Friday, April 29, 2011

The Royal Wedding

Did anyone else watch The Royal Wedding??

I stayed up ALL night like a crazy person! I kept thinking it was going to start at 4am our time, so I was cleaning and such. Then at 4am I realized it didn't really "start" until 6am, but by then there was no turning back. I was ridiculously excited and watched every bit.

Richard kept asking me why everyone was so excited about this wedding. Haha. I don't know?? Because we're all obsessed with British royalty. It was a real life fairy tale! I mean, how many times does this happen? It's every little girls dream come true.

He acted unimpressed with my thoughts, but who stayed up with me and watched? You guessed it.

We enjoyed poking fun at all the crazy hats. Some were lovely, and others were…well….I'm not sure WHAT exactly Princess Beatrice was thinking. I kept waiting for a staunch palace guard to crack a giggle…or at least a funny side glance! That would have been awesome!

I do believe Prince Harry stole the show at first. He did look quite dashing with that fiery red hair and cheeky grin! However, not quite as dashing as David Beckham. Hello!

It was a lovely wedding. Kate was stunning, her dress was beautiful, and they both looked very happy!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tasty Tuesday


This week's recipe is Bobby's Baked Chicken with Dijon & Lime. It's quick, easy, and oh so tasty. The recipe calls for a whole chicken, cut into pieces, but I use skinless boneless breasts instead. It was served with scalloped potatoes, and baby beans with carrots.

For anyone wondering who Bobby is, it is Bobby Deen, the son of Paula Deen.

Ingredients:

1 (3 1/2 lb) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
3 Tbs Dijon Mustard
1 Tbs Mayo
1 Garlic Clove, minced
Finely grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 Lime
3/4 Tsp pepper
Salt to taste
Chopped parsley to garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. In a bowl, whisk together the mustard, mayo, garlic, lime zest and juice and pepper. Season the chicken generously with salt. Pour the mustard-mayo mixture over the chicken, tossing well to coat. In a large baking pan, arrange the chicken in a single layer. Bake until it is cooked through; breasts take about 30 minutes and legs will need 5 to 10 minutes more. Serve the chicken with pan juices drizzled over top and garnished with chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

Is dinner ready yet?

Friday, April 22, 2011

Human Again

I'm back! I am finally feeling human again. It's been a looong two weeks since all this tooth trouble started. I had my tooth pulled almost two weeks ago, and am almost pain free. It was an easy extraction, for which I am thankful. I had a lot of pain afterwards, and was on vicodin until it stopped working. It wasn't easing the pain, so I took another just one hour before I was supposed to, which I should not have done. My bp dropped quite low and royally freaked me out! All is well though. I switched to ibuprofen and it's worked like a charm.
Unfortunately, all the tooth troubles didn't aid in getting the house pulled together. Everything came to a screeching halt. BUT, I am back, feeling good, and this house will be finished soon, and pics will be up!
I've been dreading opening more boxes as it seems that so many of my things have been broken in the move. Thankfully it hasn't been anything too bad, but aggravating all the same. The worst was my dinner plates. Someone had dropped that box good because all my plates were shattered. Good thing I had bought another set!
I've always prided myself on being a good packer. The past two times we've moved, not one thing has been broken. I guess it was saving it all for this move. Ha! I guess I shouldn't be so prideful eh?
Speaking of unpacking, I better get to it!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Out of It

I really, really dislike going to the dentist. After I moved up to Jacksonville I stopped going on a regular basis. I just did not want the chore of finding a new one. Plus, I wasn't having any problems.

Several months ago, we were eating dinner at La Nop and my tooth broke. It was all the way in the back, didn't hurt at all, so I left it and became accustomed to it. Just a couple of weeks ago it happened again. Same side, but on the bottom. It happened while Richard was at the dentist. What a lovely twist of fate eh! So begrudgingly I had him make an appointment for me.

It was as I fully expected. I needed two crowns. A full one on top, and a partial on the bottom. A whopping $2100. UGH! The bottom was the worst, so we dove into that one.

Thirty minutes into the procedure, everything changed. The tooth started bleeding uncontrollably, the root was badly damaged, and I was informed I needed a root canal. Another $1000. They put in a temporary filling for the now.

Firstly, I think I am being grossly overcharged. Secondly, I was not at all impressed with the new dentist. I have a tiny little mouth, and he was not at all gentle.
The left side of my face blew up like a little balloon. He had given me a script for Vicodin and I am so glad I filled it. I usually like to tough things out, but by the time we got to Walmart I was miserable.

So needless to say I've been out of it for the past two days. He really did a number on my mouth! I've decided I'm just having it pulled. I can think of a lot of other things I'd rather spend $3000 plus on. It just seems absurd to me that people can charge that kind of money. And crowns don't seem to last that long either!! I'm just thankful they are all the way in the back.

On another note, why is it that when your husband goes to the grocery store with you, you always end up spending more?? Haha. Don't get me wrong, I love it when Richard goes with me, but we always seem to spend more!! He hates going to the grocery store, but since I'm on the vicodin I can't drive, so he had to take me today.

On an interesting note, the cashier struck up a coupon conversation with us. He said they have a coupon lady that uses lots and lots of coupons. Apparently she was in today and spent $40 on $400 worth of groceries. Hello! He said she does it all the time.

She must have been the one that cleaned them out! :0)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Precious Child

"PRECIOUS CHILD"

Words and Music by Karen Taylor-Good

In my dreams, you are alive and well
Precious child, precious child
In my mind, I see you clear as a bell
Precious child, precious child

In my soul, there is a hole
That can never be filled
But in my heart, there is hope
'Cause you are with me still

In my heart, you live on
Always there never gone
Precious child, you left too soon
Tho' it may be true that we're apart
You will live forever... in my heart

In my plans, I was the first to leave
Precious child, precious child
But in this world, I was left here to grieve
Precious child, my precious child

In my soul, there is a hole
That can never be filled
But in my heart there is hope
And you are with me still

In my heart you live on
Always there, never gone
Precious child, you left too soon,
Tho' it may be true that we're apart
You will live forever... in my heart

God knows I want to hold you,
See you, touch you
And maybe there's a heaven
And someday I will again
Please know you are not forgotten until then

In my heart you live on
Always there never gone
Precious child, you left too soon
Tho' it may be true that we're apart
You will live forever... in my heart


Saturday, April 2, 2011

The House

Things are coming along on the house! Richard and I made a pact that we would take things slowly and not stress about getting everything done in a hurry. So we're takin it slow…maybe a bit too slow! Hahah. This past week I kind of took some time off from unpacking. It was a welcome break. I'd about had it unpacking boxes. I think I'm ready to get back to the grind though. I am excited to get my decorative items out, and get the house looking all cute for Spring/Easter.

I know some of you are itching to see pics of the house. Here's a teaser photo for you. Haha.



It's not the best pic, but it's the only one I have for now. It was taken before we moved in. Home sweet home. We took photos of the entire house prior to closing, so I want to do before and after photos. It may take a while!
We finally emptied out the storage unit. It was so weird not to have anything in there anymore. It had housed all of our possessions since September!
This week we had the last of our appliances delivered. The washer and dryer. For the first time in about a year or so I was able to pick up my dirty clothes and walk down the hall to the laundry room instead of loading everything up and heading to the laundry mart. It felt so good! We definitely learned not to take the little things for granted whilst staying in the hotel. We also learned that we can get by with much, much less than we ever thought possible!!

Maybe I'll get pics up of the kitchen sometime this week. It's the room closest to being completely finished!

Hope you all have a fabulous Sunday!



Friday, April 1, 2011

Responding To A Parents Grief

Do you have someone in your life that has experienced the death of a child? Are you clueless as to how to respond, so just don't? I know many people are afraid of saying the wrong thing, so they don't say anything at all. Then others think they are being "helpful" or "comforting", but just end up hurting or offending.

If you've ever wondered how you should respond, here are my thoughts.

As a disclaimer….these are only my personal feelings. I've dealt with the death of two children, and had to endure insensitive comments. I've had many people confess that they don't know what to say to someone like me. Just remember, everyone is different.

I feel I was pretty fortunate in the realm of hurtful comments. I experienced a few, but I know so many Mommies and Daddies have dealt with far worse than I.

I think one of the number one no-no's would have to be telling a parent who has just experienced the death of a child that you understand what they are going through. If you've never had a child die, then you have no idea whatsoever of what they are going through. It's just impossible. Nothing else compares, nothing. A better response would be "I'm sorry you're going through this", "I'm praying for you", or "I'm here for you".

Another huge no-no is comparing your heartache, or difficult circumstances with theirs. There is no heartache like the death of a child. There is no difficult day that even compares. It rips a hole in your heart. It leaves you breathless. You can't function properly.

I had a mixture of the above two happen to me. Someone approached me and started out by telling me how strong I had been, and how amazed she was at how I was handling my grief. It then proceeded into how she understood how I was feeling. She back pedaled a bit, then launched into a comparison of how my grief over the death of my daughter was like her grief over raising her children. She explained to me that the heartache she felt when her children misbehaved was like my heartache.
I was pretty much speechless. I was still in that numb stage of my grief so I didn't really even respond to her. I just sat there dumbfounded.
What she failed to understand was that our heartache was in no way similar. I would take misbehaving kids every day over the death of one.

Please don't ever, ever tell a parent "Well, you can always try again." This is very common with miscarriage and early infant loss. Yes, we can always try again, but right now we need to grieve the one we'll never have. Sometimes trying again is hard. It could take months or even years until a woman is ready to step back into that arena. They are scared, and full of doubts. It takes time.

If the parents have other children, don't ever say the old "Well at least you still have so and so, you should be thankful you still have them." That is so insulting for a grieving parent. Yes, they do still have their other child/children, but they no longer have the other. Just because there are multiple children, doesn't mean that one was any less valuable.

One I especially hated was "At least you can get pregnant." I heard this multiple times. We had dealt with infertility for almost four years. It was exhausting. Realizing we were finally pregnant was an ecstatic time for us. Unfortunately it didn't last long. I miscarried at only 9 weeks. Being able to get pregnant wasn't a whole lot better than not being able to. The end result was still the same. No baby. In actuality, it was in a lot of ways much worse. You got one step closer, only to be right back where you started.

Refrain from saying things like "It wasn't meant to be" or "There must have been something wrong with the baby". Those phrases do not help. They aren't encouraging…they are not comforting.

Another topic to stay away from is trying again. Just days after our daughter died, someone asked my husband if and when we were going to try again. That is the worst possible time to bring that subject up. Parents are still reeling from their loss. The last thing they are thinking about is trying for another baby.

If you tell a grieving parent that you're going to call, or come over, or other such thing…do it. Chances are, we're looking forward to having that distraction for a little bit, and having someone to talk to. When you don't follow through, or just don't show up, it can be very disappointing. I had multiple people promise me they were going to come over, have us over for dinner, or other such thing, but never followed through. I went through a time of not wanting to be left alone, and it was disheartening when someone said they would be there then weren't.

Being there for someone in their time of need is priceless. One friend of mine came and just sat with me while my husband was at work. Another friend came and taught me how to knit. They were welcome distractions, a small respite from my ever present sorrow. They were cherished times to me and I am still so thankful for them.

Also understand that sometimes, a grieving parent just wants to be left alone. Don't feel offended. Offer to check on them at a later date, and do it.

In times of difficulty, a common response is "Call me if you need me." This doesn't work for the grieving parent. I know I am terrible at asking for help anyway. A grieving parent is even worse. It's pretty much impossible. Your world has just stopped. You're doing good if you can get out of bed and get dressed. You can't think, you can't focus, it hurts to breathe, it hurts to think. The last thing you'll be able to do is pick up the phone and tell someone what you need.
Be specific. Tell them what you're going to do, and when. "I'm going to call and check on you on Tuesday afternoon", or "I'll bring dinner over tomorrow." Most importantly, follow through!

Some other positive ways of responding are by being there to listen. They may just want to talk…let them. Don't be afraid of bringing up their child in conversation. You're not going to be a painful reminder. They think about their child every day. It's more painful when you don't talk about their child.

Use the child's name. It's important.

Remember Mother's Day, Father's Day, anniversaries and birthdays. Send a card or pick up the phone. Knowing someone remembers and cares is priceless.

Most of all be patient. The death of a child is not something a parent just gets over. The grief is overwhelming. It is endless. It's something they will deal with for the rest of their lives.