Posts (page 2)

If today was your last day....
Nickelback

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, Leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
If today was your last day,
If today was your last day.

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try,
So live like you'll never live it twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce of memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love

If today was your last day
If today was your last day...

Would you make your mark
By mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late
To shoot for the stars,
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'cause you can't rewind
A moment in this life
Let nothin' stand in your way
'cause the hands of time
Are never on your side

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late,
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce of memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

If today was your last day,
would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never to late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
 
So whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment of this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?

I just love the sci-fi theme of alternate universe.  If you want things to go down a different path, they can, and everything that happened before can still be true-  Cart Blanche to make it the way you want it, whatever it is.  Wouldn't that be nice?  It would save a whole lot of people a whole lot of heartache.
Sometimes it's nice to get away from reality for a while.  DH and I had a date tonight and we went to see Star Trek.  I loved it!  It was nice to step into the story and relax. 
Befor that, we took Little Boy Blue to the zoo.  He's such a daddy's boy.  It's not even funny.  It sucks when DH works the night schedule.  We had two good quarters schedule wise, so I guess it was time for the crappy one again.  It's hard for all of us, but especially LBB.  Right about the time we get used to it, it'll change again.  LBB gets excited because he's looking forward to DH being off all day.  Add the zoo into that mix and you get one ecstatic little boy.  He had a good day watching all the animals- and bugs sharing it with daddy.
Then we came home and worked outside for a while.  It was nice to get things done.  The lawn looks good and I scrubbed the mommy van's carpets.   Being that it is the mommy van, it won't stay clean for long- but it looks nice now.  Cleaning relaxes me.  My husband thinks I'm OCD and my sister thinks I have Ausbergers.  I'm sure neither one of them has ever perused the DSMR so I won't worry about it too much.  But maybe they are both right.  :)  I still want everybody to accept that to be a functional weirdo, is really normal.  :)
My issue is that I worry too much. 
We are about to start another round of work with the allergist and I'm actually tryng not to think about it.  We are seeing a new doc.  He's the head of research in our area, and really good.  To do better, we'd have to drive to NY once a month.  We'll see how this goes.  LBB doesn't need to focus on it either because he's scared and our next appointment is weeks away.  Pray for us that one day his dairy allergy will be gone, or at least not life threatening. 
I'm upset about the news of my FFPM classmate.  I feel for his family, too.  No one cares to be pitied, and I'm sure this guy would hate it.  I won't go down that road.  It's better that we do what we can.  I offered childcare and meals, but I'm not sure they need/want that right now.  What I can do is pray.  
Lot of praying going on, now.  I need some help with it.
I got on thinking I'd blog about the movie, but I don't really feel like doing that.  It was good.  I really enjoyed it.  I'll probably even watch it again, which is saying something.  Tell you about it later.
Take care you all.
Be safe.  

Today I found out a guy from my rookie class was suddenly given a terminal diagnosis, with little time left.  He's young and has kids.  He is a real upstanding, all around nice guy; Never said an unkind word to anyone.  I am praying for him and his family.  If you pray I hope you will add them to your prayers.  I hope your prayers will be better than mine.  I'm just not sure what to say to God about this.  It sucks and I hate it.  I've settled for praying for comfort for him and the family; praying that the love they share will sustain them.  

I'll have more details later, but I wanted to doc the dosage of a new glutaraldehyde product I'm using to combat the Black Brush Algae which has started in the big tank. 

I'm going with "Metricide 14" which my aquatic plant group members use frequently.  It's much cheaper than Seachem's Flourish Excel, but you have to buy it by the gallon.  And the amount of glut is different.  Excel is about 1.5% glut whereas Metricide is 2.6%. 

The dose to combat BBA when using Excel was twice the bottle directed maintenance dose of (not initial dose) of 5 cc per 50 gallons.  For my tank that was 7.5cc times two. 

Here's where I estimate:  I need to increase the the Metricide by about 25% to be twice that of Excel. 

So 7.5cc times 1.25 = 9.375 cc

9.375cc/5 = 1.875 teaspoons

I'll add just under two teaspoons of Metricide 14 for my 75g tank, every day for 14 days then do a major water change.

Hopefully this will be effective.  I was advised a much higher dose (1cc/2gallons) by someone else in the group, so I figue my lower calculaton is at least safe.  If it doesn't kill the BBA as well as Excel did, then I'l reassess.

New versions of my oat muffins and Sourdough breads. 

Strawberry Banana Muffins 

Makes 12 muffins

Bowl of Wet ingredients:
1/2 c Strawberries mashed
1 small banana
2 oz of applesauce
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c Rice Milk
1 c oats
1/4 c Canola Oil

Bowl of Dry ingredients:
1 c Bisquick
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking powder

Mix the rice milk and oats together (I used Old Fashioned because I prefer the texture, but any will do). 
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and put paper liners or spray (like "Pam") in the muffin pan.   
Mash the fruits and throw that in, along with the rest of the first 7 ingredients.  The oats need to set in liquid for about 10m.  They are usually ready by the time I've done the rest.  In another bowl mix the dry ingredients. 
Throw the dry into the wet and mix.  Don't over stir.  Spoon into muffin pan and cook for about 22 minutes.  They should be lightly browned and a tooth pick inserted in the middle of one should come away clean to show they are done.   These are so good for breakfast.  I also frost them when my son needs a non-dairy cupcake at some food event.   

I also have another bread variation.  A local health food store now has reasonably priced, white (finely ground) unbleached, unbromated flour which is perfect for bread.  And the price of Spelt has gone down as it's become more available.  It has at least 15% more protein than it's regular wheat cousins.  It also has greater iron, potassium and B vitamin content.  But I just like how this tastes!

Spelt Sourdough

makes 10 buns or a medium loaf

1/4 c room temp or warm soymilk
1/4 c warm water
2 Tbsp instant (mashed) potato flakes
1/2 c sour dough starter
1 1/4 c Spelt flour
1 c regular bread flour
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

mix it together, knead for 10 m  and let it rise to twice it's size
(however many hours later, depending on your starter, mine needs at least 6 hours)
punch it down and roll it on a floured suface into a 10 inch roll, cut at 1 inch intervals
roll each into a ball and place on a floured pan
let rise again to double size (less time than before, mine takes about an hour)
bake at 375 degrees Faherenheit for about 20 minutes.

The same store now has hard red (whole) wheat flour, so I am using that in my recipes that call for whole wheat.  More on that once I have experimented a bit.   
 

I don't know why the wait is still so hard.  You think with the decision to stick, there'd be some peace.  But I keep getting my hopes up.  I have been following the referrals from China.  There was a big batch last month and rumors of a big batch again this month.  Not like before the slow down big, but bigger than in the last 6 months.  Instead referrals seems to be being held due to swine flu.  That is the rumor anyway.  Nothing official is being said, the referrals are just later than usual.  It's harrowing.  Last week I was looking at children's books about adopttion again and thinking about my daughter.  Today my boy played with a little girl and her baby sister at the playground.  He held the toddler going down the slide (with her mother's help).  It was so bitter-sweet watching them.

I was treated to a four song show when I picked my boy up from Preschool today.  He also planted an impatien for me and decorated the pot.  He wrote in green, because he knows it's my favorite color.  What a sweetie.  I've gotten lots of hugs today and I'm totally absorbing it.  Gotta remember these days when he hits his sullen teen years!  All the moms looked tickled.  It was very cute. 
 My Mother-in-law just came for a visit and we were glad to have the time with her.  We also got to see my husband's sister and aunt, which was nice.  Little Boy Blue was so excited.  He pretty much had constant attention for two weeks.  He totally ate that up. 
Unfortunately my MIL had a small heart attack two days ago.  She's back home, on the other side of the country so we were waiting by the phone for info for a few days.  She went in for a procedure and her doc said things are good now, so we are relieved.  If you pray, please say a prayer for her good health going forward.  Thank you God!
We did our Mother's Day restaurant dinner with my sis last week- Thank you again KC.   My dear husband is replacing the breaks on the mommy-van Sunday, which is what I wanted more than anything, so I will do a simple grill out for lunch with my sister's family and our parents.  I've kinda had a week of Mother's Day.  It's been really nice.
We have just been busy here and not online much.  LBB is in soccer and swimming right now, plus school or speech every weekday.  We are planning to go to the amusement park today for the first time this year and it's been open for three or four weekends already.  We've been working on the yard and DH is going to get more paint today so we can resume the interior decorating.  Busy.  But Happy. 

No, I'm not talking about the market.  I'm talking about a great broth I made last night from a roast chicken.  We buy a whole roast chicken for two meals. We used to get Tyson, and now we get Kirkland's (Costco) and they didn't have milk- as always check those labels if you have a food allergy, because things change. 
Well last night I stripped the chicken meat for tonight's chicken and noodles and threw the skin and bones in the stock pot.  To that I added a few frozen veggies that I had left in the bag from a previous meal- you know, you need a cup here and there and you're left with a little bunch of them in the corner of the bag, just taking up freezer space.  Now I have a good use for that.  I also added an onion and seasonings.  I cooked it until all the veggies were well cooked and the bones lost their chicken form.  Then I strained it and stuck it in the fridge.  I just throw out all the veggies with the bones, their flavor is in the stock.  They are overcooked anyway.  The broth was so good you could serve it by itself. 
Tonight I'll cook the noodles and some fresh veggies in the broth and throw it together for a nice and easy meal.
   I've also been making my own croutons, lately.  I hate to throw out bread, and there's only three of us.  A homemade loaf has no preservatives and goes stale in a few days.  The store loaves, which we only use for occasional sandwiches, are huge and we can't finish them.  So I use them for french toast, breadcrumbs and croutons.   This came about when the last store to carry our milk free croutons stopped carrying them.  Now we can't find them anywhere, so I make the extra effort.

   I haven't blogged in so long I don't know what to write about.  I guess I'll start by saying what a slacker I've been.  I am at a stand still with the book (again) and Emergency Planning online classes.  I need to pick one or the other to focus on because I can't seem to do it all.  I'm afraid FEMA classes have been loosing out since I checked my possible credits and calculated how many classes I'd need to get started.  I really thought I could do something in a few months, but that just wasn't the case.  It's never as easy as you think it's going to be, huh?  (I should put that on a T shirt!)  A lot  of my time this month went to meetings for my son's Medical Action Plan at his new school.   Many meetings with many people.  We didn't have to do a 504 Plan because he still has a speech IEP for next year.  We probably will need the 504 Plan in first grade, as he likely won't be eligable for speech serveces through school.  We'll be doing Speech through insurance, then.
   In my defense, I have to say that I haven't been a total slacker.  When we realized we were getting a tax refund, I started planning home improvements.  We have a new sliding door in the works, which is good because the old one leaks when it rains.  I was always afraid it would rain hard when we weren't home to change out the towel in the track and ruin our floors.  I'll be glad when that's finally done.  We have also started painting.  We've been here three years, living with all the marks on the walls since we bought the house.  And the whole house was unrelieved white.  White ceilings, walls, carpet, shades...no color except the beige window toppers.  We are fixing that.  We started with my son's room because his walls were the worst.  I also wanted to add some toy storage in there, to get his stuff out of the living rooms and dining room.  His toys were all over the house.  Now they are just in his room.  And neat to boot!  I went through everything, throwing out all the torn paper toys, many kids meal toys and lots of toys with missing bits or that were broken.  This needs to be done regularly.  My boy is a pack rat like his daddy!  Little Boy Blue chose blue for his walls then cried that he didn't want his room to change, on the day we went to get the paint.  Awww.  He's happy with it now.  We still have my old brown bed in there until we are done with the crib.  The crib converts to a full size bed and will match the rest of his furniture.  Then our daughter, presumably, will get the bed matching the dresser and mirror.   I can't wait to do her room.  That will be last, though.  Because there's alwyas a chance we could end up with another boy...    
   My husband started painting the dining room next and the (accent wall) color is darker than we anticipated.  But I'm getting used to it.  Now I feel like we need to spruce up a bit.  I got pillowcase covers at IKEA for the couch in the sitting room, and two pillows for the living room couch.  I'm looking for a curtain panel for an old bookcase full of board games that we have in there and a kitchen curtain.  Soon we'll have color everywhere.  Now that the toys are up, the lack of furniture is more noticable.   We eventually need to get a chair or two.  And some decorative peices on the 'art ledge' at the entry way.  They are bare.  The house is starting to look good.  I'm really excited about it.  But it is going to take a while to get it all done.
   I cut the plants back in the aquarium- way down.  The Vals, Hygro and ludwigia were all to the top, and they are about 1/3 of the way up, now.  We went out and got glass covers today, finally.  I covered the tank with saran wrap while we were painting, even though we used zero VOC's paint.  The tint adds some VOC's so there was a bit of smell to it, but not nearly as strong as I remember when painting the other houses.  We opened windows, too.  The fish all seem fine.  I did notice how the tank kept it's heat better with the 'lid'.  And of course there was lots less evaporation.  So we got the tops.  I wanted plexi, but my husband fears all DIY tank things.  The tank is in the main living space and he doesn't want it to be ugly.  (What ev er!)  I have many Molly fry.  The largest are more than half grown.  I figure I get about six survivers in each birth.  I added a Betta to help control the population.  We'll see how that goes.
  Right now I'm having trouble believing we are going to have another child at all, it seems so far away.  I'm sad about it.  I watch the refferrals for China come in every month and it's just dismal how slowly it's been going.  There's no good news, there.  The best I can think about it is that it doesn't seem to have gotten any slower in the last few months.
   Well that's all from the homefront.  Hope everyone has a Happy Easter, Passover and Spring in general.  I got the rest of my clover seed down, now I need to start combatting the dandelions.  We live next to an empty lot and the weeds migrate.  It's a loosing battle because I hate putting chemicals on the grass.  Oh well.  TTFN. 

This is my version of Greens Gumbo (Gumbo Z' Herbs).