Winter's Solstice

Thinking of all of my friends on this shortest day of the year. And here's a little something to get us all in the spirit for Christmas!

Day 62

Many of you have sent email and asked why I my postings this fall have been sporadic and less than creative. I think my trip to the doctor's office today sums it up.

Pneumonia still present.
Double ear infection.
Sinus infection.
A fourth round of Levaquin (another 7 days)!
More Albuterol.
More cough medicine.
More vitamins.
More inhalers.
No more steroids... Yet!
I have had a TB test.
I am going to present my next sputum sample to the lab. Joy!
And the cherry on top?
A CT scan! What? ("Afterall, non smokers can have lung cancer too!" WTF?! Yes, my doctor actually said that to me!)

Joy!

I swear. Not only is this illness draining my check book, it is sucking the creativity from my soul!

Happy Birthday To Me!

What a busy day! Phone calls from friends. Lots of birthay wishes via Facebook. Lunch with my girl friends. Nifty pressies. Friends over for dinner. My favorite holiday on the horizon. And an upcoming visit from my long time friend, Shan. Does it get any better?

Day 34

Better, but not 100%!

I am finally finished with my third round of antibiotics. And I must say, I am feeling much better. My lungs are nearly clear. I only have a bit of crud, early in the morning and late in the evening. I still have some stuffy head, nose, and ear symptoms.

I made it to work today just around 7:00. I had every intention of leaving at noon. I ended up spending the day until 5:15. What was I thinking? I dragged myself home by way of the high school (picked up Orion from wrestling) and promptly sat down.

I am beat. I am exhausted. And I won't do that again! I promised myself HALF days! Does it matter that the ONLY thing I did was wade through 200 unread email messages and clean out my in box?

Day 28

Will this crap ever end? Probably not. At least not any time soon! Today I had a follow up visit with my wonderful doctor. I had both good news and bad news. But I suppose in the grand scheme of things it's really closer to good news and could be worse news, than truly bad news.

The good news is that my lungs are clearing. And I didn't need a doctor to tell me that. I can tell.

The could be worse news is that I am still green. And I still have a slight wheeze or whistle by the end of the day, especially if I push myself. Therefore the doctor has extended my antibiotics- another five days of Levaquin! Hooray! And the Prednisone- (psychotic music hits a crescendo). Yippee! I will also continue playing with the nebulizer as needed.

Overall, I am feeling much better. Last night was the first time I attempted to sleep lying nearly flat. I didn't get much sleep, but it had little to do with my position and more to do with the drugs I am using. I have also been slowly cleaning the house. Each day I pick a room to attack. Two days ago it was the dining room. Yesterday it was the library. Today I think I bit off too much. The Dirty Romance Room was not a terrible mess, but I think the combination of very little sleep last night, waiting two hours to see my doctor, the quick but necessary trip to Wal-Mart, the run by the pharmacy, and making a simple pot of rice to go with Manisha's tandoori chicken did me in. Even with Orion's help I gave up just short of vacuuming the room. I could tell by the slight wheeze and the pain in my chest that if I had reached for the vacuum, I'd be paying double for it tomorrow. So the Dirty Romance Room has been dusted and neated, but vacuuming will have to wait for another day.

Tomorrow's room will most likely include vacuuming of the entire house and cleaning of the hallway closet. The boys will be in charge of neating the kitchen and cleaning their bathroom with the mandatory bleach and fire.

Day 24

I went to work today. What was supposed to be a half day turned out to be about 5.5 hours. I suppose since my usual day is easily 12 to 14, I didn't quite make the half mark!

I woke up at 8:45. After not falling asleep till 3:00 (I love steroids!). I washed my face, brushed my teeth, used the bathroom and returned to bed where I had my first breathing treatment of the day. Even after the treatment I just sat there and wondered why on earth I had decided to attempt work today. Nearly two hours later I found myself in the parking lot at work.

I spent just about two hours in my office catching up, grading, and preparing for my last class of Foundations of Ed. It was a good class. They had many outstanding and creative projects to share and I was surprised that I made it through the entire class without falling over!

But class did take the starch out of my panties!

I took nearly another two hours to get enough mental and physical energy to make the trip from my office back to the car. I could tell I pushed myself today because my chest hurts in that spot, still and again.

I am home now. Showered and in PJs for the remainder of the weekend. Taking another breathing treatment and ravenous (I love steroids!). And wondering if I'll have the stamina for Monday!

Note: I completed my extended round of antibiotics earlier this week, however I still have a great deal of snot and drainage. I continue to take over the counter and prescribed (at night) cough meds. I am still taking Albuterol and Symbicort and I have a little, crinkly wheeze that won't quite leave. Energy scale (1 being low - 10 being great) is about a 2.5. But last week it was in the negative numbers so this is an improvement! My next doctor's appointment is Tuesday.

Day 19

Ten days of illness and isolation (as suggested by the Health Dept. and CDC). Tenth day doctor diagnoses pneumonia prescribes Tessalon & Levaquin. Day 14 sees no real improvement; doctor adds more Levaquin and breathing treatments via a nebulizer. Day 18 brings severe pain when breathing. Day 19 doctor orders Sunday visit to ER for another x-ray and blood work. Breathing improved. Pneumonia still present. Possibly viral. Doctor doubles orders for breathing treatments and adds codeine cough syrup for pain (!) and a month of steroids. Good news: I am not admitted. Bad news: I freakin' hurt like hell and it looks like I am going to miss another week of work.

I miss Andromeda!

Flu Update

Thank you friends for the get well wishes! Every day is a step closer to the light (of daylight, sunshine, and bike riding!). :-)

Tuesday's visit to the doctor and x-rays revealed that the pneumonia is still very present. While there were indications of healing, the doctor extended my Levaquin prescription by five more days and added a medicine to be inhaled via a nebulizer (Thank you V.J. for lending me your nebulizer!) three to four times a day. The Albuterol makes me terribly jittery. Yikes!

I must say that the constant bed rest has improved the condition of my glaucoma-ridden ankles, but my Beriberi is really acting up.

Orion is about half way through with his second round of antibiotics. John has just started his second round of antibiotics and is on his second day of Tamiflu. All this time I was blaming the boys for getting me sick, perhaps I infected them. I just hope they don't catch my Beriberi.

Oink! Oink!

Cough, cough...

Wheeze, wheeze!

Anyway you look at it, pneumonia sucks. I've missed over a week of school and by the looks of it I may end up missing another week.

At least I won't have any STI's after I finish this impressive round of antibiotics AND perhaps the glaucoma in my ankles will improve.

Rice Pilaf

Oh, I wish my camera was working! I adapted the following recipe from The Joy of Cooking (2006) 75th Anniversary Edition. Adaptations included reduced liquid for use in the rice cooker and additions of spices and mushrooms. Tree, you must give this a try. I think you'll love it!

Kat's Rice Pilaf

What you need:
2-3 Tablespoons of butter
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
4-6 green onions, sliced thinly
2 small bay leaves
2 cups rice (I use Jasmine)
4 ounces of angel hair pasta (I use Barilla) broken in to tiny pieces
small handful of dried mushrooms, soaked, drained, and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
3.5 cups of chicken broth (4 if you plan to cook the pilaf on the stove or in the oven)

What you do:
Melt the butter in a large skillet, browning the garlic and cooking the onions until transparent, toss in the mushrooms and bay leaves.
Toss in the rice and pasta pieces and saute until golden. Dump in the rice cooker. Add 3.5 cups of chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste, close the lid, and turn it on!

The result is fabulous! Next time I might reduce the broth and use the water from the soaking mushrooms. I might also include cashews or almonds.

Computer Mishap

A few weeks ago I mentioned the Camera Mishap that left me without a digital camera and feeling quite miserable. Well, it seems my little laptop, Hello Kitty, is seriously ill. Her only symptoms were some odd error messages on Saturday night followed by the Blue Screen of Death (!) on Sunday morning ~sob~. I can only hope that she is able to be fixed.

MKT Trail

Saturday morning found Orion and I hitting the Katy Trail. It was the first time I'd taken Andromeda Dale (AnD) "off road". The trail consists of hard packed pea gravel so it isn't like biking on wet grass or mud. But the gravel does give beneath the tire and made for a most unsettling feeling at first. Once I gained some confidence, Orion and I cruised from Windsor toward Green Ridge for about three miles. We turned around, just past the Pettis County line to make our way back to Windsor to meet John at our predetermined time.

From Windsor we drove to Calhoun and then on to Clinton. With Calhoun only 7.5 miles from Windsor, I think that will be our first one-way adventure with John or another kindly friend meeting us there. Eventually I'd like to make it the 14 or so miles to Clinton.

My brother and his wife have biked the Katy Trail on at least two occasions. (They biked the stretch up near the Missouri River and on to St. Charles.) Listening to their experiences has been a major motivator for my own trail excursions. By spring I hope to be able to bike 20 or so miles in a day (not the 45-55 they did!) which will leave me time to explore, get the feeling back in my rear end, set up camp, make dinner, and rest before moving on the next day. I've got friends I want to bike with!

Ugh!

So this evening's bowling was not nearly as stellar as last week's, much to my chagrin. I must admit, however, that this week has been a trial. From technical issues Monday during class, to sick family members and rude billing folks at the doctor's office. Include a week's worth of insufficient sleep and today's wardrobe malfunction (Dark tea all over my white blouse before I had to observe student teachers for five hours!) combined with a house that is in such desperate need of a good cleaning that it smells funky!

Am I making excuses? Perhaps. But here are this week's scores. You know the motto: "Bloggin' my pain; bloggin' my shame!

Last week's game raised my average to a 108. Tonights games were:
09/17/09 117 101 89

Gobble, Gobble!

It's that time of year again. The bowling season began three weeks ago and each night I have berated myself for not once going to the alley to practice over the summer. I have also found a plethora of new bits and pieces that seem to ache just for the helluvit.

Last season I finished with an average of 106. The first two games this season weren't so promising with scores of:

August 27 100, 105, & 67 (shameful!)
September 8 99, 111, & 97

But I am quite excited to say that I bowled my highest game so far last night (as did a good friend, Ruth, with her score of 193 (!)). My scores for last night were:

September 10 106, 182, & 107 (Holy smokes!)

I like to think that I have been steadily getting better. Most of the time the ball goes where I want it to. Sometimes pins seem to have a force field surrounding them making them impervious to the 11 weight hurling at them at roughly 13 m.p.h. Ultimately, my throws are more consistent. Last night's second game was awesome! I had six strikes (!) and three of them aligned for a turkey. (My turkey dance and gobbles of excitement alternately delighted and frightened my teammates and friends.)

Last night was actually the second time I bowled this week. Tuesday I bowled fora make-up game. Perhaps it was a good thing... I am looking forward to bowling next week and I am actually considering practicing!

The Name Game, Continued

Readers, I am impressed by the names sent to me via email as well as by the comments section of my post "It's a Girl!" Several local friends also made suggestions. Some suggestions made me cringe, while others left me scratching my head (Stagger Lee? Why would I name my baby after him?). My favorites are listed below:

Robin (Several made this suggestion, not just Sally in the comments! I have a few Robins in my family (both sides) and will probably skip this to avoid confusion!)

Aqua Velva (I must say I absolutely love this name! But I am not entirely certain I can call my baby A-V with a straight face. I do agree with Jenn A-G, Aqua Velva is sure of herself!)

Azure Adventurer (A^2) (A very dear friend suggested this name after some thought. I do like the name, but fear I would stumble when pronouncing azure then there are several who don't know that azure is a color!)

Evelyn (Jenn A-G suggested this name and it does just roll off the tongue. In fact, I found myself trying the name out on Tuesday whilst cruising KNSP. Still uncertain.)

I must admit that I have been kicking around some names of my own. (Keep your giggles to a minimum, please!) Maria or Mary Magdalene (Yeah, I like that one too!), Andromeda Dale (AnD (pronounced Andy) for short), or one of my favorite Greek Muses: Calliope, Polyhymnia, Clio, Urania, or Thalia.

Who would have thought naming a bike would take more time than naming one's offspring? But I suppose most parents have a more than a few weeks to discuss baby names. I'm still taking suggestions, but I promise to commit to a name soon!

Crock-Pot Mishap ~ Camera Mishap

Wednesdays are days where the crock-pot is in charge of dinner. When things are running smoothly (giggle!) and things are as they should be (snort!) the week look something like this: Monday is Orion's day, Tuesday is my day, Wednesday belongs to the crock-pot, Thursday is whatever (I'm bowling and don't care what or if the boys eat!), Friday and Saturday are John's days (but not always), and Sunday it's back to me. I had rather hoped that the boys would take pity and man crock-pot Wednesday, but alas, I am still hoping. Last week's Lemon Chicken was rather tasty. And while tonight's dinner was edible, I was almost glad the camera wasn't working.

When I began experimenting with the crock-pot years ago, I seemed to have more misses than hits. But after reading several cookbooks and blogs as well as chatting with friends who know and love their crock-pots, I have found that I now have more hits than misses. And I am not quite certain how to classify tonight's dinner.

This afternoon I thought I would give Mongolian Beef a try. I visited Crock-Pot 365 and Recipe Zaar and looked at both of their Mongolian Beef Recipes. How could I go wrong with ginger, garlic, soy, wine, and chicken broth? Right? Well, to start, I dusted the meat in too much corn starch (I'll omit that entirely next time!), and secondly, I used a 3.5 quart crock-pot instead of the larger one. It smelled great. And tasted fine. But looked like something from the black lagoon. Really! (Again, grateful for not having a camera to blog my shame!)

I think I'll retry the recipe, but not any time soon. And as for the left overs, I am not certain what to do with them. But I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Now then, you may wonder about the Camera Mishap part of this post. Sunday I went out with Orion and Shannon to bike for a bit. I took the camera for the sole purpose of snapping picture of my bike and hopefully getting one of my bicycle mates to snap one of me and my baby to share with you! The camera dropped (crash!) and it's toast. We've had the camera for a decade or more (it's a Cannon Cool Pix 4.3 and it has been dropped many times before, but its number was up!). I am hoping to send it off and have it fixed. ~Sob~ I suppose I could dust off my old Cannon AE-1, but just the cost of printing gives me the willies.

Dinner's Ready...

Lemon Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice

School resumed just over two weeks ago and I have already contracted some horrid sinus funk. I honestly think it is allergy related. Last Friday I had that horrible "allergy eye" that feels like pink eye.

Feeling poorly only increases my appetite for homemade, well-balanced meals. And Stephanie over at A Year of Sow Cooking always has some very tasty suggestions. Today, I thought I would give a couple of them a try.

First, I started with the Lemon Chicken. I took four chicken breasts and hacked them into manageable chunks and dusted them in flour with salt and pepper. I browned them a bit and tossed them into my Crockpot.

Then I mixed up the sauce and dumped it on. I goofed, and added the entire container of lemonade. Ooops! Also, I used rice vinegar instead of the suggested balsamic vinegar.

Then I decided to give the Chicken Fried Rice a try. I was feeling a bit dubious about the efficacy Crockpot Fried Rice, but I was feeling adventurous... Or perhaps it was just all the antihistamines I had consumed. I trucked out all of the goodies I thought I might need: chopped onion, chopped green onion, peas, carrots, and left-over baked chicken.

I tossed in a good amount of soy sauce, a touch of sesame oil, and gave it a good stir. I made sure to leave a well where I poured in three eggs, scrambled. It was my hope to return in about an hour and give it a good solid stir, combining the cooked egg with the rice. But alas and alack! The Crockpot was on "warm" instead of "high". Again, it must have been the antihistamines. So I gave it a stir and cranked it up. Hoping that the hour I had lost wouldn't make a huge difference.


The results were not only attractive (see the first picture in the post), they were quite tasty. I am thinking fresh pineapple and a hint of red pepper would be just the ticket on the next go around. Even with the extra 1/2 of a container of lemonade John still gave the chicken a 7/10. I gave it an 8.5/10. The fried rice was another story. My left-over rice was a bit moist and I think it would have fared better if I had used three or four day old rice. With the Crockpot on "warm" for the first hour, the rice didn't heat as quickly as I had hoped. The stirring broke up my long Jasmine rice grains into short, stubby bits. But the taste was quite good. I could have used a bit more of the sesame oil and the soy sauce, but I was guessing as I was working with a lot of rice. The rice got a 4/10 for texture (my fault, I'm sure) and a 7/10 for taste.


Readers, give it a try and let me know what you think. And thank you Stephanie for the inspiration!

It's a Girl!

She's perfect! But at nearly two weeks old, she definitely needs a name. She's a Trek 7100 WSD in Robin's Egg Blue with Paisley Detail (really, all she needs are streamers and a basket!). She's a hybrid, designed for both bike paths and concrete. (She really likes the blacktop, okay, I really like blacktop!) She's fast, yet sturdy. And I love her.

So friends, please take a minute of your time and suggest a name for my newest family member via the comments section. If I choose the name you've suggested, you'll win a framed photo of me and my new baby. Seriously.

Score!

Look what I found! Well, John found them... We stopped by my favorite antique shop in the 'Burg, Highway 13 Antiques, where I found my $25 china cabinet, on the way home today. I love looking at all their goodies: glassware, china, linens, and more. Well, John walked up and handed me a long, thin, leather wallet and to my suprise and delight, it contained 24 pairs of knitting needles ranging in size 3 to 15! The price was $20, but this package (Susan Bates Knitting Needles) retails for $59. That was less than $2.00 a pair!

Now I have just the right size to use on the gorgeous Burly Spun wool that I found earlier this summer! I can't wait!

Fun at the Fair!

Friday was fantastic. Friday was fun. Friday's fun spilled over into Saturday. Friday evening, after work, we raced to Sedalia for the Missouri State Fair for a little fun. The weather was perfect- sunny and the temperature was dropping nicely. We wandered, ate, wandered, ate some more, people watched, ate, checked out fair submissions, at some more, rode a few rides, and well, you get the picture! The best part of going to the fair is eating fair food! Foot long corn dogs, roasted corn, funnel cakes, sausage and peppers, and the list goes on. Thankfully we met good friends and were able to share the tasty treats! We left the fair close to 11:00 p.m. and headed back to our friends' house where we played Guitar Hero till 2:30 a.m. Woot!

A Recipe for Tree

Tasty raviolis times fresh spinach and bacon-y goodness equals a very happy tummy. This is a quick and easy recipe and takes just about twenty minutes to make. While I would love to say that I used homemade raviolis, alas, I relied on the Kirkland (a Costco brand) cheese raviolis available in the freezer section. Give it a try! You can't go wrong with bacon!

Kat's Spinach and Ravioli

What you need:

Raviolis
8 - 16 ounces of Fresh Spinach
8 - 16 ounces of bacon (yum)
4 cloves of Garlic, chopped (or more if you prefer!)
1/2 of a Purple Onion, sliced in rings
Parmesan Cheese
Black & Red Pepper

What you do:

Slice the bacon and begin frying in a large skillet. Place a pot of water with salt and a dash of olive oil on the burner to boil.

When the bacon is nearly cooked, pour off the fat, and add the garlic and onion. Add the raviolis to the water.

Just before the ravis are ready to come out of the water add the spinach and stir until just heated through and wilted.

Toss spinach and bacon mixture with the raviolis. Add some Parmesan cheese and pepper to taste.

What's For Dinner?

Just about two years ago I blogged about a potato surplus. Well, this month I have found myself in a similar situation; but instead of twenty pounds, I had roughly thirty five pounds to deal with. Orion and bought a giant bag of russet potatoes when we went shopping about ten days ago. A few days later John picked up a giant bag of tiny, red, new potatoes. And when my friend Jen came to spend the weekend and brought another bag of medium sized red potatoes. That's a lot of potatoes.

Well, so far we've had boiled new potatoes, potato pancakes (one of my favorites), and mashed potatoes. Well this morning, I noticed that the russet potatoes were looking as if they were considering a one way trip to the compost pile. But I knew they'd make a good soup. One of my favorite food blogs, A Year of Slow Cooking, shared a nifty baked tater soup recipe back in June.

I started with Stephanie's Baked Potato Soup Recipe and then shortly before dinner, just after stirring in the cream cheese, John and I decided it needed a bit more of something. So we altered the Stephanie's recipe by adding the following:
*more salt and pepper
*celery salt
*a drizzle of whole milk

As pictured above, I garnished with green onion and lots of bacon (Yum!).

The recipe makes a boat load (about five quarts)! I hope it freezes nicely. Cut it in half and use a 3.5 quart crock if you don't plan to have left overs!

Yum, yum, yum!

Friday and Sunday

Sunday, Orion and I woke up early and headed out to help our friends Manisha and Towino move to Mt. Vernon, Missouri. We headed over to their apartments and loaded the truck up with their goodies. We left the 'Burg at 10:15 and after a swing by the McD's in Clinton and a potty break in Boliver we made it to Mt. V just after 1:00. We checked in, unpacked, and hit the grocery store before leaving at 4:00. Orion and I made great time on the way home and we returned around 6:20.
But before Sunday's adventures, we celebrated Friday!


Friday was fabulous!


Friday was awesome!

Friday was fun!

John made homemade lasagne and gnocchi. We also made the Fried Eggs that Manisha taught me to make earlier the same week. Stacy brought cucumber sandwiches. Orion made a huge chocolate cake. Allie brought a tasty cabbage and seafood stew. We ate (a lot), we chatted, we celebrated Manisha's belated birthday, we ate some more, and we danced.

And danced.

And danced.

Ravelry

My friend Jen (from Arkansas, not Missouri) came to visit last weekend and shared an awesome online community for knitters, crocheters, spinners, and weavers! It's awesome! And it's called Ravelry! Ravelry has just about everything a (wannabe) crafty Kat. Plenty of patterns and project ideas to keep me busy until 3069. I love that I can organize my knitting needles and crochet hooks, message my friends (both named Jennifer- I need some more friends!), share photos of my finished work, and so much more! You can find out more about Ravelry by clicking here. If you want to me my stitchin' buddy, you can find me as katmangione.

Busy Doing Nothing

Holy smokes! Time flies when you're doing a whole lotta nothin'! Since my last post I packed nearly all of my office, snaked the toilet, took a friend on a giant shopping trip to Costco, drove to Conway and spent three days retrieving Orion, snaked the toilet (again), went grocery shopping (I'd forgotten how much he eats!), packed up more of my office, checked out the new paint job (pictures soon!) on the new office, waited for the cable guy and plumber, and knitted with my good friend, Jennifer.

No wonder I'm worn out! And this is supposed to be a vacation!

Tomorrow I plan to return to Costco (they overcharged me about $44), pack up the rest of my office (tall order, I know!), and make dinner! I have to get the "rat killin'" out of the way before I settle back into writing.

I better get some sleep!

What Are Your Thoughts?

Friends, I am in need of some advice. Nearly a year ago I lamented about my G.E. washer needing serious repairs. The repair man suggested junking it as the cost to repair it would come in just under the cost of replacing it. He did tell me I could run it till it stopped working. It's slowing down considerably and I've washed a few loads twice just to get them clean, but it's still chugging along. But the other day the dryer got really hot (too hot) and smelled like all sorts of fiery death (probably more like burning cat hair) and well, we just sort of encouraged her to go to the light.


Well, the weather's been good and I usually use mother nature to dry my laundry, but after a week of off and on rain and nearly 100% humidity, I had to truck my stuff to the laundromat to get them dried. I am going to have to buy a washer and dryer soon.


So I've been shopping.


And reading.


And shopping some more.


And now I wish I hadn't read so much, because now I am confused more than ever.


I pretty much decided to avoid the G.E. and Roper brands because I do not wish to replace the washer and dryer in another five to six years. While front loaders are out of my price range, I have dreamed about them for years and a good friend bought a display set, discontinued color, for a steal! After reading about front loaders' having serious and expensive computer problems, it made those grapes seem less tasty. I found a Maytag that was one or two rungs up from their intro model and thought, "this just might do!" But then a friend told me about Maytag's woes a few years back and I started reading up on them. Oh my! I found a Whirlpool at Coscto, but they now own Maytag. And I believe I read that Kenmore (Sears) are made by the same folks too!

So what I want to know from you (and please, if you're reading this post, take a minute to post a comment!) is: what brand washing machine do you or have you used and what has been your experience! What are your suggestions? Please help! While I am perfectly able to beat my panties on a rock down by the river and hang them on the line to dry, it takes a great deal of time to do so!

The Office

Curious about where I spend twelve to fourteen hours a day in any give semester? Wonder no more! Yes, it is small. Yes, it is full. Yes, it is not very orderly or terribly tidy. Behind the open door on the right is a large bookshelf. You can see my burgundy desk chair harvested from surplus some time ago. To the left you can see the grey edge of a chair for a visitor. I have already used the boxes to pack my things for the move to my NEW office.

Below is a close-up of my desk. What do they say about a cluttered desk? Perhaps I don't want to know. Yes, that's a pile of math manipulatives, a lava lamp, a stuffed Holstein, a Virgin Mary, and a Buddha. (I think most of my bases are covered!)

I spent some time Saturday boxing up the office. While I used all of the boxes procured for me, I have not quite made a dent in the pile. But first, I must find more boxes. I need more boxes!

I am very excited about my new office. It is slightly larger, nearly a square, measuring almost 100 square feet- an increase of about 40 square feet! Best of all, one wall contains a bookshelf that is 8 feet long and another wall contains cabinets above and below the U-shaped counter top. The only negatives are that the window opens into a hallway (at least there's a window!) and there are no drawers for desk items. But boy do I have plans!

I took a picture of the new office (below). Maintenance will be coming to paint the walls a beautiful green (Benjamin Moore, Aurora Borealis) some time next week. After that, I get to start moving in my goodies! I can't wait! I'll make sure I take "after" pictures to go with the "before" pictures!

The Library

The library is a quiet and dark place. Just like a library should be, I think! It is probably the second largest room in the house with the basement "playroom" coming in first. The library is adjacent to the dining room and the foyer and most likely served as the formal living room. It is a large rectangle with two windows on the exterior wall. There are no overhead light fixtures or wall switches. Perfect for nine six feet tall book cases and then some.

I'd like to say that the library contains all of our books, however there are two bookshelves in John's room and two in Orion's room. And if I recall correctly, there might be two or three boxes of books left in the garage. (And a whole bunch more in my office at school!) At one time I could give you a precise number of books owned, but not any more. With every move I have given several boxes away. With every trip to Half-Priced Books in Overland Park a few more books find their way home. To limit my habit, I try to purchase only hard back books. This new approach is working and my book whoring had slowed considerably.

In addition to the innumerable books, the library contains two comfy chairs a floor lamp, a roll top desk, the dissertation table (ugh!), and a lot of tchotchke. One of my favorite items is pictured left, a wind chime from S. Korea that Tree and P.D. sent to Orion when he was born. Below are some additional pictures of the library.

(Letter writing central)

(Children's literature corner)

(Wall of books and dissertation table; view from the dining room)

(Looking toward the foyer from the dining room)

With the dissertation and so many of my favorite items residing in the library one would think I would spend more time there. I wish I did.

The Past Week or So...

The past two weeks have been crazy! I am teaching three courses this summer. And with Orion at his grandparents' house in Arkansas one would think that I have had plenty of time to catch up on whatever it is I need to catch up on, but alas, I feel as if I have run from one fire to another. I feel like a cat chasing my tail. Will I ever catch it?

Roughly two weeks ago we began packing to head to Conway. Orion's birthday was the 25th and we wanted to celebrate his special day with him. The day before we left, Nola became ill and vomited in the area between the library and the dining room. Six or seven times. Seriously. I took pictures; I have proof. We had no time to seriously clean, so we disposed of the chunks and set off to Arkansas. Well, whatever was ailing Nola passed quickly as she did very well to and from Arkansas.

We stayed as long as possible, returning right before the both of us had to return to work. The week before the holiday was crammed with teaching, meetings, grading, and the usual. I had to write a proposal for a conference in Sacramento, CA in January of 2010. (After submitting it, only moments before the deadline, they ended up extending the deadline another week!). I planned and prepared for my last week of classes. Graded some more. Carved out four hours to celebrate the 4th of July. Attended a multiple day Program Revision Retreat (My head still hurts!). Squeezed in some sleep, but not nearly enough. Graded even more papers. Started the process of packing and moving my office. And started (mentally) counting down the hours till the Summer Semester ends for me! Thursday night can't come soon enough.

And somewhere, amidst all of this I made time to rent the Rug Doctor (again!) and scrub all of the carpets and the dog vomit stains. I am very pleased with my clean carpets. I believe Spot is impressed too. (See the picture below.)

Did I mention that it looks like we're going to have to "pull and snake" the toilet in the main bath? Sounds like a fun weekend!

Thrift Store Finds

Much of my house is decorated in family hand-me-downs or thrift store finds. And I like it that way. Each of the items that I choose for my home has a story and purpose. I just might not know what that story was or what the purpose is. Eventually it is all revealed.
The awesome lotion and soap dispensers were found in Harrison, AR at the Junk-Shun. It's a big red barn filled with amazing treasures. My friend, Shannon, recommended it. The first thing I noticed was how well lit the store was. The second was how clean everything was. These groovy retro bottles (and they're glass) were $4 for the set.

The plastic cracker tray came from the Leslie Antique Mall in Leslie, AR. It was a $1.50 and so dirty I wasn't certain I wanted to pick it up to bring it home. It cleaned up nicely and will make a great addition to my collection of Crazy Daisy (a.k.a. Spring Blossom Green) Corelle that I am collecting.


Shannon came up to visit the first part of June and one of the things we always try to make time to do is to visit the antique stores and flea markets in the area. One of our favorites is Those Were the Days- a three story flea market! There I found something I couldn't part with! And at a $1.00 who could blame me! Clothing for my toaster! Don't you just love it?

Banana Bread

What do you do with those bananas you can't bring yourself to eat or throw out? You make Banana Bread, of course! Don't have the time or patience? Give this recipe a try.

I made this bread during the spring semester and brought it to my morning class. We had no left-overs!

Banana Bread

What you need:

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons corn syrup

3 ripe bananas

nuts or raisins to add

What you do:

Grease and flour a Crock-Pot. For this recipe I used a $3 Crock we found at the Salvation army. It is a 3.5 quart Crock-Pot with a removable insert (*See above).

Combine the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, corn syrup (if you have it), and bananas until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixture. I used the Kitchen Aid mixer for this. At last, add nuts or raisins.

Dump into the Crock-Pot, cover, and cook on high for 1.5 to 2 hours. If yo have a larger Crock-Pot, you will need to decrease the cooking time.