Monday, April 30, 2012

...Not at all what I had planned...

...well...I was hoping to make considerable headway on the foyer project...

the plan was...that the Man and I were going to take down the doors and threshold...bust up and get rid of the blue slate...sand the plywood underlayment...level it with leveling compound and at least get the travertine tiles laid out and marked to be cut...

...I was really really hoping to get at least that much of that big project done...and then in the afternoon Scout had a concert to attend...

...just saying...that was the plan...

...but in the immortal words of Burns' "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." ...(if you've never read it you really should - and the wikipedia: To a Mouse has the original Scots and a standard English version right beside it...love that)...

...anywhoo...I digress...considerably...

...on Saturday morning I was up early...not to start the job at hand...but because I had one of those...ahem...little 'bugs'...where you are relieved of the entire contents of your stomach...really...every few minutes...so...I was so relieved about 5:30...again...about 6:30...and again about 8:30...you get the idea...well...I thought these things run their course...usually in about 10-12 hours...so maybe...just maybe...Scout can still make his concert...you see...I'd already given up all hope of the foyer project...but wait...it gets worse...much...much worse...

...so I continue to lay there in bed...miserably sipping tea...and trying to swallow a few spoonfuls of applesauce and bites of banana...useless you know during these first few hours...but better to have something to be relieved of than not...if you know what I mean...

...as the day wore on...it's now afternoon...and the Man...had to do some pastor-ly things...so he's on the phone arranging to help someone...and he comes to tell me that he'll be over at the Church for a little bit...I assure him that I'll be alright...but it is kinda strange that my hands are tingling and I can't really feel them...but I'm OK...just sick...you know...so he calls Scout to come and sit with me...which he cheerfully does...he's reading The Dead and the Gone now...and sitting in my one enormous chair...

...and I'm thinking I know exactly what that guy in Pink Floyd was talking about when he said
"When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again."...because they really did feel like that...sort of floaty...but I don't have a fever...

...and then my hands do the weirdest thing...they start to curl up...seriously...just cramping and turning in on themselves in some weird deformed way...if you touch them I can't feel it because of the tingling...but the cramping part is quite painful...OK...weird...I think...and my feet and toes are cramping and turning in weirdly too...over the next few minutes the tingling and cramping continues to get worse...my ears start ringing...so finally...I'm mindful enough to ask a very worried Scout to call 911 and then call his Papa...which he does...and I'm grateful...

...the tingling continues to move in toward my core...and you know what I'm thinking...uh-oh...my diaphragm and heart are muscles too...what if they do this weird cramping thing too...

...this very sick place...is very new to me...and I see the concern on Scout's face...I hear him talk to his Papa and then relay the message that he's right behind the Paramedics and will be here in a minute...

...and it's true...in just a minute I hear them coming up the stairs...and then Man-Oh-Man am I the center of attention...I've got BP monitors...and little sticky things with wires listening to my heart...and O2 monitors...oh...because of the cramping thing...I'm now hyperventilating and my O2 is like 84...I can tell that the Paramedics don't like that...(and I'm thinking of my sweet nephew Rich...who does this for a living...and silently thanking all Paramedics everywhere)...and I get little oxygen tubes in my nose...I had on a sweater (of course)...and because of my twisted appendages they had a hard time removing it...which vaguely struck me as funny...(just vaguely - it was my Sawtelle)...

...so they get me loaded up on their trolley thing-y...and strapped in...and out the front door...where all my new neighbors are looking on with concern...I feel sort of bad for them too...just knowing they're worried about me...

...they have a neat little hydraulic lifter thingy to load me into the ambulance - this is by the way my first ambulance ride as a patient...I hear the words neurological...and brain stem...and they make their choice of which hospital to take me to and tell the Man to follow them...I'm still in a considerable amount of pain...like having Charlie Horses in every muscle in your body...

...then things get a lot nicer...because the nice Paramedic calls a doctor at the hospital and gets permission to give me an IV and some sort of muscle relaxant...the IV was tricky...as I've been told I'm a 'hard stick'...and we are moving down the highway at a good clip...but he is successful...and I feel much better...

...we arrive at the hospital...and Scout snaps a phone pic...from a lovely angle...but I'm smiling...happy to be there and not in pain...and with my lovies...

...I get put in a little room and doctors and nurses and lab technicians scurry about...they're all so kind...I get stuck a few more times...and the diagnosis is that I don't have enough Calcium in my body...WHAT!...I chew those little calcium chewy thingies...and I drink almond milk...which is supposed to have 50% more calcium than milk...and I take Vitamin D...how could that happen...

...they gave me a little baggie drip (I already had a big baggie...which I jokingly said was D5W - anyone remember Emergency - I loved that show in the 70's) of calcium...and sent me home...and that was all there was too it...I spent most of the day Sunday in bed...I got up a few times...checking to see if I could mostly...super sweet people from Church brought dinner in...and now today...I'm not back to normal...but certainly able to function...just a little bit weak...

...but the amazing thing about all of this was...that I was not worried...I mean...I got it...that I was very sick...but I was not afraid...I realized I might die...but I was really just not afraid...I was looking up at the (rather bright) lights inside the ambulance and listening to the Paramedics bandying about frightful words deciding which hospital to take me to...and I was just not at all scared...which was nice...I knew my peeps are in the car behind me and if I died...I knew that they know I love them...

...and I hope that when the time really does come for me to die that I feel the exact same way...and I hope you do too...

...well that's about as deep as it gets around here folks...

............................Peace be with you...

Friday, April 27, 2012

...WIP...

...everyone has something in the WIP category around here (except maybe Jack...unless you count sleeping - HA!)...

...and this part of mine counts as an FO instead of WIP anyway...

...I finished putting down all of the quarter round...

...a dear friend loaned us his saw for making the angles and his compressor and nail gun...so it was really quick...

...and he taught me how to make those neat little cove cuts so that the corners fit together perfectly...I'm really happy with how it turned out...and I get to check another thing off the list...

...and Scout is in the middle of another HUGE Nerf makeover...

...of course everyone is reading...guess...which stack belongs to which person...probably not too difficult...and I must say that Nat Geo has outdone themselves the last two months with two of my boys' favorite subjects...Titanic and the Civil War...our library only has the last two Tightwad Gazettes - but they are really a lot of fun to read...

...and Scout and I are finishing up his Confirmation invitations...I know...I know...I can hardly believe that the little babe we had baptized in 1998 is about to be confirmed in the Church...

...I'll do a tutorial on the invites soon...let's let everyone get theirs first...

Thursday, April 26, 2012

...Vegan Black Bean Brownies...

...I have been intrigued with the idea of Black Bean Brownies for quite some time...but intrigued is just le mot juste...as I was never really interested enough to actually try them...

...but Tiffany at Bread without Butter did all the research for me...so I didn't have to try multiple recipes to get one that was just right...

...Dark Chocolate Stout Brownies Recipe Link...

...rinse and blend your black beans and new water...

...mix all your dry ingredients...flour, sugar, cocoa, coffee (I used decaf left over from the Vegan International Coffee Mix that we made to take backpacking), salt and baking powder...

...add your bean puree, vanilla, and beer (I didn't have Stout, but used one of the Man's Pale Ales)...

...don't overmix...

...pour into an oiled 9x13 pan...

...bake until almost firm in the center...

...just about perfect...

...they were yummy...especially warm with a nice glass of almond milk...

...thanks again Tiffany!...

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

...the big mailbox move...

...we're still tackling small jobs around here...so that when we get a big chunk of time...we can tackle some of the big ones...yes...entryway and green bathroom...I'm talking to you...

...our mailbox was kinda ratty looking...it had some rusty spots...and the gold stick on letters were coming off...but it's still a sound old steel mailbox...so there was no need to replace it...

...so we brought it in...took it all apart...

...and sanded and painted it...

...then I cut out some stenciled letters...I just printed our address on some stiff cardstock...and used an exacto knife to cut out the letters...

...then I taped it to the mailbox and 'spounced' some white outdoor gloss paint on the stencil...just like I did for the Freezer Paper Stencils...except because it was hard metal we couldn't iron freezer paper on it...and peeled the paper off...the only tricky parts are making sure you only use a tiny bit of paint at a time so that it doesn't bleed under the stencil...and then taping the little inside pieces in the centers of the 'o's and 'a's and 'e's...

...meanwhile the Man and Scout dug up and moved the post to the other side of the driveway...

...this was really an easy weekend project...and we get to cross another thing off our list...

Monday, April 23, 2012

...Exploring WV...the Riverwalk...

...we had such a rainy Earth Day...

...but we headed down to the Riverwalk anyway...lots of stairs...

...all these photos were taken with Scout's phone...because for some reason...I left home without either camera...I know...unbelievable...

...a barge across the river...

...and lots of bridges...you know how I love bridges...

...this is the Haddad Riverfront Park...

...they have slips for boats...hoping my sister can sail up here soon...

...in the summertime...there are live concerts in this pavillion...called Live on the Levee...we can't wait...it sounds like fun!...

...looking up...of course...

...Scout having a little sit down...for some reason he refused to do a JB impersonation on the stage for me to photograph...

...the tented ceiling...

...gazing at the water...

...city...seen from the pavillion...

...stairs to the river...

...etched concrete scene...

...some big cables and a rusty old downspout...

...another bridge...

...pigeons...

...some grafitti...

...at least they didn't paint the business side of the sign...

...Scout kept trying to photograph the pigeons in flight...

...the bridges are marked with flood levels...I wonder if the river ever floods...

...more pigeons in flight...

...I just loved this green-way...so pretty...even in the rain...and different from other Riverwalks I've visited...it's much longer for one thing...and well...greener...

...there were a couple of historical markers along the way...this one about "FORT LEE...A western frontier outpost guarding settlers against the Indians. Built here in 1788 and named for Gen. Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, one of Washington's most trusted officers. Later Lee was governor of Virginia"...

...and just a few feet from it was this funny one...but Scout's phone camera died just as we were about to take a photo...

"First Gas Well...In 1815 Captain James Wilson while drilling here for salt brine vowed he would drill to Hades if necessary. A large flow of gas was struck that ignited and burned with a huge flame, apparently fulfilling the captain's original vow."

...hoping you had a lovely Earth Day...we did even in the rain...

Saturday, April 21, 2012

...from my back deck...


...this happy little guy was on our back deck...Scout fed him some peanuts...

Friday, April 20, 2012

...More Kale Chips...

...I know I said I was crazy for Kale Chips...and I really am...


...we made another batch of plain/garlic/salt chips...and they were so very good...

...this is all we used - thanks E for the Garlic Mist - it's yummy!...

...a spritz of olive oil from my Pampered Chef sprayer thing-y...

...a spritz of garlic...

...and a sprinkle of salt...

...and a couple of hours in the dehydrator...

...so good...better than popcorn...and you thought you'd never hear me say that...

...Have a lovely weekend!...