I thought it was only one of those days....

It turned into 6 (and possibly more, it's only Friday).

In my last post I told you about Sunday.

Monday, pretty uneventful. I'm pretty sad about Nana. I cried a lot. Found out about the arrangements. I honestly don't remember much more.

Tuesday. I'm developing a cough. I need something to wear. I have 2 somber events to attend and all my good clothes shrunk in the dryer (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). So about 1 I call my mom. She's headed to Kohls when she gets dressed. So I ask if I can tag along. It was a couple hours later when my jeans were dry that I left. So I turn out of our neighborhood on to the main road when the break light comes on. And the message says Low Break Fluid. This is all I need. I needed to use some coupons for a sale item at Winn-Dixie anyway, so I'll get some there. Well it turns out that in a minivan, the engine being wedged in the front completely different from any other sort of vehicle, the break fluid thingy is located under the windshield. Yes, under. So I lean across the engine and try my hardest to look at the fluid level...can't tell. SO I stick my finger in. Seems like there's fluid in there to me. I doubt it's just the light, but I haven't had a problem stopping and there are no kids with me, so I press on. We can take mom's car shopping. It's way cooler anyway. Off to Kohls. I like Kohls. I was not successful there tonight. We left empty handed and headed to Target where the closest thing they have to dressy is a strapless number (that shouldn't come in that size...). And they don't have ties. Like neck ties. Hubby needs a nice, non-novelty tie. They have none. Weird, but no big deal, I have a gift card at Casual Male. Who close freakishly early. No luck there either. Head to Cato. I find a shirt. One stinking shirt that costs more than I am normally inclined to pay on a whole outfit! But it's a nice shirt and I have a skirt already to pair it with. So we head to the mall, park at Sears and I found the perfect tie. Then to Lane Bryant. I told you all my clothes shrunk. After several outfits I finally decide on one. And I have a coupon ($25 off a $75 purchase...Party!). So the dress is only $40. Oh darn, I need to spend more to get free stuff. Then the sales girl says some magic words. I can save you 40% if you apply for a credit card, if you're approved or not. And I can still use my coupon. So I spent just under $60 and got:
1 2-piece dress (it has a short jacket)
2 bras
6 panties
I was very happy with my deal. I actually saved $143 after all was said and done...

So we didn't get home until really late, skipped a full meal for a pulled pork sammy on a hamburger bun. And went to bed.

Wednesday was the viewing. I don't really like viewings. I've only been to one and frankly it creeped me out especially since it was a person I really love. I am not looking forward. I really love my Nana too. But I needed to go. My mother needs me. She is holding up pretty well so far, but I don't think it will last. So my intent for the day was to meet with the Avon lady (I'm officially an Avon representative now) , go to Walmart for a short list of stuff, and head home to change. I didn't know that the Avon thing would take so darn long. We had to leave the house by 4 and at 3:20 I was still chatting with the Avon lady and I'm 15 minutes from home. I politely excused myself and sped home. Thankfully, I had fixed my hair and put on a fact to meet the Avon lady so all I had to do was change. So by 4 we're on our way. Mom had spent the night so we took her car again. I'm coughing a bit more, so I throw a handful of cough drops in my purse.

Let me tell you. This was a pretty heart wrenching experience. It was hard seeing the woman who I remember as so full of life and wit lying there in that coffin....of course, my mom and aunt made sure she'd travel to the afterlife in style. A pink casket. With roses. It really was beautiful. Nana loved roses, but fate made her allergic. Now she can have roses without a full on allergy attack. Mom sat in the first pew, along with my aunt, 2 of her grown (or almost grown) children, and some woman I don't know. I don't know this woman, because she is not a family member. And she's taking up my freaking seat. This is a viewing though. I will not make a scene. The priest recites the rosary and some poignant readings and my mother sobs. And I am across the room. No one is there to comfort her. When the good father is done, I walk across, kneel in front of my mother and lay my head on her heart. It's the best I could do. People are tripping on my feet, but I don't care. We composed ourselves and stayed a few minutes more to say goodbye until tomorrow and headed for the car, she promptly handed me the keys and we left. Then both of us realize we have eaten nothing for hours. And of course, once you realize you're hungry, you are. So we stopped for pizza. It used to be I Love NY Pizza. Same owners, different name, great pizza. It was fitting. Nana was of German and Irish decent. She married a full-blooded Italian. Guess she liked pizza too :)

Thursday was the actual funeral. I awoke at 1:40 something because I could not breathe. Like there was something swollen over my esophagus. I struggle, tossing and turning for a couple of hours. Go to the recliner, back to bed, prop myself up with bunches of pillows. Nothing helped. Finally at about 4 I woke up my husband, sobbing. I can't breathe. I was panicking. He immediately starts pulling on some sweats and I go out to the living room where my mom was sleeping on the couch and woke her up. She was so groggy and I felt really bad waking her up, but when I'm sick, I want my mommy. Micah insisted on taking me to the ER. Thankfully, there is a little community hospital not too far from our house and they have a full service ER. So we went there, I was the only patient. They did chest x-rays, listened to my lungs and everything sounds/looks good. The doc, or rather PA diagnoses it as an upper respiratory infection. Just great. Because I need more drama. Good news, it will run it's course in a couple of days. Bad news, the cough may stick around a while. But we're out and home by 6:45. H is skipping school today and attending the service, E is going to a sitter. Hubby is a pallbearer.
This time, I make positive I am sitting next to my mom. Of course, there is a little 5 year old between us. H wanted to go. She has been asking about Heaven and what happens to people when they die and I just really had a feeling she needed to go. It was heart wrenching. But I manage to make it through, thanks in part to some Afrin. H didn't really understand. But she dug the part where you repeat after the preist. And she got to ride in the limo on the way back from the graveside part. Yet another car problem, this time with the little car that hubby uses. The power locks are broken. And of course not under waranty. We all met at my aunt's after and shared some food and family time. On the way home (I live literally 2 minutes from my aunt) H starts to cry. I ask her why. She misses great-nana. I think it finally dawned on her. So we talked about it and I layed in bed with her for a while before she went to sleep. It was a sad day to put it mildly.

I tried sleeping on the recliner last night. Did good for a couple of hours, then thought I wanted to go to bed. It just didn't work. So back to the living room and on the reclining end of the sofa. I slept fitfilly until I heard the alarm go off in my room so I went and got H up for school. She was just fine this morning and wanted toast and pnut butter and jelly for breakfast. So I spread the pnum butter and spooned out the jelly. When I was done, I licked the jelly spoon. And felt the tingle on my upper lip. Great. Now a freaking cold sore. This is turning into the week from Hell. But as the saying goes, The Lord only gives you what he knows you can handle. Or something like that. At least today is Halloween and the kids are excited about trick or treating at their grandmas. Dispite everything, today will be a good day. So there!

Rest in Peace Nana. I love you forever and you will always live in my memories and stories to my children.

One of those days

You know the ones. You wish somehow you could go back to bed, wake up again, and the day would be better. That was my Sunday.

Rewind to Saturday. We got up and out late in the morning to help my best friend get ready for her annual Pumpkin Massacre. Which is a pumpkin carving/halloween party. The girls got to play with her daughter, hubby got in some Guitar Hero and M and I got to have some girl talk and fun getting things ready. Here's the product of my labor:

It took quite some time. The moon part is just shaved down....took a while to get it just right.

Anyway, we didn't get home 'till almost midnight so the kids were asleep in the car, we woke them to take off their jeans and let them sleep in their tees.

Sunday morning, E woke me at about 7. Of course, I wanted to sleep later, but that never happens. So we used the potty and crawled back into mommy's bed and cuddled for a half hour or so and I sent her along to wake H. Big mistake. From then on, it was one argument after another finally culminating in E arguing with me over a pair of socks. So then and there, I decided we would not go to Grandmas as planned. Hubby called her (his mom) which resulted in several more calls back and forth (I think she was trying to talk us into caving without actually asking us to cave). And SIL calling to say she was driving (an hour) over to get her camera (left at last nights party). I have to admit, at this point, I was not happy. Quite the opposite and yelled at hubby to call her back, we're not accepting visitors (we're trick or treating there Friday, she'll get it then)....At some point during all of this, Mom called to say the Hospice nurse had called not expecting my Nana to make it through the night. And I had some sort of weird headache only on one side of my head. Needless to say, it was a HORRIBLE morning.

So I guess E and I just exhaused ourselves because we both fell asleep in the living room around noon time. She on the couch, me on the recliner. And the nap did us both good I think. Of course, she peed my couch, but other than that...The afternoon was much better. Hubby went to bed at 3 and there were skirmishes after that, but nothing some alone time in their rooms couldn't fix. So next thing I know, there's no dinner and it's 5:30! It took me about an hour to get it on the table. The girls and I ate our dinner, then H got a shower and they both went to bed. I got the dinner dishes done and headed for the shower. Of course that's when the call came. And like that, Nana is no longer with us. She's not been herself for many months now. Her poor brain riddled with Alzheimer's. I thought I was ready for this, but really I'm not. It's very painful. I know she's in a better place, but I guess I'm selfish. I'm going to miss my Nana.

How do you exfoliate?

I forgot to take the pork chops out of the freezer. Again. So as I'm debating with myself on the subject of dinner, I think pancakes. I love pancakes. The kids love pancakes. Hubby and mom also love pancakes. So I voice that thought and get a resounding thumbs up from the peanut gallery. So as I'm pulling the self-rising flour out of the pantry, my mom says "got any bacon?" No. "Bacon would be good. I think I'll go get bacon." No problem. I'm game for bacon, especially if someone else is buying. So since it's getting late (the planning phase was quite intensive) I whip up the batter like an old pro and bust out some mini-pancakes for the kids. They love mini-pancakes since I arrange them like a little flower on the plate. They call them "fancy pancakes". And imagine their surprise as this time I added little chocolate chip pollen and some whipped cream for good measure and added hyperactivity. Needless to say, once the bacon came home, I mean my mom came back with the bacon, they were ready for another flower. Thankfully they don't like bacon. More for us :)

Like old times, me and mom at the stove. I'm flipping pancakes, she's turning bacon. Having an actual conversation. Loving being together. Bonding over breakfast foods. Round two at the table was adults only and the kiddies were in the living room dancing to Honky Tonk Badonkadonk (I love that song). It was a nice dinner. Simple. Delicious. Too short. Mom's short vacation over, she has to head home. So we pack her up and send her on her way.

By that time, it's bedtime. So I get their teeth brushed and tuck them in tight and head in for cleanup. Mom was also kind enough to pick up some dishwasher tabs (thanks Mom) making my life easier so cleanup went pretty quick. Except for a skillet. I treasure this skillet. It's a cast iron beauty from Cracker Barrel. I have burned it so many times and with a little oil, it always comes back so nicely. Well this time, it got too hot for the bacon and some burned a little and got stuck to the bottom. Were I making some sort of gravy, this would be a bonus, but alas, no biscuits tonight.

Now I heard on the Food Network once that if your cast iron needs a good scrubbin', you should use coarse salt. And I have used it and it works pretty well. It soaks up the excess grease and scours away the stuck on stuff without taking off the finish. So I always keep a box on hand. The only thing is, that they never really said how to use the coarse salt to do the scrubbin' so I just use my hand (yea, I'm not afraid to get down and dirty). So as I'm standing there rubbing away at my pan, I look and the back of my hand is kind of dry...a little too dry and scaly looking (yuk). That got me to thinking (yes, here we go again). If this stuff is good for scrubbing pans without scratching, why not the back of my hand? So without a further thought, I scrubbed it on my hand. Yes, I am from the south and I use bacon grease and kosher salt to exfoliate. What of it????? Thankfully, I like the smell of bacon. Of course, I'll probably wake up at 2 am wishing I hadn't crumbled the last two pieces into my chicken salad for tomorrow....

Actually, the salt did a good job. And it rinsed off quite nicely. So I washed it off with dish soap, and slathered some Burt's Bees Banana Hand Creme. So now I smell like a banana. I guess that's better than bacon. Maybe not. I really like bacon.



Side-note:
It occurs to me that I promised a Chicken and Dumplin' recipe, but never delivered. So here goes:

1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed (you will not use the meat from the whole thing for one pan)
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (I like the reduced fat for this recipe)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
about a quarter cup chicken broth (this can be made by boiling the bones and skin from the chicken)
salt/pepper to taste
Carrots, celery, onions (optional

Shred the chicken into small pieces. Separate and lay out the crescent rolls. Spoon chicken into the crescent and tuck the ends over to make a little chicken pocket. Reserve 2 or 3 rolls for decoration. Place each pocket into an 8x8 pan crowd them in together in one layer. In a bowl, combine soups and broth. If you're using the veggies, pan saute them just until the onions are soft. Add to soup mixture. Pour soup mixture over chicken pockets and season with salt and pepper. Slice remaining dough into strips to lay over the top to make the thing look pretty. Bake at 350 for probably 30-45 minutes. Serve.

I like to make chicken salad with the chicken I didn't stuff into the pockets, but certainly, you could add it to the soup mixture for more chicken goodness....

The award...

for best value in a grocery store goes to......

Rotisserie chicken!!!

Man, I love that stuff. For under $7 our family of four gets tonight's meal, enough left for chicken salad or chicken and dumplings (that recipe later) or chicken soup. Plus the bones make a great broth for cooking rice or pasta or cous cous or the base for the soup.

Last night, the girls had a "sleepover". Basically in our house that means pulling the trundle bed out from H's room and letting E sleep in there. Also, they get to break a rule or two. The rule breakers this night was bedtime (usually around 8, they were up till 9) and I let them watch TV in there until bedtime. You would have thought I'd let them rob a bank. They were snickering like a couple of villans! I'll have to admit, it was too cute. So tonight is round 2 of the sleepovers. This time in E's room, she has a double bed. I'm not sure they're actually asleep, but this is how it looked last night....





So I thought I would be able to "sleep in" today. WRONG!! I ended up not babysitting (good for the mind, not good for the wallet) so I knew I didn't even have to set the alarm. But then I don't EVER have to set the alarm. It was 6:15 when I heard the first steps. Won't they ever sleep in? I know people who have kids that will sleep till 10am!!! My kids got weird internal alarm clocks...So again, I am lacking sleep. But then what else is new?

And it's only 9:00

TGIF! No really. Not that I'll get to sleep in tomorrow ( I agreed to babysit) but at least I don't have to get up quite so early.

It's been a busy morning already...what with the usual morning school rush, but there was an added bonus today. I'll spare the gory details, but it involved a dirty pull up and a 3 year old who hasn't learned to wipe well. Needless to say, there was quite a mess in the bathroom. So a load of towels and a bottle of bleach/water later and at least the bathroom is clean. Which brings us to our second trauma of the day.

Rather than use store bought cleaners, I find for most things a bleach/water or a vinegar/water combo work well. This morning's previous event needed disenfecting, so I chose the bleach. And got a lesson in NEVER LEAVING THINGS WHERE KIDS CAN REACH THEM! I left the spray bottle on the kitchen table. And next thing I know the E (who is 3) is spraying it. She says it didn't get in her eyes, but I didn't want to take the chance and flushed them with water anyway. There's no redness or other symptoms now so either she was right or I got it all out. But I'll have to watch her like a hawk for the rest of the day just to be sure.

So now I have a load of clean towels to fold. And it's not even 9:30!

Guess this one shoud have been first....

I guess before I went on a diatribe about my crazy life, I should have given some sort of explanation as to what the heck this is all about. You see, several people I know, have known, am aquainted with, or would like to know, blog. They seem to view it as some sort of cheap therape. Me personally, I have never been much of a journaler. I have several nice bound books meant for my thoughts, that I never really got around to filling with them. So I have forgotten them. Such is the reason I thought "blogging" might be fun. My hand just gets so darn tired when I write and since I can't fit a journal in a typewriter, a digital journal is a great solution. So here I am. I don't know or even care if I have any fans out there. If I do, Great! If not, at least I got something off my chest.

Just Wednesday

Last night when I finally dragged it to bed I thought "ok...Wednesday. I like Wednesday. Only one kid at home, no one to babysit. Just me and my baby girl. And at one, I get my dear husband for the rest of the day." Yeah right.

For some reason, sleep didn't come easy. It was midnight the last time I looked at the green glow of the clock. And then for yet another unknown reason, 4am was the next time. Followed by 4:21, 4:46, 5ish, and finally 5:42. I threw in the towel. No biggie, I get up at 6 anyway. Then started the rush...get the kid up, fed, dressed, hair tamed, out the door to the bus. I thought...hmmm Nap! Not a chance. I don't know what it is about me and sleep. One day I feel like I could sleep all day, or at least till noon the next my bod won't let me relax enough to get more than 4 fitful hours. Maybe it has something to do with the night shift. I just can't get him to request days. It sucks. I loathe night shift and I haven't even worked it.



So it's Wednesday. A typical day around the house. Around the house, because I'm broke. No big deal, we have all we need, just no extra. So when the UPS showed up around lunch time I was excited. I knew it was only the beater bar for my broken vacuum, but still I love getting packages. So I installed it, did the bedroom, moved on to the living room, down the hall where I sucked up the throw rug. We have all done it, me like a million times. Never has it broken the machine. This time, I thought it did, freaked out a little (I know, it's just a vacuum, but I just spent $50 bucks on this thing). After near tears, and an hour trip to Gainesville, the wonderful people at National Vacuum plugged it in and like a ray from above, it worked. They didn't even have to remove one screw! YAY!! Apparently my machine is smarter than me, and has some switch to tell it if it's too hot and cuts power to the motor. Thank goodness for mechanical brains. And there was no charge for the service. Party. Bonus.



So at least my floor is clean(er).