Thursday Thoughts

Hi All!

Another day of observations - and a speech appointment - done! Yeah!

The speech appointment wasn't surprising (other than the fact that I forgot that I had the appointment in the first place!). I pretty much knew exactly what Susan was going to tell me. I guess that means that I have a good understanding of how SD and I work together on the "dance floor." Susan even said that I was a good judge of what I needed to do to get my voice back on track when SD tries to "change the steps" of our "dance." Of course, my throat/neck was tight - because I have neglected my massage!

That means that Susan had to "work" on my neck a bit and that it is sore at the moment. However, the tenderness didn't stop me from doing some massage this morning already. I am determined to get back on the "good voice express!"

*** Why am I so into quotation marks this morning? It is a bit odd, don't you think?

Anyway - Susan said I was still doing well despite my tapering off of the exercises and massage (which is currently the most important thing I should be doing) but that (wait for it) I needed to get back on track with my routine! Are you surprised? I wasn't!

It was good to see Susan again - during all of those months (and years) of therapy we have really gotten to be friends and not seeing her is odd after three years! However, I guess it is a good thing that I am only seeing her every six weeks now instead of every week or every other week - right?

**** Do you think that I am now replacing quotations with parenthesis? Interesting!

Are you ready for some pictures?
Here is Miss Cleo (a little chubby, isn't she??) enjoying her "new" spot in the sun. She looks so peaceful and I love that one of her legs is sticking through the back of the chair!

Now see Skor staring at Miss Cleo whose "new spot" is his regular bird-watching spot.

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I sense a confrontation coming . . . don't you (surprisingly, he didn't pick a fight with her but waited until she moved and then took up his post!)?
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*** Okay - now I am combining quotations AND parenthesis! What is going on here?



While this isn't a very good picture, I wanted to show the fruit that I made and which Hubby (miraculously) ate without saying anything! It had watermelon, pears, peaches, and kiwi. It was very good and very healthy!

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I must warn you that the next picture is just a bit scary! I took it to show a specific thing but to do so I had to take my makeup off and that revealed "wonderful" dark circles and blemishes. Lovely!

Here it is in all its glory (yeah!)! Please ignore the imperfections (if you can) and focus on the lower lid of my left eye (which is on the right side of the picture thanks to mirrors!).

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Do you notice anything different about that eyelid?

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Hopefully, you can see that there is a large "patch" of swelling under my eye. It almost looks like a blister.

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This swelling developed last night (evening) while I was sitting on our couch watching television. I felt something "odd" but didn't think anything of it because this is the season for eye allergies in my life. However - I went to the bathroom and while washing my hands noticed . . . the swelling!

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I called Hubby into the bathroom and asked him if he had noticed that something was a bit "off" with my eyelid while he was talking to me in the living room. Of course he hadn't noticed anything different (does that surprise anyone? A man not noticing something?).

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I immediately washed my face and then got an ice pack from the freezer to apply to my face. The swelling went down to a much more manageable size but . . . what in the world could have caused this thing? Hubby did take a close look and said he didn't see any bite marks on the area (and I didn't feel anything bite my eyelid while watching television!).

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Luckily, this morning the swelling - while still there - is much diminished.

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Another mystery in my life.

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I should tell you that when Hubby and I were discussing it he very wisely said "Honey, with your luck, you shouldn't be surprised by this. It is just another thing which would happen only to you!"

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True.

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I pretty much said it all in the blog. Still doing well. Neck sore from Susan's "work." Need to be more consistent with the exercises. I am already on a good track with that.

Rain and Noodles

Hi All!

This was a nice weekend. I spent all day Saturday learning more about fingerspelling at a workshop (and getting hours towards my 200 practicum hours that I need!). Sunday was basically just spent resting and doing some much needed laundry (about time!).

Yesterday I was out and about early so I didn't get to blog but . . . I missed you all (the three of you who actually read my blog!)!

I thought I would start off by showing you what Skor thinks of my walking/swimming each morning.
I honestly think that he believes that I won't go out if he is on top of my shoes!

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Just so you know - the jar of Vaseline is there because I put some on my heels before I walk - a good time to moisturize!

Do you remember I told you that it had rained in Texas? Well, one day we got something like 10 inches over 24 hours. I was "lucky" enough to drive through a lot of it. This is a pond near our house and I just had to show you.

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In this picture, the pond is to the right of the trees. Normally, the trees are about four feet from the shore. Notice that in this picture, the water is about 8 feet PAST the trees!

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Luckily the pond is right next to the lake and the "excess" water goes into the lake so there was no flooding of nearby houses.

That was one wicked rain storm! I have included a video below of the storm I was driving through - fun, fun!

Before the storm, however, I thought I would show you this.

Home made pasta!

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I got the "urge" to try something different and found this recipe so . . . here are my noodles.

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Of course I don't have a pasta machine or any fancy cutting tools so . . . the rolling pin and a knife did my job. Not very "professionally" but it all tastes the same!

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These were really good - even Hubby has some!

I will have try this again soon since I like pasta so much!
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Well, that is it for the past events (except for the two short movies I am adding at the end). On to today.
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I will be heading to the college for my weekly "work fest." I spend about four hours before class doing work which will help me become a better interpreter (I hope!) such as working on my receptive comprehension and practicing actually interpreting from ASL to English and vice versa.
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At 4:30 class starts and then I am headed home by about 6:30! A big change from last semester when class started at 6 and ended around 10! Another big change is that I actually am enjoying this class a lot!
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Well - that is my "exciting" life for the moment! I hope you have an exciting day!
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Trisha
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Voice Update: My voice is still doing okay even though I did notice on Saturday that I was having a few more hesitations than I would like - those darn hard C words! Oh well! I will need to get back to work on that - I still haven't gotten back into the "groove" so to speak, with that. Bad, bad, Trisha!

A Bug and Dinner

Hi All!

Well - yesterday was pretty much a wash - I woke up with a horrible headache at about four in the morning. I took meds and went back to bed. When the alarm rang at about 6:30 - there was NO WAY I was going to get up. I told Hubby he would have to eat out and shut my eyes.

That only worked for a little bit. Skor AND Miss Cleo both decided that they NEEDED me out in the kitchen before they would eat. Great!

Hubby was kind enough to let me keep my eyes closed (I had some MAJOR light sensitivity going on) and he guided me out to the kitchen and then back to bed. He is a WONDERFUL man!

Anyway - after that it was back to sleep until about 8:45 ish when I called Mom to tell her that I wasn't going to be on IM - due to the headache which was still with me. The next time I woke up it was about noon and I shuffled out to have some luch/breakfast.

After that, the whole day was sort of . . . blah.

I always feel like I have been hit by a truck after a headache like that. This time was no exception.

Hubby did point out a very interesting "stink bug" for me to take a picture of though.


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Isn't it funky?

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It was hard to get a semi-good picture because the sun was so bright outside. Oh well - I like the spikes on his/her legs. Very medieval!

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After taking my car for a short shoppping trip with Hubby in the passenger seat to check out the new windshield (verdict: the new windshield is perfect!!), we both headed home for some dinner. Grilled chicken salad - which was Hubby's suggestion.

You have to understand that Hubby usually doesn't suggest anything involving green stuff. This was an impressive suggestion!

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This morning I feel better. Not completely better from that dang truck but . . . better.

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I didn't walk/swim though - I just needed a bit more sleep.

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Later I get my hair cut. I am thinking of going pretty short for the rest of the summer to make the swimming thing easier. What do you think?

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Well, I didn't talk a whole lot yesterday but I did talk to Mom for a while which took place of reading since my eyes didn't like reading yesterday (thanks, headache!).

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner!

Hi All!

Lately, dinners around my house have NOT been inspired at all! It seems like pulling teeth to decide on what to make. I think it might be because of the heat. I don't really want to have the oven on or work over the stove when it is 100 degrees outside. I would prefer to grill stuff but Hubby bulks at being outside when it is so hot - "Slaving over a hot grill!"

So . . . . my meals haven't been inspired! In fact, last night it was a mish-mash that I threw together at the last minute. Veggies, a cream sauce flavored with veggie cream cheese, shrimp, and pasta. It was okay - not one of Hubby's favorites though. He DID eat it, however, which is amazing progress from when we were first married and he wouldn't eat anything I made without a recipe!

Anyway- since my mind has been on food - I thought I would share some food related photos.

First - while preparing to eat dinner the other day (stuffed chicken breast, baked potato and salad) Skor just had to check out the fixin's!

He is actually very good about not trying to get any of the food but he does like to get as much of a smell as possible!


On Thursday I basically "railroaded" Hubby into having dinner at a pub he likes because they have his favorite beer - Old Speckled Hen - on tap.

This is a shot of our half-finished appetizer. It is called "Irish Nachos" and consists of cubed sweet potatoes covered with cheese and LOTS of bacon. It is served with spicy ranch sauce as well as regular ranch.

It was very good even though I was wondering if the Irish grow sweet potatoes.

Next up - the main courses. I ordered Guinness beef stew and this is it.

The bread bowl was very good but the veggies were cold (I ended up putting them in the stew to warm them a bit) and the stew was "Okay." Such a shame.

This is Hubby's standard meal when he goes to this pub - or any other pub - fish and chips.

Even though this picture is slightly out of focus - I think his meal looks more appetizing than mine did. It was probably tastier too . . .

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Well - that is my trip down food alley for today.

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Overall - not too bad for a dinner out which I didn't have to cook!

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I hope you have some great meals this weekend!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Doing well. A few minor hesitations are hanging around but nothing major.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder . . .

Hi All!

After four days of sun poisoning induced indoor living I finally (!!!) got out this morning and walked and swam!

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It was soooooo refreshing to dive into this wonderful pool!

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Of course the walk wasn't what I would call "refreshing" but I supposed I did sweat out all the toxins in my body! That is if the toxins could fight their way through the layer of SPF 45 that was coating my body!

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I also donned my broad-brimmed hat for the walk to give my chest some additional protection (yes, I probably should have just worn a shirt but it is SOOOOO hot!). I am thinking of getting one of those shirts with the SPF treatment on/in it to wear during my summer walks. I haven't decided on that yet though.

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In non-walking/swimming news, Hubby is home sick. He started feeling bad Saturday evening (after we had been to Sam's Club but he didn't have any of the samples!) and got progressively worse until yesterday evening when he started feeling better.

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Currently, he is snoring away in bed since I didn't think it was wise to go to work only hours after having a fever of 100.9!

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My new car is supposed to be on its way to the Metroplex today and should be ready for pick -up tomorrow. I am excited!!!! Did I mention that the dealership actually called me on Friday to let me know what the plan for getting the car was? A lot better than the silence from the previous dealer!

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Hopefully, I will get another call today letting me know that the car actually made it to the dealership. I still have my fingers crossed!

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Yesterday I finally used up the last of my peaches and made a peach pie with jello glaze. While some of the peaches were a bit past their prime, they are still okay and - I must say that the crust (made from scratch, thank you very much!) is excellent! I am hoping that Hubby feels better today and can help me eat it.

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I didn't take pictures of the pie because it didn't look too darn good. The peaches are tiny and some are darker because I didn't put enough of the color preserver stuff on them (I don't have any lemon juice!). Just trust me when I say it tastes better than it looks!

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That is about the sum of my entire weekend. Exciting, huh? I hope yours was more exciting than mine was!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I didn't read yesterday but I did read on Saturday. I am still working my way through the Psalms. While I read I work on the few words and sounds that I am still struggling with. One technique Susan told me to try was to talk nasally. Apparently, one of my problems with these "difficult" sounds is that I stop the air and then can't get the sound going again. When I speak in a nasal voice I don't stop the air for some reason. So - I talk in a nasal voice to get the feel of how I should be making the sound and then try it out in a normal voice. This means I repeat one word of phrase several times in a row. Hubby says I sound like a skipping record (for those of you old enough to remember those things!)! Nice, don't you think?

My Weekend

Hi All!

I hope everyone had a wonderful fourth of July!

We were a little worried here that rain might foil the plans for our fireworks and for our annual 10K/5K run. Luckily, it stopped raining for the morning run and Hubby and I were out front cheering on the runners.

I cheer every year with clapping and encouraging comments. A lot of people think I am weird standing out there alone (or with Hubby but he doesn't clap) but I have had people thank me for the encouragement so . . . I keep doing it!

This year a young girl was running by and said "I think you were my fifth grade teacher!" When I asked who she was . . . sure enough! I taught her in fifth grade at McCoy Elementary! A while later her mom ran by and said the same thing! They live in the next town north/east of us. Small World!

After taking in the race (which was at eight in the morning), I headed out to meet some of my friends from college. We were meeting to wish Stephanie a "Bon Voyage" as she gets ready to leave for college on the East Coast.


We met at the Genghis Grill (a new favorite for me) and had a great time chatting and eating and chatting and . . . chatting!

It was nice to see Stephanie before she heads out. We will all miss her but we know that she will have a super time in college and will have experiences she will never forget!


Have I mentioned peaches lately?

My neighbor has three peach trees and this year each of the trees had a bumper crop of peaches! Of course, she has offered me many. I took a bunch and made two batches of freezer jam (which turned out a little runny but absolutely delicious!). Then . . .

She gave me MORE!

We had peaches sliced and over Angel Food Cake.

Then . . . while my neighbors are on vacation . . . I told them that I would pick the rest of the peaches on the last tree and use them . So . . . I made one more batch of freezer jam and . . .

Ice cream!

Doesn't it look yummy?

And then we added fresh peaches! Yum!

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It was very good!

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Car Update: Still no car! Very frustrating! We are giving them today to get the car and if they don't get it . . . we are getting our deposit back and going somewhere else. I mean - the car is only 180 miles away and it has been a WEEK and they still don't have it?!?!?

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Not acceptable!

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Not to mentions extremely frustrating!

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Whenever I feel frustration taking over I just take a hint from Skor and do this . . .

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Still rockin' and rollin'! I didn't read out loud Saturday because I spent all that time chatting with my friends and yesterday . . . well, Sunday is my day of rest. I have been massaging though and looking forward to a speech session this week!

Success!

Hi All!

First of all let me tell you that the peach freezer jam that I made is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! I didn't have any thawed in time to go on my toast but I did have some on a piece of bread last night and it was amazing how good it was! I am impressed with myself even though I just followed the recipe on the packet of pectin I bought at Wal Mart.

For those of you who want the recipe - it is simple. Get a packet of freezer jam pectin from your local store. They have all kinds. I used Ball brand and it specifically said for freezer jam.

Mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar (or artificial sweetener) and the packet of pectin in a large bowl. Then stir in 4 cups of crushed fruit (strawberries or in my case - peaches). Stir for three minutes. Then ladle the stuff into containers (I used Ziplock plastic containers which held about one cup of jam), put the lids on and let set for about 30 minutes. After that, date the tops and pop them in the freezer.

To use the freezer jam you need to allow it to thaw in the refrigerator and store it in the refrigerator as well.

Simple!

That was one success for the day yesterday.

The second success of the day was that Hubby and I bought a new vehicle to replace my SUV. We bought a Toyota Venza which is sort of an SUV/station wagon kind of thing but I am calling it a "smooshed SUV" and avoiding the station wagon label.

The vehicle is actually in Oklahoma and the dealer is sending someone to get it so I may get it today (Which I highly doubt) or tomorrow. Then I will have tons of pictures to show you of my new ride!

YEAH!

That is about it for my news of success!

Trisha

Voice Update: Since I talked to the car dealer forever yesterday, I didn't read but I did do some massage. Still not enough but I am trying to ramp it up!

Oh, Crab Cakes!

Hi All!

Was it just me or was yesterday a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG day? Even with my unplanned nap of two hours, the day seemed to last forever. Not necessarily in a bad way . . .it just lasted a long time!

Let's see. Yesterday I said I was heading to the ASL lab. Wrong! I fell asleep and decided that I could hit the lab today.

Yesterday I said I was going to go grocery shopping. Wrong! I fell asleep and decided that I could grocery shop in the evening. Wrong! Hubby decided that today was the day we were going to start our evening walks again so I "get" to shop today!

As you can see, today is starting to get scheduled up!

Oh well, at least it won't be a boring day!

Another event from yesterday was that I made crab cakes. From scratch. From fake crab ( the real stuff is WAY better but WAY more expensive!). Without a recipe. I pulled stuff out of the fridge and the pantry and just got busy mixing stuff together. An egg to hold stuff together. Some Dijon mustard because it seemed like the right thing to add. Some Miracle Whip because you always need Miracle Whip. Chopped up fake crab because that was the entire point of the dish, right? Bread crumbs to soak up some of the egg and the Miracle Whip and to add the cake to the crab cakes. Some Old Bay seasoning which I found in my spice drawer since it seemed to go with crab.

Everything got mixed up and then formed into perfect appetizer sized cakes to be fried in sizzling olive oil. When they were done, the crab seemed to melt on my tongue and the seasonings were perfect - not too strong but not too bland either. I was so proud of my crab cakes!

Hubby, whose proclamation of hunger prompted my creation of crab cake appetizers, refused to even taste them! Refused. To. Even. Taste. Them! What nerve!!!

So. I have some left over crab cakes. Hopefully they reheat well and will make a nice, tasty lunch for me today.

Trisha

Voice Update: Still working on my exercises but still having some sneezing issues. There is something in the air which causes me to sneeze about three times each hour. These, my friends, are not small, dainty sneezes. Oh, no! They are HUGE, scary sounding things which leave my throat feeling worse for wear and cause the cats to hide. Not good. Not good at all.

Trisha's Wrapped Salad

Hi All!

I survived yesterday with work and class! Sooooo happy! Work was a bit busy because one of the therapists had a death in the family and will be out all this week. That means that I "get" to call all her clients for the week and reschedule them. Not too much fun for my voice!

Class was much better than last week. Henry, the teacher, finally started to make Frick and Frack (formerly known as Gabby and New Mexico) toe the line. In fact, Frick was a bit put out when she got reprimanded in class. Gee - if you don't like it - don't break the rules! Because Henry was reigning Frick and Frack in - we actually got a lot done in class last night. Hooray! I hope it only gets better.

On the kitty front - all seems well injury wise but, Skor is acting a bit odd this morning. He didn't come into the bedroom at all last night/this morning and then kept his distance from me all morning. I wonder what is up with that!

Okay - time for some more Ohio pictures. This time it is food. While in Ohio, I helped put dinner together even though Mom cooked. One day Mom asked me to make the salad. I was in a feisty mood so I tried something different and came up with this.


Now - the color is a bit off because of the clear plates, the lighting, and the brown table but, it looked really good in real life!

This creation is Trisha's Wrapped Salad. It is very simple to make. You take one complete lettuce leaf from iceburg lettuce and place it in a bowl or on a plate so that the lettuce itself forms a bowl. Then, fill the lettuce bowl up with all your favorite salad fixin's. We used sliced beets, Feta cheese, carrots, cucumber, tomato, shredded lettuce, and mushrooms. When everything is inside, roll the lettuce bowl up like you would a burrito. Turn it over so the seam is on the bottom, top with shredded cheese and dressing and . .. . voila!

It tasted exactly like a regular salad but was more of an adventure to eat. We sliced it with knife and fork and then munched. The home-made croutons were added at the end around the edge of the plate since a good salad always needs something crunchy in it!

My dad thought that we should put the dressing inside the wrap and then put the entire wrap in a pita. Mom thought we should leave the seam side of the lettuce up since it was the greenest part of the lettuce leaf and had more color. Personally, I liked it like this. However, I think the variations would be just as fun!

Trisha

Voice Update: Had a real speech therapy session with Susan yesterday and she really worked on my throat. It was just a little bit tight! Now things are better but not quite where they need to be yet. I need to really work on my exercises and massage - something I didn't do too well last week because I was stressed out!

Let's Discuss Lunch!

Hi All!

Well, I was going to show you more Ohio photos today but Blogger just isn't working with me today! So . . . let's see what I will talk about . . .

Today is another "early" day for me. What that means is that I go into work early so that I can leave early and go to class. Going directly from work to class means I have to plan and tote my dinner with me. This is always a problem for me since I don't plan ahead too well. Hopefully, today will be different.

Last night I had to vacuum pack some chicken breasts (we buy in bigger quantities and then vacuum pack and freeze for later) and I decided to just cook some of those buggers to make myself some dinner for tonight.

I plan to take some shredded chicken (cooked and shredded last night) and to make a wrap with mayo (light, of course), lettuce, and cheese. Add to that a small apple and some carrot sticks and . . . voila! Instant dinner. We will see how that works for me. There is a refrigerator at work I can put my dinner in so it will stay cold - it should work, don't you think?

Also, I made a batch of meatballs. I LOVE meatballs. I also LOVE the meatball song (if you haven't heard it - check out "One Meatball" on YouTube and you will find a couple versions of it)! These I made basically for breakfast and some lunches this week. I might freeze some but am still trying to decide on that course of action. I may just eat them all up!

How exciting is this post? Are you all asleep yet?

I hope everyone has a fabulous Wednesday!

Trisha

Voice Update: Ugh. I am still speaking but it is a lot of effort and since my mood isn't that great either . . . I really don't want to think about it today.

Bean Soup

Hi All!

First of all, let me say to the foodies out there - don't get excited! I am not going to show you pictures or give you a recipe. I am just talking about my recent experience with bean soup and it isn't really pretty!

About two weeks ago I was perusing the grocery aisles and decided that I was in the mood for some bean soup. There were all kinds of packages of bean soup beans all nice and prepacked for me to choose from. I took my time and read instructions on several bags until I found what I thought was the "right" one. This bag of bean soup included flavoring and said no ham bone was needed. Perfect!

The bag o' beans sat in my pantry for about two weeks as I waited for the right time to make bean soup. This isn't as easy as you might think. I have to have time to pamper the soup (and to pre-soak the beans!) and it has to be when I can eat the soup since Hubby will not touch "homemade" soup with a twenty-five foot spoon! So - I waited.

Finally, Sunday seemed like the perfect time for the soup. I could eat the soup for lunch this week and I wasn't going anywhere all day so I could work with the soup. Great!

I did the "fast" pre-soak of the beans which involved boiling and letting them sit for over an hour. Then I started my soup. I did everything according to the directions. The soup. It turned out . . . . bland. To say the least!

It just was missing something - probably that "non-needed" ham bone!

Well, I put the pot of soup into the fridge and told myself I would mess with it on Monday night after work. Did I do that? No! I waited until last night when I was tired and a little cranky!

I decided to blend the beans to thicken the soup. After that I added all kinds of spices - pretty much anything I found in the spice drawer and thought might go well with beans. Dried onion flakes went in (I don't have regular onions because Hubby is very, very anti-onion! I can sneak the flakes into things!). I stirred and stirred. Then I decided to reduce the soup a bit so it wasn't so thin.

That, my friends, is where I got into trouble!

The actual reduction process went well. The soup thickened up nicely. It was when I took the ladle to stir the concoction that everything went to . . .well, heck!

I stirred and had a ladle full of soup when the soup, now nice and thick, decided to "spit" at me. A HUGE glob of soup flew out of the pot and landed right on my thumb. Of the hand which held the ladle full of soup!

Needless to say, the glob of burning hot soup startled me a bit. It startled me so much, in fact, that I jumped and promptly dropped the ladle - full of soup.

The ladle full of soup landed on the kitchen rug - AFTER landing on my bare foot. Now I had burning hot soup on my thumb AND all over my bare foot! Yikes!

I quickly wiped the soup off and ran my hand under cold water. My foot - well, it didn't reach up into the sink to get the cold water treatment! After getting the "souped" rug into the washer I iced both affected parts of my body but . . . OUCH!

I am beginning to think something somewhere is trying to tell me to not make soup! It seems like every time I make home made soup, I end up burning myself! What do you think?

By the way - the hand and foot are MUCH better this morning.

Trisha

Voice Update: Well, as I was sitting in traffic on the Tollway for OVER AN HOUR last night on my way home from work, I got in some quality massage time. My voice is still hanging in there. Go, voice, go!

P.S. Blogger is still correcting the spelling on correctly spelled words! It just told me I didn't know how to spell instructions! The nerve!

Carrot Cake Adventure

Hi All!

Yesterday, I baked a cake. Not from scratch but from a Duncan Hines mix. I should tell you the Hubby is extremely suspicious of my cake making skills for some odd reason. He won't let me make him cakes for his birthday and doesn't normally like any cakes I make for other occasions.

This time, I think we had a break through!

Hubby was the one who cut the coupon out for carrot cake and cream cheese frosting. He really likes carrot cake!

This cake was very luscious. The frosting wonderfully creamy.

Yum!

Hubby ate up his piece and even considered taking a piece to work for his lunch today. Impressive. He even said that he might like it if I made this cake again sometime.

High praise from Hubby!

Skor Update: Last night/this morning Skor did well. He came in and jumped up on the bed but didn't try to get at my face at all. He did snuggle into my neck but not anything too violent. Do you think he got the idea from only one night?

On another Skor topic - Hubby had a good laugh when scooping the litter box yesterday. Apparently, Skor took his favorite toy mouse and buried it in the litter! Talk about a weird find!

Trisha

Voice Update: Still holding my own and doing well. Having some problems with words starting with Cs but Susan says it is because I block my air flow. I am working on it!

Birthday Celebration/Girls' Day Out

Hi All!

Last Saturday a bunch of girls (technically women) got together for a luncheon and movie to celebrate my birthday and Tricia's birthday - which are two days apart. We went to Mimi's Cafe and had a great lunch. Of course, most of the time we just chatted and had a good time. I took along my trusty purse camera and got these shots.

The cafe gave Tricia and I complimentary chocolate mouse cake. Yummy!

I got to blow my candle out - Tricia's mysteriously went out before she got the chance. Beth kept telling her that she DID blow out the candle - she just didn't remember. Yeah, right!

Doesn't this look good? Sarah is trying to hide in the background!

Beth whipped out her own purse camera to take a picture of me taking a picture of her!

Tricia and Stephanie had fun on their side of the U-shaped booth. Tricia says she takes horrible pictures - I think this one is pretty darn good!

This is the entire bunch. Don't we look like fun gals?

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After lunch we headed to the movie - with the exception of Stephanie who had to head home so she could make it to a friend's wedding on time. We missed her!

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We saw Night at the Museum: Smithsonian of whatever it is really called. It was good - of course, Beth and I kept pointing out all of the impracticalities throughout the movie - quietly so we didn't bother others. Finally we decided that movies called upon the audience to have a willing suspension of disbelief. It was fun.

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There is nothing like having friends! Hopefully, we will do this again this summer!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Doing pretty well. Skor helped me out last night by massaging my throat. Of course, his claws got in the way once in a while so I have a little scratch at the base of my throat. So hard to find good massage therapists these days!

My Friday Adventures

Hi All!

It is Saturday and I am feeling pretty refreshed after over-sleeping! Yes, I overslept and didn't get in my morning walk! Luckily, Hubby and I took a walk last night after dinner so I sort of made up for missing this morning proactively!

Here is a look at what has been going on at my house lately . . .

I saw this at the grocery and just had to try it. I have seen them before but never actually had the guts to buy one. This week . . . I decided to go for it!

Does it look like this has a little face on it? I like the way coconuts look. So hairy and cute. If you look really hard you can see a ring around the coconut towards the bottom. That is a score line which is supposed to make the coconut easy to open. We will see about that!

Skor has found a new favorite place to hang out.

I had to cut the handles so he didn't get stuck in them. When he first tried to get in the bag, he got his head through the handle and then couldn't get out. He was a little panicky but let me unhook him. Then I got out the scissors.

Yesterday I went to Wal Mart and just strolled around looking. I found these cuties on sale for only one dollar! Needless to say, I snatched them right up. Who can pass up cheapy shoes which are cute AND colorful? I also snagged a pair of red ones for my mother. Gee - now I have to get them in the mail to her!

Tomorrow (or Monday) I will continue the coconut saga (is it REALLY easy open??) and fill you in on more Wal Mart happenings. As for today - I will tell you that I made homemade spaghetti sauce . . .it wasn't too bad but I still need to work on a good recipe!

Trisha

Voice Update: Doing well. My throat is a bit gunky (the last of the gunk from the cold - I HOPE!) and crunchy but getting better.

Veggie Chips and Destination Imagination (Again!)

Hi All!

As I am typing this, Skor is playing with a veggie chip under the desk. I don't know if he is trying to eat it or just licking the sea salt from it. He seems enthralled. Actually, I am enthralled with the veggie chips myself.

The color of the chips got washed out in this shot but here is what veggie chips are. They are dehydrated veggies - carrot, squash, sweet potato, green bean, and taro. These little buggers are crunchy and slightly sweet and sprinkled with sea salt to add another layer of flavor. I am addicted.

My local Kroger store sells these in the produce department and once I got the nerve to actually try them. . . I fell in love. These are healthier than potato chips and also satisfy my sweet tooth now that I am resisting the urge to eat sweets. They are perfect!

Who knew a green bean could be so sweet?

The Destination Imagination tournament is this coming Saturday and that means I am in the thick of preparations. Hubby was sweet enough to lug my boxes of supplies out of the closet and I spent a bit of time going through the boxes getting out what I will need this year. Today I will really get into things as I start portioning out supplies for each team and each room.

Here is my guest room at the present moment courtesy of DI.

Lovely, isn't it? Wouldn't you like to come and spend a night with us? I should mention that the dragon is always in the guest room. He is a hand puppet and is absolutely adorable. He is the companion to my wizard hand puppet who hangs out in the music room. Hmmmm - maybe the dragon needs to relocate!

Next to the windows you can see some of Hubby's golf balls. Anyone want some slightly used golf balls?

DI has also taken over our coffee table (and soon the entire living room!). Do you see the pile of brown envelopes peeking out at the left side of the table? I had to put labels on each of those and then divide them into 6 groups (there are six different rooms teams will be going through and certain teams go to certain rooms). Soon I will be labeling six sheets of paper for each of those envelopes.

On top of the pile is a file box filled with index cards - two for each of the 130 teams - which I had to hand write this year because the powers-that-be didn't deem fit to give me enough pre-printed labels! Now THAT was fun!

At least I have Gilmore Girls re-runs to watch during the drudgery!

Trisha

Voice Update: Still not feeling like talking too much. I DO but I don't feel like it. My voice is good but I am getting really phlemy so that isn't helping matters much. I hope I don't have a cold!

Sunburn, Henry, and Melody

Hi All!

Yesterday was busy and fun - and busy. After my morning routine (actually I slept through my alarm so my morning routine was greatly altered!), I got my act together and had an al fresco luncheon with my friend M and her daughter A.

We went to a wonderful park which had a great playground for A to play on, pavilions, and a pond with fountains. After A played in the playground for a while - that kiddo loves her slides! - we walked back to the pond and ate our packed lunch - chicken salad, fruit, veggie chips, and bread - sitting in an ampitheater looking at the pond. It was a cool day with a slight breeze. Fabulous!

The food was great, the company was better and the chance to just relax and slow down a bit was heavenly.

It wasn't until I was home getting ready for bed at the end of the day that I noticed that I had gotten sunburned! Yikes! Luckily, it isn't bad but it is a clear reminded that sunscreen is essential even in March when the weather is only 50 degrees!

The next time I will remember to take along my camera so I have pictures to post for you! I hope to go back again with M and A.

Right after the picnic lunch, I headed off to the college and to the ASL lab. I have an assignment for fingerspelling class due today and it had to be video taped. The assignment involved writing twenty sentences, each of which contained two numbers, two fingerspelled words, and a FLS (fFngerspelled Loan Sign - a "shortcut" so to speak). Let me tell you - getting all of that into a sentence isn't exactly easy. The last time I had to write twenty sentences it took me FOREVER!

This time I decided to amuze myself and write a little story. My story was about Henry and Melody (the Henry in the story is NOT the Henry that teaches my ASL 3 class. In fact, I didn't even notice that I had used the same name until I was all done recording my sentences!). These two people need help with their taxes and both go to the same accountant where they sit in the waiting room next to each other. It is love, love, love at first sight and the two marry and take a two week honeymoon in Barbados.

It kept me amused. We will see what the teacher thinks!

Trisha

Voice Update: Still doing well. I am still not feeling too eager to actually talk but . . . the voice is kicking bootie!

The Peach Cake

Hi All!

I almost forgot to tell you about the peach cake I posted on Saturday. Well, I remembered today and so . . . .

This recipe, according to my mother, is old. She got it from a friend many years ago and it is still a favorite in our family!

I don't have pictures of the ingredients to show you but the recipe is simple so just follow along.

Here is what you need:
a box of yellow cake mix
three eggs
a can of peach pie filling
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour

Totally ignore the directions on the cake box and simply stir the mix, the eggs, and the pie filling together. Put into a rectangular cake pan (I spray mine with Pam first).

Mix together the butter (softened), the sugar, and the flour. Sprinkle this concoction over the top of the batter.

Put the cake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.

The cake is wonderfully moist and flavorful with a sweet, slightly crunchy topping.

Yummy!

Trisha

Voice Update: The crunchy throat is gradually going away with the more massage I do. I am doing my exercises and massage like a good girl. My voice does still have some breaks but not nearly as many as Sunday and Monday. Here's to hoping it just keeps getting better!

Super Short Saturday

Hi All!

This is going to be a super short post. I am off to train appraisers for Destination Imagination - what fun! The training starts at 8:30 and I need to be there at 8:00 - a bit early for me these days!

I will leave you with a picture of this fabulous peach cake that I am munching on for breakfast - not exactly healthy but so, so, so delicious! I will tell you all about it later!

Really - I will. I promise!

Trisha

Voice Update: Too early to tell but my voice was scoring high points yesterday! We will see how it goes during training where I "get" to talk a lot!

Classes and Crock Pot Crash

Hi All!

Yesterday I started a new semester of classes at the community college. I am taking three classes, all related to American Sign Language, in an effort to further my progress in the program so that IF I go back to work next school year I can continue taking relevant classes. There are two "background" kind of classes which need to be taken and so I am taking those, Finger spelling and Deaf Culture, along with ASL 3.

All three classes are basically back-to-back-to-back on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is convenient for me. I can get all three out of the way at one time without having to worry about going on different days. A few focused hours and . .. done!

While attending ASL 1 and ASL 2, I have met many of the other ASL students in the program but last night, I met a LOT more. Two of my classes are packed to the gills with 23 and 24 students. Most of these students are people I have never met. Since I am not really comfortable with meeting new people (even though people think I am really outgoing, I sort of quake inside at the thought of meeting new people), last night was an interesting time for me. Luckily, in two of my classes, there is at least one other student from my ASL 2 class - the teenager. It is nice to have a familiar face!

Now that I have the first day out of the way I can settle in to the homework I have for Thursday. Fun, fun! I will be reading A LOT this semester and spending a LOT of time in the ASL lab! I am required to have 20 hours for each of two classes for a grand total of 40 hours! Of course, I have 30+ hours last semester for ASL 3 so it shouldn't be too much more effort. I hope.

Do you cook in a crock pot? I never do but I tried to yesterday. Why, you may ask, don't I cook in a crock pot when it is SOOOO convenient? Well, Hubby is afraid that the house will burn down if I leave the thing on while we are both at work and since that was for the large part of our life together, I have gotten out of the habit of thinking of the crock pot. Yesterday, Hubby was out of town and I had a beef roast just begging to be made and I had classes all afternoon/evening. So, I got out the crock pot.

First, I browned the roast on all sides, seasoned it, and added water and orange juice (I don't know why the OJ - I just like the flavor it gives the roast).. I put the whole shebang on the base and set the temp to medium low while I was home in the morning. After an hour or so, I added cut up potatoes and carrots. I checked the whole thing before leaving for class and it seemed to be doing fine. I turned the temp to low and left - for nine hours.

When I got home, the house smelled wonderfully like roast beef. My mouth watered in anticipation. Then . . . I was disappointed. The beef was done but the potatoes and carrots were half cooked and half hard. Where did I go wrong?

I decided to cut up the roast and potatoes and cook it some more today to make a beef stew. I will thicken the liquid and, hopefully, it will turn out yummy.

Oh - I just want to say that this week - since it is my first back to school and with Hubby away - is a bit wacky so if I don't get a comment posted at your blog, forgive me and be patient! I am reading but don't have the time to type!

Trisha

Voice Update: I have speech today. I say that with a bit of a nervous feeling. Despite the fact that I HAVE been doing my massage and exercises pretty regularly lately (right?) my throat is a bit "crunchy." Normally, that is a sign that I haven't been massaging. I am worried that Susan is going to think that I have been slacking when I haven't! I don't know if the allergy bout I have been dealing with has caused some of the crunchiness or not. I have been sneezing a LOT lately and some of the sneezes seem to reach my throat. Also, I have drainage that causes me to cough -I try not to since coughing isn't good for your vocal cords (it isn't good for even healthy cords, by the way) but sometime I wake up coughing. I guess I will have to wait and see what Susan says.

Some Books and Some Soup on a Cold Day

Hi All!

It is another chilly day here in Texas. While the temperature is supposed to climb up the the high 50's a bit later in the day, the morning is chilly and misty with light rain. The perfect day to snuggle up with a good book and a hot bowl of soup.

My soup isn't quite done yet. I ended up going out to lunch with friends yesterday so I have the ham bone broth in the fridge waiting for my ministrations today. I haven't decided what all I will do to it but I know it will be yummy and perfect for this kind of weather!

As for the book, well - I am starting a new one today but I have two good ones to share with you.

The first is an oldie but goodie - Where Love Has Gone by Harold Robbins. Another of my treasures from Grandma's house, it is a pretty satisfying read.

In this book a father who has been separated from his daughter by a nasty divorce is called back to her side in the middle of the night when he learns that she is being charged with the murder of her mother's boyfriend. Leaving his current wife, who is due to have their first child at any time, the father, Luke, travels to California to stand at his young daughter's side during this difficult time. The daughter, Danielle, is only 15 and so will not stand trail for murder but will instead be subject to a juvenile court review of her custody until she is an adult.

The mother, Nora, is a narcissistic sculptor who is widely acclaimed in the American art world. She is vain and controlling and is jealous of her young, beautiful daughter.

Luke returns to his daughter's life after six years away at the insistence of Nora. He is driven to do some investigation on his own of the situation as he simply can't believe that his daughter committed such a crime.

During his time with his daughter he re-examines his life with Nora in poignant flashbacks during which we learn a lot about both Nora and Luke as well as the world which surrounds them both.

The book is an easy read and the trail of Luke's investigation keeps the reader's interest throughout. While I wouldn't put this book on my top ten list of all time favorite reads, it was a nice diversion.

Next is a book which I had trouble putting down. Absolute Power by David Baldacci.



This is the second of Baldacci's books I have read and I was certainly not disappointed. I will say that the picture of Clint Eastwood on the cover had me wondering just what rock I was under since I had no clue that there was ever a movie by this name in theaters!

Anyway - this book is a thriller which starts with a seemingly simple robbery that turns into a nightmare of corruption, murder, and intrigue.

Luther Whitney, a lifetime robber, breaks into a plush mansion and suddenly finds himself an unwilling witness to sex and murder. The murder isn't just your average, run-of-the-mill murder either. It is done by secret service agents and the situation involves the President of the United States!

Once the people involved find out that there was a witness to the crime, and the following cover-up, they are obsessed with finding, and eliminating him. Meanwhile, the homicide detective in charge of the murder case finds himself with a cold trail which just doesn't seem to add up to what it looks like.

With unexpected twists and turns, this book held me on the edge of my seat until the last word of the last paragraph. I had a difficult time doing anything yesterday as I didn't want to stop reading until I had finished the book. What a read!

If you like intrigue, pick up this book. It is worth the time.

Trisha

Voice Update: Well,***Break in the action as I go to investigate a "suspicious sound" from the kitchen. A certain kitten, who shall remain nameless, *cough - Skor - cough* had managed to find my stash of Moonflower seeds. It took me a while to scoop them all up and return them to their containers. Darn kitten! Yesterday I managed only one and a half sessions of massage. Horrible, I know, I know! I am sooo angry at myself. I just can't seem to get into the swing of the routine! I HAVE to get into this routine for the sake of my voice. It would be horrible if not doing my exercises regularly resulted in a relapse of my SD symptoms! ARGHHHHHH!