Hot Dogs, Popcorn and Ice Cream

Not exactly a well-balanced meal, but it didn't involve me cooking. I took the kids to Bessie's ice cream shop. When we got home at 8:00, I got them into jammies, brushed their teeth and had them into bed by 8:19. Woo-hoo!

Well worth $10!

Potato Plan

So I've been thinking more about getting back into more meal planning, and I came across a lady who uses mainly potatoes for her freezer cooking. She said she usually does 60 lbs. of potatoes for her day of cooking! 60 lbs.!

I like her ideas, and think it would be fun to try, but definitely on a smaller scale. We eat a lot of pasta, and I think I'd like to make homemade pasta. I also buy alot of frozen fries and onion rings, but I would love to be able to pull out something more healthy.

Her plan includes really good steps that she has learned by trial and error, and she gives her recipe ideas.

I've been finding that there are many sites for meal planning, but most of them require a paid membership.

So Now What?

I went to the ENT today - not my favorite visit, but as I sat in the exam room for 20 minutes waiting for the doctor, I realized I hate going to any doctor's appointment. Having the doctor look up my nose as I recover from a sinus infection just isn't my idea of nice. Poor him!

I was especially nervous to tell him that I had quit taking all my meds early in July. I explained what had happened - I quit taking the Indomethacin for my psoriatic arthritis because I started having chest pains. At the same time, I decided to quit taking ALL my meds to see what would happen.

I told him I didn't feel better, but I didn't feel worse, either. Then when we went to Indiana, the lump in my throat disappeared. After we returned, I was driving with my windows down and the lump came back all at once.

He said between what I told him and the results from my allergy testing, he's sure my swollen larynx is the result of allergies. (Well, duh.) He wants me to go back on my allergy meds - singulair, nasonex and now he wants me to try OTC Zyrtec.

Then I told him about the insurance statement we recieved yesterday saying they are not paying for any of my allergy testing costs - only $1263! The doctor was upset, talked to the billing clerk and the allergy nurse came in. She said they called my insurance company twice to verify that they would cover the testing. BCBS said they would cover it 100%. She said they would call again, resubmit the charges with a different billing code, and see what happens. The billing clerk gave me the dates she called and the name of the lady she spoke to. So, I need to call, too, and see what happens.

I HATE confrontations. I just want to sleep.

Hugest, 'mongest, biggest tree!

Sitting at the table, eating our dinner, Little Boy picked a seed out of the cucumber in his salad. He wanted to know if he could plant it and grow cucumbers. I explained he'd have to completely dry it out and wait for spring.

Baby started into a schpiel about planting it and growing the "hugest, 'mongest, 'mongest, biggest ever tree!" She was quite excited about the prospect of climbing it way up into the sky to see the giant up there.

My kids are going to climb the cucumber tree into the sky to see the giant. Hope they drop some golden eggs!

My Sweet Babies

I know my kids are beautiful, special, and very loving. And during the day-to-day challenges, I tend to forget that.

But it is very easy to remember when they look this sweet!

Pumpkin Cake Bars

These are the yummiest pumpkin cake bars I've ever eaten, and they are very simple to make.

Pumpkin Cake Bars
4 eggs, well beaten
2 c. cooked pumpkin (15 oz. can)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 yellow cake mix
1/2 c. melted butter

Mix eggs, pumpkin, sugar, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Pour into a 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle whole cake mix over the top. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Try to not eat them all yourself! LOL.

Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Avast, me hearties! Today 'tis the day to talk like a pirate, landlubbers and scurvy dogs alike!

My son's favorite pirate book, upon recommendation of

his like-minded cousin.

Lesshew!

That's Baby's version of "Bless you" following a sneeze. She doesn't understand the use of the word, either. If she sneezes, she'll say, "I 'lesshewed'." If I don't say, "Bless you" when she sneezes, she'll say, "Mommy! 'Lesshew' me!"

Can you tell we've been sick lately?

Preferred Clothing

So today we went to the salon so Baby and I could get our hair cut. Little Boy "got to" come along. Little Boy and I finished up our lessons, and we all rushed to get dressed and out the door - I almost forgot the snacks! Yikes! That would have been a huge mistake! How else do you control two kids who are sitting across the room while you get your hair cut?

We grabbed lunch and got home in time to watch an episode of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast just before nap time. Both kids decided that they wanted to put their jammies back on. They are so much like me it scares me sometimes.

If only I could wear my jammies all day long. Alas, I have found that people tend to come to our house if I do that.

I've got a Frounder

Baby found a hair clip today that she got for her birthday. She was all excited, but wasn't sure what it was. I looked at it and told her it was Flounder, from the Little Mermaid. She ran around chanting, "I've got a Frounder, I've got a Frounder." DH and I just laughed. It's the little things.

Monday morning trip

Little Boy woke up this morning and crawled into bed with me. I was so tired; I was awake half the night coughing and sneezing. I figured that would be the case so I slept on the couch and told DH to wake me when he got up at 5 and send me to bed. I'm still feeling less than wonderful.

So, Little Boy crawled in with me and did pretty well letting me rest a bit longer. We watched a little Fox and Friends and got Baby out of bed. While I was changing her diaper, he happened to look in the full-length mirror on her door. He got all upset and said he had spots on his face. When I got a chance to look at him, sure enough, he did. Poor little guy. He asked me if they were "dying spots." Such a hypocondriac like his mom. So I made an appt. for him, and we all got ready to go. He flopped down on the bed and sighed. "These spots are making me tired." Children.

The nurse practioner we saw thinks it's roseola, or something similar. That's what Baby had last winter. For whatever reason, roseola is rarely passed to a sibling. What is up with that? It would have been easier if they both had it at the same time. I think they work together to make me worry as much as possible. So he got a dose of Benadryl (psycho meds for him), and they are going down for a nap. I think I'm going to get a nappie, too!

Green Bay Packers

The Packers are doing an unexpectedly awesome job. I didn't expect that Aaron Rodgers would step in and be so effective! Last Monday, I was surprised that the Packers did so well against the Vikings, and today they steamrolled the Lions. Double Whammy, Gina! LOL.

So, the game wasn't televised here so I was reduced to watching the scores and digital plays on ESPN. As the time kept ticking away in the 4th quarter, and the Packers' score kept getting higher, I wish I had been able to watch! Grrr. Little Boy kept asking, "What? What?" as I was getting excited.

Now that the game is over, I'm back to watching the race.

Go Biffle! Go Edwards! Go Kenseth!

Unions and Factory Closures

The company DH works for has closed a couple of plants recently, and there are so many issues involved. My heart goes out to the people who have lost their jobs; I have had anxiety that one day we will be in the same situation. I am not sure why this particular plant was chosen to be shut down. And the parent organization has chosen to not sell it. From a business standpoint, there are benefits to not selling it. The new owners would be competition. They may re-open it some time in the future. They may be able to write it off as a loss.

From a community perspective, it is devastating. To lose 400 jobs in any area is hard to comprehend. To lose 400 jobs in a smaller city is just disastrous. The people have to find work somewhere. Even if they can find a job, they will not be able to find work that will replace their lost wages. They may have to relocate, but will have a difficult time selling their homes. The value of their homes will deflate considerably.

Understandably, the workers are doing everything they can to reverse the decision. It is possible that the people who made the final decision did so with only the bottom line in mind and it was an uncomplicated decision to them. It is likely that they were given the objective of reaching a certain financial goal and had to figure out which location to close. I would absolutely hate to be the people who had to make that decision.

I know that situation; I've lived it. When I worked for a folding carton company based out of Chicago as the HR/Accounting Coordinator, I watched our division president languish over the decision of who to keep and who to let go when the plant was downsizing. Eventually it closed completely. He was given a certain number of employees he could keep, and he had to decide who stayed and who went. I saw our president give the owner heck. One day in particular, the owner, LF, called about 20 times in a row trying to get my boss on the phone. The three of us who were expected to answer the phone were about to walk out. LF was so angry, understandably, I guess, that the boss wouldn't talk to him. My boss was furious that LF wouldn't let him do his job. Try being the one who tells the owner that your boss is in his office, but will not pick up the phone to speak to him! Yikes. I do have to say, that our boss was the best boss I have ever worked for - in a Christian or secular job. The owner was in our building in about an hour and a half. That was a loud office day.

So, I've seen the process from the inside. I was one of those salaried people who was expected to lie outright or by omission. The decision was made in January to close the plant, but it wasn't announced until the end of February. There were rumors and fears swirling around and they were coming to me as the HR person for any answers I could give them.

DH is a union member. I see firsthand how the union benefits the workers, especially in the area of pay. However, the union often does not operate with the best interest of the local worker in mind. So many of the decisions seem to ignore the needs of the local plant. And how on earth could a union of an industry support the Dems? The same people who are more concerned about emissions than keeping plants like ours up and running? DH gets so angry that his union dues are going to support the democRATS. The party that got us going down the NAFTA path, and all that that entails.

And with contract negotiations approaching, the thought that the parent company could just close our division rather than be influenced by the union... That is a bit unsettling. Some of the decision-makers in the company have worked in our plant at one point or another. And some of them are horse's rear ends. So that makes things complicated, too. How do you respectfully deal with someone who did their darndest to close your plant - even if it meant fabricating records and numbers? Hopefully, that HRE won't be involved in contract negotiations.

So, while my heart breaks for those people who are out of work, I can see the point of the owners, too. I don't know the details of why that particular plant was chosen to close. I can only breathe a sigh of relief that for the time being, it wasn't ours.

Feeling Cruddy

So, I don't know what "it" is, but I'm feeling pretty rotten. Allergies or cold? Doesn't much matter - my throat is raw, and post nasal drainage is killing me.

Baby and Little Boy both started feeling badly yesterday. Didn't take me long, did it?

So what do you cook when you feel so horrible? Last night we had bacon, pancakes and eggs.

Tonight I thawed a turkey breast, warmed some pasta from the other day, and fixed some brocolli. I even skipped the ice cream afterwards; didn't think it would help my problem.

We didn't even do any schoolwork today. Little Boy asked me about it tonight; if we feel well enough, we'll do it in the morning. Hope I feel better.

Funny Girl

So Baby woke up today with a full-blown head cold. Or allergies. I’m not sure which. Daddy and I got her up, and she was feeling pretty miserable. I gave her some medicine and got her settled on the couch with a pillow and a blanket. She looked like a little zombie. Out of nowhere, she burped. And never blinked. I asked her if she could say, “Excuse me.” She said, “I can’t say it.” A couple minutes later, she saw the yard workers at the neighbors and asked me who a guy was. I said his name is, “Excuse Me,” and asked her if she could say his name. She said it. I don’t think she blinked the whole time we were talking. I told her I tricked her into saying, “Excuse me.” No reaction.

Poor Baby.

September 11th

It does not seem possible that it has already been 7 years since the terrorist attacks. I was at school and someone came in between classes and said a plane had hit a building in New York. Then as we were dismissed for lunch, a crowd was gathered in the media room watching TV. It was just so surreal. I remember driving home that day watching the skyline for crashing planes, because no one knew what was going on. Mike was at work and so I went to the lake so I wasn't at home alone.

My sister was worried about me because of the plane that crashed in Shanksville being close to where I live. I was worried about her because I wasn't sure when she was supposed to be flying.

The last couple days, I have remembered that the 11th was coming, but I didn't think of it this morning until I turned on Fox & Friends. I could only watch a couple minutes of it. Little Boy was running around, and I just get too emotional. I remember how helpless I felt at the time; I felt like *I* should be there to help - doing anything. I don't know why I felt that way. I remember hoping there would be more survivors found than there were. And I was so thankful for the brave people on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania; they were such heroes. I cannot imagine having been on any of those planes. I don't even like to let my mind go there because I have such a vivid imagination and it actually causes me to feel anxiety.

I don't know how old my kids will be before we talk about what happened in 2001. My kids don't understand that there is such evil in our world. I wish they could grow up that way, but that isn't wise on my part. And how do I explain to my children why people would want to kill innocent people in our country when I can't fully comprehend it myself?

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Ok - this is not an original recipe, and I cannot remember exactly on which recipe site I found it. Taste of Home, I think. But it is a tested recipe and it was a huge hit at the teen cookout. I have written the directions from the notes I scribbled, so if the wording is odd, that is why. This isn't my picture, either, but it looked just like this before it was consumed!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 pie crust, baked
6 c. sliced strawberries
1 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
Whipped topping

First layer:
Pie crust
2 c. sliced strawberries

Second layer:
2 c. halved strawberries, mashed
1 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch

Third layer:
2 c. halved strawberries
Whipped topping

Directions:
Bake the pie crust according to the directions on the package, or bake it for about 15 minutes @ 425 degrees. Prick the bottom of the crust before baking or use weights.

After the crust is cooled, place the sliced strawberries in the crust.

Combine the mashed strawberries, sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let cook for about 2 minutes – stir constantly. Cool filling in a bowl for about 15 minutes. Pour over sliced strawberries.

Place the halved strawberries on top of the filling.

Serve with whipped topping.

Baby in the Bed

So today before I started teaching Little Boy, I set Baby up in the living room with a bucket of foam beads and a plastic needle and "thread." She seemed pretty happy. I got out the books and Little Boy and I started our lesson. Part of the way through, I looked over at Baby and she had the whole container spilled out on the floor and asked me when she could start to do her schoolwork. I told her as soon as she picked up the stuff on the floor, I would give her something to do. She stood up in the middle, kicked the beads, and spit at me. So I swatted her little butt and told her to pick up the stuff. She used her hand and swiped them farther across the room with a growl. So I picked her up and put her in her bed.

Apparently, she was making quite a racket - DH was attempting to sleep in the adjoining room. She threw everything out of her bed, and he said there was a lot of banging going on in there. Thankfully, the bed held together. When I finished with Little Boy, I went to get her. She was very contrite and behaved fairly well after that. Tomorrow is another day.

Cactus Fight

Well, today I got in a fight with a cactus, and I guess I lost. LOL. See the picture in the slideshow below. I went for allergy testing today, and I found out that I am allergic to dust, two types of dust mites, two types of mold, sycamore and oak trees, and pigweed and goldenrod. So basically, I'm fighting allergens just about all year round. I am going to forego shots. I feel like I can basically control symptoms with over the counter meds for now.

My arm hurts, but it could be worse. Much worse. I could be allergic to the other twenty seven things they injected me with.

Recent pics