A recipe and some stuff

Good Monday morning!  It is lovely outside at the moment, although later on the weathermen are calling for a terribly hot one today.  They say with the heat index, and all that mumble jumble, it is going to feel like 105 degrees today.  Ugh...thank goodness for a refreshing baby pool, lol.

Actually, I'll probably keep Rylie inside most of the day if it is going to be that hot and nasty out.  We may hit the pool for a little bit, but I don't want her outside too long in that kind of heat.

Okay, back to the regular broadcast, lol.  With this heat I thought lets keep it light and simple.  If you buy some of the pre-cooked chicken at the grocery store, you won't have any cooking to do at all with this recipe.  This is another one from those nice folks over at Spark People.

Asian Chicken Salad
Serves: 4
The fruit that tops this salad helps to make an already healthy dish packed with even more vitamins. 

INGREDIENTS
2 cups cooked chicken, skin removed, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 cups cabbage, shredded
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup carrots, grated
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 mandarin orange or tangerine, divided into sections
1/2 cup nonfat Asian or Oriental-style salad dressing
black pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, cilantro, cucumber, and dressing. Toss well.
2. Top with green onions and tangerine sections. Pepper to taste.

Mmmm, doesn't that sound yummy?  Not much help though if you have a meat and taters kind of man like mine.  In which case, if he say's that isn't going to be filling enough for him, you point to the hot dogs or bologna in the refrigerator.  LOL

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At Merriam-Webster the word of the day is...

hirsute adj. - 1) hairy 2) covered with coarse stiff hairs

My choice for the word of the day is...

Inept

Main Entry: in·ept
Function: adjective
Pronunciation: i-'nept
Etymology: Middle French inepte, from Latin ineptus, from in- + aptus apt
1 : lacking in fitness or aptitude : UNFIT
2 : lacking sense or reason : FOOLISH
3 : not suitable to the time, place, or occasion : inappropriate often to an absurd degree
4 : generally incompetent : BUNGLING
synonym see AWKWARD
- in·ept·ly/-'nep(t)-le/ adverb
- in·ept·ness/-n&s/ noun

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Saturday I worked at a festival from 11am until 11pm.  Actually with clean up and packing things up for the night, I didn't get home until almost 12am.  That is a loooong day.  It was hotter than Hades and I was beat, absolutely exhausted.

Do you know what I got to do when I came home?  I had to go clean up the kitchen, put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and run it.  Then I got to run the sweeper to clean up the popcorn that the baby had thrown all over the living room.  Spend some time with the baby, gosh did I miss her.  That was the absolute longest time we have ever been apart.  I didn't get to go to bed until 1am or so.

Are ya all getting the idea of where I got the idea of my choice for the word of the day?  Although at this point, I don't know if describes how I felt at the end of that day (or rather the beginning of Sunday morning) or how I felt about the ol' mans ability at home on Saturday.  LOL

I can't imagine how all the women who work 40 or more hours a week do it.  I mean just imagine having towork 9 hours a day and then come home and having to work another 4 or 5 hours.  

Dealing with the kids and their needs and wants, trying to get dinner fixed, doing the laundry, cleaning, etc.  All while the hubby is sitting in front of the tv or on the computer relaxing (lol, I almost typed relazing, hmmm.  Maybe I came up with a new word) and hollering about how tired and hungry he is.  I know that is what it must be like for a lot of women.  I can't even fathom it.  No wonder so many women have nervous breakdowns.  It's probably the only vacation or relaxation they are able to get.

So for all of you women out there working, full-time or part-time, married or single...Let me stand up and applaud you.  I can not imagine the strength, determination and drive it takes to do everything that you have to do day in and day out.  So for my mother, and the millions of others like her...
  -*-*-BRAVO!-*-*-

Have a wonderful day and stay cool.

Hugs,

Thank you Michal!

    
Thank you so much Michal for honoring my journal by choosing it for your list of top picks this week.  There are some weeks when I begin to wonder if anyone even finds any of this stuff useful.  Then one of my trusty regulars will leave a comment saying "thanks for the tip" or "I'm going to try that one", and I know that someone is reading and finding something of interest here.

I truly appreciate all my regulars who come every week and stay in touch with their comments.  I especially want to thank all my regulars who keep coming back every week.  I want to thank those of you who have put me on your list of Journals that you recommend.  I've gained new readers thanks to you. 

I want to thank those who are taking a few moments of their time to come and have a look-see at my journal because Michal chose this as one of her picks.  I appreciate you taking the time to visit and leave comments.  It really is nice to see so ya'll stopping by.

It really is like a big pat on the back to know that someone finds this journal interesting enough to post it as a pick of the week and recommends it to others to check it out.  Thank you again Michal.

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Last evening I was suppose to work at one of those lunch wagons.  Toledo is having a "Wing Thing" event, festival...whatever at a local mall parking lot.  It is being sponsored by some local radio stations.  There are a bunch of bands playing.  I was really looking forward to the Aerosmith tribute band that was gonna play last night.

However, it rained again.  Lately, here is Toledo (located in what is known as the Black Swamp in the old days) whenever it rains...many streets and homes start to flood.  So of course, the parking lot where this event was to take place flooded and it was cancelled. 

I am working again today too.  Hopefully we will not have anymore rain.  They are calling for a very hot day, somewhere around 95 degrees.  Humid, probably, too.  Ick!  I am off to go get ready.  Samantha is watching Rylie for us since both Ray and I will be working today. 

I am hoping the vertigo (caused by an inner ear infection) isn't too bad.  I got the prescription filled, but the pharmacist warned me that it causes some to become very drowsy.  I took it last night, but it didn't really seem to help. 

I can't take that stuff during the day.  I am chasing a 2 year old all day long and can't afford to be any more tired than I already am.  I don't know which is the lesser of two evils...being dizzy or being sleepy. 

Well, I am off to get ready for my day.  Again, thank you for visiting and I hope you found something useful or interesting in your stop by my journal.

Hugs,

PS~If you like graphics feel free to check out my little graphics journal...Coloring Inside the Lines.  I don't spend as much time as I'd like working on graphics, but you may see something you like there.  =D

Metal mouth

This is just so gross!  I thought that since Rylie was still sleeping, I would go and visit some journals.  But reading just makes this "vertigo", or whatever, worse.  I keep getting that nasty metallic taste on my tongue and then the light headedness and slight room spins. 

 

Although the room spins are bad and really mess me up...I think the metal taste in my mouth is the worse part.  It just tastes so dang awful and the fact that it nearly always comes just before a dizzy spell...oh sheesh...there it is again!  Blech, ewww, it is so gross!

 

Gotta go...I don't know if it is the computer screen or the letters or what...but I just can't stand this.  Lucky for me the Dr said these only last 8-12 weeks.  Y-i-p....oh I can't even fake it.

 

Later.

J.

 

SCJohnson

Have ya'll been over to the SCJohnson site?  It's kind of cool.  I get an email every now and again...not daily like some places, errr.  They send me links for cleaning, crafting, decorating and some recipes.  This one sounded absolutely delicious and I wanted to share it with ya'll.

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade
-Recipe from SCJohnson Clean Home Journal
Add a new twist to an old summer standby with this delicious lemonade "slushee" that happily marries strawberries and lemons. (Although you can use fresh strawberries, the best slushee effect is achieved by blending frozen strawberries with crushed ice.) If you use frozen strawberries, let them thaw a tiny bit before blending so that they are easier to crush in your blender. Also, it's best to use precrushed ice; if using ice cubes, choose the smallest ones to avoid harming the blades of your blender. The length of time you blend the drink will determine its thickness. More blending time equals more liquid. Less time gives you a drink you can eat with a spoon!

Serves 2 (per 8 oz. serving)
2 cups frozen (or fresh) strawberries (about 24 strawberries)
1/2 cup crushed ice (or smallest cubes possible)
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
3 packets of sugar substitute or 2 Tablespoons of sugar (or to taste)
3/4 cup water

Optional
1/4 lemon, sliced, for garnish
1 Tablespoon of ginger, fresh or dried (finely chopped)
A few mint leaves

Tools: Ziploc® Bag with Double Zipper Seal (for crushing ice)
Rolling pin
Blender
Measuring cups

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 2 minutes

Allow frozen strawberries to thaw slightly.
Before placing ice cubes in blender, crush large chunks by sealing securely inside a Ziploc® bag and rolling over the bag firmly with a rolling pin.
Combine lemon juice, strawberries, sugar substitute or sugar, crushed ice and water in blender jar. If blades get stuck, add more water.
Blend on high with lid tightly secured until smooth and thick.
Pour into glasses and serve immediately. Garnish with a slice of lemon, if desired.

Chef's Tip: To make this frozen strawberry lemonade less tart, feel free to add more sugar substitute or sugar, as desired. Our version is tangy, with just a hint of sweetness.

Diane's Tip: I love to add a Tablespoon of finely chopped ginger or a few leaves of fresh mint to the blender jar before blending. It gives an extra kick of flavor.

Home remedey

                     

These are home health remedies that have been emailed to me or that I found on the Internet.  I have not tried them all and do NOT guarantee the effectiveness of them.  If you try one and it works, or if you have one that works for you, please email me.  Thanks.

Smoking Habit

• Lick a little salt with the tip of your tongue whenever you feel the urge to smoke. This is said to break the habit within 1 month.

*As a smoker, I am highly skeptical of this one.  But I may give it a try...oops, except my Dr said to stay away from salt, especially right now.  Chit...he said to avoid salt and two other things...dang this ole-zhimers (lol)...I can't believe I already forgot what he said.  Oh well.

 

Have a great day.  I know I will, I am busy cleaning and reclaiming our house after our month and a half long guest left in the middle of the night without so much as a good-bye, much less a thank you.  Oh well, at least I can move Rylie back into her own bedroom and begin the re-training her to sleep in her room again.

  :::happy dancing:::   =D

 

Hugs,

Back from the Dr.

Sheesh, I am so tired.  I just got back from the doctor and running to the store to get some lettuce for the tacos I am making tonight.  The doctor said it is probably labyrinthitis.  Basically, something like an inner ear infection.  He gave me a prescription for an antihistamine saying that it should help when the dizzy spells happen.

No anti-biotics or anything like that though.  Sometimes I really wonder about this doctor.  Not like I have much choice since I go to the county clinic.  Otherwise he said the condition usually resolves itself in 8-12 weeks.  Hmm, "good news" (NOT) for a mother of a toddler.

Oh well, just wanted to let ya'll know it is nothing serious.  Thanks for the well wishes.

PS~Good news, my BP reading at the DR office was 119/86.  I think that was the lowest reading I have had in the past 10 years.  The new meds must be working better than the old ones.  I did forget to tell the Dr about the metal taste in my mouth though.  Oh well, if it doesn't get better, or continues to get worse over the next few weeks, I'll go back in.

9:01 sharp

Today I am calling the doctor, at 9:01am sharp.  For the past 2 weeks I have been having a few of these mini dizzy spells.  But yesterday was just awful.  I probably had about 4 or 5 of them. 

At first I thought, perhaps it was related to my hypertension.  So after the one that happened when I was sitting at the computer, I checked my blood pressure shortly thereafter (as soon as I was able to stand without falling over) and it read 115/92.  That's not bad.

Then several hours later it happened again.  This time when I check my BP it was 153/102.  What the heck?  Maybe it has something to do with my blood pressure running high and low.  I don't know.

I talked to my mom and she told me that dad had a problem with vertigo.  So I looked up vertigo and yep, that pretty much has the symptoms.  Except for the nausea which I also have. 

Of course, this morning I get up and my head just feels...off.  I don't know how to describe it.  It isn't a constant state of dizziness...just kind of light headed and on the verge of being nauseaus.

It is 7:54am according to the clock in the living room.  I guess I will go and get my shower.  I have an hour and 7, now 6 minutes until I can call and try to get into the doctors.

Wish me luck.  Have a healthy day.

Hugs,