be submitted beforemidnight Friday night.  No problem, but she was without a graphing calculator. Although she was doing the work without one, they are allowed to use them. It makes checking her work a lot easier.  Her Dad and I researched the price [$100] and availability [plenty] at Staples and with my $5 off coupon we headed on over.  Surprise! They were sold out and the only other one in stock was $120. No thank you.
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We then went to Wal Mart. ::shudder:: It was amazingly empty for a Friday evening. We were able to zip in only to discover that they too were sold out of the calculator we wanted.  Their price was better [$94] but they didn't have any other models to choose from. We decided to give it one more try and drive over to Best Buy since there seemed to be a run on TI-83 graphing calculators in Sterling, VA that evening.
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We had success at Best Buy. I literally ::skippyhappydanced: in the aisle.  We purchased the last one for $105 and Wallene was able to complete her quiz on time. At 10:00 pm we settled in for delicious $5.99 pizza and watched "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".  We had purchased the pizza on sale and it was one of the best frozen pizzas we have tasted.  It was a "Freschetta Deluxe Topping Rising Crust Pizza".  If you can find it, even at the full price, $7.99, buy it! I only had one piece and I would've had more but. . .  Regardless, there were no leftovers. :D
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After a quick night's sleep we woke to a gloomy, doomy, very chilly day.  Wallene was dropped off at school at 8:30 am.  She was participating in her Marching Band's fundraiser until 1 pm, so Pooldad and I settled in for a cozy day indoors.
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Here's where the weekend fun [for me at least] really began.
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While Dad drank his coffee I prepared breakfast.  I have to admit I was inspired by Spadoman's trip to Chicago and all the great meals they ate.  Since we're watching the pennies and my sodium [yawn!] I made breakfast with food on hand and tried to make it as healthy as I could.
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It was so delicious!  I made skillet potatoes, crisped in olive oil with green, red and yellow peppers, onion and a splash of oregano and paprika to spice it up.  Served with 1 egg over easy, 1/2 piece of toast, a bowl of grapes and two bites of a sausage patty made me a very happy camper.  Pooldad had the same, but X10.  "Growing boy" and all that y'know.
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After breakfast we bundled up and walked the dog.  It really was a drizzly, bone chilling day for the end of April, but it made coming home to a cup of rich Ghiradelli hot chocolate much more appreciated. Finally, we warmed through so we tackled the weekly chores of dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen and laundry before we picked up Wallene.
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For lunch [still inspired] I played short order cook. Everyone was served a steaming mug of homemade bean and smoked turkey [in lieu of ham] soup with their choice of sandwich.  Wallene had a BLT, Pooldad had a fried hotdog with mustard and diced onions and I had 1/2 roast beef, swiss cheese, lettuce and banana pepper sandwich.  This is my favorite sandwich, by far, that I make at home.  Pooldad enjoyed the other half.  Thank goodness I have him to eat my extras. :D
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With nothing much to do we all took naps.  There is something about sleeping on an overcast day that is so comforting, y'know?
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For dinner [yes, still cooking and cleaning the kitchen] I made ghoulash with individual dishes of sliced raw veggies for dipping in spicy Catalina dressing. YUM  Although I do think I chopped, diced and cut up my weight's worth in vegetables and fruit this weekend.
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We slept in this morning and awoke to one of the prettiest days in a long time.  The change in the weather was amazing.  It was if Mother Nature flipped her "I'll be nice today" switch and gave us a sunny, 70 degree day.  It was perfect for the long[ish] car ride out to see our Grandma.  It is such a gift to be able to spend a few hours with her, forgetting that she is 100 years old!  She is such a spit fire.  She, of course, put in her request for next week's lunch and dessert [Chicken and dumplings with lemon cake] so we will be back again soon to deliver the goods.  It was so, so nice to feel good enough to go and see her.  Sometimes I become so physically drained from the car trips to and from my appointments I don't want to get in the car if I don't have to.  Today it wasn't the case.  I had so much energy I couldn't wait to get out and enjoy it, especially if it meant visiting Non.
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On our way home we filled the van, saving .20 cents a gallon by using our grocery store rewards card - a bargain at $3.75/gal, picked up a fresh fruit and veggies to fill out our menu this week and came home to plant our container garden on our back porch.  This is very exciting for us because it is an experiment.  We aren't green thumbs [more of a black thumb, if you will] and this is our first time attempting vegetables. We planted two different tomatoes, one yellow squash, one mild pepper and for fun a watermelon plant. :)  We'll see how it goes. I am most excited by the watermelon and hoping it does well because when we were at the store today we paid $5 for a small watermelon [on sale!] and spent $18 on 6 lbs of grapes which will last us until Tuesday.  Throw in a few bananas and we had $25 in fruit that won't last us a week.  Thank goodness the tomatoes were on sale, but better yet - the Farmer's Market opens next Sunday!! And I will happily pay more than that for home grown, locally sourced, organic produce. Bring.IT.on!! :D
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The icing on the cake to the near perfect weekend was dinner tonight.  I made chicken fajitas [again with the chopping of the veggies!**] refried beans and Spanish rice.  Since this was my only sodium intake of the day I indulged and had some of everything. Wowser it was good - even if I do say so myself. ::wink::
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Have you ever had a meal, that when you were finished, you just knew you needed just *one* more thing?  LIke, say, maybe a cake to make it complete?  [Does that make sense?]  We have a lot of ice cream, sherberts and homemade cookies in the house, but they just weren't going to do.  They weren't fitting the bill. It had to be cake.  So, at 9:30 pm I made a carrot bundt cake [speedy cooling it on the back porch since the temperature had dropped 20 degrees since sunset] with cream cheese frosting rosettes dotting just the top of each piece.
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It was the perfect end to a near perfect weekend.  And I really do appreciate you reading while I rambled along. heehee
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It will soon be Monday morning here and so I will begin another round of "facing the big picture".
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At least I know I can do it with a smile on my lips and a lighter heart.  It really does make it easier Tadpoles. Trust me.
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Thanks for everything.  I am sure we will chat soon - be looking for me in your comments. :)
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And I'll see ya' all on the flipside.

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[**I actually love to chop vegetables and fruit. It sounds weird [you know me!], but it is so relaxing and rewarding to stand and chop, chop, chop away.  I do own a nice food processor, but I like my knife and cutting board. tyvm :D]

23 comments:

Rebecca said...

wow lots of yummy recipes and as for losing your train of thought my son likes to refer to those as brain farts yes I know very nice but then again he is a12yr old boy. Hope wallene does well on the test she took and sending you lots of love

Juli said...

Sounds like a fabulous weekend to me. Tony cleared out a space in his precious flower garden for Youngest to plant his cukes, carrots, and peas.

I think we'll do the rest of the carrots in a container though, as you can ensure the soil is free of stones and you can watch the carrots grow before you pull them. :)

I am also up to face the day (although no where near in the way you are) and honestly, I'd rather stay home and play. The birds are already singing, the sun is beaming through the windows and the bed is calling my first AND middle name.

*sigh*

But the mail must go on...

Shelly said...

Sounds like you had a terrific weekend with lots of healthy, good food and some great family time. I love that you get to see y'all's Grandma- what a treasure she must be. Hope your week is full of unexpected blessings~

Sally said...

I love reading about your "everyday" weekend, since those are the kind I like best. I also like to chop vegetables! I've always liked kitchen stuff, minus washing dishes.

Jeannie said...

So much great food! Lucky for you, you need to gain because I'd be in serious trouble.

I'm strange. I don't mind chopping veggies for a stir fry or stew or casserole but I hate making salad. I don't know what the difference is.

Gary always does the fruit salad. I'll only do a single fruit at a time. I think your grapes cost more than ours. A lot more. That's a surprise. I'd have a tough time spending $25 on just fruit for a couple days. I'd be buying apples!

Hope your week goes well and you hear some good news and feel better.

Rudee said...

You packed a lot into the weekend. Your inner strength shines through your words.

Hugs.

Anonymous said...

You are indeed a very resourceful person! Glad you had a good weekend.

Celia said...

You had a lot going on this weekend.

Tracy said...

You weren't kidding when you told me you liked to chop veggies.

I went shopping Saturday and found some capris with rhinestones on the butt and thought of you. They didn't fit but I swear I'm going to find a pair and send your a picture of my butt. I laugh everytime I think about that.

Yum Yucky said...

ohhh yesss, the lovely "I need a graphing calculator in a hurry!" frenzy. I experienced the same thing over here. But I made my kid pay for her own. Whoops! Am I a mean momma? (she does have job, ya know. hehe)

Now you mentioned something 'er other about "the icing on the cake", but you neglected to tell us what flavor.

ellen abbott said...

Wow! keep hanging in there kiddo.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Sounds like an awesome weekend, even if it was a little chilly. We actually put our air conditioner on yesterday, because the temperatures have been flirting with ninety, and that's a bit much for us. And not even May yet! OY!

I'm so glad you felt up to cooking, and better yet ... eating ... and were able to visit with your grandmother. How wonderful that you still have her. I'd say, all in all, your weekend was just about perfect. I hope your week is, too.

colenic said...

Sound slike an amazing weekend...and the best way to escape from the impending reality...I am glad that your weather was nice yesterday...we were supposed to be overcast and cloudy all weekend and it ended up being gorgeous here....
Hugs and lots of love to you!

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi there Skippy! Waow! That was some weekend, especially with all that food being prepared and chopped! It's made me feel quite hungry just sat here reading the post! Yum, Yum!! I'm so glad you got to go and visit Grandma, and that you'll be going up to see her again next week with her food order! Hee Hee! 100 eh? How amazing! Hope Wallene gets a good mark for her exam. I'm sure she will! Take care my friend and keep hanging in there. We're all there with you. Hugs from across the pond x

Tony Van Helsing said...

Sounds a full weekend. That breakfast sounds amazing, I usually make do with porridge, muffins and poached eggs. Good luck with the Big Picture.

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Knitty said...

My kids are 32 and 34 years old. Those calculators were that price even then. Surprising that they haven't budged in price in all these years. It always aggravated me that the kids were expected to have them for one class in a public high school. That isn't an easy purchase for everyone.

Since most kids only use them for one class, I don't know why the schools can rent them to the kids, but I shouldn't get started on that rant.

I don't mind chopping if I'm in the mood, but I can't say that mood hits often. I will think of you the next time I chop and will smile.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

I know exactly what you mean about enjoying the everyday things. I like to chop with a knife and cutting board, too. But, I like to wash dishes, too. It is comforting to me, to be able to do the everyday things for my husband and my family when they are here. I will be thinking of you and saying a prayer for you in the days that follow your happy weekend.

Teresa said...

i'm dangerous around whole veggies + a knife! lol - ron used to take the knife away from me. i don't chop too much now because of stupid carpal tunnel issues. i'll chop for a while, rest, come back after a while. it gets done.

your container garden sounds lovely. i'm fixing to do one on our patio, too. rex will help me figure out what i'm planting and getting it set up for me. he's a jewel.

i tried to sleep in this weekend but it didn't work out that way.

cheers...

Diane Laney Fitzpatrick said...

Your hunt for the graphing calculator brought back bad memories for me. Went to hell and back to get one for my son. Then two years later, couldn't find it when my daughter needed one, so had to go back to hell/Best Buy again. They're not always easy to find. I think there was a long search but I can't be sure; I've blocked a lot of that.

Anonymous said...

I really need to figure out how to use Google reader - I am so behind!

Sounds like a wonderful weekend Skip - and I'll take a fried hot dog the next time you make one for Pool Dad. :D

Hope this week is treating you well my dear.

Hugs!

Biz

Lucy Ladham-Dyment said...

Love chopping fruits and vegetables. Great post.

Lyndylou said...

What a lovely, busy, homely weekend. Those type are the best aren't they? Glad to see you had a bit more energy and you got to see your relative. Think of you often, keep smiling X