I'll Stop Complaining Now

I've complained enough. I am done.

Here's the update:

Nigel is feeling better but still gets some nausea and definitely still feels some intense pain after moving around a bit. He has moved from the bed to the couch and gets up and moves around a lot more and better. I did have to tell him to quit vacuuming and to sit down earlier. I think he got the point when he started having shooting pains and needed to lay down. Silly boy. He even was able to watch Kingston for me tonight for a few hours while Mom and Aunt Freda took me out to dinner.

Kingston went back to the doctor this morning after I had had enough of his temper tantrums and ill behavior. The occasional fit I can handle, but tragic event after tragic event was enough to make another trip to the doctor necessary. It was determined that he has a viral infection, is probably contagious, and should be on a regimen of Motrin and Tylenol around the clock to at least make him feel better since there is no medicine for the virus. He seems to be feeling better already and we are hoping for a much happier boy tomorrow. I seriously hope so since he is not going to daycare again tomorrow and I am going to be stuck with him caring for him all day again.

Dinner with Aunt Freda and Mom was a great diversion from the household events of the past few days. Good food and good conversation really hit the spot. Now I'm ready to get through this week with a better attitude! If I can just make it to Friday I will be home free since I am leaving Friday morning to go to an antique show with some girlfriends and coming home late Saturday. I can make it. I know I can. So starting now I won't complain any more. Thanks for listening.

Whew!

Just a quick recap on what has been going on in the Household Haynes. It's obvious I haven't felt like posting much recently, but now I have a good excuse as to why I haven't posted-at least since Wednesday! Three doctors appointments in 3 days, for 3 different people? Told you this was going to be good.

Nigel went to the doctor last week for a physical and to get some pain meds for his reoccurring, debilitating back spasms. The doctor (who happened to be in Nigel's class in school-oops! Darn girls and their married names!) took one look at the "area" Nigel said he thought he might have a hernia in and said, "Oh my God! How has your wife let you go this long without having this looked at!" And then she promptly referred him to a surgeon that would see him that afternoon. After the surgeon took one look, he immediately scheduled surgery for the following week.

So Wednesday morning at 6:30 we arrived at the hospital. By 12:30 we were at the pharmacy picking up the Percocet (that later made Nigel throw up. Twice. And all over the toilet.) and then headed home. He has been in bed since then, recovering and fighting off the nausea that comes and goes. He thought he had busted his incision when he got sick and was in tremendous pain but we got the doctor to call in a new medicine and some anti-nausea stuff that has helped but hasn't eliminated all of the nausea. Hopefully tomorrow he will be able to cut back on his pain meds in the hopes that the nausea will go away. He has been a great patient, but if I hear my name weakly called from the bedroom one more time I might just scream. Just kidding! He hasn't asked for anything that I wouldn't have needed myself and has been very gracious and apologetic.

Meanwhile, Brandi and Pappy came over on Wednesday morning to stay with Kingston and take him to daycare. Brandi called me late in the morning to ask me if she should just keep Kingston since he felt like he had a pretty high fever. He ended up spending the day with Brandi, watching movies and taking naps. I took Kingston to the doctor first thing on Thursday morning, only to find out that he has an ear infection in both ears and a bad cold and cough. I went back to the pharmacy for the second day in a row to get his antibiotics and cough medicine. The rest of the day was spent catering to his every whim and watching way too many choo-choo movies and Monsters Inc. He has since been quite cranky and demanding and altogether pretty unbearable!

Between making about 45 meals that went uneaten by two ailing boys and filling up juice cups and water cups and doing any and everything they couldn't do for themselves, I have had quite a busy few days. I can't say I'm really loving it, but I do love my boys and would do anything for them. I think it's fair to say I'm just plain over it. Do you blame me?!

I, myself, had a doctors appointment this afternoon. I figured the boys were getting all the attention so it was my turn. No, really I just made up a phony excuse to go to the doctor just so I could get out of the house alone for a minute. Just kidding! I had to go to the big girl doctor to get checked out and went to the pharmacy for the 3rd day in a row to get my BC prescription filled. I'm starting to be a regular there!

I am working all day tomorrow and I have to say I'm looking very forward to it! We have been so lucky to have our family around to help us this week. My mom has brought us dinner, watched Kingston while I went to the doctor and is watching him all day and night tomorrow. Skip and Brandi have watched Kingston, cooked us a delicious lasagna and rushed to the pharmacy to get the replacement meds in our time of need! Thanks, guys. We know how blessed we are to have you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Things can only get better from here, right? Please just agree with me. Please? And don't harrass me for not posting much. I'm over it, remember?

sNOw Time Like the Present

It's snowing. Again. Luckily this time it is not sticking again. The weather has been a mess recently and I can't tell you how ready I am for springtime. And outdoor play. Please, can we play outside soon? I need it. Bad.

So in honor of it snowing again, I thought I would post pictures of the first snow that I promised weeks ago.

Kingston liked to dive head first into the snow. Despite the unhappy look on his face in this picture, he was actually really pumped about it!

We played with the neighbors until Nigel accidentally hit one of them in the face with a snowball and we figured it was time to go inside!

Picnic, anyone? Notice the frosty wetsuit draped over the railing behind Kingston? Yes, that is Nigel's suit. He went surfing the day after this snow. He's nuts. I'm just saying. . .

Trying to find indoor activities in this weather has been a treat. Kingston has watched his share of TV and movies. I'm over it. We have played with Play-doh, choo-choo trains and balls. I thought it was time for something new. I let him play with water in the sink. I'm a genius! He had a blast!

Please disregard the drawer that lost it's front at least a year ago and has yet to be repaired. Please notice, however, the 2 cast iron skillets placed on the stool because Kingston is not yet heavy enough to weight the stool down so it won't slip. The stool was my Nana's and it is my favorite kitchen accessory. It cracks me up that you can find the same stool at Crate and Barrel now for a lot of money, and the one I use is at least 15 years old, probably older. I love my Kik-Step that slides on wheels around the kitchen but locks down so that it won't slip when you step on it. Great invention. Thanks, Nana! Eventually Kingston will weigh enough to lock it down. I don't have a problem with it. Thanks.

Another exciting thing Kingston and I did yesterday? I made cinnamon rolls for Grandpa's birthday and they called for cream cheese icing. Yum! My all time favorite icing. I introduced Kingston to the art of licking the beaters. He did a great job, considering he was a rookie. He didn't even mind that a little (or a lot) of it stayed on his face.

Good clean fun. Get it? Clean? Playing in the sink? Yeah. . .

So tonight Kingston and I are going to hang out with Nana while Grandpa (or Wo-wo as Kingston calls him) goes out partying with Da-da and Uncle Mark for his birthday. I'll keep Kingston hanging out with the girls for as long as I can. There will come a time in the not-too-distant future that I will have to beg my boy to hang out with me!!

Happy Birthday, Wo-wo!

sNOw Pictures

I have enjoyed reading my friend's comments on Facebook about how much they have eaten and how much weight they expect they have gained since being snowed in with varying amounts of snow and ice. We were "snowed in" too (pictures eventually. Get it? sNOw pictures?!) and I shudder to think what has happened to my fading-tanned stomach. (Yes, my friends, I bared it to all of Costa Rica. I'm sorry, Costa Rica. I really am.)

Since coming home last Tuesday, we have not eaten a single meal out. The only money we have spent on food has been at the grocery store (not counting Nigel's lunch at High Cotton one day). I'm quite proud of that, seeing as how I love to go out to eat. I also love to cook, though, and after researching some recipes, I found quite a few tasty things to make.

One night I made Sherried Tomato Soup. Thank you, Pioneer Woman. I love you. No, really. I do. Not only do I love you, I'm totally obsessed with you. Can me and some of my girlfriends come to your ranch this spring for a long weekend? Please? OK, sorry. I got off track. The tomato soup was delicious. It was perfect for the cold night and even better the next day for lunch after playing in the snow. I decided that next time I make it (and there WILL be a next time), I will put the soup in the food processer for a quick pulse right before adding the basil and parsley. Nigel liked the chunks of tomato but I think the thicker consistency the pulsed tomatoes will provide will be even better. (And yes, I do realize that there really is no such thing as "pulsed tomatoes" but I could think of no better descriptive word. So "pulsed" it is.) I think I will also make some cheesy croutons to serve with it, too. Make this soup. Do it.

And since we were only having soup for dinner, I thought a delicious dessert was in order. So I made Peach Crunch Cake. As the title of the post suggests, it was ridiculously easy. I don't have a 13 x 9 baking dish (I know, right? I need to get one. For occasions such as this.) so I used a smaller one. That might have made a small difference in the consistency and flavor of the cake mix. I have officially decided that I don't really like desserts made from a cake mix. That is, of course, with the exception of the intended use of the mix: cakes, cupcakes, etc. I don't really like the flavor of the mix itself. Bummer, too, because I was really looking forward a special dessert. Also, I used peaches in 100% juice instead of in syrup. You know, just to make it healthy. Right. All in all, I was a little disappointed in the cake. I actually ended up throwing most of it away so that I wouldn't eat it just because it was there. That, and I needed the pan for Sunday night's dish! Don't worry, though. I finished off the ice cream I got to go on top of the cake. I would never let ice cream go to waist waste!

The next night Nigel requested beef. I had bought a london broil that was on sale so I looked up a recipe that was sort of pot-roasty but without carrots and potatoes and found one. It was supposed to be sort of Mediterranean with raisins, chutney, curry and ginger in the ingredients. I overcooked it and it was really dry. Not my favorite recipe so I won't even try to go back and find a link to it. Don't bother. Just know that I cooked it.

Now back to the Pioneer Woman. I love her. Did I mention that? Sunday night dinner was White Chicken Enchiladas and Restaurant Style Salsa. Yum! Make both of these. They are delicious. The enchiladas are a nice change from the normal red sauce kind, which Nigel and I don't really care for. Kingston loved them and ate so much of mine that I had to (HAD to) get a second helping. The salsa is delicious and a new favorite. It does make a huge vat of it, so if you don't want to eat salsa for a week straight, you might want to hold off on that one. We are still eating salsa. But it was that good, so we don't really mind. Make it for the Super Bowl. . . whenever that is.

Last night was Chicken Cacciatora. It was marginal. I got the recipe out of a little magazine Food Lion was handing out in the store last week. I threw the magazine away after making the chicken dish. Not one I will make again.

So now you will know why, next time you see me, I look a lot bigger around the middle. Cooking is great. If only I didn't eat too much of the things I cook! I've got my eye on some Valentine's Day cookies and a few other PW* recipes, as well. Maybe I should do like the Julie and Julia girl and cook my way through her cookbook that I got for Christmas. Talk about an expanding waistline!

*Pioneer Woman