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Friday, March 27, 2009

10 WEEKS...

Had my 10 week appointment today. More xrays, more waiting, more annoying-ness. It looks like the fibula is still pretty far from fusing together, and today we actually saw a decent xray of the break. It is one big long splinter that you couldn't see on my first xrays. There is some bone growth though, but it's also still sore in the area when the Dr. pushed on it. So, better to be safe than sorry, which is fine, so she booked me in for another appt in two weeks. Go to front desk, and find out Easter is in two weeks, no Friday clinic. They skip that one. That means I now go back in THREE weeks, and then we do the whole xray thing again! So I still don't know when I can have surgery to get the screws out! I thought this was going to be a glorious day, finding out I could start to walk again in a week or two. Wow, probably more like 4 or 5 weeks, IF things are going well. So this means I am still non-weighbaring, still on crutches, still in a sweaty wheelchair, and our oven broke yesterday! No baking for me either. Boo hoo.

But on the plus side, this week was mental with work for me. I worked 6 days in a row! (after not working for months in a row, 6 days was a major feat.) So, now I am sleeping about 6 hours a night, and working the rest. It's been crazy. That's why no blogging for like 10 days. I had a few saved in the queue, but never got around to publishing them. But it's nice to see that I won't be needing to change professions just yet. I sent out 144 resumes 2 weeks ago. And yes, it normally takes me about 100 resumes or so to get a job. Email is the key, folks!

I bought Cadbury Mini Eggs to celebrate.

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Asian Salad

Ok, time for another salad recipe...

(I kinda like this over exposed version, but it doesn't make it look all that appetizing)

This time I kind of made it up a little. Since we are so diggin the crumbed chicken, it now goes into everything we eat. Sometimes I even crumb it and add some taco seasoning for fajitas, or some other mexican variation. Yum. But that's besides the point.


OK, it looks like a lot of ingredients, and it is, but its easy.

Ingredients:
package of Chinese Noodles
Lettuce (optional)
Cabbage
Green Onions
Peanuts, or almonds
Mandarin Oranges, from a can
Crumbed Chicken (as per other salad recipe)

Dressing (as my noodle bag tells me):
¼ cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup Sugar
1 tblsp Soy Sauce
2 tsp Sesame Oil (Optional)
½ cup Olive Oil

Mix all the ingredients of the dressing in a bowl, over low heat. Stir well until sugar is dissolved. Cool. Crumb and fry chicken pieces. Chop up some cabbage and lettuce, and if you have fussy eaters, like I do / am, put the peanuts, oranges and noodles into separate bowls, and people can take what they want. Toss salad with dressing, and add noodles just before serving. Yummm.

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Friday, March 20, 2009

9 Weeks

Yay! I'm 9 weeks in! Maybe only 3 weeks left until I can walk again! But I have a feeling that that is when the real work starts. Either way, I am SICK of crutches and wheel chairs. I have an appointment on the 27th and I think that's when they'll tell me when I can get my screws out. Since the last appointment, I can't say there has been too much change in my foot/ankle, but nerves are feeling better, yet still slightly nervy. I am still red and gross too, and I still get very swollen when I am up and about for too long (usually about 2 hours will do it). Ok, this is boring. I suppose I should go take a photo or two, for old times sake...

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Biscuit, the North American Kind

Biscuit here means cookie, but I made the biscuits native to Canada, albeit with a store bought mix. (I'm not quite up to making anything from scratch just yet - I'll wait a few more weeks until I can stand on my own two feet). It's funny too, because a new favorite blog of mine posted a biscuit recipe just a few days ago, almost at the same time I was making them. Her's look a lot nicer than mine, but mine sure hit the spot anyway! I remember Mom always making biscuits when I was little, and I always got them stuck in my throat because I would be gobbling them down like a maniac. But man were they good. And Grandma introduced me to adding cheese in them, which I plan to do next time. There is nothing like home made food coming out fresh from the oven and smothering it with butter. Mmmm.



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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Oil & Wheels

Believe it or not, there was an oil spill off of our coast last week, and we actually had oil on our beach! I wasn't able to go and see, since I was home alone, but as soon as Adam got home, we went for a "walk". The oil was already gone from our beach, but there is still a lot of clean up going on elsewhere, and other hazards to be aware of. The ship was carrying containers of fertilizer, and they fell into the sea, puncturing the ships oils reserves (?). Yikes.

I also wheeled myself to and from the beach, almost entirely by myself, which I was quite happy about (I even did the steep ramp part!). It was a nice little work out for me. My forearms are aching today, but I would have thought my shoulders would be sore. They were almost giving out on me while I was wheeling around. It's hard work, I'll tell you. Any slant of the sidewalk, or road, and your two front tires automatically follow the slope! So, you are breaking with one arm, and pushing with the other, to get yourself straight again. Unbelievable amount of work. I never expected it could be so hard...But kinda fun too.

Wow, don't I look insane! My hair is always mental.


But, here's our beautiful beach, with only a hint of oil in the air.

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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Ranch Chicken Salad

Here is a LOVELY recipe my friend Nicole made us the other week. It's perfect for those hot summer days, when you don't feel like eating all that much, or preparing a roast (yeah right). But it's still filling enough to satisfy all the carb and protein cravings.


Ranch Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Potatoes
Bacon
Salad Mix
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cheese
Avocado
Bread Crumbs
Ranch Dressing (I like the Paul Newman stuff!)

Instructions:
Cook potatoes until almost done, but still firm (either in micro, or on stovetop). Dice bacon and fry, and in the meantime, dice chicken breast. Set bacon aside when done.

Dice potatoes, and coat with bread crumbs (you can add other herbs or salt & pepper to bread crumbs if you want). Then coat chicken breast in crumbs.

Shallow fry chicken breast in same pan as bacon (I like the flavour). Make sure to have hot oil in the frying pan. The trick to keeping the bread crumbs on is to not turn them much. Add potato when meat is almost done. Add bacon at the end just to heat up.


In the meantime, wash lettuce mix, dice carrots, tomato, cheese, and avocado. Toss with Ranch dressing, and add hot potato/chicken/bacon just before serving. Mmmmm.


Except I hate tomato, and so I left it out :)

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Friday, March 13, 2009

Truimph!


Whew, we just bought something...something SCARY! I recommend doing something that scares you every so often. You've never felt more alive! Like for instance, last June, Adam and I went to get our motorbike licenses. It was incredible! I couldn't eat breakfast or lunch our first day of lessons, but as soon as I got on that bike, I knew this was going to be a part of my life from then on. It's amazing. It's like flying. I highly recommend it.


Adam's been keeping his eye on potential modes of transportation for a while now, and tonight we got one! A motorbike! This was also another heart stopping moment, since we bought it off ebay. Those final few seconds were so intense, no wonder people get addicted to ebay. There was one other bid, but we still got it for $900 less than we were prepared to pay. It's the perfect starter bike too, for Adam, I mean. I could care less, as long as I don't have a crotch rocket. He wanted something that he can put work into, and customize.




And at long last, we have a mode of transportation! We've been saving (can't get a loan, since we're both self employed, and I just got my permanent residency, so no bank is touching me! Not to mention I barely have a job anymore...but, back to the story...) for a year or so now for a car, but since the "financial crisis", we've had to downsize our plans, and abandon the dream of a '50 Chevy Coupe (imported from the US, because they never had them out here). We'll now try and find something else out here in Oz, and we'll put that Chevy on the back-burner for when our dollar gets more than 63 cents!

Here is our new '55 Thunderbird, by Triumph...which NEEDS a paint jooooobbb! Yikes. Periwinkle. Who paints a MOTORBIKE periwinkle!?




Ok, this doesn't solve all our transport needs, but it will alleviate quite a few. Groceries are still going to be a matter of borrowing, but for everything else (besides IKEA), we're golden. We decided to jump on this bike, since they are somewhat rare, and one at this price is very rare, especially within driving distance. We'll hopefully have enough in a few months for the car part of our transport needs...but until then, we'll be riding on the wind...

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

If Only!

Wow, thought this ad was cool. If only I had the skills to pay the bills...

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Cupcakes! At Last...

Those of you who know me, must have noticed my obsession with cupcakes by now. It was always in the back ground of my life, in my subconscious, but it became a fully conscious obsession about 3 years ago, when I worked on a house for one of the owners of Cupcakes. She used to bring them in for us all the time, and I fell under the spell. How was this icing even possible? How could this huge and amazing taste even exist? I needed to find answers. I then went on a quest, and I am still on that mission, though a few mysteries have been solved. I will share them as I learn them...

I solved the mystery of the perfect buttercream. I finally did this last week. After YEARS of ignorance. Except one of my downfalls is the documentation of my journeys. I never take exact measurements, and never take any notes. Good thing buttercream isn't an exact science. Being someone of at least moderate intelligence, you'd think I would have come to perfecting this recipe years ago. I used the Bakerella recipe, but I don't know how much icing sugar I used, since we don't measure in pounds, and my icing bags were long ago emptied into a storage container, thus rendering converting kg into lbs not an option. I think I used about 3 cups worth to 1c. butter. Make it to taste.

BUT, the secret (or not so secret, depending on your icing making experiences) is to beat the butter like mad, then add icing sugar in like 1/3 c. increments, and beat it like mad after each addition. Add milk, IF you need it. In this land, of heat and humidity, I do not need milk. Though I wish I did - I feel like I am missing out on the 1tbsp of milky flavour. Then add the colour and flavour. AND do not refrigerate, unless you are keeping it in a bowl. The icing will most likely sweat after you take it out of the fridge, but you can mix it up one last time if you've kept it in a bowl. Ice the cake, or whatever, just before you eat it, and don't store the finished product in the fridge. I also learned this tip from the Cupcakes owner.

Since I am just starting out with learning to decorate, I only have those cheap-o food dyes (in RGBY) from the grocery store. Same with the flavourings. And same with the piping bag and tips, but...I have found a nice little store, which I plan on spending some dough at sometime soon, so we'll see how this icing decorating thing progresses.

So, since I am still on one leg, and baking using a wheelchair isn't all that fun or simple, I only have baked when desperate, (ie. after 6 weeks of eating nothing but store bought sweets, I was desperate!) but so far I've only been using store-bought mixes.


Here's what I did last week:

I used the White Wings Golden Buttercake mix, and the Bakerella icing instructions (with my own twist), and made some mini cupcakes.


They were heaven to my store-bought tainted mouth! So, I can't unbiasedly recommend the cake mix, but it seemed to do the trick. Better than my attempts at a white or yellow cake to date (they always seem too eggy). I'm sure I'll use it again. Plus cake is nothing without icing, so it's all in the icing. I realized last week that I would not like cake, if not for the icing. Who wants a piece of plain cake? No one. No one normal.

Blue Lagoon Mini's - Coconut flavour, with a blue tint, and flattened into dessicated (I need a better word than that, I think) coconut.


Strawberry Mini's - Strawberry flavour with cheap-o crap-o sprinkles, since Adam ate all the good ones, because they actually tasted good all by themselves.


Lemonade Mini's - Lemon flavoured buttercream, all by its lonesome, since I have nothing else cool to put on them.


Can't wait to try some new flavours. I think I will go with chocolate cake next time, with orange flavoured icing, among others. Mmmm.

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Monday, March 9, 2009

7.5 Weeks and Counting...

Here are a few more photos from 7 weeks on. Looking good, if I do say so myself. Feeling still quite nervy though. But I am sleeping a lot better, woohoo! Time to look for new work again, I guess.




(Gross foot skin. I don't use it, so it doesn't come off! And it's very sensitive, so scrubbing is kept to a minimum)

I started some physio last week, and even in 5 days, I have noticed a difference. I have to do this toe scrunching exercise on a towel, and for the first 4 days, I couldn't at ALL. Now, I am seeing some progress! Here's a little video of my attempts. It's kinda funny, I thought. It looks like I have a bionic foot, and the wiring isn't quite worked out yet.


(redness is still fading, looking good!)

(bending joint downwards - almost there...)

(bending joint upwards, long way to go yet)

(toe scrunching is at an all time low, but getting better)

And should have the nerve thing sorted soon...still waiting for that appointment though.

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Homemade Helpers - Lavender Linen Spray

Found this lovely recipe from all my online adventures, and it sounds WONDERFUL! I think I will add a few things to my grocery list this time around...


Though we always hang our laundry up to dry, and don't have a problem with mold, my linens -and clothes for that matter- always tend to smell musty if they aren't used right away. I am hoping this will work to keep things smelling nice. I'm not sure about the witch hazel though...any brand that I have used in the past smells really strong, almost like BBQ sauce (yeah, weird). In Canada, you can get witch hazel in Superstore, in the medicine-y area, like near band aids, or something. I use it for a mild astringent, or for irritated or burned skin. Might be near the aloe vera...In Australia, you can get it at the grocery store, or I always get it from Priceline.

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Saturday, March 7, 2009

Kids say the darnest things

A few months ago, the little neighbour boy poked his head in through our garage door one morning, and asked me what I was doing. I replied I was ironing, and he asked why. I explained, and he asked why 3 more times. Then, he says to me, in reference to Adam (my husband), "what's your Dad doing?". We laughed so hard, poor little guy, and I can't stop laughing about it even now. I'm not sure which of us two should be more insulted.

Then, last week, I was hopping my way to the car, and he was riding his bike past me. Of course, he stopped, and asked me if I hurt my leg again (since it seemed to him that I've been on crutches for much too long!). "No", I replied, "same injury", and he asked what I did to hurt myself. As we are talking, Adam comes down the side stairs with my wheelchair, and the little guy asks me this time, "What's your Uncle doing?". I again BURST out laughing, and try again to explain that he is my husband. I guess he's not quite old enough to get it yet.

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Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Lights

I saw this cute tutorial on giving your mini lights a make over. So cute! And you could definitely do more with the same idea, like snowflakes, or pumpkins too. Can't wait to think of a reason to do this :)

(Mini lights are the same as Fairy lights. Rice lights are the tiny-tiny ones. I should get a job as an English translator, translating Aussie to North American, and visa versa. Seriously, there are so many miss-identifications online, with people recommending certain recipe substitutions, which don't work, or calling things by names that mean different things in each respective country.)

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Monday, March 2, 2009

Half Way There

Well, I had my 6 week check up at the specialist on Friday, and was surprised to see that my Xrays look exactly the same! The specialist said he noticed some bone growth, but to me, it still looked like a nice big crack. Which makes me wonder if all the clicking and shifting I felt in what seems to me to be the same region as the break, really is the bone shifting around. It is quite an unsettling feeling, both physically and mentally. Anyhow, I am still on crutches, still no weight baring, and still having nerve troubles.

I begin physio on Weds, and I hope they will try and do some nerve stuff for me (like massage, or ultrasound, or something fun). Otherwise, there is not a lot they can tell me. I am already moving my ankle as much as I can, and writing the alphabet with my toe...The screws are still hindering complete range of motion though.

Speaking of screws, I don't know when I will get them out, but I have another specialist appointment in 4 weeks. I suppose then they will do more Xrays, and book me in for surgery to get them taken out. But I don't know the time on that. I am assuming within a few weeks...

But it's hard to believe I might only be HALF way there! Even after another 4-6 weeks, I will still have to do lots of physio. But it will only be easier from here on out.

I also FINALLY got a call from the pain clinic, but it took 3 different doctors to get me in. I don't get this at all. I cannot explain how frustrating this has been. I still have to wait until my doctor fills out a questionnaire, and sends it back in, and then they will call me again I have NO idea why this didn't happen when I first went to the ER!?!? I even called the pain clinic myself to try and push things along! They didn't tell me a THING about a questionnaire! I am so frustrated. This pain could end up being something serious, yet, I am being handed off left and right, and doing everything I can possibly to, but ultimately, it's up to the receptionist at the pain clinic? AAARRRRGGGGGHHH!!!! The specialist also was alluding to the fact that this nerve stuff has to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

I thank God, truly, that this final set of drugs has been working to a certain extent. I am in the bearable pain realm, and unbelievably relieved! I think if this stuff didn't work, I would have happily camped out in the ER until someone saw me. I was even starting to consider other ways to get admitted...Since you seem to need to come in bleeding in order to get someone to take a look at ya. But now I don't feel like I need to resort to anything :)

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The Ark

Daniel 12:3
Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.

‘God wants people who are prepared to follow Him wholeheartedly. It is not only the unbelievers who have to be reached; the believers, too, have to be helped to see things clearly, because the attacks on the Bible come from all sides.’
- Johan Huibers

See what Johan is up to...very interesting, and exciting. One of the biggest reasons people use to discount the flood story from the Bible, and Genesis as a whole, and therefore the Bible, is because they think there is no way all those animals would fit on the ark. Here is a great article explaining the science and the story of the ark.

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