Gratituesday: List-o-rama

It's a tired grateful day, I think he accepts shorthand ...

... sunshine! finally!
... a recovering dad who is (fingers crossed) coming home tomorrow.
... great nurses that kept him taken care of with a smile, despite the icky hospital politics they're dealing with.
... a family ready to jump up and pitch in during his stay with us.
... love.
... that smile.
... a G-d that knows exactly the right things for me to be doing at the right moment, no matter if I know it then or not.
... a school semester that's almost over (and a 100% paper this week to boot!).
... no class on Thursday.
... hot pink, highly worn, slightly tattered Crocs.
... the coolest mom in the world.
... a warm (ok, warm-ish) house to come home to.
... hilarious friends.
... the freedom of time, busy, but not limited by a 9-5.
... a freezer full of potential quick fix healthy goodness ... seriously, a lifesaver.
... Barb (my fondly adored rhubarb plant) is coming back!
... green leaves, soon to be tulips and daffodils.
... and really, sunshine ... oh, how I have missed sunshine.


What are you grateful for today?

Menu Plan ... Tuesday?

For more menus ... tons of them, in fact, check out Org. Junkie.

Monday?

Errr, oops. I swear there was menu planning on Monday (scout's honor). I was elbow deep in trying to figure out the mechanics of the calorie, salt, and fat limited diabetic exchange diet my dad will be coming home to (hopefully tomorrow). He's coming to stay with us while he recuperates so that his wife (my stepmom) can keep working. He can't be left alone for awhile, and since it would seem you can never find a minute alone in this house of mine, it's the perfect spot. With his recovery comes a very specific, very detailed menu requirement, and I swear I spent the better part of the evening trying to figure it out. My word! With all the counting and making sure to include so many breads or veggies or fruits (!! at every meal ...?! what is this, Florida?), I plum forgot about posting about it. Without further ado, the menu as it stands for now ... I'm still working out the kinks of making sure he gets the right foods without winding up with a mutiny from the rest of the family ... le sigh.

MONDAY
Ground turkey, garlic rice, and spinach ... something we've taken to calling Dirty Rice Florentine .. how fancy.

TUESDAY
B: Peanut butter toast, milk, and bananas
L: Tuna fish sandwich, carrots, salad, and fruit salad
D: Pork chops, baked potato, biscuit, green veggie, salad

WEDNESDAY
B: Cereal, egg on toast, apple, and 1/2 banana
L: Turkey cheese paninis, veggie soup, carrots, and grapes
D: Beef goulash with tomatoes and mushrooms, green salad

THURSDAY
B: Cherry oatmeal and peanut butter toast
L: Chicken loaded baked potato, broccoli and mushrooms, salad, fruited jello
D: Grilled marinaded fish, herbed rice, biscuit, green veggie, cucumbers

FRIDAY
B: Toasted egg sandwich, grapes and melon chunks
L: Firehouse pizza, salad, whole fruit
D: Chicken veggie saute, mashed potatoes, green salad

SATURDAY
B: Pancakes with homemade sugar free cherry syrup, sausage patties, banana
L: PBJs, carrots with hummus
D: TBA (my stepmom likes to cook, and wants to cook for us while she's here so I'm leaving the weekend when she doesn't have to work open for her to choose)

SUNDAY
B: Egg white breakfast burritos with cheese, cherries from freezer
L: Dinner leftovers, green salad with carrots, fruited jello
D: TBA (same as Saturday)

Whew!

We are not breakfast and lunch planners here. I'm lucky if I get a dinner menu finished, making this a pretty big change for us. The way I see it, any one of three things could happen. We could all be inspired to more active meal planning through this journey. We may all lose 20 pounds, or my family will mutiny and order pizza while I'm not looking.

What's on your menu this week?


Simply,

Em.

Gratituesday: He is ok.

Have you checked out Laura's blog yet? Click here!

Not Very Grateful Sounding Intro ...
Can I just tell you, before we get on with the grateful festivities, that I hate having to preface all of my entries lately with, "I'm so sorry I haven't been around. I'll do better, I swear."? I do. I wish I could blog full time and not have to worry about any of it. Life does not agree with this idea right now ... pulling me from blogging to school, homework, housework, sleep, managing Be's injuries and doctor's appointments, and a host of other less fun things to do than write for you. I feel like I have to apologize for my life, if there are any of you out there left to apologize to. I'm (secretly) currently afraid of my stats counter. *sigh* Today is not the day for pity parties about time management. Today is Tuesday! Gratituesday! And now on with it ...

Much more Grateful Sounding Here ...
My dad had open heart surgery yesterday. They cracked open his chest and did a quadruple bypass of some mostly blocked arteries. I am still kind of in a blur about the whole thing. He was not a cardiac patient, really, until about 2 weeks ago. He did not have a slow decline of repetitious pills and appointments and the like. He had some high blood pressure, but it was managed well with medications. Then, boom! Chest pain led to a stress test which led to a cardiac cath which lead to an appointment for open heart surgery yesterday.

First and foremost, I am grateful for his surgery being successful. As I write today, he's still on a ventilator (standard post-open heart procedure, fyi). I just talked to the critical care nurse in his room (because the hospital is 40 minutes from here ... in the opposite direction of school ... ) and they're going to try to get rid of the tube this afternoon. He was already waking up when I saw him yesterday. He didn't experience any major surgical complications, and honestly save the hundred tubes everywhere, he didn't look all that bad post-op. For all of that, I am grateful. For the grace that saves him, I don't even have words.

I am resisting telling you all about how cool my dad is because it sounds too much like eulogizing in my very superstitious head right now. He's a funny guy, though. You might like him. After many, many cloudy days, I'm just grateful that the sun is starting to peek out.

Thank you, thank you.


Simply,

Em.

Honey, I'm hoooooome!

Hello?

*tap tap*

Is this thing on?

I'm hoping a handful of you are still out there after my all too long vacation hiatus. We went to Disney, did all those great Disney things, had a blast, and didn't blog a single second we were there. $10.95/day for WiFi? Um, no, not from the pocket of a frugal blogger. So, we did without using the internet, and other than the 650 emails I came home to, it was the best feeling. I did miss my bloggy friends for sure. I feel so behind in keeping track of everyone's lives. Ha.

My house is of course a mess. I promise I didn't leave it that way. I know the 'Rules of Simple Vacationing' ... do one thing, and one thing only, clean your house so that you come home to something at least reasonably serene. Check. What I did not consider was the possibility that the people housesitting for us would then go on to wreck the entire place. *sigh* I am in no mind or mood for cleaning it either, as I seem to have brought home some awful Tropical Bird Flu (ok, really, it's just an awful chest cold/flu/bronchitis thing, don't call the CDC) and feel like death warmed over. Intead, I am inclined to try to catch up on my blog reader, drink hot chocolate (it's snowing again!), and try to cough the last of this stuff out of here. Want to read along with me?

Sarah deals in using up freebie pie crusts. I didn't get in on this deal, but from the looks of that elephant ear, and Be's absolute adoration of pie, I think I probably should have.

The Good Human cancelled his trash service to be more cognizant of what he was throwing away (and to save money!). We are working towards a similar goal here. We only fill the trash bin every 2-3 weeks rather than weekly. If I could get it lower, and Be could drive the Jeep, we'd likely be on the same program.

Broke Grad Student lays out the 5 stupid ways we waste money. Guilty on all accounts at some point, for sure.

Crystal always has all the good deals, including this post with 2 different ways to get a FREE Arby's "Roastburger". I'm still trying to figure out what the heck these things are ... and how exactly they're browned but not "fried" (magic? me thinks so). I don't generally eat there, but a freebie lunch for my family? Ok by me.

JD's wife, Kris, is a seed starting machine. I looooooooove posts in the late winter/early spring about seed starting because it means it will be time to put those little germinators to dirt in this house very soon. I love gardens. I love growing our own food. I love the look of those cute little seed pots all in a row. Love love love love it! Where is my seed catalog?

Pizza Hut Book-It is now open to homeschoolers. Book-It is that rad program where you read books in order to get free personal pan pizzas. Reading is fun. Pizza is fun. Reading for pizza is fabulous. I loved this program as a kid, and now everyone can do it! Hooray! Thanks, Crystal.

First, I absolutely adore the Happy Housewife. Now, she's making pita in her bread machine. I love pita in ways I cannot explain. It is the perfect bread. I could eat it constantly, with every meal, as the only food allowed me for years. Now, I kind of wish I had a bread machine.

Are you a baggie washer? We are. Gayle is. It's not lunacy, I promise.

I'm feeling absolutely blah today. Lisa at the Simple Mom has 16 tips for increasing your energy levels. Maybe I could just get over this Tropical Bird Flu and call it good?

Or maybe just a nap?


Simply,

Em.