B'Twixt and B'Tween

Brain Surgery

Yup, that's a fancy button that really means, "slacker blogger."  Read about it here.

Meanwhile... Father-in-law's surgery went well today.  The clot was removed; no sign of a tumor; but, unfortunately, also no clues as to what caused the stroke. 

He is resting well and wearing a very handsome while gauze turban complete with chin strap.

The best news: Big T was able to talk and joke with Grandpa this morning before he was sent to surgery. We hope that signs of humor and very clear speech mean that the lasting impact will be minimal.

Say a Little Prayer

I know, I haven't posted anything in Forever.  But just in case anyone is still lurking or getting email alerts to new posts... it is time to ask for prayers and thoughts. 

Husband's Dad had a severe stroke on Saturday, and will be having surgery on Wednesday.  The neurosurgeon will be removing a blood cot about the size of a yogurt container from the surface of the brain.  Although it sounds brutal, the surgeon tells us recovery from the surgery itself is not super painful, and our hope is that it will remove pressure and therefore help the severe headache.

Father-in-law was more alert today than yesterday, even conversing some.  When the surgeon told him about the surgery, FIL's only question was, "will it help the headache?" When the surgeon said yes, FIL responded, "well, then, get on with it!"

We took Big T to visit this afternoon in hopes that he could talk with Grandpa before the surgery tomorrow. They did exchange a few words, and FIL recognized Big T, but he was already much more groggy from pain medication.

Mother in Law is staying with us in order to be closer to the hospital, and seems to be in fairly good spirits.

Between them, this is the second health crisis for Husband's parents just in 2009.  Who could have guessed that MIL would be feeling and looking perky after her ordeals, and we'd be worried about FIL instead?

Is Nothing Safe?

Our stash of "parent porn" was nearly discovered. 

Big T spied a copy of Seven Pounds at the top of the shelves and reached for it, explaining that it's rated PG-13 and he wants to see it.  Uh huh. Except for that bathtub full of blood and the depressing point of the main character's adventures, we'd rush right out and have our newly-minted sixth grader see that for sure.

On the shelf right above it is our stash of private viewing.  We're such edgy folks.  Our parent porn consists of: The Sopranos, all seasons of it. The Tudors, seasons one and two. Mad Men, season one (we switched to Dish Network and watched season two "live"). And now, Weeds, seasons one through three (we are nearly finished with season one, and the others were on super-sale at Target so we snapped them up).

Big T's sleepover guest came upstairs last night during a critical scene of Weeds, but luckily he didn't even glance at the screen while we frantically hit the pause button.  Or we'd be having a very interesting conversation with his folks today.

Yep, we're really renegades. A few inappropriate scenes and we're hiding the discs from the kiddos.

The Sky Is Falling

I feel like Chicken Little. 

Here's a brief rundown of an evening/morning this week:

• Big T and sleepover guest request pizza for dinner. We have frozen pepperoni pizza for them, but they want only cheese. Pick off pepperoni and place it on the baking sheet next to the "gourmet" frozen pizza Husband and I are putting into the oven.

• Pepperoni cooks, spilling grease over the edge of the baking sheet and burning it onto the bottom of the oven. Which sets off smoke alarms throughout the house.  The good news: grease-free pepperoni chips have a tasty crunch.

• Temporarily dismantle smoke alarms so we can eat dinner in peace.

• I realize that the time is ripe to clean the oven. Wipe up the baked-on grease as best I can and then set the self-cleaning cycle to begin.

• Three hours later, extreme heat from cleaning cycle unexpectedly turns on the hood fan. Startles us pretty good.

• Four hours later, decide the cleaning cycle has gone long enough and manually turn it off. Leave windows open, range fan running and smoke detectors temporarily dismantled. Reassemble everything before going to bed, and notice that the oven is sparkling clean.

• Wake up extra early the next morning and decide to take advantage by reading the paper under the bed covers. Husband is about to leave the house when I hear a popping noise, immediately followed by a darkened room.

• Catch Husband just before he leaves the house -- even though the lights went out and fixture popped, Husband didn't notice a thing. He tries the breakers and determines that the problem is actually our ceiling light fixture.

• Try the light fixture again, just for good measure.

• Problem confirmed as the fixture again pops and throws the breaker.

• Husband dismantles fixture to be sure a fire hasn't started in the ceiling (it hasn't). Flips the breaker again.

The sky is not actually falling, but we do have a bedroom chandelier on the kitchen island. I am walking on eggshells to see what the next bad luck item will be -- they do run in threes, right?

Bus-Stop Breakfast

We may have started a new tradition this morning: I sure hope so. 

In honor of the end of school, Big T and I threw a bus-stop breakfast. Our plan was to host it picnic-style on a card table at the end of our driveway.  Last night, I packed a basket with picnic dishes, silverware, cups and paper towels, ready to haul down there. We invited Big T's bus-stop buddies and their parents to come extra early, and bring lawn chairs and their favorite coffee mugs.  Everyone seemed excited about the prospect.

But we forgot to order the weather, and I was awakened by cracks of thunder and pouring rain. It cleared a bit by breakfast time, but it was still damp and chilly, so we held the party in the kitchen instead. No one seemed to mind. The kids clowned and ate at the kitchen table and Moms hung out around the island. When we were finished, the kids crossed the street to catch their bus.  Maybe we'll repeat this next Fall to celebrate the start of school!

The easy menu: a Costco fruit bowl, a carafe of cappuccino (thanks to my Tassimo), juice and ice water, and this Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe (which did, indeed, turn out to be a winner):

Bacon and Potato Breakfast Pizza

1 8-oz. can refrigerated crescent rolls

1 9-oz. package frozen roasted potatoes with garlic and herbs (I could only find a 19-oz. steamer bag, which worked out well because I doubled this recipe and made two pans -- which turned out to be overkill; see note below about quantity)

4 eggs

1/3 Cup milk

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 1/2 Cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbs. fresh parsley (I skipped this, since Big T and some other kids would turn up their noses at the sight of green sprinkles)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Meanwhile, spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Unroll the crescent roll dough into the prayed pan; press in the bottom and 1/2-inch up the sides to form a crust.  Be sure to press the perforations closed to seal.  Bake for five minutes.

While the crust is par-baking, microwave the potatoes on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until thawed.  Cut the largest pieces in half.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and stir in milk, bacon crumbles, 1 Cup of the cheese, the thawed potatoes and salt and pepper. 

Remove the crust from the oven; spoon potato mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 Cup cheese (and the parsley, if you are adding) over the top. Return the pizza to the oven and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until set and the edges are golden brown.  Cut into squares.

The recipe says it makes 8 servings; we easily served three adults and four kids with one recipe's worth.

Endless Summer?

First soccer game of the season.  All-school picnic. Loads of papers and reports coming home for the "archives." Fourth, fifth and sixth grade concert. Yup, we've been right in the midst of the end-of-school flurry.

Two more school days left: we have a morning surprise in store tomorrow, and a last-day field trip on Tuesday.

This will be our first summer with only a partial schedule.  Ironically, on the days that Big T has planned activities, he will actually have to be up and out earlier than during the school year.  That's because our school had changed its hours this year, so his bus didn't pick up until 8:45.  Most weeks this summer, he'll be catching a 7:30 bus to the community center for a variety of week-long activities, including fencing lessons one week; video game design another. Then the bus will bring him back around 12:30 for lunch and laziness. He's got a week of sleep-away camp and a couple of weeks of YMCA day camp. And afternoons at home.

I'm hoping he'll get a sampling of the kind of summer my friends and I whiled away doing nothing much. Make a fort or two; play some pickup baseball; ride his bike.

The difference will be that my own schedule doesn't relax for the school break.  I'll be mostly working from home, but already next week we have one day when Husband will have an enforced work-from-home schedule while I travel to Iowa for meetings.

We have stocked up on summer lunch fixings. But we can't predict when the boredom blues will strike, and I'm thinking the school chum telephone directory may be the only preparation we have for those endless summer afternoons when "I'm bored" may complete with "well, I'm working."

Dancing in the Dark

We danced on the grass.  Husband more than I.  To a live band (they played at a neighborhood home til complaints from across the park), with parents of kids somewhere around Big T's age. As always, we were near the top of the parent age range but still learning from the others about what to expect as Big T goes into the next school year. it was a fun, refreshing evening out for us.

We walked to the party with another Mom.

Big T is too old for a sitter, too young to be comfortable at home alone after dark. After a few conversations, we settled on having the two "onlies" spend the evening together at our house while the parents went to the party. These two do well together, and they're pretty calm. We reminded the boys of a few house rules: no other kids in the house; lock up if you go to play at a neighbor's house; here are the approved snacks -- and left a set of emergency telephone numbers.  A couple of calls home found them safe and happy.

Just as the other Mom and I set out to walk home, they boys called to ask us to hurry. Please? Apparently it was getting late enough that being home alone was getting old. We called again as we turned up the driveway, so they would not be startled when we opened the door and came into the house.

Still happy as larks, the boys had a sleepover and sent the other Mom home.

Another party-goer took this as an inspirational story. Her younger kids would reach this stage some day, we assured her -- sooner than she can imagine.

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Scrumptious Summer: Jamaican Rice and 'Peas' plus Ice Cream

We brought summer in with a small dinner party last night complete with -- thanks to Sister's ingenious suggestion -- a kid's table. Big T was not looking forward to the grownup evening (even though he had been invited to one sleepover and hosted a second in this same holiday weekend). So after Sister reminded me that she had often attended her best friend's family events simply to keep said friend company, I suggested that Big T could invite his own dinner guest. He did, and they kept each other occupied. 

Husband's long-distance best friend and friend's wife were visiting from Cleveland, so we grownups all enjoyed a good catching up over a dinner of jerk-seasoned pork tenderloin, green bean souffle, mango salad (this has now become a Viet Nam cooking class staple) and purchased angel food cake with homemade ice cream and fresh sliced strawberries. 

The one menu item that had me stumped was: what to serve as a starch? Google to the rescue, where the consensus seemed to be Jamaican rice with "peas."  In this recipe, "peas" turn out to be beans. And the recipe couldn't be easier.  Be warned, though: it makes a lot.  Did I mention it makes a LOT? Yes.

The directions might seem a bit unusual, but this is very easy and good.

Jamaican Rice and 'Peas'

1 medium can kidney beans

1 can coconut milk

2 Cups rice (I used brown Jasmine rice)

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/4 tsp. dried thyme (I only had ground thyme, so I used 1/8 tsp, and wish I had used a bit more)

1 Tbs. oil (I used olive oil)

Drain the liquid from the can of kidney beans into a measuring cup and add the coconut milk and enough water to equal 4 Cups of liquid. Place the liquids in a pot (I used a Dutch oven, and it seemed about the right size) with beans, onions, garlic, thyme and oil. Bring to a boil. Add the rice and stir for a minute. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover tightly and cook for 30 minutes or so, until the rice has absorbed liquid and is done.

* * *

The ice cream was also a hit.  Which was a relief, since our new freezer (the style that doesn't use ice and salt! hooray!) didn't work at last summer's family reunion.  Huh.  You can't drive for two days with the freezer in the back of a hot car, put the ice cream bowl in a freezer for just one night and expect to make ice cream the next day. Apparently. But you can store the ice cream bowl in your home freezer for the winter and "churn" out a tasty treat in no time.  Here's that recipe, now safely stowed in the ice cream maker box for next time:

Philadelphia Vanilla Ice Cream (no, I don't know why it has a city name -- if you know, leave us a comment and share the secret!)

1 quart half-and-half (also referred to in the original recipe as 'thin cream')

1 Tbs. vanilla

3/4 Cup sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

Thoroughly mix all ingredients, pour into ice cream freezer and process.  Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

I've Gone All Split Screen

I must be easily amused.  Honestly.

All it took this week was to hook up my new laptop with my external, oversized monitor and use them both. At the same time. Split screen.  Cool!

It has been a little bit frustrating, since the expert is in our main office and he's been helping me over the phone. But now that it's working, it's gonna be great.  Already it has inspired me to clean my desktop (boy, am I glad that the towering pile of slide-y papers is no longer threatening to topple over onto my keyboard and type who knows what havoc). Plus, I'll be able to keep reference documents on one screen while composing/compiling new documents on the other. 

'Course, my new techno experience is not impressing Big T, who informs me that PopPop has way more screens going at once, and has done this for quite a while already. Sigh. Leave it to me to lag behind the grandparents.