Thank you for your prayers...

Things are moving along, plans have been made, and the funeral will be tomorrow.

My sister arrived yesterday from North Carolina.  We still don't know when we'll be able to go to New Jersey for the burial.  Reid's core needle biopsy is today down at MD Anderson.  Based on those results he may or may not need surgery tentatively scheduled for next week.  He's trying to see if they can change the tentative surgery date to the following week so we can all go to New Jersey together.

The kids and I worked on Jim's obituary and were pleased with the final result.  You can read it here.  Meanwhile we've been going through old photographs for the funeral.  The early years were all on slides, but yesterday Troy scanned some slides so we'll have those too.  We've had fun looking at the old photos, sharing stories, and having some good times recalling the past.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Family Update

Early this morning my husband died.  Jim had entered the hospital through the Emergency Room late Sunday afternoon.  Yesterday he was moved to Intensive Care and we had hoped the crisis would pass, but it was not to be.  It was totally unexpected. His kidneys shut down and that led to other complications.

He had worked all last week and I had even gone to Keith's in Austin for a few days.  When I returned on Sunday he was complaining about being exhausted and I thought he might be anemic from the chemo.  He also had shortness of breath, so I took him to the ER and he was admitted.

I'm thankful that he went quickly and didn't suffer.  The kids are all here now and we're going to be making funeral plans tomorrow.  He will be buried in New Jersey.  We're all kind of in shock right now.

I haven't been reading E-mails and probably will end up going in and deleting in order to catch up.  Reid will be having a core needle biopsy this Friday and possibly surgery the following week. There's a lot going on.

I'll post updates here.  Things are pretty hectic right now.

PINK SATURDAY

Welcome once again to Pink Saturday sponsored by Beverly over at How Sweet The Sound.  For a list of this week's participants  head over to Beverly's blog.

I have three grown sons and no daughters, so I really never had a whole lot of pink in my life.  I like pink, but blue was always my favorite color.  Good thing since I was surrounded by males.  I have no grandchildren, so I have no granddaughters, but I have my dolls and they like pink.

This is my Vogue Ginny Doll's bedroom.  The furniture is pink and from the 1950's.  That's a Vogue vintage reproduction Ginny in bed, a vintage Vogue Jill, and a Vogue modern day Candy Striper Ginny that a doll friend, Diane, gave me when my son was recuperating from a stem cell transplant.  Ginny was a little under the weather when this picture was taken. The dollhouse on the right was done in plastic canvas by Londa, another doll friend. (Click on pictures to enlarge and use your back arrow to return.)

 Here's another vintage repro AA Ginny in a pink dress that Cathy on the Yahoo Ginny Doll list made for her.  I wish I could crochet.  It's not that I haven't tried.  My talents must lie somewhere else.

Here are the "kids" having breakfast.  The repro Ginny on the floor is wearing pink pajamas made by Vogue and the vintage Ginny on the chair is wearing vintage pink and white checked pajamas made by Vogue.  Those pajamas also came in blue and white checks and red and white checks.  The vintage Ginny with her back to you is wearing the blue and white checked ones.  The other Ginny on the right is partially hidden, but she's wearing the red and white checked pajamas.

You can see her better in this picture.  I like the matching pajamas and the blue and white pair are from my childhood.  The others I got on eBay.

I don't get much time anymore  to play with my dolls and set them up in scenes, but in the past year I did buy my first two Muffie dolls.  They were also made in the 1950's to compete with the Vogue Ginny.  This poor Muffie's hair was a mess, but I washed and rolled it and she looks much better now.  Her outfit was made by a Ginny friend, Susan.  Her apron has pink, her hair bow is pink, and her socks are pink.  You don't get much pinker than that!  Behind her is a vintage Ginny and a vintage Cosmopolitan Ginger Doll.

Now head over to Beverly's blog so you can visit some more pink posts!  And thank you My Pink Pretties for your kind comments.  (She likes dolls too.)

Alphabe-Thursday..."U" as in Utterly Delicious Cake

It's time for the letter "U" for this week's Alphabe-Thursday.  My son, Keith, came to my rescue this week with a recipe he renamed UTTERLY Delicious Cake.  He tells me he got this recipe from a co-worker and it's very good.  He baked it last week and E-mailed the recipe and picture. Keith lives in Austin, so I didn't personally get to try this cake, but he assures me that I won't be disappointed.  It's unusual in that it calls for pudding, but four of those little already made pudding cups.

Utterly Delicious Cake

1 yellow cake mix

1 4-pak butterscotch pudding cups

2 eggs

Mix well.  Pour mixture into a greased 9X13 dish.

Top with 1/2 package butterscotch morsels.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

Check with toothpick.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog, Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent," for a list of this week's participants.

And thank you Keith for your help!  It's been a busy week and today we switched to ATT&T U-verse, so I didn't have Internet access this afternoon while it was being installed.

Family Update...

On Sunday afternoon we decided to head over to Brazos Bend State Park for an Easter cook-out.  Brazos Bend is home to the American alligator and there are many lakes and hiking trails.  We've always enjoyed going there and hadn't been since before Reid got sick.  Jim hadn't felt well last week, but by Sunday he was feeling quite a bit better and it seemed like a good time to go.

A lot of other people had the same idea.

Our little cook-out was modest compared to most.  Fortunately, we had brought along our own little grill, table and chairs since the park's were all taken.

We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs and then Jim and Reid rested while I hiked around the one lake.

It's a pretty good hike as you can see in this picture.  The trail is on the left.

Finally I spotted an alligator.  Can you see him?

Here's another one...

And another...

By the time I got back Jim and Reid were well rested.

Then yesterday we spent the day down at MD Anderson while Reid had all his tests and scans and doctor's visit.  The lymph node that they've been watching has increased a little in size again and the doctor now wants him to see a surgeon to have the lymph node removed and biopsied.  It needs more than just a needle biopsy.  The doctor says there's a 50/50 chance it's the Hodgkin's returning.  So, we're waiting now for that appointment to get set up.  They're also watching his thyroid now.  He still is fatigued and his thyroid numbers were down a little.  They're going to wait until his next appointment to check the numbers again and if they stay down he'll need to go on medication.  We were told it's fairly common after a stem cell transplant to have the thyroid under produce a little.

So, that's the latest with our family.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  I've really fallen behind reading E-mail, but will hopefully catch up soon. 

Easter Blessings on Pink Saturday

I haven't participated in Beverly's Pink Saturday in a while now, but decided to hop in for Easter this week. (There is supposed to be a little seasonal humor there.)

I really don't have time to "play" much with my doll collection these days, but I had some pictures that I took a few years ago and decided to share them. Not much pink, but they are Easter pictures. I have some of the same pictures on my sidebar, but you'll be able to click and enlarge them in this post to see the little details better.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter.

Here are my Vogue Ginny Dolls...vintage, modern, and vintage reproductions. I made their Peeps just for the occasion. (You probably wouldn't believe it if I told you how long they took.)

Thanks for visiting and be sure to head over to Beverly's blog for a list of this week's participants.

 See how we dressed for Easter circa 1950?  L-R: Me, my Mom, and my sister, Carol Sue.  It was a big deal to go shopping for new Easter outfits each year.  New dress, gloves, hats, shoes, coats...imagine walking into church today dressed like that?  I think people would do a double take.  Times sure have changed.  Happy Easter!

Alphabe-Thursday..."T" as in TILAPIA

The weeks go by so quickly. Can you believe we're up to the letter "T" as in TILAPIA already? Thank you Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" for sponsoring this weekly event.

I normally hate fish. My husband complains about fish because he had to eat it every Friday growing up Catholic in the 1950's. So, over the years we've rarely had fish. It is supposed to be a healthy alternative and I was told that Tilapia didn't have a real fishy taste, so we decided to give it a try.

Once again, I searched the Internet for recipes and came up with something I thought we might enjoy, Blackened Tilapia with Secret Hobo Spices found on allrecipes.com. For us this recipe was a winner and we've had it numerous times since, but remember we live in Texas and like our food real spicy. I've made a few adjustments to the original recipe. I only cook four fillets at a time and the recipe called for one pound of fillets, so I cut all the spice ingredients in half. That's plenty for four fillets. I also skip the Kosher salt called for in the recipe because I don't care for salt and never add it to any of my recipes. (I know...I'm strange.) You might want to cut back on the cayenne pepper. I use half a teaspoon, but you might only want to use a pinch. Remember, with us the hotter the better.

The recipe also said to place the cooked fillets on a slice of bread, pour the pan juices over it, and squeeze on lemon juice. We skip all that because there aren't that many pan juices and the bread isn't really necessary. We just plop a fillet on our plates and eat.

We had this last night along with potatoes and fresh asparagus. It was a very good meal.

I'm going to include the link to the potato recipe I used, but you might not be able to find these potatoes in your grocery store. They are called Tasteful Selections and are only carried at Kroger and Walmart here. They have all different types of small potatoes and they're sold in plastic bags. There's usually a recipe on the back of the bags, but I've gone to their website to find more. Last night we used their recipe for Tasteful Selections Mustard Crusted Potatoes. We've had these before and always enjoy them, and they go real well with the Tilapia fillets.

I used a bag of their Sunrise Medley Potatoes. You can see all the different kinds of potatoes they carry here. They have a real good selection of recipes on their website. You can also find a store locator.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's so you can visit some more Alphabe-Thursday posts!

Family Update...

It's time for another family update.

Jim had his appointment with his oncologist on Thursday. We all felt the cancer had spread because of his symptoms and unfortunately we were correct. Some of the original spots had increased in size and there were also some new ones.

Since Jim hadn't responded to the hormone therapy he began chemo the same day. The doctor said that the chemo he would be receiving wouldn't be anything like Reid's chemo. In fact, Jim didn't even need a chemo port since this chemo can be given directly into a vein. (Reid joked that his wasn't at all fair.)

The doctor asked if Jim would consider having a bone marrow aspiration done for research purposes. It would have to be done before the chemo began. Reid had gone along with us for the appointment and he has had many of those done, so he encouraged Jim to agree. Reid has said in the past that although it's not pleasant it's definitely tolerable. So, Jim had that done before the chemo began.

Needless to say, it was another long day for us down at MD Anderson. We were talking recently and wondering how many hours we've actually spent down there, how many miles we've put on the vehicles, and how much we've spent for parking. We couldn't even begin to figure it out. In the last two and a half years it's been many!

We all get so tired. It's an hour each way and then we spend a lot of time waiting between appointments. They have plenty of comfortable areas to sit with couches, recliners, etc., but it does get boring. Many times we've been gone from home 10-12 hours. The next day is always a wasted day. It's like we need a day to recover. Reid joked one time that they must put something in the A/C to calm and relax everyone and that's why we get so tired. Personally, I think the stress has a lot to do with it. It just never seems to end.

Anyway, Jim is actually feeling a little better than he had been, but the doctor said that the Prednisone he would receive before the chemo would probably give him extra energy for a couple of days and then he'd feel fatigued. This is totally different from what Reid experienced...thank goodness! Jim is able to eat and hasn't had any nausea. He'll go back again in three weeks for another infusion.  Hopefully, this is the way it will always be.

Meanwhile, Reid goes on April 9th for all his scans. His first appointment that day is 6:45 and the last one is at 3:00 which actually means he probably won't be done until 5:00 or 6:00, so it will be another very long day. Hopefully, that one lymph node they've been watching will have shrunk and he won't need another biopsy.

I kind of thought by now we'd be able to resume a somewhat normal life, but it doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon.  I guess this is our "new normal" now.  Isn't that what they call it?

I  started walking again some weeks back, but it didn't last. I used to walk at least three miles a day, but that all came to a screeching halt when I got busy with my Dad and then Reid. I know I feel so much better when I exercise, but there's so much to do around here now after letting so many things go while we were busy with my Dad and Reid. I'm hoping I can get back to painting the dining room that we started before Christmas. It's about five or six different colors because I kept trying out paint colors on the woodwork. I bought more paint, so at least that's a start. With a little luck I might get some done this week.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep up with at least a weekly Alphabe-Thursday post. I don't spend much time online. Often I'm just too tired to get online in the evening and too busy during the day, but it's been that way for some time now.  The blog sure makes it easier for me to communicate.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

Alphabe-Thursday..."S" as in S'mores

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."  Today we are studying the letter "S" as in S'mores.  I love S'mores...don't you?

A while back (maybe a year ago) I stumbled across a recipe for You're Killin' Me Smalls (my son tells me that's a line from a movie) on someones blog.  Basically, these were S'more cupcakes.  It isn't a blog that I have saved, so I had to go do a google search in order to find it again so I could give credit where credit is due.  The blog is Lessons Of A Newlywed, but I don't know the author's name.

Anyway, I decided to finally bake them for this week's Alphabe-Thursday post.  Bake and test.  The sacrifices I make for Alphabe-Thursday.  I baked them this morning and  immediately ate two of them for you.  They were very good although I would make a couple of minor changes next time.

You can find the complete recipe here.

The main ingredients are French Vanilla cake mix, graham cracker crumbs, Hershey's Kisses and Marshmallow Creme.  Before baking you push a Hersey's Kiss into each cupcake.

 Then you sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on the top.

Bake them and then add some Marshmallow Creme on the top.  Return to oven to melt.

OK, but I wanted it to look more like S'mores.  So, I stuck them under the broiler for a short while.  I don't know how long because I just watched them carefully until they started to turn brown.  Some did brown more than others, but I think that's just the heating coil in my oven.  I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure if the cupcake liners could catch on fire, but they didn't.  (Try this at your own risk.)

Next time I'm going to add two Hershey Kisses to each one or maybe even a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.  I would have preferred a little more of a chocolate taste.  The gal who originally posted this recipe said she used chocolate chips in each one because she didn't have any Hersey Kisses on hand.  I might try that too.

While I was making these I caught Shelby stealing dog treats.  Zoom opened the cabinet and Shelby managed to get the cover off of her treats.  I don't know how many she got before I noticed, but I took this picture after I put the cover back on. Afterwards I secured the cabinet doors with a rubber band.  I need to buy another child proof latch.  We used to have one on this cabinet until it broke.

Meanwhile, I don't get online a whole lot these days.  I've been trying to get things done around here that have been left for too long.  Last Fall we got a new backdoor and although it was primed it needed to be painted.  I noticed some mold on the woodwork around the door, so I bleached it and then painted the trim and door.  That was a good chunk of two days.

 I still have to do the inside...groan.

I've also been getting some things done around the yard.  Our backyard has a lot of shade.  I came up with this idea for a mobile vegetable garden.  Every couple of hours I go out and move the wagon as the sun goes across the sky.  I'm trying to give these little buggers six hours of sun a day.   I'm not sure I can keep this up when the weather turns hot, but I'll try.  I actually took this picture a few days ago and they've all grown since then!  I've got a tomato plant, two tomatillo plants, and two jalapeno plants.  Blackie is keeping her eye on them for me.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog so you can visit some more Alphabe-Thursday posts.