Friday, September 25, 2009

This seems to be me
lately. Still making
daily calls to Wells Fargo
trying to figure out how
we got into the mess
we are with them.
Due to pending litigation
I can't go into lots
of written details
per our attorney, but
it's really stressing me out.
How long does it take for a
mortgage company to say
"Sorry" we really made a
huge mistake lets fix it really
fast for you. Instead of this
"well it could take 60 days.
Then onto more stress
causing things.
I have to have a biopsy
and diagnostic mamogram
and ultrasound.
I am only 35.
YIKES...aging myself like that
really makes me feel old.
I have had this lesion (sounds really
gross) sore sounds so much better
on my left breast for a few weeks.
Daily it is getting worse. Have had
a few DR appointments, saw a
Dermatologist (complete waste of
time) only to be told now it is
"CONCERNING"
we need to smash
your boob till it hurts,
make you wait 7-10
days for results so we can torture you
further and we also need to stick
a needle in your boob, numb it up and
use a punch biopsy to punch a hole in
your boob, to test it then we'll
sew up the little hole and make you
wait 7-10 days for those results too.
LIKE I NEEDED SOME MORE
STRESS IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW...
I have 6 of the 8 symptoms for
Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
I try to joke about it that if it is
Ductual Breast Cancer or Inflammatory
Breast Cancer that at least I may
get a tummy tuck and boob job out
of the deal. How else do you
deal with the crazy thoughts
that come with the possibility
that your boob or boobs
might have cancer in
them???
So I pray and I pray
some more.
Then I stay busy
at least I can still
sleep, not so sure I'll
still be this calm the day
of the procedure. I am
calm but stressed all the
same.
So I don't write this for
sympathy or snippets of
concern, I write this hoping
to motivate all women who read
this to get a MAMO, now.
My very good friend Christine
is 5.5 years post mastectomy
and my Aunt Elizabeth is
at her 1 year mark, still
waiting for her recontruction
to begin all over due to
complications.
Elizabeth is only a year
older than me and Christine
is the same age as me.
So she was 29 when she
got the news she
had breast cancer...
Get the TA-TA's
checked you just never know...
Will update after my
OCTOBER 1 APPT...
Yes I have to wait that long

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Something so mean
and nasty could
be turned into ... Something so sweet
and delicious.

2 Batches down
10 more to go ...

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Last week I bottled these

lovely Hatch Green Chilis.

Can't wait to get back from

NM the first week of

October with more.

These little buggers

are hot. Nate didn't use

gloves when he helped

peel them and really

paid for it. His hands

burned for a full 36 hours.

His only relief was

HAND SANITIZER

the waterless kind,

like Purell for example.

It saved his little hide.


Also got some peach slices

and peach jam put up as well.

This morning Nate and I

went for a nice drive in

the Scorching AZ Desert

and found these little beauties.

Forgot the camera but we had

a blast picking these prickly

little suckers.

Right off I leaned alittle too close

to one of the Cactus and got a

nice little present left in my

right thigh.

Nate was dying laughing until

I tossed a Pear into the box and

it bounced out and all the little

prickers stuck in his leg.

Then it was my turn to laugh.

Then after careful instruction

on my part to not whip me

with any branches

as we were seaarching for

our treasures

he smacks a mesquite

branch and it whips my

arm leaving a huge welt and

bringing stinging tears to my

eyes. And there we were

laughing as I punched him

in the arm as hard as I

could for whipping me like

I asked him not to.

After 12 years of marriage

mutual pain is very funny

to us for some strange reason.


Tongs are great things.

If not for these little friends

of ours I fear we would have

come home with a few more

little prickers in our skin

than we did.

It's 1130 pm and I'm

still finding the

prickly little suckers

in my hands and arms.


Wash 'em, cut'em in half


This lovely bright fusha pink


juice is all over the kithen.

Luckily it cleans up very easy.



Put 'em in a pot, cover with


water and boil'em like crazy.



Pull 'em out, mash 'em with

a potato masher and strain them.

No blender, it destroys

the natural pectin in fruit.

Look at all that Prickly Pear

Juice.


Strain it again cuz there's debris

and little prickers still in there.

Don't go buy some fancy

little strainer or sieve.

Just use a very strong

paper towel that is white

like Brawny or Bounty

and you have a great

strainer that you can just

throw away as it gets

clogged with seeds and pulp.



Then store the juice

(freeze it, or bottle it) or

add those sweet little

friends that it takes to

make some super yummy

Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly.

Or a little sugar and fizz

to get a great Prickly Pear Drink

or Freeze it for some

nice Prickly Pear Sherbert or Sorbet.

Part 2 on Monday

Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly

from the Prickly Pear

Cactus Juice that is all over my

kitchen, all in my freezers

and all in my fridge.










Thursday, September 3, 2009

This is Chase a few hours
after he was born. Such a
skinny little thing. The
diapers would just slide right
off of him and he would wiggle
out of his shirts.
Hard to believe he was
ever this small. Especially
now that he is weighing
in at 75 pounds.
I have always loved his
little duck lips in this picture.
He was so sweet and sooo cute
as a baby.
My little Old Navy Baby.
His "1" year pictures. First
haircut and first 2 teeth.


This pic is in my parents
front yard. Boys will
try anything.



This crazy haired little
boy looks so much like my
little brother in this picture.
He loved the Rottie pups at
my parents. I'm sure
the puppies were always happy to
see him go home.




Here is the attitude
starting to come out in
his pictures.





And more attitude
on the first day of school
this year. He's just
getting too cool for mom.




And here we are
"8" years later. He is now
baptized and confirmed a
member of the
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Saints.
Will have to post those pics later.





Last Thursday he tells me:
Chase: Mom, I have a girlfriend.
Me: Oh yeah, who?
Chase: S.L.
Me: Wow, how long has she been
your girlfriend?
Chase: Not long, I liked her,
but she didn't know it. But I
knew she liked me.
Today on the way home from school:
Chase: S.L. hit me today.
She's not my girlfriend anymore.
Me: Oh, really... why not?
(dying to laugh)
Chase: Don't know, don't really care.
I have too much chasing to do at school
to worry about having a girlfriend.
They're mean anyways.
(I'm really dying to laugh now)
I had to wait until I got
home. Go in the bedroom and
laugh my head off. Poor boy.
He's just getting started.