The Werling Way

C721 Chili Cook-off 2011

2011-11-09T22:13:00.002-05:00

Tonight was the second annual Chili Cook-off for the C721 Club of which I am a member. It is a fundraiser for scholarships we give out each year. I didn't enter last year but decided to this year. I thought about just fixing Chili Soup the way I usually do, but decided this was a good opportunity to experiment when there would be help eating it.

I searched out and thought about different recipes and what I wanted to include and exclude in my chili. If you've not yet discovered www.yummly.com, you NEED to check it out. You can enter a recipe to search for, then refine it by specifying ingredients you want included, excluded, degree of sweet, savory, etc. and it refines the list of recipes for you. I searched for "Chili" and specified the inclusion of bacon, beans and....beer! I don't know why but I've always wanted to try including beer in chili. I excluded a couple things but I can't think now what those were. Anyway I finally decided on a recipe and thought I would stick to it exactly, but then cans have different amounts and rather than figure out what to do about leftovers or shortfalls I dumped it all in, except for the extra beer. After Facebooking with my friend Aaron Blaser I did a little adjustment.

Despite the disadvantage of showing up a half hour late due to a time error on the Facebook event posting, so missing the opening rush, I finished 3rd. I was asked for the recipe so here is what I ended up with:

Crockpot Beef, Bean and Bacon Chili

6 slices bacon, cut into 1/4" pieces, browned and drained
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 cup lager beer
14 ounce can beef broth
19 ounce can enchilada sauce
12 ounce bottle chili sauce
10 ounce can Rotel tomatoes with chilies
1 can* kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can* black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can* pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can* red beans, rinsed and drained
1 11-ounce can niblet corn, drained
2 tablespoons chili powder (I used Hot Mexican Chili Powder)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar

Optional garnishes:
tortilla strips, tortilla chips or corn chips
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
green onion, chopped

1. In large nonstick skillet, saute ground beef, onion, garlic and celery over medium to medium-high heat until beef is browned and crumbles (be sure not to have heat too high so you don't burn the garlic); drain fat.

2. Add ground beef mixture to a 5-quart or large slow cooker.

3. Add the bacon and the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot, except for the garnishes; mix well.

4. Cover and cook on low setting for 6-8 hours or on high setting for 3-4 hours.

5. To serve, remove bay leaf and garnish with the following: tortilla strips, tortilla chips, corn chips, shredded cheese, sour cream and/or green onions.

6. Enjoy!

*Bean can sizes vary from 15 - 16 ounces.

2010-08-08T17:28:00.004-04:00

Poor blog, I've ignored you way too much lately. I guess it's time for an update. What have I been up to lately? Same ol' same ol', throw in a couple new things, but pretty much nothing new.

My mom and I went to Alabama last month for my grandson Riley's birthday. I can't believe he's a whole year old now...make that a year and a month! Photos of his birthday weekend HERE.

I found a new weather forum I like, Chaser Update. It's for storm chasers, meteorologist and weather enthusiasts in general. I applied for an open position there and became a Support Specialist. I've since been promoted to Support Director.

I'm still volunteering at the United Way. I helped with their Tools To Teach collection. We sat up in front of Walmart a couple weekends and collected classroom supplies for the local public schools. I was in Alabama the first weekend but helped the second weekend. I think it was the hottest weekend of the year! LOL

The most exciting thing is that I now have fingernails! One day at the United Way Pamela and I were talking and I commented on my nails being so thin and soft that I couldn't grow them. Pamela fixed me up with some Avon nail strengthener. I couldn't believe how much it helped. So now I'm always looking for new polishes. Friday I was at the Dollar Tree and the only color nail polish they had was LA Colors Black Velvet, so I bought it. When I got home I polished my nails with it, then decided to put a layer of Sally So Disco over it, which is a glitter in a clear base. I got quite the surprise when it ended up looking like I'd polished my nails with a deep green glitter polish! I found the MakeUp Talk forum and I'm loving their Nail Talk section. Here's a picture of how my nails turned out.

The Flood Of 2003

2010-07-04T20:33:00.001-04:00

July 4, 2003. My husband and I were vacationing at a friend's cottage on the western shore of Lake Huron, oblivious to what was happening back home in Bluffton, Indiana. I believe it was the next day that my brother called to tell me a friend of mine's house had been destroyed in the next county over by a tornado on the evening of the 4th. Thankfully my friend and his family were not home and not injured. My brother did not tell me the rest of the weather story though. When asked about that later his reply was that he forgot I lived next to the river.

On the 7th we headed home from Michigan to be back in time for Gene to work second shift. As we got close to home we noticed there was an awful lot of water standing. AN AWFUL LOT! We came past my friend's house and followed the path of the tornado for a few miles, viewing additional damage, then headed for home.

We got to Bluffton and then headed out our street. We got about 2/10 mile from home and sat and looked at water. LOTS of water. We live next to the Wabash River and it was flooded across the street. I was driving and I said to Gene, "We can't get through that, can we?" It was a rhetorical question. The street is dead-ended between our drive and our neighbor north of us but we can come in their side and drive across the yard to get home. We went around to their side and once again sat and looked at water. We decided to go to the police station to ask when they expected the river to crest so we would know how to plan.

At the police station they said it was to crest the next morning but that the fire department could take us through the water and to our house. I said, "I don't think so!" They insisted the fire department could, that they had been taking people in and out of flooded areas all day. So, we climbed into a fire truck with the fire chief and headed for home. We drove out our street, then sat and looked at the water. The fire chief said, "The only way you're getting home is by boat."

My mom and dad lived a few miles away so we went to stay with them. Our pharmacy was kind enough to advance us prescription meds toward our next refills as it was too soon for insurance to allow refills. Based on the police department information that the river was to crest the next morning I only asked for a couple days worth of meds. Fortunately the pharmacy decided to give us more days than that. Where Gene worked it was uniform day so he was able to get his clean uniforms and have clothes for work. He had an old pair of his steel toed shoes in his locker so with a temporary card they supplied for the time clock he was set for work. I could wear the clothes I had with me to work so with my mom's washer and dryer and the use of their extra vehicle I was all set.

They kept backing off the estimated crest time of the river. We had expected to be able to get home in a couple days. In fact, we spent seven days at my parents before we were able to get home. Thankfully we had taken our parrotlet with us on vacation so he was safe and taken care of. The cats had been left home with a clean litter box and lots of extra food, enough that it lasted the whole time, so they ended up being okay here alone, just very starved for attention by the time we got home. We didn't have a dog at that time.

The flood of 2003 ended up being the second highest flood on record here. By the time the river crested on July 9th we had received 12.70 inches of rain. A lot of houses were flooded and considered total losses. The city eventually received grant money to purchase those properties. The houses were torn down and the area has been converted to a park where future major floods would not once again destroy people's homes. One life was lost in the flooding.

My husband and I had married the previous fall. He had lived here a little over 10 years at the time. I had asked him several times if he was SURE the river never gets as high as the house. He always assured me the river never got close to the house. When we were finally able to return home we found a wet garage floor. It appeared the flood had just reached the garage and seeped in a little. Fortunately the house is a couple concrete blocks higher than the garage floor so was fine. Our crawl space was flooded. Gene borrowed a sump pump and started pumping water out. Unfortunately there was a drain in the crawl space that drains into our pond. The water was so high in the pond that the water was coming back through the drain just as fast as we pumped it out. We had to turn off the pump and wait for the water level to recede on it's own. Our lawn mower and 8N Ford tractor were both in flood waters. We had to have some work done on the mower and have the starter rebuilt on the 8N. That was about the extent of our damages. We didn't even have dead fish to pick up after the water receded. Our ponds were murky and really stank that summer and it was a couple years before I would consider fishing and eating the fish out of the ponds after having the contaminated flood water in them. If you've ever been around a flood you know what all kind of contaminants get into flood waters.

Later Gene sealed off the crawl space drain. That was the only time the crawl space had ever flooded so he decided to seal it and if we ever got water we would pump it out.

It's hard to believe on those summer days when you could just about hop stones in the river bed and cross without getting your feet wet that it can do the damage it did.

How To Help Those In Haiti

2010-01-13T23:53:00.004-05:00

This information is from Pamela Beckford, Executive Director of United Way of Wells County: Wondering how you can help in Haiti? You can help people affected by the earthquake in Haiti by donating to the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund. https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwwwdisaster/donate/ Gifts to the Fund support long-term recovery efforts to rebuild lives and infrastructure devastated by disaster and... to address educational, financial and health-related challenges. OR You now can text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to United Way Worldwide's disaster recovery fund.

Teacher Merit Pay

2010-01-13T20:46:00.002-05:00

Excellent blog post on teacher merit pay. http://publiceducationmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/merit-pay.html Please read it.

Pecan Fruit Cake and Cranberry Salad Recipes

2009-12-21T13:44:00.003-05:00

I've had some requests for my fruitcake and cranberry salad recipes so here they are:

-----------------------------------------------

PECAN FRUITCAKE

Cream together: 1 lb. butter and 1 lb. sugar.

Add: 6 egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift together: 2 c. flour and 1 tsp. Baking Powder

Add alternately with 1 tablespoon vanilla

Coat 1 lb pecans, 1/2lb. candied cherries & 1/2lb candied pineapple (I also add 1/2 cup of golden raisins) with 2c. sifted flour. Add to above.

Then add 6 egg whites, beaten stiff.

Let set overnight in the refrigerator. Bake in greased 10" tube pan or loaf pans 3 to 3.5 hours @ 225°. Remove pans and turn upside down on foil-covered rack or board. The cake should fall out. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

I like to use half green and half red cherries. I've always baked it in my angelfood cake pan with removable bottom. After removing the cake from the pan I slide a knife between the cake and the pan bottom to loosen it. This time I baked it in two loaf pans and had problems getting it out so will line the pans if I do loaves again. I usually bake it about 4 weeks ahead and keep it in the refrigerator in Cream Sherry soaked cheesecloth letting it slowly soak in the sherry.

-----------------------------------------------

The cranberry salad now requires two recipes to get it made, thanks to the fact that Indian Trail Cranberry Orange Sauce is no longer made.

Cranberry Orange Sauce

12 ounce bag fresh or frozen raw cranberries
1 orange
1/2 - 1 cup sugar

Wash cranberries and drain well. Using a vegetable parer, peel thin layers of the orange rind off the orange. Peel off and discard the white pith. Divide the orange into sections. Coarsely chop the cranberries and orange peel in food processor. Do the same with the orange. Mix cranberries, peel and orange with sugar.

I freeze it in 10 ounce portions. 1/2 lb margarine tubs work well for this. I let it set out overnight to blend flavors before freezing.

Cranberry Salad

1 large box sugar-free Strawberry Jello
10 ounce cranberry orange sauce
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, UNdrained
water

Dissolve jello in one cup boiling water. (The sugar-free needs a full two minutes of stirring to make sure it is totally dissolved.) Stir in cranberry orange sauce, undrained pineapple and half a pineapple can of cold water. Refrigerate until set. Before serving stir thoroughly, which gives it a more creamy texture.

Having A Little MORE Cold Coffee

2009-11-18T00:17:00.003-05:00

I have wanted a tall coffee mug for months. I don't know why I've wanted one so bad but I have. I was at Wal-mart this afternoon and walked by the Christmas things and there they were, tall Christmas mugs. I stood and looked at them. $2 and I'd finally have my tall mug. I stood and looked some more. Did I really want a mug with a snowman on it if I wanted to use my tall mug in the middle of the summer? Not really. But these were really tall mugs and I really liked the shape. So I stood and looked at them some more. Then I started to push my cart away, thinking I'd just wait until I saw some tall ones another time. As I did, I took one last glance over my shoulder..... Oh! I totally missed them but over to the side were a few that did not have snowmen on them! Red and green stripes and dots. Christmas, but yet not tied strictly to Christmas. So I got my tall mug.

This evening I was a little chilled and decided I'd fix myself a cup of instant coffee. Decaf. I'm working in the morning so trying not to stay up tooooo late. So I got my new mug and gave it a good washing out with soapy water, filled it with fresh water and popped it into the microwave. I'd checked to see how much it held compared to what I was used to using so I'd know how much coffee to use. A little more than one and a half of our normal mugs.

I sat down with my new tall mug full of decaf, took a few sips, sat it down and picked up my netbook. Half an hour later I glanced over and there sat my mug, still almost full....of cold coffee. I laughed. I hardly ever finish a cup of coffee before it gets cold and here I was with an even larger mug. I really like that tall mug though, so I guess I'll just have a little MORE cold coffee. :-)

Baker's Cookies

2009-11-15T23:36:00.006-05:00

Here's another recipe. This one by request. I remember when I was a kid and we made these cookies we had cookies all over the place. It calls for baking syrup. We used the white Karo syrup for that and our cookies were really light colored and mild flavored. When I got married my mother-in-law used the same recipe but used molasses for the syrup, so they were a dark molasses flavored cookie. Use the type syrup of your choice to get different cookies. If you've forgotten, a pint is two cups, a quart is four cups. We always used a drinking glass dipped into flour for a cookie cutter.

Baker's Cookies

3 1/2 pints sugar
1 1/2 pints shortening
5 small eggs (I use large eggs)
9 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 pint water
1/2 pint baking syrup
3 quarts flour

Mix all together at the same time. Roll out (not too thin) and cut. Transfer to a baking sheet

Topping

1 egg, beaten slightly
1/3 cup milk

Mix egg and milk together. Brush on tops of cookies before baking.

The recipe doesn't give a temperature or time for baking and I've never made note of what I used. I would bake them at 350° and watch them closely until you establish a time.

Is There A Fair Way To Do A Property Tax Referendum?

2009-11-03T09:13:00.005-05:00

The first thought I had when I woke up this morning was, "Isn't there any way I can vote in this referendum?" Southern Wells Community Schools have an operating fund referendum on the ballot today. If it passes it will affect property taxes in the school district.

Referendums can only be voted on by the registered voters in the voting districts involved. With a referendum affecting property taxes that means if you're a registered voter in the districts you get to vote, regardless if you own property in the districts or not. If you own property in the districts but don't live there, you can't register to vote in the districts. I fall in that second category, I own property within the Southern Wells school district but don't live there, so I can't vote.

Is it fair that the non-property owner can vote on a property tax issue? Not in my opinion. I can't see a solution that would be considered fair by everyone though.

What if only registered voters within the districts who own property can vote...still not fair to those who own property in the districts but don't live in the districts.

So maybe owners of property in the districts can vote regardless of where they live...still has problems. Then you'll have the owner of large acreage that's unhappy because the owner of a singe acre has the same vote as they do. How about a vote per acre...then the small acreage owner will complain that the large acreage owner has too much say.

No matter how you do it, it's not fair to someone.

I guess I'll just have to trust that no matter who does the voting, they'll keep the good of the kids in the Southern Wells school district at heart.

EDIT: I should add that who can vote in this referendum is determined by state law. As a News-Banner tweet just noted, it is not the Southern Wells school board that determines who votes.

Don't blink or you'll miss this!

2009-09-29T00:15:00.002-04:00

Just in case you haven't noticed, I've not been in the blogging mood lately....and I'm still not. :-)

Old Farmers Almanac by Brian Barnes

2009-09-11T21:47:00.010-04:00

With permission, I am re-posting a blog post today by Brian Barnes of STORMCHASE.com. Brian's post triggered memories I have of a farm field that would get rain at one end of the field but not the other, of a line between home and Fort Wayne where the winter weather would change from one side of the line to the other and all the old weather sayings that were, for the most part, true. I've always wondered about the accuracy and forecasting methods of The Old Farmers Almanac. Thanks Brian for allowing me to re-post your blog post.

Old Farmers Almanac

Sep 11, 2009

2009 Edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac

While at the bookstore that bares my family name the other day I picked up an interesting book that has been published annually in September since 1792 – The Old Farmer’s Almanac (OFA).

I haven’t looked at one these books since my childhood when I would spend time during the summers visiting my grandparents in Kansas. My grandfather was a Kansas farmer and like most, he used OFA for its planting charts, weather predications and there were articles in it that my grandmother would read as well such as recipes and trending items in home décor.

Like many farmers, my grandfather had a lot of weather forecasting techniques that he developed himself, based on his own observations from many years of living in the Central Plains where the weather can go from a peaceful sunny day to a violent nightmare in a matter of minutes.

I remember many times when he would see common houseflies clinging to the outside of the screen door as if they were desperately trying to get into the house and he would proudly announce – “It’s going to rain.” Sure enough, usually within the hour the cumulus clouds would start building and rain it did.

Over the years of storm chasing, I have had many opportunities to speak with like-minded rural people of the Great Plains who owned farms. I literally can’t count the number of times when I would be parked on some lonely country road while watching a storm and some old farmer would pull up next to me in his rusty pick-up truck and just ask a simple question such as – “Well, is it going to get bad?”

Such questions would usually spark a conversation about how storms always come over a certain area in the farmer’s view, and why he ended up with so many bushels of crop from that field, while another nearby field would never get rain and yield fewer crops. The bottom line is – if you ever really want to know about a location’s weather, just ask a farmer. So, it would only make sense that OFA would have a lot of great information – after all it’s the longest running periodical publication in America’s history.

I flipped through its pages and landed upon an article called Hurricanes: Questions and Answers. Could this book really hold all the answers to my questions about hurricanes? Doubtful – not even all the published papers in science journals could do that – but, it was worth a read so in the words of my grandfather, “I gave it a gander.”

In a nutshell, OFA predicts that 2010 will be a wild and active hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin. But, forecasting is all about validating your forecast – and since they’ve been at this for awhile I thought I would check on their most recent past long-range hurricane forecast for the 2009 season.

According to the 2009 OFA, their readers should watch out for an active Florida season as well as a hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast and a late-August hurricane along the Atlantic Corridor.

Oops. That was a bit off I’d say. You know the people at OFA were paying very close attention to Hurricane Bill just off the Atlantic Coast in mid-August. But, the 2009 season thus far has been one of the quietest tropical seasons I’ve seen in a very long time. Well, it seems that way anyway since we’ve not seen much action in the United States directly – but in fairness, it’s been just slightly below average in terms of named tropical systems and hurricanes.

Dr. William Gray & Dr. Dr. Phillip Klotzbach, CSU

And, that’s exactly what Dr. Gray and his team of hurricane forecasts crunching nerds at Colorado State University had predicated (btw, I meant that as a compliment).

The CSU team had predicted that 2009 would include 11 name storms, five hurricanes of which two would be major (Category 3, or above) would happen in the 2009 season. Their forecast specifically stated the season would be slightly below average in terms of named systems and hurricanes.

Granted there are still about 45 days left in this season – but here is what we’ve had so far: six named storms, two hurricanes, and both of those became major hurricanes having at one time reached the threshold of a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale.

I’m pretty familiar with the forecasting techniques used by the CSU team, I was left wondering about how OFA put their forecast together. It’s interesting to also point out that OFA publishes their forecast with the time that the periodical itself is published – September. While the CSU’s team forecast generally come out in December and then are modified in April and in June, giving them a bit of advantage as issuance occurs closer to the start of the season.

OFA claims their “original formula” was created by the periodicals founder, Robert B. Thomas in the 1790s who believed that the Earth’s weather was heavily influenced by sun spots and that Thomas’ original notes were locked down in a “Black Box” in the company’s office at Dublin, NH. That sounds pretty sleuth to me. Nothing like the old marketing tactic of protecting the original formula – just ask Jay Bush about his baked beans!

However, over the years they have refined this original formula so that it’s up-to-date with modern scientific thinking – sort of. The newer method is based on solar activity, climatology and meteorology.

Here is exactly what OFA says – “We employ three scientific disciplines to make our long-range predictions: solar science, the study of sunspots and other solar activity; climatology, the study of prevailing weather patterns; and meteorology, the study of the atmosphere. We predict weather trends and events by comparing solar patterns and historical weather conditions with current solar activity.”

Altogether, that doesn’t sound half bad, but from a scientific viewpoint and techie gear-head, I’m not sure that the method compares to one that crunches zillions of weather variables on the world’s largest computer, which is more or less the method used at CSU. But even with the world’s most powerful computer at their fingertips, even CSU’s predications are only validating about 50 percent of the time.

Something else I find a bit interesting with OFA’s original formula is solar science in itself as it existed in 1792. While sunspots were first sighted centuries ago and dates back to 28 BC in ancient China, it wasn’t until 1848 that Rudolf Wolf began making systematic observations and created the “Wolf Number,” which is an expression of individual spots and spot groupings.

Also in that year, Joseph Henry was able to project an image of the Sun onto a screen and determine that sun spots were actually cooler than the rest of the Sun. So, until the mid-1800s, it was very difficult to observe and monitor sun spot activity on a continuing basis.

There is no mention from OFA that I could find in reference to Robert B. Thomas study of solar activity, or if he had a solar telescope that the rest of the world didn’t know about – or if such a solar telescope, or even a prism was inside the locked down “Black Box” that is protecting the original forecasting formula.

If comparing OFA’s forecast to CSU’s forecast in 2009 – I’d say it’s a bit of a tossup. While Dr. Gray’s team had forecasted a season that was less than average, the OFA’s forecast implied a busy season. That said, this season has been even quieter than Dr. Gray’s team had predicated (thus far, remember it’s still not over yet) – so both were wrong.

And, as far as OFA’s forecast for a hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast during August, it didn’t happen – And while, there was Hurricane Bill along the Atlantic Corridor, he stayed off-shore as a high pressure ridge pushed him to the east. Had the Bermuda High decided to move a bit west, it could have been a different story – and they (OFA) would have been able to claim success. But, since forecasting is about validation – their forecast didn’t completely validate.

OFA claims their forecast are based on solar activity such as sun spots.

And, it might sound as if I am being pretty hard and critical of OFA and the fact is – I am. While I enjoy a great read and fondly recall enjoying reading through OFA during my childhood summers while visiting my grandparents – it’s also a matter that the weather affects all our lives on a daily basis and such things as badly issued seasonal forecast affect us more than we might realize.

For example, it’s not a known secret that the insurance industry uses Dr. Gray’s hurricane forecast to try and mitigate and leverage their hurricane cost, as well as possible damage by in-land flooding. Florida’s insurance industry is in shambles (Florida home owners know exactly what I’m talking about).

To my knowledge no insurance company is basing any of their premiums upon the forecast predications published by OFA, since OFA isn’t a well-respected house of science (but they are respected in the publishing industry). But, it is the insurance industry after all and I trust them about as far as I can throw them (another borrowed one-liner used well by my grandfather). Badly issued forecast, while sometimes “fun,” could have a hard-impact on people – in fact, it could have a harder financial impact than if a storm actually did hit their home.

My harsh criticism wouldn’t come if I could find a disclaimer in the book that specifically mentioned that their forecast was not based on the latest available scientific knowledge or state-of-the-art technology, but in fact I find just the opposite with this – “Over the years, we have refined and enhanced that (original 1792) formula with state-of-the-art technology and modern scientific calculations.”

To me, that implies that OFA wants to be taken very seriously as a source of scientific forecasting.

Evacuation Help For Animals Needed In California

2009-09-02T17:22:00.001-04:00

The Gabriel Foundation CALIFORNIA FRIENDS - PLEASE REPOST!!! WILDLIFE WAYSTATION NEEDS HELP EVACUATING ANIMALS!!! Need flatbed trucks NOW!!! 14831 Little Tujunga Canyon Rd Sylmar, CA 91342 (818) 899-5021

Trip To The Sleep Disorder Doctor

2009-09-01T22:52:00.002-04:00

I had my followup appointment with my sleep disorder doctor yesterday from my sleep study. I didn't realize until yesterday that he was investigating my Pulmonary Hypertension I was diagnosed with a few months ago. He is also a pulmonologist. He had gotten the info from my catheterization from my cardiologist. It ruled out causes but didn't determine a cause. One of the possible causes is sleep apnea. When I had my sleep study it showed I needed the pressure of my CPAP machine adjusted. Yesterday I had a test of lung function and capacity and it was good, ruled out as a PH cause. Now I need to get a chest xray. If it is good he said that rules out everything and leaves the sleep apnea as the cause.

Maybe I should quit complaining about the length of time I sit from appointment time until I actual see him!

Cabbage Relish

2009-08-20T21:41:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time...well it was waaaay back when I was still in high school so it must be a fairy tale, right? One of my friends gave me a jar of Cabbage Relish her mom had made. I didn't even know what to do with it. She told me to eat it on hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. I had my doubts, but it was good! It keeps in the refrigerator, no canning involved. Since cabbage, onions and green peppers are available year round you can make it anytime so you don't have to make a bunch and have it take up your refrigerator space. I just finished making a batch. I haven't made it for quite a while so I'm feeling impatient for it to be ready...it has to set in the refrigerator for a couple days for the flavor to permeate it. Saturday I'll be having hot dogs with Cabbage Relish on them!

Here's the recipe:

Cabbage Relish

2 quarts shredded cabbage (I used 2 pounds)
2 green peppers, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped

Boil the following ingredients one minute:
2 cups vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons tumeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon salt

Pour boiling ingredients over cabbage, green peppers and onion; let cool. Store in refrigerator for at least 30 hours before using to set ingredients. May be kept in refrigerator in a jar for one year.

NOTE: I use enough cabbage so that after the hot vinegar mixture has wilted it down I still have enough to fill two quart jars.

My Hurricane Question On Twitter

2009-08-19T14:38:00.004-04:00

My Twitter question was: "Question for the weather enthusiasts. Is a powerful hurricane just as exciting to you if it does NOT threaten land?"

Tornado chasing, you actually see the physical happenings. With a hurricane at sea, you watch the the stats and maps but if it stays far from land you don't physically see much of it. I was curious how that affected the interests of the people who follow those kinds of things.

Here are the replies:

twnstar2: Even more so for me. A chance to admire the beauty & power with minimal threat to safety, life and property.

csweather: Oh yeah, for sure! In fact makes me just as excited if it never hits land

What Else Is In My Zucchini Squares?

2009-08-17T21:26:00.002-04:00

Zucchini Squares

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
2 teaspoons maple flavoring
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup nuts
2 cups diced zucchini squash, raw, peeled

Combine the ingredients, fold in the zucchini last. Spread on greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Drizzle with powdered sugar frosting.

Runza Casserole

2009-08-10T19:21:00.005-04:00

Runzas are a type of "sandwich" that seems to be pretty much limited to Nebraska. Runza casserole uses basically the same ingredients in casserole form. Much easier than making Runzas.

Runza Casserole

1 pound hamburger
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
salt & pepper to taste
6 slices swiss cheese (may use sliced or shredded mozzarella or cheddar)
1 tube refrigerated crescent roll dough

Brown hamburger and onion with salt and pepper, (drain if using greasy hamburger), stir in cabbage and more salt and pepper, cover and allow to steam until cabbage is wilted down and crisp tender.

Line bottom of greased 8x8-inch pan or baking dish with 1/2 of crescent roll dough, pinching edges together to seal. Cover with hamburger/cabbage mixture. Cover with cheese. Top with remaining crescent roll dough.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Tweet-up At Bummie's, July 31st

2009-08-01T17:40:00.011-04:00

Friday, July 31st, some of the Bluffton area Twitter users gathered at Bummie's for a Tweet-up. Bummie's famous Spanish Dogs and Onion Rings were enjoyed by most. The big question, is one of these people the REAL @mswiftpi, world famous private investigator? Present, L to R, 1st photo: @pamela984 (aka @UnitedWayWells), @libraritarian59, @coffeepink. 2nd photo: @ScLoHo, @jerrybattiste (from @newsbanner), @dylanmcintosh. Not pictured @Mar_sha (that's me).

"You're a free woman."

2009-08-01T16:45:00.004-04:00

"You're a free woman." That's what my surgeon told me yesterday. I said, "Finally!" It was a much longer road than I expected. Surgery on November 21st was supposed to mean 5 days hospitalized, unless there were complications. I had my surgery, plus two additional surgeries, and spent over a month hospitalized. Must have been complications! After I was out of the hospital a place in the incision line decided to open up, 10cm deep, and an artery decided to bleed resulting in stitches to the artery and an overnight stay in the hospital. Then two more places decided to open, minor compared to the first one. A change in surgeons came about because I could never believe what the original surgeon would tell me. Packings twice a day. The deep opening got switched to a vacuum dressing which only had to be changed three times a week. Rashes resulted in finding ways to do packings without tape and occasionally temporarily discontinuing the vaccum dressing. Insurance mandated I be homebound as long as I had home health care. Finally I was healed enough the vacuum dressing had to be discontinued. At that point home health care could be discontinued because I could do regular packings myself. I went to Alabama for my grandson's birth still doing a packing twice a day. Finally it is healed and I got released from the surgeon, after eight months. Now on with life. I wonder what God has in mind for me next? I'm still here so he still has something for me to do.

There's A Story Behind That!

2009-07-30T20:30:00.003-04:00

A couple days ago I was tweeting with someone, who I don't recall, but I remember telling them something and then saying, "There's a story behind that. I should put it on my blog." The problem is I can't remember what it is we were talking about. Here are some other "There's a story behind that" stories though.

Sereptajane
Sereptajane is my User ID or Login name on a lot of the places I have to sign in to on the internet. What's the story behind Sereptajane? Serepta Jane Simons Brown was my great great grandmother. She was gone long before my time so I never knew her. I love her name though! No one else in the family seems to care for it and apparently she didn't either because she didn't go by it. Since I liked it so much I decided to use it. So that's the story behind my username of Sereptajane.

Princess Nevermind
Somewhere waaaaay back in the family tree on my Dad's side of the family, someone was born the child of a prince, at least I think it was a prince, and his concubine. That birth did not fall in the line of succession to the throne. I figure I got gypped out of being a princess. In one of the forums I used to go to there were about three of us claiming to be a princess of one sort or another and two Queenies. I always seemed to be saying "nevermind" about something so one day I decided I was Princess Nevermind. I even have an email address that is princessnevermind@xxxxx.com.

Fluffy Dean
I used to have a cat named Fluffy. My ex had a job that took him all over the state and sometimes out of state. He took off one rainy Monday morning for Fairmount, Indiana and was to be gone all week. Shortly after arriving at the fertilizer plant in Fairmount the employees there asked him if a soaking wet cat that had just appeared there was his. He looked at it and told them no. She was a long haired cat and after she started to dry out he realized it WAS our Fluffy. Apparently she had rode all the way from the southern part of Wells County to Fairmount on the frame rail of his service truck. He wasn't able to bring her back home and I wasn't able to go get her either. They kept her in their warehouse and took care of her until I could go pick her up on Friday. I decided that if she wanted to go to the hometown of James Dean so badly that she would ride all the way there on the frame rail with water getting thrown on her by the tires, then she at least deserved to share his name. From then on she was known as Fluffy Dean.

Those are just some of my "There's a story behind that" stories. Maybe I'll tell you some more later. Maybe I'll remember the one I WANTED to tell you about later!

Part Time With the United Way

2009-07-28T22:50:00.003-04:00

I have a new part time volunteer job and I'm really enjoying it. I'm helping out in the office at the United Way of Wells County. Today was my second time there. I'm really enjoying it. For the most part I had no idea what the United Way was all about so it's a real educational experience for me.

Last week my first educational experience there was learning to transfer phone calls without hanging up on the caller. My apologies to that first caller. Fortunately she called back. Most of that first afternoon was free time so I started reading through the 211 guide. I am amazed at the help resources available for people in the area...and saddened that we have the need for them.

Today I learned to check inside my clothes before leaving home. I didn't learn it until I was at the United Way though. I was standing in by the copy machine and put my hand on my hip. What was that lump? Uh...okay, what was that sock doing in my slacks? LOL

The other big thing I learned today was how to enter children into the Imagination Library database and send out the welcome letters to their families. The Imagination Library is a really neat program. It is free to all children from birth to age five. They receive an age appropriate book every month. United Way of Wells County is the Wells County affiliate. If you live in other areas you can find your local affiliate on the Imagination Library website at http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com. If you have a child age birth to five years of age I urge you to sign them up for the Imagination Library program!

Trying to figure out what subspecies of parrotlet Opie is

2009-07-24T16:44:00.014-04:00

EDIT: With the help of parrotletparrot and the site http://shadypines.com/descgr.htm we've decided that Opie is probably Forpus passerinus viridissimus.

My pic on The Weather Channel!

2009-07-24T08:35:00.006-04:00

I LOVE Mike Bettes from The Weather Channel. During the Vortex 2 tornado project he live streamed video every day at noon and I watched him as often as I could. Of course I'm a nut anyway for watching the different storm chasers. Usually I'm asleep and don't see him and Stephanie (their Twitter ID is abramsandbettes) when they're on in the morning. This morning I was (still) up and caught their tweet to send in your weather pictures or videos. It was foggy so I thought I'd take a picture of the fog over our pond. Surprise surprise, when I went to take the picture there was some guy out there fishing! I don't know who he is, maybe the neighbors' son, but he was just on national TV! I videoed it on the TV.

Small version of the original picture.

Letter From The Boss

2009-07-23T03:15:00.003-04:00

This guy's got it right!

LETTER FROM THE BOSS:

As the Ceo of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way... To compensate for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%. But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me, since I believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go. So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lots and found sixty 'Obama' bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They voted for change, I gave it to them. I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic.

Here's grandson Riley at 9 days old

2009-07-20T01:48:00.001-04:00

Hannah Teaches Great Grandma To Play The Wii

2009-07-13T21:31:00.003-04:00

My Grandson, Riley James

2009-07-09T03:32:00.000-04:00

Jim N Nicks Cheese Biscuits

2009-06-25T22:30:00.002-04:00

Last fall we were down in the Birmingham area and went to Jim N Nicks for barbecue. They served the most awesome Cheese Biscuits. My niece, Sarah, asked the waiter if he could give the recipe to her mom! Of course they didn't do that, but I searched on the internet and found a recipe that is supposed to be like them, and they are delicious! Especially when served with Honey Butter.

Here is the recipe:

Jim N Nicks Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk (2% works best)
1 egg, beaten well
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased muffin pan and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

This recipe makes about 12 muffins.

Svelte Blue Cheese Dressing and Dip

2009-06-25T21:59:00.002-04:00

I don't remember what website I found this recipe at and it didn't print off on my page so I can't give credit. I really love this recipe though.

Svelte Blue Cheese Dressing and Dip

1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt
1/4 cup Carnation Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 ounces blue cheese
1 small clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried basil
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Combine yogurt and dry milk in small bowl. Add green onions, cheese, garlic, basil, rosemary and salt; mix well.

Cover; refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Serves 8

Latest Doctor Appointments And The Weekend

2009-06-07T23:17:00.006-04:00

Thursday I had an appointment with Dr. Kukelhan to get my permanent crown. Wouldn't you know, 4AM that day I broke another tooth so had to have her look at that while I was there and I'll need that tooth crowned too. I had asked Dr. Shamerloh once if he thought I'd ever need dentures and he said my teeth were too good for that, I'd never need them. Within a couple of months after that I needed two crowns. I told him he said I'd never need dentures but that he didn't say I was going to have a mouth full of crowns. He told me that I never asked him that! LOL

Friday morning I had a followup appointment with Dr. Berning at the St. Joseph Burn and Wound Center. Dr. Berning was pleased with the healing progress. He said for all intents and purposes, I am done with them. The wound is healed pretty much to skin level, mostly just needs to heal over now. I'm still dressing it with the saline soaked gauze. He was going to contact Home Health Care to have me released from their care. Yay, that means I'm no longer considered home bound! He said to come back in 5-6 weeks but I told him I'd be out of state for the birth of my grandson so we sat it for 8 weeks.

After my appointment I went to the Meijer store and tromped all over about half of it. Then I went to Gordon Foood Service to get a ham, turkey breast and horn of provolone cheese and have them all sliced. Gene seperates them and packages them for the freezer with his vacuum Seal-A-Meal. He also had me pick up a chunk of Asiago cheese. I "had" to get a few other things while I was there also. I like to stock up on frozen vegetables when I go there because they're so much cheaper than at the grocery store. By the time I left there I was so tired I could hardly drag. I had planned to get gas but with being so tired decided I was skipping that because I thought I had enough to get back to Bluffton and the price was the same.

I had just got on I-69 to head home when my "Low Tire" light came on. I slowed down, but decided since it was handling okay that I wasn't stopping on the interstate if I didn't have to. I got to the next exit and got off and as I was exiting my gas tank chimed that it was low so I figured the gas station as as good a place as any to take a look at the tires. They all looked okay so I filled up with gas and decided to take it over to the tire store on down and across the highway, but they were closed and a for sale sign out front. I decided I was heading back to Bluffton unless I started having handling problems, in which case I would use our auto club membership and have someone come take care of it. I got to Bluffton and stopped at Hiday Motors. They found too pieces of wire stuck in the right rear tire and fixed it for me.

When I finally got home I was so tired I took a 3 1/2 hour nap.

Yesterday was Connie and Fred's wedding up at Warsaw. I laid down in the afternoon to put my feet up for a bit and fell asleep. When Gene woke me up we scrambled to get out of here but no way we could make it on time for the wedding so just went for the reception. They were married where they live. They have a beautiful place there.

I sat my alarm to get up and go to church this morning but woke up still so tired I could barely move so shut the alarm off and went back to sleep for a couple more hours. I still got up so tired I could hardly move and I've been tired all day. One of these days maybe I'll bet some more endurance built up. I tinkered on the computer all day, mostly watching live streaming storm chases in Missouri, and watching TV.

Banana Bread Recipe

2009-06-07T23:03:00.003-04:00

This is the recipe I used waaaaaay back in my third year of 4-H for the Banana Bread I exhibited at the county 4-H Fair. I got a blue ribbon and an honor ribbon because it was judged on the possibility of going to the State Fair but didn't. I don't think I've ever made it using chocolate chips.

Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup margarine

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour milk (add 1 tsp. white vinegar to fresh milk and let it stand 10 minutes)

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups mashed over ripe bananas (approx. 4)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Cream sugar and margarine. Then add eggs, milk, soda, flour and vanilla. Mix well. Add bananas and nuts. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans and let stand 20 minutes.

Bake at 325 for 50 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center. If the toothpick comes out clean, the banana bread is done.

Options: You can use 1 1/2 cups applesauce instead of the bananas. You can also use crushed pineapple, crushed cranberries or almost any soft fruit.

----------------------------------------------------

I have a recipe analyzing program that I can enter recipes into and get the nutritional data. I analyzed this with using skim milk and 1 cup nuts but not the chocolate chips. If you slice the loaves into 18 slices, each slice contains 16 grams of carbohydrates and 117 calories. I was adjusting the number of servings trying to hit a 15 gram serving as that is what the ADA considers to be one serving of carbohydrates.

Day To Do A Happy Dance!

2009-05-28T20:13:00.003-04:00

I had my followup appointment from my heart cath with my cardiologist today. He went in to more detail than the cardiologist that performed it went in to that day. The cath was done because my stress test indicated there might be reduced blood flow in part of my heart. It's good news, no blockages and not only that but he said everything was clean as a whistle. At my request they had done both sides of my heart and there again, good news. My Pulmonary Hypertension had been classified as moderate based on an echo cardiogram. In the heart cath they can get the true pressure reading and it is not quite as bad as the echo indicated so it has been reclassified from moderate down to mild to moderate. They also checked to see if there were any holes between the heart chambers, which could have been a possible cause of my Pulmonary Hypertension. There were none, so he suspects my sleep apnea has been the cause of my PH. I have mild enlargement of my heart, consistant with my size. Also, I have aortic valve stenosis which had been classified as moderate from the echo cardiogram. The cath also downgraded that to mild to moderate. Based on the new information from the cath, my return checks for my PH have been changed from six months to yearly. The chest discomfort that caused my cardiologist to ask for the stress test in the first place is gone. My general practitioner and I were both suspecting it was caused by asthma. She put me on daily use of an asthmanex inhaler and that has completely taken care of that discomfort.

After my appointment I went shopping at Michael's. I wanted to find something to make an earring holder out of. While I was there I got lots of things to work on with my granddaughter Hannah when I go down to Alabama to watch her while her mom is in the hospital having baby brother Riley.

This evening was a Tweet-up for local people who tweet on Twitter. We met downtown at Tyeger's Pizza. The food was great and so was the company and conversation. We had 12 people there, including the two children. Next Tweet-up will be Wednesday evening at Billy Ann's. I'm looking forward to it.

If anyone is interested in Tyeger's Pizza, here is their URL: http://www.tyegerspizza.com.

2009-05-24T17:53:00.002-04:00

How About Some Chicken Strips and Dipping Sauce?

2009-05-18T11:13:00.005-04:00

Last night on Twitter @backyardpoultry tweeted that he was headed to the kitchen because his wife was hungry. He was going to make chicken nuggets and applesauce. That got me to thinking about chicken strips, or more specifically, dipping sauce. When I would go down to visit my son in Alabama we used to go to Guthrie's and get chicken finger meals. I LOVED their dipping sauce. I would get soooo hungry for that sauce. I'd beg Nathan to see if he could buy sauce to bring home to me when he would come but he'd never do it. Finally I decided to go online and see if I could find a copycat recipe, which I did, so now I make it at home. I've found that when I compare my homemade to the actual Guthrie's sauce that I'm putting a lot more pepper in than the original has, but I like it that way. We use the sauce on sandwiches too. I especially love it on a bologna sandwich. I've found that I like my homemade chicken strips better than the Guthrie's Chicken Fingers. I cut chicken breasts into strips about an inch wide, dredge in flour, dip in a wash of equal parts beaten egg and milk, dredge in finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs and deep fry until golden brown. Here's the sauce recipe:

Dipping Sauce Like Guthrie's

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
ground black pepper (I use fresh, course ground)

Mix together the mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle with enough black pepper to cover the mixture. Stir. Then add another layer of black pepper. Stir again.

It might seem like a lot of pepper but that's what makes it good. It's best if made a few hours or a day ahead so the flavors can blend.

Meet Our Chickens

2009-05-17T17:21:00.010-04:00

I finally charged up the battery pack for my camera. I took it outside this afternoon to take some chicken pictures and video.

This is a picture of one of our roosters. His name is Larry.

Below are two of our other roosters. I tried to entice them with a watermelon rind but they had no interest in it until Gene sprinkled a little chicken feed into it. These two are Bob and one of our other Larrys. My brother-in-law, Bob, made the comment that he had three Larrys in his life so my husband named our four roosters Bob, Larry, Larry and Larry.

Here's some video of Bob and Larry eating out of the watermelon rind.

Gene made an outdoor pen and brought the hens out of the shed to it for the summer. Here's video of the roosters running around and the outdoor pen.

My Favorite Rhubarb Recipe

2009-05-14T20:33:00.002-04:00

Rhubarb Ambrosia Betty

Ingredients:
5 cups fresh rhubarb cut in 1/2 pieces
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tsp. grated orange rind
Sections from 1 orange, cubed (or use a small can of drained mandarin orange sections)
4 cups small bread cubes
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Directions:
Mix together rhubarb, sugar, flour, salt, 3/4 Tsp of the orange rind and the fruit. Add half of the bread cubes and 1/2 of the butter; mix. Put into a greased 8"x8"x2" baking pan. Combine remaining bread cubes, butter, orange rind and coconut. Sprinkle over top of rhubarb. Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) about 40 minutes or untill browned. Serve warm.

Number Of Servings:6-8 Servings

Recipe courtesy of Velma Souers (my mom)

Note from me, Marsha: Since I'm diabetic I cut the sugar back to less than half. Tangy, but I'm not crazy about baking with artificial sweeteners.

Itty Bitty Fish In Our Pond

2009-05-13T15:30:00.005-04:00

I guess I've been lying. We've got some really nice sized crappie in our biggest pond. It seemed like we never caught any decent sized bass in it so I've been saying I didn't think there were very many big ones in it. A few days ago the son of one of my husband's coworkers asked if he and his friends could fish here. His dad later sent us this picture of one of the bass they caught and released here. He said the kids caught 26 more just like this. LOL...maybe I should find out what kind of bait they were using! Or maybe I should USE bait. I don't fish very often and when I do the urge strikes quickly and I just grab my tackle box and use lures. Once in a while I'll use bait if my husband already has some here.

Too Much Control Of Agriculture, and A Baby Bunny

2009-05-09T13:59:00.007-04:00

Sad to say, for someone who grew up on a farm and now co-owns the family farms with my brother and sister, I've not shown much interest in farming. I just read an article that caught my attention though. The article is titled 'More than agriculture, it's a consumer issue'. It talks about the housing of certain farm animals and chickens and how the HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) wants to force changes that will ultimately cost the consumer money. For the most part I don't feel farm animals are mistreated. It really irks me that it seems like everyone and his brother tries to control the farmer. It's no wonder the day of the small family farm is practically gone. Give this article a read: More than agriculture, it's a consumer issue.

Speaking of animals, I'm soooo sad. Late last night we heard what sounded like a baby bird. We went out with a flashlight and searched the yard and found that it was a tiny baby rabbit, probably not yet two weeks old. I wanted more than anything to scoop the little fellow up, bring him in and give him some warm milk and make him a warm place to sleep. Deep in my heart I knew it would be wrong. Chances of me being able to raise him were probably small. And if he did survive, then there would be the matter of him not knowing how to survive in the wild. I didn't even pick him up for a quick snuggle because I didn't want the scent of humans on him in case his mother was still close by. We left him there and closed the outdoor cat in the garage for the night. He was gone this morning. I can only hope that his mother was still close and took him away and that something didn't make a meal of him. Good luck sweet baby bunny!

Belated Update On Doctor Appointments

2009-05-05T23:20:00.004-04:00

I just realized I didn't update after Friday's doctor appointments.

First off was my appointment with Dr. Berning at the St. Joseph Burn and Wound Center. He was pleased. My wound in my incision line is finally healing from the bottom up and not just from the sides. He told me to come back in 4-6 weeks but if it healed in enough to stop the vacuum treatment to have Home Health Care call him. And if it totally healed in to call and schedule for a scar check, which I assume would be a final appointment.

In the afternoon I had an appointment with Tammy (Dr. Dunmoyer), my general practitioner. She was pleased too. My labs all came back good. I was tickled because my A1C came back at 6.2. I think that is the lowest I've ever had since I became diabetic.

This was my last appointment with Tammy at Markle Medical Center. They've been sold and Tammy has made the decision to leave and go to Family Practice at Caylor-Nickel. I'll be following her there.

Tomorrow is my 6 month cleaning and check at the dentist office. Unfortunately I already know I have a problem that will require a followup appointment. I was eating cracklings a couple of weeks ago and broke a tooth. I'm pretty sure that tooth had a root canal. At any rate, there's been no pain but the sharp edge sure bugs me!

Enough with doctor appointments now! :-)

DIL Amanda Is In The Hospital

2009-04-30T22:02:00.006-04:00

My son called this evening and his pregnant wife, Amanda, is in the hospital down in Alabama where they live. She started feeling sick on Monday, like she was coming down with a cold. She hasn't felt well all week. This morning she started not being able to keep anything down and she hadn't felt baby Riley move since 9:00 this morning. Nathan left work early to take her to the doctor. He sent her on to be admitted to the hospital. They started an IV and have monitors on her to keep tabs on Riley. Thankfully Riley is checking out good on the monitors. They said they think Amanda has a virus but they don't think it's swine flu. That darned son of mine said she hadn't started developing a snout! She was apparently feeling better already because she was hungry and they were going to let her try eating a graham cracker. They plan to keep her overnight and see how she is in the morning. If she's doing well she'll probably go home, if not they'll keep her another day. Amanda's 6 year old daughter Hannah is staying with Amanda's sister.

EDIT: I just got a text message from Amanda. She must have been doing better than expected because they've let her go home rather than keeping her overnight. She can't go back to work until the middle of next week and she's supposed to drink lots of fluids. I'm relieved! :-)

The Blessing Of The Library

2009-04-30T06:31:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking. LOL...well that could be dangerous! My gals at Dream Tags were after me to get on Facebook. I'd signed up on Facebook at some time in the past but I totally did not care for it and abandoned it. I found Twitter and much preferred it. Twitter seemed so much simpler since it doesn't have a kazillion apps someone is always inviting you to use. Well my new Twitter friends were also using Facebook so I finally gave it another try. Eventually I figured out I could just ignore the Easter Egg requests and such and block the applications. Ahhh, much better.

So anyway, back to my thinking. I've hooked up with a few of my old high school friends on Facebook. Elaine, Karen, Alice and I were closer then four peas in a pod through most of junior high and high school at Southern Wells. I don't' recall why but I drifted away from them our senior year. After high school they all went to Ball State University and I went to Wayne University of Cosmetology. I lost contact with all of them. I have no idea what ever became of Alice. Karen became a nurse and I ran into her five years ago when my mom had a knee replacement in the hospital she worked at. I used to bump into Elaine's sister once in a while so I knew Elaine was out west somewhere but couldn't remember where.

Elaine and I have hooked up on Facebook. It's been interesting learning of her present day life. She lives in Nebraska and runs a library there. I think she told me the population of the town is around 375 so I'm surprised it even has a library. I found a video of it and it's a nice little library but what a contrast between it and our library here in Bluffton. It really makes me appreciate what we have here. Elaine runs the library and is it's only employee. There has only been once that I've ever wanted a book that our library didn't have in it's collection and I've never given it much thought that it could be any other way. It just so happens that the book I'm currently reading is one Elaine's library doesn't own.

That got me to thinking about how we are so blessed to have such a large, beautiful and well run library here in Bluffton, and it's branch in Ossian. They offer us so many services and I'm sure there are several I haven't even realized they offer. One of the things I've come to appreciate to a great degree lately is the library website. It's awesome to have the card catalog online, be able to find books I'd like to read and reserve them online. While I've been confined to home I would pick out my books online and reserve them. Library staff would send me an email when they were ready for pick up and my husband would go to the front desk and the books would be handed to him. I've been able to read the books I choose to read rather than having to depend on someone else to try to find something they think I might enjoy.

I give a big thank you to the WCPL board and staff for all that they do for our community. We are truly blessed. They're located at 200 W. Washington St. in Bluffton and 207 N Jefferson St. in Ossian. Find them online at http://www.wellscolibrary.org. Get updates on their Twitter account, http://twitter.com/WCPLibrary and their Facebook page, Wells County Public Library on Facebook. And thank a librarian for all they do for you. :-)

National Swine Flu Situation Page

2009-04-28T10:15:00.001-04:00

Hmmm....I tried embedding the National Swine Flu Situation Page in my blog. It embedded it but the space available wasn't enough to show the complete page and it gave no scroll bars so I'm editing the page out. You can access the National Swine Flu Situation Page at http://www.vuetoo.com/vue1/Situationpagenews.asp?af=&sit=4540&z=&np=&tp=14 Content on the page updates automatically and contains information from multiple web sites in one location. CDC, health, maps, RSS news feeds and more.

The County Highway....Again

2009-04-27T01:32:00.002-04:00

I thought the county highway was done having stuff dumped on the edge of the river to build the road edge up. It was all leveled off the other day. Yesterday I was back by there and there's more stuff dumped! I just don't get how they're allowed to dump stuff on the edge of the road and let it fall down into the river. I would think the Army Corp of Engineering would have had to be consulted and I can't imagine first off that they would approve something that quickly and second that they would approve THAT method of fixing the problem. Boggles my mind....but then my mind is easily boggled.

My Heart Cath Is Over

2009-04-26T03:58:00.004-04:00

It all started when I was in the hospital from November 21st through December 23rd. While I was there one of the hospitalists thought he heard a whoosh in my neck and was concerned that I might have a blockage in it so recommended I get it checked out when things had settled down. At my next appointment with (Dr.) Tammy (Dunmoyer) I told her about it so she scheduled me for a bilateral carotid doppler to check it out. While she was at it Tammy also scheduled an echo cardiogram to check on my heart murmur since it hadn't been checked on since 2001.

The carotid doppler came back just fine. In fact the tech said it was so clear and showed up so well that I could be a carotid doppler model!

It was a whole month before we finally got the results of the echo. When we finally did it was a real shocker. It showed that I have Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs and right side of the heart. Blood pressure there is usually low, from 20-30 mmHG. The echo indicated mine was 52 mmHg. So I was sent for a consultation with a cardiologist.

Dr. Gary Hambel said he classified my PH as moderate, not severe as the St. Joseph Hospital cardiologist interpreting the test had. He said at that level we wouldn't treat it, just keep an eye on it, have another echo in six months. What concerned him though was what I called discomfort in my chest mostly when I walked, kind of between an ache and a burn, and came to think was my asthma. He called it chest pain and scheduled me for a stress test. The stress test indicated I had an area of my heart not getting blood so a cardiac catheretization was scheduled. They were going to check the left side of my heart but I asked to have the right side checked while they were at it to get a definite pressure on the PH.

Friday I had to be at Lutheran's Heart Pavilion at 6:00 AM. My procedure wasn't scheduled until 10:00 AM but they said I needed to be there to get an IV started, they would give me something to relax me and if there was a cancellation I'd be able to go in early. I didn't get registered until 7:00 since they registered the people due to have procedures before me first. I wasn't given the drugs to relax me until about 15 minutes before my procedure, which was an hour and a half late. No problem for me, I worked on my computer, read, and since I'm a night owl and hadn't slept the night before, I slept. It was a long day for Gene though.

The results of the procedure were better than expected. It showed minimal narrowing and no blockages. My PH pressure was 42 mmHg, lower than the echo had indicated but still high. As far as the procedure, other than being tired and drowsy I haven't had any side effects. They didn't tell me I'd be bruised and sore from them stopping the bleeding when they removed the probes though! LOL Because they did both sides of the heart there were two different probes inserted. The one in an artery, the nurse was going to keep firm pressure on for 10 minutes before checking it. When she said firm, she meant firm! At 10 minutes it was still bleeding so she had to hold it another 5 minutes. The other one only required 10 minutes of pressure. The nurses pressed so hard that I'm extremely bruised and sore. I had to lay without moving my leg for six hours after the procdure. Not sleeping the night before came in handy then...I slept through most of that time. It was 8:30 before I got to leave to come home.

Since I've been home it's been a major production to get out of chairs and the bed because of the bruising and pain and I've more shuffled that leg along than walked. I've been in so much pain Gene suggested I take some of the Vicodin left from my November and December surgeries. I did and it really helped....since I mostly slept then. I have followup appointments with Tammy next week and Dr. Hambel in a month.

I'm still trying to get a wound in the incision line from December healed and with all that's gone on, the last few months have really been a heck of a medical experience. I guess it's better to get through these surgeries and testing now though. Gene will be retiring at the end of the year so there goes my health insurance.

What IS our county highway thinking?

2009-04-22T12:10:00.003-04:00

Is our county highway department even thinking? For quite some time North Oak Extended has been washing away along the guardrail by the river outside of the city limit. They've been filling it in with rock. Last week the edge of the street cracked north of the guardrail and was headed for the river, causing me to start harping again that it's not California going to fall into the Pacific, it's Oak Street going to fall into the Wabash River! Oak Street is a dead end so I've been worried that some day we're not going to have a way out. Anyway, Mayor Ted has been working on trying to open up the river more to avoid some of the flooding. So here's the county highway department having Habigs truck in loads of dirt and concrete and dump it down the edge of the riverbank! What kind of fix is that? Won't it just wash away too? Especially when the river floods?

My First Storm Chase!

2009-04-21T00:35:00.002-04:00

I had a new experience today. (Once again that was really yesterday because it's after midnight now.) I went on my very first storm chase! Well kind of. I did it from the comfort of my living room via the wonders of the internet. One of the people I follow on Twitter is Jason Foster (Twitter ID WeatherWarrior1). Jason is a storm chaser and his website is http://www.theweatherwarrior.com. This afternoon Jason tweeted, "Chase mode any minute, streaming live at www.weatherwarrior.net/TV.html. Currently SW of Petersburg." So I popped up that URL and waited for Jason, accompanied by Aaron, to take off on their storm chase with me in their virtual back seat. There is a chat room you can pop up next to the streaming video and you can ask questions, make comments and talk to others in the chat room. There was scrolling text beneath the video and I started to have problems with my motion sickness from it. I thought I was going to have to abandon the chase because of it, but I commented on my problem in the chat room and they saw my comment and were kind enough to turn it off for me. Jason and Aaron were trying to find tornadoes to chase in Virginia. There were several warnings issued due to possible tornadoes showing up on dopplar radar but we didn't get to see any tornadoes. We saw lots of clouds, rain and some hail. It was still fun and I'm sure if I get the chance I'll be in Jason's virtual backseat chasing storms with him again. Thanks for the ride Jason and Aaron! :-)

A Busy Sunday

2009-04-20T02:01:00.004-04:00

It was a busy day today (actually it's 2am so it was yesterday, but I haven't gone to bed yet so it still seems like today). Gene wanted to know if I wanted to go to church this morning. I told him no, I thought by the time I got through the day I would be tired enough. We had the Werling Easter today at Gene's sister Mary's house. We missed Kim, she had to work. Nikki and Katie weren't there either. Everyone else that is in this area was there. Lots of good food and good conversation. We don't get together often enough so it was great to have everyone together. We have two babies in the family that I hadn't seen yet since I didn't make it to Christmas.

I intended to go by the Creative Arts Center on the way home. They had an exhibit of art from the county schools and my niece Sarah had something in it. I totally forgot it though.

After we got home from Mary's I laid down to rest before going to my mom's church's Mother Daughter program. I sat my alarm in case I went to sleep. I did go to sleep but the alarm didn't wake me up. I'd forgotten to change it from AM to PM! I have sleep apnea and hadn't put my mask on so I ended up snorting myself awake. I was only a couple of minutes late getting to the church but drove all the way in instead of going to my mom's and riding with her. I have to say I think they had the best favors ever. The theme was 'chocolate' so the favors were candy bars! The program was by Linda Aldridge, Huntington County Extension Director, who gave an interesting program on chocolate, complete with samples. They had a drawing to give away the centerpieces. They were boquets of miniature candy bars and chocolate cook books. No one in my family won.

While I was at the church and had my phone turned off my son called. After I got home I called Nathan back and he was watching TV coverage of tornado warnings near him. Birmingham's ABC 33/40, was live with storm coverage and even had a lot of live video of the storms. I follow them on Twitter and they are excellent about tweeting all the warnings and watches for Alabama. I wish we had someone up here who did as well. I checked their website and they had their broadcast streaming live. In fact Nathan was hearing it from my computer over the phone quicker than he was hearing it on his TV. If anyone on Twitter has an interest in following the weather from 33/40 they are ewarn on Twitter. I also follow their meteorologists, James Spann spann and Jason Simpson simpson3340. When I hung up from talking to Nathan they had had no damage at their place and following their weather, they shouldn't have.

My granddaughter, Hannah, missed school on Friday. She has infection in both of her ears and her throat.

I think I'd better be heading off to bed...I'm falling asleep while typing!

Twitter Friends

2009-04-18T17:00:00.007-04:00

Here's a collage of my Twitter friends.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Ups and downs

2009-04-17T00:47:00.006-04:00

Well I got my two days of the stress test done. Tuesday was day one and they did the exercise portion. I had expected to do the treadmill test but they had decided to switch it to the chemical test instead. Boy was that a weird feeling! For a moment I felt totally paralyzed, even my lungs...talk about feeling panicked! That quickly passed though and the major thing I felt then was abdominal and lower back discomfort. Afterward I got a headache for a couple of hours.

When we left the hospital we headed to Cardinal Tattoo. I messed around with piercing my ears and trying to heal them for YEARS starting when I was in my teens. Good grade gold, sterling silver, hypoallergenic earrings....nothing was good for me. I'd get infections and could never get the piercings healed. Recently I discovered Maggie's Creations. Maggie makes and sells earrings out of pure Niobium and grade 1 Titanium, NON allergenic metals. I decided to give pierced ears a try again so ordered my earrings and decided on Cardinal Tattoo as the place I would get my ears pierced again. Stupid me didn't make note of the street address, just that it was on Spy Run Avenue near Fourth Street. When I saw Fourth Street Gene was in the middle lane and pulled the car left and ran into a truck in the other lane. Minor damage, no injuries...probably hurt Gene's pride more than anything. Still, the insurance adjuster came up with over $1000 of damage on our car. I don't know what the truck comes to. So anyway, I finally got in to Cardinal and Chad pierced my ears. I got two piercings in each ear. No tattoos. I tried to talk Gene into getting a tattoo of a naked fairy or a naked mermaid but he wasn't interested! LOL

Wednesday we were back to Lutheran Hospital for day two of my stress test, the resting portion.

Like I said in an earlier post, I really expected the problem was asthma so I wasn't too stressed out about having the stress test. Well yesterday (Thursday) afternoon I got a call that it showed a problem and Dr. Hambel wanted to do a procedure at the hospital, when did I want to do it. Hellooooo! I'm going to schedule a 'procedure' without knowing what the problem is and what the procedure is and why it needs to be done? The lady just repeated herself. It was about like pulling teeth to get any info out of her but I finally found out there's a portion of my heart that isn't getting blood and Dr. Hambel wants to do a catheterization to find out why. He's scheduling enough time to fix things if he needs to, such as put in a stent. I'm going up to have blood work and an EKG this afternoon and they're going to try to schedule the procedure for late next week.

Fun fun fun. God must have some big plans for me if he's keeping me around for all this instead of just taking me! Thankfully he carries me and I don't have to do this on my own. And thankfully I have Gene in my life. He is so good to me, takes care of me through the bad times and doesn't complain. I just hope things are all taken care of and I'm able to make it down to Alabama as planned to help out when my grandson, Riley James Helms, is born in July.

I'm ready for a few dull moments in my life! :-)

I want my caffeine!

2009-04-14T00:05:00.005-04:00

Midnight. The magic hour after which fasting seems to be required, no matter what the test is, no matter what TIME the test is. So I just had a turkey breast sandwich and some strawberries. Night owl that I am my third meal of the day is usually around 1-2 AM so I bumped it up to 11:45 PM. Midnight seems to be the time of day I want a cup of coffee or tea and I haven't been able to have coffee, tea, or pop since early morning. I'm dying for a cup of coffee, but I settled for two mugs of sugar free instant spiced cider. So now I'm all set, just waiting for morning and my appointment for a Cardiolite Stress Test.

It seems like things never work out quite the way I plan. When I was in the hospital in November/December one of the hospitalist thought he heard a woosh in my neck and was concerned I might have a blockage there, so once I was out of the hospital and things settling down he thought it should be checked. When I saw my GP in early February I told her so she had a carotid doppler set up. I have a heart murmur and that hadn't been checked on since 2001 so she sat up an echo cardiogram for the same day to check on that, not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

The doppler came out fine, the tech said she didn't know what that doctor thought he heard but my carotid arteries were so good she said I could be a carotid doppler model. So I thought I was free and clear.

It took a whole month to get the results of the echo back and boy was it a shocker! It came back that I have Pulmonary Hypertension. PH is different and unrelated to the hypertension most people have. PH is high blood pressure in the lungs and carotid artery. What little info I could find on PH did not sound good. The cardiologist I was sent to said he classifies my PH as moderate. It's unknown how it will progress, we'll have more of a handle on it at a six month recheck, but he's not anticipating that it will cause me many problems. If the pressure gets higher I'll probably have to go on medicine for it but as it is now I don't have to do anything.

So then comes the next kicker. I'd started sometimes getting what I can only explain as between an ache and a burn in my chest, especially when I'd walk. I figured it was the PH but the cardio says not. He's concerned that I could have a heart blockage so that's why I'm having the stress test. It's gotten worse in the last couple of weeks and I think I know now what it is. Asthma. I can go months, even years without asthma problems, but it appears I could be headed for another bad spring and summer with it. I'm glad I got a new inhaler while I was in the hospital.

I haven't worried too much over the stress test since I think it's asthma and not my heart that is causing what I'm feeling. So stay tuned for more news. It's in God's hands and things will come out the way he wants things to come out. No matter what the result, he is with me. I just wish he could put a cup of coffee in my hands right about now!

Easter and the week ahead

2009-04-13T03:52:00.007-04:00

One Easter dinner down, one to go. Yesterday was my family's dinner (lunch) at my mom's house. Gene's family will have theirs next weekend. His family is much larger than mine so they don't normally try to have family dinners on the actual holiday.

As usual we had waaaaay too much food. My mom baked a ham and my brother-in-law Bob brought some of the haddock fish he caught up in Alaska and baked it. We had a green bean/wax bean/carrot mixture, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, swiss and bacon mashed potatoes, rolls, pickles, spiced apple rings, deviled eggs, cherry cheesecake, iced tea and coffee.

In the afternoon on the scanner we heard the fire department called to a field fire two miles down the road from my mom's house. My brother isn't a fireman but if there's a fire close he will go see what he can do. It was a small fire and he had it under control with a scoop shovel from his truck by the time the fire trucks got there.

Another sign of spring...my nephew Brad has his first Little League practice today. Niece Sarah hasn't heard yet when her team will start practice.

My husband Gene is on vacation this week. I always enjoy having him home. We have no special plans this week other than I'm to have a two day Cardiolite stress test. I say what I have is kind of between an ache and a burn...discomfort. The cardiologist calls it chest pain. He says it's not a symptom of my recently diagnosed pulmonary hypertension and is concerned that I might have a blockage. I think it's my asthma. We'll know more soon.

It's after 4am and the home health care nurse will be here in about 5 hours so I guess I'd better get some sleep!

What year is that egg from?

2009-04-12T01:39:00.002-04:00

It's Easter and along with that comes lots of memories. When I was a kid we always went to Great Grandma Blair's house for Easter. It was a large family so there were lots of people there. Aunt Grace always brought an angel food cake covered with green coconut for grass, Peeps chicks and jelly beans. Everyone brought Easter eggs for our hunt. My great aunts would sit with lists of names of who was going to hunt and write names on all the eggs. A couple of the men would take the eggs out and hide them. Children and adults all hunted for the eggs with their name on them. Occasionally we would have snow or rain so would have our hunt in the barn. Once in a while someone would find an egg in the barn that obviously wasn't from that year so the question would go out, "When's the last time we had the Easter egg hunt in the barn? What year is this egg from?" We always came home with dozens of eggs so had lots of dishes including eggs that next week. One thing my mom always made with the Easter eggs was creamed eggs on toast. I always looked forward to that. After I married I only got to go to the Blair Easter every other year. My (ex) husband's family didn't have an Easter Egg hunt so I missed getting to have my creamed eggs on toast. It was a LONG time before I figured out I didn't have to have Easter eggs to make it, I just needed to boil eggs! The first time I boiled eggs and made creamed eggs on toast I looked at it for the longest time trying to figure out what was wrong with it because it didn't look right. I finally figured out it was because my egg whites were really white. When made with Easter eggs the dye would bleed through the shells onto the egg whites so there were always pastel colors sticking up out of the sauce. The creamed eggs look really bland when made with boiled eggs instead of Easter eggs! Those days are long gone. As the family aged we stopped having those family dinners. Now even all my great aunts and uncles have passed away. This year we'll be having Easter at my mom's house. There will only be eight of us. My son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter won't be able to come up from Alabama to have Easter with us. I will miss them. Happy Easter everyone...and remember the true reason we have Easter, that God's son died to save us from our sins. What a wonderful God we have.

Why do I say step?

2009-04-11T04:36:00.003-04:00

I'm a grandmother. It took a long time to reach that stage in my life because my son didn't marry until the the age of 30. Then I became an instant grandmother. Hannah was five at the time, six now. I truly love her so it bothers me that I constantly find myself calling her my step granddaughter. She's a wild child, full of spunk. She intimidates me. I always expected to grow into grandmotherhood slowly as my grandchildren grew from babies and we slowly got to know each other. I never got to cuddle this little girl as a baby. Never got to hear her coo and see her blow bubbles. Never got to hear her say her first gibberish words or see her take her first wobbly steps. I hear about the things she does, but she lives three states away from me so she's really still a stranger to me. So how will we get to know each other and how am I going to get comfortable with being her gramma? That is something that has weighed heavily on my mind. For starters the phone calls to and from her parents need to happen earlier in the day, at least once in a while. When she's already gone to bed there's no chance of those 20 second conversations with Hannah where she tells me things like, "I'm going to give the cat a bad haircut!" I'm going to start making little movies on my webcam that I can email for her parents to play for her. Things like reading a story to her. Then she can get to know me better. Then this summer we will really get to know each other when I go down to take care of her while her mom is in the hospital having baby brother Riley by cesarean. By then I expect the step to have disappeared from my vocabulary. And when I go down, I'll be taking something special to her. My grandfather passed away when I was 7. I don't remember him well, but I have something very special. I have a small child sized kitchen cabinet and table that he made for me. I've always cherished those because he went to the trouble of making them himself just for me. Some of the toy dishes I played with are still in the cabinet. So these special toys of mine are going to be my special gift to this special little girl. I hope that she treasures them as much as I have.