Summer Picnic

It's summer time and it's also New Food Night week.  So what do we do?

Well, summer time makes you think of picnics doesn't it?  So we had a picnic.

Now, Lily thought since it was a picnic we should go outside. My thought was No! It's way to hot for me to be sweating out there.  Plus, I did not see myself sitting on the ground eating.  So we compromised.

Oh, look --- K.C. and Michael are able to join us again --- ball season is over!  We went with the picnic theme -- paper plates, cups, etc. We kind of have a tree in my centerpiece :)  Good compromise.

So what do you have to eat at a picnic that might be new?  Well, let me tell you.

We had some Caprese bites -- I think I spelled that correctly,  Mozarella cheese and cherry tomatoes with fresh basil - drizzle with vinagerette.  K.C. made these and they were very very good.

 

Miss Annette made some fried chicken because, well aren't you supposed to have fried chicken at a picnic?  She browned it up then finished it in the oven.  I don't think you can go wrong with fried chicken.

Mr. Rick brought some corn niblets in the crock pot.  If the picture looks a little blurry it's because of the steam coming out of the crock pot.  He used some Italian seasoning and let this cook in the crock pot for several hours.  We do love some good old corn on the cob.

Gary opted to make some slabs of ribs with a Dr. Pepper Chipotle sauce/glaze.  Gotta tell you, the sauce itself is pretty spicy. The container behind the plate of ribs is extra sauce if anyone was so inclined to torture their mouth.

I went for a Fresh Corn, Tomato and Mozarella salad.  Make a little dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Pretty good stuff.

Do you see our theme here of corn and mozarella?  Amazing how we do this without even knowing what anyone else is bringing.

Now dessert.  Hmmmmm - seems no one thought of that this week but Gary saved the day.

Ice Cream!!   That's a perfect ending to a picnic meal.We have both chocolate and vanilla because Braum's was having a sale on ice cream.

Lily looks pretty happy with Grampa's choice of dessert.

How about you?  What do you like to take to a picnic?

Attic Treasures

The grand kids like to go up in the attic at our house. They call it Grandma's Store.  LOL

Kinda appropriate I guess. There is lots of stuff up there.  Old clocks, pictures, toys, records - you know the old 45's and LP's - all kinds of things to interest kids.

This is kind of how my attic looks.  One end of it has boards across it to make it easy to store things.  Half of this is taken up with my Christmas decorations.  The rest is a conglomeration of things.

We are in the process of buying a house.  We have lived here in the present location for 10 plus years. Lots of extras have gone up into the attic since we moved in.

Gary is on vacation for the summer. Yes that's right. THE SUMMER.  He gets the months of June and July off. He decided to go visit the girls in Arizona. This gave him the opportunity to take Tarinda's piano out to her. This is something we have been wanting to get to her but had not managed. yet. Gary is delighted to have it out of the house and not have to move it. I have mixed feelings. I don't play it anymore as it hurts my fingers and it is Tarinda's so I am glad for her have it. I will miss not having a piano though just because I have always had a piano.

We also used his visit as a chance to send some stuff out that way. Last year when I painted I offered all the girls a chance to have some of my dishes. Charlie and K.C. declined. K.C. thinks I am a hoarder and says I encourage her children to be also by letting them take stuff home from the house. I don't look at it that way. LOL  So I gathered some dishes for Tarinda, a box of sheet music (which I also hated to part with as it has sheet music of my mom's in it) - the old bed spreads the three girls used when they were growing up (matching). Get the idea?

Well, in my attic I was 'hoarding' this:

See that HUGE HUGE bag?  That is Charlie's. It was full of stuffed animals she left at home when she moved out oh so many many years ago.  That foot you see sticking out of the bottom?  That is a foot of a big hand-made stuffed rabbit.  Boy, did Remington and Lily have fun going through this bag when they found it!

The bag is full of bears as she collected bears and there was a Popple in the bag, which is still at my house as the kids moved it downstairs to the toy box, an assortment of stuffed rabbits from Easter baskets. You get the idea - some favorite childhood memories all in one big bag.  She said anything she didn't want she would hold as ransom for her sisters.  Good luck for them getting what they want.

Look at these gems.

Remington and Lily found them when they went through Aunt Charlie's bag of goodies.  Twink and the Snowman are Charlie's.  I made them.  All three of the older girls had snowmen but only Charlie's was found in the attic.  That Starlight pillow on the bottom is Tarinda's.  She took it into surgery with her when she had her tonsils out.  I cleaned these up - re-stuffed them and stitched them up fresh and new and gave them to Charlie and Tarinda as a 'bonus' Christmas present last year.

I think that Remington and Lily have gone through most of the boxes in my 'store' but who knows what we will find as we pull them down from the attic and prepare for our move.  How about you, what treasures are in your attic?

Dear Dad

An open letter to my dad in heaven

Dear Dad,

I miss you.  

You've been gone for 33 years and I still miss you every day.  Some days more than others.  

I'm glad I had to chance to say good-bye and I love you.  I didn't get to with Mom.  

I want to say thanks for all you did for me and the boys when we were kids.  You taught us so much. Most importantly you taught me what a dad really is. You never made a difference between me or any of the boys and raised all of us with the same love and discipline. It really came as a shock to me when I left home and discovered that some step-kids were treated differently.  I never thought of my older brothers as 'steps'. They were and are my brothers. That's because you never thought of them as 'steps'.  They never refer to you as their step-dad either. You are and will always be their dad. Thanks for that - I wish more 'blended families' as they are called now would do the same.

Thanks for taking time to be with us. You went on bike rides with us - all of the family.  I remember the bike rides.  I remember you taking time to read out loud to us when we were little.  You taught me that it's important for a family to spend time together.  

Thanks for never treating me any differently just because I was the only girl in the family.  You taught me to fish and hunt. Bought me a gun and bow just like the boys. You taught me now to work on cars and it's good to know that if I wanted to I could change a tire or oil. That showed me that girls can do anything boys can and I should never just not try something because it's for boys. 

I'm sorry you had to miss so much of our lives.  I know you would have been a super fantastic to Grampa to my girls.  You would have joked with them and I just know that we would have seen you smile a lot when spending time with them.  I miss your smile.  

Thought I'd let you know that we are all doing well.  The boys and I don't live close to each other but we keep in touch.  I know that would be important to you.  Steve is in Michigan and doing well.  Wayne is in Pennsylvania. He has some health issues. I'm trying to talk him into moving closer to me so I can check on him better but he does have good friends and they let me know how he's doing if I haven't heard from him for a while.  Bub is in South Carolina and doing good too. With me in Oklahoma you can see why we don't get together.  I need to make a trip up to PA/MI area and see both boys up there. Here's a picture of Steve, Wayne, and I taken last time I was back to see them.  It's hard to believe that we are all older than you were when you left us. 

Love you, Dad -- hugs to you and mom.  

Kathie

Dinner and a Field Trip

I'm back with news from New Food Night.  Now if you are following me  and you know that we do New Food Night every other week you may be thinking I'm a week late with my post.  Not the case.  We were supposed to have it last week but an Urgent Care visit prompted us to wait a week.  Man I hate getting old - pains, aches, you  name it and although I am much better after my Urgent Care visit we still don't know what the problem was but doctor gave me medicine that helped.

SO -on to New Food Night.  Miss Annette and I thought that we hadn't had Italian for way to long so we choose to do an Italian theme night.  No we don't get tired of Italian.

I made a baked tomato side dish.

Make a sauce of mayo, Dijon mustard, brown mustard and Parmesan cheese.  Season tomatoes with salt, pepper and oregano - spoon some sauce on - top with mozzarella cheese and parsley then bake.

This was very good.  I wasn't to sure about the mustards and worried about the flavor but it did not have a big mustardy taste.  And how can you pass up melty cheese?

Gary chose to make Chicken Milanese and he used The Pioneer Woman's recipe.

Pounded out some chicken breasts and coated in egg wash and Italian bread crumbs.  Cook them up, top with Arugula drizzled with vinaigrette and sprinkle on some fresh Parmesan cheese.

Are you seeing a theme of cheese here for us?  LOL

Miss Annete made a Summer Vegetable Pasta.

Angel hair pasta, lots of veggies like squash, zuchinni, olives, peppers, tomatoes, She left out mushrooms as she knows Gary doesn't like them.

Yum!  This is a nice light pasta dish for summer. No heavy sauce.

Gary also wanted to try another Pioneer Woman Recipe for bread.

He took a loaf of French bread and sliced a think layer off the top. Poked holes in the bread. He then melted two sticks of butter and poured over the bread, topping it all with fresh mozzarella.  Oh yum yum --- again - melty cheese!  Lots and lots of melty cheese.

Now for the Field Trip portion of our night.

 Gary and I have put an offer in on a house after looking for several months. We are still waiting on all the inspections, etc but we took a field trip to show Rick and Annete the outside of the house.

We also made a trip to Miss Annette's to check out the paving work she has been having done in her back yard.

I know you didn't see her back yard previously but this looks totally awesome!  And so easy to take care of for her.

Now back to the house so we can have our dessert.

Mr. Rick brought Gelato.

We had a vanilla caramel gelato and also a chocolate gelato. MMMM MMMM MMMM - if you have not eaten gelato -- go buy a container right now!!  Yes it is that good. And Gary said he thought he actually preferred the caramel vanilla over the chocolate.

So there you have it - food - fun - and friends.  That's what makes life good.

Go ahead - give us a challenge or a theme.  Melissa Alley -- I'm thinking on the one you mentioned to me.  Haven't passed it on yet because I thought it might be a fun one for when K.C, Michael and kids are able to join us again.

What Level

Let me just preface this post by saying I'm not looking for sympathy or really complaining - just putting some information out there.

I don't typically discuss my health issues with people. I do share information with my daughters just because I never want them to 'not know' if there is an issue and be taken by surprise should they get a call.  

Now on to the post ---

I'm going to be discussing pain today.  

I live with pain - it is just a fact of my life and has been I think forever and ever. Every day I deal with pain on a scale from 2 - 12. Yeah - 12 may seem high but there are days that I do have that level of pain.  

I have arthritis, fibromyalgia, gout, tendonitis and let's just throw migraines in there with the mix.  So yep, I have pain.  Every day it's just there on a lower level somewhere in my body. 

I have pain in my hips, my fingers, my wrists, elbows, knees, feet, shoulders, head, neck. I think you get the idea.  

Yeah I have pain in every area they indicate there - plus a few more. It is what it is.  I can usually think of someone else who probably hurts more than I do.

Some days I just refer to as a 'hurtful day'. You just learn and deal with the fact when you wake up you can tell that it's going to be one of those hurtful days. Sometimes the weather plays a part in the pain and you learn to deal with that.

My doctor has worked with me and we have a combination of medicines that make the pain more tolerable for me which is a huge huge plus.  In addition, he gives me hydrocodone to keep on hand for those really bad days.  

I also have specialists for my shoulder, my hand and my knees. 

I haven't seen my knee doctor for several years mainly because I am not ready to make the decision to have the second knee replacement done.  I just got my shoulder doctor last fall and although I may eventually have to have surgery on my shoulder right now he has been able to assist with shots for the pain and exercises. He advises to put off surgery as long as I can.

My hand doctor is wonderful!  Very empathetic and up front.  He is exactly what a doctor should be. He tells me the issue and if needed gives me a shot. But he also advises that surgery may be necessary. About 3 years ago he performed a pisiform excision where he went in and removed a bone from my wrist.  This was a surgery I postponed for 7 years at his suggestion. His words were 'this is rough recovery - put it off as long as you can.'.  I did until he said you can't put this off any longer. 

OH MY WORD!!  I cannot believe the difference taking a dime sized bone out made.  It was WONDERFUL!  Immediate relief from an ongoing 10 year pain issue.  And the recovery was not near as bad as I expected.  I told him I wish he could take every arthritic bone in my body out!  

Now he is discussing surgery on the thumb of my left hand.  

So I deal with pain a lot - it's just part of my life. Why am I telling you this?

Well I thought I knew pain, but it went to a whole new level this week and prompted an Urgent Care visit.  I hate going to Urgent Care and now I've been twice in the last two months.  UGGGG

What prompted the visit?  Well, my day started out as normal.  Nothing major. I went to work and a couple of hours later I noticed my hip was hurting. As the day wore on the pain got worse and worse. By the time I left work it was all I could do to walk to my car. I had taken 8 extra-strenth Tylenol already and it hadn't even knocked the pain. It just kept getting worse. Gary looked at my hip and said 'you're going to urgent care'. There were a couple of red spots like a bite, the area was swollen and hard to the touch.  

So off to Urgent Care.  Doctor was stumped. Site was not warm to the touch indicating infection. Pain was not over the bursa area indicating bursistis. Pain was not the stinging pain of shingles (which I have had before). So she prescribed antibiotics and steroids. 

Well, my mystery pain is much better - swelling down pain in that area now non-existent.  Totally strange but that is not so uncommon for me LOL

So - listen to your body. Work with your doctor - you are your best advocate.  I spent appointment after appointment with my doctor for various aches. I finally said okay can you treat this more aggressively or do I need to see a specialist?

If you hurt - I understand but don't let the pain control you.  Force yourself to walk those extra steps. Get the rest you need as a rested body makes it easier to deal with the pain.  But most of all - pay attention to your body and what it is telling you.  

Healthy or Not?

Salads  - I love salads.  I need to eat more salads.  

What makes a good salad?  Well there is a post on Pinterest that tells you how to make the 'Perfect Salad'.   
     
     You choose your base - basically what type of greens do you want - iceberg lettuce, romaine, kale,      spinach, maybe a mixture? 

     Then you add something crunchy -- maybe carrots or cucumbers - apples - seeds. You get the  
     idea. 

     Next add something soft -- cheese - rice - avocado - olives - tomatoes 

     Now add something unexpected -- cottage cheese - pickled veggies - dried fruit - herbs

    Next up you need some protein --  eggs - nuts - chicken - beans - tofu

     Lastly choose your dressing -- oh the choices available here! Fruity vinaigrettes, - creamy dairy - 
     honey mustard flavorings! 

So how healthy is your salad?

It sounds like a good deal doesn't it? Lots of lettuce and veggies.  You can add cucumbers, onions, radishes, peppers, cauliflower. Load it up.  Still looking pretty healthy to me.

Now here is where you can start getting the unhealthy part.

Let's add some cheese. Should be okay - unless you add cheese - and add cheese and maybe just a little more cheese because well - you like cheese. Plus it's a good source of calcium, right?  Especially if you don't drink milk to get that calcium.

Yes, I know - I can rationalize anything!  

Now let's add some bacon to that salad.  Bacon is good stuff!  And if a little is good a lot is even better. You can't have to much bacon can you?

Now I'm okay with eating my salad at this point. Maybe add some salt but not always (after all the doctor told me to cut down on my sodium).

Now here is where the tricky part comes in.

 That dressing! 

The smart thing to do here is to dip your fork in your dressing of choice and then put the fork in the salad to get a bite.  I do this sometimes.  

Also, your dressing choice can be tricky.  Obviously a vinaigrette based dressing would be better for you. But there are so many choices out there!!

I go back and forth between favorites. I love Creamy Vidalia Onion - but also like the Poppyseed Dressing - and of course Ranch is awfully good. And sometimes a honey mustard flavored dressing.   Notice the theme I have going here?  Creamy - creamy - creamy.  Not the best choice for me, or anyone.

Most of us, yes I'm going to include you in this, add the dressing to the salad. And MAAYBEE we add more than we should.  It is not necessary to DRENCH your salad in dressing. Remember a little goes a long way here.

So tell me? How healthy is the salad you make?  And what is your choice of dressings?