Keith prepared to take on the slime.
We used a scrub brush around some of the windows, but the slime came right off the Hardi-Board that's on the rest of the house.
Reid and Keith spent the rest of the weekend playing games.
Showing posts with label Birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birthday. Show all posts
Friday, June 03, 2016
Busy Memorial Day Weekend
Keith came from Austin for the Memorial Day weekend. It was also his 47th birthday, so we went to Kemah and bought some live crabs to steam. We enjoy sitting around the table and cracking crabs. It's very labor intensive. If you've ever cracked crabs you know why crab meat is so expensive! (We also had hamburgers for the non-crab fans.) Troy and his family joined us.
I made a Nabisco Chocolate Wafer cake. We hadn't had one of those in ages and it's so good and so easy to make. It's basically just chocolate wafers and whipped cream. The recipe is on the box, but the cookies can be hard to find in the grocery store. At HEB they weren't on the cookie aisle. They were on an end cap some aisles away. At Kroger they keep them on the aisle with the ice cream cones. Don't ask me why? It just takes some looking to find them.
After cake Keith got to open presents!
It was a busy weekend. The next day Keith and I washed the green slime off the back of the house. Every year since I've lived here it's gotten worse. The climate here doesn't help. I wish I had thought to take some pictures before we started. You'll have to take my word for it. There was lots of green slime! We used a product called Armor E-Z House Wash that I got at the hardware store. It works very well.
Keith prepared to take on the slime.
I helped by holding the ladder.
I took most of the pictures after we had already sprayed the house once, so you really can't see how bad it looked before we started.
We used a scrub brush around some of the windows, but the slime came right off the Hardi-Board that's on the rest of the house.
The whole thing took about 1 1/2 hours which wasn't bad. I hope it doesn't grow back too quickly.
Reid and Keith spent the rest of the weekend playing games.
All too soon it was time for Keith (and Mittens) to leave.
A brotherly good-bye.
And Keith (and Mittens) headed back to Austin.
Keith prepared to take on the slime.
We used a scrub brush around some of the windows, but the slime came right off the Hardi-Board that's on the rest of the house.
Reid and Keith spent the rest of the weekend playing games.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Saturday Update
Today is my birthday so Keith took me to breakfast at the Rotary House Hotel which is across the street from MD Anderson. In fact, the hotel is owned by MD Anderson and managed by Marriott. They have a breakfast buffet and I probably won't eat much the rest of the day.
Reid seemed a little better today. When we arrived he had already eaten some oatmeal which was an improvement. For days he's eaten nothing but applesauce and pears! He just hasn't had an appetite and has lost ten pounds in the last two weeks.
Today his white count went up a little and hopefully that's a trend we'll continue to see. He sure would love to make that January 10th discharge date.
After we arrived he needed oxygen again for shortness of breath. The doctors don't seem overly concerned and he had a CT scan yesterday which didn't show anything of concern. It seems as if I have to do all the worrying around here. :)
I better sign off now. I told Reid I'd go get him a coke downstairs. He's playing a game with Keith and the nurse is giving him Benadryl before a platelet transfusion. He needs some caffeine to stay awake.
Reid seemed a little better today. When we arrived he had already eaten some oatmeal which was an improvement. For days he's eaten nothing but applesauce and pears! He just hasn't had an appetite and has lost ten pounds in the last two weeks.
Today his white count went up a little and hopefully that's a trend we'll continue to see. He sure would love to make that January 10th discharge date.
After we arrived he needed oxygen again for shortness of breath. The doctors don't seem overly concerned and he had a CT scan yesterday which didn't show anything of concern. It seems as if I have to do all the worrying around here. :)
I better sign off now. I told Reid I'd go get him a coke downstairs. He's playing a game with Keith and the nurse is giving him Benadryl before a platelet transfusion. He needs some caffeine to stay awake.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Christmas time birthdays...
...should be recognized. Today my "older" sister turns 68.
She has a few more candles on her cake now. Happy Birthday Carol Sue!
She has a few more candles on her cake now. Happy Birthday Carol Sue!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Birthday Happenings And A Recipe
We celebrated Reid's birthday on Friday with dinner at home. I made Roast Sticky Chicken and if you've never had it you're missing something good. I got the recipe years ago from Real Food For Real People which is now a Yahoo Group. You can sign up and have recipes E-mailed to you, but I turned off the E-mail feature a while back due to time restraints right now. She said the recipe originally came from Mimi's Cyber Kitchen, but I wasn't able to find it on her site. It might still be there, but I only took a quick look. Lots of other interesting sounding recipes, so I think I'll have to get back over there soon and look around.
Roast Sticky Chicken is spicy, moist, and delicious. It cooks for 5 hours at a low temperature. This is how it looks before it goes in the oven.
And this is how it looks when it comes out.
Please excuse the crummy looking roasting pan. It's actually a lasagna pan that I bought when we lived in Sicily over 40 years ago! It's been used a lot.
Here's the recipe:
And here he is making a wish and blowing out the candles.
After dinner we spent the evening playing this game.
It's called Betrayal At House On Haunted Hill and is pretty involved.
Troy didn't make it on Friday, but came over on Saturday. Jim, Keith, Reid and Troy went out for lunch. I didn't go because I had things I wanted to get done around here, but I wish I had thought to take a picture of Troy with everyone too. Keith left for Austin after lunch.
Tomorrow Reid has his appointments with the stem cell doctor and the cardiologist. We should know more then about when he'll be admitted to the hospital.
I haven't been doing too much blog reading lately. If I have a few extra minutes I usually read the first few blogs that pop up on my Reading List. I hope to buy either a laptop or an IPad for when Reid's in the hospital and recovering afterwards and will try and catch up then. If anyone has an opinion as to which would be better I'd appreciate your input. My thought is that the IPad is easier to lug around, but the laptop would do more. Thanks...
Roast Sticky Chicken is spicy, moist, and delicious. It cooks for 5 hours at a low temperature. This is how it looks before it goes in the oven.
And this is how it looks when it comes out.
Here's the recipe:
Roast Sticky Chicken
1 large chicken - (roasting)
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. white pepper
1 t. thyme
1 t. onion powder
1 t. cayenne pepper
2 t. paprika
4 t. salt (I omit)
In a small bowl thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast uncovered at 250 degrees F for 5 hours. After the first hour (I usually wait two), baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. (It may take a while to have pan juices.) The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn a golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about ten minutes before carving.
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. white pepper
1 t. thyme
1 t. onion powder
1 t. cayenne pepper
2 t. paprika
4 t. salt (I omit)
In a small bowl thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast uncovered at 250 degrees F for 5 hours. After the first hour (I usually wait two), baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. (It may take a while to have pan juices.) The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn a golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about ten minutes before carving.
With the chicken we had brown rice with nuts and asparagus. I bought rolls, but forgot to serve them. I also made Taffy Apple Salad the day before and forgot about that too. There was too much going on and it just wasn't one of my better days. :)
We had cake and ice cream afterwards. This is Reid with the cake. It said, "Happy Birthday Reid! And Many More!"
After dinner we spent the evening playing this game.
Tomorrow Reid has his appointments with the stem cell doctor and the cardiologist. We should know more then about when he'll be admitted to the hospital.
I haven't been doing too much blog reading lately. If I have a few extra minutes I usually read the first few blogs that pop up on my Reading List. I hope to buy either a laptop or an IPad for when Reid's in the hospital and recovering afterwards and will try and catch up then. If anyone has an opinion as to which would be better I'd appreciate your input. My thought is that the IPad is easier to lug around, but the laptop would do more. Thanks...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Happy Birthday Troy...and what a week it's been!
Our middle son Troy turned 40 on Wednesday, but we celebrated his birthday last Saturday while Keith was here from Austin. This post is a little late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY!
It was a simple celebration at home. Reid has been in considerable pain and we couldn't go out to a restaurant, so we cooked hamburgers out on the grill and had some cake afterwards. When our three sons get together there's a lot of teasing and joking and this day was no different from any other. It was a great diversion.
Troy blew out the candles on his cake (and hammed it up a little bit for the camera). Reid asked him if he had made a wish. He said he had and Reid replied, "If I get better we'll know your wish came true." They both laughed and then Troy said, "But tonight is lottery night." We all laughed. I know the humor sounds a little bizarre, but the important thing is that we were all able to laugh together.
They indulged me and posed for a picture together. L-R: Reid, Keith, and Troy.
Keith and Jim observing the festivities. Be sure and enlarge the picture. Jim's shirt says, "My Wife Rocks." We joke that the shirt is a chick magnet because he always gets comments from other women on his shirt. It was a gift from me. :)
Keith was only supposed to be in Houston for work until Wednesday, but he extended his stay until Friday with a couple of vacation days. It was really nice for Reid to have Keith here as a diversion. The pain had become so bad that I finally contacted the Physician's Assistant and she was able to get his appointment at the pain clinic moved up to Thursday. It's made a considerable difference. Although he's far from pain free the additional medication (long acting pain killer, nerve relaxer, and more Hydromorphane) has made the pain more tolerable. He's lost 20 pounds in the last month because the pain seemed to take away his appetite. He's eating a little more now. His left arm has gotten very weak and he can no longer type on the computer. He pretty much holds it in one position most of the time.
On Friday he was seen in the brain and spine clinic. The doctor that saw him first said that they thought the cancer was around the nerve and not in the nerve. With regular Lymphoma the cancer can get in the nerve, but he said he had never heard of that happening with Hodgkin's. They also think the mass is outside the spinal canal and pushing in. At least that was our understanding. That was the case last year too. His one pupil is larger than the other and the eye lid is a little droopy. We hadn't noticed and no other doctor had either, but this doctor caught it and said it's also from the mass on a nerve.
The strange thing about the whole appointment was that they didn't know why Reid's Oncologist had sent him to them for an evaluation. It was our understanding that it was to see if he could benefit from some radiation now and I'm assuming that's for pain relief. That was not conveyed to this clinic. They also didn't know what the treatment plan was and we told them a stem cell transplant. We were told they would speak with Reid's Oncologist and he'd let him know something.
This coming Friday he has his biopsy and then on November 5th he'll see the Oncologist again. All these appointments are so spread out and it's taking time to get everything done so treatment can begin. It would not be so bad if it wasn't for the pain. I guess in a way the pain is our friend because without it we would not have known anything was wrong until sometime in November when he had his next scheduled scan.
I know last year when he went numb from the arm pits down they were very concerned. It was considered a medical emergency and he was put in intensive care. That does not appear to be the case this time, so I console myself with that knowledge.
I went out to Joanne's and bought some fabric. I've decided I need to find something to work on to keep my mind occupied so I don't find myself worrying. I'm hoping to get some doll sewing done for Ann Estelle. I'm going to sew together some felt jackets and then take them along to the hospital and start the embroidery on them this week.
Thank you for your interest and concern.
It was a simple celebration at home. Reid has been in considerable pain and we couldn't go out to a restaurant, so we cooked hamburgers out on the grill and had some cake afterwards. When our three sons get together there's a lot of teasing and joking and this day was no different from any other. It was a great diversion.
Troy blew out the candles on his cake (and hammed it up a little bit for the camera). Reid asked him if he had made a wish. He said he had and Reid replied, "If I get better we'll know your wish came true." They both laughed and then Troy said, "But tonight is lottery night." We all laughed. I know the humor sounds a little bizarre, but the important thing is that we were all able to laugh together.
They indulged me and posed for a picture together. L-R: Reid, Keith, and Troy.
Keith and Jim observing the festivities. Be sure and enlarge the picture. Jim's shirt says, "My Wife Rocks." We joke that the shirt is a chick magnet because he always gets comments from other women on his shirt. It was a gift from me. :)
Keith was only supposed to be in Houston for work until Wednesday, but he extended his stay until Friday with a couple of vacation days. It was really nice for Reid to have Keith here as a diversion. The pain had become so bad that I finally contacted the Physician's Assistant and she was able to get his appointment at the pain clinic moved up to Thursday. It's made a considerable difference. Although he's far from pain free the additional medication (long acting pain killer, nerve relaxer, and more Hydromorphane) has made the pain more tolerable. He's lost 20 pounds in the last month because the pain seemed to take away his appetite. He's eating a little more now. His left arm has gotten very weak and he can no longer type on the computer. He pretty much holds it in one position most of the time.
On Friday he was seen in the brain and spine clinic. The doctor that saw him first said that they thought the cancer was around the nerve and not in the nerve. With regular Lymphoma the cancer can get in the nerve, but he said he had never heard of that happening with Hodgkin's. They also think the mass is outside the spinal canal and pushing in. At least that was our understanding. That was the case last year too. His one pupil is larger than the other and the eye lid is a little droopy. We hadn't noticed and no other doctor had either, but this doctor caught it and said it's also from the mass on a nerve.
The strange thing about the whole appointment was that they didn't know why Reid's Oncologist had sent him to them for an evaluation. It was our understanding that it was to see if he could benefit from some radiation now and I'm assuming that's for pain relief. That was not conveyed to this clinic. They also didn't know what the treatment plan was and we told them a stem cell transplant. We were told they would speak with Reid's Oncologist and he'd let him know something.
This coming Friday he has his biopsy and then on November 5th he'll see the Oncologist again. All these appointments are so spread out and it's taking time to get everything done so treatment can begin. It would not be so bad if it wasn't for the pain. I guess in a way the pain is our friend because without it we would not have known anything was wrong until sometime in November when he had his next scheduled scan.
I know last year when he went numb from the arm pits down they were very concerned. It was considered a medical emergency and he was put in intensive care. That does not appear to be the case this time, so I console myself with that knowledge.
I went out to Joanne's and bought some fabric. I've decided I need to find something to work on to keep my mind occupied so I don't find myself worrying. I'm hoping to get some doll sewing done for Ann Estelle. I'm going to sew together some felt jackets and then take them along to the hospital and start the embroidery on them this week.
Thank you for your interest and concern.
Monday, May 31, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH!
How time flies! Today our oldest son is 41 years old. It seems like only yesterday he was following me around with a book and asking me to read to him.
Keith now lives in Austin, so we won't be seeing him today. That doesn't stop us though from wishing him a Happy Birthday long distance.
Keith now lives in Austin, so we won't be seeing him today. That doesn't stop us though from wishing him a Happy Birthday long distance.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH!!!
Enjoy your day. Take it easy and relax.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A REALLY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Today is our son Reid's 34th birthday and we are excited about celebrating this milestone. We all have a tendency to take birthdays for granted...especially our children's birthdays. It's always assumed they'll outlive us. Most of us don't dare to think otherwise.
October 13, 2009 was a wake up call for us. One day Reid seemed perfectly healthy and the next day we learned that he had a large mass in his chest and a tumor in his spinal canal. Talk about scary!
After spinal surgery, and a week on pins and needles waiting for the pathology report, we learned that he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On January 8, 2010 we learned that he is in remission! He still has to finish out the six months of chemo, but things are really looking good right now. Yes, we'll still have to be concerned about the chemo side effects that might follow him for the rest of his life, but the cancer has been knocked on its "you know what." And although he still doesn't have all the feeling back from the chest down he is walking much better and has recently graduated from a walker to a cane.
We have so much to be thankful for this year.
We'll actually go out for dinner this weekend to celebrate. This isn't a good week for Reid. He had chemo on Saturday and will not feel much like eating until Friday or Saturday. That's OK, we'll wait.
September 1976
September 1977
March 1980
December 1982
3rd Grade Picture
October 13, 2009 was a wake up call for us. One day Reid seemed perfectly healthy and the next day we learned that he had a large mass in his chest and a tumor in his spinal canal. Talk about scary!
After spinal surgery, and a week on pins and needles waiting for the pathology report, we learned that he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On January 8, 2010 we learned that he is in remission! He still has to finish out the six months of chemo, but things are really looking good right now. Yes, we'll still have to be concerned about the chemo side effects that might follow him for the rest of his life, but the cancer has been knocked on its "you know what." And although he still doesn't have all the feeling back from the chest down he is walking much better and has recently graduated from a walker to a cane.
We have so much to be thankful for this year.
We'll actually go out for dinner this weekend to celebrate. This isn't a good week for Reid. He had chemo on Saturday and will not feel much like eating until Friday or Saturday. That's OK, we'll wait.
Here are some pictures of Reid through the years.
September 1976
September 1977
March 1980
December 1982
3rd Grade Picture(Can you guess what movie was popular?)
5th Grade Picture
High School Year Book Picture - 1994
2009 - You saw this picture at Christmas, but it's the most recent one I have of him. This is Keith (on the left) and Reid (on the right) making meatballs on Christmas Eve.
5th Grade Picture
High School Year Book Picture - 1994
2009 - You saw this picture at Christmas, but it's the most recent one I have of him. This is Keith (on the left) and Reid (on the right) making meatballs on Christmas Eve.HAPPY BIRTHDAY REID!!!
MAY YOU HAVE MANY, MANY MORE!!!
(And I've never said that with more sincerity.)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROL SUE!
Today, my much older sister turns 66. How time flies! She was born at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ. My mother always said that the nuns were singing Christmas Carols and that's why she was named Carol.
Since we were both born around Christmas we didn't usually have birthday parties. My mother said it was already a hectic time of the year (and now that I'm older and wiser I understand), so we usually just had a cake on our special day. We both really wanted to have a party and we begged and begged and finally my mother decided that we'd each get to have a party, but separate years. Carol being the oldest would go first. My party would be the following year. This is a picture of her party on December 23, 1950. She had nine of her friends at the party. Mr. Sheriden the Christmas photographer came to the house for the occasion.
I helped her blow out the candles. I'm pretty sure that was Mr. Sheriden's idea. There's no way she would have let me do that otherwise.
Since we were both born around Christmas we didn't usually have birthday parties. My mother said it was already a hectic time of the year (and now that I'm older and wiser I understand), so we usually just had a cake on our special day. We both really wanted to have a party and we begged and begged and finally my mother decided that we'd each get to have a party, but separate years. Carol being the oldest would go first. My party would be the following year. This is a picture of her party on December 23, 1950. She had nine of her friends at the party. Mr. Sheriden the Christmas photographer came to the house for the occasion.
I helped her blow out the candles. I'm pretty sure that was Mr. Sheriden's idea. There's no way she would have let me do that otherwise.
And then the following year it was my turn. By then my mother had decided that Carol Sue's party the previous year had been a bit too much with nine guests and I was told I could only have 6 people at my party. That was 6 people including me, my sister and a cousin that had to be invited. That really meant I could only invite three friends. This was a problem because during the previous year I had told all my friends that they would be coming to my party. I begged and begged to be allowed to invite more people, but my mother was firm. Only 6 people could be at the party and there could be no boys. Boys were much too wild according to mom. So, I had to uninvite some of my friends and settle on three...Janet Smith, Chris Kelly, and Peggy Park. The theme was New Year's and that's why the cupcakes had '52 on them. It was still actually 1951 when this picture was taken.
And then we all posed with the dolls Carol Sue and I had received for Christmas. Yes, we were definitely spoiled. How I wish I still had my dolls today.
Happy 66th Birthday Carol Sue!
And then we all posed with the dolls Carol Sue and I had received for Christmas. Yes, we were definitely spoiled. How I wish I still had my dolls today.
Happy 66th Birthday Carol Sue!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
