Tag Archives: tradition

List of lists 

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Michael, Andrew, and I will be embarking on a trip from our home in Illinois to Flagstaff, Arizona Labor Day weekend. Of course, this means I have been in planning mode for the last few weeks.

I have started my lists. Also, means I found a good use for the fluorescent graph paper I picked up while buying school supplies for Andrew. (Told you I would need this paper for something, Zakary!)

Lists that are currently in play:

  • Master list
  • Travel timeline
  • Travel binder – me/Michael
  •  Road trip binder – Andrew
  • Packing lists
    • main luggage – will be shared
    • car bag – Andrew
    • pit stop bag
  • Snacks
  • Shopping list
  • What to see on the road
  • blog/social media posts

One of the questions I often get asked about my lists: “does this help?”

Answer: “It helps me.”

I can’t vouch for everyone. I know that the thought of putting this much time and effort into all of this would drive some people crazy.

Lists help me attempt to control the chaos. Yes, I said it. I can be a little bit of a control freak.

But lists also help me when I am not surprised when something goes wrong. For example, I know that I need to pack a “puke bucket” in the car, because 3.78% of the time we have taken a road trip, Andrew has gotten sick. Not even close to every time, BUT if I don’t pack it, he’ll need it. (also the container of Dramamine with all the pills split in half is already in a pouch for a car bag.)

 

My Favorite Easter Tradition

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I don’t even remember how it started. I am sure I read it in a magazine or saw it on television (this was in the pre-Pinterest/Google era).

Every year before Easter, I receive a magic jelly bean from the Easter Bunny. On the Saturday before Easter, you plant the magic jelly bean. When the Easter Bunny stops by, the magic jelly bean grows into a lollipop. I have done this with my little brother (now almost 28), Zakary (almost 17), and now Andrew (age 5).

Last night while we were out running errands, the Easter Bunny gave Michael and I a red magic jelly bean to give to Andrew. *wink* When we returned home, Andrew was excited to “plant” his bean. We decided to put the jelly bean under a rock behind the van.

The Easter Bunny I decided that behind the van might not be the best place to have the lollipop grow. There are quite a few people that walk their dogs in the mornings, and not knowing how early Andrew would be up, the “Easter Bunny” decided at 4 AM to go outside, move the jelly bean (which should read, “I threw the jelly bean across the street”), and bring the Easter treats in the house from the van. I, I mean the Easter Bunny, “planted” Andrew’s lollipop in the potted plant on the table, and left this note:

Maybe notes shouldn't be written at 4am

Maybe notes shouldn’t be written at 4am

I have tried to scale back my over-buying of candy for the holidays. I bought just a few Reece’s eggs, a marshmallow Spongebob lollipop, and a stuffed sting ray for Andrew. The unit of focus this month at preschool is the ocean. Ray the Ray was the perfect addition to our family! I didn’t get a pic of Andrew and Ray, but this is the wonderful photo of the Spongebob lollipop.

Imaaaagggginnnnnaaatiion!

Interestingly enough, Spongebob tasted like coconut.

Finally, A Routine Procedure?

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First and foremost, thank you all who have been thinking about me, sending good vibes and/or prayers. Your messages, texts, tweets, emails and phone calls have meant so much to me. 

This morning, I had what I hope was the last procedure to repair the issues caused from my wisdom tooth extraction in December. I was incredibly nervous, because … well, Murphy’s Law.

Now, arriving at Pre-Op

Surgery Flight Board

At Check In, I was assigned a code number.  Michael could use that number to track my progress during the morning. I had to take a picture of this, because one of the MANY things Andrew likes about going to the airport is checking the flight boards. And I have to admit, I love it too.

I LOL'd.

+1 if you see the Pokemon reference.

The procedure lasted a little longer than expected, but everything went well. Because of my history of issues with general anesthesia, I was given some extra meds at the end of the surgery, so that they were in full effect during my recovery. Once I was awake and moved into a post-op room, I was given a list of snack options. For some reason, graham crackers and apple juice sounded like the perfect snack. And for the first time in three months, I used a straw! Ok that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for me it seemed like an incredible step to recovery!

I still remembered!

First time using a straw since December!

After what seemed like a very short time, I was discharged. Michael and I seem to have a tradition to go to Perkins for breakfast on hospital days. I am a not doing to complain, because it seems like Perkins is one of the only places in town that has Eggs Benedict on the menu all the time.

Cluing for looks

Zakary knows how to help me feel better 🙂

After the delicious meal, we dropped my ‘scripts off at CVS, grabbed a few supplies at Meijer, then home to settle me in. Zakary and I put away the groceries, and then settled down to watch an episode of my other favorite Benedict, Sherlock. 

 After an episode of Sherlock, it was time for a nasal flush. I won’t get into the disgusting details of nasal flushing. If you want to know more, let me know, and I will fill you in…weirdo.

Nose water

Hopefully, the use of this water is clear

This water has been left on the counter so that it will be at room temp, when I need to use it. On top is my favorite My Little Pony mug currently doubling as a drying station for the flushing bottle.

I made sure that all my supplies were in one place so that if I asked someone help, it wouldn’t have to send one of the guys in 5 different directions to assist.

Idiot Proofing?

I love all my nerd magnets

Supplies in one place

Everything needed for the sinus flushes 

Accountability

Of course I made a list.

I made a list to track the times for nasal flushing. This way one of my amazing caretakers would be able to lovingly wake me up for a flush, if I happened to be napping…whatever a nap is. I listed the time flushed in black, and the next flush due in pink. I also set alarms on my phone for every 4 hours that will repeat for the next week. 

 Not pictured: the list of 10 medicines I am now taking post-op…sigh 

 Feeling pretty good with residual “good drugs” from the hospital and the recommended first dose of pain meds coursing through my veins, I decided to make Italian bread pizzas while waiting for Michael to get home from picking Andrew up at school, picking up the rest of my prescriptions and getting an oil change. The oil change wasn’t really on the list, but CVS was really backed up. The prescriptions we dropped off at three still weren’t ready at 6, so they needed to kill some time. 

Mich/Amb

My labeling could be getting out of control

YUM!

Recipe coming soon!

Zak/Roo

Even though these have the same ingredients, they needed to be labeled

Less than 12 hours post-op, I am feeling pretty good. I am not sure if it is just wishful thinking, a great combination of meds, or being optimistic that this ordeal is actually close to being DONE! Whatever it is, I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It’s Just Taco Night

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I want to apologize for the quality of my photography to this point on this blog.  I’ve been using the camera on my cell phone as the primary source for photography, which hasn’t been horrible.  Next photos should be of a much higher quality!

But I digress…

YUM!

There's no folding this one!

TACO NIGHT!  Growing up, we had taco night quite regularly.  In fact, a memory a friend of mine has of overnights at my house was taco night! Mom would buy these mini-taco shells, and we would have tiny taco nights.

I really wanted Mexican food the other night, and with the MAJOR tightening of the pursestrings at our house (like so many other houses in America), I decided to make Mexican at home.  I had hamburger in the freezer, seasoning in the cabinet, and cheese, tortilla shells and tomatoes in the fridge.  I thought a quick trip into Wal-Mart for lettuce and sour cream would be all we needed.

That was until I got into the store.  All of a sudden, I wanted black beans too.  Thinking my 20-month-old wouldn’t eat black beans, I got refried beans, because I KNOW he loves those!  Then an avocado was a must-have…as well as onion…

Realizing that I needed to get the youngest from daycare, and the oldest out of Wal-Mart, we headed to the check-out.

I didn't think about all the dishes I would have to do though!

Mom's Build-Your-Own-Taco-Bar

Dinner tends to be more family-style in our home, but taco night equals buffet-style!

The countertop became “Mom’s Build-Your-Own-Taco-Bar!”

Dinner was also delayed because I sliced my finger open on the refried beans can.  Finding something to keep the gash closed was tricky (I’m allergic to adhesives on band-aids and tape, but that’s another story for another time), but we managed, without needing to amputate!

This post will probably be more of a list of goodies, rather than a recipe.  The only real recipe will be how I seasoned the beef.

LIST OF GOODIES ON THE BUFFET

Avocado
Onion
White rice
Refried Beans
Black beans
Cheese
Lettuce
Grape tomatoes
Tortilla Shells
Sour cream
Salsa

Taco meat

1 pound ground beef
6-8 ounces water
2 T. Fiesta Party Dip Mix (R) 

Brown ground beef.  Drain any grease.  Add Fiesta Party Dip Mix (R) to beef and stir.  Add water to pan.  Simmer and stir occasionally.  When water has cooked down, serve!

“Ruining” A Tradition

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Ruining a Tradition

Deliciously Ruined

Tradition – noun: the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to
generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way

Last night I “ruined” a traditional meal that has been passed down in my
family. You might be asking how I ruined it. Was it burnt? Did I add too
much salt? Neither of those apply in this situation.

I called my mom yesterday evening to tell her that I had ruined Gramma’s
beef stew recipe by adding one simple ingredient…mushrooms.

Gramma doesn’t like mushrooms, ok that’s putting it lightly. I made this
AMAZING pot roast around Christmas. I offered to warm some leftovers up for
her one afternoon. She was quite vocal about her dislike of the fungus.

While talking to Mom, I decided that my secret would be safe if I blogged
this recipe. Usually putting a piece of information on the internet isn’t
the best way to keep something quiet, but knowing that Gramma won’t be
surfing the net anytime soon, I figure it’s a safe-ish bet. (saying all that
was probably all in vain, knowing that Gramma is currently visiting my
technophile Aunt and Uncle in the D.C. Metro area and will probably see it
shortly after posting 🙂 )

So here it is, the recipe that could get me dis-owned.

Beef Stew

~ 1 pound Stew Beef

1 T butter

1 T Garlic Garlic(TM)

1 package Beefy Onion Soup Mix

~ 3 cups Water

Petite Red Potatoes cut in half

Carrot baby or cut into 2 inch pieces

½ pound portabella mushrooms

1 can tomato soup

Brown the stew beef with the butter and Garlic Garlic(TM). Once thoroughly cooked, add the onion soup mix and about a cup of water.  Let that cook down, then add more water.

I usually let that simmer down one more time while I prepare the potatoes, carrots and in this version of the stew, the mushrooms.

I used petite red potatoes in this recipe, so I just sliced them in half.  The carrots were cut into 1 ½ to 2 inch pieces, cut on the diagonal.  For the mushrooms, I removed the stems and cut the caps into quarters.

Place the freshly cut ingredients to the pot with the beef.  Add a can of condensed tomato soup to the pot as well.  Add water to cover the contents of the pot and stir.  Let the stew cook on medium heat until the carrots are cooked through.

I served my stew with a piece of a loaf of bread from Jimmy Johns! (Only 49 cents!)