A tour of Italy

I've been kinda bad about keeping up with my blog lately.  I apologize and will try to do better. We are still having our New Food Night every week so I have some items I can use for inspiration (and to make your mouth water).  I hope you haven't been going hungry waiting to see what was on our menu so you could decide what you wanted to eat.

I swear I must be part Italian because I sure do love my pasta!  Yes - you guessed it - we had Italian.

Miss Annette made some spaghetti.

Doesn't this crock pot of spaghetti look yummy?  It was

Gary was going to make some creamed fennel. He ended up having to work late so I made the fennel.  I know this may surprise some of you since you know that Gary does the majority of our cooking. It's kind of a joke in our family about the fact that I don't cook very often. Gary's dad even asked me one time if I knew how to cook.  My brother has gone so far as to ask exactly what I do at the house.

Anyway, I felt I was up to the task.  Creamed, baked fennel.

You take the fennel bulb and slice it.

I tell you - when I sliced the top of the fennel off the smell was amazing!  It was very strong.  Not a bad smell just very strong. I wasn't expecting that.

You know if it has half & half and creme fraiche it's going to be good. We had to look to find the creme fraiche (fresh) but found it. I would describe it as a really creamy sweet sour cream type thing.

So I put some oil in a pan and kind of browned the fennel. Then I added the half & half and creme fraiche and stirred until it was thickened.

I then poured all into a greased pie plate and added grated Parmesan cheese and baked.

 It was mighty tasty!!

We had salad which Chris brought over.

 Some garlic toast from Mr. Rick.

 See my full plate?

Good stuff right there.

We have another contributor tonight to our meal.  K.C. and her family are moving back to Tulsa!  (We are very happy about that). K.C. is hanging out with us for a while until the full move is made by the entire family. She chose to make us --- Italian Cream Sodas!!

OH MY GOSH!  These are addictive!  Club soda, half & half, syrup of your choice  Top with whipped cream.

My Carnival glass tea glasses are the perfect glass to serve these in don't you think? 

She gave us the option of white chocolate cream soda or raspberry cream soda.  Most of us chose white chocolate raspberry.

My empty glass gives you a clue as to how good these are.

Gotta tell you - this has become a favorite of mine this summer!  In fact I am having one right now! K.C. and the kids just came back from swimming with Chris and K.C. made us all a little treat.

I'll try not to wait so long before my next blog.  Do you have anything you are wanting me to enlighten you on?  I'd be happy to give my thoughts on anything.

In the meantime, make yourself a cream soda and enjoy your night. 

 

Painting the House

Gary and I decided that our house needed to be painted - inside. We have lived here 10 years and it was time to 'freshen up' the house. Hmmm, I am the only one who paints, Gary doesn't.

I have a project ahead of me.

First we have to choose some colors. We had an idea of what we thought we wanted so I brought home some samples.

Then more samples

And more samples.

This is what we finally ended up with.

I know that some people are wondering why in the world it took me so very long to paint the rooms of my house. Let me try to explain. Each room was totally emptied. Totally!  Then the entire room was washed down, walls, ceiling, baseboards, crown molding. Everything!  I also used Kilz on all three bedrooms and the bathrooms.

Oh, did I mention that I also emptied the closets and painted them as well?  So after a room was emptied and washed and Kilzed, if needed, I painted. I painted every surface in each room except for the floor.

The ceilings were painted. The crown molding then got painted. Then the wood trim (closet doors, baseboards, etc). Finally the walls were painted.

Then I had to clean up my mess. And I cleaned the floors. And then everything was put back in the room.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that this was done is shifts. I would work on my painting after I got home from work of an evening. This was really quite a project. For me.

I started with Chris' old bedroom as it was the worst in the house.  The color we chose was supposed to be a soft peachy color.  It turned out orange.  I call it the Orange Room.  I think my giraffes go quite well with this room.

From there I moved to the big bathroom then the small bathroom.  Then on to the other two bedrooms.  As I was working on the last bedroom I knew the next project would be the dining room/hallway area. We thought we wanted to use purple here but this was a big change. I got some sample paint to paint various areas so we could see what we thought of it before committing to the big room.

I took pictures of my 'samples' and sent to my girls and some friends to get their opinions. Reactions were mixed.

After each room was painted we got curtains and rods and put up. Many many thanks to our good friend Mr. Rick for his assistance with this part of our makeover project. He also put in a new ceiling fan in the master bedroom one weekend when we were out of town.

Each closet was painted - ceilings included. And each closet was better organized when put back together. I know have a large collection of garage sale items.

By the time I was finishing up the dining room/hallway and getting ready to move to the kitchen K.C. showed up. See my happy face

I was happy to see her as it meant she and her family were moving back to Tulsa.  It also meant that she was there to help me with the kitchen.  Every item was emptied from the cabinets. K.C. referred to me as a hoarder. Let me say she referred to Gary as a kitchen gadget hoarder.  She thinks we have to much stuff. We probably do but I just don't know what to get rid of.  (Gary here:  K.C. is obviously just jealous of all the cool stuff we have!!)

With K.C. helping the kitchen did not take as long. She was able to do almost all the prep work while I was at work. She washed walls and cabinets. Scrubbed floors - major major help to me.

So the whole house except for one room has been totally painted. This takes care of my initial project. Only room left is the living room and I am considering it. Have brought home more paint samples but that room will wait a while.

Any issues while painting? Well, I only had two major mishaps. While putting things back in the hallway closet I misjudged which step I was on on the ladder and stepped down farther than I thought I had to step. That brought a yell out of me and Gary came running. I was able to limp off and assure him I thought I was okay. Luckily the hallway was narrow enough that I fell into the wall and not all the way to the floor.

Second mishap occurred in the kitchen. Not real sure what happened here but I was painting the cabinet and somehow fell off the ladder. I grabbed the handle of the microwave but that door swung open as I fell.  K.C. was nearby and was able to prevent me from falling all the way. This is a very good thing as if she had not done so I would have gone all the way down and either hit my head on the cabinet behind me, the refrigerator or smack dab on the floor.

So now I am going to enjoy my new house and my 'free time' for now. I will also start contemplating what color to use for the living room.  Any suggestions for me?

Catch Up

I've been noticeably not as active on my blog recently.  Have you missed me?  I thought I might just catch you up on what's going on in my life.

We still have New Food Night. I have pictures from last week but don't have the information on ingredients with me now so can't write about it today. Look for that blog later this week (that is my goal anyway).

Remember back in January I did the No Junk Food Challenge?  I then followed that up with adding some walking in.  Let me update you on that.

I have not had any pop to drink since January. Yes, I have been to Sonic with family but I did not order my favorite chocolate coke!  I have continued to eat wheat bread and have started eating more fresh veggies. I try to watch the sweets but will admit that here lately I have not done as well with that aspect. Need to get back on track with that.

My walking. That is not going as well. We had months of rain then it got to hot.  I'm not a big outdoor person anyway.  My schedule at work has been adjusted and I no longer take a  lunch hour. So instead of walking on my breaks like I was, I now eat. I eat healthy though, cheese, veggies, etc.

Best of all to report though is that I have met my first weight loss goal!  Yep! Pretty happy about that.

Painting my house.

This is a sight frequently seen at my house recently. Now if you think 'man, you are a slow painter taking all that time' let me explain why.

Do you remember me saying I was going to paint the rooms of my house? I can proudly say that all the bedrooms and bathrooms are done and I should finish the dining room/hallway area this week. That will only leave the kitchen.

In addition to painting the rooms I have totally cleared each room out even the closets. Each room has been totally washed down. Ceilings, walls, closets, baseboards and crown molding has all been painted as well as all doors and door frames. Each closet has then been re-organized and downsized. I have a whole corner of my living room full of items to get rid of.

I have not brought quite that many colors home in paint cans but oh my the samples I brought home to choose from!  

I have told myself that not walking has been replaced with climbing up and down my step ladder umpteen million times.  That's a work out!

Was talking to one of my brothers one time while painting and he informed me that I was to old to be climbing up on a ladder and painting!  Really!!  Well, I'm doing it. And also crawling around on the floor to get the baseboards painted.

He may know something though. The other night I'm not sure what happened.  I was putting some items back in the hallway closet on the top shelf. This requires me climbing the step ladder. Well, I guess maybe I was one step higher up than I thought. When I stepped down I really stepped down!  Fell backwards against the wall~ Good thing it was in the hallway or I might have ended up on the floor. One knee bent farther than bad knees normally bend. I yelled which brought Gary running. I was able to walk away from the ladder under his watchful eye. I did however hurt the next day. My knee, my back, my foot. Ugg - it sucks getting old.

So that kind of catches you up on what I have been doing.  How about you? What have you been up to?  Keep checking back in - I promise I will post again,.  How about it - do you have any topic you want me to explore and expound on?

About Me

Several weeks ago a fellow blogger/friend nominated me for the Liebster award!

  Amy at www.accidentalhappybaker.com  nominated me.  If you haven't read any of her blogs yet you  need to.  They are fun to read and she always has a yummy looking recipe. I've been trying to get her to send me some homemade goodies but nothing has shown up in my mailbox yet.  I'm still looking.

So you may be asking, 'What's a Liebster award?'.  Well it's only on the Internet and only for bloggers. You get it by nominating a blogger who has less than 1,000 followers. You are nominated for the award by a fellow blogger who has been reading your  blog (or at least one post that they liked).

It is all in fun and gives you a chance to learn a little bit more about me. Rules are you are supposed to write 11 facts about yourself, answer 11 questions that were given you, you must acknowledge the person who nominated you by posting a link to their blog, post a picture of the award, and nominate 5 other bloggers.  Let's see how well I do with these rules.

I have already acknowledged the person who nominated me and I have posted the picture.  Let's see if I can come up with 11 facts about me that you may not know.

11 facts about me

1) I took piano lessons most of my childhood and voice lessons for 3 years.

2) I have held many jobs and one of them was as a relief pumper in the Panhandle of Oklahoma (this was for oil wells). Some people call them 'gaugers'.

3) I have a bullwhip.

4) I don't like to go out - I prefer to stay at home.I could easily be a recluse.

5) Another one of my many jobs was a bartender.

6) I'm a very private person and rarely share with others.

7) I'm kinda lazy. People think I work hard but I fool them. I discovered that if you walk around with a clipboard and pen people think you are extra busy when you really aren't.

8) I did not know my real name until I started school.  My dad always called me Gunnysack Joe.

9) I'm not a very patient person.

10) My favorite song is The Lion Sleeps Tonight by the Tokens.

11) I have extreme accuracy when throwing things. I played shortstop when I was a kid. My accuracy was validated a few years ago in a snowball fight when I got my daughter right in the ear with a snowball.

Wow!   I did it! I found 11 things about myself to mention.

Now for the questions I was asked:

my questions: 

1) Are you a car dancer or do you try and act normal when you're driving and your fave song comes on?

      Yeah, right - me act normal?  When my favorite song comes on I crank the radio up and belt it out. The girl's friends used to say they knew when I was listening to a good song in the car because they could see my head bopping around.  LOL -- I get into my music.

2) What was the most trouble you ever got into as a kid?
     Really?  Hmmmm - my family has always called me goody-two-shoes.  Let me think Oh - I know. My brothers and I had to help mom with the dishes every night. We were paired up. Mom washed - one dried - one put away. My brother Wayne and I were paired up. Wayne says I'm not going to help tonight. I said OK - I won't either.  My back was to the living room. I could not see when Dad started walking our way and Wayne decided 'Maybe I will help after all'.  I don't think it was fair that I got the spanking. I would have said the same thing if I had seen Dad coming.

3) If you could pick a new restaurant to be moved to your neighborhood what would it be?
     At first I thought I couldn't think of anything. We have a lot in the area now and already new ones coming in. Then I remembered -- We like In-N-Out Burgers. Always try to eat there when we go to Phoenix and also on the way back from Corpus. Definitely In-N-Out Burgers.

4) If you became so famous you had to have an alias to check into hotels, what would your alias be? 
     Gwendolyn Richards,.  I have always liked the name Gwendolyn and Richards just because.  I also like the name Sparkle Finch.  That would be fun.

5) What is the worse illness or injury that you personally have ever went through?
     Oh my! Let's see -- I had blood poisoning when I was a kid and spent a week in the hospital with it. About 11 years ago I had a volleyball sized tumor removed that had doctors concerned that I might have cancer. It turned out to be benign but the pathology was actually sent off to the Army Pathological Lab for review. Then about 8 years ago I had to have a breast biopsy for possible cancer.

6) What is the most frustrating thing for you about blogging?
     Being consistent. That sounds weird I know but sometimes I have so many ideas in my head that I have to wait to write a post because I want to be sure people have time to read my posts. Other times I have to really search for something to write about.

7) City or country?
     Country - although we live in the city - big city we prefer the country life. We like looking at stars and the quiet.

8) What is the strangest food you've ever eaten?

     Again - oh my!  I have food police in my head that tell my not to eat certain things so I consider a lot of food strange. It may be that it just doesn't look right.  I guess I would have to say raccoon.

9) What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you this month?
       This month? Hmmmmm - haven't done much this month, That's kind of unusual for me to as my mouth typically gets me in trouble.

10) Do you have any games on your cell phone? Which ones? Casual player or addicted?
     Yes I do - several of them. The ones I play on the phone consistently are Ruzzle and Trivia Crack. Next would be Piano Tiles and Dots Connecting. Several other games are on there because of grand kids. I am both casual and addicted it goes in spells. I may play all the time every chance I can then I may go several days or even a week or more before I play.

11). Favorite genre of movies to watch?
     Love to watch scary movies but don't get to much any more. Next up would be comedy.

You are also supposed to nominate 5 bloggers. I'll be honest - there are only a couple I really follow and they have both received this award but let me mention them again.

Amy at www.accidentalhappybaker.com
K.C. (Kay) at www.moralmorsels.com

There were a couple of others I followed but they haven't posted for EVER.  Perhaps I should check them out again - or send them a note asking them to post.

There you have it -- all about me.  Did you  learn anything you didn't already know?

Miracles Happen

Do you know one of those positive strong persons who is always upbeat?  I do. That would be my mother-in-law. Strong and courageous. Always with a smile for everyone. If you don't know you would never guess the health issues she has.

She has heart problems and went through a quadruple by-pass surgery almost 18 years ago. She has extremely high cholesterol and because of this has been going through a procedure for 15 years or more where she has a treatment every other week. She drives almost 2 hours every week to Kansas City to have a procedure that takes cholesterol out of her blood.

This past Sunday she went to the ER and was admitted with pneumonia. I believe the doctor called it severe pneumonia. Knowing her health issues my husband was very concerned with how this was affecting her heart. It's hard having a parent sick when you are several hours away and unable to be there immediately.  Lots of questions that you can't get answered.

My mother-in-law, Vicki, was having trouble breathing. That's to be expected with pneumonia. You can't get your breath or it hurts to breath. She could hardly talk on the phone because she could not get her breath. Plus she just did not feel good. Now if Vicki tells you she doesn't feel good that means she is really sick.

Wednesday evening Gary received a call from his dad saying that Vicki had quit breathing. They thought she might have had a mild heart attack. Not sure of all the details but it was not looking good. She had been moved next to nurses station for round-the-clock observation. They were not able to transfer her to Kansas City at that time as St. Luke's had no beds available.

They had to remove several liters of fluid from her lungs and around her heart. She was literally drowning and unable to breathe.

We made plans to go up and check on her Friday afternoon after work.  Our plans changed.

Thursday morning we received a call that Vicki had been life-flighted to St Luke's overnight. The tests they were monitoring showed indication that chances for a heart attack were rising.

White blood count was going up. Heart enzymes going up. She was life-flighted to St. Lukes's South. Vicki will tell you that she got to say "The Eagle has landed." See what I mean about always being positive?

Red, my father-in-law, drove down and met her there. Counts were still up and it didn't look good. We left work early and drove up to Kansas City arriving about 6. We looked in the door of the hospital room to see Vicki asleep in bed and Red asleep on the sofa. (He had been up about 36 hours at this point with a limited amount of sleep). Our presence woke them and we were given an update.

Counts were still up. The right lung was a solid mass of pneumonia and there was scattered pneumonia in the left lung.The aorta valve which the heart doctors had been monitoring for years would most likely have to be replaced after she had recovered from this infection.

Gary spent the night with his mom in the hospital and I went with Red back to Chillicothe. That was a crazy ride as there were severe thunderstorms going on. Lightening, strong winds, sheets of rain.  Friday morning Red and I got up and around and headed back to Kansas City.  We could see that Vicki was feeling somewhat better.

We spent the afternoon waiting to see the doctors. About 4:30 or so doctors came in. First was the regular doctor. He said the white count was still high but it was coming down. The last x-rays were looking better and they were starting to get the infection under control.  Good News!!!

A little later the heart doctor came in. He said things were looking good. They would want to follow up in the office after the infection was gone and some strength was returned but he did not think they would have to replace the aorta valve!  He said that what Vicki had been through was better than a stress test. If her heart was able to withstand this it could handle anything!  The news just got better and better!

With that good news and Vicki's promise to ask nurses for help if she needed it we felt comfortable going back home.  We could tell she was feeling better and didn't want to wear her out to much with our company.

Today, Saturday, Vicki was able to walk two laps around the corridors of the hospital wing. She also walked up half a flight of stairs, and 'put her makeup on'!  She should be going home on Monday.

It is so hard to believe that just three days ago Red thought she was gone and today she is walking laps!  Yes, miracles happen. We believe in the power of prayer and we believe we serve an amazing God who can handle anything.

Margaritaville

Fajita - margarita --- fajita - margarita.  Imagine this in a sing-song-y type voice.

Yep - we had Mexican last week and it was good!  We had decided to have fajitas and what goes with fajitas?  Well margaritas of course!

I thought Mexican fajitas called for a colorful table. What do you think?

Notice the walls -- in future blogs you will see the color change as I start painting the dining room this week.

For the fajitas Gary took a flank steak and marinated it overnight with olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, red paper flakes, salt, pepper, and sugar. He also sliced up onions and peppers and marinated them in the same mixture.

Next evening when it was time he had me pull out our cast iron griddle. (I just like to note that I do help occasionally in the kitchen, usually by pulling out pans etc.).  He got it hot and then proceeded to cook the flank steak.

Look at those grill marks!

After cooking he placed it on a carving board and let it set. He then carved the meat at the table into thin slices.

When the meat was almost ready he prepared the vegetables in a skillet over high heat. These were then put in a bowl for serving.

We  had tortillas for serving and this was our meal. Fajitas! We had salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and cheese to add if desired.

Don't you like this condiment serving dish?

Was it good you ask? Well, the four of us ate 2 pounds of meat!  Now keep in mind we didn't have anything else but fajitas so don't think we were to big of pigs.

Now for dessert and drinks.

Miss Annette prepared some virgin margaritas for us. I chilled up some glasses earlier for this purpose.

These were dipped in margarita salt to rim the glasses.

Miss Annette had prepared some slushy mixture and brought over some margarita mix and frozen strawberries. The slushy mix was just frozen margarita mix. This was all put in the blender with ice and then poured into glasses. The glasses were then topped with a slice of lime.

Looking good don't you think?

Are you singing fajita - margarita right about now?

Perfect meal but we always have dessert. Gary kind of insists on this. Mr. Rick visited the Mexican bakery here in town and brought an assortment for us to try. We have noticed that Mexican desserts are not quite as sweet as what we are used to. We chowed down on the scrumptious delights.

We had a chocolate filled, a cream filled, a chocolate sprinkle topped thing, a tri-color cookie and a smiley face cookie.  Doesn't that smiley cookie just make you smile?

I should mention that I always hate to get on the scales the day after our New Food Night. I always eat the desserts

And there you have it. Our fajita- margarita meal!  Let me know if you spend the rest of the day singing fajita - margarita --- fajita - margarita in your head.

Confession

I have a confession to make. Brace yourselves.  


      I had a total knee replacement. 

There - it's out in the open for everyone to know. 

Yep, I'm an official card carrying Total Knee Replacement (TKR) person.  

I haven't kept it a secret. My family and I were pretty open about it when I had the knee replacement five years ago. 

My grandkids and I look at it this way. I have a fake knee. I'm like Super Man where my fake knee is. Go ahead - hit my knee as hard as you want. It isn't going to bother me.  They used to tell their friends, 'Go ahead and hit her as hard as you can. It won't hurt her." 

I set alarms off in airports and courthouse security lines. Yes, I have to be pulled aside EVERY time and patted down or wanded. 

Yes, there are things I cannot do now that I used to. Crawling on my hands and knees is one of them. Don't know why - but it is not being done with a fake knee. 

I had the surgery - was violently sick (surgery always makes me sick).  I couldn't get out of bed for 3 days because I was so sick. 

There is a machine you use after knee surgery to help with movement. I loved this machine!!  Someone straps you in and turns it on and it automatically pulls your leg up and bends your knee over and over. You have a schedule to follow for this. Just keeping the schedule fills a large part of your day. I slept so well when the machine was bending my knee.  Wish I could have one permanently.  


I did my exercises.

I  walked with a walker. 

I graduated to a cane! 

I went to therapy for weeks and weeks. You know therapy is bad when even the therapist says, 'Now for the torture exercise.'

Why did I have knee replacement? I have bad knees.  I have bad joints. I have no cartilage. All very good reasons. What prompted the surgery? I thought I needed to try the cardboard slide my friend and I had made at church for Fall Festival. Needed to be certain it was safe for the kids. 

Probably not one of the wisest decisions I've made. But I'd do it again.  

Now, why the confession?  

Because people are all the time saying, "But you don't walk with a limp!"

No, most of the time I do not walk with a limp. Catch me on a bad day, or late in the day, or a series of bad weather days and you are more apt to see me limp. It is what it is. 

So there you have it - my confession. Not sure why people think that a knee replacement automatically means you will be limping for the rest of your life. And who knows, maybe when I finally go get the other one replaced I will have a noticeable limp.