What's Been Happenin' in Phoenix

Carla works on her computer while enjoying some warm Phoenix sun!

 It has been a busy time down here in Phoenix!  We came here on March 10 to help out Annie, my college roommate, while she had knee replacement surgery and during her recuperation.  We had not been at her house 15 minutes when I took Bob to Urgent Care and ultimately to the emergency room at Paradise Valley Hospital.  They diagnosed a bowel blockage and kept him in the hospital 2 nights.  We were surprised they didn't give us much information on how what they did was going to help the situation.  This was the 4th time he had severe stomach cramps since the first of the year, but they insisted "these things usually resolve themselves".

2 days later we took Annie to another hospital (John C. Lincoln for those of you who are familiar with Phoenix).  She came through the surgery with flying colors and had no complications.  She was lucky enough to get a room on the 3rd floor which had recently been renovated and was quite wonderful with all the high tech equipment and big screen TV!  4 days later she was released and the long recuperation began.  We had quite a big schedule, as she had to be on the CPM machine 2 hours three times a day with 1/2 hour icing after each session!  We had to get started at 6 AM to get everything worked in!  She also had about 30 minutes of exercises she had to do, along with some walking.  A physical therapist also came in 3 days a week for 2 weeks. Annie had to use the machine for three weeks and I had to be there to put it in and out of the bed and to be with her when she walked and exercised for safety's sake.  I also had to do all the cooking and cleaning during that time so I was pretty busy.  But I did get some reading in and we watched several movies, too.  Annie, who is a big sports fan, also got to watch a lot of baseball while using the CPM machine.

Annie's porch is lighted with "red hot chili peppers."  Carla had to replace the bunch and this is how they turned out.

On March 29 Bob started having sharp stomach pains again.  The hospital had not given us much help on finding a follow up Dr. so we decided to call Bob's Dr. in Denver. He was out of the office but the nurse paged him and he prescribed some pills for intestinal cramping.  By the time they had called in the prescription and we got the pills, he was feeling much better. Bob was supposed to call his Dr. on Monday to update him, but the pills were not to be taken unless there was pain, which he didn't have any more.  Meanwhile, Carla decided she needed to come to Phoenix to see what the situation was.  She arrived that Monday just in time to help us get Annie to the outpatient Physical Therapy.

On Wednesday morning the stomach pains returned with a vengeance.  We were still on the 6 hour CPM schedule with all the exercising, so by afternoon when the pills seemed to be doing no good, Carla took Bob to the emergency room at Mayo Clinic which is about a 10 minute drive from Annie's house. They immediately took x-rays and after seeing them, pumped his stomach and put him in their hospital for an unspecified amount of time until the whole situation could be resolved.  He was assigned a team of Drs. which included surgeons to decide how to proceed.

Thursday night about midnight, Paul and Ash arrived from California.  On Friday Bob had lots of visitors but still nothing could be decided until they did some more x-rays on his stomach.  That  evening JJ and Ozzie arrived on motorcycles heading back to Nevada from San Antonio where they had spent Spring Break with Micah's family.  They continued their trip the next day after being assured that Bob was doing much better.  On Easter Sunday Bob was released from the hospital without surgery but armed with a low fiber diet (just the opposite of what the other hospital had suggested) which we hope will help the situation.

Another shot of the pepper bunch for Carla to see since she went home before dark that day.

  Carla stayed here with us and helped with running errands and getting to Physical Therapy.  She also got in some shopping and visiting with Paul and Ash before they left.  Carla engineered Annie's first outing which was to Fort McDowell Casino for some gambling.  Carla was the only one who came home with some winnings but it was a fun time.  We all went out to eat at The Keg for Annie's second field trip and celebrated an early birthday for Bob.  The next day Carla headed back home to Casper since Bob seems to be doing real well on his new diet.

I'm getting excited to see my "cabin" after being gone since the New Year!

We are planning to stay here for 2 more weeks and then we are headed home to the cabin  for a short stay before we start the graduation rounds.  We have been enjoying the nice warm sunny days.  I am not looking forward to getting used to the North Park cold and wind, but it will be nice to get back to my own bed and our beloved cabin!

An Arizona Recipe for Spring

Yummy fresh strawberry pie!

 Here I am in Phoenix helping my friend Annie to recover from a knee replacement.  The weather is perfect with temperatures in the high 70's and 80's with lots of sunshine!  Today it is actually going to get up into the 90's but I am loving it.  The strawberries are in season down here now and so we have been enjoying them along with fresh asparagus.  Annie gave me a very easy and quick recipe for the strawberries that is so good we have had it twice and I may even make it again.   Here it is for all the northerners who can look forward to it in a couple months when strawberries are in season up there.

 STRAWBERRY CREAM PIE

 

This is how the pie looked just before we "dug in".

 Ingredients:

1  8oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/4 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash of nutmeg

1 Cup strawberries, mashed

2 Cups Cool Whip, thawed

1 purchased chocolate cookie crumb pie crust (can use graham cracker crust too)

Mashed up fresh strawberries.

Cream cheese ready to be "softened " in the mixer.

 Procedure;

  Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg.  Mix until well blended.  Mix strawberries into cream cheese mixture.  Fold in cool whip.  Spoon into crust.  Chill several hours or overnight.  Garnish with additional strawberries if desired.

The "store boughten" cookie crust.

 In the interests of actually posting this instead of waiting for a good strawberry memory, I'll just post the recipe and pictures.

Another piece of yummy pie just waiting to be eaten!

The Plane Crash

This is another memory from the 1970's that someone mentioned on the "You know you have spent time in North Park, CO if....." sight. 

Sub Sandwiches and Other Fund Raisers I Have Attempted

I think I am missing the cabin.....

 I was browsing Facebook the other day and saw a post on "You know you spent time in North Park, CO if........" about the Sub Sandwiches we used to make and sell for FHA fund raising at Homecoming time.  Some of my former students were reminiscing about how good they were compared to Subway and I had to laugh.  They were OK but better than Subway?  I think it is just a case of fond memories of the fun times we had making and selling those sandwiches.

  I think we bought the bread in Laramie from either that bakery on 2nd street or from Albertson's bakery.  Whoever it was it was good bread and they gave us a good deal.  One of the parents picked up the bread from the bakery and brought it up for us.  I bought all the ingredients that went into the sandwiches from Corkles Little Market  and then members of the club and my classes would make the sandwiches on Friday of Homecoming week.  Of course everyone was also building floats and decorating halls so it was a fun, busy time.  We sold the sandwiches as whole, half or by the inch.  A lot of kids came in and bought them to eat while decorating so we probably had most of our sales on Friday afternoon. 

Missing the cabin in winter.  Also Izzy and hot tubbing!

We didn't completely assemble the sandwiches for Saturday because the fresh stuff would wilt and make the sandwiches soggy.  I really think we made most of the Saturday sandwiches on Saturday morning before the parade but maybe we made up the meat, cheese and mayo part of them the afternoon before and put them in the refrigerator overnight and then added tomatoes, onions, lettuce and whatever else in the morning.  The FHA members that weren't in the parade would go up and down Main Street selling sandwiches or parts of them for people to eat before or during the games.  I still think it is a good fund raiser for Walden since we don't have a Subway or Quiznos or whatever sandwich-type shop.

Missing sitting out in front of the porch drinking morning coffee with Carla.

 This reminds me of another big fundraiser involving FCCLA at West Wendover High School.  We sold enchiladas to raise money to go to State Conference and it was so successful we did it to raise money for Nationals that same spring.  We sold almost 100 dozen enchiladas each time we did it!  We cooked dozens of chickens to shred and and browned pounds and pounds of ground beef. 
We shredded our own cheese and made the enchilada sauce from scratch and it was the best, if I do say so myself!  We had a long assembly line to put the enchiladas together.  Two girls softened corn tortillas for the corn ones and we had a couple kids dipping flour ones for the flour tortilla enchiladas.

 The week before all the members of FCCLA went around taking orders and so we knew exactly what to make but we learned that we had to make more for the late comers.  Some kids earned all the money they needed to go to state and nationals! It was a huge undertaking and we even froze some to make later if people wanted that.  A lot of work, a big mess but a lot of fun too!

Missing our wild, neighborhood friends!

Several fund raisers we attempted throughout the years that I was adviser to FHA/FCCLA  included soft pretzels that were really fun to make and brought in a lot of money for Consumer Ed classes, pizzas we made and sold fresh or frozen in my Creative Cooking classes, and cinnamon rolls in Consumer Ed class.  Up in Owyhee we made Fry Bread and Indian Tacos but the biggest fund raisers up there were the Candy-o-Grams we sold for each holiday!  Such fun memories I have of those times and I'm thinking for the kids who were involved too!

I am also missing all my friends and former students from NPHS, OHS, and WWHS but haven't scanned pictures on to my computer of everyone, so sorry no pics of you all, yet......

I'm Back With Some Great Book Selections!

Eating ice cream in Fredricksburg, TX on New Years Day.

After a 2 month rest, here I am with some fresh ideas and a few pictures. For some reason I just couldn't get motivated to sit down and write even though there is always plenty for me to say!

The girls show off their butterfly pillows they learned to make in my "home school sewing class".

One reason I haven't been working on my blog is because I have been reading some very engrossing books that I feel the need to mention. The first is Tom Clancy's latest book "Locked On".  Bob got it for Christmas and we both read it while we were in Texas with Micah's family.

A very good read especially if you are a Clancy Fan.

This is the back story on John Clarke one of the characters in Clancy's John Ryan books.  Full of action, blood and guts but I liked it.

 It was so good I checked out one of Clancy's older books called "Without Remorse".  They have been trying to make a movie of this book since 2008 but still haven't got it done. These plus several other books Kim wanted me to read, kept me interested so that I didn't have time to write in my blog. Of course we had other things to do there as well.

Bob, Micah, and Kim enjoy the warm afternoon in Fredricksburg, TX on New Years day.

I figured I would have more time when we got up to windy, frigid Casper and I couldn't fit my Christmas book from Paul (11/22/63? Not sure of the date now) into my luggage when we flew up to Wyoming. When I got there, we had a lot of things we wanted to do and I had kind of gotten out of the habit of writing in my blog.

A Taste of some of the things going on in February in Casper, Wyoming!

Carla's and my pottery decorating attempts done at Pottery By You.

We had about 9 deer come visit the house.  These were right under the window in the yard.  Some even climbed several of the front porch steps!

 A coffee or hot chocolate pot Carla and I decorated.

We did a lot of dog sitting with Izzy and I had to sweep up loads of white hair all month as she was shedding her winter coat!

A travertine formation in Thermopolis, WY.  It is formed from minerals in the hot springs.  The water is bubbling up through a pipe and it is pouring over the sides.  The whole thing is a mineral formation that just keeps growing! We spent a weekend there "taking the baths" and sight seeing.

 Then Carla gave me a gift card for Audible.com and I had 3 free to me books to choose for my listening pleasure! I had several books my friends on Facebook had been recommending. It was a tough choice but I finally picked "The Hunger Games".

The Hunger Games trilogy.  You won't be able to quit after reading just one!

 Wow! It was a great choice. Both Carla and I read (listened to) the whole trilogy in 4 days! It is a riveting story for adults as well as teenagers.

Katniss takes aim!

 I can hardly wait for the movie to come out. I hear it is coming in March so maybe I won't have to wait too long. I hope they do a really good job with it.

Some of the Tributes from the movie.  I think there is a contest going on to win an arena Tribute jacket.

 The set designers, costumers and hair designers must have had a great time doing this movie! I am still having dreams with this book in the background!

I kind of liked that the books were audible. The whole story seemed very intimate. (I used ear phones to listen). I felt like I was right in the middle of the action, but maybe I would have felt that way reading it too. One thing I didn't like about only listening was that I couldn't see how the names were spelled so I couldn't remember them as well. Weird, how visual can you get! I guess I will read a review or summary of the book on Amazon so I can see how those names were spelled and I’ll remember them better.

Haymitch and Katniss.  Woody Harrelson is playing Haymitch in the movie.

Well that wasn't so tough to get back in the groove so maybe I will get going on this blog again! We are leaving for Phoenix in a couple days and I do have several adventures to talk about, some recipes and memories, too.

Washington Trip Part 3--Christmas Fund Events

Marianne's Christmas cactus in full bloom in the kitchen

For many years Marianne and the family have been involved in the Skagit Valley Christmas Fund.  Marianne is on the board of directors so spends a lot of time on this project.  She has recruited me to help the last 2 years and it is a fun job.  This group gathers donations of toys, money and other items for children and young people for Christmas presents.  They advertise for families in need to sign up for help and have them call to register.

A view of part of the gifts that have been sorted.

   Meanwhile as the toys come into this big warehouse building at the fairgrounds the toys have to be sorted into age and gender appropriate sections.  Many of the toys come from Toys for Tots but also from many other generous donators.  When families call to register they are assigned a day and time to come pick up their gifts.  Then on a Saturday before Christmas there is a big Christmas party for the families.  As you can see there is a lot of work to be done and it involves a lot of volunteers!  Last year this fund served over 2000 families and over 5000 children!

Dolls for the little girls.

Last year I helped sort toys and was amazed at all the things that were donated but the people in charge were worried about how few things they had compared to years before.  This year I again got to help sort for an afternoon and there was even less but as you can see in the pictures, there is still a lot.

Gifts for teens.  Notice all the Snuggies!

  Part of the trouble is the poor economy in this part of Washington.  Less donations and more families in need equals smaller gift packages each year.   Meanwhile while I was sorting gifts there was a group of people taking phone registrations for families in English and Spanish.

Another view of the many gifts that have been donated.

Last year we came home before the real work started but we were there this year! Darcy, Brendin, Marianne and I all spent two evenings helping to bag the gifts for the families.  This is a very structured assembly line undertaking.  Labels are printed with the family number (no names allowed) and the gender and age of each child.  These are stuck on a big black garbage bag and then someone takes around the bag and places one toy or gift for each child in the bag.  They also had a large stash of caps, mittens, and scarves that ladies groups knit all year.

A table of games for the family

  The gift gatherers are allowed to place one item from this stash per child in the bag.  (these ran out about half way through the first night we were there.) and then one item from the stocking stuffer area per kid.

The gifts are bagged and ready to distribute.

   I was on the garbage bag prep line.  We shook out the garbage bags and placed the labels on them and then handed them to the bag fillers.  This process takes 3  two hour evenings plus one afternoon!  We worked the last 2 nights.  It is really hard not to throw in a couple extra things like they used to be able to do but it has to be strict so they don't run out of gifts.

  The first night I worked it was High School volunteer night.  It was very interesting because the FCCLA from Mount Vernon HS were there and I got to visit with some of the girls.  Darcy's Jr. ROTC also volunteered that night.  It was a lot of work but I met and got to visit with a few really cool kids and on the second night some great volunteers as we shook out the bags.  It was good exercise too.

Brendin celebrates another night of completed bagging.

A week or so later it was time to distribute the gifts to the families.  This is another very structured process.  Each family has a time to come in.  This goes on for 4 hours on two different nights.  We were signed up for the second night so I figured all the bags would be gone.  Brendin was assigned to assist with parking cars, Darcy stayed home because he had an early morning competition the next morning, Marianne worked on a computer and I got to help handing out the books.

The book area is getting filled up on sorting day!

 Each family received their bag of gifts and a voucher to buy groceries and then they got to choose one book per child before leaving.  The book area was set up with tables full of books for age groups.  There were lots of books--mostly from Scholastic Books(boxes of the same book in some cases).  I was supposed to monitor how many books they were taking and just keep the tables replenished.  For some kids it was like going to the library and they were collecting a whole pile of books and for others we tried to make them take one book!  We had a table with books in Spanish too but it didn't have as big a variety as the other tables and the infants table only had paperback books which many parents felt their child would just rip up but that was the only choice they had.  We worked 4 hours straight.  One husband and wife that were helping in the book place were all dressed up and had brought a large basket with suckers and candy canes to give each child as they left.  They worked for two hours each day.  They told me they had done this every year for many years.  At the end of this night there were still probably 50 or so bags left.  I guess some families arrange for late pick up during that last week before Christmas and collect them from the office.

Bob and I had to leave before the final event, the Christmas party.  They have cookies and punch, music and I think Santa is there too.  Anyway the whole thing is a huge undertaking with a lot of donations and volunteer work!  I believe there were even more families and children this year than last!

A Recipe from Marianne for the Cold Season Plus Darcy's Annual Military Inspection

Darcy and Bob after the Inspection

Ready to be inspected. Darcy is under the arrow.

Today I am going to post a really good recipe when it is cold and blustery.  It is a really good one for when you have a bad cold too.  Almost as good as Mom's Chicken Noodle soup.  Pat asked to have it one night when he and I were both sick with colds and it tasted soooo good, I had to have the recipe.  Here it is:

Marianne's Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients

2 quarts Chicken Stock or water & Better than Bullion

½ cup White Wine

¼ cup Rice Vinegar

¼ cup Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Chinese Chili Garlic Sauce

3 Chicken breasts, cubed

1 heaping tablespoon grated Ginger

1 cup Shallots, sliced; or Onion, chopped

Green Onions, sliced for garnish

Directions:

Throw everything in a pot except green onions and cook until chicken is done and onions are soft.    Add  green onions last few minutes.

Armed drill demonstration.  Darcy is in there somewhere!

 Sorry, no pictures of soup but here are some of Darcy's Jr ROTC Annual Military Inspection.