White Stuff

Connor got a really cute snowman kit from his cousins for Christmas. We finally got to use it today. I had to replace the giant plastic carrot it came with for a real one. The big one was just too phallic looking. The teenage girls next door came right out with it and told me it was really disturbing! Too funny. This skinny, natural carrot made everyone feel more at ease...

Lost Day

Today was lost. Gone. Wasted. A stolen victim of the bane of my existence since kindergarten: The Headache. It's name does not describe it well. "Ache" implies a soft-edge to the sensation. The Headaches that visit me have no such soft edge.

All my life, they have been there, like a threatening storm. I remember coming home from school as a child with my head pounding and my mom putting cold, wet washcloths on my forehead while I rested in agony on the couch in the living room, light sneaking in through the curtains. I don't remember them being common or profound during high-school, but in my 20's and early 30's they were incredibly bad.

I've had CT scans and MRIs of my brain. I've tried various medications with limited success. I used Imitrex when it first came out as an injectable. My headaches were so bad at that time that the first time the nurse opened the needle for me and began to instruct me about how I would inject it, I barely let her finish and snatched it from her hand and plunged it into my thigh muscle. It worked GREAT and my migraine would be gone in 20 minutes. But after a few years I had to stop taking it because it started causing me to go into atrial fibrillation. Since then, I have not tried another prescription medication for migraines.

Connor was a gift. When I was pregnant my headaches disappeared. Gone. And the old ones, the bad bad migraines, have not really come back. But now I get profound and disabling tension headaches that seem to be triggered by back and neck tension that grows and spreads up the back of my head, over one ear, and into my face. They are not the same as the migranes--the light and sound sensitivity is not there. They are different, but they are just as bad.

When I wake up with one, I am doomed. Today I was doomed and I knew it the moment my eyes cracked open. Tiger Balm, ice packs, hot pads, hot bath, muscle relaxant, anti-inflammatory--all for naught. The right side of my face literally felt like a rotten fruit. I could barely stand to touch it. The muscles in my cheek and jaw were knotted up. It hurt to smile. And its hard to live with Connor and have it hurt to smile.

When I feel like this I am useless to all. Today Bob had to work and I was a subsistence mother. All I can manage is to insure that there are no knives or open flame in the area. Connor knows how I feel and he is sympathetic. He checks on me and pats my knee. But he's also old enough now to realize the opportunity my disablement presents to him in the way of freedom. While I moved in agony from chair, to couch, to tub, to bed, he lived downstairs like a street urchin. Three bags of Little Bites banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, YooHoo, candy canes, and microwave pizza before 1pm.

What I really need to do when the Headache comes it to go to sleep. But, I can't really sleep when I'm home alone with him because I feel like I have to at least listen for choking or crackling flames. Today I actually was reduced to calling Bob, in near hysteria, and begging him to please come home. Once he did, and once I slept for two hours, the Headache seemed to loose its grip. Ahhhh.

They're seeming to come more often. So, it will be back to basics for me. A new headache diary, maybe a new office chair at work (mine is 14 years old!), and maybe a visit to the chiropractor. Hopefully, tomorrow will not be wasted.

Detox Just To Retox Gives You Hell

My two favorite songs right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0b59clD_k


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtQderzYYvk

Pantry Redux

We spent alot of time and a fair amount of $$ this week applying our favorite space storage solution ( elfa! ) to the kitchen pantry. The project began last weekend when Connor and I unloaded the whole darn thing and created piles of foodstuffs and household products on every available surface in the kitchen and dining area. I didn't get a true "before" photo, but in this first one you can see my little handyman removing the last few of the old shelf brackets.

During the week Bob spackled. I used the Container Store's on-line space design process to choose the elfa components. It was great. A designer called me and we made changes, etc. Then, on Friday we took the design and product sheet to the Tysons Corner store where we tweaked it a bit more, ordered it, grabbed a quick bite at Cafe Deluxe, and picked up the whole shebang an hour after ordering it.

Bob sanded and primed on Friday night and painted it on Saturday. Since we only had a bare lightbulb in there and since we decided to paint the space a medium taupe color, we decided a new fixture was a good idea and picked up this great $20 double spot at Home Depot. Yes, I know, those are regular light bulbs. Sorry Al Gore!!

Here's a shot of the system installed. And can I just say that I am in deep, deep love with the cart idea. All my spices are in the top two drawers and all the ZipLocks, aluminum foil, Cling Wrap, parchment paper, and trash bags are in the bottom two. Those are things that drove me nuts on the shelves because they were always a mess.

And here it is loaded up. I want to replace those burgundy Tupperware containers with something else. That's the "Snack Shop" where things are divided into Good, Kinda Bad, and Ugly. Hard to believe, but the space is tall and there are THREE MORE shelves above what you see here. Those are loaded up with seldom used items (cupcake tower, turkey roaster) and serving platters and bowls. There are still alot of empty spaces up there and I am delighted with how it turned out.

I'll wrap this up with a special shout out to Bob for doing all the hard work. Thanks, Schmoop!

Protect The Egg

Connor asked for a story last night. When he does this I don't make up fairytales. I tell him real stories about something that happened in my life. When I was a kid, I LOVED my grandmothers tales of her childhood, so I remember that kids want to hear about things and people they know.

Since I've been dreaming of the beach, my brain went straight for a story about St. John---my favorite Carribbean island. Here's how it played out:

D: Once upon a time there was a mommy and daddy that were going to have a baby. Before the baby came, they decided they wanted to take a vacation to rest up and dream about their little boy who would be born about four months later. Do you know who that mommy and daddy were?

C: Yes! You and daddy! And the baby in the egg was me.

D: That's right. You were in my tummy. We went to a place called St. John where they have beautiful beaches and lots of fun things to do. But it got a little scary.

C: What was scary?

D: Well, one day, we decided to rent a boat to ride around to other islands. A little while after we got on the boat, I realized we had a problem.

C: What was the problem?

D: Well, there were medium sized waves. And as the boat rode over the waves, it would slam onto each of them and the whole boat would shake really hard. Over and over again. BAM BAM BAM BAM.

C: So?

D: Well, when a baby is in your tummy, it is bad to shake them up alot. I got really scared that something bad would happen.

C: Were you afraid the egg would fall out?

D: Exactly! And when babies fall out to early it is not good. Sometimes they die. So I was really afraid. But your daddy is smart.

C: What did he do?

D: He realized that there was a place on the boat where I could stand up and hold on to two bars. When I was standing up, the banging of the boat didn't bother me. My legs just absorbed the shock and my belly just rocked up and down gently. That made me feel better and we were able to continue on our trip and have a fun day.

C: What else did you do?

D: Well, we went to an island called Virgin Gorda where they have rock formations that are really cool and we climbed around those. There are little pools of water inside them. They're kind of like caves on a beach with little skylights. Mommy got a little freaked out again because we were doing alot of climbing around with ropes and stuff on slippery rocks and again, I didn't want to fall down and hurt you in my tummy. But, it was fine. It wasn't too hard and the rocks are really pretty.

C: Could you swim in the pool?

D: Yes. It was fun and peaceful.

C: What did you do next?

D: Well we just rode around on the boat. We went to a little island called Jost Van Dyke where they have a famous bar called "Foxy's". We ate lunch there and it was fun to see.

C: It was a bar? (a little anger in his voice, now)

D: Yes--on the beach with a restaurant.

C: Did you drink ALCOHOL?

D: No.

C: (sitting up in the bed, turned to me, and harsh) Well, good! Because after that day if you had spilled alcohol on my egg you COULD HAVE KILLED ME.

Calories and Recompense

Our second weekend of the January International Food Festival featured the nation of Germany. Did you know that 32% of Germany is covered by forests? Bob shared other critical tidbits of information the country as we dug into our brats, kraut, brown butter noodles, white asparagus, and dill bread. The noodles were a sad comprise on my desire to make spaetzle, but I just couldn't pull it together. I ate exactly one asparagus, one inch of brat, one forkful of kraut, two noodles and a bite of bread. At that point, I was done. But despite one 5 year old meltdown over some random event, it was fun. Next Saturday's nation is up for debate---suggestions welcome!

We tried to make up for the butter-fest of Saturday with a Sunday winter hike at Manassas' Battlefield. Connor got to use his new, custom walking stick that Nana gave him for Chrismas. BONUS--it came in handy as a ramrod for loading the cannons on the battlefield with imaginary gunpowder bundles. We spent a bit of time at the Vistor's Center and I caught a few minutes of the ranger tour. Very very interesting. Of course, we northerners call it Bull Run, but don't say that when you are there. Those guys are deadly serious and, I suspect, their loyalties would have lain south of the Mason-Dixon line.

January Is So Boring

So, here's what we're doing in Tatertown to spice things up during the darkest month...we're having an International Food Festival. Every Saturday night we're choosing a country and having a meal that goes with it. We started last weekend with Mexico and we had one of my favorite things from our visit to Cancun---Shrimp Veracruz. It's easy and delicious. Have it with some spicy black beans, spanish rice and maybe a little margarita. Here's the recipe I used from Epicurean. com:


Ingredients:

1 lb fresh shrimp
1 Tbsp oil
1 small onion chopped
3 tomatoes, peeled, chopped (1* lbs)
1-1/2 tsp capers
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 large green pepper, cut into strips
2 Tbsp oil
2-3 Tbsp lime juice
1/3 cup minced cilantro


Directions:Peel shrimp, slit backs and remove veins. Refrigerate. Saute onion in 1 tablespoon oil and cook until tender, but not browned. Add tomatoes, capers, bay leaf, sugar and salt. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add green peppers and cook 5 minutes longer. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in another skillet. Add cleaned shrimp. Cook over medium heat until pink. Sprinkle lime juice over shrimp. Add the sauce and heat 3-4 minutes longer. Top with cilantro and serve immediately.

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I left off the cilantro. Not a big fan. And I chopped the peppers, rather than using them in slices. I wanted them a bit more cooked. It tastes so bright, fresh, and briny. Admittedly, it would taste even better if you were looking out the window at this:


Ahhh. A girl can dream.