A Girl With A Cast

So, I had to update with pics of the girl.

This was her at the prompt care, we were trying to cheer her up by making her pose for the camera. That is actually mud on her face from the fall.
This is real stuff, folks…. 😉

Then, since she broke BOTH bones in her arm, by the wrist, but one bone was broke clean through, she had to get it reset. It wasn’t completely in-line and it was at the growth plate, so….important.

So, she had to go to appointments all day, the next day, morning appt with the doctor, setting up surgery the next day and afternoon appointment for a physical to make sure she was healthy enough.

Weird thing, it’s called closed surgery, so they actually put her out, gave her anesthesia, so that it wouldn’t hurt when she reset it. But they didn’t actually cut into her. It was like all the set up for real surgery, only no cutting.

She was a little nervous until she found out that they were using a gas mask and not an iv for the anesthesia. Therefore, no needles. BTW, she wore that had to school today as a beret. Total look with it cocked to one side and all.

And seriously, you should have seen us. Me in crutches and her getting her cast done. Everyone was asking if it was me or her they were working on. We had to explain ourselves a lot. I’ll have to get a pic of the both of us, all bandaged up. Sad thing.

So, she was only out for like 20 minutes. It took longer to get all set up and have every one check her in and changed than the actual procedure.

The fireman and I got these neon pink wrist bands with her name on them, so that she can only leave with people that have the same name on the wrist bands. Especially incase she’s really groggy after. She had to tease him for wearing pink, not that it bothered him.

I drove separately, since I went to work in the morning, and her appt wasn’t until noon. I used the hospital valet service, since it’s free. Hey, being on crutches is a good excuse to use it. So, when we left, she wanted to ride with me. The anesthesia gave her nausea and she tossed her cookies afterwards and was kinda feeling puny and weak. So, I got the jeep pulled around and kissed the fireman goodbye, telling him we’d meet him at home.

On the way, I figured we’d swing by and pick up her homework, since it was about time for school to get out. So, I pulled into the school parking lot and just sat there. I only then realized that I had no actual way of getting the homework back into the car. I can’t carry it while on crutches, and I can’t send a little girl, straight out of anesthesia (nauseus and still dizzy) to run inside and carry it out.

So, I call the fireman and luckily he hadn’t gotten home yet, he had stopped at the fire station for something or other. So, he said he’d grab it for us. I turned and headed home. Once I pulled in, she got sick again. I sat there realizing, I had no way to support her if she threw up walking into the house, or got dizzy. So, I went inside, having her wait in the jeep, while I go inside to find the youngest boy, but he’s downstairs and I can’t make it down. So, I call him on his cell phone and ask him to come help me get her in. He sees the bag of (tossed cookies) and says, “I’m not so good with vomit.” coughing a little. I grabbed the bag, wrapped it up, stuck it between two fingers and crutched it to the trash can. I didn’t want him to get sick, too. So, he then walked next to her, making sure she didn’t trip, or get dizzy.

Once we were all inside, her and I hit the couch and didn’t move for like, hours.

We spent most of the weekend curled there, too. Catching up on our DVR’d Once Upon A Time, and Mirror Mirror that came in the Blockbuster Online we had saved for the weekend.

And now? She looks all healed up and sporting a fancy cast.

P.S. I ran by the store and got her a pack of neon colored markers to take to school for some signage. She was super excited for Monday morning.

Carriage Door, fancy stuff!

See, for you to truly appreciate how great this new garage door is, you have to see the BEFORE. So, here it is, in all it’s two toned glory.

We had windows, but the door was a little crooked, heavy wood and not insulated.

The spring broke, so we had to replace it. The garage door opener actually still worked, and the new door is super light and easy to move. This one took two people to open while it was broken.

 

 

And here’s the ending product. It’s splendiferous! Stupendous! Crazy ramalamadingdong cool!

That’s just how I feel about it.

The hardware is just that, the door still opens like normal.

Just cooler….

On other news, the I had just gotten home…and seen the door. The girl went off for a quick ride on her scooter. She came home from a friends house where she was swinging and swung off, jumping, but landed on her wrist and broke it in two places.

So, imagine this.

Here I go in to the ER on crutches with the girl holding her wrist and the fireman following behind, shaking his head and carrying all of our things.

When we left, he had to open the door for both of us and the doctor laughed and said, you’ve got your work cut out for you. You sure you don’t want a neck brace, you know, just so you don’t feel left out?

The fireman gave a grunt, rolled his eyes and ushered us out. *grin*

So, we’re both laid up.

Good thing we got extra ice packs right before my foot surgery… we’re gonna need ’em.

 

French Toast Sticks

No, I didn’t make these last night. I’m still laid up on the couch. In true couch potato form. I made these, like weeks ago and am just now posting.

Why? Cause I forgot.

They were really wonderful, though.

It was one of those nights where the fireman and I were eating leftovers and there wasn’t enough for the kids, they didn’t want it anyway. It wasn’t a big deal dinner, just a get something together dinner. I was throwing out ideas to the kids, like grilled cheese and soup, or ham and cheese panini’s. Then, I thought, or maybe pancakes or waffles?

The girl says, “french toast sticks!” It’s her favorite at school.

I thought, “um, well, cause, oh, okay!” and figured it wouldn’t be that hard.

So, I just started with a normal french toast batter, dipped the bread very well, 5-10 seconds each side, and fried it in a hot skillet.

Then, once they were all cooked, I just used a knife and cut them into four long strips, about an inch wide.

Then, I brushed them with butter and dunked into cinnamon and sugar.

Then, to get them all crispy, I just popped them onto a foil lined cookie sheet and baked for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with warm maple syrup. The kiddos were thrilled. And they were really easy to make. And fun, too. Come on, it’s involving sugar, how could it NOT be fun?

Just your measurements to fit how many you want to make.

 French Toast Sticks

5 slices bread  (I used Roman Meal)

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk (I used 1%)

1 tsp vanilla

dash salt

1/2 sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

butter or margerine for spreading

 

Mix eggs, milk, vanilla and salt. Soak bread in egg mixture 5-10 seconds each side, then fry in a hot oiled skillet until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat until all slices are cooked. Cut fried bread into 4 slices, then use a pastry brush to butter the slices, then dip into cinnamon sugar mixture. Note- you can melt the butter and then dip the slices into it and then the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place slices on a foil covered cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with warm maple syrup.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Randomness, chicken pot pie and renovations update

My healing is going well. I’ve been sitting on the couch for the last two days, reading and catching up on my DVR’d shows. I’ve been sleeping like a college kid, too. But I miss being able to put my own stuff away, or get my own stuff out. It’s hard to manage carrying things when you’re on crutches. But I’m only on them for two weeks, and so I’m going to try to enjoy it while I can.

The first night was pretty hard. I took meds before I went to bed, not knowing when the nerve block would wear off and knowing the meds need to build up in my system before they work well. The fireman had his alarm set to wake me in four hours for another dose. I woke up in 2 hours, feeling the nerve block wear off. It wore off way too fast, and I had to wait to take the next meds. Then, since they hadn’t built up yet, they weren’t sufficient to block the pain. I ended up on the couch that night, so that I could prop my leg up on the back of the couch and get it as high (and numb) as possible. It was horribly painful. My lovely fireman slept on the loveseat in the living room to stay near me and keep an eye on me. I finally slept in 20  minute intervals out of sheer exhaustion and the meds finally kicked in around 6am. Then I slept like a dream.

The fireman made this wonderful chicken pot pie last night and I finally had the appetite for it. When I make it, I try to make a white sauce and add chicken bullion, like a chicken pan gravy, then add the shredded chicken and peas and carrots, sauteed onions, too. But he just used the jarred chicken gravy and a bag of mixed vegetables, plus a leftover rotisserie chicken. Then, he set it in the fridge till supper time. He rolled out a jiffy pie crust and set it on top and baked it. OMG was it good! It was simple, but full of flavor! I liked that it wasn’t a ton of pie crust, just the top, so not as much carbs, but added a nice crisp, salty flavor.

BTW, I read in my Taste of Home recently that said that the top premade pie crusts were Marie Calendar and Jiffy. There were others, like an organic one and something else, but these surprised me. Not pillsbury, but Jiffy… And it was good last night. I nearly always make my own, cause I have a fast recipe, but I was impressed. I know that Marie Calendar’s frozen pies are the only premade pies that I think are really good.

Since I haven’t updated our renovations lately, here’s where we are on a few things. We finally have a lead on floor registers for the house. We wanted to replace ours with those big farmhouse ones, cast iron, but haven’t found them anywhere except online that cost $80 or so, and we need four of them to do the living room and dining room. IT’s a great room, so you’d notice. Kind of like this one. We never finished the floor boards in the living/diningroom/hallway after the remodel where we took the wall out and put the barn beams up. The fireman found someone on Criagslist that said they have old, antique ones ranging from $15-25. So, that’d be awesome.

We may try to run out today and look at them. I will have to sit in the backseat of the truck, and veg a little, but that’s okay. For baseboards, we’re going to have the nice tall boards, not quite as high as the registers. Maybe 6-8 inch tall? Poly’d to shine like the barn beams. I will love it!

The fireman is still finishing up the last few things with the fence. It’s so nice having it up. It’s all done except for the gates. I took lots of pictures of the building of it and will post them once it’s all done. The youngest boy and I helped as much as we could, but the fireman did half of it or more, just by himself. He rocks.

The last upgrade we have, as of new is the garage door. The springs totally broke on it a couple of months back. And my poor motorcycle has had to sit outside. She’s kinda cranky about it. 🙂 But now that I’m laid up, she can be garaged for the winter. We had to buy a new garage door, because they don’t sell just the springs. Besides, the door is super old, not insulate and heavy as all get out. So, we found a nice new one and it will be delivered this week!

We even paid the extra hundred bucks or so to get the carriage door! A normal garage door is like this.

With the rectangles, lengthwise. We wanted windows, but they add a lot of expense. But the carriage doors include windows and hardware to make it look like old carriage doors. It doesn’t actually open that way, but it just LOOKS like it.

Ours will look like this, except take out the section in the middle. They’re attached, one long door, but with the hardware in the center, it still looks like they open independently. Can you tell there are thin slats running up and down in the body of the door? Like wood slats. So, the actual form of the door is different too.

And the front of the house is so much of the face, so I really think it’ll upgrade the whole look/feel of the house.

I’m super excited about it coming in. And I’ll have pics once it does. Of course. 😉

That’s all for now, off to sleep more…

Food Photo Friday

I invite you to my dining room table! Might I point out our pretty new placemats! I bought them from Bed Bath & Beyond and LOVE them.

They flip over and have a pretty, flowery other side. This side is my favorite, though.

I thought it might be fun to highlight some of my favorite meal photos over the last week. Food is pretty!

She is also often a slave to fashion, wanting to dress up with all sorts of condiments and garnishes.

I made these lean burger patties for myself, by myself, in the cast iron skillet, no seasonings, no marinades. Topped with sharp cheddar cheese, sliced tomato and ketchup. No bun. High protein, low carb. Good food at it’s finest.

To this day, one of the foods that I love the most. And I honestly don’t miss the bun on this one. You can quote me on it.

Leftover night. Spaghetti squash casserole. A slice of roast beef cooked on the grill with smoke, that the fireman cooked with gravy made from the drippings from the tinfoil used to seal it.  A couple of beer brats that we skillet fried up that night to add to the bounty. Top left? Collard greens. Oh and yes.

Middle boy that didn’t try the spaghetti squash casserole earlier scooped up some, I think not knowing what it was. He went back for seconds. Hehe

Cheese wedges with bacon….need I say more?

Night Running

Tomorrow morning I’m going in for surgery. Last April, I had corrective foot surgery on my right foot. Tomorrow morning, I’m having the same surgery on my left foot. It makes sense, because our insurance deductible is already paid and the second foot will be practically free.

It’s a simple surgery, for flat feet/bunions that I really need because I have a lot of foot pain. So, I’m looking forward to finally getting it corrected and healing from the thing. I have thought about getting this surgery since I was in high school, some 10-14 years ago. And thought very dreadingly of it. The right foot was first, as it was the worst, and I was on crutches for two weeks, then wearing a strapped on wedge/shoe for the next 4 weeks, for a total of 6 weeks. Not a big deal, at any rate.

But the whole time, I kept thinking how I had to do this all over again. And I’m kind of glad that I’m forced to do it by the end of the year, because of the insurance thing, or I’m sure I’d be able to talk myself out of it, for the time being at least.

So, I scheduled it mid-October. Late enough in the year, that I’m not missing too many hikes, running outside, motorcycle weather. Just life. However, not so late that I’m in crutches in the snow.

So, of course it rained all weekend, so no last bike ride, no last hike in the woods. And I was sure no last running through the neighborhood.

I did have a fun weekend, though. We planned a chili cookout with our neighbors. We used leftover sloppy joe meat from the block party last summer, that we had froze and made it into chili in a large electric cooker. We also set out hot water for hot chocolate and a coffee urn. Our neighbor opened her garage for us, and we had tables set out for it. There was a lull in the rain, just enough for us to enjoy inside and outside fellowship. She made funnel cakes and the neighbors brought desserts. It was a nice few hours, relaxing and enjoying the crisp Autumn air.

The trees are turning colors and losing leaves. You can smell the dried leaves in the air. It’s heady and intoxicating. Easily one of my favorite smells ever.

Then, my newly formed book club had our first meeting, outside of the first one at Barnes and Nobles where we picked out books. We met to discuss D. E. Stevenson’s Miss Buncle’s Book. It’s an older book, written in 1936 or so about an unassuming woman who lives in a small English town and writes a book about her neighbors. The whole town reads the book and is outraged, as she only thinly veils their identity and everyone knows who she’s writing about. They can’t figure out who wrote the book, though. And that, along with a lot of good gossip and crazy characters takes up the book. At first I thought it was boring, and couldn’t hardly get through it, but eventually, I couldn’t wait to find out what each of them did next. It was fun. We decided to bring a dessert or wine and dress up as one of the characters. So, I brought sliced cheese and hard salami and dressed up in one of my mom’s old red velvet dresses with ivory lace. I’ve never had occasion to wear it and it seemed perfect.

I curled my hair up, and pinned it, wore my cameo and had so much fun laughing with the women.

Today, I finished up all my last laundry for the week and some heavy cleaning, to get me through a while. Then, we went out to pick up some groceries. Probably my last shopping trip for a little while. Got that all put away and decided to get one more run in.

So, I resigned myself to that and had a last run on the treadmill. I really pushed myself. It was good, it felt good. I ran more, and faster than normal. I loved it. I slowed when I had to, walked when I had to, than ran a little more when I could.

Then, I came up, drippy with sweat and satisfied.

My neighbor was kind enough to offer to let the girl stay the night tonight, as we’re leaving early in the morning. I have to be at the hospital by 7am. She’s going to get her off to school for me. I didn’t want to go alone and have the fireman get her off and meet me there. I’m a scardy cat and want him with me.

I’m not ashamed. 🙂

So, I walked her over and when I came back in the door I told the fireman how amazing it is outside. My blood’s still pumping and I’m still warm inside. It doesn’t feel cold outside at all, and it’s dried up a bit. I told him I felt like I could almost run all over again. I pulled out the chili to warm some up for me. I waited to eat until the girl had eaten, was showered and packed and I had finished running.

He said, well, why don’t you? I said, I mean outside. I’m just gonna miss being outside all the time. I love it. I love the weather.

He said, go. It’ll be your last chance, and you’ll regret it if you don’t. I smiled, said okay, took my hoodie off and ran back out. I was running by the time I hit the end of the driveway and turned down the street. It was pitch black out and only the lights from the houses and the street lights shed any light on the road. You could hear the leaves rustling in the wind.

There was a nice biting chill in the air and if I stopped running enough, I knew I’d be cold. The thermostat registered at 51 degrees outside. As I reached the main street downtown (in our little town) I could hear cars and smell some bonfire somewhere. It smelled like burning leaves and s’mores.

There was nothing distracting me from the smells and sounds. It was dark and cool and I had nostalgia galore. It was glorious. Just me on the pavement with the smell of damp earth and bonfire. I didn’t go far, but I didn’t have to. My legs and lungs were nearly giving out anyway. I ran about a mile, down and around and back. I ran much more than normal of it, pushing myself hard, knowing that it would be 3 long months till I could do it again.

And I loved every second of it.

Branson, again…

I know, the fireman and I were just at Branson, like 3 months ago. It’s a problem, really.

Not really. We really love it there. We took the kiddos this time, even though we were going to leave it as OUR place. That’s ok. We didn’t take them to Big Cedar….that’s still OURS… 😉

We stayed at The Chateau. It’s super fancy. We loved it. We also got a really good price on it!

Ooh, there’s our hotel.

We were exicted. No, I was super excited. They were too, but they weren’t taking pictures…

Here’s the place from the marina. We really wanted to rent a boat, or take out a canoe/kayak, but it was super cold. It rained the whole drive down. But that’s kind of okay. We really love the seasons and I liked the spitting rain and cold weather. Especially after such a warm summer. It was exciting.

I had to take a fun photo. This is our room. There was a sink with a mirror to the left and the bathroom was down the hall by the door. That was nice cause I could do my hair while others were using the restroom, or brush my teeth, or whatever. We also had a little balcony, which had a nice view of the marina and mountains.

We stopped at a candy store on the way there, somewhere mid Missouri. The kids filled a bag of candies, plus each got wax fangs. They were super cool. 🙂

We Rode The Ducks. It’s an aquatic vehicle, made by the military. They drive straight into the lake, which splashes and is super cool, BTW, and then they let anyone that wants to take the wheel and have fun. They both got turns, but I like this one of the both of them…

We used the nice hotel pool, it had a great hot tub, that the kids got to use, too.

We went down to the hotel’s Sweet Shoppe both nights for ice cream/smoothies/coffee/sweets. The fireman and I bought these dinner plate sized cinnamon rolls and sticky buns and milk and let the kids take them to the hotel room and went to the library lounge for a glass of wine by the fireplace. They had a pianist playing Billy Joel songs. I felt like I was in Pretty Woman. Except for the whole hooker thing….

This is a cool photo….of a rock…..and a coupla cute kids.

It’s pretty! Are you sick of photos yet? I just loved it. I took a lot of photos. Can you tell? This one is from the parking lot at the hotel. It’s on a big hill. Makes it look more statuesque, too. Totally works.

We ate at fun diner places and had a big breakfast buffet at Shoney’s, which we don’t have at home. One place was an old farmhouse in the historical district, converted to a restaurant. The fireman got the all you can eat catfish….and ate 6 filets. I’m super serious. I got the best country fried steak I’ve ever had, hand dipped.

On the way home, we stopped at a lot of antique stores and gift shops and had fun rummaging around.

OMG, is he cute or what?

And the arch, on the way home. I got a better photo on my other camera, but I’m being lazy tonight and not downloading that photo. It’s the only one on that camera…

Sorry, we got home at 8:45pm last night and only had time to unpack, shower and go to bed. So, I got my laundry done tonight and am tired! If it turns out as good as I thought it was I’ll bore you with it tomorrow.

I’m good at that…..

So, that was our fun time. The highlight of the trip?

According to the boy, shopping on the Landing (historical district downtown), according to the girl, the candy store, according to the fireman, seeing the MASH vehicle on Ride The Ducks, the real one from the show, according to me, the hotel and the sweet shop’s dinner plate sized rolls. OMG

Road Trip

I’m heading back out to Branson, folks. I know, we were just there in July.

Well, the hubby and I were just there in July. This time, we’re taking the kiddos. Well, the girl and the youngest boy. The middle boy has to work and I honestly don’t think he’s interested.

I know, what’s up with the no recipe, no pictures?

I have given my blog a lot of thought lately. I just am too busy right at the moment to blog like I was. I’m not saying I’ll never post recipes or photos, but I really enjoyed it more when I just talked. So, that’s what I am going to do. I will add what I want, when I want. Even if it’s small.

Hopefully, it’ll still be enjoyable. It’ll certainly be more enjoyable to me, than to have pressure to do this. It was turning into work. Yuck.

Obviously, it took the enthusiasm out of it for me. So, I’m not sure how long the change will last, but you know how life is.

It changes. It’s one of my absolutely favorite things about life.

By the way, have you noticed how it’s gone and turned fall? I LOVE FALL! I could scream I’m so happy about it.

My driveway is full of crunchy leaves and I may be one of the few people I know that decidedly does NOT rake my yard. I LOVE THE LEAVES! They smell wonderful and they look beautiful. And anytime I have my windows open, even when it’s chilly at night, it makes me happy. The smell and breeze from outside just elicits a happy response in me. Dunno why. I can’t explain it and don’t need to!

So, tomorrow morning, we’re getting up early. The kids aren’t going to school. It’s a half day anyway, homecoming parade and all. Then, we’re packing the jeep up and heading out. It’s gonna be great! It’s only about 6 hours away, so a nice road trip and two nights at the Chateau. It’s a big fancy shmanchy hotel in Branson. It’s not that pricy, but it is big and fun. There are boats for rent, which we may do, or maybe just canoes/kayaks. I just want to be outside and enjoy this fall!

ALso, I want to enjoy the beautiful lake and walk and drink coffee and eat lovely food. I want to take lots of fall photos and post them here and bore all of you with them.

I want to be silly and have fun and not think about work, which is a lot easier now with my new lovely job! Which I still love by the way.

Oh yeah, I also want to see the kiddos have fun. That’s one of the best things as well. How great is it that we can do this with/for them? So, I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I intend to enjoy mine.

I also intend to come back and chat more, now that the pressures off yanno? 😉 Yes, Jana, that’s your phrase. I totes stole it….

P.s. I gotta remember to tell you all about my new book club. It’s so much fun! I just finished reading my first book. Next week is our next meeting. I’ll come back and tell you all about it.

Oh, and I’m working on another painting. I’ll have to take pics soon….