My Thanksgiving menu for today:
Roasted red pepper/gorgonzola dip
shrimp
buffalo chicken dip
candied nuts
Turkey
ham (my sister is bringing this)
sweet potato casserole
mashed red skin potatoes
stuffing
bacon topped sauteed brussel sprouts
cranberry salad
Banana cream fruit tart
pumpkin spice bundt cake
pie (my brother is bringing this)
egg nog
soda
beer (afro is bringing this)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
The good, the bad and the....well, more bad.
The good: As you all know by now, we do our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. But recently we've found ourselves with nothing to do on actual Thanksgiving....and I'm not cooking twice. Friends of ours have a daughter that dances. She's very good. She is part of the featured dance group that is dancing in the Philadelphia Boscov's Thanksgiving Day parade this year. So we decided to go. We went down to Philly on Wednesday afternoon, spent the day hanging out, went out to a nice dinner with the parents and another family that were there for the same reasons as us. We got up bright and early Thanksgiving morning, walked the mile and a half to the steps of the art museum and watched the parade. It was a very nice time.
The bad: My father, who will be 80 in May and isn't in the greatest health anymore, fell and broke his hip. He needed surgery but they weren't sure if they were going to be able to do it because his kidneys aren't in the best of shape. The doctor said it would be okay and they did the surgery on Sunday. The day after the surgery his kidneys started shutting down and they had to start dialysis (?) treatments. He's been confused as anything. Talking about the savior came for him but the ladies wouldn't let him in. He thought the walls of the hospital were caving in and told my mom to leave because it wasn't safe. He kept insisting that the nurses leave so they could escape with their lives. We went back down to see him yesterday and he didn't seem quite so confused. He didn't talk any nonsense, but sometimes you can see in his eyes that he's not sure what's going on. And, he hates people making a fuss over him. Hates that nurses are checking him all the time, hates that we're all taking time out of our day to go and visit him. Hates it, hates it, hates it. After years of putting up with the tea lady, I hope the rest of his life isn't spent like this.
You guys are probably beginning to think I'm making all this crap up.
The bad: My father, who will be 80 in May and isn't in the greatest health anymore, fell and broke his hip. He needed surgery but they weren't sure if they were going to be able to do it because his kidneys aren't in the best of shape. The doctor said it would be okay and they did the surgery on Sunday. The day after the surgery his kidneys started shutting down and they had to start dialysis (?) treatments. He's been confused as anything. Talking about the savior came for him but the ladies wouldn't let him in. He thought the walls of the hospital were caving in and told my mom to leave because it wasn't safe. He kept insisting that the nurses leave so they could escape with their lives. We went back down to see him yesterday and he didn't seem quite so confused. He didn't talk any nonsense, but sometimes you can see in his eyes that he's not sure what's going on. And, he hates people making a fuss over him. Hates that nurses are checking him all the time, hates that we're all taking time out of our day to go and visit him. Hates it, hates it, hates it. After years of putting up with the tea lady, I hope the rest of his life isn't spent like this.
You guys are probably beginning to think I'm making all this crap up.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
"When you're hot you're hot, you really shoot your shot"
The other morning I get to work around 7:00 and as I'm climbing the stairs to my classroom, my cell phone starts ringing. Who in the world is calling me at 7:am? One of the kids must have forgotten something. I answer the phone and it's my neighbor. "Black smoke is coming out of your basement. I just called the fire department. You'd better come home." So, I put my stuff in the classroom and hightail it out of there. As I'm driving home, luckily only a five minute ride, I remember that Braden didn't go to school and was sleeping up in his bed. I frantically try to call his cell phone, no answer. I call the house phone, no answer. I call my neighbor back, no answer.
I'm driving like a mad woman. Crazy thoughts racing through my head. If the fire is in the basement, Braden will wake up before the upstairs is engulfed in flames, wouldnt he? What about the dog and cat? Thank God Renee and the baby aren't still in the basement. If my house really is on fire, and everyone gets out safely, it better burn all the way to the ground. I don't want to have to deal with smoke and water damage for months only to have to turn around and sell it. God, Braden wake up. I try to make all the calls again. No answer.
I finally, after what felt like an hour, make it to my driveway in under five minutes. I can't get in. There's three fire trucks, two police cars and an ambulance. A ton of people in my driveway. Including my neighbor, still in her robe. I see a familiar cop standing there. "Officer Dempsey, Braden's asleep up in bed!" "Not any more he's not. It's all clear in there, but he's awake in the living room."
Apparently something backfired in my furnace/water heater, causing black smoke to billow out the vent. In the half-light, it looked to my neighbor that it was coming out the window. It was all cleared up already and they recommended that we get our furnace checked. My neighbor apologized a thousand times, but I told her it was the right thing to do. If it had been a real fire, she could have been responsible for Braden being alive.
Good news: No one was hurt and my house is still in one piece. No smoke/water damage.
Bad news: My water heater is shot and two months past it's warranty protection. Over a thousand dollars to replace it.
Braden said, "mom, it's scary being woken up by a policeman and a fireman."
I am probably SO the talk of the street. In the past month I've had at my house an ambulance, the police twice and now every community vehicle the township owns. If we move, I'd be willing to bet no one can offer them the kind of excitement we have!
I'm driving like a mad woman. Crazy thoughts racing through my head. If the fire is in the basement, Braden will wake up before the upstairs is engulfed in flames, wouldnt he? What about the dog and cat? Thank God Renee and the baby aren't still in the basement. If my house really is on fire, and everyone gets out safely, it better burn all the way to the ground. I don't want to have to deal with smoke and water damage for months only to have to turn around and sell it. God, Braden wake up. I try to make all the calls again. No answer.
I finally, after what felt like an hour, make it to my driveway in under five minutes. I can't get in. There's three fire trucks, two police cars and an ambulance. A ton of people in my driveway. Including my neighbor, still in her robe. I see a familiar cop standing there. "Officer Dempsey, Braden's asleep up in bed!" "Not any more he's not. It's all clear in there, but he's awake in the living room."
Apparently something backfired in my furnace/water heater, causing black smoke to billow out the vent. In the half-light, it looked to my neighbor that it was coming out the window. It was all cleared up already and they recommended that we get our furnace checked. My neighbor apologized a thousand times, but I told her it was the right thing to do. If it had been a real fire, she could have been responsible for Braden being alive.
Good news: No one was hurt and my house is still in one piece. No smoke/water damage.
Bad news: My water heater is shot and two months past it's warranty protection. Over a thousand dollars to replace it.
Braden said, "mom, it's scary being woken up by a policeman and a fireman."
I am probably SO the talk of the street. In the past month I've had at my house an ambulance, the police twice and now every community vehicle the township owns. If we move, I'd be willing to bet no one can offer them the kind of excitement we have!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
"then peace will guide the planets..." Or proposition for Tree
I am reading "Eat, Pray, Love" right now. It was a book group pick. I probably wouldn't have chosen it myself, but I'm enjoying it. I would love to take a year off and travel. I don't know if I'd pick the three places the author chose...although Italy would be one.
Right now she's in India and talks about meditating and her guru. It got me to thinking. I want a guru. And, I've chosen Tree.
Doesn't she seem like the guru type? She's so calm and rational. When she's angry...does she really get angry or just annoyed? Anyway, when she's peeved, she can get her point across without sounding argumentative or self-righteous. When she's happy, she sounds wonderfully happy. She's so eloquent. And, to me at least, she seems at peace with herself and those around her. I would like to be more like her. Maybe then I'd be handling all this stress better than I am now.
How 'bout it Tree? Would you be my guru?
Right now she's in India and talks about meditating and her guru. It got me to thinking. I want a guru. And, I've chosen Tree.
Doesn't she seem like the guru type? She's so calm and rational. When she's angry...does she really get angry or just annoyed? Anyway, when she's peeved, she can get her point across without sounding argumentative or self-righteous. When she's happy, she sounds wonderfully happy. She's so eloquent. And, to me at least, she seems at peace with herself and those around her. I would like to be more like her. Maybe then I'd be handling all this stress better than I am now.
How 'bout it Tree? Would you be my guru?
Friday, November 07, 2008
"listen to the jail house rock"
Our justice system is incredible!
Renee spent two days in jail, and after talking with the arresting officer, he decided that she's just a "good kid" who has a problem and made some bad decisions. He's arranged it so she doesn't have to do anymore jail time until her hearing, and then he'll recommend the same thing. He told her to, and I quote, "get a job" and do well. Don't get me wrong, she is/was a good kid, but she has a serious problem that needs to be addressed and a job won't cut it. She's tried that route before.
Now her and knucklehead have rented an apartment and are going to be moving in next week. In the meantime, they are going to be staying with a friend of his, as soon as Children and Youth check it out and give the okay.
You know, as mean as it may make me sound, I wanted her to sit in jail a while. Get good and clean. Maybe get some court ordered rehab. I don't know. This way I just get to worry constantly, get my hopes up when she does well for a month and then wait for the other shoe to fall. Again.
Renee spent two days in jail, and after talking with the arresting officer, he decided that she's just a "good kid" who has a problem and made some bad decisions. He's arranged it so she doesn't have to do anymore jail time until her hearing, and then he'll recommend the same thing. He told her to, and I quote, "get a job" and do well. Don't get me wrong, she is/was a good kid, but she has a serious problem that needs to be addressed and a job won't cut it. She's tried that route before.
Now her and knucklehead have rented an apartment and are going to be moving in next week. In the meantime, they are going to be staying with a friend of his, as soon as Children and Youth check it out and give the okay.
You know, as mean as it may make me sound, I wanted her to sit in jail a while. Get good and clean. Maybe get some court ordered rehab. I don't know. This way I just get to worry constantly, get my hopes up when she does well for a month and then wait for the other shoe to fall. Again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)