catsup? ketchup? or Catch Up?

I think Catch Up.  It's time again.  I really wish I could find it in myself to blog nightly again.  It just isn't happening for me and I can't quite figure out why I can't get back in that habit.  Back on thatspace when I had a huge following, I was so excited every night to sit down and write my blog.  And the people I met through that blog were super.  I'm still in contact with many of them today.  We've become more than just blog friends, we've learned much about each other and genuinely care.  I feel like I've gotten to know some even better than people I can physically interact with.  We've shared so much!

 

My goal will forever be to blog regularly again.  And I will.  I'm not sure when, or how, but I will. 

 

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I have notes day to day to day to day, but I'm thinking that's way too long and boring to blog.  Y'all who do follow me know pretty much what my days are all about.  Let me, instead, hit the highlights.

 

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The diagnosis is in.  I do have Sjogrens.  I don't know a whole lot about it yet.  I know it's an autoimmune disease, as is the fibromyalgia, and many times the two go hand in hand.  I know some don't think they exist.  Let me tell you something.  They do.  And I hope that you don't have them invade your body.  Things come back to you.  And many end up humbled. 

 

The aches and pains, fatigue, all are also a part of this new thing too.  What's new is all the drying.  My mouth dries so bad at night that it actually glues itself shut.  That's tough!  It was really bad when I had the lip biopsy, part of the diagnosis.  From it, we know my salivary glands are lacking.  My ears flake and I have no wax at all.  My eyes dry and itch.  My skin is dryer than it has ever been in my life.  I never had trouble with my skin.  And my feet.  Ugh they're awful!  I guess the tingly and numbness can also be attributed to Sjogrens. 

 

So I'm learning lots about me and how my life will be.  There are a lot of OTC temporary helps and I'm going to be on two new meds.  I also have to see an opthamologist because it can cause black spots.  ???  I still have lots to learn there.  I was told the eye doc will likely put me on drops or cream too.  And my teeth falling apart is also part of it.

 

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And there was the bread adventure.  I bought two carts full of bread for a very good price.  After passing it around the family in boxes and bunches, I came home and made huge jugs of croutons and bags and bags and a jug of crumbs.  15 bags if I remember right.  All varieties.  It will be interesting using them.  I know my mother-in-law made a bunch too.  Don't know what the others did with it all.

 

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I found out just recently I have a niece with Cystic Fibrosis.  I had no idea!  She's just a wee one, not yet 2.  If you would all please put little Reese on your prayer lists it would be very much appreciated.  She's also raising money to fight the cause.  If anyone is interested, you can donate at

 

Help Reese raise money for Cystic Fibrosis

 

Thanks.

 

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Another cool deal thing I did was the chicken legs.  I got a 10 pound bag of chicken legs for 5.90.  I put them in two crock pots and cooked them overnight.  I turned them into two big bags and one small bag of chicken, several bowls of stock and a meal.  Good deal!  The two bags were too full and I have to use only 1/2 at a time per dish.  Tonight I did a penne chicken broccoli alfredo with some.  Mmm.  Also have done chicken salad and chicken tortilla soup.  I used some of the broth in the soup and some to make Haluski.  Be proud of me!  I found out the "cabbage noodles" have a real name!  lol  Haluski.

 

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Chicken Tortilla Soup

 

     2-3 c chopped chicken
     1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
     15 oz tomato sauce
     2 cans or equivalent homemade chicken broth
     1 can cheese soup
     2 carrots, chopped
     1 can whole kernel corn

     1 can cream corn
     1 Vidallia onion, chopped
     1/2 t. garlic garlic
     1/2 t  cumin
     1/2 t. chili powder
      a little salt and pepper
      a few sprigs of cilantro, chopped
Put all ingredients in your crock pot and crock it!  When the veggies are tender, it's done.

 

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Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

 

     Boil or steam broccoli until it starts to soften just a bit.

     Boil penne pasta to al dente

     Add about a dozen thick sliced mushrooms and one slice onion along with the broccoli to a wok size skillet and cook until onion and mushroom have softened.  Add in about 3/4 c. cooked, chopped chicken.  Add one jar alfredo sauce (I had one or I'd have made my own.) and a good helping of fresh grated parmesan cheese.   When all are mixed and sauce is hot, it's done.

 

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Keep in mind with the recipes that I do use fat free or low fat when I can, sodium free or low sodium as I can.  I'm not to count calories now, but I still want to pay attention to those things.  What they have me counting now (the bariatric team) is protein.  I'm to eat 50 - 60 grams of protein a day and consume at least 64 oz. of liquid.  Calories shouldn't go off the map, but I don't need to count them.  I also do watch sugar.  I need to after surgery anyhow. 

 

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I've been having a ball working on the reunion stuff.  I took on the job of verifying addresses and finding people.  It's awesome. It's been exciting getting back in touch with people.  It wasn't good to find an obituary for one classmate.  That was kind of a shock.  But I know we have lost many, many classmates.  It's still so shocking when I hear of another.  And we have a couple in nursing homes too.  Why is it that I feel so young...until reality hits me upside the head!

 

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Oh boy did I have a GOOD time with Kennedy her last weekend here!  She and I went to the thrift store and we came home with two huge bags!  Little of this, little of that.  Little dresses for Emmi while we potty train.  A few fun toys.  Ya.  Good stuff.  She got a pair of shoes that looked like new plus a skirt and shirt for dress up. 

 

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Whoa boy!  We have a few wedding coming up.  I dug out my wedding dress.  Whoa boy I do NOT want to get quite THAT thin!  Good thing it's out of realistic expectations!  Was I really that ridiculously skinny??  And small as mine was, my sister's was smaller.  My one granddaughter is a skinny minnie.  And I don't know that it would fit her!  She's just 13!!  But I did find the little flower girl dress that 3 year old Kennedy wore in Kris and Darlene's wedding.  Awe.  If any of our little girls needs it for a wedding, it's in good shape.  :-)

 

~~~~~Death ends a life, not a relationship.

I now have three favorite apps on my phone.  Mine is an android but I'm sure if you have an iPhone, you can get the same ones or similar ones. 

 

OUT OF MILK

     This one is awesome.  I can make my grocery list on my phone.  I can set up more than one.  If I want to make one for each store and their specials I can.  I can make a pantry list.  Cool beans. 

 

MY FITNESS PAL    

     This one is helping me a lot now.  On it, I track what I eat and it puts in the nutrition info.  It keeps track of all the things I need to know to fill in my book for the bariatric team.  I can also track my weight and measurements if I choose, my water intake and my exercises.  I gotta work on that exercise part.  I'm not good at being consistent.

 

KEY RING    

     This one is new to me.  Rusty told me about it and Darlene has it.  You scan in all your key tags and your loyalty tags, your box store and grocery store cards and you've got it.  Always.  As long as you have your phone.

 

Oh I have four.

 

STATE FARM

     I've signed up and downloaded the mobile app and now all my insurance cards are there on my phone whenever I need them.

 

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And so now I'm pissed! I was NOT untruthful on my psych test. I was totally truthful. However, it DID ask questions that had no bearing on me. I do not HAVE co-workers. And yes. My family IS a great family that DOES get along quite tremendously I might say. And some of your questions were not properly worded. Grammar, folks, grammar. (That didn't affect the outcome but it is a pet peeve.  Professionals should come off professional.)  I had to it again on Friday. And guess what!! The answers will be the same!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  Although now...I am angry. VERY angry. Some answers actually might have changed. And I kept note of some the idiocies that were on it. If you are preparing a test that is to measure whatever of anyone, you need to make it APPLY TO ANYONE!  And it didn't.  And some questions could be accurately answered with true OR false! 

 

But now it's over.  I've done it the second time.  I did call the kid administering it to task over some questions.  Only five.  He couldn't answer my question on one in particular.  He was actually agreeing with me via his body language but because he was "the professional" couldn't.  I imagine they will either give me the same test a third time or have me go back to talk to the doc.  I know I shocked the kid (he was younger than my own kids) when I told him that if it stopped me from having the surgery I'd tell them screw you and go on and find my own way to get thin and healthy.  I am, after all, losing weight.  Just way slower than I need it to happen.

 

Yes.  A psychological evaluation is a part of the regime you go through to have bariatric surgery.

 

~~~~~

 

Insanity:  doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

~~Albert Einstein

 

And can I rephrase that to say...

 

Insanity:  having someone doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to get different results.

 

~~~~~

 

My next big food do was 16 pounds of strawberries.  We'd gone to the R Store and to Hartville Flea Market with Missy and picked up two flats of berries.  I had already gotten a few inside before we checked the outside vendors.  After Missy took a bunch, I had 16# total to handle.  I cut them up and got them ready to "sugar" for shortcake.  I didn't want to do all sugar so I used mostly splenda with just a little real sugar to quicken the juicing.  I let them sit overnight and they still weren't juicy enough so I gave it one more day.  They are wonderful.  I thinnk they might have taken the extra time because of my substitution.  But, eventually it did work.

 

Putting up your own food, whether you can it, freeze it, dehydrate it or whatever gives you the ability to control what's in it.  You don't have preservatives and things you can't pronounce.  You decide if and how much salt or sugar it has.  It's up to you.  And...you're sure you've cleaned it properly.

 

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An extended family member lost their mother and it brought me back once again to feeling the sadness of losing my own parents.  Looking for a quote for this blog, I came across this one which just hit home...

 

~~Jack Lemmon

 

Very simple.  Very to the point.

 

~~~~~

 

What cool kids we have!  I don't like my house cluttered, but you know what?  If it's to pass this to this one and that to that one, I'm good with it.  Right now I have things in the dining room waiting to be passed on.  I'll be glad when my own things are in better order so I can have an area for this sort of thing that isn't in my main living area.  It's just so GOOD to know that they all think of each other and pass things on. 

 

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It's been great watching how all the family members are planning their weddings.  Dusty and Leon's is coming together.  I love watching as my kids play the parent role in that one.  And the others in the works are coming together too.  This next year will be something!  I'll be putting the camera to task a lot!!!  lol

 

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Now we've come to the end of the blog.  I don't know that it's really time to end it, but I'm done for now.  I promise to be back, I just don't know when.  It'll happen though.  Just you wait and see. 

 

Love and hugs...

 

~~Mama Sage

Just a-bloggin' along (includes BFF 83 I got to be me)

Oh ya.  Got to be me. 

That's pretty much been me for all my life.  I never figured I COULD measure up to what all the popular kids were up to so I didn't even try.  When I was a kid I was never expected to be anything but me.  Just me.  I had a very successful older brother and sister and I never was held up to them and told I should be like them.  I was always encouraged instead to be the best me I could.  That's how I tried to raise my own kids.  And that's the kind of encouragement and guidance I try to pass on to my grandchildren.  It's hard to walk in another's footsteps.  Even if the size is the same, the gait probably isn't.

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My beautiful granddaughter Brandi got her braces off just in time for her 18th birthday!!  Beauty has become even more beautiful.

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For my prayer partners out there, please pray for a couple of my friends.  Both have just had some heart surgery.  Both...are young.  One is now suffering another problem that they are trying to find the cause for.  Neither would want their name thrown out to the general public.  So, my faith filled friends, please pray that all encompassing prayer for my friends.  Thanks.

And my li'l girls and their moms have been sick too.  Three out of four are still trying to get fully well.  Nasty virus. 

~~~~~

We have to pray with our eyes on God,

not on the difficulties. 

~~Oswald Chambers

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I'm having such a hard time keeping with the program.  I didn't do what I NEEDED to do last year and I have to continue doing this year.  We NEED to get this house in order.  And while I'm at it, I'll handle bags and bags of things that have been cast off and not really sorted.  When you toss, you should really take advantage and get something back for what you had.  I've got bills to pay...T A X E S.  Ohhhh woeeeee is me. 

We've taken several bags down to the rec room and my job is to decide what goes to charity and what we shall try to sell.  Things given to charity then must be inventoried and bagged or boxed then taken.  Things to sell must be photographed and listed.  That's where I'm stuck.  Once I get started I know I'll just bust butt to get through it all.  And once we get through the first mountain, if, IF I keep up with things it can run smoothly and sanely.  I've done it before.  I can and WILL do it again.

I actually got started sort of tonight.  Check out my Etsy page!! 

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/MadebyMamaSage

I've begun listing my scarves.  I'm crossing my fingers I'll get some traffic there and things will sell.  This has got to become my income.

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I did a baby clothes drawer sort and came up....empty!  Our little girls are growing up so fast!  Amazing.  When our kids were growing up, it seemed like time passed a lot slower.  I still feel like they are new and just born and Emmi, the oldest of our new babies is going to be a year old in less than two months!  Where oh where does time go?

I made myself go upstairs and drag out some of the older yarn I have.  I got so excited and involved in doing those fancy dancy yarns into scarves that I was kind of neglecting the older stuff.  You know, with big ol' needles, even the older yarn becomes beautifully soft and huggy.

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I'm still in the use it up mode around here.  At least I'm trying.  I made scalloped potatoes and carrots with ham chunks for dinner the other night.  Mmmm I love it.  Even when it doesn't turn out right.  lol  There are two ways of doing it.  One takes just a little longer and dirties a pan.  I try to avoid that way.  But.  That is the way I should always do it.  When I do it the speedy way, it works about half the time.  The longer way is where you make the white sauce and pour it over everything then bake.  The other way, you layer, dot with butter, sprinkle salt and pepper and flour the repeat repeat, cover, bake and ta daaaa.  It's something that could be good or could change the menu to Potato Soup.  lol

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I decided to make the Mama version of gorp.  That's another way to say trail mix.  I wanted it to be healthy and to have antioxidants.  I did my best.  And I put in the things MAMA likes.  When you make it yourself, what you put in and how much are all up to you.

Mama's gorp

•     almonds
•     cashews
•     dried blueberries
•     raisins
•     dried cranberries
•     chocolate covered raisins (less chocolate than M&M's but gives it that li'l chocolate bite)

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A baby changes your dinner party conversation

from politics to poops.
~~Maurice Johnstone

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Okay tell me.  What is the reasoning here?  They are changing the names of all the schools that are being rebuilt.  They are no longer jr high, middle school, elementary, etc.  They are Community Learning Centers.  So what's up with that?  Anyone in on what the thinking is?

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Oh my goodness!  That was the nastiest, ickiest, goopy uck.  It was a micro-mess.  Y U C K !!  I had a couple of packages in the pantry of this warm it up ... stuff.  The tuna is good.  Tuna steaks of various seasonings.  The chicken...was it???  I couldn't be sure!  The BBQ sauce on it was good.  But the pasta!  OH MY GOSH was it awful!  Even the dog didn't want it!

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Always out for a bargain, I spied this and wondered how many of you truly take advantage.

If a store is going to offer it free and their deal is the best deal, you double dern betcha I'm going to take advantage of the freebie they are offering.  Eyes open wide so the deals can't hide.

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Did I tell you about when we took the babies to Cracker Barrel?  Oh what a fun time!  And Emmi had her first lemon...at least with us...

Don't ask me.  I don't have a clue.  Two of the pictures I uploaded came up sideways.  The rest are fine.  lol  Wish I could post the Melanie pictures too but I can't.  :-(  Not allowed.

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When we went for gas the other day we got quite a chuckle.  I was taking winter pictures...and then I got the best winter picture of the day.

Yes seriously this guy was dressed for winter from his waist up and summer from his waist down.  Didn't seem to shiver.  But I did!!

~~~~~

On that note, Blue Eyes Emerson and Mimi Sage are signing off.  But before we do, we need to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my wonderful hubby, Cliff. 


Hugs to all.

~~Mama Sage