A first attempt...

I have made my first attempt at creating a badge. Not entirely successful yet but I did figure out how to put the picture up here on the page as a gadget which works for now! I am hoping that you will join me on the journey to keep the focus of the Christmas season where it belongs. Feel free to take the image for your own page as well. (I know it is not much at this point but it is meant to be shared!)

Thinking ahead

I was checking my facebook feed and a local business that I follow was advertising some Christmas products that they make and sell. Really? You would want an Alabama or Auburn stocking? Or ornaments for your tree?

Maybe I am just getting old!!!!! (I did just have a birthday!) I think that the message of the season should be foremost in our minds and school spirit is not really part of the message. Maybe you missed that part of the lesson. I suspect the business makes and sells these items precisely because they sell! What a sad commentary on the people in this state.

I am going to pledge to you that I will do my best to keep Christ in Christmas this year. Want to take the pledge too? I'll see what I can do about creating a badge for this. It really is important!

10-10-10

As a person who loves numbers, I think it is interesting that people care about dates such as today's. I must be too practical to be caught up in ther fervor. I do not believe that one day is inherently more lucky than any other because of the numbers that identify it.

Today was glorious here and a gift from the Lord to be enjoyed! The arbitrary numbers assigned by man don't really affect His gift! Did you do anything to mark the day? It is has not even been mentioned in my family!

The most interesting thing I heard is that 101010 in binary is 42 which means that today is the answer if you are a fan of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy!

Southern cooking - oh my!

All over town, you can find the new cookbook by Christy Jordan called Southern Plate. It looks fabulous and I congratulate her on a job well done! Much as I love Southern cooking, I don't indulge in it much myself. I think it is because I see Southern cooking as inherently unhealthy! Need some bacon fat? How about some more butter? Maybe you begin to see what I mean... I love bacon! I really do! I no longer buy it regularly though. I try to stick to a minimally processed ham but it really does not equal bacon. It is just healthier for us all. I love butter too. I used it last night when I made mashed potatoes for dinner. The other thing I added to the mix? Feta cheese! Yum! Somehow the two things go oh so well together!

With all the challenges my DH presents in terms of his diet, it would be nearly impossible for me to make most things from the Southern Plate. No beef, no beans, no msg, low sodium, low fat and very balanced for a diabetic diet. Last night was balsamic chicken and feta mashed potatoes. I needed a green veggie but did not have any on hand. Tonight will probably be homemade pizza which lets us control fat and sodium. Other favorites in heavy rotation, though not necessarily grouped, curried chicken, rice, vegetable soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, fajitas (beef for the kids and chicken for DH), pumpkin pancakes, french toast, bbq chicken quesadillas with pineapple.

oops

As DH and I were heading out to meet friends for supper tonight, I got a call on my cell. It was the mom of the friend whose house I had just dropped DS off to play. She said we need to come check DS, he had been kicked in the nose. Well! You can imagine that a kick in the nose would not be good! We got there and yes, his nose is clearly crooked where it was not before. Some swelling and bruising but not too much at this point which is good. He was very brave but decided he wanted to go home and have some medicine and put ice on it at home. So we returned him home.

I did some research on broken noses and have learned that if it is within the first 14 days, it is possible to have it adjusted. It was not clear to me what that would mean if he has a deviated septum which he might now. So now it looks like I will be going to see the doctor this week to get further guidance on what to do. Of course, he has a show coming up in a week so we really don't want him to have a swollen, bruised nose for the show!

As for how the kick occurred? It was truly an accident! His best friend was running up the stairs and DS was right behind him but going up on all fours. So obviously, his face was too close to the friend's foot. I'm going to file this under boys will be boys and be thankful that it was not something worse.

soup

I tried a new recipe today for soup. I am having to adjust my cooking a bit for DH so I did not follow the recipe exactly. I used Pioneer Woman's roasted vegetable minestrone as the base recipe. I left out all of the seasoning except for the tumeric and I had to leave out the cannellini beans too. DH's digestive track is not what it was it would seem. Red meat is gone from our diet and now beans are leaving too. I love beans so that will really be missed. I still cook red meat occasionally and will cook chicken at the same time for DH. The kids and I enjoy having steak every once in a while. The kids also love having meatball subs or spaghetti with meatballs.

So back to the soup - mine turned out not to be very soupy! The pasta absorbed most of the soup but it was still good. I need to look for more soup recipes that are veggie rich and low sodium and low fat. If you have a favorite soup recipe, please share!

Think Pink

All around me today the world is pink. The newpaper is pink, the firefighters are wearing pink, trees are wrapped in pink ribbons. This happens every October for breast cancer awareness month. But this year is different for me. I will schedule my mammogram and go have it as always. However, someone I know has done the same thing and had a report come back as suspicious for cancer.

For most people that would be a call to action. For one of my aunts it was. She was diagnosed and has been clear now for about 13 years. Now another aunt is choosing to ignore her doctor's advice. Her reply was that she'll come back next year and have another mammogram.

No one can understand why a very intelligent woman would make such a choice. We all have our own theories about it but we cannot understand. So this year it feels more like a heavy pink cloud is hanging over me. Her children and siblings, neices and nephews have all tried to speak with her about the wisdom of her choice without changing her mind. I will continue to pray that the Lord will open her heart and mind to the wisdom that would come from having a biopsy at least. Then we would all know whether this is cancer or something else. I truly feel that her daughter deserves to know at least this.

If you have ever dealt with a similar situation, I would love to hear how you resolved it. And remember to get your mammogram!