On the Road Again....again

Yep...

it's that time of the year...

Time for the annual State Park Office Asst. Conference....

So....

it's off to Greensboro for "the Ladies of the Mountains."

Fat and Happy....

Meg...

She looks nothing like the skinny little terrified girl we brought home almost 2 years ago....

We had her spade and then she blossomed...

And finally grew into her ears...

 

Mom came home from the hospital on Feb. 22nd and is doing great...

My SNL is also home and we still don't know what brought on her breathing problems...

The rest of us are hanging out watching it snow...!!

Still there.....

Well....

Mom is still in the "swing bed unit" of the hospital here in Jefferson.

she has good days and bad days..but..is slowly improving.

And

yesterday my sister-n-law was admitted to Watauga Medical Center in Boone with breathing issues.

I'm not sure what's happening there....maybe I'll know more soon.

Two different hospitals....two different counties....lots of driving...!!

We'll keep you posted.....please keep praying.

:)

What's happening.....

Just when I thought the plague was over....

the female parental unit was diagnosed with a large mass in the upper part of her colon, which the doctors felt was cancer....

So into surgery she goes and the doctor removed about 12" of colon and a large nasty looking mass.  The biopsy came back as cancer.  The good news is she needs no follow up treatment.  No chemo or radiation.

However, she is not physically strong enough to come home yet.  She is in what the hospital calls a "swing bed unit," that is within in the hospital complex....getting intensive PT, a high protein diet and lots of pampering by the staff.

She's up and walking at least three times a day, eating well, asking for her knitting, her word search books and complaining about not being able to find Jerry Springer on the hospital TV.
 

She's making great improvements, is almost like her "real" self and hopefully will come home soon.

I'm Still Here...

This morning's sun rise....beautiful..!

 

Yep.....I'm still here and everyone has recovered from the plague...

 

The MaleChild and I cooked his favorite vegetable in the Instapot...

Took about 20 minutes for 2 whole artichokes....that includes heating up and pressure cool down.  The last time he boiled them in a regular pot it took about an hour for them to cook...

"The MaleChild is now learning how to use the Instapot".....maybe he'll want one for his birthday...

 

That's about it for now.....the winter months in the high country are quite and slow...not much exciting going on...

Except for the winds.....I can honestly say....I know why the early settlers, out there on the plains, could go a little crazy with the constant howling....

it's eerie.

I Did It...!

Well...

I over came my fear of pressure cookers and finally used the Instapot...

The pot sat on my kitchen counter for over a week and i kept telling myself...

"As soon as I decide what to cook in it....I'll use it..."

(hummmmm...talking to myself again)

Friday I bought a pork loin roast and decided that would be my first experiment with my new toy.

Today I put on my big girl panties and read the direction several (5) times, then put the roast in the pot and started pushing buttons...

Much easier than I was expecting and soooo good.  It was nice not heating up the kitchen with the oven and juggling baking dishes to get all of dinner in the oven.  Plus, everything was ready at the same time...I'll use it again...!

But....I'll never give up my beloved crock pots....!!

Addiction or Quest?

I'm not sure which it is.....but....for some reason I love electronic kitchen gadgets.

Here's my newest one....

I've always been afraid of pressure cookers due to an accident my aunt had with one....ohhhh....maybe sixty years ago....

However, several friends have one of these and swear by them...

sooooo...

tomorrow I'm gonna give it a try...!

Now I need to find somewhere to store it...

hummmmm...

I'll just clean out some of the kitchen cabinets....move the three crock pots.....the rice cooker....the huge mac-daddy crock pot (turkey cooker)...the kitchen-aide mixer....the bullet....the food processor (x2 gotta have a small and Large)....the immersion blender...the hand mixer...the toaster...and what ever that is in the back that I can't see and haven't used in years....

ahhhhh....

Maybe I'll just leave it on the counter....