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I couldn't think of a blog title this lovely morning. My friend Jeannette doesn't know I'm blogging about her. I'll have to call her. Hope she's okay with this! Hey Jeannette, funny story...one of my delightful and wonderful internet friends (Hi LORI! I totally feel like Lori and I are sisters seperated at birth except she got the good back and is able to hike mountains and stuff plus she owns a REALLY super cool dog/cat/animal care service called READY! PET! GO!) followed the link in my last post that shows Jeannette's uber cool under tree Christmas display of delightful sheep. Lori must not have had her glasses on (or she had a Bloody Mary for breakfast) and momentarily thought, "How'd Robyn get those sheep in the door and get them to pose so cutely?". I just wanted to say that I swear VIGNETTE is Jeannettes middle name. I swear the woman can plop down a huge head of cauliflower and an orange and it looks like an impressionist painting. True story, when we had our family photo shoot at Jeanette's last weekend (I will show you some of those pics when I get them from my friend, the photog), my photog friend, Kathleen and I popped our head into the kitchen to say goodbye and thank you. Jeannette had just comeback from shopping at the farmers market and on her counter was a GORGEOUS head of delish looking cauliflower (if I ate cauliflower I mean) and one single orange. Still life. I swear just those two things looked like a lovely still life painting. The woman oooozes style! This first photo is in her MUDROOM. YES her MUDROOM looks this lovely. It's this little room off the back of the house in this other photo. I go to the back door when I visit her because she told me I'm a back door friend a couple years ago. THAT's like the biggest compliment you can get from a friend!
Couple things I MUST share. While on VERY RESTRICTED ACTIVITY after today's Rhizotomy, I hope to make this ultra cool wreath from this super cool blog www.livingwithlindsay.com/2009/11/librarians-please-avert-your-eyes.html . I don't think using a glue gun is against the rules of VERY RESTRICTED ACTIVITY, do you? Also, one of the blogs I follow is having a Pottery Barn give away. WHO on earth couldn't spend 25 George's in PB? Or 2,500 for that matter! Anyway, you just have to leave a comment! Check it out. 
http://www.getyourmarthaon.blogspot.com/
I really should have closer pictures of my antique little goodies. I'm going to have to fire that photographer! Plus she used a flash and EVERYBODY knows I HATE flash. Hate it with every fiber of my being. Anyway, back to my goodies. My favorite little antique store, that I went to over the weekend had all kinds of yumminess that I could have put in the back of the Jeep in a heartbeat but unfortunately that would require larger sums of money that I don't currently seem to have. HOWEVER, I spent just a few dollars and I came home with some wonderful finds that make me 
HAPPY and isn't that what it's all about? Let me tell you about my shweeet goodies. That tall and gorgeous white enamel on metal pitcher reminds me of a lovely super model that grew up in the mid-west but her all-American beauty took her to glamorous places far and wide. She's still turning heads but she's put on a few lbs after a few little pitchers were born and she has a few wrinkles here and there but she's still carries herself with grace. Next to Pretty Pitcher are two little pint size milk bottles from dairys in Baltimore. Living about 40 miles from
Baltimore, the thought of there ever being cows there just tickles me pink. It's just a funny thought. I'm irritated with myself for only getting 2 because I like odd numbers so that's really going to bug the junk out of me until I get another. At a couple dollars, that wont set me back much and the vision of daisy's in them next summer (or if I get a bunch at the grocery store or if my husband is inspired to bring me some which will never happen because he shows his love in all the other wonderful things he does for me, ie: PROJECTS. Don't mind the run on sentence and all of the mistakes in this post that would make my 12th grade English teacher spontaneously combust) makes me happy. Follow all that?. Me neither. Going clockwise, I'm STILL in love with the saphire blue Fire King measuring cup I got for my birthday in August from the same store. It has a side spout which is pretty cool too. Yeah, I know it doesn't look blue but in the light it does have a hint of blue to it. I looked it up and as per what Bob said, that is what it's called and yes I DID get a major bargain on it compared to what I saw on ebay. School lunch money versus going to Outback Steakhouse! Moving along clockwise again. There 
is another little measuring cup, it's not that old. It's pyrex but it has a really fun shape so I couldn't resist it's call to come home with me. It's super happy sitting next to saphire blue fire king.
I promised I would take pictures of Bob's shop this week. It's called Ye Ol' Curiousity Shoppe in Churchville Maryland. I will go to snap some shots but my little one now has H1N1. First things first, I have to get her better. I SWEAR by Tamiflu, that stuff WORKS wonders. It's so IMPORTANT to go to the Dr.'s AS SOON AS YOU have symptoms.
The kitchen is still a work in progress so you're not getting photos of that yet (wink) ohhhh but I did want to show you my frugal idea for new knobs. We really wanted zink finished knobs like the finish on this B. But because we don't have an extra penny to drop on 98 knobs (I'm not kidding it's 90 something knobs in my kitchen) we purchased this bottle of hammered aluminum from Rustoleum and spray painted them! YAY us! Unfortunately/fortunately I am purchasing a new faucet tomorrow. Ours finally decided to die yesterday and my husband and my father have patched it so many times that it's at the point now that it's pointless to NOT get a new faucet. So I'm taking Peyton to the Depot in the morning to pick one out. Our dryer died the middle of last week but LUCKILY my father is Mr. Fixit and was able to take the sucker apart and we bought a new heating element that he installed. I won't tell you about the concerns I have with the small cup on top of the now reassembled and working like a champ dryer. The cup contains about 6 screws that somehow didn't make it BACK into said working like a champ dryer.
I also am having my second Rhizotomy on my lumbar tomorrow. It's going to be the left side this time. Good times. Good times.
I will go to the antique store later in the week to take some photos to show you all of his wonderful old goodies!
OHHHHHHHHH I almost forgot the Levi story. I took Levi McCoy and Cosmo Kramer to the Vet to get updated on shots. Being puppies, some of their shots only lasted a year so they needed boosters. One of the girls at the Vet is familiar with my back issues and immediately helped me by taking Levi. We go into the examining room and the dogs are tickled to death to be there. WHAT AN ADVENTURE! Happy wiggles and kisses all around for Margaret (the tech) and the Vet. The Vet and I are chatting as he's getting the shot ready and as he approaches Margaret and Levi, Levi spies the shot and DROPS onto the ground like he's been hit with a .45. He falls onto his back (I submit, I SUBMIT) and begins FURIOUSLY URINATING ALLOVER INCLUDING THE VETS SHOES AND LEGS. I'm apologizing and apologizing and then said, "I'm SO sorry, I forgot to tell you he is a submissive urinator!"
(Be warned, this post is FULL of these ) ( because I think I must talk that way too. So run away fast if you don't like them!)
Halloween was a warm night with the occasional mist of rain that luckily would disappear quickly. (Easy for me to say, I wasn't' out there!) I won't bore you with the pics of my kids (although I'd love to!) but if you are my FB friend, you've already seen them anyway. As I said in the previous post, Chili is our traditional meal on Halloween, we had the few extra people and everything was relatively uneventful. I was hoping to lay down after my afternoon of craziness but that didn't happen. The ONLY thing slightly out of the ordinary is that Cole didn't eat dinner. I figured he had sampled our own candy a bit too much 'cause as I've said before, that kid can EAT. Sunday morning he woke up and immediately we could tell he was feverish and his cough just came out of NO WHERE! Matt took him to the local Express Care and got there before they opened and was already 4th in line. Because having Cole get the H1N1 has been my biggest fear lately. Any of us for that matter, but Cole has asthma and latex allergies. I had tried many times to get him/them the shot to no avail. Luckily they've all already had the seasonal shot like every year since the twins were about 16-18 months. Because of the Latex issue, saying he's not easy to treat medically is a HUGE understatement. We'd been doing all the precautions: constant hand washing, gargling, drinking hot liquids (to send the virus to your stomach), using hand sanitizer, swabbing our nose holes with salt water. I've even
on occasion wiped mined out with a hand sanitizer wipe!
Needless to say, he has swine flu. He was prescribed Tamiflu and some guifenisin with codeine. He's doing very well. THANK YOU GOD. Really I am so happy that at least we caught it early and have the ability to get the medications we needed.
Okay, here's the part I'd love to post a poll about. Today, Cole wanted a crispy chicken bacon ranch salad from McD's. The kid's sick so yeah, you KNOW I'm going to go get it. I know my car needs gas so I grab the last 20 out of the cabinet (the perils of direct deposit leave us cash-less a lot. HECK the PERILS of my prescriptions, procedures, physical therapy etc. leave us cash-less a lot). I realize while I'm out and about that my face is going numb and I'm a bit light headed. I knew what the culprit was (your probably thinking, DUH Robyn, it's all those pain meds!) no, my fine friends, I hadn't taken my Thyroid pill since Friday when I took the last one. Call the pharmacy and of course I don't have any refills but when I mentioned the numb face, she assured me I could pick up a few! ;-) That was NICE of her. I then go to the gas station and while getting out the 20 I find a lovely but crumpled $1 in a pocket of my purse. Math genius that I am, I give the girl 21 dollars and ask for $6 in gas. I figured Cole's salad, large fries (does ANYONE go there without getting fries? I think it's now a law, right?) and a large diet Coke he was cravin' I'd be up to 8-9 dollars. As I'm pumping my tank chock FULL with my 6 dollars. A lady approaches me from the pump next to me. She's clean but disheveled (who the h*ll am I to judge I just took my pj bottoms off and put on running pants and tennis shoes to leave the house) and looks a bit shaken. She comments on how lovely Macy is. (Macy insists upon going EVERYWHERE NOW. Ever since we took her into Anthropologie and the MAC store in Richmond she thinks everything is now fair-game). Ms. Bit-disheveled then starts stammering over her words and apologizing and generally can't really get anything out. I assume she wants me to keep an eye on the little girl who was plowing through a happy meal, strapped into the backseat. Then she starts to cry and says her car is almost out of gas, and she wants to show me her purse (I'm assuming she means it's empty of money) and that the only way the little one got McD's was because she got a coupon for it while trick or treating (I'm taking my kids to THAT neighborhood next year). She cautiously and with much embarrassment asks if I can even give her a dollar for gas to get home. I pull the 5 out of my pocket and gladly hand it to her. She is GRACIOUS and blesses me. I blessed her of course because at this point, I'm just happy I HAD 6 dollars to put in the tank and some money to get Cole his lunch and buy his prescriptions yesterday and pay for the co-pay. Well, glad that my HUSBAND has a job and can pay for these everyday things that we could easily take for granted. So, do you think I did a random act of kindness or got scammed? All of this is on the heels of being in line in the express lane last week at the grocery while the man in front of me was TICKED OFF that he couldn't pay for his $25.00 worth of HOT CUSTOM ORDERED STEAM SHRIMP with his Independence Card (food stamp program). I know what my gut tells me about the lady, but what about YOU? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
This is turning into a novel!
This first photo and also the second were taken at one of my favorite places to shoot (when I was really capable of the photography for WHIMAGES.COM). YOU MUST click on these photos to see them bigger, they are so much prettier. Plus you can sorta see the house through the tree's . It's called Tudor Hall and it's owned by our local county and it's property butts up to my neighborhood. Read about it here: http://www.aboutfamouspeople.com/article1147.html and here http://www.harfordhistory.net/th.html It has such cool history! JOHN WILKES BOOTH was born there! The architect for the house was THE SAME architect who designed FORD THEATER where President Abraham Lincoln was shot! Sorta freaky fraky coincidence, huh? The pond is almost one of the first things you see when you pull into the property and the house lies beyond that tall pine in the distance. This doggie photo is of my friend Melanie's Great Dane, Jolie going after a ball. She's a beauty!
There is no way I can properly go from Swine Flu to my mean math skills, to whether or not I was scammed to lovely photos that show off
LIGHT to John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln's assassination to a delish
Cheesy Mexican Melt Bake with any literary skill is there? Well I guess I just did! HA!
Because I can't stand in the kitchen too long and the evenings seem to be worse for me pain wise (although I hope that gets better soon), I've had to change the way I cook and meal plan. Heck I NEVER meal planned before. Now I try to think of things that may have similar ingredients and do a lot of my prep work in little batches a head of time. HOLY COW, why didn't I think of this YEARS AGO. Can you say, TIMESAVER? I'm going to talk about that a little here and in the next post which will feature: Citrus Salad with Bacon and Red Onion (I love Red ONION), Catalina Cranberry Chicken and Yummy loaded golden mashed potatoes.
Because I knew I was making Chili, when I saw this recipe I just stopped. I thought, "SELF, you are already making most of that for the Chili, why don't you buy double the ingredients and get two meals out of it?" Then I said, "SELF, you are a GENIUS! Then you can freeze the Chili for a later date!" Sometimes, I really am proud of myself!
This recipe is LOOOSELY based on Kraft recipes from Food and Family Magazine. (so is the cranberry chicken and the salad...shhhh).
I'm really BAD about measuring when I cook so just kinda keep that in mind and follow your own tastes.
1to 1 1/2 lb extra-lean ground beef (I always buy 93/7)
1 onion chopped (size depends on how much meat you have)
1 green pepper chopped (size depends on how much meat you have)
1 tall jar of Taco Bell Thick and Chunky Salsa but use what you like...I do!
chili powder, salt and pepper
1 10oz bag of frozen yellow corn
4-6 big soft tortillas
1/2 -1 cup sour cream (you're gonna need the cup) I hope you have more for later as a garnish
3/4 cup shredded cheese (calls for sharp cheddar but I use the Mexican and I NEVER measure cheese so mine has MORE fo' sure!)
Green onions
Here's some other things I would suggest: Add 1 little can of green chili's, black beans, chili beans, dark red kidneys, light red kidneys, whatever 'cause they are GOOD for you. Plus you know that rhyme: Beans Beans they're good for.... nevermind. Hey, you are going to want to drain those beans, btw.
Heat oven to 375
Brown meat with onions and peppers on medium high skillet. If you are making chili too and you used way more meat and onions and green pepper, seperate whatever amount of meat you want for your chili now in a separate pot and make it while your cooking this. The hard part for BOTH dinners is now done! Okay, in the pan you are making the meat mixture for this bake in, add the salsa and corn, mix well and simmer 5-6 minutes. If you want to add any beans or chilis add them now as well, but DRAIN THEM.
SPREAD some meat mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 9 dish or a nice round dish or any dish that this will sorta fit in. Top that with one tortilla. Spread some more meat mixture, top with little dollops of sour cream (kind spread that around only on surface a bit), cheese then start over again with another tortilla. Top layer is just meat and cheese on top. Bake about 25 30 minutes. Top each square with a dollop (fun word) of sour cream and sprinkle the onions. ENJOY!
Come back tomorrow or the next day for those other recipes. Plus I hope to show you pics of my cabinets too.
Meet Little Mister Tyler. Don't you want a hug from him? He is super sweet and has a look in his eye that means trouble just might be around the corner. Tomorrow he gets to see his Daddy for the first time in 6 months. His father, Todd has been deployed for a year and finally gets to come home for good tomorrow! We are so excited for Tyler his Momma Gina and Todd. Thank YOU Todd for serving our country so well! I know Gina is super excited to see you and she said she also can't wait for an uninterupted nap! LOL Gina and Todd are awesome neighbors and we are so thankful to have had them move in across the street. ;-)
Halloween is here in all it's spooky splendor! I think I'm going to put my chalkboard (directions on making one here: http://whimages.blogspot.com/2009/07/just-stuff-and-recipe.html) on the frontporch with pumpkins and the candy. My silly kids wanted to know why I wrote that because, "we don't have those things". We might have some extra kids trick or treating with us this year. Traditionally, I always make Chili. I think everyone makes Chili on Halloween. Am I right? This year since we might have extra people, I saw a recipe for a chessy mexican layered bake I might try too. If it's good I'll post the recipe in a couple days.
You might be wondering how my Rhizotomy (Neurotomy-nerve burning thingy went). If you remember, I stayed up and read a bunch of message board reviews, much to my horror. No offense to any male readers out there, but ALL of those reviews were obviously written by men. Remember the burly man who said his wife could hear him in the waiting room? I SURE feel sorry for her when he has a cold! Not that it was a breezy walk in the park. It's NOT like I want another one tomorrow or anything. BUT it wasn't like I thought it would be after the reviews. Yes, it did hurt. I had it done on my right side lumbar, L3, L4 and L5-S1. After he was working a while (I kinda thought we were on needle 2 but wasnt' sure) it started to hurt more than extra so I did say something like, "hey Dr. Doctor, why is it suddently hurting way more than before?". And Dr. Doctor said something to the effect that he was working almost next to the bottom of one of the screws or pedicals (whatever) in my fusion and he gathered that area was already irritated. I'd gather that too from how it felt! ;-) All in all, not so bad. Got sent home with my normal pain meds, some type of morphine and instructions
to have even MORE restricted activity for the following 2 days. I'm not sure if slowly walking outside to snap Tyler's pic counts or not be he looked so darn cute playing in the leaves from my window!
PROP HOUSES
In other news, one of my favorite blogs is www.theletteredcottage.net . Layla and her husband are just too dern cute for their own good and DANG do those two have awesome design ideas and energy out the wazoo. A week back or so the magazine called THE NEST came to shoot a segment on their INCREDIBLY delightful (I want to move in with them but not in a weird way, I just love the house) cottage. Layla gave readers a super cool behind the scenes tour of a magazine shoot. I HAD no idea! NO WONDER EVERY MAGAZINE LAYOUT LOOKS SO FABULOUS! They sent box upon box of accessories and props to the house, clothes for them and all kinds of fun goodness including a stylist, hair and makeup! If you want to see this awesome segment on Layla's blog, it's here: http://www.theletteredcottage.net/2009/10/nest-shoot-behind-scenes.html
While looking for something on the web tonight, I came across a designer/flea-marketer I've admired before, Eddie Ross. Well, he used to work at the Food Network and decided to share with his readers (said in a booming movie voice) THE FOOD NETWORK PROPS ROOM. Check out this sweeeeet goodnes and try not to tell me you didn't fall in love with at least 50 things? http://www.eddieross.com/eddie_ross/2009/09/a-tour-of-the-food-network-prop-house.html
Oh and my middle name is NOT Ludmilla.
Brisk Air~ Morning Frost~ Jewel Toned Leaves~Hot Spiced Cider~Pumpkin Patches~Indian Summer Days~Dried Cornstalks~Smelling Burning Leaves~Squirrels Squirrying About~Thread-Bare Sweatshirts~Golden Evening Light~Gourds~Chili~Costume Hunting~Candy Buying~Trick or Treating~Crunchy Leaves~Bon Fire~Toasted Marshmallows!
What does the fall make you think of?
Recently, my mother in law asked me to have a quick photo shoot of our children with them. I had done a super quick shoot of my nephews (Matt's brother, Ron's boys) with my in-laws in August. Monday was a nice Indian summer evening, so we went to Tudor Hall which is just about 1 minute from our house to snap a couple shots. Honestly my kids were not on their best behavior. Actually, I guess they were just being themselves! LOL They weren't bad, just goofing off a ton and we had bundles of fits of giggles for some reason.
At the end of the shoot, Callie and Cole were semi-roughhousing and they looked 
really cute. Callie's so tiny and small featured and Cole is BURSTING into this body that we don't even recognize. Litterally his bones look like they are doubling in size! He's now a GOOD inch or more taller than my 5ft 7 1/2 . When he kisses me goodbye in the morning, I have to reach up a bit. YES, they ALL kiss me and hug me goodbye before they get on the bus. We often say we love each other too. I hope with ALL OF MY HEART that this doesn't end. Love is a word we share a lot around our house and I pray it stays that way. Please don't mistake me. There is a LOT of not so fun stuff said too. Many words full of teen attitude (even from my not so teen 7 1/2 year old). I just hope that the POWER of the word LOVE reigns eventually over all the other crummy stuff. I think it will.
Back to the pictures... At the end of the shoot, Callie and Cole, our twins, were goofing off (as they were most of the time) and I suddenly begged them for a hug. Just ONE hug. I pleaded. So in about 30 seconds these are some of the shots I got. and...I. LOVE. THEM. They may not have perfect composition, some are blurry, one is kinda gross, one is sorta mean (although he wasn't pulling her hair hard) and the squeeze just kills me how both of them squinch up their noses!
For all their faults, it's the EMOTION that I love. These two really do LOVE each other even though sometimes you'd NEVER know it. They have the best bond and I feel so blessed to be their mother.
IN super cool kitchen news, we took the reclaimed wood to a friend of Matt's to see if he could plane the sides so that they would fit together. I didn't wan't to loose much of the patina if we sanded it a lot but I also don't want the kids to get splinters. If ANYONE can make magic with this wood it's Bryan Ford. His company, Bryan Ford Contracting does
some of the most amazing work you've ever seen. The houses he builds have incredible attention to detail. His home is now my NEW favorite house. The mouldings in his house were all made by Bryan and they are GORGEOUS! This house feels like it's been around for 200 years but it hasn't and the built ins and goodies he had just killed me. I could have moved into his cape cod style shop, it's 3000 square feet! But remember one of my favorite scents is freshy sawn wood! So if you are in the Harford County area and need a CUSTOM home, call BRYAN!
Hey Folks...just as I was about to blog this, CUTE KamaCozi (AKA: Cosmo, the Cosman, Cosi-bear,Cosi-moto) puked up the little paper dry cleaning tag (that my husband must have accidentally dropped this bright and lovely morning) along with a large volumn of freshly drank(is that a word)water on the kitchen floor. So I'll be back after cleanup and physical therapy to tell you about these photos but they
are actually about repurpose-ing an old frame into a padded message board. ;-)
I can't do a tutorial 'cause I did this last summer. Sorry! But it's super easy. Find an old frame you like and pop out whatever is in it (or you could just leave it and work on top of it but regardless you need to remove it for now. I had my father or Matt cut me a piece of luan (thin, hard board sold at stores like Home Depot). The luan must fit the hole IN THE BACK ALMOST EXACTLY!
For the message board, I used cotton batting and then fabric that would match Callie's room of light apple green and pinks. You could also cut cork board to fit and then cover with just fabric. We wanted to make our own pins from buttons and have them go in on an angle like when you sew instead of strait in like with a push pin. You put your batting over the wood, leaving about a half inch to an inch not covering the edge where you'll be attaching it around the frame. Then cut the fabric large enough so that it will cover the backing and the batting. I then just used small nails and some of the little staples that were already on there to attach it all. The whole project took less than 15 minutes. Click on the photo if you want to see it larger.
When I brought this hand home from an antique store, Callie immediately snagged it for her rings. I think it looks pretty cool! That little music jewelry box in the background was my husbands sisters when she was a little girl. Callie keeps it close to her heart and often thinks of her Aunt Michele.
I've given the chalkboard/magnetic board directions before. Again, cut luan to size paint with magnetic paint like a kazillion times or 3 and then the chalk board paint about 3 times. Reinstall and VOILA a lovely message board!
I love these two fortunes we got recently. Mine and Matt's says : There is a true and sincere friendship
between you both! I LOVE that and it's so true considering I've known him since I was 10!
Callie's fortune says: Stop and look around, happiness is trying to find you! How COOL!
AGAIN, click on the pics to make them larger if your eyes are getting old like mine or you just want to see the details. (Yeah, that's what they all say!)
PEYTONISM ALERT!!!
Longtime blog readers will know that occasionally, I'll post something funny that our youngest, Peyton says. As I've said in the past, and now offense to you blondes out there. BTW, I'm a bottle blonde (thanks to my fabulous hairstylest to the STARS. Okay, maybe that's pushing it, but she's good. Real Good) so I can say whatever I want about blondes. Okay, about the Peytonism.
Over the weekend we were driving past Men's Warehouse. This particular MW is on a corner of a shopping center, so that the windows on that side are blacked out. Our little reader says, "Men's Warehouse, what would you BUY there?" I then replied, "Well, when you get older, and if you can't find a man that's where you go to get
one." She glances back at the store, and now she can see the mannequins in the window dressed in there dapper finery and she says
wait for it
wait for it
a little longer
okay: "Oh."
Matt and I just looked at each other and smiled. That's our girl!
OMG a post with out a photo! I'm not sure I can handle it! ;-)
Hey everyone! One of the super cool site that I visit in my spare time (like in the morning when the house is still and I have a big cup of steaming coffee and my favorite cozy blanket wrapped around me). Anyway, lots of bloggers are linking their favorite flea market finds...I have a couple but I posted an old blog post about one of them! Check out mine and some other blogs too! Your sure to have fun at this first LINK PARTY! It's a FLEAMARKET STYLE PARTY! COME ON IN!
Here's my link to one of my favorite FINDS: http://whimages.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-love-this-and-yummy-recipe.html
Such an exciting and varied title you say? Yes, that's because I'm all about the RANDOM thoughts! LOL Anyway, I'll do the apples first in case you don't care about my little ol' spinal pain procedure I had today.
I saw these on Martha's site the other day and thought they looked yummy. I was right! LOL Martha doesn't do much wrong in this chicka's eyes anyway. The recipe called for McIntosh and I didn't seem to have them in my produce department so I used good old Granny Smith. She's a nice firm old lady that bakes up real nice not mushy. You are probably wondering why the heck I baked something after the day I had but you know what? I like to bake and it takes my mind off stuff and I was on meds too! That helps of course! Of course all of this WAS after a 3 hour nap too! Plus I sat down at the island for the entire thing PLUS and probably most importantly, I served my family hotdogs for dinner! LOL BUT I did include this super delish homemade sweet relish my friend Julie made that totally made my hotdogs very GOURMET for sure! I really preferred these wedges cold and I think they'd be great served chilled with a light swirling of hot caramel and a dollop of homemade whip cream sprinkled with nutmeg. But who am I kidding, you can just use the stuff in the can! If you served them cold, you could make them ahead of time, like in the morning before a party or dinner. Here's the link for the recipe: okay, son of a gun, it won't let me link it! Your going to have to go to www.marthastewart.com and search for it. Sorry!
AND now, what you've all been waiting for! Robyn's experience with her first lumbar medial branch block! I get up on the table with my Dolce and Gabana blue cotton gown. You know the one with the ties in the back? Sexy. She cleans my back we make small talk, yadda yadda yadda. The doctor comes in again just a itsy bit of small talk and then he turns on the
xray machine and like the dork I am. I say, "Is that my back?" And no, my friends I wasn't under the influence of my pain meds because you can't take them because they will interfere with the diagnostic ability of the test. I'm just that much of an air head. So Dr. Doctor then says, "SO, I SEE WHY YOU ARE IN SO MUCH PAIN!" He briefly shows me some of the stuff that's wrong with my spine below my fusion. Then begins inserting these big ass needles into my facet joints (you'll have to wikipedia that one). I can cleary see the straw sized (I'm grossly exaggerating, a little) on the xray. I ask Dr. Doctor if the anesthetic he is using has any steroid in it. (I had read that it often does) He said just a little and I wanted to know how effective it would be. He said, "for some people it might last forever or a long time, for YOU, I doubt it will last a week." Um. Okay. He put 3 of those itsy bitsy (not so much) needles into 3 different vertebrae on the right side in my back and we are done. He said I'll come back next week for the left side. So I go to recovery and wait 15 minutes. Meanwhile I'm thinking I think I feel pretty good. The nurse comes and has me repeat my range of movement exercises and THEY ARE BETTER and I FEEL BETTER. I actually didn't realize how MUCH pain I had been in until some of it was gone! It was considered 60% successful which is good, it has to be at least 50% for them to then go on and do the Neurotomy (Rhizotomy) which is the nerve damaging stuff. I was smiling and so happy. I think I alarmed the nurse and she said, "you know this is temporary, right? It lasts a few minutes to about an hour" I told her I knew that but it was so GREAT to feel better even for just a few minutes! LOL Ultimately, it lasted about 25 minutes total. But hey, I'll take it! So I'm a candidate for the damaging, this whole process will take about 3 more weeks. Yay ME!
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BAKED SPAGHETTI
2 Cups canned diced tomatoes (I use the ones with garlic and onions)
2 Cups tomato sauce (I used 3 Cups and eliminated the water and I used Spaghetti Sauce-spicy basil)
1 Cup water
1/2 Cup diced onions
1/2 Cup diced green pepper
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 t Italian seasoning
2 t seasoned salt (like lawry's)
1 1/2 t sugar
2 small by leaves
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (I use 93/7)
8 ounces angle hair pasta uncooked
1 Cup cheddar cheese grated
1 Cup grated montery jack
( I used about a 1/2 C of each of the above and added 2 cups mixed Italian cheeses)
In stockpot, cook tomatoes and sauce, water, half of the onions and half of the peppers and half of the garlic, the parsley and seasonings and salts, sugar and bay leaves. Bring to boil then reduce heast and simmer, covered for 1 hour. Crumble the ground beef in a saucepan, cook about halfway then add the other half of the onions, peppers and garlic. Finish cooking till no pink remains. Drain off fat (if you use the 93/7 there usually is not any to drain). Add the groundbeef mixture to the sauce and simmer 20 more minutes. Cook pasta according to directions. Cover the bottom of 9 x 13 with a little sauce. Add a layer of pasta, then half of the cheeses, repeat the layers ending with sauce. Top with a bit of extra cheese to cover. Bake till cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly about 25 to 30 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy!
Okay, about my back, if you are interested. I haven't talked much about my back to you but I'm sure my real life friends are sick of hearing about it. I sound like the grandmother that some of you may have who continually has a zillion illnesses or gout or something. (I loved her but I had a grandmother like that...may she rest in peace ;-) ). So I'm STILL having pain. A lot of PAIN. Like just as much as before the lumbar fusion surgery. Yeah, so now I'm like totally WTH? I'm on tons of pain meds still and we are talking 5 1/2 months post surg...um I didn't think it would be like this. And why YES, since you asked...I CAN predict when the weather will be crappy just like your grandma can! I saw a new pain guy last week. Today I'm going to have some procedure called a lumbar medial branch block. Basically they are temporarily numbing these little nerves that are near my facet joints (joints in the spine). There is some evidence to suggest that a lot of people with spinal pain have their pain due to the nerves at the facet joints. So if when they numb the nerves, if my pain gets better than they know that is part of my problem. THen next time they would go in with somekind of high tech space age futuristic (I'm making all that up, I think) high radiofrequency needles and damage said nerves. That way they CAN'T send pain signals to my brain. This often helps. Sometimes it doesn't but we are not thinking of that. Sometimes it makes it worse, again banish THAT thought. Eventually the nerve grows back and you could have pain again but it can take 6 months to a year or more! YEAH!!!! That'd be cool. So wish me luck today! ;-)
Come back soon for the cool project I'm doing with the old window...I'm gonna hang it in the powder room! And the kitchen is looking gooood! I love my husband!
A couple posts ago I sorta cryptically mentioned some issues between our three boxers. WE LOVE our dogs. LIKE more than is probably in the realm of normalcy. We have had Macy (she just had a b-day and turned 6) since she was surrendered to www.boxerrescue.com when she was 18 months. We've had Levi for about a year and 3 months since we adopted him from our local shelter when he was 6 months. We've had Cosmo for about a year after an idiot decided he didn't want him anymore and was going to give him a syringe of DRANO when he was 7 months old. We didn't intend to keep Cosmo because 3 dogs is a lot of dog. We placed him once with my sister and after 4 days he came back because his youthful puppy enthusiasm was tooooo much for her older lab and her then 18 month old Mason and 2 1/2 year old Grace. I then placed him with a wonderful family who had a 2 year old Boxer. He came back after 2 days because their boxer was having some aggressive issues toward Cosmo and wasn't to happy to add him to the household. So we decided to keep him. We had fallen in love with him initially and he felt comfy here already. The boys got along famously! RUNNING crazy about 3/4 of the day. If you have never had a couple of boxers or seen a couple of boxers playing you probably can't even FATHOM the chaos that happens. Their complete JOY and friendship(well the boys at least, Macy is a bit too cool to usually get involved) is such a wonderful heart-warming thing to witness. However, we did have several disputes over pack order, nothing that wasn't normal. In the early spring we had a full on 3 dog fight that unfortunately led to Macy having about 8 staples. It was over nothing and it was totally all 3 involved equally, unfortunately I think Macy got the brunt of it because the boys teeth are sharper because they are younger. The next day they were back to doggie peaceful friendly happy friendship. Then about a month ago the same thing happened. AGAIN all three were involved and it started over nothing at all. Macy this time had to be put under and got about 22 staples...not pretty and big bucks again. We realized then that this probably isn't going to work. It was breaking our hearts but we know for the safety of EVERYONE involved, someone had to go. I tentatively put some feelers out (all the while crying). EXTREMELY unfortunately the SAME thing happened Friday afternoon. VERY unfortunately, Cole stuck his leg in between the
two boys ( we had separated Macy already at that point). As they were attacking each other Cole's calf happened to be part of the equation. Inadvertently, and SADLY he was bitten by Cosmo. Please understand that COSMO, nor any of the others would EVER hurt any of us intentionally. EVER. They are sweet and loving to us, kissy and always affectionate even when one of the feet accidentally gets stepped on or something.
Poor Cole, was bitten through his favorite pair of Gap jeans. ( We'll just consider them distressed now) Peyton was already on her way to a friends so she went there. Callie stayed home and I made a quick call to my husband at work to let him know that we were off to the emergency room DEFINITELY for stitches. We walked into the leper ward at our local hospital. Well, at least it felt like that, 3/4 of the people had masks on and looked TERRIBLE and the place was PACKED. Luckily, we got called back to Triage quickly (considering that it was a dog bite) then were whisked to the pediatric waiting room which wasn't quite as bad. 6 hours later, Cole got 13 stitches. All the while I felt like (and continue to feel like) the worst MOM ever for not taking care of this situation a couple months ago. I'm so sorry that it came to this and to see my baby boy (who is taller than me and we weigh about the same but he'll ALWAYS be my baby boy) endure this. With dog bites they often don't even stitch up at all and let it heal from the inside out but his needed some help. The stitches are placed not very close together, purposely to allow it heal on it's own. So you can imagine it was quite large.
Needless to say, one of the boys needs to be placed into a new home. We've consulted our Vet and he agrees that 3 isn't working (duh for me) and since this pattern has started it's not going to end. Heartbreakingly, it has come to the point where one of my children was hurt. This photo of Cole is
and Cosmo is from this morning. It's going to hurt our hearts but it HAS to be done.
In a bit of other news. I was given a couple old windows from our friend Curt, www.wadecontractors.net and I think I'm going to do a project for the powder room. Come on back later for that!
Another section of the kitchen cabinets are almost done. Don't mind Matt's corner of tool and paint and other schtuff he needs while working. These need to be wiped now to show the distressing and then get a coat of poly.
Here is one of the new quotes on the chalkboard/magnetic board. It looks really sloppy because the kids keep writing goofy stuff below it that MUST be quickly erased!
Okay, so if you've made it this far, I'm amazed. But thanks for letting me ramble. Anyway, obviously I'm looking VERY hard for HAPPY today,or tomorrow or anytime soon! Oh and I'm having a procedure on my nerves in my back on Thur. I'll talk 
about that tomorrow! Enough doom and gloom in one post! Believe me I know people can only handle so much DOOM AND GLOOM! You've had your daily allotment!
I did some virtual shopping for the kitchen over at polyvore and not only was it a blast but it was free! If you click on the goodies it tells you where you can get them! Pretty cool!
***EDIT:
There is a much better update here if you'd like to check it out as well! ;-) THANKS!!!
By the time we are done with this project, you're going to be sick of seeing my kitchen! Here's this section that is finished and has the satin polyurethane. I have to admit, a coffee maker usually sits over there next to my mixer but I moved it for the photo. :-) I'm just being honest! My mixer is like a zillion years old. Seriously, I've had it since I was like 17 and I'm ancient now at 39 so yeah, it's OLD. (little know Robyn fact: I used to decorate cakes...a LOT of cakes, wedding cakes and specialty cakes, all kinds of cakes! For money, like as in a part time job! LOL) So this mixer and I have been through a lot and she better keep on mixin' 'cause I love her and I can't afford to get another anytime soon!
Hey, do you see how that platter sits up there real nice above the microwave in the cabinet? I love that!
Here's the kitchen sink area with only one coat of black on. Remember the process...Primer, wax your areas you want distressed then paint, let dry, wipe those areas, re-wax, paint and dry, wipe, wax, paint and dry, wipe, repeat if necessary then poly. Click on the photo to see it larger. These are the two FAKE drawers in front of my sink. I had Matt remove the knobs because who are we foolin'? EVERYONE knows
those aren't really drawers. So we put these pretty little wooden doohiggies from the Home Depot on (they were like 3.50) and now the front looks so much prettier! Ideally, if I won the lotto, this would be a BIG OL' FARM SINK with the front that comes down but that hasn't happened and you gotta play to win and all that stuff. So I'm happy with my little doohiggies I have.
I received an email today from one of the girls that used to work for Matilda Jane (you can search for Matilda Jane on my blog search...love love love me some MJ stuff!). She and a friend opened their own company it's called LUNNY & LU or http://www.lunnyandlu.com/. The stuff is really cute and the way you purchase it is through the featured items of the week. Everyweek different items are featured and thats the only things you can purchase. I guess they'll control inventory that way so the don't have the snafuu's that MJ always has. Speaking of MJ, I've got so many cute pieces from the 2 shows I had. Stuff that Peyton HAD to have and now I have to twist her arm to get her to wear most of it. Apparently, there's a little girl in her class that has a BIT too much to say about Peyton's fashion sense. I guess she never learned, "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all!" In that vein of thought...my 2 newest quotes on my chalkboards in the kitchen are: It's not in how you look it's in how you SEE. AND BREATHE...Life is good!
I couldn't think of a blog title this lovely morning. My friend Jeannette doesn't know I'm blogging about her. I'll have to call her. Hope she's okay with this! Hey Jeannette, funny story...one of my delightful and wonderful internet friends (Hi LORI! I totally feel like Lori and I are sisters seperated at birth except she got the good back and is able to hike mountains and stuff plus she owns a REALLY super cool dog/cat/animal care service called READY! PET! GO!) followed the link in my last post that shows Jeannette's uber cool under tree Christmas display of delightful sheep. Lori must not have had her glasses on (or she had a Bloody Mary for breakfast) and momentarily thought, "How'd Robyn get those sheep in the door and get them to pose so cutely?". I just wanted to say that I swear VIGNETTE is Jeannettes middle name. I swear the woman can plop down a huge head of cauliflower and an orange and it looks like an impressionist painting. True story, when we had our family photo shoot at Jeanette's last weekend (I will show you some of those pics when I get them from my friend, the photog), my photog friend, Kathleen and I popped our head into the kitchen to say goodbye and thank you. Jeannette had just comeback from shopping at the farmers market and on her counter was a GORGEOUS head of delish looking cauliflower (if I ate cauliflower I mean) and one single orange. Still life. I swear just those two things looked like a lovely still life painting. The woman oooozes style! This first photo is in her MUDROOM. YES her MUDROOM looks this lovely. It's this little room off the back of the house in this other photo. I go to the back door when I visit her because she told me I'm a back door friend a couple years ago. THAT's like the biggest compliment you can get from a friend!
http://www.getyourmarthaon.blogspot.com/
