Menu Plan Monday-H1N1

Yeah, so 2009 H1N1 is on everyone’s mind.  My kids and I got the vaccine last Saturday.  Now I’m sick; don’t know if it’s that or seasonal flu or a bad cold.  Thank God, the kids are all ok.

Anyway, I thought it might be a good time to add some recipes to our repetoire involving foods that bolster the body’s ability to fight off disease.

Monday – Roasted Curried Cauliflower uses one of the cruciferous veggies that are good also if cancer is a concern in your family.

Tuesday – Light Salmon Fritters involve a fatty fish (gotta love Omega-3s)…I’ve heard wild is best.

Wednesday – We’re getting some dark green leafy vegetables with Beef and Spinach Deep Dish Pizza this week.

Thursday – It was hard to find a berry recipe that didn’t involve baking, but Banana Strips with Apricot Sauce and Blueberries seems to fit the bill.

Friday – If there are any berries left over (yeah, right! *lol*) we’re going to use them as an addition to this Matcha (Green Tea) Smoothie recipe.

I hope y’all enjoy these recipes…I love visiting of a week and seeing what everyone else is doing.  I’m not especially creative in the kitchen…yet, but I’m learning! :O)

Aloha Fridays – What is your “best” time of day?

I’m wondering this week what everybody’s best time of day is, or, when you have the most energy?  You know, some people are morning folks and some are night owls.  What best describes you?

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For more of the aloha spirit, visit Aloha Friday #97 at An Island Life Blog!

Only the Good Friday – The Results are In!

A week ago Tuesday I had a stroke scare…went into work, had a nurse take my blood pressure, which was 212/120.  (That’s not the good part. )

I had a “nuclear stress test” and “echo cardiogram” down at a cardiologist last Monday and got the results yesterday.  My heart remains sound.  PARTY TIME! *lol*

Other good news for the week:  My son, age 12, who was in Texas for a week with his grandmother (my MIL) and her husband has returned!  My whole family is back together again and I’m as happy as a hen on the nest!

Tomorrow is “Family Day” at work, where the families of the residents and staff can visit the facility.  The food is good, the games and little bouncy things for the kids are well-visited, and it definitely increases morale around the place.  Looking forward to it, even though I have to work afterwards.

Top Ten Tuesdays – Why I Let DS1 go to Texas

Let me ’splain.  DS1 is 12 years old.  I just got back last week from a week in Utah with my mother and brother and was not thrilled about sending one or more of my children (I have 3) off for another week while I settled back into the work routine here.  What about DS2 (age 11) and DD (age 6)?  They chose not to go.

And without airing too much family dirt, I have had serious disagreements with these in-laws in the past decade concerning the children.

But, to the list…

1.  I prayed about it and found peace.

2.  He wanted to go.

3.  He will have opportunities there in a big city that are scarce in our small town/area.

4.  Outside of DH and myself, MIL and her hubby have the fiercest love of DS1 and his siblings.  I have complete confidence that he will be well-loved, -protected, and -provided for this week.

5.  Even though I heard about the possible visit first from MIL (as a ‘fait accompli’), the idea was not presented to the children until I felt good about it.

6.  I found out that MIL and I both have ‘reservations’ about some of the XBox360 games that my kids like.

7.  I won’t have so much competition for computer time.  (I know, that’s kind of petty.  *lol*)

8.  He got to help me harvest at the Pine Corners farm in the Facebook game “Farm Town”.

9.  The noise level in the apartment has gone down several decibels.

10.  DS1 is treating this as an educational adventure.

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For other great Top Ten lists, visit the Top Ten Tuesday meme hub at the ohamanda blog!

Aloha Good News!

There are two memes in which I have participated on Fridays, Aloha Friday at “An Island Life” and Only the Good Friday at “This Eclectic Life”.  Being as it is Friday, and I’m winding down for the weekend, I thought I would combine the two today!  My Aloha Friday question is in line with today’s Only the Good theme, even!

Have you ever  stepped out of your comfort zone for the good of someone else?

For myself, well…I’m having trouble thinking of an example, although it’s certainly the kind of thing I’d like to think I’d do if the situation called for it.  I’ve hunted down new-born (umbilical cord still attached) kittens who were tangled in vines at the in-laws’ farm and couldn’t be released by their feline families, and taken them to their mama’s for a drink.  I think the closest I come to going beyond myself is when I (increasingly) stand up to some of the situations at work that do nothing to support the health and/or well-being of our client population.  (I work at a residential/teaching facility for adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities).

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For my Only the Good Friday…WE GOT MOVED!  I’m so happy I could plotz!  *rofl*  We went from a two bedroom house (with 2 adults, 3 children, a dog, two adult cats and four kittens (all animals were taken in by good people) with no interior doors, sagging floors, leaky pipes and no hot water which was also 17.1 miles from work to a 3 BR apartment with interior doors, hot and cold running water, a washer-dryer and non-biological dishwasher that is only 4.8 miles from where I work.  HUZZAH!  (Party at my place, B.Y.O.B (cause this county is dry).

Thanks for visiting, feel free to leave a comment and play along on the memes!

Aloha Friday #2 – Maybe Time I’ll Get it Right

A couple of weeks ago I was bee-bopping through the Internet, when I came upon the Aloha Friday meme at An Island Life blog.  I left my comment, and did a post…but apparently forgot to ask a question in my post…which is only like the whole point of the meme. *lol*  So, after hiding in embarrassment for a several weeks, I am once again venturing into the blogosphere – meme style.

So, here’s my question…

Have you ever mis-read directions to a meme and made a “boo-boo”, not finding out about it until too late?  ‘Splain please.   Have a great weekend, y’all!

Trashy Thursday #2 – Words to Live By

Some of my in-laws kill me with their advice.  A few of them have homes that are so clean and orderly, I feel like I’m in a museum when we visit – I’m afraid to touch anything.  These are usually the ones who comment on our housekeeping skills (or the lack thereof).  Sometimes I feel like snarking back, “Oh yeah?  When was the last time you fit two adults, three high-energy children (are there any other kind?), one crackhead dog, two cats and 4 kittens into a two-bedroom house with one interior door (to the bathroom)?  So my parental wisdom for household cleanliness follows.

“All play and no work might cause you to trip over toys, but all work and no play stifles your creative juices!”

Ok, so I just made it up, but give me a break…the juices are flowing freely this morning! *lol*

Having said all that, I think it’s time to pick up the living room today…at some point.  No, it’s not on my cleaning schedule … we don’t have one of those.  But it’s kind of hard to go stretch out on the couch, when you have to clear a path to get there!

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Y’all head on over to White Trash Mom blog to find more tips for the motivationally challenged housekeeper!

Trashy Thursday #1 – Bad Mommies at Work

I nominate the “Inter-Disciplinary Teams” where I work as Trashy Moms/Parents.  Let me ’splain.

I work at a residential/teaching facility for adults with MR/DD (mental retardation and developmental disabilities).  Three of the seven ladies I help care for have g-tubes, where they get fed by a tube that leads to their stomachs.  They get nothing (but the occasional breath strip) by mouth.  Two of the ladies can walk by themselves and have relatively good function of their limbs and good small-motor skills, which sometimes extend to taking the lid off their tubes or occasionally pulling them out (which necessitates a trip to the hospital).

One of these two ladies will open/pull out her tube simply for the attention it gets her. To lessen the probability of either of these two events occurring, she had been outfitten with a “belly band” and a body suit, to make accessing the tube more difficult.

Well, the professionals on the IDT have decided (as they do not want to hear from the people who work most closely with the residents) that the body suits and bands are an unfair restriction of the ladies’ rights.  They have said that they are no longer to wear body suits during the day (when they do wear the belly bands) and secondly, they are not to wear the belly bands at night (but then they wear the suits)!  These are not the staffers, of course, who have to get the residents up at night, give them 2nd and 3rd showers of the day and change their beds multiple times when most 9-to-5′ers are asleep.

To me, this the same type of sh*t ‘logic’ that says, “We never use outlet covers in plugs around toddlers,” “We leave caustic cleaners out, because our kids will not try and get into them if we’ve told them ‘NO’”, and ‘Screw looking both ways when you cross the street’”!

To read about more “Trashy Mommies/Parents”, head on over to White Trash Mom’s blog!

Menu Plan Monday – #1

Monday

Spaghetti Marinara

Tuesday

Macaroni & Cheese

Wednesday

Chicken Fajitas

Thursday

Hamburgers

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

Burritos

Sunday

Chicken & Dumplings

I’m reallly looking forward to getting ideas from MPM meme members, because we usually have the same stuff over and over again.  I also work 2nd shift, so most days I’m not even home for the family supper.   (But this has a silver lining…my husband does most of the cooking, and he has a lot more experience than I do! *lol*)

MONDAY – The Simple Woman’s Daybook #1

FOR TODAY, Monday, 1 June, 2009

Outside my window…little bits of sunlight coming through the leaves of the lush trees in my backyard, casting shadows on the worn-country-store-turned-storage building next door.

I am thinking…WOOHOO!  I have the day off from work today!

I am thankful for…(see what I was thinking)

From the learning rooms...is this like a homeschooling question?  I’ve been thinking about doing more cooking with the kids this summer.  And I thought about doing it at my Mamaw-in-law’s house.  She is 86 and doesn’t do much anymore, but she L-O-V-E-S her great-grandchildren, and I think would love to share stories about her childhood with them.

From the kitchen…  ooooh, let’s not go there.  I want something filling and simple, that my kids won’t turn up their noses at.

I am wearing...black jeans with a belt, cause they’re starting to slip over the hips (yippee!), a nautical themed collared tee-shirt and my hubby’s sandals.

I am creating…active treatment plans for the mentally-retarded, developmentally disabled adult residents where I work.

I am going…to start using my pill-splitter today.  I’m supposed to take half a Cyclomel (thyroid med) per day, and cutting it with DH’s hunting knife (not that he hunts) “just ain’t cuttin’ it”…so to speak.

I am reading…Donna Partow’s “Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be”
I am hoping…to move in the next month or so.

I am hearing…birds chirping outside my window.

Around the house…DH snoring in the bedroom, DD huddled under the covers because she’s terrified of this moth that’s flitting around the kitchen, and the boys sprawled out asleep on the couch.

One of my favorite things…the relative lack of depression I’ve experienced for the last three days!  What a relief!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

• Monday-take a walk with DS1,
• Tuesday-take a walk with DS2,
• Wednesday-take a walk with DD,
• Thursday-clean the coffee pot,
• Friday-pre-pack what I can for our MOVE!,
• Saturday-take it easy because it’s my 5th day of work in a row (very physically demanding)

Here is picture thought I am sharing…(this is the building mentioned above in what’s outside my window, although the shot is from a couple of months back)

Click on the icon above to see other daybooks at Peggy’s meme hub!