Saturday, March 19, 2011
Aunt Pam’s Buns
Please allow my to explain this title. I have an Aunt Pam who makes the most amazing rolls. Usually she makes them into crescents. They are a little sweet and I could eat like a hundred of them, but so could everyone else so they usually are gone in a flash. I have been telling Pat about them for a long time and today I am going to attempt to make them for the first time. I have been promising to make them for a couple of weeks now and the house is abuzz with longing for them. Finally we have all the ingredients and I have the time to make them Everytime I say Aunt Pam's buns, Reed starts moaning about how good they are. I just hope that they turn out as good as I remember since I have never made them. I will let you know how they turn out.
Eat like it’s going to be your last meal
This is Pat's personal motto. He says that he has a stomach like no other. In that respect he is just like Hershey (we have heard labs referred to as "Lunch with legs"). I tried to call him "Meals on Wheels" but he didn't appreciate the humor in that remark.
I have noticed that he really does try to treat every day like his last, maybe that it why he is so reluctant to sleep at night. All I can say is that eating like it will be his last meal works for him, but I try to make my personal motto "Eat so this won't be your last meal".
Somehow we will manage to get a unified focus for food one of these days.
I have noticed that he really does try to treat every day like his last, maybe that it why he is so reluctant to sleep at night. All I can say is that eating like it will be his last meal works for him, but I try to make my personal motto "Eat so this won't be your last meal".
Somehow we will manage to get a unified focus for food one of these days.
Pizza Thursdays
I bet you are wondering how Pizza Thursdays are progressing? Well, it is a work in progress. This Thursday Reed helped Pat make crust from a box (they were supposed to be learning how to make it from scratch but oh well).
The pizza was great, except for the fact that it was extra, extra crispy crust because when they put it into the oven, they didn't set the timer. I guess Pat thought Reed was going to check it and Reed thought Pat was going to check it, so no one checked it. It cooked for about 45 minutes and it is a miracle that it was not burnt, just hard as a rock. :)
Pat says that it tasted good to hm but the pepperoni was made with processed cheese slices because SuperPat ran out of preshredded cheese. That probably was not the best idea I ever had. The barbecue chicken one was good flavor wise but we probably should have greased the pan first. Oh well live and learn. Better luck next time. Next time i am really going to focus on the task and it will be yummy, good, nutricious and great.
I keep telling him that he learns more from his mistakes than he does his sucessess so this just helps him figure out what not to do next time. Once he gets it working really well, we are going to have a pizza party and let all our friends do a taste test.
The pizza was great, except for the fact that it was extra, extra crispy crust because when they put it into the oven, they didn't set the timer. I guess Pat thought Reed was going to check it and Reed thought Pat was going to check it, so no one checked it. It cooked for about 45 minutes and it is a miracle that it was not burnt, just hard as a rock. :)
Pat says that it tasted good to hm but the pepperoni was made with processed cheese slices because SuperPat ran out of preshredded cheese. That probably was not the best idea I ever had. The barbecue chicken one was good flavor wise but we probably should have greased the pan first. Oh well live and learn. Better luck next time. Next time i am really going to focus on the task and it will be yummy, good, nutricious and great.
I keep telling him that he learns more from his mistakes than he does his sucessess so this just helps him figure out what not to do next time. Once he gets it working really well, we are going to have a pizza party and let all our friends do a taste test.
Our little boys
Pat and I are so blessed to have the chance to have so many little kids that we love in our lives. One of the best things we get to do is to babysit for our little friends Ethan and Kaleb while their parents are at therapy. We love taking them out for ice cream before we take them home to put them to bed.
The other day I was talking to their mom and she told me about a conversation she had with Ethan. Ethan had asked his mom why we didn't have kids. As a sidenote, we get asked this a lot by our friends who are children. And we always tell them that we will someday have some but in the meantime it means that we get to spoil them and love them like they are our own. Bonnie said something to Ethan that was along the same lines and then he started to cry.
When she asked him why he was crying, he said that he didn't want us to ever have kids because then we wouldn't love him anymore. I just have to say to Ethan and to all of our little friends and neices and nephews that we will always love you and we are so glad to have you in our lives. We are very blessed to have so many friends with children that we love.
The other day I was talking to their mom and she told me about a conversation she had with Ethan. Ethan had asked his mom why we didn't have kids. As a sidenote, we get asked this a lot by our friends who are children. And we always tell them that we will someday have some but in the meantime it means that we get to spoil them and love them like they are our own. Bonnie said something to Ethan that was along the same lines and then he started to cry.
When she asked him why he was crying, he said that he didn't want us to ever have kids because then we wouldn't love him anymore. I just have to say to Ethan and to all of our little friends and neices and nephews that we will always love you and we are so glad to have you in our lives. We are very blessed to have so many friends with children that we love.
All I want for Christmas is a new sink, new dishwasher, new electrical work
I just have to say that there are some days that I would give just about anything to live in an apartment again. It was so nice to be able to call up the landlord and tell him that something wasn't working right and know that he would get someone out to come fix it. Plus does anyone really like yardwork? Maybe those people without allergies to pollen, grass, weeds, and bees. :)
We have had a month of things breaking down. First it was the sink. I came home from work one day and my brother and husband announced that the tailpipe of the sink was no longer connected to the rest of the sink. WHAT??? We were able to get a plumber in to fix the problem but I was mystified as to how that could happen. For quite a while I secretly wondered if my junior plumber attempts had caused it. Then Pat let me in on a little secret that made me realize that it was not my fault at all. We won't say what he told me, to protect the not so innocent, but for once, SuperPat was not the root of the problem. (nothing against him, but he has a lot of learning to do about mechanics, plumbing, etc).
Life seemed to be pretty good, but then I noticed the giant dent in the front of our dishwasher. It looked like someone had tried to kick it in, or that Pat hit it at tope speed in his power chair. No one would confess and if the dogs know, they aren't talking. After that, every couple of loads, the dishwasher would not drain at the end of the cycle. Since the boys do most of the dishes in the evenings, I didn't find this out until about 11pm on a Saturday night. Not the best time to get a repairman. Sigh. So after the repairman came, we found out that the line was completely full of grease. I bet you are mentally adding two and two and coming up with four. I know I did. They did promise never to do it again.
Since problems come in threes sometimes, I guess I am not too surprised that now the lights in our bedroom are flickering and our overhead light behaves like someone in another room is flicking the switch on and off. I have no clue what the problem is, but my brother tells me that the wiring probably needs to be replaced in the house. Double sigh, guess I know what the next step is.
We have had a month of things breaking down. First it was the sink. I came home from work one day and my brother and husband announced that the tailpipe of the sink was no longer connected to the rest of the sink. WHAT??? We were able to get a plumber in to fix the problem but I was mystified as to how that could happen. For quite a while I secretly wondered if my junior plumber attempts had caused it. Then Pat let me in on a little secret that made me realize that it was not my fault at all. We won't say what he told me, to protect the not so innocent, but for once, SuperPat was not the root of the problem. (nothing against him, but he has a lot of learning to do about mechanics, plumbing, etc).
Life seemed to be pretty good, but then I noticed the giant dent in the front of our dishwasher. It looked like someone had tried to kick it in, or that Pat hit it at tope speed in his power chair. No one would confess and if the dogs know, they aren't talking. After that, every couple of loads, the dishwasher would not drain at the end of the cycle. Since the boys do most of the dishes in the evenings, I didn't find this out until about 11pm on a Saturday night. Not the best time to get a repairman. Sigh. So after the repairman came, we found out that the line was completely full of grease. I bet you are mentally adding two and two and coming up with four. I know I did. They did promise never to do it again.
Since problems come in threes sometimes, I guess I am not too surprised that now the lights in our bedroom are flickering and our overhead light behaves like someone in another room is flicking the switch on and off. I have no clue what the problem is, but my brother tells me that the wiring probably needs to be replaced in the house. Double sigh, guess I know what the next step is.
Time flies
So at least once or twice a day for the past month or so, I have thought about things I should put on the blog. But as you can see, I haven't. :) Since I really don't want to work on filing my taxes right now, I thought I would play a little catch up. So be ready for a lot of posts, I am going to try to get Pat to post as well. I am not going to worry about the order we post in, so if my days jump around, sorry in advance!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
5 Fabulous reasons to love Hump Day
In random order:
1. Great friends who don't mind having a birthday so that we have an excuse to go out to lunch together. Yum Yum. We have the best friends in the world and I don't know what we would do without them. I am so grateful for the knowledge that not only family relationships but friendships will carry on through the eternities. Thank goodness for kindred spirits.
2. Pizza Thursdays. Pat has discovered the joy of homemade pizza and has been experimenting with new toppings and ideas. We have been having Pizza Thursday at our house, he is trying to work up to making his own pizza dough from scratch. Tomorrow the menu items are pepperoni and barbeque hawaii chicken.
3. Pat's continued progress both in walking and in other areas. Please allow me to brag for a moment. Pat recently walked from the front door of Sam's club to the car pushing the grocery cart, unhooked himself from the stop sign and the handicap sign, and got into the car with only very minimal assistance (a hand on his back, two times). This was very challenging for him because the grocery cart changes his center of gravity and forces him to rely on his legs more than his hands because when he uses his hands too much, the cart really goes forward quickly. :) I have to admit it is so amusing to watch though. Also, Pat has been carrying his own walker up the stairs when we go to therapy. Last week he dropped it a few times and managed to squat down and pick it up again so that he could unfold it. This was on the top of the stairs and he did not loose his balance once. I really wish that I could figure out how to get a video of this on the blog, it is quite amazing to watch.
4. Nieces and nephews, and cousins, and family. My sister Angie sent a few pictures to us of their kids, Kat and Tim's wedding, and various family members. I took a couple of them to work to update my collage, which is really great but every time I see Tim and Kat's picture, I remember how much fun the wedding trip was and miss everyone all over again. And every time I see the picture of Susan, Lilly, and Andrew, I wish that they lived closer so that I could just squeeze them to pieces because they are so cute. Charlyn - we don't have any pictures of Julia except for the ones I used for her baby shower invitation. I think you owe us. :)
5. Blogs. I haven't read anyone's blog for about a month, and it was so fun to catch up on everything. Pat and I have been reading and looking at pictures and just having a grand old time living vicariously through our friends and families lives for the past hour.
And a bonus reason to love Hump Day, most excellent therapists who are brought to us through the tender mercies of the Lord. I can't imagine how we would be coping right now if we hadn't started seeing Emily and working through some of Pat's experiences. As painful as it is, and it is horrendously painful, there is no progress without growth and she has helped us grow so much.
1. Great friends who don't mind having a birthday so that we have an excuse to go out to lunch together. Yum Yum. We have the best friends in the world and I don't know what we would do without them. I am so grateful for the knowledge that not only family relationships but friendships will carry on through the eternities. Thank goodness for kindred spirits.
2. Pizza Thursdays. Pat has discovered the joy of homemade pizza and has been experimenting with new toppings and ideas. We have been having Pizza Thursday at our house, he is trying to work up to making his own pizza dough from scratch. Tomorrow the menu items are pepperoni and barbeque hawaii chicken.
3. Pat's continued progress both in walking and in other areas. Please allow me to brag for a moment. Pat recently walked from the front door of Sam's club to the car pushing the grocery cart, unhooked himself from the stop sign and the handicap sign, and got into the car with only very minimal assistance (a hand on his back, two times). This was very challenging for him because the grocery cart changes his center of gravity and forces him to rely on his legs more than his hands because when he uses his hands too much, the cart really goes forward quickly. :) I have to admit it is so amusing to watch though. Also, Pat has been carrying his own walker up the stairs when we go to therapy. Last week he dropped it a few times and managed to squat down and pick it up again so that he could unfold it. This was on the top of the stairs and he did not loose his balance once. I really wish that I could figure out how to get a video of this on the blog, it is quite amazing to watch.
4. Nieces and nephews, and cousins, and family. My sister Angie sent a few pictures to us of their kids, Kat and Tim's wedding, and various family members. I took a couple of them to work to update my collage, which is really great but every time I see Tim and Kat's picture, I remember how much fun the wedding trip was and miss everyone all over again. And every time I see the picture of Susan, Lilly, and Andrew, I wish that they lived closer so that I could just squeeze them to pieces because they are so cute. Charlyn - we don't have any pictures of Julia except for the ones I used for her baby shower invitation. I think you owe us. :)
5. Blogs. I haven't read anyone's blog for about a month, and it was so fun to catch up on everything. Pat and I have been reading and looking at pictures and just having a grand old time living vicariously through our friends and families lives for the past hour.
And a bonus reason to love Hump Day, most excellent therapists who are brought to us through the tender mercies of the Lord. I can't imagine how we would be coping right now if we hadn't started seeing Emily and working through some of Pat's experiences. As painful as it is, and it is horrendously painful, there is no progress without growth and she has helped us grow so much.
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