I’m sitting here watching football with hubby and there was a commercial for a “NATIONAL” pinata day and hubby was like that’s not a thing! I just laughed and pulled out the laptop to look it up. 😀 Not only was it National Pinata Day, but I found a site for National Day Calendar that will tell you what ANY given day is a “NATIONAL” thing of day.
So while the power is on and the internet is cooperating I’m going to do a quick update. Hubby had been saying how disappointed he was that snow had been on the forecast all month, but never really materialized. Well, I’m here to tell you BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!
We’re accustomed to snow, lots of it even from our time in the U.P., but unfortunately this little town wasn’t! They are used to a couple inches that melts away fairly quickly. It would have been okay and even a little bit funny if it hadn’t happened ALL at once and taken down thousands of trees and the power too! I was never this cold even during the long winters of the Upper Peninsula… Here we are a week later and still have several inches covering everything.
Hubby tried to keep the walkway cleaned off, but every time he’d finish it would start snowing again. At one point during the 3 day outage it was warmer in the refrigerator than the house and it continued to snow even more with tons of road closures all hampering the repair crews and their efforts to restore power. Even the cell towers took a beating leaving us with compromised communication. My neighbor and I resorted to throwing snowballs at each other’s window to get each other’s attention.
During daylight hours we would use the cars to charge up phones and electronics which would also help melt the snow off the cars while we sat there getting a little bit warm and charging up. I braved it and walked over to talk with my neighbor. Neighbors checked on each other and banded together as necessary. Some were kinda stupid running propane heaters in houses that had gas pilots, letting their kids go out and get cold and wet with no way to warm them back up or take their cars where they couldn’t get out without making a HUGE slushy, icy mess.
I have to tell you 2019 Snowmageddon will not be forgotten ANY time soon. Remote rural areas will NOT even be restored for weeks to come.
When we finally left the house we were so surprised by just how many trees and I mean BIG trees had fallen onto and over roadways, onto power lines, houses, cars… Clean up will take some time! The sun made an appearance on Friday for a few hours and it felt heavenly, but other than that it has usually only appeared at the end of the afternoon in time to start setting.
We had just enough snow to make a mess and slow things down. It was a wet, cold snow – the kind that sticks to everything. There was a 2 hour school delay and the roads are icy.
It is so pretty when it starts.
And then it ends up EVERYWHERE! I’m not sure what’s in the bird bath – guess we’ll have to wait for a thaw to find out.
It’s a good day for some homemade cream of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. We have more ice/snow predicted for several more days over the next 10 days so I think I’m going to be a homebody and make soups, stews and jams. 😀
It’s hard to believe we are at the 6 month mark. Sometimes it feels like it’s been 10 years already. Then when I try to eat something I’m not yet ready for I realize, it’s just been a very short time in the realm of relearning how to eat.
PROGRESS REPORT
So, for some weird AND unknown reason many food smells that were once welcoming AND comforting now turn my stomach. The doctor says this is fairly normal, but CANNOT answer why it is “normal”. Some of the once loved foods that I can no longer stand to be around are:
I also cannot eat much bread, potatoes or rices because they take up too much space in my egg sized portion of stomach with virtually no nutrient value.
‘REGULAR’ WILL BE A LONG TERM AND ONGOING LEARNING CURVE for the REST of my life
I have SLE (Systemic Lupus), Fibromyalgia and recently ended up with a non-weight loss stomach bypass that changed my life beyond belief. Just 6 months ago you would NOT have been able to convince me to EVER give up ALL sugar – (nothing like waking up from a routine surgery and learning it was anything but routine and you can never again have certain things), but I have to say no sugar is NOT the worst thing ever. I ALSO DO NOT do ANY sugar substitutes or preservatives because of the SLE and Fibro. So, while my diet does become a bit limited, it is possible to cope. The thing I REALLY miss is coffee, but am making it work with green tea which is ultimately so much more healthy.
I had needed to lose 15 pounds or so as we all do at this stage in life, but now at the 50 pound mark lost, the doctor’s concern is that I lose no more and try to maintain where I am – he actually felt that way at the 25-30 pound mark. Because there is no “real” stomach or holding vessel for food, the body does not absorb much at all. For that reason I have certain vitamins and supplements that will be 5 times a day for the rest of my life. I also have to be picky on what I eat as many foods still do not agree with me and I can never eat sugar again. Anything with high fat is also an issue so it really limits my choices every day. The biggest lifetime issue will be the amount (or lack there of) of food I can eat at any given time. My stomach is now the size of an egg. My stomach does not and will not stretch. It also does not absorb much in the way of nutrients. My stomach will NOT grow or change in any way. Eating is now and always will be in the future something of a challenge.
One of the biggest shocks was the need for ALL new clothes, I went from a size 8-10 down to a 2 so far. I have had to buy ALL new underwear, bras, pants, dresses and even shoes! Yes, I said shoes. I lost an entire shoe size – I didn’t even know that was possible. This is just one of the piles of shoes I made when trying to find something to fit on Easter morning.
Somehow in Chasing MY Life I got away from my actual description of the journey. My life became all about the kitchen, well at least primarily. One of the discoveries I’ve made with life altering surgery that changed how I eat is that my life is no longer just about the food and recipes.
So, as we say goodbye to A HOUSE FROM HELL, put EVERYTHING in storage and begin the next leg of our journey to spend some time concentrating on working out and recovery and then search for our next project (hopefully our last) I want to return to my blogger roots and chronicle ALL of life.
I’ve been getting organized to get back into link parties and such, just searching around to see who is still out there and where the parties are at. I have found that many of my old favorites are no longer, but there are soooooooo many new parties to link up to which leads me to my post title, SO MANY LINKS, SO MANY BLOGS… just NOT ENOUGH TIME. Initially I’m choosing link parties by whether or not their title peaked my interest.
AND soooo many parties are now co-hosted which creates even MORE links to explore so I’m still reading as much as I can and finding new interests to become a part of.
I’m sure I’ll will find many more new blogs and parties on my future journeys, but for now I’m excited to be joining these new linky parties on a regular basis.
SUNDAYS
DISHING IT & DIGGING IT at Rustic & Refined
SUNDAY’S BEST at Mother 2 Mother
SUNDAYS AT HOME at Celebrating Everyday Life and My Soulful Home
MONDAYS
CELEBRATE YOUR STORY at Celebrate & Decorate,
COOKING & CRAFTING with J&J AT Julie’s Creative Lifestyle
HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
MAKE IT PRETTY MONDAY at The Dedicated House
MELT IN YOUR MOUTH MONDAY at Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
MENU PLAN MONDAY at I’m an Organizing Junkie
MERRY MONDAY at Two Chicks and A Mom
MIX IT UP MONDAY at Flour Me With Love
SHOW and SHARE at Coastal Charm
TUESDAYS
LOU LOU GIRLS FABULOUS PARTY at Lou Lou Girls
TAKE OUT TUESDAY at The Painted Apron
TREASURE BOX TUESDAY at Memories by the Mile
TUESDAYS WITH A TWIST at Stone Cottage Adventures
WEDNESDAYS
DELICIOUS DISHES at Walking On Sunshine
SHARE YOUR CUP @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
THURSDAYS
FAVORITE THINGS at Katherine’s Corner
FULL PLATE THURSDAY at Miz Helen’s Cottage
FRIDAYS
BLOGGERS PIT STOP at The Blogger’s Lifestyle
HOME MATTERS at Life with Lorelai
KITCHEN FUN & CRAFTY FRIDAY at Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons
PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY at Coffee with Us 3
SATURDAYS
SHARE IT ONE MORE TIME at Everyday Home
SWAY SHAREFEST at The Sway Life
As I was scrolling through facebook this morning I ran across this post from 7 years ago. I found it speaking to me as it still describes life so well. I’m also pleased to say that even though there have been MANY (cancer, 5 surgeries and The House from HELL just to name a few of the BIG ones) curve balls thrown at me since then, I have de-cluttered my life really well, for the most part. So I offer you a rerun of that post below.
As many of you know I have spent the last 7 1/2 months helping out various family members around the country. First it was my elderly in-laws (MIL just turned 90) who begged us to come help them sell everything including the house and move them closer to family (we all know how that went – FIL is still trying to assign sentimental prices to everything in sight) and now it is my aunt & uncle. My aunt has end stage Parkinsons disease, such a sad disease. My aunt is extremely artistic and a beautiful painter – or at least she was. The Dyskinesia from the Parkinsons disease has robbed her of that ability. My uncle recently saw the Oprah episode on hoarders and has decided that my aunt is one. Trust me, she isn’t. I once worked for a real estate company as a stager for homes and they would send me in to work on homes that were similar to those on the Oprah show – those were horrible. So ask yourself, what is my (your) happy medium on the stuff I’ve (you’ve) accumulated? My theory? If you have a place for each item and it’s in its place, you’re NOT a pack rat or a hoarder. I do offer you the definitions below.
This is a re-post of a post from almost exactly 6 years ago. Ironically, it is even more true today!
Having a compromised immunity SUCKS. Thank you SLE. It especially sucks when you’re working with a house like this and constantly exposed to something lurking. Despite my constant effort to wash the dirt and grime away I keep ending up with bacterial infections from what I am coming in contact with. Fortunately this time I got into the doctor the next day after I noticed a problem . She took one look and said I had what she thought was cellulitis. She referred me a great specialist the same day who says we caught it in time to avoid the hospital and eye surgery.
The ophthalmologist also told me that cellulitis can be from a mosquito or spider bite. It usually affects the skin of the lower legs, but mine is in the muscle of my lower eyelid which makes even blinking painful. While it isn’t contagious, it can spread withing your own body quickly making it a potentially serious bacterial infection that can become life threatening by spreading to the lymph nodes or bloodstream when left untreated, Boy am I glad I didn’t ignore the pain and went to the doctor right away. I can’t be out in the sun because of the medications so, it will be a quiet week indoors for me again.
OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE
It’s supposed to warm up quite a bit this week, high 80’s+ and even a low 90’s, but at least there is no rain in the forecast for the next 5 days!
ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE
Black Cherry yogurt and coffee.
AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE
I’m pretty happy. Doing the laundry and deep cleans on Saturdays are making for HAPPY Mondays!
WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS
We’re going to work on some finishing touches around here this week:
CURRENTLY READING & TELEVISION / DVR
Not much on TV at this time of year, just a few straggler shows that are about to wrap up for the season and some cooking shows backing up on the DVR so I’ll catch up on those this week. We did find a new show on Netflix that we are liking and we watched Adam Sandler’s Sandy Wexler this past weekend. It was okay.
I’m currently reading Ava Miles Dare River 5 book series. I’m on the second book, Chocolate Garden.
CRAFTS/PROJECTS
I’m working to finish a quilt for my niece Jill and her first baby, Luca. I used a Noah’s Ark theme for one side and spring showers for the back.
KITCHEN WISHES
LOL nothing for now, but dreaming about my next kitchen.
MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
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MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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BREAKFAST
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FRUIT & COFFEE
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SCRAMBLED EGGS
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FRUIT SMOOTHIE
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FRUIT & COFFEE
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SCRAMBLED EGGS
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BACON & EGGS
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PANCAKES or WAFFLES
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LUNCH
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FRUIT & CHEESE
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C.O.R.N.
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MEAT ROLL-UPS
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SALAD
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MEAT & CHEESE
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C.O.R.N.
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C.O.R.N.
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DINNER
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BLUE APRON TAWANESE CHICKEN & RICE
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BLUE APRON SEARED COD IN CREME FRAICHE SAUCE
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BLUE APRON SILCILIAN STEAK & FREGOLA SALAD |
C.O.R.N.
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C.O.R.N.
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DESSERT
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SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS
HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP
INSPIRATION
Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.
THANK YOU Carrie! My first Blue Apron box came today. Such pretty vegetables and all the fixings for the next 3 days. They also included wonderful recipe directions that were really easy to follow. I couldn’t wait to make dinner. I let hubby choose the recipe and he chose the Chicken Under a “Brick” for our first meal. I have to say I was thoroughly impressed! Definitely a meal we’ll have again.
We also thought it might be a good idea to do a “Vision Board” for our search of the next house project. We would really like to find and old church, train station, fire station or school to rehab into an open floor plan and make a forever home. Anyone know of anything in any of these states?
