Monday Menu Planing

Perhaps one week I will actually be able to stick to a weekly menu plan. Last week was without a doubt NOT the week I was going to be able to manage it.

Monday is still a blur. That is the day I found out about my uncle and hubby was gone. I don't remember eating lunch or dinner at all that day!

Hubby was also gone on Tuesday, but I did manage to eat some cereal and fruit for dinner.

Wednesday was a long day with work. I had school all day then Parent/Teacher conferences that night. After the conferences, hubby took me to a buffet down the road.

Thursday I took off for the viewing. Lunch was a bag of Combos on the drive home and dinner was at a restaurant called Jimmy T's after the viewing. I split some bacon cheese fries with my cousin Josh (along with many other family members who grabbed a few) then ate part of a grilled chicken Caesar salad.

Friday was the funeral. After the burial, the church had a large lunch for the family. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, potato salad, deviled eggs, salad, and pound cake. Hubby ordered a pizza for us when I called to tell him I was almost home that night (he was unable to go to the funeral due to work).

Saturday morning he took off for the weekend (preparing the training for the Navy this week), so essentially, I didn't cook at all this week with the exception of Sunday.

Sunday I made the Stuffed Green Peppers. Put them together and popped them into the crock pot after I ran, ready by the time Hubby came home. Instead of regular rice though, I used Knor's Rice Side's Beef Flavored rice. It was all I had :) They turned out a bit soggy but not too bad. Not my favorite new recipe but one to keep anyway :)

This week is going to be a bit crazy as well. Today should be our Capoiera class (if we make it), Tuesday is Veteran's Day and then Wednesday afternoon Hubby is taking off with the Navy for training (again) for a week. Thursday I'm having a fundraising Body Shop at Home party so I will have finger foods for all the gals.

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Monday: Capoiera class - Perhaps Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole if there is time to make it before we go.
Tuesday: Veteran's Day! :) Taking Hubby out to thank him for all he does for me and our country!
Wednesday: On my own -leftovers?
Thursday: Body Shop at Home Party! Buffalo Chicken Dip (recipe below) with Tortilla Chips, a Fruit and Veggie tray, maybe a bowl of some left over Halloween candy...
Friday: On my own -More leftovers?
Saturday: At my mom's for an early Thanksgiving

Sunday: On my own - Leftovers from Moms?

Buffalo Chicken Dip

4 Chicken breasts - cooked and chopped/shredded
1 12oz bottle Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce

2 8oz bricks cream cheese, softened

1 16oz bottle ranch dressing

1/2 c. finely chopped celery
shredded cheddar to spread over top

Mix chicken and hot sauce. layer in a 13x9 baking dish. Heat cream cheese and ranch dressing in a sauce pan. Stir till smooth. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle celery over cheese/dressing mixture. Sprinkle cheese over celery. Bake @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes until bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

Spa Party Fundraiser

On Thursday I am having a Body Shop at Home party. It should be a lot of fun with some good friends, not to mention raising money for a good cause. You see, instead of getting all the hostess gifts for myself, I am donating the money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my dad and my brother and to support my marathon.

The Body Shop has a lot of great NATURAL products, but at this party, Sara, my friend and the consultant, will highlight the spa products. I can't wait to see what she brings with her! A few weeks ago I went to another party she did for another friend of mine and there she focused on the foot products. She had some amazing pepermint foot scrubs, sprays, and lotions to pamper your tootsies. I ordered a few things hoping to help my poor feet after abusing them with all of my running.

I know most of you won't be able to come to my house to be a part of this great girl's night out. However, you can still pamper yourself and help out LLS. By visiting Sara's Body Shop Website and mentioning my name (Nicole A), a portion of your purchase will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

This morning's training went fairly well. I again didn't do the full 12 miles, but dropped off at 8 miles. I didn't get any training in at all this week so I didn't want to push it too far since I didn't do so hot last week either. My goal is to get back on track with my eating and working out and step up my training!

Uncle David Part 2

Unfortunately, I didn't know my Uncle David as well as I would have liked. He was my biological mother's older brother and I didn't meet my biological mother until I was 18, so therefor, I didn't meet Uncle David until then either. My half brother and sister had the opportunity to grow up with him next door, but I was off to college by then and didn't get the chance to see him and "hang" with him like they did.

My first thoughts of Uncle David were that he was an "Artsy-Fartsy-Drama-Type." He had this deep booming voice that was perfect for voice-overs, plays, and narrating, which is a good thing because that is what he loved the most. For as long as I have known him, and apparently even when he was in High School, he always had a play or some kind of production he was working on. Acting, Singing, producing, directing, writing.... It was just what he loved. I will never forget his rendition of Fiddler on the Roof! It was mentioned that he is probably running around Heaven now convincing people to be a part of his newest production.

Uncle David was smart. Not just smart, but absolutely brilliant. He was a member of Mensa, held numerous degrees, and was counted as a professor at several different universities and colleges in his lifetime. However, no matter how much of a genius he was, how wrong you were, or how right he was, he never made you feel stupid or less. He always lifted you up rather than pulled you down.

One of the things that was said quite a few times at the funeral was "David could sure turn a phrase." Perhaps this was as a result of his many plays, or perhaps he was a good writer and directer because of this ability of his. Whichever the case, he always knew the right thing to say at the right moment to lighten (or enlighten) the mood. Often when he would say something, you might think he was quoting some obscure play or phrase he found in one of his many books, but no, it was something that had just popped into head at that moment and it sounded like a good thing to say. Completely original and unique, just like Uncle David.

He was a boy scout. I don't mean he used to be a boy scout when he was younger, he's always been a boy scout. He made it all the way through the ranks and earned the right to call himself an Eagle Scout, an honor that has become a family tradition with my Uncle Richard (his younger brother), my brother, and my cousin Josh all following his lead and earning their Eagle. My youngest brother, Carl, is also on his way to becoming an Eagle. Boy Scouts was almost as big a passion in his life as his acting and plays. He became a scout leader and was always available to help with popcorn sales, camping trips, or an Eagle project until his health made it too difficult. (The boy scouts are collecting canned goods today. Please consider a donation in honor and memory of my Uncle David. I think he would have liked that.)

He was a staunch Christian, conservative, and a registered Republican. He couldn't wait to vote and give voice to his opinion, so 3 days before he died, he had my mother take him to early voting this year. He cast his vote (for McCain of course) and even though it is summised he may have rolled over in his casket come election day, his vote did count since he was alive and well the day it was cast. I think that even if he had known both the outcome of the election and his own future, he still would have voted with pride.

Unfortunately, Uncle David was also a diabetic. I'm not sure how long he had been battling diabetes, but it has been as long as I have known him. However, his love for life sometimes overshadowed his need to take care of himself. It wasn't until after he lost all feeling in both of his feet, had to have toes amputated, and began losing his sight due to his disease did he really decide to buckle down and take his disease seriously. Even though he began to get serious about his medical issues, it was this that eventually lead to his massive heart attack that took his life on November 2nd.

The family decided that Uncle David would not have wanted a sad, somber funeral. Although it was conducted with all the respect expected at a funeral, it was quite upbeat. Happy memories were told, cheerful music was in the background, and upbeat music was sung. My mother's cousins sang "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and told us all not to be so "white," instructing us that we needed to clap and sing along. There were laughs and jokes and I think Uncle David would have gotten a big kick out of Cousin Keith (who is also a minister and did the service at the funeral) saying "Go Horndogs" rather than "Go Horn Frogs" when discussing Uncle David's first college. He would also appreciate the fact that his grave is within sight of the High School Football stadium. He will be able to hear the band and keep up with the score.

I will miss my Uncle David. I will miss his smile, his laugh, his dry since of humor. He annoyed me at times, but that is what "elders" do. In order to help you learn, they have to annoy you from time to time :)

Uncle David, I may not have said it as often as I should have, but I love you and you have made more of an impact on my life than you may ever have known. You will be missed sorely until we see each other again.

Uncle David part 1

Today was my Uncle David's funeral. It was beautiful, it was light, it was upbeat, it was perfect and he would have loved it :)

It was a long day with the funeral, the burrial, and a lunch afterwards. After lunch my Granny fell and hit her head. Luckily she didn't do any damage and no one other than my mom who was an RN was needed.

I'm so exhausted, both physically and mentally, that I am going to go relax and go to bed, but I plan on writing more tomorrow about what a wonderful uncle my Uncle David was.

Thank you to all who have offered prayers and kind words.

History

I love teachable moments.

Teachable moments are those moments where you don't plan on something increadible happening, but it does and it leads the class on an awesome discusion or discovery that otherwise might never have occured.

This election has done so. History was made. Although, if you think about it, if McCain had won, history still would have been made with the first female Vice President!

Our school gets a boatloa of newspapers everyday for anyone to use/read. Often a class will take a whole stack and do some activity but more often it is just the teachers taking a newspaper to read throughout the day. My coteacher and I grabbed a large stack today that had the "OBAMA WINS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION" headline and passed them out to our class. We talked about the importance of this election and no matter who we/you/I thought should have won, history was made and that this could be a very important event that years later our children may ask us about.

We led them on a newspaper scavenger hunt to find out how many popular and electorial votes each candidate got, found a quote from each candidate, how many electorial votes Florida controls, an article in the local section about the election, and various other things. At the end, we told them that they might want to hang on to their newspapers as it is possible that years from now it may be worth something, and if nothing else, it will remind them of the importance of voting.

Tuesday Teaser (on Wednesday!!)

Even though I have homework, I still find ways to sneak in "me time" now and then!

I'm still working on making my way through Brisingr and The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide For Women and since I've already "teased" these books, the only other book I'm reading is my textbook. sigh. I'm sure it's not the most interesting book in the world but I have to admit it is WAY better than the research class I just finished!

So today's 2 sentence teaser may not interest too many people but it is relevant to my life as a Special Education teacher. From page 146 of Understanding Reading Problems: Assessment and Instruction (7th ed.) by J.W. Gillet, C. Temple, and A. Crawford,

"Second, formal reading tests typically do not assess reading in authentic ways. In real life, comprehension is often demonstrated by doing something with the information that is gained."

Even though we aren't at this point in the book yet, I couldn't agree with this statement more! When I read, I read for enjoyment most of the time, however, when I read for information, it is because I am going to DO something with the information. Only in school do I ever read something because I know that I will have to answer questions about it.

Also, in real life, if I am reading for information, I don't have a time limit on it. I can take my time, read slowly and re-read if I need to for clarification. Children who are being tested don't have that luxury, well most don't anyway. Unless a child has an IEP or a 504 plan due to some disability or medical issue with testing accommodations, he or she has to read the passage and answer questions within a limited amount of time. Even in college, I rarely had a real time limit that was measured in minutes rather than days. The information was to be read prior to going to sit for the test rather than having to read cold (new) material during the testing.

What are we doing to our kids? Are we actually preparing them for adulthood and life after school, or are we just collecting test data? Thoughts??

Anger

I found out some very sad news yesterday. My uncle passed away a few days ago.

We all know about the stages of grief and quite honestly, I didn't expect to go though much more than sadness at his passing. I don't mean to sound heartless or cold or anything, but we weren't all that close. Don't get me wrong, I loved him, but I didn't know him until I was 18 and I only saw him a few times (at most) every year; mainly at Christmas or Thanksgiving. We just weren't as close as we may have been had I known him since birth and grew up with him next door as my half brother and sister did.

I think that I jumped from zero to anger to acceptance, of course with sadness mixed in all over.

Sunday night I was tired. Downright, out and out, pooped. I was already in bed sailing along in dreamland when my phone rang at 10:45pm. Not wanting to fully wake up or deal with anything, I decided not to answer the phone, even though I saw it was my biological mother. I thought to myself, "I'll call her back tomorrow," thinking it was about my little brother's boot camp graduation again.

Monday morning I woke up, got dressed, and went to work, forgetting my cell phone and in turn not checking my message. Getting a feeling that I needed to know what that message said, I called my husband from work asking him to check the message on my phone. He did as I waited. That is how I found out that my uncle had died.

At first I thought I was OK. A little in shock and of course sad, but together enough, I thought, to finish my day at work. I teared up talking to my co-teacher about it, but overall I thought I was handling it and would be able to make it. However, after a little while I realized that I did actually need to come home because my mind was not on my students or what was supposed to be going on. My students need me to be on the top of my game 110% of the time so to be distracted isn't acceptable. Better to go home, deal with this, and come back fresh.

On the drive home, anger hit.

Damn him for not taking care of himself. He knew he had diabetes but he didn't lose the weight, he didn't watch what he ate, and he didn't always take his meds as he needed. He was already going blind due to the diabetes and had lost one toe completely and all feeling in both feet. Why, why, why, didn't he just take care of himself?!

Why didn't I answer the phone? Not that I could have changed anything, but why did I put myself above my gut feeling that something was wrong. I should have known that my mom wouldn't have called me that late at night unless something was going on. Why didn't I just answer the darn phone and talk to her rather than her having to leave a message for my husband to relay to me later?

And while we are on it, damn her for not trying the house phone after she didn't get ahold of me on the cell. If she would have called the house then I would have known that something was going on because she obviously really needed to get ahold of me.

All of which, I know, are irrational angers. As much as I would like to, I can't change my uncles past behaviors, and he didn't want to die I'm sure of it. Me answering the phone wouldn't have made him live. In fact, because I didn't I was able to actually get a good night's sleep before dealing with these emotions. I have no right or reason to be mad at my mom for not calling the house. She had just lost her brother, I wouldn't be thinking clearly if something had happened to my brother either.

Once I finally got home and was able to call my mom, I found out at he had actually died a day or two ago but no one knew. My Poppa was the one who found him. How horrible must that have been to find your baby boy (no matter how grown up - 49 years old) dead in his bed. My poor Granny is going though the beginnings of Alzheimer's so this has to be very upsetting for her as well with her lapses of memory that she knows she is having.

Cue the anger again. Why didn't my grandparents know he was dead before he laid in bed for a day or two? He lived with them after all! Wouldn't you notice that your son hasn't been out of his room at all? And now the rational side - Uncle was always a "hermit" even in his own house. He would stay in his room on the computer or watching TV sometimes all day long only coming out to grab food and take it back to his room. Poppa worked in the groves from sun-up to sun-down. He often wouldn't see Uncle because his "food gathering times" didn't always coincide with when Poppa was at the house. Granny, like I mentioned, is starting to have memory lapses. She may not have realized that she hadn't seen him for a while. It's possible that she thought he had been out for breakfast when in fact that was 3 days ago. The fact that it took a day or so to realize that something may be wrong is still very sad, yet understandable now that I'm over the anger part of my grief.

I've yelled and I've cried and, for now at least, I think I am doing better. Thursday is the viewing and Friday the funeral. Until then, I'll take it day by day and do the best I can.

Menu Planning Monday (and last weeks cooking adventures)

Last Week:

I didn't get as much cooking practice as I had hoped for this past week. Again, life seems to get in the way...well, life and some kind of bug that got me too :(

I did manage to (sorta) make the Chicken Supreme on Thursday. Tuesday morning, hubby took out some chicken to marinate before he went to bed to grill for dinner (night shift). When he did finally get up, he didn't feel well and didn't feel like grilling it. However by this time it was too late for me to make anything either since I had to go somewhere that evening. The next day we were both sick and neither wanted to do anything. So by Thursday the chicken had been marinating in a mixture of Mojo and Tequila Lime for 2 days and we needed to cook it but he still felt bad and couldn't get out of bed. I decided to try the Chicken Supreme recipe and use this chicken even thought it had been marinating. I also used green peppers and white onion instead of green onion because I forgot to get any. It actually still turned out pretty well! I paired it with Lipton's Mushroom Rice and it was a nice little dinner :)

Saturday Morning I hopped up and tried to make Trina's Pumpkin Bread for breakfast before hubby got home from night shift. I was mixing away doing (what I think was) a great job, then all of a sudden, the eggs that had been in the fridge only one day before were GONE! I called hubby to see what had happened to the eggs. He said he had tossed them because he thought they were the old ones! UGH!! No eggs, too early for the grocery store to be open and I've got 1/2 of it made already. ::Note to self, check for ALL ingredients BEFORE starting to cook!:: I did have some egg beaters and even though I wasn't sure if it would work or not, I figured it was worth a shot and I'd call it a learning experience! The muffins never did quite set right (as I thought they might not because of the eggs) but they tasted absolutely Delicious! I can't wait to try it again with real eggs so hopefully they will be more like bread and less like goo! I wish someone had already invented scratch-and-sniff computer screens because they made the whole house smell pumpkiny spicy and Yummmmmmmmy!! :)

A little later on Saturday morning I decided to try a new crock-pot recipe because hubby and I were going to go to our Capoiera class that afternoon and we knew we would be hungry when we got home but too tired to cook. I got this recipe from About.com's Southern Food. It was called Cowboy Casserole on one page and Beef and Bean Casserole on another page, but because I grew up in the sticks with a bunch of cowboys, I'm going to call it Cowboy Casserole! It was really good, and quite cowboyish! It was a tad dry looking as it was cooking so I added some water to it but it turned out perfectly.

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This week (subject to change at a moment's notice):

Monday - Hubby will be visiting his parents so I'm on my own. Probably left overs or a sandwich or something

Tuesday - ??? Hubby may or may not be back from his visit back home.

Wednesday - Hot Potato Casserole (third times a charm?)

Thursday - Creamy Broccoli Chicken

Friday - ??? Hubby's night to cook or take me to dinner!

Saturday - Stuffed Green Peppers

Sunday - Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole (torn out of Better Homes and Gardens some time ago - see below)

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 1/3 cups water

3/4 cups uncooked long grain white rice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

2 cups frozen veggies

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Stir soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper, and veggies in 11x8 shallow baking dish

2. Top with chicken. Season Chicken as desired. Cover

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 mins or until chicken and rice are done. Top with cheese. Let casserole stand. Stir rice before serving.

Orgjunkie has a lot more recipies and menu plans if you want to head on over there and plan your own!

About Me

Questions and Answers:

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:… "...or in our heads, of the things we want to do: I want to visit all Seven..."

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?… The couch

3.What is the last thing you watched on TV?... Super Nanny

4.WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:… 10:00

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?… 9:55

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?… The TV

7. When did you last step outside? what were you doing?… Earlier this afternoon to help bring in groceries

8. Before you came to this website, what did you look at? Another blog

9. What are you wearing?… T-shirt and shorts

10. Did you dream last night?… I'm sure I did but I don't remember it

11. When did you last laugh?… funny comercial on tv a little bit ago.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?.. Tera Cotta Paint, some pictures, shelves, and sconces

13. Seen anything weird lately?… I teach 6th grade. I see weird things DAILY!

14. What do you think of this quiz?… Entertaining

15. What is the last movie you saw?… Something on Disney Channel

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first? Pay off some bills, and buy some land

17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know:… Sometimes I hate running!

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?…I would give everyone more understanding and tolarence of each other and for those different than them.

19. Do you like to dance?… Sure

20. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? a boy?… A girl- Cadence Maria, a boy-Taylor Kenneth

21. Would you ever consider living abroad?… I'd love to!


I'm tagging anyone who wants to answer... :)

I'm not pregnant

I'm doing things right. Not to imply in ANY way shape or form that any other way is wrong, but mine is the socially acceptable "right" way. I got married first. I got married at 26. I got married to a man I had known since HS but he wasn't my HS boyfriend. I was not pregnant when I got married. I didn't have have a child before I got married. Like I said, the socially-accepted "right" way. (I know MANY MANY people who may have done things "backwards" but ddn't let anyone hold them down or make them feel ashamed and are AWESOME mothers, fathers, and people in general!)

So why does everyone make a big deal out of the fact that I don't have kids yet? Yes, I'm about to turn 31, no I don't have children of my own. Yes, I love children, that's part of why I'm a teacher. Yes, my husband loves children too, you should see him play with our baby nephews. No, I don't want to have this conversation with you.

Why do people think it's OK to ask when/if I'm going to have a child? Maybe we aren't ready yet. Maybe I can't have children. Maybe my husband can't. Maybe we don't want to bring kids into this crazy world. Maybe Hubby and I are trying with no success so far. And maybe, just maybe, It's None Of Your Business!

Every time I'm tired/sick/hungry/have a headache someone asks me if I'm pregnant. No, I'm just tired/sick/hungry/have a headache for crying out loud! Pregnant women may hold the monopoly on Ice Cream and Pickle Sandwiches, but not on being tired/sick/hungry/having headaches!

Why is it that babies and pregnancy seem to imply "come jump right into my personal space and life?" If it is a choice, then it is our choice and you implying that we should have made a different choice is offencive. If we can't/haven't been able to yet, then it is possibly a very hurtful subject that you keep bringing up. I obviously don't want to talk about it with you or I already would have, so your continually bringing it up to me is offencive.

If a conversation of kids comes up, it is not offencive to ask, "Do you and your husband ever think about having kids?" At least, I find nothing offencive about a simple question. The offencive part comes when you continually ask, and when you ask in a way in which it seems like you are accusing me of not doing something that, as a woman, you see as my "job" or "lot in life."

Ugh...just thinking about it is giving me a headache. And no...I'M NOT PREGNANT, but I'll let you know if/when I am!

Rant over.