4 Days...A Guy From Houston

My nephew Anthony was visiting the family last week. 

He lives in Houston where he's some bigwig airport "security/wildlife coordinator for critters on the runway/stare down the shifty guys and tell them to leave if they ain't gonna buy a ticket anywhere" guy. 

I was 15 when he was born. 

He was a funny kid and has grown up to be a great man. 

I taught him everything he knows!

My girls adore their cousin Anthony. 

He always calls them on their birthdays and sends them funny cards in the mail. 

We traveled to Houston a few Springs ago and want to go back soon. 

It's a fun city with a fun relative residing within its borders. 

We heart Anthony. 

Saturday I traveled to Arthur, IL. 

It's where the Amish live. 

I met some friends for a fab breakfast buffet that was homemade by the Amish. 

My God, they make the BEST bacon EVAH!

As I was leaving breakfast I drove past Dollar General. 

I was surprised that there were so many horse and buggies parked outside. 

The dichotomy of old world travel stationed outside of a 21st century store. 

I bet these buggies travel back to their respective homes full of boxed mac and cheese, dish soap, and Nutter Butters. 

Sunday we saw more cousins. 

It was cousin Ty's birthday. 

He's 11. 

And a huge Dr. Who fan. 

So we had a cake with that telephone booth on it and some pretzel sticks fashioned into this wand thing they are holding.

These girls love Ty. 

They laugh at everything he says and they love to run wildly around for no apparent reason. 

And somehow, Zoe and Ty have the same squinty eyes. 

Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to eat dinner with the Houston cousin again. 

His sister, our niece Allison, was there, too. 

As were my bro and sis-in-law. 

My kids are young, my brother's kids are older. 

My parents have been grandparents for a long time. 

This picture is a hoot because I managed to get Zoe just as she jabbed Anthony in the throat with her elbow...

And the immediate reaction and laughter!

Monday. 

A movie making comedic genius has passed away. 

Chicago native Harold Ramis. 

A star of classic movies like Ghostbusters and Stripes and the writer/director of Caddyshack, Vacation, and Groundhog Day, to name but a few. 

I have this picture on the side of my fridge. 

It's Bill Murray and Andie McDowell along with a bunch of Chicago guys (I mean if these guys don't scream CHICAGO I don't know who would!) while filming Groundhog Day in Woodstock, IL. 

Chad and I briefly thought of moving to Woodstock. 

It's got a nice rural vibe and it's not far from the city. 

Anywho, I found this picture years ago in a drawer in the kitchen of an animal hospital I worked at in Chicago. 

I took it. 

Yep. 

If it was important, why was it in the silverware drawer?

I just love it. 

And it's my way-off the spectrum connection to the great and amazing Harold Ramis. 

Baking and Blogging

Part 2 of 2 in a series titled "Hobbies" from my

blog group Homesteaders and Homeschoolers

What is a hobby?

It's defined as...

• : a pursuit outside one's 
• regular occupation 
• engaged in especially 
• for relaxation. 
• 
  

My current occupation, one I've had since 2005, is child rearer/household president/pet caretaker/payer of the bills. 

I enjoy my position. 

It can become a bit monotonous at times, but overall it's been a good run.

In 2010 another job title was handed to me. 

I became a momcologist. 

The job description is as follows: mother of a child with cancer who does research into drugs and their effects, who becomes a pharmacist, nurse, physical therapist, homeschooler at times, 2am chauffeur to the hospital, advocate, all while still pouring chocolate milk into little cups, planning birthday parties, and potty training. 

On top of all of my responsibilities, I have tried to keep myself intact.

To not fold under pressure. 

And to keep my mind off of the gloom that can surround you when cancer comes into the daily going-ons of life. 

So I bake.

And I blog. 

I prefer to bake over cooking because cooking can be too lenient sometimes. 

I need structure.

I need lists. 

I need precision when things around me are shaky. 

I need exact measurements and 90% of the time the end product will be just as I had planned. 

I can tweak it here and there. 

I do adore putting chocolate chips into almost everything even if the recipe doesn't call for it. 

I make pies. 

Cookies. 

Sweet tasting breads. 

Brownies. 

Muffins. 

As well as pizza dough. 

Pot pie topping. 

Savory breads. 

And I blog. 

It was the summer of 2010 and I thought, I'll try this blogging thing. 

It can't be too hard. 

I'll share what's going on in my life, at the farm. 

I'll showcase my kids, who were 5 and 1 1/2 years old at the time. 

I'll share my story, whatever that was. 

Our hopes and dreams for our daughters.

Then leukemia came.

And my writing focus changed.

I've been able to share the turmoil cancer has brought to our family. 

It's cathartic in a way. 

But, I'll tell you one thing...I haven't said MOST of what it's like to have a child go through cancer treatments. 

I'm not going to let the horrors that flow through my daughter's life become a front page story. 

I have never shown the pictures of her after surgery. 

Or seconds before she gets radiation to her brain. 

I've never written about the questions she asked us about life and death or what we had to tell her in order for her to take the medicine the doctor sent home with her. 

No parent should have to say what we had to say. 

I've never written fully about the pain that sits deep down in my gut, in my whole being. 

But I do write about her life. 

And how happy we are that she still has hers. 

Hopes and dreams continue in my writing. 

I still wonder if anyone but my mom is reading, though. 

Then I go eat a brownie...

Food Ewwws

Part three in a series for the month of June entitled FOOD from my blog group Homesteaders and Homeschoolers.

I try to be a positive person.
Really, I do.
But today I'm going to post about foods that I do not like.
That I abhor.
That make me gag with an intent to barf.
Foods that make me shiver with discontent and foods that appear in my nightmares.
Nightmares where I am being force fed things that make me go "Ewwwww!"

Foods such as...

Fruit punch
-I think I hurled once as a child after drinking this. The Hawaiian Punch brand. I can't stand the smell of it. It gives me the heebie jeebies. But, since I am the BEST mom in the tri-state area, I do buy it for my kids. They must drink it at a distance of at least 15 feet from my nose, though.

Mushrooms
-I don't do fungus. Bottom line. My family goes ga-ga over the morel mushrooms that pop up in our yard in the spring. No. Thank. You.

Cooked onions
-Translucent, wormy looking, squishy. Again, no thanks.

Veal, lamb, rabbit
-On principle alone

Organ meats
-Really. Who likes these? Besides 94 year old cronies in The Home or that guy on that show "Bizarre Foods", Andrew Zimmern? No one really likes to eat organ meats, do they???

Meat in spaghetti sauce
-Something about a hunk of beef in my tangy tomato sauce gets me all gaggy.

Thick beef hamburgers
-I really hate biting into a hunk of meat and getting that bit that's all grisly or hard or whateverish. If I eat a beef burger (which doesn't happen too often) it's gotta be super, super thin. And from Culvers, Krekels, or Steak 'N Shake.

Sausages or brats
-Again, the biting into meat thing gets me with sausages and brats. Really, I'm not much into the meat thing.

Peppers of any kind
-I don't know why, but I have NEVER enjoyed any kind of pepper. Green. Nope. Red. Nope. Yellow. Nope. Spicy. Nope. Sweet. Nope. I just don't like them.

So, there you have it.
The foods on this earth that I don't like.
I'm probably missing some.
I do know that I now like some things that I used to hate when I was younger.
I can now successfully eat cooked carrots and tomatoes.
Maybe brats will grow on me.
Nah...

Food vs Cancer

Part two in a series for June entitled FOOD

from my blog group Homesteaders and Homeschoolers.

We don't eat bad at our home.
We don't always eat great, though.
There are times when I don't have any fruit for the kids and I start to get mom-guilt over it.
When I was pregnant with Zoe I knew I had to eliminate some things and add some foods to my diet to make sure the baby came out healthy.
No caffeine.
Lots of water.
More fruits and vegetables.
She came out full term and perfect at 7 pounds, 14 ounces.
I tried breastfeeding her, but it didn't work out.
I was stressed by it.
She was stressed by it.
We went to formula.
And boy, there's a lot of stress about failing at that!
But, our pediatrician assured me that I was not a bad mother and Zoe did thrive on formula.
She was a very chubby baby.
And she was never sick.

When she started to eat foods, I either made her food (I was the puree queen for a while at home) or bought organic canned baby foods.
Chad and I had decided that our daughter would be fed foods that didn't have pesticides or hormones in them.
Organic costs more, but she was worth it.
Nothing but organic milk went into her.
Organic cookies and crackers.
She drank organic grape and orange juice.
I didn't give her apple juice because my friend Kelly had had trouble with her son when he drank apple juice.
I remember her telling me that his behavior changed when he had the apple juice.
That's all I needed to hear...no apple juice.

Through her toddler years, she was never sick.
She would get the regular cold.
But no ear infections.
No strange rashes or bacterial infections.
Nothing at all.
When she started going to preschool, we kept up the organic foods, but also let in mainstream things.
She would go to McDonalds and get a Happy Meal.
But, she never drank soda.
And she never went for those super sugary drinks that some moms brought into school for preschool birthdays.
She asked for water.
Water has always been her favorite beverage.
We thought we had done everything right.
Everything right in terms of nutrition and good health for our first born daughter.


When she did start to get sick, when she started to feel lethargic and get headaches, we were shocked.
It was so unlike her to be ill.
Then we saw the bruises.
I made an appointment quickly with the pediatrician.
I made an appointment quickly because she had never been sick like this before.
She had always been super healthy.
The biggest problem she had had up to that point was a broken toe that summer.
Was the broken toe a pre-cursor to what was to be?
Was her body failing already and we just didn't realize it?
But no matter what we had done for her in the past, it was no match for cancer.
The organic foods we had stuffed into her body.
The pesticide-free fruits and veggies didn't matter.
Cancer was going to change our lives and our daughter and it didn't matter what we HAD done.
All that mattered now was what we WOULD do.

We kept up the healthy foods.
She still hates sugary drinks and soda.
When the steroids took over her body at the beginning of treatment and she would wake us up in the middle of the night because she was so, so, so hungry we did give in.
But not too much.
We would force her to go back to bed sometimes.
She would fight us, cry and tell us she was starving.
But we told her she wasn't, it was the medicine taking over her body.
That we wouldn't let her starve.
Food became not something that she enjoyed, but rather something that overtook everything else.
She would rather eat than color or play.
And it was salty foods that she craved.
It was a tough thing to watch.
I'm glad that it's over and that she's back to her old self again.
She still likes salty treats, but in moderation.
And her love of water has never wavered.

I remember when she was first diagnosed and how furious I was that this had happened to her because we had done everything right in terms of her nutrition.
A friend said to me "but the food choices you have been giving her will hopefully help her recover quicker. they will help her heal."
I think that she was right.
Maybe we couldn't fight against the inevitable.
She was probably bound to get cancer no matter what we had done in the past becuase that's just how her body was wired.
I call it "the kink in her DNA".
But we could continue with the healthy eating habits and try our hardest to counteract against the effects of the drugs.
Has it helped?
I think so.
But, I'm not a doctor or scientist.
I'm just a mom.
With a daughter with cancer.
But a daughter who is thriving today and who is a survivor.
A survivor who loves garbanzo beans and Dairy Queen.

Cheese and Me

Post one in a series for June entitled FOOD

from my blog group Homesteaders and Homeschoolers.

I have this thing for dairy.

I love milk, yogurt, and cheese.

Oh boy, do I love cheese!

I will eat any kind of cheese you put in front of me.

Any kind except that pepper jack stuff.

That's not for me.

One thing I don't like are peppers.

And who's jack?

Back to cheese...

I went to Paris when I was pregnant with Zoe and did not eat the cheese because a lot of it is not pastuerized.

Maybe the French ladies do, but I didn't want to chance it.

It was one of the big downsides of that trip.

So I had escargot and croissants instead.

I love baked goods as well.

Breads and pastries are things I like to make at home.

One of my favorite recipes to make are for Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits.

They are light and flaky and chock full of sharp cheddar cheese.

Check out the recipe on my food blog Dinner at Cheshire Farm.

Another great recipe that calls for cheese that I love is for something I call Summer Salad.

It's got greens, walnuts, apples and here it goes...Goat Cheese.

I've been making this salad since probably 1999.

I used to only make it in the summer, hence the name.

But now I'm all crazy and make it anytime of the year.

Potatoes.

I love potatoes as much as I love cheese.

It's really a horrible combination to have now that I am in my forties, but what's a girl to do.

I love a gooey, cheesey potato gratin and if you try this recipe, I think you will see why I love potatoes and cheese so much.

What's your favorite food?

Care to share a recipe of your favorites?

Today

Today...

I am cherishing the moments of sweetness and sourness my mouth participated in yesterday.
Yes, McD's brought out the frozen strawberry lemonade drink I jones for every summer.
Purchase #1 of a possible 25 has commenced.
So sad for my thighs.

I am trying to stay positive.
Various things are whirling around in my head.
Zoe spiked a 103 fever yesterday.
After a mad rush to Springfield and a blood draw followed by a humongo dose of IV antibiotics, she seems better.
She still has a slight fever and we are keeping our fingers crossed that a blood culture doesn't grow anything.
That would mean her port is infected and she would have to get it surgically removed sooner than we would have liked.
Leukemia and it's effects never go away.
And it drives me to swear.
And to stress.
I read a newspaper article recently about a local man who has started a motorcycle rehab business and his son was a part of the story.
His son was diagnosed and treated about 10 years ago for medullablastoma.
A brain tumor.
Jake's type of brain tumor.
This boy now has scar tissue on his lungs causing respiratory issues, wears two hearing aides, has a cataract on his eye, and doesn't speak.
But he's considered lucky.
And that rips another hole in my already fragile heart.
I fucking hate childhood cancer.

I wish I owned one of those big soft pretzel turny machines like you see at the ballpark.
Plus a freezer full of pretzels.
And a machine that squirts out ooey, gooey cheddar cheese for dippin'.
That would go so good with the frozen strawberry crack I drink.

I am rooting for Alaska or Jinkx to win RuPaul's Drag Race.
You really should tune in if you don't already.
You will learn new lingo and beauty tips.
Who could ask for more?!
Well, can I drink this while watching?
All T. No shade.

Candy Mice

Saturday my family held our annual candy making and cookie decorating party.
We had extra cousins this year since my cousin was in town from Dallas, so my mom's side of the family was at the party this year.
We made cracker candy and turtles.
We had chocolate covered pretzels, marshmallows, peppermints.
Really, if it was standing still it was covered in white or chocolate almond bark.
And it was delicious.

We decorated cookies.
We decorated mallows.

We made some mice.
And...shhh...even had a real mouse at the party.
It was seen pre and post party, but not during party.
I bet it's little mouth was just watering looking at all of the crumbs on the floor.
Really, our cats are jerks.
A house full of them and a mouse is scurrying around.

Yesterday I made these chocolate crackle cookies.

Today I made these two brownie pecan pies.

I want to marry that one in the back.

For.
Real.

And I just finished baking some cheddar buttermilk biscuits for breakfast tomorrow morning.
Put one on a plate with a slice of leftover Christmas ham.
Drool.
I'm sure Chad will make some sort of eggy sauce to go over it all.
Drool some more.

Hug the kids extra hard tomorrow.
I didn't spoil mine this year with stuff.
Just enough toys and they will get lots of kisses tomorrow.
And every day after.
That's what they really want.
Merry Christmas folks.

  

Recipes Galore!

Head over to my sister blog Dinner At Cheshire Farm  for some easy tips for quick meals...

~a sweet and spicy pork tenderloin rub

~salty baked potatoes

~homemade taco seasoning

There are lots of other recipes to try as well.
Take a look and make something new this weekend!