Hodgepodge

SO! I have come to the conclusion that all my misery should be funny instead of, well, miserable. Thee miser-y endth now. My blog was getting far too lame. Here are a few things:

1) Have you ever had to hold a three-year old down while he has a tooth pulled? How about strapping him to a gurney with a straight-jacket to pull the tooth? Yep, that was my morning on Friday! Turns out the bump on his gum was in fact an abscess, and the tooth was not only dead but split and could not be treated - had to be pulled. So in the next couple months my toddler will get his very first (and hopefully last for a very very VERY long time) partial faux tooth replacement. How does one keep a two year old who flips out at the thought of any dental or doctor appointment still to take care of said tooth? By strapping him to a gurney-type structure while we all tried to calm him (there were two office workers, me and the dentist all holding him). Turns out my child is unnaturally strong (I could have told them that) - it was fun.

2) My car is currently structured like a filing cabinet holding all sorts of work that I don't have time to do actually at work. I don't know if I'll get around to doing it at home either, but deadlines be damned. I'm supposed to be caught up by Monday (end of month) and I just don't see it happening unless I buckle down at home. Ha! Caught up, that's a new one.

3) When I was driving Spencer to Grandma's after the dental escapade so that I could head to work I witnesses the aftermath of a slight fender bender. There was little to no damage, but the lady in the car in front had gotten out of her car and was screaming at the person in the car behind while on the phone, and then she let loose and kicked the second car. Evidently someone else was having a bad day too. Hopefully she doesn't claim injuries to her big toe.

4) The plague is starting to pass over my house. Hubby is the only one who has escaped it; I'm still coughing pretty hardcore and the boys have very stuffy noses but we're all in better spirits. Henry spent two nights sleeping in his swing (I never realized how many batteries swings go through - wowie! Spencer didn't like the swing so we never went through extras with him).

5) I am addicted to these:
(img via your truly, these are my homemade sweet potato chips.)

6) but these look like what I'm making tonight:

(img via Jennie)

7) My mom is going to be staying with me after her surgery, for I assume about a week. I haven't lived with my mom since I was 19, when, as she puts it, I "ran away from home". In actuality I packed all my stuff in garbage bags and took them out to my car and then woke her up to let her know that I was moving out. Right now. So ... maybe I did. Anyhow, the point is I have not slept in the same house as her in 11 years and now I'm going to be taking care of her. I think it'll be fine, but I am slightly skeptical of these living arrangements even though I'm the one who suggested it.

8) Due to the nursing, I am thinking of doing all crock-pot meals all week long. So now I have to decide what to make. Maybe some chili, maybe Greek pitas, maybe Pot roast. Any recommendations? Oh, BTW - if you plan on using your crock pot more than once and don't feel like cleaning it every night (this is my only draw back to cooking crock-pot style), invest in these. They are overpriced for what they are (I bought mine with a $1.50 off coupon) but they can be a lifesaver. And if you have any recommendations on how to do this without spending $3 every four times I want to use my crockpot, I'm all ears.

9) Isn't this the sweetest? Spencer loves to hug his brother and tell him that he is his best friend.

Waiting

The thing about waiting rooms is that you spend an awful lot of time waiting. I'm sitting in one right now while we wait to have my mom's second biopsy (lymph nodes this time) and we've been here for now two hours and they say 30 more minutes before we get in for the needle. I'm not looking forward to "being there" for the needle. Fun.

So with nothing to do and me feeling like pulling out my nook is more rude then just fiddling with my phone, I'm here wasting your time by giving you a bit of nothing to read.

Number one had a fever this morning, and then number two had one by 11 am this morning so after this appointment I get to pick up the kids and drag them to the doctor too ... A mother's/daughter's work is never done, right?

I ran 5k on my lunch break yesterday in 39.48, which beat my self-imposed time to beat of 40 minutes. I've been informed that a time over 41 minutes is considered "walking" (who are these people and how long is their stride?) So my goal was to not walk it. Next goal - beat 40 minutes in sunday's actual race while not dying. It's a legitimate concern. This race is a "trail run" which means much more terrain than I'm used to, but hopefully I will be distracted by the pretty trees and the people and will get my butt in gear.

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Have I told you lately?

I love these shoes. I love all my shoes really, but these ones I almost gave away because they were too tight until the person I almost gave them to said "try having them stretched". A novel idea, and I've now had them two years and haven't worn them because I never got around to doing it. Until now. $10 later and I'm now comfortably wearing my beloved wedges. Thanks, shea-shea!

In other news, my cold has broken (like a fever?). Evidently I still sound like crap and I still can't breathe well, but I no longer feel like death. Hooray.

I would answer today's 10 on tuesday but I'm doing this from my phone so I don't think I can swype all that out. Sooooo ... The only questions I can remember are no, I don't decorate for valentine's day (i hardly celebrate it), I use outlook on my work computer and my phone calendar for everything else and that is the extent of my planner-use. I have a photo of my kids on my desktop, I use turbo tax and it's never too cold for flip flops (spoken like a true floridian).

Tonight I'm trying my hand at homemade thai food - I'll let you know how that works out. I'm kind of excited. Also, on a tangent - spencer keeps saying "I'm so excited" whenever we do something new (like when we were headed to the parade) and it's seriously one of the cutest thing ever. And I want to break out into song a la the Pointer Sisters every time he says it (oh who am I kidding, I do break into song every time). So funny!

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McSickerton

It turns out that going out in 50-degree windy weather to fight with grown women who won't get out of the way of your two year old who just wants to watch the parade because they want cheap plastic beads is detrimental to your health, especially if you are all ready starting with the scratchy throat.

I was just a tiny bit sick. I thought I was well enough to traipse to the Gasparilla children's parade.

Ahem. No.

So now I'm full-blown-plague sick, just in time to take my mom to her biopsy and deal with children on my own for hours between when I get home and when Hubby gets home. Where does it end? I went to bed at 8pm last night and didn't get out of bed until 8:30 this morning, quarantined myself to my cubical for 7 hours and then came home to make myself soup. This one time, I'll say thank God for Caillou. Watch as much as you want, please and thank you. Number Two has spent over an hour wanting to be held, and now he has bounced himself sleepy and is taking an impromptu nap in the bouncer - I love that.

Anyhow, I am better now than I was this morning, and I'm hoping that Hubby will bring with him some more Tylenol Severe Cold which I can chase with soup and then hit the hay again. My flight on Friday will be awesome with a head cold, let me tell you. Let's hope it goes away pronto.

Menu for this week:
Monday: tortellini and spinach soup
Tuesday: pad see-ew
Wednesday: grilled chicken salad
Thursday: pulled pork sandwiches and homemade sweet potato chips
Friday: chicken tacos
Saturday: I'm out of ideas ... any suggestions?

Rainy doldrums

I wrote a very long post today about all the stressors in my life and why I can't seem to find my peace and be happy.

I'm not going to post it.

I think actually getting it all down on paper made me realize all the things I need to let go of. It's been a bad week.

I need to start smiling again.

I need to start laughing again.

I came home today early from work, suffering from the rainy day doldrums and buried myself in my bed for a couple hours to finish reading a sufficiently trashy book. Then I picked the boys up and we buried ourselves in my bed reading Dr. Seuss and Sesame Street books and watching a classic car auction (my boy is a little odd sometimes; that's what he wanted to watch). It was a good, stress-free night complete with spinach and garlic chicken sausages and homemade sweet potato chips that Number One ate all of (I'm still amazed). Number Two didn't cry once, and they both went to bed easily.

Sometimes you just need an easy night to remind you that things really aren't that terrible, and you really do have it pretty good.

Is it only Tuesday?

I didn't post Menu Monday this week because a) I posted two weeks last week, b) I forgot and c) I would feel compelled to include my "ugly toes photo" and I was very unhappy with it. By Friday I had lost another 3 lbs, but then I got my monthly and even though I didn't eat any more than usual (although there was a bit of alcohol consumed at a Saturday bridal shower), I gained 4 lbs back. Bah.

Spencer has developed an abscess on his gum above one of his front teeth. I don't know what this means, and by Google-diagnosing I'm now afraid that it means that tooth is dying and will have to be removed (although it's been 10 weeks since he broke it, and all the research I can find says that if the tooth was going to die it would have done so in the first month). I'm also worried that they will want to drain it which will be traumatic for all of us, and that by not taking him immediately to the doctor yesterday I've endangered his life because they said that untreated the infection can reach the brain ... it's just a big scary mess for me. He could care less, because it actually causes him no pain. However, we have a doctor's appointment this morning which is going to be a horrible ordeal and thank God my husband dropped Henry off at my IL's house this morning so I only have to contend with the one.

After all of that, I'm taking my mom to get her bone scan today to confirm again that the cancer hasn't spread. Supposedly, it will be an all day affair and I've never been to Moffitt although I know generally where it is. I kind of bullied my mom into letting me help her with some of her appointments, but I still don't know what I'll say if she needs to stay with me while she recovers. I would assume that my husband would be fine with it, but I have a small house and I'd have to empty out the library and put a bed in there (I assume my Ikea futon would be uncomfortable for long-term recovery). I just don't know. You know?

All this and I didn't get up this morning for my run - I have a feeling I'll need my workout tonight to settle my nerves anyhow. Toodles!

Sunday Scrambles

Over our Sunday breakfast scramble this morning, my husband asked: "So, are you documenting this?"

The answer was no. "Well, you should."

So here I am, documenting it. The names of the dishes are because my husband also insists on naming any meal I make that I don't follow a recipe for, in case in an alternate reality I were ever to open a restaurant I wouldn't need to decide names for anything. I just use whatever's in the fridge, so it's unlikely that I will ever duplicate these scrambles, but in the event that you want to, here's a list of the ingredients:

1/2: New Year's Scramble
Collard Greens, Black-eyed peas, garlic, onions, low-fat ham, 1/2 eggs, 1/2 egg whites

1/9: Clean Kitchen Scramble
yellow bell pepper, summer squash, onion, garlic, tomato, black-eyed peas, low-fat ham, half full eggs and half egg whites, topped with a little cheddar cheese. For the leftovers for my lunches through the week, I sauteed some spinach and mushrooms and added them in too.

1/16 Mexi-Cali Scramble
onions, green peppers, the last of the black-eyed peas, turkey, pico de gallo, green chilis, 1/2 eggs 1/2 egg whites, topped with the last of a jalapeno cheese ball that my neighbor brought over on New Year's Eve, fresh cilantro, sliced avocado and a dollop of sour cream

These were lovely healthy (more veggies than eggs and just a touch of cheese) breakfasts, and 7 eggs (3 full, 4 whites-only) plus the add-ins made 5 generous meals (feeding me and my husband on Sunday, and then 3 breakfasts for me through the week). I hope to make Sunday Scrambles a weekly tradition, and maybe in the future I'll start remembering to take pictures!