Surprise!

Here it is, July already. Folks, that little hiatus was the longest I've gone without blogging in FIVE YEARS. Nope, I haven't been blogging elsewhere, just not writing at all. No wonder I feel like my brain no longer works correctly!

In any case, today I felt compelled to sit and write.

I don't have any grandiose reasons for writing, no out-of-place product reviews, or attempts to monetize. I write because I don't really have anyone to talk about adult things. It's either write or talk to myself, and honestly, I'm kind of sick of the sound of my own voice.

First off, the good news. My father finally had shoulder surgery in May, and is on the road to recovery. I can't wait until he is done with physical therapy, and back to normal. In addition, his 3-month cancer check came back normal, and we're hoping the 6-month check will as well.

More good news: My grandmother is FINALLY coming home after a 6-month ordeal after having surgery for cancer, where she had some lymph nodes removed as well as a tumor. We visited her in the Pocahontas Hospital on Sunday, and she was doing wonderfully well! I was practically in tears the whole time (and am now!), just so happy to see her doing so much better. The skilled care at that hospital was extraordinary. They saved my grandmother, and there is no way to thank them enough for that. She gets to come home tomorrow!

And more good news, although not quite of the same importance: We are finally moving in 16 days. I am trying desperately to get everything packed pretty much by myself. The 15-year old hasn't been much help, although he is one stellar garbage-taker-out-er, and has nearly single-handledly dragged all purged items to the dumpster for me. So, he's been a LOT of help that way.

The big problem with moving is that it really, really is a ton of work, even if you have months to do it. I feel like I've been packing forever. I've been living around boxes all summer. I still can't believe how much stuff I have, even after purging a lot of furniture and other items. To be honest, most of the stuff I've packed may not be sticking around after the move. I'm unpacking what I really love, and I'll go through the rest of it one box at a time. My mother is coming to help the day before the move, and I intend to have all of the big chores out of the way, so we can focus on last minute cleaning and organizing for the move.

News on the Faire-front is also good. Wow! This might just be the summer without drama, but still lots of excitement! We attended the Dubuque Renaissance Faire at the end of May, and even had hotel rooms this time. That is an interesting story that deserves its own post. Later this month, I get to attend a performance of "Twelfth Night" as Bess Throckmorten, to my friend Lynne's Queen Elizabeth. In September, we of course have the Des Moines Renaissance Faire for the first three weekends. For the last weekend of September, and the first of October, we have a new faire in Door County, Wisconsin. We will be flying for that one. Luckily, they will be chartered flights, not commercial. In addition, each Saturday evening after this faire, we will be going to a good restaurant for dinner, to help promote the faire (again, this faire is paying for everything except dinner Friday/Sunday, and breakfast Saturday).

Six of the group members also get to go to the Bahamas August 8th for an event at a private school in Nassau (all expenses paid!!!!!!!!). I'm really jealous, but there were multiple reasons I wasn't able to go (moving, no passport, etc). Hopefully I'll get to go next year!

Now, you shouldn't think that everything's been perfect this past few months. We did have a run of extremely bad luck for quite a long stretch of time.

The day after my last post, my son called to tell me he lost his glasses on a ride at Disneyland. He lost his cell phone at Kennedy Space Center. I ended up being sick with a nasty respiratory illness for FIVE weeks, and went through two courses of antibiotics, plus steroids before finally beating it. I'm still not fully recovered, and my immune system seems to be taking a break, meaning I get EVERYTHING that goes around. I also haven't been able to sing pretty much most of the summer. I am practicing more lately, as I need to be able to sing by the time the faire rolls around.

Ian also ended up getting really sick in April. It started with ear infections that just would not go away. Six weeks worth, including 8 missed days of school due to not being able to stand up without being nauseous, three courses of antibiotics, ear drops, and ear flushing. He hadn't had problems with his ears in 10 years, and suddenly, he had terrible problems.

We keep joking that it was because he grew too fast! Seriously. He hit 6 feet tall last week, and shows no signs of stopping there. I'm growing nostalgic for the good old days, when he was a baby, and didn't take up half of the living room when sitting on the couch with his feet on the ottoman. ;)

So, while this year has had its challenges, I think that I was able to make changes that will really help make our lives better in the future, and also have really come to know exactly how important my family is in my life.

Here's hoping that the rest of the year is much better than the first half!

Another day on my own.

I did basically nothing after I got home from work today. I ate dinner, rested on the couch, and watched tv. I worked on a sewing project, which was tedious due to the fact that the gold metallic thread kept fraying and getting ruined. So, I finally finished theast sleeve pane with regular gold thread. Can't really see it anyway.

My son is still in Florida until the end of the week. He's having a good time so far! It's a bit lonely here, but I think I'll make it. Just a preview of the future.

Okay, back to attempting to sleep upright so I don't choke. Frakkin sick still...

Still having problems

Not a good day today. I am coughing more and more today. I have good patches, but the bad coughing spells are getting worse and worse. I'm nearin the two week mark on this. I'm going back to the doctor to find out for sure what is going on. I can't even clean my house without having to take frequent breaks, and the grocery shopping just wiped me out today.

I did get to see my grandma in the hospital yesterday, I just had to wear a mask when I was in the patient areas. What a mess... They are hoping that they can transfer her to the nursing home in Manson this week sometime, which will be much better for everyone. She was eating finally, and the feeding tube has really helped her gain some strength and start to heal. This has just been a hard last couple of months.

In good news, my son is enjoying his band trip to Florida! They got to see the space shuttle lift off, enjoyed dinner at the hard rock cafe, and spent some time in the pool at the hotel. I wish I were there...

Updates

Sorry for the blog silence of the last few weeks. Lots going on, not much time to post. Anyway, here's the low-down:

1. My dad not only torn some tendons in his shoulder, but they also discovered a mass in his bladder that turned out to be malignant cancer. The tumor was removed, he is still recovering from the injury and surgery.

2. My grandma also has cancer. She had surgery about two weeks ago, and is still in the hospital, as more things just keep going wrong. My poor mom has been dividing her time between home and Iowa City (a 4 hour drive), and is worn out. I was intending to go home tomorrow night to help get the house ready for my niece's birthday party which is scheduled for Sunday, but,

3. Found out yesterday that I may have whooping cough! I am on antibiotics to stop the spread to other people, but the doctor did not ACTUALLY DO THE FLIPPIN' TEST. So, when I called my son's doc this morning to find out if he had a booster shot recently (they did a bunch of boosters while we were in the office for another reason a couple of years ago), I had to answer, "No, he didn't do a test", and "I didn't know what to ask him before I left the office, because this SO was not on my radar for possible diagnosis." Still waiting to hear back once they have his chart. If he didn't have it, he needs it NOW, and needs preventative antibiotics.

4. I am moving this fall!!! Bigger apartment! Garage! Extra room!!!! Another bathroom!!! That's about the only good news I've had in the last six weeks.

Anyway, I am at the edge of my sitting up ability for now. I promise to update more frequently, so that my 4 readers don't think I've dropped off the face of the earth forever. Sleepy time now...

Another reason to hate winter...

My mom text'd me this afternoon. My dad, who is a volunteer firefighter, was at a fire call and slipped on the ice. He hurt his shoulder, and they are not certain if it is broken, or if he's injured his rotator cup. He has to have an MRI when the swelling goes down.

Thank God some of this stupid snow and ice is finally supposed to melt this week.

I hate winter.

Friday, we were supposed to get maybe 2 inches of snow.

We got over 6.

This morning, I woke up to see that my carefully cleaned off car had another 2 inches on the windshield.

Oh. Joy.

Tomorrow afternoon, the snow is supposed to start again, with blizzard conditions expected. Supposed to get maybe 3 to 4 inches of snow.

We'll see about that.

Incredible Steampunk-ish Ad!

Indication of how well this winter is going...

Does DM Have Enough Road Salt?

Basically says they have enough for two more weather events. It's only Jan.5. This month and the next are usually the worst. Should be fun.

The sidewalks are a sheet of ice, as are parking lots. Driving home yesterday was like driving through a landscape of mirrors. The sun reflected so brightly off of the ice covered snow that I had a headache by the time I got home. Of course, I was home a good 16 hours after I had intended to be home, due to the ice rain (my favorite form of winter precip). We saw two cars upside down in ditches. Only two because they warned people to stay off the roads, and it appears that many actually listened.

Two things you don't want to have happen when working late.

1. "Mom, that blue cup of pop you left in your room just fell over onto the floor." ??? How does a cup fall off the back of the desk when it is two inches from the edge unless someone knocks it over?

2. Getting home, having an urgent need to visit the necessary facilities, and discovering that the water level is low before sitting down. Flush quick (luckily before using said facility), and HOLY FUCK THE FUCKING TOILET IS HOLY SHIT OVERFUCKINGFLOWING!!!!! OMG THE PLUNGER ISN'T WORKING!!!!! BRING ME THE TOWELS!!!! NOT THE FUCKING PAPER TOWELS?!?!?!? THE BASKET!!!!! OH SHITTTTT!!!!! I'M NOT SWEARING AT YOU, I'M SWEARING AT THE FUCKING TOILET!!!!!!!

Yes, it stopped. Yes, I used half of the clean towels I just washed, but hadn't yet folded. They are now back in the wash, and I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning up the bathroom, including disinfecting EVERYTHING, while still having that urgent need.

I wish to GOD I had some margaritas right here, right now.

He he he hehhe

I just thought of the PERFECT present for that person I was having problems shopping for!!!!!! This is going to take some serious shopping to pull together...

Trying to keep my head above water

It's that time of year again. The week when I have to be at work every evening to run a special program designed to help relieve stress for our students. Unfortunately, it usually ends up generating stress for me, in by the end of the week, I am wiped out from not having any down time in the evenings.

So, in order to make this week run smoothly, I worked like crazy this weekend to get ahead in all of the daily chores, so that all I have to do when I get home is make a quick dinner, relax in bubble bath, and go to sleep. All of the grocery shopping is done (d'oh! I forgot to pick up the milk!), the laundry is done, the refrigerator is cleaned out, the dishes are in the dishwasher, and the dishwasher is running (even though it isn't full. Funny how long it takes to realize that you can run it half empty!). I made a big pot of spicy chicken soup this afternoon, which should last us a couple of days. I have a crockpot meal that can be made later this week. This should keep us from having to eat fast food this week. I feel so much better when we eat real food rather than going out. I have, however, promised my son that we'll go to Hickory Park on Saturday, after we are done Christmas shopping. (I have ONE present under the tree. ONE. And one in the closet, which I saw is on sale at Target for $10 less that what I paid for it on Black Friday. And I have no idea what to get a certain hard-to-shop-for friend, who shall remain nameless.)

So, I am as prepared for this week as I can be. Only two weeks left in the semester.

Longest two weeks ever...

Poor guy...

Icy school sidewalks and overly heavy backpacks do not mix with a 14-year-old who is growing an inch a month...

My son is fine, nothing broken, just scraped up, and he's going to really hurt by tomorrow. He fell face forward, and did a chin plant on the sidewalk. He's missing a silver dollar sized piece of skin from under his chin, and has a couple of wicked looking scrapes on his left wrist. His knees are a little scraped up as well. But, nothing broken! I repeat, nothing broken! He could have so easily broken his jaw or arm...

'tis the season...

Three tree sections assembled. One mightily pinched little finger - the bottom section fell into the base before I could get my hand out of the way (that thing is heavy).

I am not looking forward to untangling the lights. I wish I hadn't been so lazy last year... Wow, I can type with my eyes closed! (still tired from the holiday)

Anyway, house decorating is progressing. I had a moments panic when I could not find the lights or the box of my favorite decorations. All is well now.

I'd still rather be napping.

There's a pumpkin pie in the fridge with my name on it!

Seriously, I will share, but my mom knows how much I love pumpkin pie, so she made one for me!!!!! She's making a pumpkin fluff pie for my sister, Mallory, which is a low-cal version of pumpkin pie. I like the fluff, but nothing beats pumpkin pie.

I made dinner for my parents tonight, and it finished just as my dad walked in the door. We all ate as much chicken tortilla soup as we could hold, and then my dad made hot wings. He tried a new seasoning combo, and his favorite sauce.

My mouth is still burning. I have never tasted anything so hot in my life, but it was incredibly tasty. (That is our word for the week). We could have skipped the sauce, and they'd still have been really spicy. With sauce... watch out.

Anyway, I am wiped out from the drive, and am ready to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long, long day. should be fun... I just wish all of my sisters were able to be here...

Well, that's one more thing I can scratch off of my list of things to do.

I learned how to make rolls from scratch! Someone mentioned Parker House Rolls in a comment on a NYT article. So, I googled for a recipe. After I finished cleaning today, I decided to experiment, and see if I could make them.

They turned out great! I am, however, going to have make some adjustments, as I placed too many rolls in the baking dish, as I misread the instructions. I am also going to brush the tops with butter before baking, as I think that would help improve the texture and taste of the top of the roll. Not that there was anything wrong with either of those, but I like the crisp, flaky tops I get when I make rolls from frozen dough.

It did take a serious amount of time to make. For example, if I were going to do this for a holiday meal, I would need to get started about 3 hours before I intended to bake the rolls. It's a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, and a lot of oh-my-god-has-it-been-10-minutes-yet while kneading. It was totally worth it, and it makes a gigantic batch of rolls. Probably not enough for my extended family, but more than my son and I can eat before they go stale (any one nearby want some homemade rolls? The lab monitors are gone for the week, so I can't bring this home cooked goodness to them).

My son loved the rolls, and ate about 6, some with peanut butter, and some plain. Plain! And he's already thought of the next project he'd like me to try.

Home made noodles.

Not sure I'm up for that.

In any case, I have two more experiments for our holiday meal tomorrow. Green beans almondine, and roasted brussels sprouts. I was going to try making cranberry sherbet, too, but I don't have enough room in the freezer for the pan. Some other time. In any case, here is our Thanksgiving menu for tomorrow (and yes, this is just for my son and I. Leftovers are much anticipated!)

Roasted turkey breast, with my special seasonings
wild rice with water chestnuts and green onions (prepared ahead of time, and baked with the turkey)
green beans almondine
roasted brussels sprouts
parker house rolls, warmed
cranberry sauce

Of course, I couldn't eat so much as a single bite right now, as I, too, am stuffed full of rolls. And timing is going to be an issue, as I have never cooked just a turkey breast before, and in fact, have no idea where my meat thermometer is.

Hopefully, tomorrow night won't end with us in the ER...

Friday Funny

Today, I bring you everyone's favorite ex-vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, showing the utmost in class and complete unawareness of her surroundings. (warning: do not watch if you are a vegetarian, or have a fondness for live turkeys)

The Hypocrisy here is just astounding.

So, apparently, certain of the clergy are freaking out about Obama being voted president, and are saying that
Roman Catholics who voted for him should do penance, and not receive communion until that penance is completed.

This is, of course, over abortion. Let's just put that out there right now.

I am too angry right now to even write everything that I am feeling at this moment. I am also disappointed.

I think I am done with the Catholic Church.

I was shocked during mass Sunday morning, when our priest, who I had respected very much, said some things that he shouldn't have about the topic. I wanted to stand up and challenge him, but it would have been inappropriate.

And now I am thinking that this is what has to happen. For far too long, these men in Rome have dictated to women what we can and cannot do. It is not a matter of abortion, it is a matter of control.

Control. Period.

For the clergy in the Catholic Church to try to tell us that voting for Obama is something to be ashamed of is unconscionable. It cannot stand.

One has to wonder at the contradiction provided here. Let's see... how many years of war, how many billions of dollars that could give the children of this country health care, an education that does more than prepare them for a life of "do you want fries with that?" or "How many grams did you need?" or "Where's my money, bitch?" How many kickbacks to corporations, how many cries of "we have to deregulate!" or "we need smaller government!"

How's that working out for you?

America spoke on November 4th.

It's time the Catholic Church to understand that sometimes, the best person for the job may not be the one who tells you what you want to hear.

I've lost something this week that will never be recovered.

And... it broke again.

The vacuum, that is. Second time in three months, and the stupid thing is JUST over a year old.

So, after about 20 minutes of deliberation after the second attempt at fixing it failed (no, it's NOT supposed to squeal like that!), I had my coat and shoes on, and was on my way to Target for a replacement.

This time, I spent a little extra and got a vacuum with a four-year warranty, instead of a cheap one with a 90-day warranty (never, EVER buy a vacuum without a good warranty). I vacuumed the main areas of the apartment, sucking up what the old vacuum had missed.

And as a bonus? The one has different scented filters you can buy, so as you vacuum, it makes the air smell good. I immediately installed the apple cinnamon filter, and the house smells nice and sweet.

Sometimes, it's nice to just give up fixing something and buy new.

So why haven't I been doing the post-a-day thing?

Well, the biggest reason would be that I forgot to actually sign up for it! I participated the first year, forgot about it last year, then remembered just in time for this year, but forgot to register! How is that for an illustration of how my life has gone for the last two years?

Anyway, in the interests of not turning this blog into an unending litany of complaints about everything from politics to health concerns, I have been avoiding blogging when I am MOST irritated by those two subjects. And since I have been nothing BUT irritated by one or the other for weeks now, you have the reason why this blog has been mostly silent.

I am, of course, breaking this fast to give you an update on the situation.

I am sick again.

How is THAT for luck?

A couple of weeks ago, I had the flu. I was sick a full seven days, so nauseous I could barely raise my head, so lightheaded I could barely walk. I missed three days of work. The next two weeks I worked, and started to get a cold towards the end of last week. My son was sick during this time with a sore throat, and missed two days of school.

Over the weekend, my cold turned into a sinus infection. Oh joy.

My son missed school yesterday, and I stayed home as well. Both of us went to the doctor. My son - has a virus, nothing we can do other than fluids and throat lozenges. I, on the other hand, got the confirmed diagnosis of sinus infection, and had the supreme joy of having to visit the grocery store at the busiest hour of the day to get my prescription filled. And you know how the light just needles into your brain when you have a sinus infection, right? Add a bunch of noise to that, and it was not a very fun afternoon.

T the nurse practitioner recommended that I get some Claritin-D 12-hour, to take in the mornings to start drying up my sinuses. So I had the added joy of having to surrender my driver's license to the pharmacist, so he could swipe it and make sure that I wasn't a wanted meth-maker. Dude, look at my swollen sinuses. My only interest in the claritin is to get them back to normal as soon as possible...

Anyway, the babbling is just the boredom talking. I will go back to work tomorrow, as I can't take another day at home. Hopefully, I will last the whole day, and won't have tears streaming down my face from the sinus pain.

Oh, and if you are in Ames, watch for the Iowa State Daily, as I was interviewed for an article last Friday afternoon (one of the only reasons I dragged myself into the office that day, as I was dealing with a sore throat that was a prelude to this sinus infection). It is supposed to run early this week. As I was not at the office yesterday or today, I may have already missed it. It wasn't online, though, so perhaps not. Anyway, it has to do with how to waste time productively online, and stems from an article I wrote for my work website 8 years ago. You'll get the idea when you read it, as it really isn't about wasting time at all.

Okay, the teenager will be home shortly, and I am sure he has a ton of make up work to do. Plus, he missed a day of standardized testing on Thursday, and I am not sure when he'll have to make up that test. But, it does mean that he didn't miss much actual coursework that day.

I also suppose I should attempt to clean up the mess he left in the living room, where he camped out yesterday while recuperating on the couch. I have no idea why, with a wastebasket right next to the couch, he still managed to leave tissues and cough drop wrappers everywhere BUT in the basket. I've cleaned up most of these already, but I still need to pick up the various books, DVDs, and gameboy games that he piled around the couch. This is my fault for spending all day yesterday in my room, as he had claimed the couch. And since he left for school this morning, I have been alternately sleeping and reading in my room all day today. I DID empty and reload the dishwasher while waiting for my soup to warm up. So at least the kitchen is sort of tidy. It's just depressing that there is so much to do to get the house back into order. And I hate to even think about the laundry...

Oh well, I am two moments from sneezing right now, so I am going to sign off.

I hope this antibiotic works quickly...

Two down, one to go

I'm sitting in the basement of my parents' house, enjoying what little peace there is to be had in a house full of seven adults, one teenager, one toddler, and two babies.

I am exhausted from cooking, picking up, and cuddling my nieces and nephews. Not to mention the fact that my cold is getting steadily worse as the weekend progresses, and church was at 8 this morning. I'm ready for a nap.

Except, this little bit of stolen time will be the only down time I get until I am back at home this evening. You see, in about an hour, the third birthday party in two days will begin.

Yes, you read that right. Three birthday parties this weekend. My granny's was yesterday evening, my nephew's was at lunchtime today, and my niece's party is this evening. All three of these parties are in separate locations, and luckily (or maybe NOT so luckily), the last one is at my mom and dad's house.

This means that in the last 24 hours, I made a pasta salad, and helped make potato salad, baked beans, and Mexicorn. I did NOT have to make the cake or frost it. I DID wrap all but one present, as I am "so much better at it." This, if you do not know, is code-word for "I really don't want to do it" in our house.

So, I should probably be upstairs helping get ready for the party. I will go up in just a few minutes, or the guilt will keep me from enjoying my moment of privacy.

But here is the BIG question for the day:

Can I eat another piece of cake today?