Kittens

Finn adopted a bored attitude, and Midge fled in terror behind the TV when the box was opened. She pretty much growled for an hour and a half while they were here, and she is still looking around, very warily. She won't believe me when I tell her the wee skinny (and long!) kittens had gone home with John. LOL 

Dad got a kick out of the kittens. They stuck to him like glue.

Sweet girls.

John did it! He adopted 2 kittens today from the animal shelter in Mazon, then brought them to Morris and had dinner with the fam. Sweet, skinny, incredibly long, pretty sisters, nameless as of the moment, though I have suggested Skinny Mini. They are 4 months old, were bottle raised, and are cute as the dickens. I guess now that they are in the Mallaney clan they'll fatten up! LOL

Kittens and fajitas . . . a good night! LOL

Kay :)

Thanksgiving

Dad made it back to church today! He had been feeling pretty crappy last couple of weeks. He was feeling weak, using the walker, but he was fine today walking into church, just needed an arm. You know Dad is feeling bad when he misses church. He got an envelope in the mail with homemade cards from some of the CCD students over at the church. He sure got a kick out of those. He can't figure out why he got cards though. He certainly does like that the kids are praying for him though. He has read through them several times. I suggested to him that he could drop a note to the kids to tell him how much enjoyed the cards. He suggested to me that I could do it. I asked him what he would say if he did write a card, and he said, "Thanks for the movies!" LOLOL At any rate, Mom is going to cancel the appointment for some tests the doctor ordered, and we think maybe he just had a plain old bug. Now he can go back to worrying about important stuff, like pooping. Good lord, I can't wait to get old! LOL

Had a good Thanksgiving. We are sad about Dad but he is in good spirits, so that helps a lot. Even when he didn't feel good he had a ready smile.  He does well during the day, but he gets nervous at night because he is "new in Morris", it is always his first night in Morris. He is unsure about where he sleeps, who sleeps with him, what does he wear to bed, does he have TV in there, what side of the bed does he sleep on. He is staying in bed all night though (yahoo!), so Mom is well rested. Whew! Now she is worried he isn't eating enough. I tried to urge him to eat a bit more the other day, I told him "YOU ARE A MALLANEY! EAT LIKE ONE!" He just laughed. Mom has been making him these incredibly tiny plates and asking him what he wants, what is he hungry for. I told her to slap some food on a plate and take it to him, like she has been doing for the last 50 some years. LOL  It works sometimes. He claims he doesn't want anything to eat, that he isn't hungry, but either he doesn't mean it, or he forgets, because at least half the time after he says that and you take him food, he eats it! His 93rd birthday is coming up on December the 12th.

Finished physical therapy for my knee. It is feeling much stronger. I think the anti-inflammatories the doc prescribed help a lot too. Still have a few more sessions on my heel. Turns out I was favoring my Achilles so much, I messed up my other knee. Getting the kinks worked out now. Things are feeling better. And I'm doing some exercise. When you have a sore left knee, and a wicked sore right Achilles, physical activity is no fun. Feeling better now. Between the rotator cuff PT, surgeries, rotator cuff PT (round 2), knee PT, Achilles PT, being 50 is lots of fun. I'm going to hell in some sort of basket I think! This 50,000 mile check-up stuff is getting embarassing. I think it is time to declare war on 50!

When you watch a cooking show on TV, and see a recipe for which you have all the ingredients, whip it up!
Presenting Lentil cookies, from the Spice Goddess. These are really tasty, with lentils, oats, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and chocolate chips. Really. They are delicious!

Peace out peeps.

Kay

Blog-worthy!

Crazy Weather

Hi Folks,

Weather is weird today. We are going from 70 down to 27. Wind is blowing like crazy out there 25-35 mph, gusting to 45 miles per hour. I was just sitting out in shorts and a t-shirt and wasn't at all chilly, and then tonight we have a 100% chance of  precipitation and we may have ice pellets! 27 degrees! Craziness.

I'm at John's this weekend. John harvested some stuff from the garden today. A surprising amount of stuff.

Fartichokes, chard, carrots, parsnips. And a stray onion.

Mint and lemon balm for tea.

Little roasted bites of carrots and beets. Delicious!

Dad has a new thing, a lot of muscular soreness. Mom took him to doctor and dad had x-rays. Doctor says it is arthritis. Dad has never had arthritis. I told Mom to take him somewhere else, but she said we'd give the medicine the doc prescribed a chance. Patience is not my strong suit. We are wondering if he took a spill, maybe on one of his strolls around the yard? Just speculation. He has been pretty miserable with it. He has a follow-up this week, and Kathleen may go along. Mom is still his cousin, Ione, and I'm still his sister, Noreen. He is still in a good mood, despite this new pain. He never was one to let things beat him down. Hopefully he'll come out of this. It's hard to see him so sore, he is usually so spry.

Headed down south for a mini vacation . . .

Where am I? If you guessed Lincoln IL you are correcto!

I was a little thirsty at my BBQ supper at Bandana's. I went to get camera to take a picture of supper, but I forgot to take a pic! We shared a pork sammy with slaw and a baked tater stuffed with BBQ and topped with cheese. It was delish. There was okra too.

The doughnut holes on the menu intrigued me. The waitress told me they taste just like funnel cakes, but I was dubious, so I had to try some. Turns out she was right!

John at Cahokia Mounds. I AM not sharing the picture of me doing my mini squats (part of the PT for my sore knee)!  Oh yeah, did I mention I finally went to doctor for my sore knee! Trying out some physical therapy. It is helping. I did the lower flight of stairs at Cahokia with no pain. Didn't press my luck on second half, just did my PT exercises and enjoyed the lovely view and weather.

It was windows down weather the whole weekend. Just gorgeous.

At Gioias, an Italian deli on The Hill, I had the Spicy Daggett,

Hot Salami, Hot Coppa, Capicolla smothered in Spicy Giardiniera Peppers and Pepper Cheese

BAKED ON GARLIC BREAD! http://www.gioiasdeli.com. Go there. Eat. A friendly, fun place, busy as hell. John was boring and had a dipped roast beef sandwich. It was really good.  I say when you are at a place where there is homemade salami, partake! And we each got a free cookie. What is not to like!

We hit the Global Market and DiGregorio's on The Hill and now we have a lovely blend of pizza cheese in the freezer, some mozzarella and meunster with manchego and romano and parmigiano reggiano and asiago and fontina. Oh the suffering! And yes, there was canolli.

If you are in a store and  peek in doorway and see little old Italian ladies making tortellini and ravioli, you must buy some!

I made bread (I hope, it is still rising), and there is spinach and roasted garlic ravioli for supper. I'll post a pic if it is blog-worthy!

Nothing much else going on. John might get some kittens. I think he should get 2 so they can keep each other company. We shall see. I moonlit . . . moonlighted . . . worked on election day for the County Clerk. It was fun! Lots of energy around on election day.

Nice to have a long weekend.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Kay :)

One Year Ago Today

Is it possible that a whole year has gone by since I went to the hospital to have my ovarian mass removed, and woke up with a colostomy?! Time really does fly. I was lying in bed one morning last week, looking out window at fall leaves, specifically this one branch out the front window, and had a strong feeling of deja vu. I looked at that branch a lot last year at this time!

It was a glorious day here today. Sunny and fall-like. Going to be in the70's next few days.

Fall food, roasted cauliflower, steamed broccoli, smashed sweet taters, chunky cinnamon apples and pork. Yum.

Dad continues to do well. He is in a good mood, just confused. Hell that could describe me a lot of times too!

Kay :)

October 15, 2012

The trip to John's house on Saturday went very well. He made a delightful brunch, biscuits and gravy (why did I think I didn't like that? Perhaps a bad hangover memory from the 80's or something? lol), with fresh sage, wow, it was good with the homemade biscuits with a touch of cornmeal in them! Quiche with parmesan, red pepper, mushrooms, onion. Wow. And apple crumble with ice cream for dessert.

We were watching TV after we ate (scarfed) the lovely meal John prepared. Since John downloads things form the internet now, sometimes with little or no information on what he is downloading, we ended up watching a strangely interesting 20 minute cautionary educational tale on what to do should you find unexploded WWII bombs and stuff laying around. Leave them alone people! I know. Weird. Anyways in one section these guys are running to save a boy who is in danger of blowing himself up with a bomb he stashed in his nifty backpack. John made a comment about how fast the man was running toward the boy . . .

Kay: "I was really fast when I was a kid. Exceptionally fast I think.Too bad I got so fat. It does slow one down."
John: "Well, plus being 50 might have something to do with it. I'll tell you what Kay . . .why don't you go run around the house and we'll time you, we'll see how fast you are!"
Sigh. Laughter and more laughter. Smart ass brothers.

Dad asked me before we left if we were going to go by his old family farm. I told him we would if he wanted to. He said he wasn't sure if he wanted to, that he might cry if it was gone. I said oh it's gone all right! You just don't remember. He doesn't believe us when we tell him stuff. Oh boy. So when we were on the road I asked him which route he wanted to take. He said to take "the blacktop", which I somehow deciphered to mean Grand Ridge Road. As we were leaving John's he asked if we were going home through Ottawa. I said sure! Off we went. We got to Ottawa and I heard him whisper to mom, inquiring why in the hell we were in Ottawa! LOL So I guess I can continue to wonder what will happen when Dad does go by the old Mallaney farm.

Today Mom took Dad to see the heart doctor. The nurse asked him if he still lived in the same place. Dad said no, that he had just moved here from Verona! LOL Then she asked him who brought him to the office today. Dad looked over at Mom and said, "Ione Caldwell". Apparently Mom is his cousin today! I'm still his sister. When I was a kid we used to go to Marseilles to Harvey and Ione's annual fish fry. I wonder if Dad thought of her because we went by their old house on Saturday? Who knows. Anyway Mom was highly amused and surprised.

Midge had been spending a lot of time in the yard, sitting on the ground staring into the neighbor's tree, which leans over the fence. She's out there for hours. So I put a little table out there for her, and she loves it. It's like her own little island. She is on it for hours, looking up into that tree, talking and twirling around.. I hardly see her anymore. Anyway the funniest thing about it is she is meowing like crazy. The number of meows in this little clip is more times than I have heard her meow in her whole life! What a weirdo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvH44_ViQBM&feature=youtu.be

My mom gave me this little rosebush after my surgery last year. I put it in the ground and it's blooming now, a nice wee bit of color now that fall is here.

Weird Midge.I'm toying with the idea of giving her a little more elevation. Before the table the cement block was her perch. Clearly I need to get out more!

Midge is able to tear herself away from her perch occasionally to lay on and dig up my radishes and lettuce. Maybe this is what they mean on the Food Network when they refer to a micro salad? 

And, lastly, seen on a church signboard in Ottawa, Illinois "Fifty Shades of Grace" lolol.

Kay :)

Keep a smile on your mug!

"Only he that has traveled the road knows where the holes are deep." Read that Chinese proverb today at the VA clinic.

Camping was good, a little too much rain, cold and beef. LOL  I think I mooed on the way home, not just from overeating, but from the meatloaf and burgers.  I think every non-breakfast meal included beef. Even though cow is my meat of choice, I got sick of it. I even left early and missed the beef sammies on Sunday night, they might have put me over the bovine edge! If you have the Weber Grill cookbook, try the meatloaf recipe in there. Heavenly!

I stayed in camper again with Mar and George (thank you thank you thank you!), and it is so nice not having to pack up all that camping stuff. I basically pick up a case (or 2) of beer, throw my cooler in the car, bake some stuff, pack some duds, and off I go. Very pleasant.

By the way, rum is fun for Mar, and for all of us! Mar used to drink rum and cokes years ago, then switched to beer, but for camping she reverted to rum and coke. Yowza! Admittedly it does maker her a little frisky. And that’s all I’m going to say about that! Poor Mar slipped down the camper steps and took a spill, luckily a mum helped to break her fall. Ouch. She was ok, just sore, whew! No ER visits for anyone this trip! Should I mention that Mar’s trip was due to rainy, muddy steps, and was in the a.m., so no alcohol was involved . . . nah I’ll skip that.

Strangely the only picture I took at camping was in Gays, IL of the famous two-story outhouse. I had taken a ride on Friday to escape the rain and cold. My Dad told me about this outhouse years ago, and I can finally tick it off my bucket list. I also found my new favorite coffee mug at a nice thrift store in Mattoon, IL.

Quite the tourist attraction. I think the population of Gays, IL is about 281!

Finn chillaxing, and look at that tail! It's looking good.

 

Dad continues to do well on his new medication. The tinnitus is still bugging the hell out of him, rough spell with that right now. Mom and I took him to the VA clinic in Joliet today for a medication check-up. I didn’t know it would include another fun memory test. Yowza! Dad did not do well at all. In fact he did so poorly (4 out of 30, but in his defense the doctor speaks too fast and not loud enough for Dad to hear!) that the psychiatrist said we may get to skip that test next time. Mom and I get a lot of giggles out of it, so I don’t know if I want them to skip it! LOL  I keep asking mom for reassurance that we are not evil women for giggling so hard at some of these doctor’s appointments! LOL  The big giggle today went like this:

Doctor (from Hines VA Hospital, on a computer screen): Let me review things with you here, birthdate December 12, 1919, married white male . . . ?

Bernie: Ya ya,  birthday the 12th of December 1919, and I’m married to a white male.

Then Dad got a look of consternation on his face, turned and gave me the funniest look and said "female Kay, female!" LOLOL

Part of the memory tests involves the doctor reading a story to Dad, and then asking Dad questions. If you had $100 and paid $3 for apples, and $20 for (? it-shay, I can’t remember arghhhh), how much money would you have left. Dad started figuring in his head, I don’t think the doc could hear him  . . . “Well, apples are cheap . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm about $1.50?”

In the waiting room Dad asked Mom why we were at the clinic, and did he have to go in the room when they called us. Mom explained to him that he was here for his memory problem. Dad looked a little indignant and said “I can remember when I was 6 years old walking to Hollenbeck’s School!” Mom said yes, but you can’t remember what happened last week! LOL

 Dad confessed that he is afraid to go to the clinic because he fears they'll put him in the hospital. I told him no worries! After his hospital stay at Morris I'm pretty sure he is on some sort of list, like Elaine on Seinfeld!

We got Dad some sliders and some coffee after the doctor’s appointment and he was happy. He has had a great appetite. Umm. So have I, unfortunately.

Dad on our ride, nearly every night, “I can’t believe we ended up here in Morris. I never thought this would happen to a Mallaney.” And all the way to Joliet, and on our nightly rides too, “I have never seen a corn field that big! Look at that!” I bet he said that 25 times today lol. He really does enjoy a ride, though he claims sometimes I take him “way too far” and “we have to be home before dark or Mother will worry”, and I’m not sure if he means my Mom, his wife, or if he thinks my Mom, his wife, is his mother. It doesn’t really matter, just so he feels safe and secure and keeps smiling. That is really all that matters right now. I figure we better enjoy these new good times, because anything could happen anytime. Life is like that.

We have plans to go to John’s house Saturday for brunch. Dad will kick and squawk that it is too far, but he has been wanting to go by his old family farm that he has been pining for. He asked several times if I would drive him by there. I’ve been a little worried about what will happen when he sees that it really is gone. I don’t think he believes us when we tell him he left that farm many years ago, that his farmhouse burned down and there is a different house there now. In fact I know he doesn’t believe us, because he is certain he was just at that house last week. We’ll see what happens. I’m pretty sure we will hear how big the fields are, and last time we went he could name the owners of all the old farms on the way, and could tell us how he had worked at a lot of them. Funny how he can remember all that stuff. And he has plenty of driving tips for me too, usually involving my speed! LOL  

Take care folks.

Kay :)