Sarah and the no good very bad horrible day

It all started this morning at 6am. My alarm went off. Alarms that go off at 6am are never precursors to good days. This morning I had to get up at 6 in order to be on campus by 7:20 to have a triple screening done for the wellness program. Ok, honestly, I didn't get out of bed until 6:30. But we still made it to the screening place by 7:10. What is a triple screening? They draw your blood and test it for good and bad cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels. To prepare, you have to fast for 12 hours. If you know me, you know fasting and I don't get along. That's why I picked the 7:20 am time. That way all the fasting was done while asleep, and I could eat breakfast right after. Well, it's cold and rainy today, so even though I drank a lot of water as soon as I woke up, my veins were tiny. The first lady poked me once in each arm and wiggled the needle around to to get it. Owch! Then she sent me to the more experienced girl who got it on the first try, in a different spot. Hence 3 holes and bruises. Yuck.
Then I've been having some pain in my lower abdomen for about a month and a half. No, I'm not pregnant. So I had an appointment today to get an ultrasound to see if there's a cyst anywhere or anything. If you get an ultrasound, you have to drink a lot of water so that you have a full bladder so they can see. I'm sure there's a bunch of medical terminology that would make that clearer, but oh well. All that matters was that I had to drink a lot of water, and I really had to pee while they took pictures of my insides. Fun stuff.
Then when I got home, I found out that our laundry had been moved into the dryer for us. I want you to know something about me. I'm really picky about how laundry is done. My most favorite dress that I bought in Vienna in 2006 (aka: irreplaceable) does not go in the dryer. It was in the dryer, and now 3 sizes too small. I cried for what seemed like about an hour. I was so absolutely ticked off and frustrated. I don't think I've felt so mad about something in a long time, if ever. SO MAD! But at the same time, I felt rediculous. I couldn't believe I was so upset about a stupid dress. But the more I thought about how rediculous it was, the more I thought about the dress, which made me madder. One downward cycle.
This post is my goodbye to that marvelous, beautiful dress. R.I.P. I wish I had a picture of the whole thing:

Krankheit

It’s been a tough weekend/week.

Let me preface by saying that my husband’s sister and her husband are living with us for a month or two while they save up for the deposit on their next place. I think they also have to wait until the couple that owns the place goes on a mission before they can move in. We have an extra bedroom and bathroom upstairs, so out of the 4 ½ months we’ve lived in this house, we’ve had the upstairs occupied more than half the time. I just wish I were home more to keep it cleaner for our house guests.

Last Thursday Dave started feeling sick. Dave never gets sick. By Friday night he was burning up, shivering, and hadn’t slept in two nights, so Saturday morning instead of listening to conference I took him to the urgent care center (thank goodness for good health insurance).  He had a fever of 101.7, sore throat, cough, runny nose, headache, and his back hurt a LOT, but he tested negative for strep, flu a, and flu b, but his white blood cell count was up, so they prescribed him with an antibiotic and pain killers and ibuprofen and Tylenol to keep the fever down.

Turns out my brother-in-law had the same thing. He got it from one of his coworkers. Also turns out that this comes with throwing up. Dave’s sister also came down with it. All three of them are still sick. As of right now I feel fine, but I’ve been taking airborne, drinking lots of water, eating oranges, washing my hands, sanitizing the kitchen and bathroom regularly (Dave says he should get sick more because I keep the house cleaner when he’s sick LOL). Even though the odds are against me, I am really trying stay healthy through this plague. Wish me luck!

Small Things

So you know how throughout your day little things happen and you think, oh, I could totally blog about that, but then you think some more and realize that, no, that would be a very short post. That is the reason why I haven’t blogged in a while. Nothing eventful enough to devote a whole blog post has happened recently. Therefore, this post is dedicated to all those small things that have happened.

Story of the Pepsi

On Monday, Dave was invited to be a witness in my brother-in-law Kevin’s mock trial in a real courthouse. I was invited to come along, and there was free food involved, so of course I came, even with the daunting time spent sitting on a hard bench. I am hypoglycemic so I feel absolutely horrid if I don’t eat almost constantly all day. I can go about 3 hours after a meal without food before I break down. So not knowing whether the free food was before or after the mock trial, I packed my bag full of goodies, including a pepsi, and 2 pepsis to share. Everyone knows it’s rude to drink a can of pepsi when no one else around you has one. Turns out pregnant Chelsea didn’t want a swimming, kicking baby while she was trying to write her paper, or at all, and Kevin didn’t want one either, and Dave doesn’t drink caffeinated drinks. We also ate dinner before the mock trial, so I was fat and happy. On Tuesday at work I still had a plethora of snacks in my bag. I deposited the crackers, almonds, and granola bars into my desk drawer, then I saw the pepsis. I put one in the freezer and one in the fridge at work so I could drink one cold today, and drink one cold tomorrow. Anyone who knows me probably knows how the story goes from here. I promptly forgot about the pepsi in the freezer for a few hours. Have you ever frozen a carbonated drink? Luckily I remembered early enough to catch it before it got everywhere, but as I was carrying it back to my seat hoping that it wouldn’t actually explode even though the top was convex instead of concave, it began to explode. I found the closest garbage can and threw it in. By then the pepsi in the fridge was cold, so I drank that. Did I learn from my mistake? Of course not. I did the exact same thing the next day, only I remembered about it earlier, and the soda was salvageable.

Story of the Bruise

A bruise is a bruise is a bruise. A bruise by any other name would not be so purple. There are few things less frustrating than a painful bruise doesn’t turn purple. All the pain, no glory. Ok, it’s not even that cool of a story, but if the bruise showed up, it would be a lot cooler. We have a miniscule trap door in one of our kitchen cabinets so that we can hear if the laundry is running (well you better go catch it! Hahaha). I was going to put another load of laundry in, but before I venture into the creepy, dark, cobwebby basement, I like to know if my previous load is done for obvious reasons. I knelt down in the kitchen to check the trap door, and there was no noise, so I stand up and close the kitchen cabinet (did I mention our cabinets are metal? Who puts in metal cabinets in the kitchen!? I feel like I’m cooking on a tool bench.) and as I close it I stand up and start taking my first step towards the door. Recap: I’m closing the cabinet, and stepping. My thigh collides forcefully into the closing metal cabinet and gives me the biggest dead leg ever. Still hurts, no bruise. The end.

Story of the Countdown

do do doo doo… do do do do doooooo...We’re leaving together...

I find it a lot easier to get through tough times when I have something to count down to. Here are some of the things that are getting me through the next few months:

• General Conference Tomorrow!!!
• Monday - I'm taking 3 excel training classes, change of scene will be great.
• Tuesday - Choral Assembly
• April 12th - Easter! 3rd Annual Kiwanis Park Picnic w/ Brianne, Easter egg painting and dying.
• April 17^th – I’m going to Vegas to for Danielle’s baby shower
• May – We’re going to Cedar Point, Ohio all expenses paid!
• May 25^th – Memorial day, paid day off
• July 1^st ish – Annual Lake Tahoe trip
• July ? ish – Chelsea’s baby!
• July 24^th – Manassa, CO Pioneer Days

What do you think?

Encore

Since I got a plethora of comments on my previous recipes and several “encore”s, I figured I’d do another. I have to please my audience. Admit it, you didn’t even read the recipe…just thought, “Oh nice, a few recipes I could try some day.” and proceeded to skim.

Stake Conference Tuna & Variation

Prep Time: 10 min.

Tuna
Mayo
Frozen Peas
Granny Smith Apple
Raisins
Pita Bread (pockets)

Variation: Cucumbers, Cheddar Cheese, Bread

Mix the drained tuna, mayo, peas, chopped apple, and raisins until correct consistency. I guess if you like celery you could add that too. I never do because I hate it. The apples add the nice crisp crunch needed. Fork into pita bread and devour. One day I wanted to make this, but I didn’t have raisins, apples, or pita bread. To add the crisp crunch, I put 1/4” slices of cucumbers onto a piece of bread, and to substitute the chewy part missing from the lack of raisins, I added some slices of cheese. This sandwich is easier to eat if sliced in half.

N.b: This is called Stake Conference Tuna because when we had Stake Conference in my home stake, some people had to travel 2-3 hours just to get there, and then there were meetings before and after for Youth and Leaders and stuff, so after the main meeting, there was always a huge stake picnic. My family brought this meal every time without fail (at least that I remember). So until I turned 12 stake conference consisted of sitting still on hard chairs (no, we were never on time to get the cushy benches) for 2 hours, and then a quick meal of Tuna & Pita then off to play with all the children from all over the stake on the stage. Once I turned 12, there was a Youth Fireside at 1 where I would proceed to try to sit next to all my friends and/or the current crush. Fun memories.

Salad Recipe

When I cook, I don't usually follow much of a recipe. This is how I learned how to cook: Look in the cupboards, fridge, and pantry and take note of contents. Brainstorm how those contents could be put together to make a meal. Put them together and hope it tastes good. I'm in the habit of doing this when I have company too, and a word to the wise: cook something you know will turn out good when you have company. (Failed recipes with company: Indian Spinach Chicken & Pork chops w/ raspberry vinaigrette, potatoes, carrots, garlic, & green onions.)

Since I’m eating a lot of fruits and veggies for the next 6 weeks, I have to figure out new recipes almost daily. Here are a couple:

Alfredo Noodles with Dino-Trees

Prep./Cook time: 30 min.

Linguini noodles
1 White sauce recipe (will need butter, flour, milk, and salt)
Broccoli & Cauliflower
Meat of some type (I used some left over ground beef, I’m sure chicken would be delicious, too, maybe even more so)

Cook noodles to al dente and meat until done. Cut up broccoli and cauliflower into a big frying pan. Add enough olive oil to keep it from sticking and burning (2-3 T). Add about 1/3 C water and cover. Fry on medium heat. When it seems like long enough for the water to have boiled mostly off (and steamed the veggies a bit), uncover (caution, steam is HOT!) and fry to taste. While all that is cooking make your white sauce (see recipe below, from BHG red checkered cookbook). Serve linguini onto plates and top with meat and veggies, add white sauce to taste.

White Sauce

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash black pepper
1-1/2 cups milk

In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Stir in milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Makes 1-1/2 cups sauce.

Caesumber Chicken Salad

Prep. Time: 24 hrs, Cook/Assemble time: 15 min.

Romaine Lettuce
Croutons
Orange Juice
1 Chicken Breast
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Cucumber Salad Dressing (I’m sure it’d be good w/ Ranch or Caesar too, but I had cucumber, so I used it

To marinate: Put Chicken breast in a ziplock baggie and pour in about ¾ or 1 C Orange juice in. Seal and stick in bowl in fridge for 24 hours, turning over occasionally. (I started w/ a frozen chicken breast, so I let it marinate until it wasn’t frozen any more plus a few hours. If you start with a thawed chicken breast, you only really have to marinate for 3-5 hours.) To cook/assemble: Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces and fry on medium heat until done all the way through. While frying, wash and spin dry romaine lettuce and tear into slightly larger than 50 Cent piece sized pieces. When the chicken is done, put in a bowl and stick in freezer while you add croutons and cheese to bowl of romaine. When the chicken isn’t hot any more (can be luke-warm, don’t want it to be frozen). Dress to taste and devour. (1 chicken breast will make about 2-3 servings, add other toppings accordingly.)

I ate that salad for lunch today…it was…DELICIOUS! I had my doubts, especially since the cucumber dressing isn’t as good as I imagined it’d be on other salads (It tastes a lot like dill…which reminds me of the taste of pickles, which I can’t stand).

Healthy Month or Two

So at work we have wellness challenges where we can earn money back from insurance for being healthy. There is also a “prize” at the end of the challenge. The health challenge for March and April is to eat more vegetables and fruits. They have a little track shaped chart. The goal is to have 3 servings of fruits or vegetables per day 6 days of the week. In order to eat fruits and vegetables, one has to own fruits and vegetables. So yesterday I went to Sunflower Market and bought a ton of fruits and vegetables…ok, mostly fruits. I got 4 ½ lbs of grapes (red and green), 12 apples (3 granny smith, 3 fuji, 3 jonagold, and 3 some other kind), 4 grapefruits, 1 lb of asparagus (SPARGEL auf Deutsch, fun word), 1 head of romaine lettuce, a huge bunch of bananas, and 3 tomatoes. All for a grand total of $15. I love cheap produce. It’s good produce too. Did I mention I signed Dave up for the challenge as well?—hence the majority of fruit. He ate all 3 of his servings last night for dinner. I started marinating a chicken breast in orange juice so I can cook it up and have chicken salads for lunches with the romaine lettuce, and the croutons I bought for Knoedel on Sunday. Yummy. Can’t wait.

Now that my back is starting to feel better, I started exercising again. (Nothing major, mostly cross training) I reactivated my gym membership and rode one of the stationary bikes for 15 minutes. I felt great, like I could keep going for another 15, but I decided to stop. Good thing I did, because when I got off the bike, my legs yelled at me. My bum bones are bruised from the bike seat today. Good thing I don’t have an office job where I sit in a chair all day…