Thanksgiving day jingle

"Turkey Day, Turkey Day, Turkey Day is only days way. Turkey Day, Turkey Day, Turkey Day is only days way."

This is the song my son was singing to himself as he was reading the paper today. It made me laugh out loud, he really loves all the food and family that Thanksgiving brings.

Lime tree

Last Christmas I received a gift card to a local nursery, since I wanted to plant some fruit trees in my yard. I bought a key lime tree, with the thought that it would probably produce fruit in 3 years. Jman was in the yard yesterday and he discovered our first lime, almost ready to pick, with another one just starting. I'm so excited, since I use lime in Thai dishes that I cook, and several of my baking recipes call for them as well. It is an item that I never have on hand, or buy and forget in the crisper of the fridge.

Key lime pie here I come!

Good news

Yesterday we had to take J to a specialist for a health problem that seems to run in my family. Last week we found out my 5 year old nephew would be going for surgery for a very similar problem. I was afraid while we were at our appointment yesterday that we would be told that J needed surgery as well.
J has had surgery once before in his young life, and I did not deal with it well. He had a difficult time coming out of the anesthesia, not waking up, vomiting as he was unconscious, with hubby and I not able to do anything to help. As I stood by watching his small, tiny body (he was 2) on that large sterile hospital bed, I was struck such pain in my heart from my powerlessness to help him that I almost fainted. I said to my mother at that time that I could never go through that again (obviously that statement was from an emotional standpoint, realistically I would be sure to get the health care he needed).
So, when I found out that he might have to go for surgery again, I was rather distraught. This last month of waiting for his appointment with the specialist has been one full of stress. As we got closer and closer to the date of his appointment, I became more and more nervous.
Luckily, the doctor determined that J does not need surgery. We will watch his condition and reevaluate next year, but it looks good that he will not need the surgery ever. Whoohoo!
Now I need to focus on giving my sister the support she needs to get her son through surgery.

Blue October

I thought I might share some music with you. This song just seems to describe my life to a "T" right about now. "Life's like a jump rope, up down, up down, up down"...describes a lot of folks lives right about now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7eyqCQYBGY

I'll go into more detail after tomorrow, lots of meetings, doctor's appointments, etc. whose outcomes may be good, they may be bad, we shall see.

Swine Flu

Swine Flu has struck hard in our neighbor hood. One day alone last week, 43 children went home sick from the elementary school. 2 of my neighbor's children came down with it, and within 48 hours the oldest was diagnosed with pneumonia. Poor kid was admitted to the hospital yesterday, and they gave him massive doses of antibiotics in an attempt to turn it around. They released him from the hospital today, with things looking a little more positive than they did yesterday. Unfortunately, his poor mother, who has been nursing both boys to health, is not doing so well. While at the hospital by his bed, she became ill, and was rushed to the emergency room herself. She too had become infected.
Her husband, who is not used to dealing with all 4 kids by himself (they are all 8 and under), was looking rather frazzled when I saw him this afternoon. I felt so bad for them, so I brought over a home-cooked dinner. I had told his wife earlier that I was going to do that, but that was before she became so ill and I guess she forgot to tell him because when I came knocking at his door at 6pm he seemed overjoyed to see me. He said he had just told the 4 children that they would have to go out and get something since he had nothing ready for them (in his defense, he normally is the one who makes dinner at there house, but he had to leave the house this afternoon so that realtors could show it to possible buyers). Hopefully they liked it.

Advice anyone?

We are at a tough spot with J, he has no desire to do any of his school projects; when he does work on them he either does the bare minimum or claims he "does not know" or "can't think of anything", which is bull, since we've discussed the projects in detail at dinner or in the car to make sure he does know what he needs to do.
We are at our wits end with him, and have no idea how to get him to do his work. His normal homework has him working into the evening, so he has no outside time as it is. He does not watch TV during the week, and he has lost weekend TV whenever he has not done his projects. He has lost gymnastics each week he has not done his work. Nothing we say or do seems to get through to him. When we try to sit with him and ask questions to get him thinking, all he responds is "I don't know" even if it is a simple question such as "do you want to write this report on paper or on the computer?" I've offered to type as he dictates, so that he won't be frustrated trying to type or write. He answers no to that suggestion. I'm tired of fighting with him, I'm tired with fighting with my husband over him. I'm just tired.
Any suggestions?

Fall memories

When I was a child, my family would choose a crisp October day to go pick apples from an apple orchard. We three kids didn't necessarily like apples, but apple picking was a different story. We would grab a bucket and race out into the orchard, each looking for the perfect tree weighted down with ripe apples. It had to be a good climbing tree, one that allowed a child the ability to walk out end of the branch if need be to pick that fat crisp apple. We would also spend some time on the ground looking for the most rotten, oozy apples we could find, not to take home, but to throw at each other.
Once home, mom would take the 10-20 lbs of apples to make applesauce. Dad would help peel them, and we would marvel at how he could get the peel off in one piece. Each of us kids would also be put to peeling, or washing, or cutting duty as well; although if recall correctly we never did last the whole process. After hours of simmering on the stove, mom's applesauce would be done. It would be a rich cinnamon brown, sweet and tender. We would eat bowl after bowl and make applesauce sandwiches as well.
To this day, when a crisp autumn afternoon rolls in I think of that applesauce. I've never been able to duplicate it, there was no recipe, it was always just to taste, so mom can't help me out in that department. Not that there are any apple orchards around here, it is just too hot.

Writing blahs

Hi folks, I've got the writing blahs and the end of weekend bitters so I'm not going to write much, since my new focus is to be more positive.

Recent goings on included a well visit for J to the doctor's that turned into a 2 hour appt.
(wait time included), 4 shots, and a referral to a specialist for something that may be nothing but that the doctor wants to be sure about. So, if I seem preoccupied, this will be the reason why. Hopefully, it will be nothing, we shall see.

While at this same doctor's office, I decided to test the doctor. A little background: every year when we go for our well visit, the doctor addresses me as "mom" and normally does not address J by first name. So this year, after waiting an hour, I told J that I was going to ask the doctor "without looking at the chart, what is J's last name". Yes, I was all piss and vinegar, but I was tired from work, tired from waiting, and bored.
Anyone want to guess if the doctor passed the test? He did not, in fact, he was apologetic, stating that he was a "face person, not a name person" which is why he also calls all the mothers "mom". He admitted that it was not a good trait, that it was good that parent's called him to the floor on it every once and awhile, it keeps him on his toes.
I've noticed that when I do this to the doc, it makes him slow down and really pay attention to us, rather than his mind being 2 patients ahead. Sure enough, it was this appointment that made him decide to refer J, rather than our last appointments where, on hindsight, this same problem existed, but was not as noticeable. I'm not going to go into detail, since I choose to think positively, but I'm glad I listened to the devil on my shoulder this time.

Tribute

I remember the falling buildings,
I remember the sense of everything being lost,
I remember "the all circuits are busy" telephone tones,
I remember the worry,
I remember the tears,
I remember.

What would your super power be?

Growing up I always wanted to be a super hero, I wanted mutant powers. I remember reading comic books, with Marvel comics being some of my favorite. There was a comic called "Misfits" I believe, where there was a school of mutants, some with super powers not so great, like acid sweat.
That would be the type of super power I would get. Actually, we joke around my work place that my super power is the ability to render computers inactive, the ability to find every glitch in a new computer program. It is useful if you are a tester of computer programs, but not so useful when trying to get work done.
I think I would like the ability to turn into a fly. I could fly, always a positive; I could cling to a wall, be practically invisible in a crowd; all positives. I would have to avoid fly swatters, but I think it would work.

What would your superpower be?

I should be sleeping but...

I realluy should be sleeping but...
there is a bird outside peeping away. Well, it sounds like a bird, but what bird is up at midnight? All I know is that just as I drift off, I am startled awake by a "peep-peep".
I keep checking my facebook page, playing silly games like Yacht (similar to Yahtzee), Farkle, and the like.
reality television plays in the background, and it keeps catching my attention just as I am about to turn it off.
the floors need sweeping, the counters need to be wiped down and there is laundry to fold.

I really should be sleeping.

Mornings

My child is not a morning person, never has been, probably never will be. Therefore, the earlier morning school wake-up (middle school starts an hour early than grade school) has been difficult, to say the least. It usually results in several alarm clocks then the mom alarm clock yelling up the stairs for the boy to "get your butt out of bed". This works with very little success.
The other morning, after doing this, I checked in on Jman to see how his progress in waking up was going. He was folded in half like a Swiss Army knife, with his middle draped over the edge of the bed. When I asked him what are you doing, he snickered, "look, my butt is out of bed, isn't that what you wanted?".

Quote of the day

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

-Robert Frost

I'm in need of some more education, that's all I'm saying.

First Day

Today was Jman's first day, which may not have seemed that long to him, but to me it was an eternity; which could be because I had so much nervous energy last night that I stayed up baking 6 dozen mini-cupcakes and then frosted them from scratch (my co-workers appreciated the results of my stress). It didn't help that Jman's new alarm clock, which was set for o'dark early, worked too well, waking up the entire household; well, almost the entire household, Jman was still asleep under the covers 10 minutes later when I stormed into his room to turn it off (disclaimer: I am a bear when awoken early in the morning, especially after a night of tossing and turning. I need(not want) my coffee to make myself civilized). After a short, terse discussion on alarm clock etiquette, Jman got out of bed and readied himself for school. He was still in good spirits, the fact that I made him his lunch cheered him considerably (I had been telling him for months that with him going into middle school he would have to make his own lunch since I would not be getting up that early).

I got home from work after him, so I had to interrupt his intense concentration on Lego ship building in order to get the details of his day. Me: "Did you switch your locker?: Him: "nope, I figured out if I stand to the side a little and stay on my tippy toes I can do it, I did it like 5 times today" ME: Any homework? Him: "No, but you have homework (referencing the oodles of paperwork that comes home the first week). He told me about the kids in his class that he already knew (luckily, they are ones whose parents I know, who are in scouts with him or were in his class last year), how they really did not do much during the day, and how everything seems like it will be ok. I am breathing a sigh of relief. Now, I know we'll have our trials and tribulations during the school year, since we always do, but I am a little more relaxed today.

Middle School here we come

The new school year begins tomorrow for Jman and he is headed to middle school. He has no worries about it, but I am a quivering mass of fears. Why? Well, we went for orientation yesterday, and Jman was given his locker, books, gym clothes etc. When we went to his locker, we found that his was the one on the top and he can't see the combination on it since it is too tall for him. It was almost comical as you looked down the line of students; it seemed as though cosmic forces were at work since many short kids were stretching to see their top locker combos while the tall kids were bending down to reach their low lockers. No switches were allowed for that day although it was mentioned they might be able to switch the lockers the first day of class.
Jman is so naive and innocent. When I mentioned to him that if he was lost he should ask a teacher not a student where a class was located, he wanted to know why. When I explained to him that sometimes upperclassman will send the new kids of the school to the wrong place (my day it was the pool on the third floor - no pool, no third floor), he didn't understand why someone would do that.
He is smaller and younger than many of the kids in his grade and I am afraid he will get picked on. The gym uniforms they have don't even come in a size that fits him. The shorts are extra loose, and I can picture him getting "pantsed" in gym class. Why am I imagining all these bad things, I do not know. It could be because Jman does not hide his emotions well. If he is upset, you will see it on his face. It often looks like he is ready to cry when he gets angry, and he has a great deal of difficulty controlling those emotions. I see it as a red cape waving in the wind for bullies to target.
In Jman's defense, he has a confidence when it comes to new situations that I never had. He thinks middle school will be fine, it'll just be school, which he does not enjoy, but it does not have any extra worries for him. His homeroom class is his art teacher, and he could not be happier about it. In fact, she is already talking about taking the students to the NY and Washington, D.C.

I just want to protect him, to have things run smoothly for him. I know that the teenage years bring angst and upheaval for children, but can't I protect him a little longer?

Cookbooks

Most folks know me as a practical person, someone who is frugal, one who does not purchase things on a whim...but I have a weakness, it being cookbooks. I'm likely to buy a cookbook based on one recipe that intrigues me, with the thought that if the author was smart enough to include that recipe then there must be many more where that came from.
I have an entire wooden cabinet filled with cookbooks. In my defense, it is a small cabinet, about 3 1/2 feet tall, so it is not too full of cookbooks. I've got cookbooks on my counter top and even a "cookbook" I created. It is a photo album that I have placed copies of family recipes, recipes from friends and just ones from magazines and newspapers that have caught my attention over the years. The clear plastic protective layer prevents food splatters from destroying the recipe and it's binder format gives me the opportunity to add more sheets as needed. I even have my collection of the cooking magazine "La Cucina Italiana" on my counter top for quick and easy reference.
Yet, out of all those books, I barely open them once I get them. I use my "Joy of Cooking" most, and my homemade one next. I'm more likely to peruse several cooking websites I've come to love than to open my cookbooks. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I don't usually have the ingredients on hand for the recipe that catches my eye or I do not feel like spending the time to prep it for that night's dinner.
I've made a new resolution, that with each new cookbook (and the old ones as well) I need to take 1 recipe per week. This way, our dinners will be more varied (or our desserts, I have several dedicated to chocolate, cookies, etc) and I will have gotten my monies worth from them. I can plan ahead, so that the ingredients will on hand. In fact, I can even prep most of the meals on Sunday so that the hectic work week will not be quite so hectic.
Luckily, Jman cooks dinner once a week and he is not afraid to open my cookbooks, to choose something completely different every time. Some of the recipes he has picked have seemed odd, but all have come out deliciously. I guess I do know how to pick a cookbook, even if I don't use it myself!

Hiking

We've also done some hiking this summer. Even in 100 degree weather we still have been able to enjoy our selves.

Plymouth Rock

We visited home in July and decided to take in some of the historical sites while we were there. One of them was Plymouth Rock. As you can see, it is smaller than most would think. In fact, the rock was not recognized as the landing point until years later. I think even the colonists back then realized what a tourist attraction could do for their local businesses.

Reviewing the past 5 years

I just finished reading all my posts from the past 5 years, along with their comments. I noticed several consistent themes in my blog: I rant about work, cancer, hot weather; hubby is gone a lot and J's progress through the years. Several of you have stayed with me through the years, almost from the start. In fact, Envoy and Wally are my oldest "internet friends". :)

I'd like to add some more fun to this blog. How, I am not sure. I'd like my posts to be more positive as well. Just because I'm having a tough week you should not have to read my complaints, or at least they should be peppered with some humor and inspiration.

I'll have to think some more about it. For now I need to get ready for a new day: Hubby's gone again, temps are in the 100's, and have to rebudget based on the 2% raise I got rather than the 1o.7 % I was promised. ;)

A little prayer to give you strength

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
Dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.