July 17, 2010

• Lori K & Update on Our Family

  News about Lori:

  FINALLY, my friend, Lori K, is home from the hospital.  She had an awful time with nausea one day last week.  I called and she was in the restroom about to vomit.  She sounded miserable.   A C-Section incision is so painful when you cough, sneeze, or laugh . . . I can’t begin to guess the level of pain produced when vomiting. 

  Bless her heart!  I feel so bad for her.

  Although she sounded weak yesterday, she *did* say they let her go home.  Now she has to rest around her 5 children and husband, who is running the house in her absence!   Lord, bless them all!!!!!!!

                       

  Please continue to pray for her recovery and her level of pain, as she heals.  She admitted she is exhausted and wanted prayers.  This was a very invasive sickness and surgery; and, her body has virtually been assaulted in almost every way.  She has some pain pills, but they can only do so much.

  Please keep her in your prayers and message me if you would like to send her a card.

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  Thursday I went for my MRI of the cervical spine (head and neck).  It lasted a lot longer than I had anticipated.  And, rather than use the vein in my right arm, as I suggested, my left arm was first tried and the dye bubbled and burst the vein.  That dye burns when it is outside of the vein.  REALLY BURNS!!!!  I haven’t heard the results, but I’m guessing there wasn’t an emergency of any kind, or my doctor would have been immediately alerted. 

  I have developed numb arms and, specifically, thumb & index finger deadening and tingling, at night.  Also, if I talk on the phone for very long when my elbow is bent, my lower arm begins to go numb.  The oncologist suspects carpal tunnel syndrome, and the MRI was to rule out tumors (my tumor marker count is well within normal limits) or damage to my spine.

  Don’t known when I’ll hear the results.  My sweet oncologist is soon due to deliver another son and I won’t see her for a while.

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  I got a bunch done yesterday.  I kept moving at a steady pace and never really experienced any back pain.

  *  Cleaned up a bunch of paperwork on my desk
  *  Sorted or deleted a bunch of email
  *  Hand washed the china cups and plates we use for breakfast & lunch, and a few other items
  *  Finish laundry – the towels
  *  Washed a bunch of Ebay stuff that came in (blouses and bras for me, 1/2 slips for the girls)
  *  Ironed a few shirts and skirts and a dress of Rissy’s
  *  Cleaned up the kitchen counter tops.
  *  Went to get a turkey from the garage freezer for Sunday’s dinner.  It was stuck to the bottom of the freezer.
  *  I took a knife and chiseled all of the melted water/ice from the bottom of our freezer.

                                  
   
  *  Hoping my hard work pays off and the freezer becomes more efficient to run!
  *  Wrote in my journal (I don’t write daily – just when the Spirit moves me)
  *  Graded the children’s summer school books
  *  Looked through the catalogs that have been piling up, threw away all but Yankee Candle & Christianbook.com
  *  Made a last minute decision about dinner:  Paprika Chicken (recipe below) with a salad

   
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  Jesse mentioned, last night, at the dinner table, he thinks we should take a family vacation.  He never did when he was younger and he thinks is would build good memories for the girls.  We don’t have any place we’re dying to go see.  My family is too far away and we don’t have money for a trip to San Francisco & Tahoe. 

  He mentioned Amarillo (is dad & step-mother) but there isn’t really anything to do. 

        
  The children like to see their Nana and PoPo, but that isn’t a “real” vacation.  By that, I mean, there isn’t much for them to do except visit adults.

                 

  I threw out the idea of Branson, MO – specifically, Silver Dollar City.  It’s close.  I’ve heard many good things about the place. We’d have to stay several cities away to find an affordable hotel.  But I think the girls would remember seeing how nails were made and glass blown, etc. in the old days.  AND, the terrain is beautiful, compared to flat, barren Oklahoma. 

                

  I think Jesse is pretty serious about taking a vacation. 

  We have out of town company coming for a week, during the first half of August.  So, we need to make vacation plans around their visit. 

  If Stephanie could house sit here, that would be a big relief, as far as pet care and mail/newspapers picked up.

               

  I don’t see how we have the money to go anywhere, but Jesse insists we can do it.

           

  Of course, I need to consider my energy level and how long I can sit, walk, stand before hurting.

  We’ve all been through a rough 18 months and it would be nice to do something together that’s really fun and will be remembered for years and years.

       
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  Our oldest granddaughter’s birthday is July 26th and I’ve been searching for gifts for her.  She is a gifted artist, so I found some “adult” coloring books (Coral Reef, Butterflies, and Fairies in a Garden) on Amazon.com and bought a huge box of colored pencils.  I want to go to Hobby Lobby and get her a good pencil sharpener.  We use one in our home school that is stainless steel and takes forever to wear out!

           
  JanaLyn is growing up so fast.  All of the girls are!

  I *NEED* to be thinking about Luci’s birthday, because it’s 10 days after JanaLyn’s birthday.  I haven’t given ANY thought to what Luci wants to do for her last birthday party.  After age 8, we don’t do “theme” parties or give party favors to guests. 

  Each child gets a special dinner, a choice of dessert, and the whole family to share with the birthday person. 

                         

  The last I heard, Luci wanted a Mardi Gras (sp?) party – with masks everyone could decorate and wear.  Sounds like a mess, doesn’t it?

          

  I guess I should bring up the subject today and see what she really wants for this famous Last Wish Party!!! LOL

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  We are well into the summer here.  Temperatures in the middle to upper 90′s and lots of humidity.  The heat index, this past week, has been dangerously high – around 110° to 115° – VERY dangerous for people AND animals.

  Jesse bought the girls a Slip and Slide and they enjoyed it for two days, but said, yesterday, it wasn’t working right.  (sigh!)  So frustrating!  Everything breaks these days.  I guess a sprinkler would be similar to the Slip and Slide, but not in their eyes.

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  I’ve started doing quite a few things differently this year.  Keeping a journal.  Writing snail mail letters to people on pretty stationery.  Reading more books.  Logging and reviewing each book I read.  Drinking my coffee from pretty china cups and saucers.  Eating lunch from newly purchased china plates (all different patterns – less expensive that way) and Sunday dinner at the formal table with white tablecloth and the china & silver.
  
  Another tradition I’ve started this year:  I go to the grocery store at the end of the week and pick up something special for Sunday’s breakfast.  Sometimes donuts.  Sometimes muffins.  Sometimes apple fritters.  Tomorrow I have 2 cheese Danish coffee cakes, 1 strawberry Danish, and 1 raspberry Danish.  I couldn’t decide which looked best, so, obviously, I bought all of them!  It makes Sunday mornings less hectic.  I quit trying to make scrambled eggs to go with it.  I leave the boxes on the kitchen bar for everyone to choose and eat when they wake up.
  
  We are just about finished with our boxes of ice cream from Braum’s – another tradition I’ve started.  I make a trip on Sundays, after church, to buy ice cream.  Jesse stays in the car with the girls, and I go in to pick out 4 different boxes of ice cream.  Everyone has to wait until we get home to see what flavors are in the bag. 

  Last time I got a Lemon Sherbet that Jesse said was really good.  

  The only flavor I tried that no one cared for was Chocolate Malt.  We ate it, but wished we hadn’t bought it!

          
  I weighed 25+ pounds more last year, but eating ice cream doesn’t seem to be putting the pounds back on me.  We don’t eat it everyday.  Maybe that’s the secret to enjoying it and not being punished with a weight gain!

      

                        
  I’ve lost a few more pounds since my birthday in April.  I’ve lost a great deal of interest in eating since my taste buds work one meal and not the next.  I cook for my family.

  AND, my hair continues to grow every week.  I’m able to wear a kerchief style headcovering, again.  I use metal snap clips to hold it in place.  It’s so much warmer than the Mennonite thin cap, but I’m just plain tickled to have hair that is long enough to get in my eyes when the wind blows!!!!

  I will try to have Rissy take pictures of me showing my hair length and my kerchief style covering.

            

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  Speaking of food, here is last night’s chicken recipe:

   

  
  
  

  Paprika Chicken with Sour Cream Sauce

   

  Ingredients:
  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  2 tsp. paprika
  1 tsp. garlic powder
  1 tsp. ground black pepper
  1 tsp. ground red pepper
  4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves
  1/4 cup butter
  1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of ChickenSoup (98% Fat Free)
  2 green onions, sliced (about 1/4 cup)
  1 container (8 ounces) fat free sour cream

  Directions:
  Stir the flour, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper and red pepper on a plate. (I shook mine together in a large jar before pouring onto a plate.)  Coat the chicken (I cut mine into 2″ – 3″ square pieces) with the paprika mixture.
  

  
  

  Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 10 minutes or until it’s well browned on both sides.
  

  
  

  Remove the chicken from the skillet. Stir the soup and green onions in the skillet and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the sour cream.

  Last night, I had no green onions, so I used some onion powder .  AND . . . I didn’t remove the breasts from the electric skillet, I just poured the soup on the chicken pieces, then mixed in sour cream, turned off the skillet, covered it, and waited for the soup and cream to melt together.

  ALSO, another hint, I keep the dry ingredients mixed in a jar, which cuts down on prep time.  It’s a spicy flavor and is good on regular chicken (fried or baked) or pork chops..
  

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  I’m making two strawberry Jell-O pies this weekend and a yummy summer cake. 

  Here is the recipe for this weekend’s cake.  I may have shared this recipe once before.  Can’t remember!
  

  
  

  APPLE DUMP CAKE

   

  *  2 Cans of apple pie filling

  * Lg. can crushed pineapple
  *  1 pkg. yellow cake mix
  *  1 stick butter
  *   2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
  *   1 bag walnuts, shelled

  
  

  In large Pyrex baking pan, mix apples and crushed pineapple. Spread out evenly in baking pan. Sprinkle cinnamon over fruit mixture. Spread dry yellow cake mix over fruit mixture evenly, do not mix with fruit. Cut butter into small pats and place on top of cake mix. Crush walnuts into small pieces and place over entire cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until golden brown on top.

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  Jesse is working today in the heat.  I don’t know how he can stand it.  He left early and had some bushes to trim, etc.  I don’t know that he is doing any mowing.  Hopefully he won’t be gone so long today and can relax tonight and all of tomorrow.

   

                  
  

  His work is feast or famine.  There is no work in winter except cutting limbs that fall in ice storms, and cleaning leaves from flower beds in the fall.  We sure enjoy having our dad home in the winter, though! 

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  It’s probably time for me to be moving on to some of my chores – especially baking (before the kitchen heats up like one huge oven!)
  

                     

  I pray everyone has a delightful summer weekend!

  Be Blessed ~

  • 12:11 pm
  • 4 Comments