Aaron and I took my assistant, Brandon, out for lunch today. It was his last day for the summer. He goes off to NYU for the first time to study film and dramatic writing.
We had a very nice meal and conversation at Wildfire. Brandon and I had the filet mignon medallians - one with blue cheese crust and one with horseradish crust. Aaron had a crabcake melt. We enjoyed some calamari and mussels together and then Brandon had a blue berry pie dessert and I had a low carb chocolate mousse.
We are really going to miss Brandon so we showered him with presents and our love and support. Thankfully he will be coming over to our house this weekend to spend one last day. We will take him out for a nice dinner to say our final goodbye...sniff sniff.
I will send him some care packages throughout the year and will keep in close contact with him so I can be a great help and resource and a friendly strong shoulder for him. He's a great young man and I'm proud to know him.
Day 3 of the demolition:
The plumbing and electric are being re-routed so we can see the changes behind the drywall! I made fish tacos tonight and it worked out beautifully. I even boiled some fresh broccoli to go with it and we shared a glass of white wine and had a great conversation about our faith. We spent some quality time with our cats before going to bed early.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sense of Accomplishment
Continued success for day 2. The floor in the kitchen and dining room has been pulled up and the plumbing is being re-routed to where the new sink will be.
We had Ray buy our hood vent for the new stove because we couldn't figure out what to buy. The new "Wonderfridge" and dish washer will be delivered Thursday along with the stove (2 separate trucks!)
I am using Dolores's stove now, so for dinner I made Angel Hair pasta with 95% lean ground beef, onion and some jarred pasta sauce with roasted garlic. I served it with some unbuttered bread. Thought I would just keep it simple tonight.
Tomorrow I have grandiose plans of making fish tacos. This will be a difficult process with no counters downstairs. I have a stove, a table for 2, 3 hung cabinets and a laundry room sink that I'm employing...but I am a stubborn woman! Throw the cutting board on the dryer and away we go.
It's actually rather fun learning how to live with limited resources again. We have to wash dishes every night, dry them and put them away. I don't think we've done that once in the past 6 years that we've been at this house. Aaron washes, I dry and put them away.
Our TV is not hooked up downstairs, so we've been reading together and spending time with the cats and just talking. It's refreshing to not hear the TV.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I've learned some things over these past couple weeks as I've been packing and preparing for this new kitchen, dining room and living room remodel project.
I've learned that I have way too much "stuff." It took me 5 weeks to go through all of Dolores's things, my things and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. I had over 30 big black garbage bags that were picked up by the Cancer Federation over a span of 3 weeks. I brought many things to work for my co-workers to pick over. I garbaged many things that weren't worthy of anyone having. We've moved everything downstairs into the back bedroom and closed the door so the cats wouldn't get at it. I can't even go into the room because there are still so many boxes and bags of things all over the floor. It's actually quite overwhelming to think of all the stuff that I still have. Some of it has sentimental value - my grandmother's things, Dolores's things, Aaron's grandmother's things, etc. I know in my mind that it's all just stuff, but in my heart it's hard to let go. We don't have any children either, so who the heck am I going to give this stuff to?
I also learned that if we ever had to move (God forbid!), that I would have to hire people to help me pack. HA! Seriously, I think I would collapse if I had to do it all by myself.
Another thing that I've learned is it's ok to be distracted to not feel grief so much. I actually had a decent time going through Dolores's things. I'm glad that I waited 7 months before doing it. I couldn't have done it before without sobbing. I thank God that she lived with us and we didn't have to rush through it like some people have to do with their parents' items. Grief takes time and sometimes TIME is a four-letter word.
I feel such a sense of accomplishment and now that our project has begun and it's day 2 and the sky isn't falling and our cats are ok, I am ready to take a deep breath and remain calm and just let it happen. I'll stay on the side lines writing my poetry, reading my books, playing with our cats, talking to friends that I've inadvertently snubbed over the past couple months during my focused frenzy. (I know they forgive me...) Oh, I can come up for air now.
Perhaps I'll begin by looking at Mediterranean Diabetic recipes, Asian Diabetic recipes, and then I'll get some sleep.
We had Ray buy our hood vent for the new stove because we couldn't figure out what to buy. The new "Wonderfridge" and dish washer will be delivered Thursday along with the stove (2 separate trucks!)
I am using Dolores's stove now, so for dinner I made Angel Hair pasta with 95% lean ground beef, onion and some jarred pasta sauce with roasted garlic. I served it with some unbuttered bread. Thought I would just keep it simple tonight.
Tomorrow I have grandiose plans of making fish tacos. This will be a difficult process with no counters downstairs. I have a stove, a table for 2, 3 hung cabinets and a laundry room sink that I'm employing...but I am a stubborn woman! Throw the cutting board on the dryer and away we go.
It's actually rather fun learning how to live with limited resources again. We have to wash dishes every night, dry them and put them away. I don't think we've done that once in the past 6 years that we've been at this house. Aaron washes, I dry and put them away.
Our TV is not hooked up downstairs, so we've been reading together and spending time with the cats and just talking. It's refreshing to not hear the TV.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I've learned some things over these past couple weeks as I've been packing and preparing for this new kitchen, dining room and living room remodel project.
I've learned that I have way too much "stuff." It took me 5 weeks to go through all of Dolores's things, my things and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. I had over 30 big black garbage bags that were picked up by the Cancer Federation over a span of 3 weeks. I brought many things to work for my co-workers to pick over. I garbaged many things that weren't worthy of anyone having. We've moved everything downstairs into the back bedroom and closed the door so the cats wouldn't get at it. I can't even go into the room because there are still so many boxes and bags of things all over the floor. It's actually quite overwhelming to think of all the stuff that I still have. Some of it has sentimental value - my grandmother's things, Dolores's things, Aaron's grandmother's things, etc. I know in my mind that it's all just stuff, but in my heart it's hard to let go. We don't have any children either, so who the heck am I going to give this stuff to?
I also learned that if we ever had to move (God forbid!), that I would have to hire people to help me pack. HA! Seriously, I think I would collapse if I had to do it all by myself.
Another thing that I've learned is it's ok to be distracted to not feel grief so much. I actually had a decent time going through Dolores's things. I'm glad that I waited 7 months before doing it. I couldn't have done it before without sobbing. I thank God that she lived with us and we didn't have to rush through it like some people have to do with their parents' items. Grief takes time and sometimes TIME is a four-letter word.
I feel such a sense of accomplishment and now that our project has begun and it's day 2 and the sky isn't falling and our cats are ok, I am ready to take a deep breath and remain calm and just let it happen. I'll stay on the side lines writing my poetry, reading my books, playing with our cats, talking to friends that I've inadvertently snubbed over the past couple months during my focused frenzy. (I know they forgive me...) Oh, I can come up for air now.
Perhaps I'll begin by looking at Mediterranean Diabetic recipes, Asian Diabetic recipes, and then I'll get some sleep.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Dday - A Success!
Well the first Demolition Day was a big success. We spent our evening downstairs with our little furry children. I made hotdogs and a salad, pickles and reduced fat chips. We shared a glass of rose wine and played with the cats until they decided to go to bed. Baby is sleeping in a magazine basket and Dolly has found a space on Dolores's bed that she loves. I don't understand the magazine basket but OK - as long as he's content.
I'm planning to try some Rachel Ray 30-minute meals...most likely next week since our menu is planned for this week. This week I'm mostly preparing things I don't have to cook in an oven.
We've decided that we are going to keep Dolores's old stove. It has a broiler beneath the oven which is not available in the newer stoves. We like that feature. So we'll get rid of our gold harvest Kenmore stove that I've had upstairs for the past 6 years and keep Dolores's. We had a long discussion about it tonight. I'm looking forward to my Viking professional stove, which is going to be delivered on Thursday. And I'm looking foward to having my back up stove be an old fashioned stove. A white Admiral. This should be interesting!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I am a very lucky woman and I don't take this for granted! With this new change, I've renewed my commitment to making healthy choices. Mediterranean and Asian cooking...here I come. I'm going to learn how to make just about everything healthy that you can imagine. I'm so excited! Thanks, Mom!
I'm planning to try some Rachel Ray 30-minute meals...most likely next week since our menu is planned for this week. This week I'm mostly preparing things I don't have to cook in an oven.
We've decided that we are going to keep Dolores's old stove. It has a broiler beneath the oven which is not available in the newer stoves. We like that feature. So we'll get rid of our gold harvest Kenmore stove that I've had upstairs for the past 6 years and keep Dolores's. We had a long discussion about it tonight. I'm looking forward to my Viking professional stove, which is going to be delivered on Thursday. And I'm looking foward to having my back up stove be an old fashioned stove. A white Admiral. This should be interesting!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I am a very lucky woman and I don't take this for granted! With this new change, I've renewed my commitment to making healthy choices. Mediterranean and Asian cooking...here I come. I'm going to learn how to make just about everything healthy that you can imagine. I'm so excited! Thanks, Mom!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Kitchen Demolition Tomorrow!
We're all packed up and ready for the kitchen demolition tomorrow. I think the kitties know something is up. I just pray it won't be too stressful for Baby and Dolly with all the noise. Although, they made it through the past 5 months. In the past 5 months we've:
Replaced our deck
Replaced our siding
Replaced our windows
Painted the 3 bedrooms upstairs
So we're on the verge of the last project - a new kitchen with all new appliances, a new built in bar and island in the living room, a new entertainment center with built in bookshelves and a big screen TV with surround sound in the living room. This is going to be awesome!
We had our last meal in the old kitchen tonight. I made scrambled egg sandwiches with cheddarwursts. We also had a nice white wine to go with it.
The kitchen is now bare and it echoes when we talk. Weird.
It finally cooled off today so I took Baby outside for awhile. He sniffed around for about 15 minutes and then came back upstairs and waited at the deck door to be let in. Dolores's flower box is doing wonderfully. Our tomatoes and hot peppers are doing well, our rose bush is not and all our marigolds died. I think I will fill those in with pretty stones next year instead.
Mom, Aaron and I all had a great dinner at Johnny's Chop House once again. Mom and I had London Broil with broccoli and a salad. Aaron had Mediterranean chicken and cream of potato soup. We shared a bottle of Crossings Savignon Blanc. The meal was perfect, healthy and within our budget. Johnny's is our favorite restaurant. Our waitress-friend, Mary and I are now sharing our poetry. I brought a poem that I had published in a book and read it to her. She has all of her's memorized so she performed one for me! It's so fun to share this way.
Now that I'm going to be in limbo for awhile with the kitchen project, I've promised Mom and Aaron that I would write more. If I find it worthy of an audience, I will also post my writing here.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I'm trying to decide if I should continue this blog after the 1 year mark or if I should begin another one of all my creative writing instead. What do you think? What would you like to see? Let me know.
Replaced our deck
Replaced our siding
Replaced our windows
Painted the 3 bedrooms upstairs
So we're on the verge of the last project - a new kitchen with all new appliances, a new built in bar and island in the living room, a new entertainment center with built in bookshelves and a big screen TV with surround sound in the living room. This is going to be awesome!
We had our last meal in the old kitchen tonight. I made scrambled egg sandwiches with cheddarwursts. We also had a nice white wine to go with it.
The kitchen is now bare and it echoes when we talk. Weird.
It finally cooled off today so I took Baby outside for awhile. He sniffed around for about 15 minutes and then came back upstairs and waited at the deck door to be let in. Dolores's flower box is doing wonderfully. Our tomatoes and hot peppers are doing well, our rose bush is not and all our marigolds died. I think I will fill those in with pretty stones next year instead.
Mom, Aaron and I all had a great dinner at Johnny's Chop House once again. Mom and I had London Broil with broccoli and a salad. Aaron had Mediterranean chicken and cream of potato soup. We shared a bottle of Crossings Savignon Blanc. The meal was perfect, healthy and within our budget. Johnny's is our favorite restaurant. Our waitress-friend, Mary and I are now sharing our poetry. I brought a poem that I had published in a book and read it to her. She has all of her's memorized so she performed one for me! It's so fun to share this way.
Now that I'm going to be in limbo for awhile with the kitchen project, I've promised Mom and Aaron that I would write more. If I find it worthy of an audience, I will also post my writing here.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I'm trying to decide if I should continue this blog after the 1 year mark or if I should begin another one of all my creative writing instead. What do you think? What would you like to see? Let me know.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The new stove shipped!
Well Greek Hot Dogs didn't go over too well. In fact, I never even got to make them. We talked about it in the car on the way home and Aaron crinkled up his nose so tight that I just made regular diet hot dogs with fat free turkey chili, mustard, onions, tomotoes and whole wheat buns. Sounds boring doesn't it?
I did make an artichoke and black olive salad with olive oil and vinegar and seasonings to go with it though.
Oh, well. I guess it wasn't the best of ideas that I've had.
Tomorrow night I have to work late, which is very rare. Aaron is going to the dentist for phase 2 of his many phases of dental work that he needs done. So, I think I'll go to Subway for a turkey sub tomorrow night. I'm not sure what Aaron will be able to eat but I hear that it may be filet of fish at McDonald's. Not the best choice, but considering what he's going through and the fact that it will be "soft" food, I won't put up too much of a fuss about fast food.
The Viking professional 6-burner stove that we ordered from New York for our new kitchen has shipped!!! The new stainless steel refrigerator and dish washer are in at Lowes and ready to be delivered as soon as we say so. I still need to pick out a microwave, a hood vent, a new kitchen faucet, stone flooring, stones for the archway over the stove and lighting. But one day at a time! Demolition of the old kitchen is scheduled for Monday, so we have time.
I've been looking at some 30-minute Rachel Ray meals from her magazine. Once we move into the basement (Monday) I'll need some quick meals to cook during the week that are easy to make. I'll have limited space and time with all the construction and chaos going on in our home. I've found a few that look good and I will share them when I make them. I love the fact that she's trying to help get kid's school lunches healthier. Kids are so much heavier now and it will be that much harder for them to lose weight later. I commend her for this!
I did make an artichoke and black olive salad with olive oil and vinegar and seasonings to go with it though.
Oh, well. I guess it wasn't the best of ideas that I've had.
Tomorrow night I have to work late, which is very rare. Aaron is going to the dentist for phase 2 of his many phases of dental work that he needs done. So, I think I'll go to Subway for a turkey sub tomorrow night. I'm not sure what Aaron will be able to eat but I hear that it may be filet of fish at McDonald's. Not the best choice, but considering what he's going through and the fact that it will be "soft" food, I won't put up too much of a fuss about fast food.
The Viking professional 6-burner stove that we ordered from New York for our new kitchen has shipped!!! The new stainless steel refrigerator and dish washer are in at Lowes and ready to be delivered as soon as we say so. I still need to pick out a microwave, a hood vent, a new kitchen faucet, stone flooring, stones for the archway over the stove and lighting. But one day at a time! Demolition of the old kitchen is scheduled for Monday, so we have time.
I've been looking at some 30-minute Rachel Ray meals from her magazine. Once we move into the basement (Monday) I'll need some quick meals to cook during the week that are easy to make. I'll have limited space and time with all the construction and chaos going on in our home. I've found a few that look good and I will share them when I make them. I love the fact that she's trying to help get kid's school lunches healthier. Kids are so much heavier now and it will be that much harder for them to lose weight later. I commend her for this!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Kitchen, Hot Dogs and Revelation
Getting ready for the kitchen demolition which is scheduled for Monday, 8-16-10. We are really excited and hopefully I will be able to post some photos. If not on this site, then on my facebook page.
All packed up in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway. Sunday night we're moving downstairs. Ray and gang are coming over Saturday to move the final pieces of furniture in place so Sunday won't be that big of a deal.
I'm spending some quality time with the cats tonight. They are going to have to adapt to moving back downstairs and we are feeling sorry for them, but they are doing pretty well considering all the changes they've dealt with since Dolores passed away.
Tomorrow night I'm going to try Mediterranean hot dogs. I'm going to make diet hot dogs on wheat buns, but I'm going to add feta cheese, onions, tomatoes and green olives on top. Then on the side I'm going to make a black olive and artichoke salad with oil and vinegar dressing with seasonings. Aaron turned his nose up at the idea, but I think he's going to like it. At least he said he'd try it. I'll have mustard and fat free chili waiting in the wings just in case!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I've been reading Revelation in the Bible. It's very interesting how many times the reference to supper, eating with Jesus, wine, olive oil, the wedding feast, etc are mentioned in this book. It is an honor to share a meal and all food must be blessed and not sacrificed to an idol in order to be holy and worthy of eating. God is very interested and specific about what should and shouldn't be eaten. Take a look, despite many other topics discussed, food is mentioned throughout as John describes his vision.
All packed up in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway. Sunday night we're moving downstairs. Ray and gang are coming over Saturday to move the final pieces of furniture in place so Sunday won't be that big of a deal.
I'm spending some quality time with the cats tonight. They are going to have to adapt to moving back downstairs and we are feeling sorry for them, but they are doing pretty well considering all the changes they've dealt with since Dolores passed away.
Tomorrow night I'm going to try Mediterranean hot dogs. I'm going to make diet hot dogs on wheat buns, but I'm going to add feta cheese, onions, tomatoes and green olives on top. Then on the side I'm going to make a black olive and artichoke salad with oil and vinegar dressing with seasonings. Aaron turned his nose up at the idea, but I think he's going to like it. At least he said he'd try it. I'll have mustard and fat free chili waiting in the wings just in case!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
I've been reading Revelation in the Bible. It's very interesting how many times the reference to supper, eating with Jesus, wine, olive oil, the wedding feast, etc are mentioned in this book. It is an honor to share a meal and all food must be blessed and not sacrificed to an idol in order to be holy and worthy of eating. God is very interested and specific about what should and shouldn't be eaten. Take a look, despite many other topics discussed, food is mentioned throughout as John describes his vision.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Weekend Update
Pam seared some rainbow trout for dinner tonight. I served it with some home made potato salad, fresh asparagus, french bread and diet butter, and Mama made a fresh salad with a little salmon in it. Oh boy, that was a good meal.
Friday I was having some trouble with anemia...completely wiped out. Aaron took me out to Johnny's chop house in Antioch for raw oysters and liver. I had to get some iron in me. I felt much better after that.
Saturday we went out again to Johnny's this time with Mom. We all ordered chicken. Aaron and Mom had Mediterranean chicken and I had martini chicken. It was a chicken breast char broiled with vodka and vermouth cream sauce and then smothered in green olives. It was very good, but not as good as the Mediterranean chicken. That dish has a chicken breast with tomato, spinach, feta, lemon and garlic piled on top of garlic mashed potatoes. It's very yummy.
We took it easy this weekend, watched movies and got some rest.
Tomorrow we find out when we'll break ground for the new kitchen. I am so looking forward to it!
Friday I was having some trouble with anemia...completely wiped out. Aaron took me out to Johnny's chop house in Antioch for raw oysters and liver. I had to get some iron in me. I felt much better after that.
Saturday we went out again to Johnny's this time with Mom. We all ordered chicken. Aaron and Mom had Mediterranean chicken and I had martini chicken. It was a chicken breast char broiled with vodka and vermouth cream sauce and then smothered in green olives. It was very good, but not as good as the Mediterranean chicken. That dish has a chicken breast with tomato, spinach, feta, lemon and garlic piled on top of garlic mashed potatoes. It's very yummy.
We took it easy this weekend, watched movies and got some rest.
Tomorrow we find out when we'll break ground for the new kitchen. I am so looking forward to it!
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