Surgeries, Blessings and Birthdays

This will certainly be a birthday to remember.

Originally, I'd put down on the calendar THIS was the day we'd discover the gender of Baby D #2. It was to be a very special birthday event/gift.

Who knew how quickly plans can change?

I was up at 0300 and met Sherri and Mom at 0430. We drove mom to the hospital and went through pre-op with her. Sherri left when Mom went into surgery to be with Will, my brother, who also had surgery yesterday. He had two pins put into his ankle.  Mom's surgery was quicker than expected, the time in recovery quite a bit longer than we'd expected....but the afternoon evening found us settled into her room on the surgery/oncology floor.

The doctor said everything went well.

Michael stopped by about the time Mom was finally leaving the recovery room.  She was happy to see him. He'd been at the ultrasound and KNEW the gender of Baby D. He was great! He knew if I couldn't be at the ultrasound, I wanted a gender reveal cupcake. Unfortunately, they weren't done when he came over and the hospital and BreZaak's homes are on opposite sides of town.

Mom was looking forward to knowing the gender. In fact that is the first thing she asked them when she was waking up. I called Bre and she texted us photos of the cupcakes she was making and an ultrasound picture.

The cupcake photo we had looked GREEN and we weren't quite sure what gender green would predict. Finally, we settled on twins. ::snort::  It turns out we were wrong.

Team blue for the win! Excited to have another little grandblessing on the way! Great birthday gift and a great spirit booster in the hospital.

I turned 53 today.  I appreciated all the FB wishes and texts. This isn't the way I'd choose to spend the day - but it's been good to be here. I  missed calls from several elder Gherkins, but was happy to connect with Jared.

PS - Finishing this on the 25th. Mom is staying another night in the hospital. Wills' surgery also went well. Prayers for the recovery of both of them are still appreciated. Dad is still recovering from his cold.

South American Hot Chocolate

Arielle does "snacktivities" with the kids in the After-school program where she works. She invited us over to try this one.

INGREDIENTS
can of Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 C of Milk Chocolate Chips
3- 4 C Whole Milk
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Whip cream and cinnamon to sprinkle on top.

DIRECTIONS
Melt chips and evaporated milk in sauce pan - stir, stir, stir.

When integrated, add whole milk. Heat to desired temperature.

Remove from heat.

Add vanilla and spices.

VERDICT 
This was RICH....I think this group would have liked it better without any spices. LOL

Afternoon with Arielle

The very best part of being medically stationary in OR? We have adult Gherkins nearby. Arielle invite us over for an hour or two this afternoon. Her Saturdays are long with Cory working. It was fun to see their new place. We discovered we are only 2 minutes away from their campus! 

Arielle invited us to do a "snacktivity"  - she and Stacia made South American Hot Chocolate. 

The girls in Arielle's kitchen - recipe to follow

The guys played Snow Board Kids

We were getting gas when BreZaak and Bella showed up. Bella has TWO TEETH. Oh, the cleverness of Bella! ::snort:: We knew it was coming.  

Those eyes still take my breath away! 

Week of Appointments

Our family has had quite a week. Much of it is NOT my story to share - so I won't.  Here is my part....this week has been wild.

We completed a great week of school and moved into a lovely home to house-sit for a couple of months.

I continue to fight my flu/cold.....all that's left is a nagging cough....I bought the "meth" mucinex and wore Vicks on my feet, steamed with Vicks several times a day,  and kicked the thing....sort of. I'm at about 80 or 90% well....sleeping at night is still a problem, but the recliner in the sun room works well for "sleeping."  My exhaustion could be due to the anemia we are treating. I'm trying to work up to 3x the normal dose of iron....I'm at double at this point and the doc said if that's all I can do, that's what we'll do. I like that attitude.

Between Michael, Dad and Mom I've gone to seven doctor's appointments. I'm starting to like doctors.  My favorite is still my new PA.

I experienced my own personal kind of purgatory this week. I went in for a mammogram last week. I was called back this week for a 3D mammogram. Then an ultra sound. Each time they said to "take a deep breath and stay still," I had a coughing fit. Many do-overs. ::snort:: It really was funny. The upshot is the radiologist/doctor determined I needed a biopsy next week and possibly a lumpectomy. If I felt it were medically warranted, I'd do it....but I felt they were being alarmist. He began the talk by telling me, "Since we have no prior history with you, we need to make sure this isn't cancer." I explained I could get records, have been aware of this since 2004, and wanted him to wait and review my records before recommending a biopsy. He said I was going against his advice.....and I said that was fine. I told him I could bring him FILMS. I think he thought it would take a week or two to gather records. I kept telling them I had what they needed at home.

When I showed up the next day, they told me they'd been trying all day to reach Beale and had gotten nowhere. I pulled out all the reports I'd printed from my medical records disc....AND....four FILMS I had kept with me when we moved into the RV.  They were shocked. I was told I rock. I told them when a military spouse says she can get the records - trust her. LOL

When we moved into the RV I'd asked on facebook where folks would store them and many told me they were obsolete and to get rid of them.....I was in my Konmari phase. Though I was downsizing left and right and committed to minimalism, I simply didn't feel right getting rid of them. I kept them in the storage bag under our bed. LOL The doctor was THRILLED to be able to read them with his own eyes and compare them to this years mammograms and ultra sound.  They saved me from a biopsy the week of mom's surgery.

Moral of this long story - 1. if you don't feel right getting rid of something, keep it and 2. there's nothing wrong with going against advice from time to time. LOL

We appreciate your prayers in this upcoming week. Dad has the flu and a cold. Mom is scheduled for her cancer surgery on 24 January. Another family member is having surgery on the 24th as well. I am thrilled to be in town and be able to help out.

Christmas in January! #WYFF

We deliberately plan a family gift exchange on a day other than 25 December. Usually on New Year's Eve or Epiphany...but with the wedding, my severe anemia, Michael's therapy, helping Mom make it to all her doctors....we simply didn't get around to shopping.  Yesterday, we told the kids instead of games or a movie on this Friday night, we'd have the long-awaited gift exchange.

Alex got several boxes with slips of paper telling him what had been ordered.....it seems it's always one person whose gifts don't arrive. LOL 

EVERYONE knows what Nolan likes....

 He was happy.....

Stacia is over the moon happy. She's been wanting lessons, but we couldn't figure out how to make it happen in an RV. The more we thought about it, the more we knew we needed to make it happen. We'll figure out where to stash this. Michael is more than qualified to get her started with lessons. She immediately practiced 40 minutes. 

Michael is going to pick out and order a watch from me, and the kids gave him a Red Robin gift card and slippers.

I received an infinity scarf from Michael, gloves from Stacia, washi tape for Nolan and a big set of Gel pens from Alex.

We valiantly set up and learned Pandemic. I'm not sure we really figured it all out; but we had fun.

This serves as a #WYFF post - for more posts click the tabs above.

RV Projects

 Michael (and the boys at times) have been busy with projects on the RV.....They removed the TV that was in front of this cubby. Originally it had a bulky TV. The previous owners replaced it with a flat screen TV....but it stuck out on an arm...and when the printer was added back there it stuck WAY out. I was always bumping my head on it. We're looking for cupboard doors to go here...or I'll hang a curtain eventually.  CoRielle were happy to receive the nice TV. We are down to three TV's. LOL

This door is between our room and the bunks. It didn't shut all the way and hung up on the runner. Michael added a drawer runner and now it slides easily and shuts completely.

The shower hose was cracking  - we have a new one. 

We thought THIS would be an easy fix. The drain was rusting and water was leaking under the sink. Michael bought a new drain and discovered  home drains have overflows, we didn't want one for the RV. He had to order an RV drain and it worked perfectly.

He's replaced various bulbs. We had been moving to LED in the trailer and I miss them...but this is what we'll have for the time being.  

The access plate in the electrical bay was allowing water to spray up into the bay from the road. Michael replaced it - had to cut the hole a bit bigger to fit the new plate, but it's snug and we no longer have water in the electrical bay. He fixed something in the wet bay as well, but I try to ignore that part of the show.

Michael bought a board, painted it and installed it so I have a chalk board and a bit of cork board in the hallway across from the kids' bunks. We use our chalk board to post the week's schedule. This was before we began using it. 

I ordered a wall decal. I measured the spot where it needed to fit - 20 inches at the widest. The decal came and was HUGE. The measurements were in Chinese.....we looked all over for a spot where this would fit and finally put it on the mirrored door. Behind that door are plastic drawers - the kids and I keep clothes in here. It's a good spot to see the verse and be reminded. LOL

THIS is my favorite project. You can't see, but I have few drawers and so had a plastic drawer that sat on top of the stove top for silverware, it had a basket on top for various odds and ends. I really dislike the mirrors on the walls in  many RVs....Michael took these off. 

 He replaced them with Smart Tiles. I LOVE THE LOOK....but next he put up the little Command Key strips.....and I can HANG the utensils and put the silverware in a  drawer. This looks more like us and I was able to clear all the clutter from the top of the stove.

We'll make another video sometime, and we have more to do, but the motor home is feeling like home!  The big project for the next two months we are house-sitting, is to remodel this spot to hold 3 bunks.

How these kids spend a rain/snow day

Smashed Garlic Potatoes (Vegan, Instant Pot)

These are yummy and QUICK, just 4 minutes! I loved my Instant Pot when we lived in a stick and brick home; it's essential now that we live in an RV.

INGREDIENTS:
8 medium Russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 1/2  - 2 C of Vegetable Broth (I used 2 and drained some off)
6 gloves of garlic, peeled, cut in 1/2
1/2  C Non-Dairy Milk
Salt
1/4  C Chopped Parsley

DIRECTIONS:
Cut potatoes in 8 chunks.

Place potatoes, broth and garlic in Instant Pot (I added some onions).

Move valve to sealed.

Click "manual" and set timer for 4 min.

When it goes off, turn valve to "vent."

Smash potatoes with a potato masher (or bash with mixer).

Add non-dairy milk if needed.

Salt to taste. Add parsley if wanted.

For more yummy eats; click the tab above.