Wow, I must be better

What’s going on around here? Friday May 14 – Monday May 17, 2010

Just for Fun:   On Sunday we celebrated our grandaughter's first communion.  It was a wonderful day with family and friends. She is almost 8 and so grown up.   The dress she wore has been worn by her mom and all her aunts for their first communion.  She was beautiful.  We also celebrated a belated birthday for her brother and he enjoyed his time in the limelight also.  

Healing Process: I am feeling better all the time. My ‘guts’ don’t hurt so much like when I ate I could feel the food moving through different areas. I am still sore from a couple of the holes from surgery but they are getting better. My skin is sore and red from the adhesive for my ostomy system. Today I was home all day and I just took it all off and went without and let my skin rest but at the end of the day it is still red and irritated. Bummer. I am monitoring my blood sugar numbers and the only thing that seems to help is not eating and also having a drink of alcohol. A diabetic friend said there is the good and bad of alcohol, the good is it relaxes you and lowers your numbers. Well, low and behold, diet 7-up and a little vodka and my numbers improved by 40 to 60 points.

Sorting and Organizing: For the last few days I have just been reevaluating my life and the ‘busy ness’ schedule. I am not committing to anything that seems stressful, or that I might have to push myself to complete. I am going to try to update this blog on Mondays and Thursdays, so if you check on Tuesdays and Fridays you might get the current info.

What's Cooking? A whole lot the last few days. Saturday Bill and I went to Costco for a meat run and then we restocked the freezer. I am so glad I have a freezer. Number one, I keep all the nuts we eat in the freezer to keep them from getting old. I always have pecans, cashews, almonds, pine nuts, peanuts, and pistachios in the freezer. I also keep dry things like flour and cornmeal and breadcrumbs in the freezer just to keep them fresh and away from bugs. I also have one shelf that pretty much has bags of frozen lemon juice on it, delicious Meyer lemon juice from my Aunt Jeanne’s tree in California. We use so much lemon juice it is amazing.

Since I have not cooked much at all the last month we were getting pretty low on stuff to pull out and eat. So Bill fired up the barbeque and in the end we had cook a big piece of salmon, 4 rib eye steaks, a lime and cilantro marinated flank steak, a pile of sesame ginger chicken and an equal amount of chicken marinated in a chardonnay basil vinaigrette, some of that I put my family barbeque sauce on before I froze it. Then today I made 12 pounds of a turkey meat (loaf) mixture and froze that in zip-lock bags and also 3 pounds of turkey taco meat. We ate tacos for dinner and I still have some for a taco salad lunch tomorrow and I put 4 bags of taco meat in the freezer. I know that sounds crazy but I find it is not that much more work to do a lot at once, then the rest of the time there is very little work involved at all. Once I have this meat (loaf) mixture made I use it for so many other recipes: meatballs, shepherd’s pie, Moroccan Patties, sloppy joe’s, spaghetti, and really good meatloaf. I just pull bags out of the freezer depending on if it is just Bill and I or if we are having company join us.

Sunday: Chris & Anne’s for family gathering (It was delicious and fun)
Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: no family dinner, everyone is busy
Wednesday: sesame chicken and stir-fry veggies
Thursday: Bill and I are both out different directions
Friday: Amanda & I are working on a secret home improvement project
Saturday: I work today so, something easy, maybe take out Thai

What's on my needles: I am still working on the Sasha skirt but last night I had a real case of cast off fever and just had to get the first ruffle off the needles. I was listening to the book “The Lace Reader” and binding off the ruffle. I don’t know which I finished first but I finished them both within minutes of each other and I was in bed by midnight. Since I had a three hour nap in the afternoon midnight was not that bad.


What I am reading: here is a link that discusses ‘The Lace Reader’ if you are curious. I wanted to read it because I thought I might learn something about making lace and there was a little about that. It is based in Salem, Massachusetts but I didn’t really get a feel for the area. It did talk about the history of the area and the tolerance for all religions

http://www.litlovers.com/guide_lace_reader.html


Have I seen any good movies lately: Bill and I watched ‘Office Space’ last night. It had been on the table for quite a while and I wanted to send it back. Not the best movie I have ever seen but it passed the time and since we weren’t interested in anything on television it passed the time. I have been listening to a lot of podcasts and so a lot of the time now I just listen to something like that and forget television.

Grannies’ Diary: Bobbie Ann Maxwell 1945: for a few years now my grandmother’s (my mom’s mother) diaries have been sitting on a bookshelf above my desk. Now that others are reading this, I think I will take things from her diary and tell you what was happening at her farmhouse also. I have started with the first complete looking diary and the year is 1945. I am telling her story, in her words as best I can.


May 15, Tuesday – Well the Hilly paid Bob off and is now the owner of a store and Lovie says they have a gold mine. Hilly, Lovie and Nancy came by this morning before I got up to bring my grapefruit and oranges by that I called the store yesterday evening to bring by. Doris came for Dad to help her with the windmill but Mr. Gay had to take some of the pieces in to get them fixed. Hilly, Lovie, Nancy all came by tonight going to the 8th grade graduation exercises. Chy went with them. I kept the Ann but she was a sleep so I didn’t get to love her any. Gee we have a cold spell tonite. It rained some last nite, but not enough to do much good. Chy had a letter from Bill, and I had my Mother’s day wire from him so sweet of him. Hope and pray that he isn’t sent to the Pacific. Maybe his foot won’t let him go. I made the Chipper two little sun dresses this eve.


May 16, Wednesday – Well we had a letter from the Gordie and Emma. Chy had a letter from her mother. Dad, Chy and Chipper and I all went to Cherokee this evening and I sent to the Colonial Poultry farms for 50 baby pullets. Chy talked to her mother, cost her $6.81. We traded with the Hilly and Lovie this evening, they were doing a good business. Tonite we had a good supper, the Chy is a wonderful little cook, gee we will sure miss she and little Ann. Little Ann almost got an egg out of a crate this evening, she was sitting in her little ‘?.’ I love her so much.


May 17, Thursday - Well we had a letter from the Bill, written May 6th and he is doing fine, so he said. Lovie and Hilly and Nancy all came by tonite to see the Chipper. I don’t think the Chipper feels well. Cecil and Charlie Mc, worked Mrs. Yates cattle, wonder how she likes them. The Chipper and I took a long walk and she enjoyed it so much, and she was glad to see Lovie and Nancy. She is so precious. I love her so. Dad is ploughing his corn.

Just a note: I, CeLinda, talked to my mom (Emma) today and she thinks she was in Colorado with Aunt Gordie during this time.   That is why they had written letters but were too far away to come for Mother's day.