Hot Apple Pie? Yes Please!

All this talk about Thanksgiving has got me Jones-in' for a slice of hot apple pie.  With a little creativity, this clenched tooth girl can do anything!

Hot Applesauce Pie :

1 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp Almond Butter
Micro-wave these two ingredients for 10 seconds and repeat one or two times until the applesauce is warm.  Mine took three ten second intervals.  Stir to incorporate the AB and sauce.
Sprinkle with  cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  Amazingly good and simple.

You may wonder why I share all these pureed recipes with you- the ones who can chew.  When this first happened a dear friend sent me five different personal blogs that helped me out a lot as I figured out this whole wired-shut thing.  Here's hoping this post and my other puree recipes find their way into some poor soul's inbox.  Its amazing what good a little unique snack can do for your day when you are in the beginning of the fourth week in chains and have exhausted all your go-to snacks.
Also, the ones I post I feel like I will probably still eat when I am no longer bound because they are so good.  So don't be afraid to try them!
You are welcome!!

In other news, my appointment was today and honestly it made me a little frustrated.  After a wait while I entertained George, the doc bounced in and said, "Oh - you...So when are we doing this?" My only guess is that he meant, when are we taking the wires off.  Once I realized this I said, "Well, I thought next Monday".  So he calls the nurse in and says "schedule her for hardware removal".  On the way out the door he must have sensed my frustration because he put on a glove and felt the outside of my jaw.  "How does that feel?  Good, you are going to be fine.  Bone's healing great".  This all took about 90 seconds.  I didn't even get a chance to tell him I had been in a lot of pain the past week.  Then the nurse told me she would call me and tell me when the surgery to remove hardware would be.  She has to check insurance.  Two minutes total, if that.  I got myself and my kiddo dressed and prepared for two minutes of nothing.  We could have totally done this over the phone.  (The one redeeming factor is that the office is located very near one of my favorite coffee shops so I got a mocha to go)  So- I get it , I understand, medicine is not what it should be, but I am a little frustrated because I want to know exactly when these things will be removed.  Don't we always want to know exactly when and where? Lord, help me be a patient patient.  Help me trust that you have this too in your sovereign hands.  Help me not to take this out on docs and nurses, it is not their fault this happened to me.  Give me mercy and give me grace.  And give me more ideas about pureed food so I can distract myself until this nurse calls me back. :)
Friends, pray for me as I try my hardest to be patient, understanding, and flexible.  And pray that these wires will be removed sooner rather than later!

A Kinda Perfect Weekend. A Sorta Bad Day

If you are worried about my ability to get enough good food in me, you shouldn't.  Today for lunch I had a chocolate smoothie:
1/2 banana
1 container (about a cup) of Trader Joe's European Style Chocolate Yogurt
1 cup of soy milk
1 scoop of Soy Protein Powder
1 Tbsp Trader Joes Speculoos Cocoa Spread (Its basically cookie dough swirled with Nutella)

But on the other hand you could worry that I love this clenched teeth grin less and less every day. I want to smile BIG. I want to brush my teeth. I want to bite into my favorite fall fruit and taste the sweet crunch of the skin between my teeth.  I want to hug my son without a flinch.  I want to reach up to get the cereal down without pain.  I want to scratch my nose without the metal in my mouth piercing my lips.  This just stinks and though I am half way through, I have to just be honest- it feels like I have a long way to go.  Maybe because I began to call it 'two weeks' last Thursday and now its still 'TWO weeks' on Tuesday.  Maybe because Thanksgiving is everywhere I turn and food is on everyone's minds this month.  Maybe  because I can see my teeth as they change color because I cannot brush (sorry- GROSS, I know, but thats what I deal with every day).  Maybe because advertisements for fast food on billboards makes me drool these days. Maybe its because I am tired of the awkward explanation I feel I owe to every person with whom I talk.  Maybe its because two people have asked me if this was an elective surgery (As in- to loose weight).  My thoughts: "You have got to be kidding me right now.  Are you joking? Are you serious? I am so focused on food right now that if someone would let me out of these chains, I would eat my money's worth for the first time at Golden Corral."  A word to the wise: (and I do apologize to the person who has had this done to loose weight- I honestly hope it helped you out, really I do) This is the absolute worst way to loose weight.  There is no way I (I...me...- some others of you may have more will power than I do) would be able to keep the weight off even two days after the wires come off.  I am telling y'all as soon as I get these off I am going to KFC.  Or Carl's Jr (Hardees, east coasters) or Western Sizzlin'.  Does this sound like me? Not at all.  I feel like I might go crazy.  Maybe I already have.

So enough with the jokes- its hard but its not the worst thing.  That was just some brutal honestly for you, the ones who really care how I feel today.  BUT (there's always a "but" when we have faith in the Lord) I know God will use this to draw me closer to him.  I have thought about this a lot but no one, not even me, has been able to put it into words.  This morning I received a beautiful email from one of my biggest encouragers- my sister.   It was very timely and helped me rise above this "funk".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Msw6Kgss-0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

"Praying for you this morning. I felt like God was revealing to me his radical, extreme love for you. John 15:9 says that Jesus loves you just as the father loves him. The father loved Jesus enough to allow his crucifixion and death so that Jesus could then be glorified and his name be exalted above every name. That is crazy love. I'm not always sure I even want such love. Christ's love for you has your glorious end in mind. He'll allow insanity (maybe even a softball pegging you right on the jaw from the outfield...) to achieve glory for you, to get deeper inside you. Christ in you, your hope of glory. Watch out! He 'loves like a hurricane.' :) And if you are a tree, be a NC pine that bends like rubber and is flexible with where the spirit is blowing!"

Don't you just love her? Don't you just love that God speaks to us through our loved ones sometimes?  I sure do!  Additionally today I received emails from two different friends who had heard about what happened and THREE cards in the mail, two from my Gram'ma Margo that made me laugh out loud.  She put a smile on my face today.  Then I got another text in the later evening with promises to bring food so I could take a break from preparing meals for the Georges.  God has blessed me through my loving friends and family and he has timed each little gift so perfectly.  "Lord, you never let go of me!"

Other than drooling over billboards and a little carsickness, our weekend was kinda perfect .  Friday night we had George's friend E over.  Her parents are the ones who kept George for us when the accident happened.  E's mom had a need for a quick babysitter and called me.  Man it felt good to help- especially her and especially after I realized that two kiddos who are the same age are way easier than one.  They played the entire time.  When George got home we ate together at the kitchen table for the first time since we've been here.  G and E just played and played and played.  Date night for me and big G.  

Saturday morning we decided to go to Big Bear.  In the winter it is a ski slope about the size of Wintergreen or Winterplace on the East Coast.  In the summer and fall, mountain bikers claim the slopes.  You pay five bucks (cheap by CA standards) to ride up the chair lift, which George referred to as the "wheel chair" and then you either hike or ride your bike down.  We - obviously- hiked down and it took us about an hour.  Fresh air, lots of giggles from an out-of-control little 3 year old, picnic lunch, sunshine and a gorgeous view.  It does not get much better.  Then on our way down the mountain we saw a sign for a Mile Long Alpine Slide.   Turn this car around, that sounds fun!   It was also five bucks to ride a "wheel chair" up a little hill and then board your personal sled with a brake to control your speed.  The track was like a small bobsled half pipe.  It was really fun.  I kind of got a "South of the Border" feel from the whole place, very touristy.  Who says tourists don't have fun though?  Georgie loved it.  We loved it.  Then we headed down the mountain and I got very carsick.  Other than that it was the perfect day.  This was only an hour and a half away from our house.  Sunday we went to church and had a good Sabbath-we rested the entire afternoon.  I was able to run for 30 minutes that morning before church. It felt SO good to stretch my legs.  Then Monday we decided to go to the beach because big G had the day off.  We opted for Huntington Beach and rented a Surrey when we arrived.  George and I peddled beside each other and Georgie sat in a little basket in front.  It was kind of like a paddle boat, a lot of work but always gets a giggle out of the passengers.  Again- touristy fun.  Then we were off in search of a smoothie. We found Jan's Health Bar and it was very good.  I got a Blueberry Kale Peanut Butter Strawberry Smoothie with Raspberry juice and added chocolate soy protein.  George got date, banana and soy.  They were both fantastic.  So  Huntington Beach is in Orange County, which means you may see somewhere around four Lamborghini sports cars (I had to look up how to even spell that AND spell check made me capitalize the L) on any given weekday and everyone has one or two little dogs with them.   Everyone either looks older than they are from the sun or younger than they are because of plastic surgery.  Which makes for some very difficult people-watching.   So here we are at Jan's Health Bar with all the young/old, Lamborghini-driving, little-dog-walking, OC folks and I pull out our PB and J sandwiches to compliment the boys' smoothie because we were not about to buy lunch in such an expensive place.  I was too cheap to even use ziplock bags- the sammies were packed in the bread bag because it was the end of the loaf.  Don't act like you've never done that before.  I don't know why this tickled me so, but it did.  I love our life and would not change it for the world.  We certainly do not belong in the OC, but it sure is fun to visit!  The rest of the day we basked in the warm-you-to-the-core sun and strolled down the long pier.  We saw lots of surfers and fish from a birds eye view and my favorite sight- a lazy pelican who would not move even if touched (he was alive, because he constantly preened his feathers).  I thought of my Daddy who loves Pelicans.  He would have loved this whole scene.  I think we made the most of this holiday weekend- the mountains and snow one day and a little beachy sunburn the next.  I am so thankful for the Veterans who have made all this possible.  The ones who sacrificed for our freedom, freedom to choose where to go and when, freedom to spend that time with people we love, freedom to have a family and friends and freedom to be a tourist when we feel like it.  Thanks to the many many soldiers who have sacrificed and especially my two favorites, Grandaddy WHR and Grandfather DDB.  

Smooth Move God

Thursday was a good day. My mouth feels so much better as does the rest of me.  I felt like I could run so I tried.  I went about 5 minutes and it felt pretty good to move my legs.  The only problem is that I cannot breathe through my teeth enough to run to far or fast or uphill.  Thats okay I guess. Maybe I will try again in a couple of days.

After George's nap we had some FaceTime with Grammy.  Thank goodness for technology!! It was so good to see her face!  We then went to the Farmers Market in search of some supper.  I have to be honest, I did not expect to find a thing that would suffice for myself.  I hoped I would find a fresh juice at least.  While George was in line for his rotisserie chicken and potatoes - does anything smell quite as good as Rotisserie chicken and onion and potatoes?- I sauntered over to the Gastrobus where I usually find someone absolutely wonderful to eat.  I only went to check out the menu and drool.  Well, wouldn't you know it, they had a soup and a smoothie tonight.  Literally the menu is about 10 items at the very most, so to have soup and a smoothie was something!  I asked if the soup was pureed and the girl said sadly it was not.  But the smoothie I could eat, so I got it.  Banana, kale and dates!! What a combo.  It was really good but a little chunky and seed ridden (This reminds me of something that happened yesterday to me: if any one ever has their mouth wired shut here's a word to the wise -Chia seeds expand.  Do I need to explain? Just don't do it.)
So once again, the Lord showed he cares for me by the way he placed a unique and fun smoothie on the menu just for me. Thanks God!

So we had fun and then went home.  Although the smoothie was good, I was still hungry so ate two more mugs of the soup I made most recently.  Butternut Squash and apple!   Try it, its wonderful!!

Friday morning George woke me up and said, "I'm leaving, but little George is eating breakfast- just wanted you to know".  So I took about 5 minutes to get out of bed and then walked into the kitchen to find George perched in our recliner with his Halloween basket.  He had retrieved it himself.  It's like 6:30 in the morning y'all.  Too funny.  I said, "What on earth are you doing?"  He replied, "I ate my lunch, so I'm getting a treat".  Duh Mommy...  Since I was not awake enough to protest, he proceeded to eat his treat while I poured my first cup of coffee. I looked over and there was his plate, empty except for the crust of his egg sandwich,  exactly where I tell him to put it on the side of the sink.  He's a good boy and a crunch bar at 6:30 am never hurt ANYBODY.

The first week of an injury like mine is definitely the worst.  The second week is hard for different reasons but nowhere near as bad as that first week.  Here's hoping that the third and fourth weeks fly by!

Ohhhh, Possum!

Two things happened Monday night:
1.  I dreamed I ate a teddy graham
2.  I woke up in a panic because I could not seem to open my mouth
This tells me two things:
1.  I have had these wires long enough
2.  I slept really well for the first time in a week

Tuesday was a school day and I dropped George off with no problems, got an oil change and treated myself to a manicure while I waited for the oil to be changed.  I had a coupon for it so it was the perfect opportunity.
We happened to see our friends Jennie and Evie when I picked George up from school. They were headed to the park so we joined them.  All of that may have been too much for me because when we got home, I went right to sleep after I got George down for his nap.  He woke up around 5pm and it was completely dark.  He is so confused by the time change especially because he takes really long naps.  I am pretty sure he has no clue that he has not slept all night and that he thinks it is a brand new day.  Since I was so tired from the long day and big George would not be home for dinner I decided to cheat and sat him in front of a new movie we borrowed from Evie as we ate dinner (or drank it in my case).  We watched Disney's Brave and it was SO good. We snuggled the whole time and it was one of those nights we'll remember forever.  As I put him to bed I started to read a story, which I dread these days as it hurts my mouth.  He said, "Remember mommy- we don't read stories on movie nights".  Alrighty then!  Off to bed with you then.  As I turned off the light he said, "I want Daddy".  This was a Mozart symphony to my ears.  He has been so attached to me his whole little life, which I love in a lot of ways- don't get me wrong. But to hear those words.....man it was so good.  Since I have been out of commission, the Georges have spent a lot of quality time with each other and wow, has it paid off!  I told him I would send Daddy in when he got home.  When Daddy got home guess what he said in a hopeful tone...."Is he (George) still awake?---Good, I wanted to see that little booger".  Another symphony to my ears.  If I had to go through all this so they could have a chance to bond- I would do it again.

Wednesday we went to the Museum of Natural History.  It was the 100th anniversary so the museum was free! I am all over "FREE".  But alas, ten bucks to park.  It turned out to be worth it.  They have just redone the museum and they did a great job.  I did not see it before, but it was very interactive for a history museum.  George loved the Dinosaur BONES.  George will tell you, "They are not dinosaurs, they are dinosaur BONES".  Smart young 'un.  He was so excited that he would bounce from one exhibit to the next. It would have been so much more informative if I had time to read each plaque but hey, I would not even be there if it were not for him so I think I got as much out of it as I could.   And I overheard a conversation that melds very well with some scripture I read this morning too, so you will hear about that in the next post.  While we were there it should be noted that we were lucky enough to witness a live animal's first appearance in public at this museum.  Her name was Avocado and about 20 or so middle school age children waited in great anticipation for her to come out of her cage.  The two museum employees seemed excited to share this experience with us and were surprised at the crowd that had gathered there to see Avocado in all her glory.  Now before I go on, I want to say something for any readers who do not know me very well.  I LOVE animals, I've never owned a fur coat, I think humans have driven several animals into extinction and for that I am horrified and not proud of our human race. On the other hand, I grew up in a family of hunters and fishermen (and women)  so I appreciate nature as it takes its course with some species.  I think that overpopulation of some species is worse than the alternative, especially if we hunt to use the animal for food.  Okay,  now that you know I am not just a mean animal hater, let me tell you about what animal they brought out of that cage....A 'POSSUM Y'ALL!  The first question she asked the crowd was, "Have any of you ever seen an Opossum before?" I wanted to retort, "Is that the same thing as a Possum? and do you mean alive or dead? I've seen plenty of dead ones".  The next was, "What do you know about the Opossum?" All I could think of was how glad I was that my mom was not here right now.  She would have really embarrassed us with her response.  I can hear her now..." PURPOSE??? They have no purpose, they are the dumbest animals on the planet and they serve absolutely no purpose".  I can also see the looks we would get from the "trainers" who adore this opossum, little Avocado.  I had to leave before I said something I would regret.  All in all it was a great time, possum and all.