Monday What's Happening?

Hi Connie,

Well, I got ambitious and totally swept and mopped both of my living room and kitchen floors.  I also decided to be willing to host Thanksgiving dinner, if my family wants.  I have the largest kitchen space, as well as a dining room table that could seat eight comfortably.  I also have a folding table in the basement if necessary.  I just need chairs.  

Right now, I'm at my volunteer job, which I had been away from while I was sick.  I am slowly getting back in my routine.  Hopefully that will get me back to normal eating.  I totally blew the diet on and since my birthday on the 1st.

Hugs,

Trish

Hi everyone! 

Another disjointed sleep but I’m about to lay down for a quickie in a few minutes.

My biggest crockpot is filled with home made beef, vegetable and barley soup, nice and thick, for supper. The house smells so good!  There enough to send several quarts next door to Derek & Kathy as well. 

It was so mild out this late morning that I was sitting outside in short sleeves, cleaning six bundles of celery from the garden….this is the first time we grew celery.  Now that the bundles are all washed, they are spread on clean tea towels to dry. Then I separate the leaves, snapping/cutting them off and leaving them on another clean cotton tea towel to dry out for 3-4 days until they are brittle-dry. Then I crush them carefully and jar them all, labeling and stashing them in my pantry to use when I make soup....they add such a nice flavour to the broth.   

The stalks are spindly due to the very dry summer but I’m chopping them up and simmering them in chicken broth until soft. Then once cooled, I will freeze the chicken/celery broth again for soup…we waste NOTHING here *s*.  JB almost starved to death as a toddler in Holland during WW2  and I grew up pinching pennies to afford the basics so we are very conscious of not wasting food, especially with so many people dying of starvation even today.

Dan & Amy are flying as I type, coming back home from a badly-needed vacation for a week in Costa Rica …I guess then I will find out when Amy’s dad starts his radiation treatments for the cancerous tumour on his vocal cords. I wonder if he will finally quit smoking?

JB and Derek are outside welding snowplows- adding new cutting edges and blades, checking the electrical connections,  doing preventative maintenance on the mechanical parts of the dump trucks and connecting hydraulics in preparation for the snow.  Poor JB, says he retired nine years ago but Derek keeps him so busy, he is too tired to do his OWN projects…I suspect that he still enjoys the challenges and keeping busy.

I spoke to my sister-in-law yesterday.. she sounds really good but is getting some of those “good drugs”….she had a double mastectomy on Thursday for invasive breast cancer. Her family is very supportive and help her a lot. 

I seem to be struggling lately….NO energy at all…seems like I want to lay down every few hours ….maybe this has something to do with my low white blood cell count. The second test is Nov 22 ..then they can decide what will remedy this.

Well, time to check the soup and make a sugar-free apple crisp  for tonight’s dessert. I bought several different kinds of baguettes and will slice them, add virgin olive oil and rub them with garlic, then toast them and layer them with extra-lean turkey kolbassa and melted cheeses to go with the soup...should be a good supper.

Oooopps, here comes the rain!  It’s supposed to get BELOW 0 celcuis tonight…yuck!

Be safe, many blessing to you all-

Nancy B

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for the idea of drying and storing the celery leaves.  I've put them in chicken soup fresh, but hated just cutting them off and tossing them when I wasn't making soup.  From now on, no tossing them.  Thanks.

Try to rest when you feel the need, and then see what the doc says later on this month.  You are fighting a disease and recuperating from treatments.  It's to be expected when fighting cancer.  My dear friend in Florida fights exhaustion all the time.  

Take care.

Hugs and prayers,

Trish

Hi Trish and my OFF family:

Getting on here late ... I am dragging today. I finished my first week of work and was so tired last night, I couldn't think straight. I was falling asleep at work. Fortunately, it was a slow night ... so I was fighting sleep. We had a late game to wait for, so I just sat there trying to stay awake ... I picked up a few other pages to keep busy. Still tired now. But no work for two days, so that's a good thing. It was good to get back to work, but it was a rough week. Hopefully, it'll get easier now that I'm back full time for good.

I went out and looked at a couple of apartments today. Both were OK, the second was better than the first. The first one was a 2-bedroom but awfully small for a 2-bedroom ... the rooms were small, the closets were very small. Plus, I'd have three steps up to the deck and then one step up to the apartment. The second one was really nice ... the kitchen was gorgeous, all remodeled, but no dishwasher ... that was the only drawback. Lots of nice big closet space. Actually has a half bath connected to the master bedroom. Really liked this apartment. I guess I could look at getting a roll-in dishwasher. Anyway, need to make a decision soon.

Not much else planned ... tomorrow I have a PT appointment, then a doc's appointment. Then, maybe more apartments. Not in the mood to do much today. I'm tired and sore ... we had rain last night and it's colder now.

Have a good day.

Hey Eileen,

I totally understand about preferring roominess to tiny.  My apartment upstairs was tiny, though cozy.  But, I needed a storage space for some treasures I'm not ready to part with.  Where I'm at now, downstairs, is perfect.  Dishwasher, built-in microwave, huge kitchen/dining room, laundry room on the ground floor, storage in the basement, plus a yard for Utley.  Before I had to walk him everyday, three to four times a day.  The only flaw?  12 hours from my grandchildren.  

I'm checking out places in Michigan to rent.  I've looked in my daughter's town, and only found one place but not ready to send my daughter to check it out till I get my settlement from the insurance company.  I'm not going to sue the poor kid *****ar-ended me, because he and I have the same insurance.  I'll give them a call next week, after I see my PCP and he discharges me.

I'm glad you have a couple of days off to regroup.  I finally went back to my volunteer job today.  Felt good after being gone.  First two weeks in Michigan.  Then, the hurricane.  Then, I was sick as a dog for over two weeks with the month long sinus infection which caused the month long earache.

Hang in there.

Hugs,

Trish