veggies!

Last week was a great haul- Peaches, Plums, salad, onions, tomatoes on the vine, and squash and I am sure something else I am forgetting.... oh yeah and little baby limes a bunch of them! we gave them to a lady at work who likes them because they would not get used in our house! the squash and the tomatoes were cut up and put in freezer till later.... the peaches and plums are getting worked on daily This week was not so good but ummm OK- onions, potatoes, more peaches and some nectarines and carrots, broccoli stalks and yeah I am sure I am forgetting something So far this week we are doing a roast with the onions, potatoes and...I don't know what else so far!

Kitchen Timer....

Dinner time gets a little hectic in our household namely because everything happens at the same time- commute home, school, E's football games, Yoga class, etc - Did I mention we are back at 24hr fitness?? YES! Last night was no exception, left the crock pot on during the day with a pork tenderloin cooking away I had headed out Thursday am, thinking everything would be delish when I got home... so not the case! Best laid plans and all that! The pork tenderloin was so burned it was one solid piece, of course DS1, and DS2 had not noticed anything and so didn't act to try and salvage the situation, but I don't think it could have been really. So on to Plan B- Chicken! ok TPC grill pan, my favorite pan, grab that and butter, oh crap we are out of butter... used the little bit we had and grilled the chicken in the pan with TPC Citrus and Basil rub, and some lemon juice. That was awesome, I cut it up and served it with some pasta and veggies we had fixed up the other night... The squash... ew it was bad burned too... between the crock pot and the squash the smoke alarm went off repeatedly and was yelling FIRE, FIRE as it does. We have the new fangled ones that are combo fire/gas detector and speak to you so that you wake up and don't sleep through the alarm. yeah us... at least I have the comfort of knowing that if it does go off in the middle of the night it SHOULD get us up... I hope! In the meantime I will get an actual timer so I don't use the smoke detector to know when dinner is done :) Casey

This weeks recap as it stands!

Crazy week already, ready for it to stop... Don't think it will Monday was Football with E - he took down a big old boy wish I had it on video, was a thing of beauty and I don't consider myself a football fan.But my kid is playing so I will support! Had a go round with one of Blake's teachers- sent an assignment that was due and make up work from Blake being sick 2 wks ago, sent it Monday @ 945 and said it had to be completed within the same day so that I

could help Blake succeed

... wtfe! It went downhill from there with him assuring me that the email had been sent on Friday and that I had opened it, um folks? I live in my email account, there is no way I would have missed an email and it be about the boys and their school work.... No way.! In Furry news- Memphis was bad sick over the weekend so we took a trip to the vet, well two trips to two vets. The first ones were only after money and didn't treat him and then would not release him and it was a mess, and I had dialed 9-1... and was going for that other 1 to get the cops involved when they finally relented and said yes I could indeed take my cat and get him treatment elsewhere! Now mind you, they owed me money, and needed to give me the difference on their deposit and services actually performed. They apparently were after the $355.00that was quoted and they were intent on getting it. Wasn't happening. So now we have a new vet and we love, love, love the staff and the office and the vet himself. Memphis had a fever of 105.3 in the am and the bad place, and then at the other vet it had gone down to 103.00. He was dehydrated, constipated and running fever, they pumped him full of fluids since he hadn't been given any all day and did blood work, and x-rays. Found out booger was way constipated and also has a heart murmur, didn't know that.... So we are dosing twice a day with antibiotics and he seems to be back to his turd self, biting my fingers at 3AM and showering with me in the mornings again. Bubba is doing well, and we have all joined the local gym to get our fitness on! Last night was the first night and we got some in and then went ate salads, I just could not do a burger! Tonight is yoga, which should be comical because Bubba is going to do it with me, and some grilled chicken and not sure what else we are doing with.... OH! and I got a B in History yeah! so GPA is still 3.5 (darn it) and I hope to get it up higher ! Next class starts Friday night and is Psych (oh joy) Sociology is still going on and is exceedingly dull.... but we will persevere!

Crowded in here....

I have a multitude of things in my head at any given time but lately it is worse! These are the things I am willing to share... A) E is playing football, and he has to have tie/dress shirt every Monday and he keeps losing everything! ugh! B) Jazzy has turned into Satan cat and has to have "special" shots- meaning extra $$, time, effort C) Lucky is such a lover but I don't think he is all there... just not as quick as the others in the cattery D) Blake is plotting, not sure what but something is ticking and not right E) Somehow I keep "losing" cash in the house - $18 so far, interesting... F) Having to lock all the back gates because someone keeps leaving random trash in my back yard G) Wrote to my GM but haven't had the opportunity to call her, the time zones are always off when I can get to it H) Angie- girl you are on my thoughts I) Kids and cancer/Leukemia this sucks ass... I pray for you two daily J) Why my mother randomly stops talking to me? K) To medicate or not to medicate??? L) Passing math test to be able to take Math classes M) Financial- closing 2 checking accounts and getting everything switched over N) Work- nah that is a 4 letter word and a rant post all of its own that will never be written O) Friends whose names start with J praying for you as well P) Child support BS, Direct deposit ? why does it take 6 mos? and if they have the money why do they sit on it for 6 mos? Q) Fund raiser for E- turned in today Thank god one thing less to deal with R) Homework/school S) Kids homework/School T) Drag racing/Dad's website U) Money money money - always on the mind V) Friends W)Balancing it all, am I paying enough attention to everyone? X)Thanksgiving Y)E's Birthday (yes 13 OMG) Z) Projects? Will they ever get done? Nope probably not.... Of course there is more! but for now that is all I can think of or post, as time allows, and for legal reasons... Happy weekend y'all!

Things are...

Busy, hectic, Chaotic whatever you want to call it. Last weekend of History class, and after being on Dean's list and Honor roll the previous 3 semesters I fear a fall from grace. It is not the professor it was me. Strangely enough if you are all hopped up on Vicodin and take a test don't be surprised to get a 52. Ouch we have 4 grades in that class. E's - firsts this week A) wearing a tie :0 oh my god... he looked so grown up! B) first football type occasion, they had a scrimmage and his team rocked it! I don't remember the score but it was a lot to a little. And he was thrilled, I am good. Blake- Doing great in school! YES! I am so proud of him. and He is heading to Ennis with Dad and the Living Legends group this weekend. Bubba- Bubba is fantastic, and I am so grateful and lucky that he is in my life He is working his tail off, and we are going to be scoping gyms this weekend. :) Other than that the past 2 wks have been a blur and we are rocking along! Report cards come out next week, I can hardly believe it! Oh... fuzzy news Jazz is evil and attacked the vet at shot clinic- yeah! Psycho cat! Belle is fabulous and was a good girl when she got her shots. Memphis is a love bug as usual :), Lucky is well he is just a bit special, and Chance runs outside every second. Plenty to help keep us in line :) Happy weekend to you ! Casey

Fighting sucks...

It happened Friday... Our first fight, it was about something small and petty and yet hurt. Alot. We both ended up confused as to why we felt that way and how to fix it. But we stayed up, past 1 am ( Had to be at school by 9am Saturday this was a big deal!) and we talked, and yelled and explained. And kept Blake up and he came and knocked on our door and told us to shut up. But we didn't and we didn't go to bed angry and didn't let it grow. I hope there won't be many more, there might but I hope we can work them out and continue to talk them through as we did this one.

Veggies week 2

this week we got little baby carrot bags, Roma tomatoes, and plums. Also Poblano peppers and onions and potatoes. More apples, E is in heaven. Last night we had nachos with the peppers, onions. We used the peaches from last week that I thought were apricots and made Jam, will advise on that one. It doesn't look great and takes a wow bunch of sugar. The blueberries I have yet to make jelly out of. We ended up cutting up the peppers that we didn't use last night and freezing and the onions were diced and frozen since we are on overload with them right now thanks to a friends garden and then the Co-op. We are still watching food dyes and such and hoping to really stay away from them, most of the foods we are really not that processed, just have to convince Blake to eat more veggies :) he is a very meat and potatoes kinda man!

Decisions, and more decisions

Since March of this year I have been on a medical roller coaster ride, that ride lasted until June and then I just gave up. Quick recap for those that forgot or didn't know- Got strep from a lovely co-worker, subsequent side effects, yeast infections, than UTI, than sever back pain in kidneys, then could not drink anything unclear for eons. Enter Sonograms, CT Scan, find out claustrophobic - great! Then Bladder scope, I highly do not recommend this. $2K later of copay, and dr's visits and meds they have no idea what is wrong with me. July and August were OK, hectic but OK, minor headaches here and there until the one on Aug 29th. Holy Mary Mother of God, it was bad, I was in tears, I woke up Bubba when it woke me up at 12 AM I took double the dose of my headache meds, no relief, ice packs, no relief. Could not find a position that was comfortable, wanted to severely throw up. Finally after 2 AM was able to pass out, Bubba insisted I stay home, rest. OK. Not thrilled about it but OK. Was able to get some rest in and felt somewhat better, on Tuesday back to work. Tuesday of that week I called my Dr and asked for some meds that would make me less stupid and would still get rid of the headache, they called in something and recommended Vicodin. Well I had Vicodin at home, don't like taking stuff like that but ok, I will take it if necessary. The whole purpose of getting different meds is because I was walking around in a fog, could not remember from one thing to the next what I had done. Not good. Can't function that way. The new meds made no difference, Thursday of same week we went to Care Now to get a shot, instead of going to ER. Maybe should have gone to ER but I wanted to be in and out thought they would give me a shot and I would go home and be good. No... No change, Friday work/ school, Saturday back to ER with the lovely Spinal Tap, I will spare the pictures it was bad, my back is bad, they missed it sucked, back still hurts. So lets take inventory head hurts, neck hurts, back hurts in 2 spots, and hips hurt from the shots. Great! ok The Attila the Hun DR at the ER referred me to a neurologist. And said take drugs go to bed, come back if you aren't any better in 24 hrs etc. Well... not any better and we are on Thursday of this week and yesterday I took no meds. No pain meds at all. And.... I had energy! I was able to help around the house and interact, holy moly my head is still pounding but I am not all fuzzy and disoriented, and not knowing what is going on. So, I informed the children and Bubba that I had made a decision. No more pain med, unless it gets completely out of control, and even though I have a headache, back still hurts, hips are good now, I am just going to deal. The reasoning is this - no I am not trying to be a martyr but at some point if the meds aren't working, and you aren't getting any better than what is the point? My Dr referred me to a neurologist as well. I think I am going to wait. I have spoken to too many people in t he last few weeks that have had serious migraines/ headaches and they cannot get rid of them and no one knows why. They are all having drugs and tests thrown at them as well. I don't want to do that! My kid is playing football, I want to be able to go to his games, my older son will be working and driving soon, and I want to be able to be there to support him and not be cracked out. On top of that those three Bubba, B and E make up my family and I want to be able to talk to them, see them and have dinner with them without drooling all over my plate. Working on meds is also not really a good thing, I had several people tell me I was slurring my words last week and wanted to know if I was drunk, ok those are just the ones who felt comfortable to say something!. Now note- if I hadn't had the head CT and the Spinal Tap and they had not come back clear I would be going on the new Doctor but... they did come back clear so for now, I am just going to muddle through and see what happens, next week I might be cursing my decision but for today... this is good. C

Sauteed squash and Zuchhini

2 each large yellow squash/ zucchini
1 med yellow onion
1 med tomato (optional)
3 cloves garlic (sliced)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tst onion powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter

dice squash, zucchini, onion and tomato
place in bowl and mix together

in 10/12" skillet add oil, med heat when shimmery add sliced garlic to peel http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=26447&catId=123&parentCatId=123&outletSubCat= and http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=26433&catId=123&parentCatId=123&outletSubCat= to slice

when garlic begins to brown in oil add 1/2 of the diced veggies
then add butter, and seasonings

add rest of the veggies after 2-3 min on med heat when all is toasty and onions are clear - transfer to serving dish and enjoy

Unfun Medical crap

So we are on day 8 and counting of worst headache ever. Woke up with it last Sunday night @ 12am and ice packs, drugs finally kicked in around 2 am to get some sleep, Bubba made me stay home that Monday to get some rest and get better. Headache continued all week, Thursday night we went to CareNow and got checked out they were baffled and gave me two shots one on each hip. No relief, back to work again on Friday, School Friday night for exam, and then Saturday school. CareNow called to check on my Saturday, told them wasn't any improvement but my hips hurt from the shots, thanks very much! They advised go to ER. Since I was without vehicle since I am on pain meds for headache Bubba took me to school Saturday. We went that evening to ER. While there I had a head CT, and a wonderful nurse and a horrible PA who insisted I have a Spinal Tap. 45 minutes later, when I had been stuck 8 times, and they hadn't gotten it the DR finally stepped in and got it, because Bubba was in the hallway most un-pleased, and I could not feel my right leg. So recap- went in with a headache, now have sore hips (Thursday), left arm hurts from IV, drugs not working, back hurts from Spinal Tap and right leg is tingling. Awesome. After ST was finished finally and I am in tears, and shivering, was told to lay flat for 45 min, they would be back that was 12 am, by 1:45 AM they still hadn't been back in. Bubba went to go find someone, found a wonderful nurse who told me to continue to lay flat, and they were working on my discharge. By 3 AM I had been discharged, found out from discharge nurse that I have another UTI so we are back on that round of loveliness, and I have to see a neurologist. Today back hurts from various pokes from needles from lovely ST, and right shoulder blade is knotted up, which is most wonderful since I am right handed. Calling my DR as soon as their office opens to get in.

Veggies!!!

Several years ago when we still lived in Wylie, I had joined a Veggie Co-op, to call it simply that is well - just not all inclusive. The wonderful lady that runs our Co-op does it on a weekly basis, and there are fruits and veggies, at times cheese and other times eggs. Since we still participate in Angel Food, the fresh veggies really would supplement what we were buying and save me big time moolah at the grocery store. Enter hectic busy stupid life, working two jobs, dating a man and veggie co-op got to be something else to DEAL with.... Fast forward 2.5 years and we are looking for creative ways to get veggies (fresh frozen etc) into the house at a decent price. We love our local Plano Farmers Market (75& Parker) but... don't always have the time to go. Or! go and spend a TON of money and half of it goes to waste! That is no bueno! So... I recontacted some of the wonderful ladies who had told me of this co-op to begin with and found out if Veggie Lady was still making her weekly rounds. She wasn't but.... wanted to start up again! YES! So every Wednesday I get to go and pick up my bag ( I get 2) of veggies! Yesterday we got 6 cucumbers (just the right size to make pickles with) about 8 apples, 2 containers of yellow cherry tomatoes, 3 heads of lettuce, 2 doz eggs, 2 containers blue berries ( going to make jelly with those if they don't get inhaled) and a classic batter bowl full of Apricots, so... yes! I get to make Jams, jellies in the freezer! Too excited! So if anyone needs pickles we have a recipe for Garlic pickles we make in the fridge that are yummy! and I have like 8 jars, come take some :) I saw the neatest thing from Ball the other day they are plastic 'jars' which is fabulous because I wasn't too keen on putting glass in the freezer to make my freezer jam/jelly which my friend A swears is easy! 3 day weekend of which I get 2 days of so we will see :)