Tom's Crazy Suit

I forgot to mention in my last post, so it's it's getting it's own, and perhaps it needs it...

Last week we were browsing through a local thrift store for sweaters and other things for a few projects, when Tom found a suit, well, he found 2 suits, one a very shiny brown that fits him nicely and the other, well, it kind of defies explanation. It also fits him well, though I needed to replace the buttons and still need to hem it properly. Any way, this second suit was only $5.50 which knocked it into the "OK, we HAVE to get this and embarrass the kids with" range..

As you can see, it is also very shiny. And off white. And plaid. He decided to go with his purple shirt and tie because the outfit needed some color. We will likely be getting several more brightly colored shirts to go with this thing.


He did wear this to Church last Sunday, with the boyfriend who was visiting and we still didn't seem to manage to scare him off. We've told Tom he needs a hat to go with this suit to really finish it off. I did replace all the gold buttons (some were missing anyway) with silver ones and we didn't have time to hem it, so it was just pinned up, but I will need to do some hemming on this, as the pant legs were extremely long. The whole things seems to be made of polyester and was made in Korea. And is now a proud member of Tom's closet where he will be making all sorts of use out of it. Future weddings, halloween costumes, formal events, whatever he can come up with, I am sure.

4th of July

Ok, it has been a crazy month so far. Girls are here, and Tom is home, yay! Bree's boyfriend came up from Washington to visit us for a week and was here for the 4th. Most of his week here was spent with Bree dragging him all over the state, but for the 4th, we had a relatively quiet day at home. Bailey, Caleb and Gaia came over, as did our defacto substitute son Chris, so the whole gang was pretty much over. Tons of food was had (I made the BEST slow cooker boneless short ribs, and we grilled chicken and moose steaks and burgers for the younger ones who wanted burgers, plus there was pickled potato salad, baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, quinoa salad, several kinds of mini pies and a cake. Then Bailey brought masked potatoes and biscuits. Everything except the biscuits and the burger buns was Gluten Free and so yummy. We still have tons of left overs and they are still so very, very good....) and we followed it up with a game of Risk. I actually won, which was a first. I haven't played it too often, but everyone was surprised, especially since I started with basically just basing myself in Europe. Apparently that's not usually successful.. worked for me though, so, yay!
No fireworks for us this year, apparently all the big shows had been the night before and outside of the shows, fireworks are illegal in most of the state due to risk of fire. Not to mention it really doesn't get dark enough in the summer in the part of the state we're in. It would be like most of the lower 48 wanting to set them off at 4 to 5 PM, so we just never bother with them. The big shows up here are for New Year's.
Our guest seemed to enjoy his time up here, and seems a decent sort of fellow. He certainly fits right in with our variety of insanity.

In other news, my garden is doing very well. I've pulled a few squash out already, and the pumpkins are just started blooming. My bell peppers are going like crazy, and I've got a fair number of little tomatoes started, and the jalapenos are starting to go crazy as well. We've pulled the first carrot, which wound up being a LOT shorter then we expected, but was still very good. And the peas.. oh those were good, so sweet.. it will be hard letting them all sit out there while we wait for enough to do anything with to get ready. I could so easily just go eat them right out of the pods..

And my brother has announced that, at long last, they are expecting a boy. He's got 3 girls out of nearly 10 years of marriage and they are finally having a boy. They've been trying for a boy forever and have had several miscarriages, so this is exciting news for them. My new little nephew will be due later this fall.

June!

Ok, May sucked. Shortly after posting last we found out that my youngest step daughter had been hospitalized. We still aren't sure what actually was going on. (the perils of step kids living out of state and an ex who won't tell you anything...) We heard that she was on IV antibiotics for infection, but no one knew what kind. There was talk of kidney failure and other things. She was in the hospital for about 4 days and then sent home. As far as we know, all is back to normal and well. We will hopefully be able to get better details once the girls are here.
Mom's surgery went well. They think they got it all and her test all came back clear. She goes in next week for her pre-radiation consultation and then will start 6 weeks of radiation therapy. She is in great spirits though and doing well.
As for my gluten test, well, I don't know if it was effected by not being on gluten long enough or what, but the test showed I was negative for celiac. That really doesn't matter to me though. Just doing that gluten challenge was enough to verify intolerance for me, even if it isn't (yet) celiac and I am back off the stuff for good! I am so much better, healthier and happier.
My garden is doing great this year. I've got squash! And peas and it looks like I've got carrots! We've never had any luck with carrots before. The pumpkins and watermelons are still growing and we're hopeful for them this year as well. Indoors, we had a bit of a fight with aphids (where, oh where, did they come from?!?!) but it looks like I won. My peppers and tomatoes are doing well as are my herbs. I will have to work on getting pictures posted in here one of these days. I have at least 3 little baby tomatoes. They are fully crowding my windows already so it's hard to get a good count until they get bigger, and maybe red, but there are some showing up.
Girls will be here soon, and this year we've got a brave boyfriend coming to meet the folks and check Alaska out as well, so that will be interesting.

May sucks

May has not been a fun month. I decided to go back on gluten so I could do some preliminary blood testing. Almost immediately I started getting sick again. I have felt so miserable the last 2 weeks. Last weekend we went and signed up at the gym, too. This will be a good thing, but right now I feel so terrible I can't do much and what I can do makes me feel nearly dead. I have been so very very tired and sore and, quite honestly, moody. I'm back to bottomed out where I have to plan everything I do and any little surprise can completely ruin my day and my mood. I hate it. This is not me and I was so much better for the 3 months I was off gluten. I already decided that, regardless of what they blood test says (which might not be entirely accurate anyway since I've been off it for 3 months and only back on for a few weeks..) I will be going 100% gluten free forever more.
Then, 2 weeks ago I got an email from my mother. She had gone in for her annual mammogram and they found a "shadow" and wanted to do a biopsy. That was done and they sent her right off to a specialist and she is now scheduled for surgery to remove the tumor and test lymph nodes, etc to make sure the cancer hasn't spread. We are all hoping that this was caught early enough that the surgery (and then about a month later she will start radiation for a few weeks) will catch it all and we can be done with this... I worry, however, as I know she's already got autoimmune problems because of her MS.
Anyway. So I'm stressed out and feeling horrible and I decided I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired and I'm done with gluten. (Ok, will be officially done tomorrow since I've already planned tomorrow's dinner and would be difficult to convert at this point..) So this afternoon I took the test. (It was an at home self test from a company in Canada. I had to import it via my mom in Idaho because for some reason, Canada doesn't want to ship to Alaska...) It is suppose to be fairly accurate, but, you have to have been on a "normal" gluten-filled diet, and having been off gluten for 3 months and only back on for a few weeks, I might not have built up enough anti-bodies yet. I had planned to be on for 3 weeks, but I really just couldn't take it anymore.. I tested negative for celiacs. But that doesn't mean I don't have it. There are various levels of reaction and I might not be damaged enough yet to actually be positive. (It is, sadly, one of those illnesses that many doctor's don't acknowledge until serious permanent damage is done to your intestines, and sometimes not even then..) Anyway, I know I have some level of gluten syndrome. The HUGE massive difference in my health, energy levels, emotional stability, etc between when I'm on gluten and when I'm off of it.. it really is amazing. I'm sure that if I left things alone and kept eating gluten I'd eventually get damaged enough to be considered fully celiac, but, seriously, why should I have to?
Doctors don't tell people to keep eating sugar and we won't treat you or ask you to change your diet until you're diabetic, why should celiacs be any different?
Just making the decision to stop the gluten test has lifted my spirits and improved my mood. I've had too many dizzy spells, too much weakness, too many aches and pains everything else. I am so looking forward to feeling better again.
And hopefully my mom will get good news next week, too.

1 week

I've been back on gluten for one week now. I hate it. Everything that had slowly gone away the last three months, things I'd never even noticed or put together to link with this.. all of it has come back and I hate it. I've been making a list of everything as it comes back, because, this time, I'm noticing. The list is very long, nearly fills 2 columns in my steno notebook/diary. The worst are the lack of energy, the loss of coordination, the fuzziness of mind, clouded thinking, inability to remember things I know I should know, the aches, the pains, the emotional roller coaster..
I know I need to be back on this stuff for several weeks before I can do blood work, but, honestly, I'm this close to calling it quits. I know that, regardless of what ever the tests say, I am never eating gluten (knowingly) again unless there is some serious life or death thing going on.. cuz it is not nice to me at all.
And, honestly, I've used this as a chance to splurdge a smidge and have all of those "oh no, I'll never have ______ again" foods I first worried about, and I've been surprised, they just really didn't taste as good as I'd remembered them being.. Ok, a few things still are, but, for the most part, I was loosing my taste for them, so that will be good for me. If I survive this challenge anyway.
At least Hubby is home now to help out while I slowly fall back to pieces. And he's already told me that he wants the "new, gluten free" me back, and he's only been home a day now.. so this will help encourage him to support me in this, and maybe I can use that support to help get him eating better when he's home, too.

Back on wheat - for now..

Well, I've decided I need to do some testing to maybe confirm this whole celiac thing. I've found a home test kit that I can order and do myself for much, much less then I can at the doctor's office.. so I'm going back on wheat for a few weeks then will take the test. If it gives me a positive result, I will be discussing biopsy options for later this year with my doctor. Though, honestly, I'm pretty sure that I have it. It just, seriously, makes too much sense. And if the doctors are willing to make do with blood tests, then maybe I won't need the really pricey biopsy (and 3 months back on wheat before that test...) I will also likely be contacting one or two of the local labs around town to see if any of them will run some other blood tests for me to get it all official and in my charts, etc.
But, it means that right now, I'm back on wheat. Tonight was my first jump back in. I've decided that I'm mostly going to stick with only doing wheat in the evenings, and see how that goes. I want to still be able to function during the day and all. I've been pleasantly surprised this evening, in that I haven't reacted nearly as badly as I have in the past when I've had accidental dosings. This is actually a good thing, as it shows that my intestinal tract has been healing somewhat in the 3 months I've been off of it. Things are coming back though, just slower and not as intensely as I expected. Haven't had the headaches yet, though the body aches are starting to creep back in, and there was some straight up nausea and bloating after about half an hour. Thankfully those seem to have subsided again. It's going to be a long couple of weeks, and part of me really hates that I'm doing this to myself. But, must get an actual answer about all of this. Either way, if not needed for testing, I'm going to be going and staying gluten free. The testing and medical confirmation would be nice, as it will allow me to claim some of the extra costs of going gluten free as medical claims, but, honestly, I personally already know that this is the answer I've needed. This lies at the root of everything (or nearly) that I've been having problems with for years. I've been doing a lot of reading, and a lot of symptom tracing and I know when things started to get bad, I know that all of this is linked, and I know that it's all connected to problems with gluten. If I've got celiacs or if I'm just gluten intolerant, that doesn't matter. I have my answers, and I have hope for a lot of things now that I'd more or less given up on. Now I just have to convince my doctors :)

National Infertility Awareness Week

If you weren't aware, it is National Infertility Awareness Week. Hurray!
This week we have been challenged as bloggers dealing with infertility to post a bit about our struggles and the myths that surround infertility. The things everyone tells us that don't help and eventually grate on our nerves. (We know you mean well, but, please, telling us to relax or go on vacation or stop trying and then it will happen, really don't help one little bit...)
The myth I've chosen to write about is the old phrase, "Well, you can always just adopt, there are tons of babies out there just waiting." This is kind of a two parter.
Firstly, there aren't millions of babies out there in limbo just waiting to be adopted. If there were, the process would likely be a lot easier then it is. These days, especially, more and more unwed women tend to chose to parent their children. Society has accepted that as a viable option and it works for many of them. The kids who are waiting in the foster system tend to be older or have medical problems that make them hard to place. Many couples dealing with infertility do eventually take in these children, but it is a tough decision and takes time. Like every other couple, they have their dreams of the perfect little newborn, and that can be a very hard thing to give up on. And no child was ever unwanted. Adoption is a tough decision made by the birth mother because she loves her child and wants to give it the best possible chances in life.
Secondly, adoption is in no way easy, quick, or cheap. Depending on what options and agencies you work with, it can take months or years just to get through the paperwork and approval stage. Then there is the waiting. Once approved, you have 3 years in which to hope you are picked. After that, you have to start the paperwork over again for reapproval. And the fees.. thousands of dollars for paperwork and home studies and legal fees and adoption costs, and the finger printing, and medical visits.... it adds up to some pretty hefty sums, and that's just domestic! If you go international add in travel costs, sometimes for weeks or months in a different country, sometimes multiple visits. Then there is the invasive nature of the whole thing. There is no promise that just because you can fill out paperwork and have money that you will be approved. You are left feeling that you are at the mercy of total strangers who will come in and poke and prod at your life, your home, everything, then they get to decide if you are "good enough" to go on the waiting list to be parents.
It can be hard to do, to give up that level of control. You worry that maybe you're not good enough, your house isn't clean enough.. all on top of already feeling like a failure because your body doesn't work right in the first place or you wouldn't have this problem, and you've probably been poked and prodded medically in the diagnosis phase and maybe even tried ivf or something a time or two (again, very pricey treatments that insurance doesn't always cover..)

I'm pretty fortunate. We knew early on that we'd have fertility issues. Hubby'd had a vasectomy near the end of his first marriage, so that was going to cause problems anyway. So we knew going in that we'd either have to adopt or seek assistance. Then we found out about my problems. They weren't a total shock. I'd often suspected there was something going on. And the first few years were just full of all sorts of changes and adjustments anyway.. Married, moved 3000 miles, suddenly had 4 step kids, 2 of them teenagers. We didn't have much money, so I did a lot of reading. About step kids, and infertility and adoption. It helped prepare me for when we started the whole process in 2006. We'd just started on the paperwork with LDSFS, which was a difficult tango because they didn't have an office up here so we were working with them from out of state, when my husband suddenly felt that the timing wasn't right and called it off. I was very upset with him because he couldn't give me an answer as to why. This was early 2007. In August of that year I was in a car accident that took most of a year to recover from, so there was a reason.. then in 2008 we started talking about it again and had to postpone, yet again, because he was going to be deployed. Last year we decided that now was the time and started up again. We've just about got our paperwork ready to turn in (just need hubby's doctor visit and fingerprinting - and this year's tax info..) This time we decided to go with a local agency. There aren't many in the state, but we are going with Catholic Social Services in Anchorage. Hopefully we will be on our way to approval by the end of the year. That would be nice. That would be lovely. Then we just have to work on our profile and hope a birthmother out there likes us.
Meanwhile, I'd better go clean my house :)


If you'd like to know more about infertility or awareness week or RESOLVE (the organization behind this challenge) please check out these web sites: infertility 101 and take charge

Infertility Awareness Month

Ok, so I missed posting anywhere in March. So my goal of posting at least once a month has fallen.. I will state that I was sick for a good part of it, and coping with trying to catch up on things the rest of it and blogging just slipped thru the cracks.
Hubby and I went to Fairbanks this past weekend. We wanted to just get away for a bit, but who can afford to go anywhere, so we went to Fairbanks. Not much to do there this time of year, but it was still fun. I've never been up there before, so now I can say that I have.
It was a quiet month. Spring, or what passes for it here, is upon us, so the ground is getting muddy and the winds are blowing people's roofs off. Luckily ours seems to be secure.
As mentioned in the header. April is Infertility Awareness Month. I mention this because it has been brought to my attention that PETA has done something immensely stupid, even for PETA. (They use to be a worthwhile group, but things have long since gone hill..) They launched a campaign on March 31 where they are having a contest where they will give some guy a free vasectomy as a reward for spay/neutering their pets. They have said they are doing it "in honor" of infertility awareness month.. This is such a huge insult to those of us dealing with infertility, and really the final straw for me as far as PETA goes. There is a petition to tell PETA how much this sucks if anyone is interested.

Wheat free..

well, I have been officially wheat free now for a few weeks. I've gotten lucky and found quite a few more GF items then I expected, and a little local store that has a nice little stock of things, and another store in town that has a ton of things, so it's just a matter of relearning how to do things and being careful about how and when things get done here at home when mixing the GF stuff with the regular stuff for Tom and the kids. We've tried some GF muffins, pasta, 2 types of bread, a cake mix and tonight a pizza crust. They've all been pretty good. One of the breads was very bland, but tolerable, the cake was quite good, and the pizza crust was great, though could be a little crisper, so we will work on that.
Oh, and we bought a new bread maker. My older one does not have a GF setting, and from what I've heard and read, GF bread doesn't work well in machines without one. Am looking forward to using it once I get flours and such figured out. We also bought a meat grinder attachment for my bosch mixer and we LOVE that! We did a batch of ground beef and it was so lovely. We're still using it for things and it is just so much better then what we get at the store. We're waiting on additional dies so we can do different sizes of grinds, but I think we're going to get a lot of use out of this.

week 2 results - oops, a bit late...

Another 3.5 pounds and about 8 inches lost! Woohoo!!
This gives me a 2 week total of 7 pounds and 23 inches. That means I've averaged a half a pound a day! And almost 12 inches a week! I can hardly believe that! It's just amazing and I love it!
Now I get to start adding things back in a little at a time to see how I react, and to get ready for the Hubby's return on Friday and the return of cooking for someone other then myself who won't eat most of what I've been eating for the last 2 weeks (and who wants to cook twice?). Friday and Saturday night I had the grand daughter for a few hours, so I made some 3 year old friendly foods during that time, and I will admit that I sampled. So I know I'm good with rice, potatoes and cheese already. I really wasn't too worried about having problems with any of them. So it was good to have that confirmed. However, today at Church I had a tiny piece of bread during the Sacrament (it's kinda like the Catholic Communion for any non-LDS folk out there..) and within minutes I had a headache and my throat started to feel a little closed off and tight. So, it looks like I do indeed have a wheat intolerance of some sort. I know I don't have Celiac Disease, thankfully, but I don't know yet if it's just a wheat allergy or if it is an all out gluten intolerance. Will take a bit more experimentation. But for now I am doing some research and will start slowly replacing things in the house with gluten and wheat free alternatives. This is going to be hard though. I love bread, and crackers, and pasta, etc so very much. At least these days there are viable alternatives, and I've already learned quite a bit in just an hour or so online about converting recipes, so, if I can find the things I need, I should be able to still do a lot of things.
Is going to be interesting the next few months while I get this all figured out and get my pantry all sorted through.

results - week 1

Ok, so Sunday was my scheduled result checking day, so Sunday morning I did the weigh in and retook all the measurements. I've lost 3.5 pounds and 15.25 inches over all!! That's just amazing for 1 week (with minor cheating, even!) after not having been able to loose anything at all since the accident. I'm loving the results, though, it appears I'm going to have to do some modification of either the diet, my meds, or both.
I have a new problem. My blood pressure is now dipping too low and I've been light headed and fuzzy brained. Saturday night I was down to 104/50. The combination of this diet and all my blood pressure medications is apparently too much. Saturday night I solved the immediate issue with some turkey bacon, which gave me lean protein, so wasn't too bad a cheat, and some salt which helped bring the bp back up a bit.
So I poked around the web site support group for this plan and found there are several variations. I'm going to be switching to one of those this week for week 2 while also keeping an eye on the bp levels and, if necessary, might have to cut back on the meds for a little while. I don't go back to the doctors until March, so I've got to be careful with what I'm doing. Depending on how this week goes, I might continue for a week 3, or I might have to put things on hold until after I see the doctors in March.

diet update, day 6

Things seem to be going ok. I've not been sleeping well, have had aches, lethargy, and minor headaches. All of these are things we're told to watch for as we detox and our bodies let go of the stuff they're use to getting.
However, I wasn't told to look out for falling blood pressure. Today, mine went down to 104/50 for a while this evening. That is a bit too low for my comfort so I'm going to have to either play with the diet rules and add a bit more salt back in, or play with my pill dosage on the blood pressure meds. I've already cut the bp meds down from 3 pills to 2 pills a day, but I may need to reduce that further. I will be looking at my options and making changes in things starting tomorrow and then throughout the week. I'm now looking at this first round with this as a shake down to see what I will have to play with to make it work for me and my med list.
But, I have lost inches, and maybe even some actual weight. Tomorrow it the official weigh in and measurement taking day, so we will see what the results are.
I did cheat a bit today to counter the drop in blood pressure and had some turkey bacon to raise my salt levels a smidge and some odwalla for some potassium and sugar to help balance that. It did push my numbers back up a little (115/58) so I'm good with that for the night. Hoping the minor cheats won't spoil things too much tomorrow.

in family news, my middle step daughter got 1st place for her oratory at her divisional for debate!! woohoo!! state quals in 2 weeks!! way to go!!

diet, day 3

Ok, so things are going apace.. My biggest craving has been for some nice fluffy, crust french bread. Slathered in butter would be nice, but mostly I just want the bread. I did cheat a smidge today and ate a cracker. It was that or make croissants, so I think I made the better choice, but I just really wanted something bread-ish and caved. It does seem to have satisfied the craving though, so if that is all I do I should still be ok.
Other then that, it seems to be going ok. No big signs of anything yet, but then, it is only day 3, and we must be realistic about that sort of thing :) I do have to say that, over all, I am feeling better and "lighter," might even say healthier already. I seem to be having more energy in getting through the day. Dragging myself out of bed in the morning is still hard; I'm not sleeping well or consistent at night. Last night I went to bed about 11 and woke up this morning around 3:30 and was in and out for the next few hours until my alarm went off. But, surprisingly, I'm not as tired today as I would have expected. I even biked a mile on the stationary. Haven't done that in a while. It feels good. Sunday we will see if we have anything to show for the first week, either via the scale or measurements.
I hate going to the store right now. All those things I can't have taunting me. But, I've managed to avoid buying that one doughnut no one will know about, or that ice cream bar that looks so good and full of milk fats, or stopping for that one time favorite splurdge from high school - french fries and a chocolate shake. But, must be good, be strong, and just a few more days and I will have my first week down. Almost half way there now.

Diet

I really hate that word... but I am trying a new one starting today. One of the ladies I sometimes work with has had a lot of luck dropping a decent amount of weight quickly using the Fat Flush Plan. She just uses the initial 2 week detox part of the program once in a while when she feels she needs to loose some weight then goes back to her normal routine. That isn't how it's supposed to work, but that is how she does it and she thought it might help me to at least get things started. So I checked out the book and spent the last week looking it over to determine if this was something OI could do or if it would interfere with my meds and all too much. It seems promising, though it's a good deal more complicated then what she does if you look at it long term.
We will have to see how this goes. So far I am on day one and have done well so far, though, honestly, I still feel hungry. The first 2 weeks you can't have sugar, starches, or dairy of any sort and I'm pretty sure those are what I am craving right now.I am so addicted to dairy.. and wheat.. If I follow the plan beyond the initial 2 weeks, I am allowed to slowly reintroduce all of those things I'm not allowed one at a time. The theory is that a lot of people can't loose weight because it's not fat they are holding on to, but a hidden food allergy that is making them bloated. This, sadly, might be the case. Years ago I had a series of allergy tests done then was on shots for about 10 years. One of the many many things I tested positive for was wheat, but it was never much of an issue, or at least it wasn't pressed at the time, that I avoid it. This, however, might now be coming into play for me. This will stink though, because, next to dairy, I love baked goods, breads, pastries, etc.. At least there are a lot more gluten free options now then there were back then, but it will still stink. So, here's to hoping I don't show any reactions when I reintroduce.
Meanwhile, I figured this would be a good way for me to keep myself honest and on track about it, and should get me blogging more as well, which I also need to start doing.

2011 HERE WE COME..

Ok, so I was just reviewing and saw that it had been a month since I posted.. so, it's about time.. My only blogging goal for the year is to post at least once a month on each of my blogs. We will see how that goes.
I did finally get my computer kicked back into shape. A good old fashioned turning it off and on seemed to finally do the trick. Why is it you never think of trying that sort of thing first?? (OK, so I did, but was afraid there might have been some sort of virus that would take hold on reboot, so put it off..)
Anyway, Christmas came and went. I survived working for 2 weeks straight over the holidays and have been in once since then. I was supposed to have gone another time as well, but, I wound up sick that day so didn't go.
The weather has been insane this winter. Every time we've had snow, the winds have come and blown it all away to the south, then the bitter, bitter sub zero temps have come and frozen us all, then it warms up to over 40 and melts what little might be left, then gets cold again.. then snow and repeat... we finally have snow again and I really am hoping it stays this time. It isn't a proper winter without snow. Tom is taking advantage of this and has gone skiing today, though he should be home soon.
Tomorrow we get our new stove at long last!! After having spent most of the last year with the oven not working properly and making due with a large toaster oven, a crock pot or two and an electric roaster oven (thankfully the burners worked! though once in a while you'd have to start them with a lighter...) we are finally getting the new stove we've been saving up for. It will be so nice to actually be able to cook again! And this one is a nice 5 burner, double oven stove. I am seriously so excited. I have no idea what I will cook first on it. I ordered it New Years Day and it will be showing up here just days before our anniversary. I told Tom if he was smart he'd try to make it a Christmas and Anniversary present, but he's even smarter and says he doesn't count major appliances as presents.. Which is almost sad, because he has one of the few wives who would totally count it. lol
Health wise, this week has kind of sucked. I feel fine, actually. Blood pressure and everything are all fine, I've just been dealing with a LOT of pain this week, and that just drains me physically and emotionally. Though so far, at least emotionally, I've been able to bounce back quickly after the worst of it eases up. Just makes housework that much more of a hassle.
Things are brewing with the kids.. most of it I don't feel I can talk about quite yet, though we are waiting to hear back from lawyers regarding options for trying to get the younger 2 up here full time..
but, the eldest has big news.. they finally found a house they felt they could put an offer on and it looks like they might just have a place to call their own soon, if all goes well with inspections and what not. It would only be about 15 or so miles from us, so that's not too bad at all.

facebook withdrawls....

I haven't properly been on Facebook since, like Thursday of last week. This is not my doing, but for some reason, it loaded fine Friday morning, but we were in a rush to get Hubby to the airport for work, and when I got home later that afternoon, it wouldn't load properly and I haven't been able to get it to behave itself all weekend. It is hitting me pretty hard.. all my long distance friends are there, some I don't even have proper email or regular mail addresses for. It's the week before Christmas and so much is going on that I want to read about or share with friends and family (not to mention it's about my only means of contact at present with my 2 youngest step daughters..) and it's driving me crazy. I've been trying to get the spare laptop to let me on, but so far, no luck there. I'm about to go drag out the kids' computers (They usually get shuttered when they aren't here) and try them.
Meanwhile, if any of my friends from there are checking in.. I'm not ignoring everyone, I'm just locked out :( hoping I can find my "keys" soon. I know they were doing updates again recently and suspect I might be a "randomly effected account" in some mess up from that.. problem is, I can't even get to the part of their pages to complain about it... sheesh..

otherwise.. Merry Christmas!! Happy New Year!! Happy Holidays in general!

Thanksgiving and etc...

I have been meaning to post about Thanksgiving, but other things keep happening and I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Our clever original plan was for Bailey to host the festivities on Saturday. She and her sisters would be going to their grandparent's for Thursday. The younger girls got in Wednesday evening and their father wasn't going to be home until Friday afternoon, so we were going to have our stuff on Saturday. This also worked well because Saturday was the grand baby's 3rd birthday. Then, of course, things happened and with about a week's notice, we had to move things back to our house and for later in the day. (The father of one of Bailey's friends had passed away and the funeral service was set for the same time Saturday.) So lots of hectic cleaning and moving of stuff occurred here to make enough room for the big group we were expecting to have. We had moved out of our master bedroom the month before so we could get ready for some remodeling, so it was hastily turned into a dining room.
Things eventually turned out quite well. Bailey and I split up the cooking duties, though, with her being at the funeral, I wound up with most of it, which is fine, since usually I do it all. (This is the first year she's been up here.) We had more then enough food and no one went away hungry. Not everyone was able to make it, their grandparents and aunt/uncle and cousins were all out sick, so we only had 8 instead of 14 people there, but it was a fun time. After dinner we had presents for the birthday girl, as well as Christmas presents for the younger step daughters since they won't be here for that. Then everyone went into the living room and played games.
Next year, who know what we will be doing. The younger girls won't be here, but hopefully Bailey will have her own house by then and maybe she'll get to host the day.

Holiday Prep: Jams

So, as part of my preparation for the holidays this year, this week I am making jam. Had intended to start earlier in the week, but, well, life happened, so I'm really just getting started today. Earlier in the year, I mentioned making Watermelon Jelly/jam. Today, thanks to the miracle of the freezer, I am doing so again. Last August we bought 2 watermelons, intending to eat one and turn the other into jam, well, we wound up eating only about half of one and the rest of it all got pureed and tossed in the freezer. (I did pre-measure it all so I know each bag will do a double batch.)
Today I pulled it all out and am making the jam. Some of it will be distributed in our yearly Christmas Gift baskets, cuz it's just cool enough and different enough to make a great addition, plus it's nice to have that little flavor of summer while buried under the cold and snow here in Alaska.
Tomorrow will likely see the strawberry and mixed fruit batches, but today I wanted to share the Watermelon Recipe I found and liked so much.

First, you will need watermelon puree. Just cube and seed a watermelon, run it thru the blender a bit til it's a nice smooth puree.
For 1 batch:
2 cups watermelon puree
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 1/2 c sugar
1 pkg pectin, dry

Mix the watermelon and the lemon juice. Add pectin + 1/4 c sugar. bring to boil, add remaining sugar and return to boil. boil for about 1 minute then bottle and process as you would any other jam.
I have also seen an almost identical recipe that said to add all the sugar first, bring to boil and then add the pectin. I haven't tried that version, so not sure what difference that might make.

I've gotten the first double batch done. Have to say, it's not quite as good as the batch I made this summer, when the watermelon was fresh. It's been in my freezer since August, though it could have also just been a less flavorful watermelon then the one we used for the first trial batch back in July. Though I have to admit, I didn't really let it cool before trying. 4 more double batches to go.. a batch only makes about 4 half pints though.

Recipe Time: Tomato Bacon Soup

Ok, so Tom came home this hitch and wanted me to try making Tomato Bacon Soup. He'd had something similar up at work and thought it was good and something I should add to the menu rotation if we could figure it out. And with snow now, finally, falling, a nice warming soup is good and would make a change to the usual stews and chilis.
Well, we succeeded and he loves it, so figured I'd better a) get the recipe down while I could remember it and b) share it with the world.

So, here's what went in to it (though I can't be 100% on amounts as I really didn't measure it..)

1 can (large, but not huge family size type) Crushed Tomatoes in juice
1 can (regular) Italian style diced tomatoes (the kind with basil, garlic and oregano)
4 fresh tomatoes chopped, seeds, juice and all
6 green onions
a bit of green bell pepper
a couple sprigs of fresh thyme (cuz I had it, if you don't have it you can use dried)

6 strips of thick cut pork bacon
6 strips turkey bacon

So, put everything except the bacon in a pot and let bubble and boil til it all cooks down nicely. Run that all through the blender to puree it good and smooth.

I then split it into 2 batches (I am on a low salt diet and don't really like pork much, so I did the turkey version for me and pork for him. You are free to do as you want.) and then started frying up the bacon. I chopped it all up into small pieces and fried it til just crisp then added it and the fats to the soup. Stir well. I then let it sit until dinner time (about an hour and a half or so) then reheated to eating temperatures and served with garlic bread. It is good. I would probably add a bit more onion and bell pepper and maybe some mushrooms to it next time, but hubby thinks it's perfect the way it is. This is definitely going to be something we add to the regular monthly menu.

food storage!

Ok, so, I can't remember if I've mentioned this here or not, but, our oven doesn't work. It stopped working properly this past spring. We will eventually get a new one, but, there always seems to be more important things to spend the money on. The stop top works just fine, and I bought a huge toaster oven to tide us over and between that, the electric roaster pan and the crock pots, I've found that, for most things, I don't really need the oven. (Though it's certainly easier to have one, and we will still be getting a new one, eventually, but we're waiting until after the big contract switch with hubby's employment..)
Anyway, so I've been wanting and needing to play around more with the crock pot and also working more on usable food storage recipes. Especially now that it's getting colder, nice hot meals are going to be welcome, and while we're trying to hoard money for various things (riding out any employment pauses between contracts, that new stove, home repairs we've still got to do, and all those adoption costs we've still got to deal with...)I figure now is a good time to use up some of the many food storage items we have in the basement. Always need to rotate that stuff anyway, and even better if you know how to use it. The wheat might be difficult since we still don't have a mill (another thing we're saving for..) but I might be able to come up with something there with enough poking around.. :)

Anyway, my first attempt was making beef stroganoff. The hamburger helper variety is a family favorite, but I wanted to try making my own. I think it could still use a little tweaking, but I've gotten a good starting point worked out. I've tried this with both noodles and rice and it was good with either.
1 can cream of mushroom soup mix it with only half a can of liquid if you want the sauce thicker.
1/2 lb ground beef, ground soy, or tvp. I used ground beef since I had it available, but this would work with any other ground meat or meat substitute. I need to dehydrate some meat one of these days and try it with that. It should work just fine. Use what ever you have and like.
big dollop of sour cream
mix them all together, heat, serve over the noodle or rice. Personally, I think it could use a little more seasoning, but I've always been one who likes lots of herbs, spices, etc.. so I will have to wait and make it when someone else is home for a better take on that.

Today I am making slow cooker stew. I forgot to take the stew meat out of the freezer yesterday, so made a last minute decision to make it a meatless stew and threw in assorted soup beans instead. Really basic stew. Onions, tomatoes, celery, carrots, green beans, the assorted soup beans and lentils, beef broth and a little pepper and Mrs Dash seasoning. I don't use salt if I can avoid it due to issues with my blood pressure so I try to keep as low sodium as I can.. Since this batch is for this week, I also added 2 small bay leaves and a few sprigs of thyme. No one will be here except me this week, so I can get away with it. (Hubby hates thyme...) Might add a few other herbs as it develops through out the day.

Hubby has mentioned that apples are on sale at a good price at one of the local stores, so I might be going out to pick some of those up later today. If this is true, I will likely be making apple sauce later this week, perhaps even making some apple pie filling and doing some more bottling. I've not bottled apple sauce or pie filling before, so that will be a fun new challenge. I've still got to do jams here sometime soon as well. Can't wait to do more watermelon jam and I'll also be doing some mixed fruits, maybe some strawberry and peach as well.. (I can't quite remember what all is down in the freezer waiting at the moment..) I've been waiting for it to get colder before doing the jams, since it's a nice way to heat the house as well. :) But the weather keeps not cooperating and we still haven't had any snow yet. Very disappointing that is.. it will be here soon though.

I did get over 4 dozen pints of pickles done though. (A dozen of those have already been claimed and left the house... the perils of adult children living nearby.. and their friends.. heh..) and did a few small bottles of jalapenos as well. So we should be well and truly pickled for the coming year.