A Festivus Friday Vent

My girlfriend Magz, had a facebook status this morning bragging about  rubbing in  talking about how wonderful her day was going and it wasn't even 8 in the morning.  Because I hadn't yet had my morning coffee, I was in a delusional haze and decided to comment about how my day was also going stupendously.

What an idiot I can be!

Why would I think that I could talk about how great my children were behaving?  Not 20 minutes after writing that little tidbit, they started fighting.  All I hear is, "Don't touch me....give it....stop looking at me....you're bugging me..." (need I go on?)  Also, for some reason, Adam has decided that instead of using words today, he'd much rather just put on the whine.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but whining is one sure way to drive me directly to the loony bin.  I hate it.  I feel myself turning into Gargamel.  It's horrible - but there's nothing that I can do about it.  Me + Whining Children = The nastiest thing you will ever see.

So, combine this nasty freak of nature with my moody husband and I tell you, it was nearly the start of World War III here.  Can you believe all this because I asked him to be quiet during nap time?  (no, conscience, I don't think that the readers need to know that I over reacted to his obnoxious antics and said "If you wake up the children I'll kill you!!!" why would that have any affect on the support my lovely readers have for me??)

So now I'm sitting here, stubborn and angry and just wanting someone (Mr. Delusional) to bring me flowers and say sorry (even though I should be the one apologizing).

The Trouble with my Man

Unless you live under a rock or don't follow me on Facebook, you'll know that Mr. Delusional hurt his leg the other day....here's the story.

A few years ago, we had a bit of a flood in the house.  It ruined the floor and furniture, so we got new stuff.  The new stuff included what I like to call "the one-ton coffee table."  Now, of course the table doesn't quite weigh a ton...but it's built of very, very solid wood and has big old glass panels (and drawers too)...If I had to guess, I'd say the thing weighs a good 80+ pounds.  It's so heavy that I dread it when the kids eat popcorn or something, because it means that I have to drag the thing out of place to vacuum underneath it, and then put it back.  It's heavy.

So, fast forward to Friday.  I'm happily doing a little bit of homework okay then...doing some curriculum research....okay fine - playing on Facebook while the kids were napping.  Mr. Delusional was getting ready for work and came into the room to put his laptop away (on the end table).  He came into the room rather briskly - and as he walked towards the end table, he swung his leg and smacked his knee into the corner of "the one-ton table."

Okay, there was  not nearly enough gasping and sympathy from you all.  So let me clarify a little...he hit the table so hard that he moved the one-ton table.  Yup, it lifted up out of the grooves that it had developed into the carpet and over by a few inches.

There's still not enough sympathy folks.

He hit that table hard; a direct hit on the knee cap to the very corner of the table.  In fact, he hit the table so hard that he took the black off of his pants.  No lies peeps...what I thought was maybe something transfered from the table to his pants is in fact a section of pant where the dye has been removed.  It's a little 1 inch bar of white against the black of his pants.

He had instant swelling -- not a whole lot around the knee itself, but definitely on the knee cap.  He swore up a streak...and seeing him in so much pain almost made me cry.  After he calmed down a bit, he took an Advil and hobbled into work.  I called him a couple of times to check on him, until he said "Please don't talk to me about it anymore, I can't think about it!"


Yup...he was in pain.  But, he was also a man - which meant he wasn't going to the hospital unless a piece of bone was sticking through the skin.

He worked his full shift, came home and iced it (it was still swollen and by then it was hot and swollen to about 3 inches above his knee cap) took another Advil and went to bed.  The next day, he couldn't bend it.  But he still went to work.  His excuse was "it's the long weekend, I can't ask another manager to come in on the long weekend because I hurt my knee."  He did the icing and Advil again when he got home.


*sigh*

He worked again on Sunday and told me that he'd go to the hospital that night.  For whatever reason, he didn't leave the store until 8, and then felt it was too late to go to the hospital, to which I lovingly replied, "Fine then!  If you're too stubborn to go to the hospital, don't come hobbling to me when you have to have it amputated!"  Yup...shining moment for me right there!  I still helped him with the ice and elevation and all that.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that he was unable to get dressed/undressed on his own for the last few days.  I did that for him, too -- cause I'm an awesome wife that way...except for threatening him with amputation that is.

On Monday, I get a phone call from him around the time I'm expecting him home.  He's at the hospital!  Hurrah!!  The doctors looked at it, x-rayed it and came up with this: "you've likely got a hairline fracture of the kneecap - these things don't show up well on an x-ray, so just continue to do what you're doing." (meaning the icing and Advil).  

Don't these guys know anything?  How can you tell a man like my husband something like that?  Do you know what that means?  The next time something happens to him he won't go to the hospital.  He'll just put it off and put it off....and then you know what I'll be stuck with?  Him, hurt beyond what is necessary because he's just too stubborn to go.

Saving my Sanity

So -- probably 2 years ago, I went all Flylady crazy and bought a bunch of her stuff.  The dusters, the "control journal" -- and a little book that she recommended called Saving Dinner.  I browsed through it, got distracted -- and left it at that.

Well -- after being sick of the same meal every week, I decided to give it another go.  I figured I didn't have much to lose.  If you saw my recipe book collection, it would become painfully obvious how many I've tried, and how many I've given up on.  I'm tired of trying and putting all this effort into foods that the family doesn't eat.

So, I pulled it off of my book shelf, blew off the dust and took another look at it.  I'm into week 2 of  using this - and let me just say, this book is awesome!  She has her recipes set in different seasons (so a winter, summer, spring and fall group)  She has a weekly menu complete with side dish suggestions (that's what always gets me when I make a meal!).   She has a grocery list -- nicely divided up into categories for you (such as produce, dairy, meat, etc).  Best part -- So far, it hasn't taken me more than 1/2 hour to cook my meals, they are healthier than anything else they would have eaten before AND most of the time, most of the family likes it.

That's saying A LOT.  You see -- if it were up to my kids, we'd have Spaghetti every night.  I'm lazy - so I'd rather just "cook" cereal.  Hubby's picky and likes his 4 square...it's a never ending battle!

I've been really sneaky with my meals so far.  I've told the family that we will be using this book for the whole year, and that I expect them to let me know what they think of each recipe.   We are rating it on a scale of 1-5; where 1 is please don't serve me this nastiness again!! and 5 is oh my God, I've died and gone to heaven!!  So far, most meals have been a 4.  That's something considering the range of picky eaters that we have!

We've had amazingly yummy things like Tuna Fusilli (sounds horrible, but was so good.  the kids each gave it a 5!), Sweet Bean Burritos, Herb Crusted Chicken Piccata (This was fabulous -- even though it was a little more black than nicely browned -- lol!), Ginger Beef, Romano Turkey Burgers (mmmm!!!), Fish Nicoise....etc...

It's been FABULOUS.  It's been fun to find some of the things on her shopping lists (like Neufchatel cheese....even the deli manager didn't know what it was -- but a quick google search told me I could easily substitute Cream Cheese).  Kale is a vegetable that I'd never heard of or even knew what it looked like -- but  the produce boy showed it too me...I was dubious when cooking it - but it's now my new favorite!

Her book has a bunch of recipes (also quick and easy) in the back for side dish options - BUT -- even better - she has "serving suggestions" listed under each recipe.  Things like "a big green salad and some roasted red potatoes" -- and she has those serving clearly marked on her grocery lists so if you don't want to make something, you can simply leave it out.

The menus serve 6...as in 6 adults - so we always have left overs.  My own family is eating fabulous, but my daycare kids are eating just as well - as the left overs often make it to their plates for lunches.  I nearly fell over when my little daycare girl (a very picky eater) ate 1/2 a chicken breast and a side of spinach and squash and then asked for seconds!

Yup, I'm sold.  I love this book.  I think you should try it.  Give it an honest to God try.  She only has 5 menus/week - so you still have the option to make an 'old favorite' or go out for dinner, or whatever.  So, my lovely readers -- if you'd like to check out the book, the link to it on Amazon is up near the beginning of the post, and my fellow Canadians - you're link is below.  I think the only complaint that I have is that it's written in US measurements (like "buy a 15oz can of ___") where as in Canada, everything is in grams.  It takes a little math okay, Google searching, but is oh-so-worth it.