Rob was super blessed to hold not only 1 tiny baby, but 2 tiny babies today! I never stop marveling at tiny babies. So precious, and such a gift from God. This precious babe has been hanging around my sister’s house a lot while Mommy and Daddy crash on the couch for a little bit while everybody in the house takes turns holding her. That’s what life is all about, isn’t it? Her daddy is like a son to my sister and brother-in-law, but I just can’t wrap my brain around my sister as a….. grandma? But, I guess if I can be one, she can, too. I’m so glad she shares:). We feel blessed.
We canned chicken and broth. At 89c/lb, the price could not be beat. We canned more tuna than we needed last summer. We found that Rob likes canned chicken on his salads in addition to the tuna. We decided to just do a batch of chicken and use up the rest of the tuna, then can more tuna next summer. Tuna varies in price, but often is around $3.50/lb., so this a way to get him variety while saving money.
I bought approximately $13.50 of split chicken breasts and made broth and canned chicken. We got 17 or 18 little jars of assorted sized (most 1/2 pint) of chicken chunks, 7 quarts and 12 pints and a couple of tiny jars of broth.
Patsy decided to cook up a storm for the first time in a long time. I joined her. We made tamale pie.
She made Cashew Chicken with rice noodles. Twice. We made some blondies, and some chicken soup.
Then she went back to her regular favorites of tacos, quesadillas, and p.b.j. sandwiches with apples.
What brought this “cooking fit” on? Grandma and Auntie Jan were coming for lunch. She’s been waiting for years to be a part of the “make lunch for Grandma” team. I guess she thought Grandma and Auntie were starving:). The food came in handy. We did have a great lunch. They got to take little bits home for future meals. We had these things for our meals for a couple of days. I hauled little dishes over to my sister’s house for them to eat. Let’s hope she gets in a mood again:). She felt wonderful. All of our tummies felt wonderful! Win-Win!
Patsy is still plugging along on school, and finished week 6. We ran into some roadblocks due to information she had somehow missed over the years , but worked through a plan to correct the problem.
She joined the Christmas Choir at church and had her first practice. There is going to be a big program. This year, she felt confident enough to join in. Last year, she did not, but later confessed she had wanted to and helped with stage crew at the last minute. Grandma helped her work on her quilt block from the shop hop we took her on last winter/spring. None of these things cost money, but they all enrich all our lives and I have a great Christmas program to look forward to watching in December!
I was weeding during our sunny afternoon. Can you see what was under the weeds? I cleaned out all the old parsley and weeds, and propped the volunteer cherry tomato plant up on a wire cage–we may end up with a few more late cherry tomatoes. Not that we are out. I just hate to kill a plant with so much tenacity!
Can you see Alissa on the left? She is having the trip of a lifetime with her Daddy. They are in Israel, walking where Jesus walked, visiting Biblical places, and seeing for themselves what they have studied for years. In the meanwhile…..
Rob and I, my sister and older niece and Grandma and Auntie Jan and anyone else we can round up are all working together to keep the home fires burning for Jake and Michaela. It’s going well, but we will all welcome their return in a few days!
Rob looks terrific!!! How much weight has he lost to date? I admire your energy and cooking “fits”. Have a great week.
Barb in PA
It’s kind of hard to know exactly how much weight Rob has actually lost. This is because he lost quite a few pounds before the “official” weight loss began. But, from the doctor a year ago May, it’s been about 115 pounds. In reality, he has lost quite a few more than that overall. These last few pounds before surgery are coming off really, really slowly. He’s eating so little, but he can hardly move, so his body hangs on to every pound tightly!
Sorry I must have missed a post…hope Rob is ok and surgery is successful. Has he been injured? Hope I am not being too personal. He looks very healthy.
Rob needs a full hip replacement on his left hip. He is getting worse and worse over time and can hardly walk and is in a tremendous amount of pain. He is taking large amounts of ibuprophin, some muscle relaxants, and refusing to take the addictive pain meds, which is difficult, but he worries about getting addicted to them. At this time, he uses a cane and has a rough time getting around. Any kind of physical activity, including putting his shoes on, is terrible difficult. The doctors will not operate until he loses a certain amount of weight. He is getting very near to the “magic” number, but the last few pounds are hanging on. He is reminding himself that he really wants the surgery to work, and for it to work, he needs to lose the weight, so he is working hard!
I am so very sorry to hear about this, but I can see Rob is very motivated to get to the right weight for the surgery. It will be safer for him and his recovery will be much better. I can understand why he does not want to take painkillers but could he get and injection or an epidural for some relief? I went thru this with my mother and all the oral pain meds did nothing for her severe spine pain, we went to a chiropractor, acupuncture and finally went to the pain management clinic at the hospital and she did find relief for a few months at a time. I hope he feels better very soon.
Have a good week. Barb in PA
Rob has had the shots more than once. They really don’t work for his problem, it’s too severe. His relief was very short-lived when he received them, so he stopped getting them. He takes a lot of ibuprophin, and there is a non-addictive muscle relaxer he takes on occasion. He has tried every topical cream they sell, and uses a heating pad frequently. At this time, the pain is constant, and very bad. We will be so glad when he can get the surgery.
Rob looks great and I love the look baby girl is giving him! Yes, we need more babies around here too. Our youngest grand is now two and while he is so much fun right now there is nothing like a baby. I love having chicken in jars in my pantry. We mostly use it for chicken salad but that is an inexpensive lunch. Have a great week!
Thanks! Rob really used the canned chicken for quick healthy lunches this past year.
That picture of Alissa is great. That is a once in a lifetime trip. The baby Rob is holding is so sweet. Go Patsy! I love when my kids cook up a storm and I get a meal off. You got a lot done this week.
I love that picture, too, because the camel makes it seem so exotic…like she is SOMEWHERE, which she is:)
A trip of a lifetime for Michaela and she is just the right age to really feel the awe. Rob is looking great. I’m so jealous. Glad Patsy got her cook-on. Having friends and family over is motivating.
It’s actually Alissa (Michaela’s sister) that is in Israel with her dad. Still, she is of the right age to really enjoy it all!
And, yes, having someone come to eat the food……well, it’s really motivating for her, that’s for sure. Especially such an encouraging audience, who would eat it if it tasted like dirt and complement the cooking. Thankfully, everything tasted excellent:)
What a sweet picture of Rob and the baby!
I hope he will soon be able to have the surgery, so he won’t be in so much pain.
Patsy’s meals look delicious. I love having a break from cooking.
How exciting for Alissa and her dad. Definitely a trip of a lifetime, and what special memories. Hope they are home safely now.
Alissa and her Dad returned safely this afternoon! I haven’t seen them yet, but Rob picked them up from the airport and he says they are ready to rest:)
I now have an internet connection!!! I missed checking the weather the most because I have been painting the windows on our house. The original owners installed them but didn’t paint them as they should have. I realized this all too late. The ones on the front of the house are in bad shape. We got an estimate to replace them and it was $7,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT! I have taken each one out, sanded it down to the original wood, removed the rotten spots, filled it in, primed and then painted. It has been very tedious. I still have 4 more to go but it is raining today.
I am resting and catching up on my blogs. I have wondered how Rob has been doing. I’m ready for him to finally have this surgery. Enough of his suffering!
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
That sounds like a lot of work!
So, Rob.
We visited his surgery doctor on Wednesday. He’s changing hospitals. He can’t make any appointments for the new hospital until January. Then they will work him up as a new patient at the new hospital and schedule the surgery. The good news? He was within 2 pounds of his goal weight and so has the rest of the time to lose 2 pounds. Second good news? He saw his cardiologist Friday and he’s confident and ready to clear him for the surgery so will send the appropriate paperwork in. Third good news? The primary care doctor is also ready to sign him off for surgery. So, it’s moving along, although slowly.