It's a gorgeous nearly full moon here, glinting off the snow on the trees. The moon is pretty, but some people believe things go sideways this time of the month - what do you think?
I am having a lot more near-moose encounters, but blaming the deep snow, not the lunar cycle. So far it has been merely scary, although I had a moose close enough to pet two days ago (hint for Pixies who live someplace without moose: that is about fifty yards too close).
How is your week going? Whines and antiwhines welcome!
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Petting distance is definitely too close to a moose, unless you intend to eat it.
Thanks for the moose education, redzils. I am, as you might expect, a little deficient in that department.
AW: using Mini's second day of school to defrost freezer, disappear some outgrown toys, and scrub the bathroom grout.
W: this is actually making me happy.
now we know the go-to pixie moose expert. ;)
esperanza! so efficient!
AW: daughter's birthday! had a nice dinner!
W: son's car died again, on the freeway, on his way over for dinner.
W: the tow people i called said they'd get a truck right out; then they called my son and said they weren't coming. grr.
AW: another tow place did show up.
W: dead car in front of our house.
W: son opened mail that came to our house, and discovered that speeding ticket is $350. (a mystery is how he got his ancient car to top 65 mph.) the ticket is more than the entire car is worth.
AW: son enrolled in night classes!
My dad was chased down a dirt road by a mean moose once. Funny story actually....
esperanza - it's ok if defrosting is anti-whineable. Especially after school vacay.
kathy a. - grrrrrr on tow trucks and stoopid broken cars. Yay on night classes.
W: Feeling only moderately better. Crap, this has been a long haul. Extra Whine: fireplacing meeting tonight that in a momentary blip of insanity I agreed to attend despite still being on vacation time. I need to leave in half an hour. I plan to stay as briefly as possible, say nothing, and leave.
Word of Unsolicited Pixie Advice: Don't watch "Contagion" with hubby when you're getting over the flu.
Just sayin....
Today is YT's birthday, and she's put up a new post! http://yankeetransferred.blogspot.com/
W: Sweet just got results from first standardized test. She's still over a year behind in speech. She's made so much progress over the last year or so that this is discouraging.
Nervous (me, not her) about: visit to new developmental ped on Thursday.
sue, glad you are feeling better!
liz, thanks for the tip on YT!
esperanza -- kids her age are really variable; nobody should think baby's first standardized test means her abilities are set in stone. i think it is great news that she has made so much progress this past year! the upward trajectory is wonderful!!
thanks, kathy. I know all that, it's just discouraging today. A year ago, she couldn't have begun to take the test, so that is progress. Just seeing your kid in the 0.6 percentile on something, where 100 is "average" is disheartening.
Additional whine: my top half is warm. My bottom half is cold.
(((esperanza))))
AW: bought myself a therapy light. I did some research and the one I bought has the best reviews. It is intended to make up for the lack of healthy UV rays during a long grey winter. Also helps to establish better sleep cycles, increase energy and improve mood.
AW: son from Out West is visiting soon!
W: I will be away for his last two days for a medical appointment out of town. I'll just have to make the most of the time we're both here!
Hugs to esperanza, redzils, kathy a , sue and liz. Nice to see you all!
w: daughter has strep and husband might too
aw: I am home and having a leisurely day with daughter who is mostly spending it watching cooking shows.
w: am trying out a crock pot for first time ever. decided to use chicken in a stew. seemed to take forever liek an hour + to get warm, and I can't stand seeing raw chicken just sit around at sorta-warm for a while! Yike! Am I going to make us all sick?!?!? The biologist and also germ-a -phobe in me is FREAKING out!
aw: daughter thinks it smells good, and told me that everything I make tastes good, which was very nice!
w: But yike---all those little germies!! freaking.out.I tell you.
aw: people do this all the time, right? use crock pots I mean?
ok, breathing.....
Thanks for letting me share my ridiculous worries...
:) Neighbor Lady
People do do this all the time. Freak not.
NL, i am a fan of the crock pot! it does take a while to get zooming, but will work its way up to Real Heat before any germies have the chance to get going. then it will bubble away for as long as you let it. take that, germs! also, whatever you throw in will be delicious.
sue, do report on the therapy light. also, yay for visiting son!
miracle alert: daughter got up early, paid her bills, looked for work and made one application, has some other possibilities, and is now running an errand for me. this is much better than last night would have suggested.
Thank you all for the reassurance. Chicken seems to no longer be pink. ANd I am trying mightily to refrain from opening to check anymore.
If this works out, I could get to like this after all, maybe.
:) Neighbor Lady
Yay for daughter kathy a!! Progress, even baby steps, is a good thing.
AW: younger son is at a "life-changing" moment. He's working at a local fruit market and still has several radio programs that he hosts, but has left his job at the Gender Issues Center at the university. Said he had yajken that program to a place where someone else could definitely add their own personal signature to it. AlwYs good to leave when things are great etc....
AW: he had applied for the one-year intensive program at the university which would add a Bachelor of Social Work to his tool kit for life. The good news is that the SW profs have been courting him for YEARS to take the program. I really, really hope his application is accepted
W: because he no longer works at the university, he has to pay tuition. Bah. On the other hand, even Super-Son would have a hard time with an intensive program (three years squashed into 12 months) AND a job.
AW : we are able to help him pay his tuition and books as long as he can work weekends to pay his rent. Best part - he will be awesome in whatever kind of work he finds after he graduates. Rate of employment for new grads = over 90% for the past ten years! Yay!
That should read "taken" (except perhaps in Iceland. ;)
sue, wonderful on son pursuing a path that sounds so suited!! wooo hooo!
but, um. i'm getting sympathetic nervous twitches out here about the financial unsteadiness. even though he's great!! (or maybe that's projection.)
NL's crockpot just reminded me of a funny crockpot story from thanksgiving at my cousin's house. extremely hip friend arrives late, with crockpot for mulled cider. HIP! so, we found space and a plug, and he decided that this crockpot, which he'd never used before, required water in the bottom. (i said no, and he actually pointed out a "fill line," using the Voice of Dude Authority, hip version.) so, he tried to fill the bottom, it leaked out all over the floor, and i had to go do something else *right away* because the hiptasticness of it all was rather overwhelming. the end.
Kathy a - hilarious crock pot story. We use ours quite a bit. And by "we" I mean hubby, of course.
Yes, a bit of financial angst, but with all of his jobs, especially the occasional DJ work on the weekends, he should be fine. He gets plenty of tip $$$$$ from DJ-ing because he has such a great ( and eclectic) music collection.
W: going to work in the dark seriously sucks. Thank you glow-light! My friend's partner calls hers a "grow light" - I wish!
*Head* *Desk* *Clunk*
Oh my.
Remember I said I didn't care for coming to work in the dark? Well, I got here, opened up my calendar, where it said this:
"Day off in lieu of Stat Day missed because of funeral after Christmas."
Crappity. Now that I'm here, I may as well just keep working. At least until noon, then I'll head home and make up the half day another time.
Um. Duh!!!
sue, think positive! you still have lieu time, and you're getting something done, so tomorrow will be easier!
also, you can totally use a crockpot, so long as you don't try putting water in the heating part. it is pretty much no-fail. delicate veggies like pea-pods can go in near the end. but otherwise, toss stuff in (including leftovers), add broth or water as needed (for soup or stew), season well, and let it do its thing. easy meal with leftovers, and you can control things like salt and fat. lots of recipes on the net, if you are uncomfortable at the beginning.
Thank you so much everyone for the encouragement!
Crock pot came out pretty good! Going to go online to look for more recipes. Neighbor Guy was searching last night and found some chocolate bread pudding recipes that look AWESOME!
Thanks again for the support!
You pixies are awesome!
:) Neighbor Lady
Sue: sorry, but I'm going to veto the crockpot for you. Any person who has trouble with appliances like freezer doors should just stay away from heating appliances. I'm sure it's safe for NL and your dear sweet hubby. But we'd prefer to keep you safe, friend. ;)
Sweet was quite uncooperative w/developmental doc. Sending out for genetic screen (fine with me, would just like to get it looked at finally). Going back for testing with the testing specialist in the office. Also fine with me, as I didn't find the doc all that warm and friendly. Would love to go back to our old one, but insurance issues....bah. And there just aren't that many of them to choose from. The blood collection process was not so fun, as you might imagine.
esperanza! i'm shocked! a freezer door is an obvious hazard. ovens and stoves, too -- i have an oven wound from christmas, right next to a scar from 2 years ago. ze crockpot, it has never harmed me.
but many hugs about all the testing stuff. do not take any of it too seriously! sweet is her own self, and she has great parents, and phooey on anyone who tries to pigeonhole her. xoxo
Oh, poor Sweet. I worked in a hospital lab for 15 years before seminary, and I always felt so badly for wee ones and their parents when we had to draw blood. I hope there was a cute band-aid at the end.
I'm torn on the crock-pot debate. I tend to agree with Esperanza - the problem would probably not be with the appliance itself, but with sharp utensils needed to chop things like carrots. It all sounds easy, but then, putting away groceries felt mostly harmless too.....and we know well that worked out. Tough call, this one.
Kathy a. - the morning was actually very productive! And yes, now I have another day off!
Sue. Step away from the crockpot. It gets hot, yes, even on the outside. Stay away from the kitchen. Not going to back down on this one. We like you upright and with all your appendages.
Cute band-aid, and a sticker, and a little stuffed animal. You wouldn't think it would take three grown-ups to hold down the 28 pound wonder, but...
Trying not to fret, but if there is a problem, it's much better to address it now than stick our collective heads in the sand any longer. yanno?
Hooray for productive mornings, even if they are cold and dark and...morning-y.
oh, i've seen what a tiny kid can do. my boy was about the same age but weighed more when they did chest x-rays around his breathing problems -- damn, that was awful. they strapped him in a plastic body cast restraining kind of thing, and he was supposed to be calm for the x-ray. riiiight....
sue, i'm just going to break the good news that you can buy things pre-chopped and cut, and otherwise make do. stew meat; chicken parts. chopped veggies. small or sliced carrots. mini potatoes. frozen veggies also work well.
i happen to be a world-class klutz, and i trust the crockpot much more than most appliances and/or kitchen implements.
oh.my.god. i've turned into a crockpot infomercial.
*blush*
Kathy a. - the truth is out. I only put groceries away. I seldom shop for them. Clearly. We usually have our groceries delivered after hubby has carefully mapped out meals for a few weeks and decided what he needs to make it all happen. I'll get him to order some crock-pot-ready stuff, and on a day when I'm feeling brave, I might even try it.
Now, what was that 1-800 number again kathy? Lol!
Re: crockpots. Baby carrots come out better than any carrot I have ever chopped for the crockpot.
Re: baby blood draws, ((esperanza)). The tot had to have blood drawn as a toddler for her anemia, and it was HORRIBLE. Cut to last year, and the new ped (whom I heart) wants the tot to have a full iron panel, which will require a blood draw. The tot, naturally, is terrified of needles. When I confided my dread to a friend, she said that when her son gets blood drawn, they first apply a numbing solution to his arm. He's 12, and he's never not had the numbing stuff, which makes me wonder why we've never had that offered to us. (Tot is 7.)
Nutshell: ask your doc about it before the next round. I have yet to do the tot's iron draw, but I plan to hold out for the numbing stuff. There is no reason a kid should have to endure that terror and pain when there is a way to avoid it.
oooh, Amy, I've seen that at the pulmonologist. But had forgotten all about it. Will try to store that in the brain for (shudder) next time. She wasn't afraid till the tourniquet arrived, but then realized it was not going to be fun (as I'd been trying to tell her inappropriately perky self).
oh, numbing stuff = good. i remember having my kids squeeze my hand just as hard as they wanted during shots and blood draws -- which was HARD -- and that seemed to help, but more so as they got older.
also, call me a bad parent, but i employed some significant bribery -- like ice cream sundaes immediately after. amy,that might work with tot...
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