The Shiz


So far 2011 has been very odd health-wise for me...several random strange things have popped up and wrecked havoc with me. Actually the weird started in October when instead of catching the cold that my family all had and having it manifest itself as a regular cold I got Pityrisasis Rosea which is a nasty hive like skin condition which is how the "cold" decided to manifest itself in me. It lasts about three months. It was horrible. Most people use Benadryl and anti-histamines to deal with the rash/hives and wait it out. There isn't a cure for it. I also happen to be one of those extra lucky people who also has a weird allergy. I am allergic to Benadryl and anti-histamines which is super rare. So when I get something weird I have to go on Prednisone. After finally convincing my doctor that I needed a large dose of Prednisone because the one week course she gave me did nothing, I was put on a large dose for a month. It worked great! But it also gave me the crappy side effects of the moon pie face and weight gain (10 lbs to be exact.) ***See Thanksgiving Pictures and Family Picture***

Then in January I made an appointment with my dermatologist to get a few odd spots on my face checked out. (You know start the year off healthy!!) After my last horrible visit to my dermatologist Tyler convinced to go see his dermatologist. I made an appointment and went. The spots that I wanted checked out turned out to be nothing, just freckles...and something I thought was nothing turned out to be be "something." At my last visit I showed my old doctor a spot on my cheek next to my jaw that looked like a shiny skin colored mole. She checked it out and said that it was nothing. On a fluke I had the new doctor check it out. He was concerned and wanted it biopsied because he thought it might be basal cell carcinoma. After weeks of waiting for the results it turned out not to be skin cancer but Trichoepithelioma which is a benign skin growth.


I, of course, have the rarest type. The kind I have grows beneath the skin and tends to be fibrous and branches out. It needed to be removed because it CAN turn into cancer further down the line if it is left alone. So last week I had it surgically removed. The doctor removed a fairly large chunk of skin and I had to have stitches and was not able to do anything strenuous for a week. I also had a complete sob fest after looking at my stitched up cheek. It was much larger than I thought. Today I got my stitches out; have a swell scar; and got my final test results.Thank goodness it looks like my doctor got the whole growth and the results were noncancerous again.

My final odd thing is I found out that I am extremely anemic and have been put on a mega dose of iron. Last summer when I went in for my yearly exam I told my doctor that I was feeling a bit off and run down. I also felt like my hair was getting thin. I have fine hair to begin with and any loss is noticeable. She checked my thyroid and everything was normal. She thought it was just from having a baby and being a tired mom of four. She thought the hair loss was just the typical after pregnancy hair loss and that it should be just fine. She said if I was concerned to go to see my dermatologist. When I went this summer to my dermatologist she said that I was fine. People lose hair for all kinds of reasons: stress, virus etc. and that I should be just fine.

Well my hair was still shedding like crazy so I had the new doctor check me out. He had my iron checked and it was dangerously low. This is undoubtedly the cause of my shedding hair, my dizzy spells and fatigue. He doesn't feel that my iron deficiency is diet related. I eat a lot of high iron foods. The doctor feels it is probably traced back to my C-section and that my iron level plummeted and I never was able to get it back up to where it needed to be. He said there is no way diet alone would get my levels up. (FYI--having vegetarian kids I always have the pediatrician test their iron levels at their yearly check-ups. They are always fine.) The iron seems to be helping. I am much less dizzy than I have previously been but I think I am always going to be tired with this crazy family of mine!! :)

Due to my hair feeling/looking stringy and thin I decided to chop it all off. I had Kelley come with me be my advocate. I didn't want to get talked into doing anything too "edgy" or too "trendy"and I wanted her to keep her eagle eyes on what the stylist was doing in the back with her scissors...no Kate Gosselin look for me!! (Aren't sisters great?) I also need to get an "all over" color which I have never done before and not do the more damaging blonde highlights. (I've got to get my hair nice and healthy.) So I went back to my natural color...hello old friend. She did do a few caramel highlights. I like it. But can I style it? Not so much. Looks like it's going to take some practice.

Picture of the cut but before the coloring was done.

After the coloring was done...my own attempts at styling.

So far my I am failing miserably in my goals for 2011:

-Be Healthy
-Lose Weight
-Be Less Stressed (that is a post for another day)

Let's hope things start looking up in the Spring!!

Stacey and Kelley's Birthday Fun

Yesterday we celebrated Stacey and Kelley's 36th and 34rd Birthdays with a Girls Day. It was a lot of fun. With all of our busy schedules it is hard to arrange for a time for all of us to spend a whole day together. When it happens it is always fun and memorable.

We met for Brunch at Chap's which was absolutely delicious. If you haven't been there yet you simply must go. It is so cute inside too. Perfect for a birthday brunch.

We all ordered something different and everything was divine. I got the Blueberry Muffin French Toast. I highly recommend it.

The one downside...whilst happily stuffing my face...who should I run into but two trainers from my gym. Both of whom recognized me and stopped to chat (one is a mom of Ailey's friend Audrey) that put a slight damper on my gluttonous feasting.

After brunch we were off for a day of shopping and pampering. We stopped for mani-pedis which were delightful...and desperately needed. Bring on Spring and flip-flop weather!!

Birthday Girl #1: Stacey

Birthday Girl #2 : Kelley

The Matriarch

The Bride of Frankenstein...my face might be full of stitches but I have really cute toes!!

(I had surgery on Friday and have a face full of stitches...more on that later. Which caused me to have a sob-fest that morning and didn't want to leave the house. But between my Mom, Tyler and my sisters...who convinced me that I didn't look that bad...I put on an enormous band-aid that covers half my face...and believe me looks better than all the stitches I am sporting and headed out for the day anyway.)

We had a full day of fun and laughter...which included stopping for cocktails at Twiggs.

Don't worry I nursed a delicious Shirley Temple. Twigs makes a fantastic one.

More shopping ensued and my mom and I were the last hold outs who got home after 9pm. I had a great day and love spending time with my mom and sisters. We missed you Jordi.

Happy Birthday Sissies!!

I love you guys!

*****I fixed Kelley's age...to think I thought she was a year younger than she actually is!!****

February in Review

Now it's March and February has come and gone. Here's what happened this weekend and then a little slice of what else has been going on since I haven't really been blogging. (Besides Tyler turning 40 and Valentine's Day which were awesome.)

High Point: Last weekend Tyler and I finally got away for a romantic stay at the Davenport Hotel. We haven't gone away together since before Bryn was born...even longer. We loved every minute. It was hard to come home. (A BIG thank you to Aunt Kelley who kept all four kids!!)

We stayed here:

We stayed in the Penthouse King Suite...It was FABULOUS!!

THE.MOST.COMFORTABLE.BED.EVER

Tyler hanging out

No, this was not my "romantic-get-away-lingerie"...those would be my fat pants that had to be worn after eating many a gourmet meal.

TMI?

Then Sunday night was our Family Sunday Dinner. Kelley and Elle came over and what could be better than Kelley cheffing up our dinner?



We rotate cooking the main course...but I did feel bad since she had just had our kids and THEN came over to cook us dinner. (I told you it was a good weekend.) Dinner was delicious. Fish Piccata with Lemon Pasta. Yum. We watched the Academy Awards while we ate and laughed at these two.

Elle and Bryn...Can you believe that they are almost two?

They were crazy rockers in the rocking chair!!

We have also been busy with:

Kameron playing basketball...and being sick
Reilly as Drill Team Captain, Piano, and Jazz...sick with pneumonia
Ailey with Ballet...and being sick
Brynnie perfecting her high-heeled strut...and being sick

This girl is in my heels every time I turn around. She goes everywhere in them. I found her a pair of little girl high-heeled flip-flops a la Suri Cruise at a thrift store and she RUNS in them. She clacks around all day long.

We also like to gather round the old pie-anny for some good family fun when time permits.


Reilly is trying to surpass me in piano playing. She found my last piano book and has been taking it to her piano lessons. It is her life's goal to leave me in the dust (which won't be too hard) She has enjoyed reading all the notations from my old piano teacher...the beloved Mrs. Winkler...and then mocks me with them. Such as one that reads "Breathe, Kristin, Breathe!" (Was I tense even as a youth? I'm guessing yes.) Consequently, she loves to quote this to me. Frequently. But, as I love to relish in, she has yet to get past me in the old piano book. HA!

Rockin' it Johnson Style--A little Heart and Soul Quartet

Reilly's not the only piano player in the family...and she sings too!!


Bryn channeling her inner Nana or Grandma Judie or both.

That is February in a nutshell...Bring on SPRING!!

Happy News

My little sister, Jordin, is engaged!! Ramon is amazing and we all love him dearly. He will be an excellent father to Jaylah as well. We couldn't be happier. Looking forward to a wedding in Kansas City. Love you guys!!

What the Hell?!


So far 2011 is turning out to be a bit of a pisser in making me feel old. Case in point...see picture. This came in the mail the other day and sent me reeling and hyperventilating.

It is a letter from the high school informing us that it is time for

HIGH SCHOOL ORIENTATION

for Reilly and her parents (as in next week). "What the hell?!!" is what I said...okay maybe screeched (with maybe a few other colorful words thrown in) and then I had to sit down. I mean I realize that Reilly is in 8th grade and that high school is next year. But like most things I don't want to think about I don't...until I have to...and apparently it is time that I have to. I then threw the letter at Tyler who was stunned...STUNNED!! I said, "I remember high school, don't you? IT WAS YESTERDAY!!" Okay actually 20 years ago but thanks to Facebook it really feels like yesterday.

I was just starting to get use to Middle School...and by starting I mean just barely starting to get use to dropping my child off in Sodom and Gomorrah each day. High School? High School?! Holy Hell.

Why does the school district push this on us so quickly? I mean there is still another semester of middle school for heavens sake. Give parents a break...or a warning...before something like that arrives in the mailbox.

High School...Unbelievable.

PS-- Reilly was made a drill team captain...very exciting!!

Book Review: Girl In a Blue Dress

This was our book club pick for January. I was really excited to read this book. It is based on the marriage of Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine. Before beginning this book I had zero back ground knowledge of their marriage...or lives for that matter. Believe me the cover alone had me intrigued.

From Randomhouse.com

At the end of her life, Catherine, the cast-off wife of Charles Dickens, gave the letters she had received from her husband to their daughter Kate, asking her to donate them to the British Museum, “so the world may know that he loved me once.” The incredible vulnerability and heartache evident beneath the surface of this remark inspired Gaynor Arnold to write Girl in a Blue Dress, a dazzling debut novel inspired by the life of this tragic yet devoted woman. Arnold brings the spirit of Catherine Dickens to life in the form of Dorothea “Dodo” Gibson–a woman who is doomed to live in the shadow of her husband, Alfred, the most celebrated author in the Victorian world.

Here is my advice: Do Not Read this book if/when you are feeling slightly depressed, fat, or if you are having marital difficulties. It could put you over the edge. It nearly put me over the edge...and I was not having marital difficulties; I have been feeling rather glum due to the cold never-ending-gray winter; and I was feeling fat due to the fact that I hadn't gone to the gym for a week. Not a good combination for reading this book.

It is another gentle read. It is a quiet novel, not too much action. Most of the time it is Dorothea reflecting on her marriage, the past, and how she has come to be in the position she is in, which is, cast-off from her home and family.

Here are the positives: It is elegantly written. It is interesting. Charles Dickens as Alfred Gibson is an interesting albeit complicated man. It is a compelling although not terribly exciting read.

The negatives: Alfred Gibson/Charles Dickens is an S.O.B. and I wanted to kick the said S.O.B.in the teeth the entire novel. Also, Dorothea is an irritating enabler who spent her whole life making excuses for him DESPITE the fact that he treated her like crap, kicked her out, took up with a mistress, and kept her from her children. Yes, Yes, I realize it was in Victorian times and women didn't have many options except to do as they were told by their husbands (it pains me to even write that) but I think I would've been putting up more of a fight especially where the children were concerned and not thinking so highly of old Alfred which she continues to do the entire novel and defends him adamantly. Another negative, the ending.

****Spoiler****

When old Alfred appears from the dead...did he have to answer to Dorothea for his abominable behavior? NO!! He again tells her what to do...and not very nicely...and she does it. Give me a break!!

You do not leave this book thinking very highly of Charles Dickens, "the Great Original", "the One and Only" and that is disappointing. Having said that it was interesting historical fiction.

My rating: Good...leaning toward OK.

Look Who's Forty

Happy Birthday Tyler!! I love you very much. I am one lucky girl. You are just getting better and better with age in every way. You ROCK 40!!

Love,

The Wizened Crone (just ask my dermatologist)

A Mother/Daughter Weekend and a Sunday Dinner

Good-bye January. Hello February. Bring on the reds, pinks, romance, Tyler's Birthday and Valentines Day. Last weekend as I was bidding long, cold January adieu I had a great weekend of fun with my mom.

My mom invited me to come up to her house for a Mother/Daughter Weekend. Well, of course I was thrilled. It's a rare opportunity for me, one of five children, and numerous family members to be able to spend much one-on-one time with my mom let alone a whole weekend. It was bliss.

I headed up to her house in Northern Idaho on Friday afternoon. When I arrived my mom, Ken and I went out for a fantastic dinner at the Captain's Table on Garfield Bay in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho. What a feast!! It was fun hanging out with my mom and Ken.

Then it was back to my mom's house to strategize about our business Sisters Creed, our upcoming sales, projects, and booth ideas. We spent hours pouring over amazing blogs, our own picture files, spark (inspiration) books, and laughing.

The next morning we were up bright and early to begin our day of fun. First stop, Pine Street Bakery (710 Pine Street) in Sandpoint. Absolutely delicious. I HIGHLY recommend their Spinach and Feta Croissant. Then it was a wonderful day of hunting high and low and finding some incredible things for our upcoming sales. We filled the back of my mom's car!!

My mom is the most incredible woman. She is tireless. She can run circles around me while shopping. She is also one of my very favorite people to hang out with. I love spending time with her, getting her advice, getting her take on all kinds of things, and she is so amazingly creative. I just love to soak it all in. Her excitement and creativity are contagious.

We grabbed an early dinner at the Pie Hut in Sandpoint (502 Church Street). OH.MY.GOSH. Their pie is out of this world. We tried both the Sour Cream Lemon which was delicious and their Creme Brulee pie is out of sight!!

After our day of shopping, junking, thrifting, and laughing it was back to her house and her amazing craft and sewing artist's studio to create and craft.

It was a little Sisters Creed Workshop. We had the Pandora cranked and we were singing and dancing around as we created until the wee hours of the morning.

Mom working on new chair covers for my dining room chairs

One down and several more to go

We stamped hundreds of price tags for Sisters Creed with three different designs. The one above is mine.

We made pillows out of thrifted cable knit sweaters

We painted and glittered many things

We organized some of our wares...I bought a few things from my mom already!! Mom, Stac and I are always our best customers!! Kelley is a pretty good customer too.

I should have been polishing

More inventory

Check out these beauties

Sunday morning after an amazing breakfast I headed back home. It was wonderful to recharge my batteries and re-spark my creativity. My head was full of all kinds of ideas, projects and plans as I drove home.

Thanks Mom for a WONDERFUL weekend!! I had the best time!!

Sunday night after I got home from my mom's house we had a Sunday Family Dinner with Kelley and Elle. When we all lived in Utah my mom would host a big Sunday Dinner every week and we would all come. My mom would make a fabulous gourmet meal, set an amazing table, and make enough food to send us all home with leftovers for days, all while being kind enough to let us do our laundry as well.

Those Sunday Dinners really saved me and Tyler as a young, poor, married couple with a baby. We could always count on leftovers to help us with our grocery budget and mom would always tuck in extra things from her pantry as well which were so appreciated and it was so nice to be able to do our laundry for free...even if we all had to get in line...Stacey and Kelley were there with their laundry in hand too. After dinner we would play games, go for walks, jump on the trampoline and hang out. Sundays up at Mom's were the best.

Now that we are all more scattered we can't really do a usual Sunday Dinner but Kelley and I decided that it would be fun to start it up again for those of us who live close. We will hold our Family Sunday Dinner on the last Sunday of the month at our house and we will rotate making the main course. We had our first one Sunday night.

Sunday Dinner January 2011

Menu: Pecan Patties with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus with butter and lemon, pop to drink and root beer floats for dessert.

It is a lot of fun to be able to catch up and hang out. It is cute to watch the kids play together.

Elle is a crack up and we love seeing her latest "tricks". This week it was her Stevie Wonder imitation. That had us dying with laughter. That must be filmed!!

These girls are the cutest little girls in town and boy do they love ice cream.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and now February is here...bring on Valentines Day!!

Bryn's New Word

Bryn has a new word that is getting quite a lot of use lately. She likes to tell people that they are "rude"...particularly me. If you get after her or ask her to do something she doesn't want to do or to stop doing something she doesn't want to stop doing she likes to tell you that you are "rude." Tyler didn't believe that she could actually say it and in the right context until he was getting after her about something and she told him that he was rude!! Toddlers are hilarious.

Things I am Loving In Cold Dreary January

Is this month over yet? Why is January the most cheerless month of the year and feels like two interminable months all rolled into one? Bring on February. In trying to survive the gray and the gloom I have found a few things that are making it slightly more bearable.

#1 A Heated Throw Blanket

I got this little gem for Christmas and it is my new best friend. How did I ever live without you? It is perfect in that it allows me to be perfectly toasty while watching movies on the couch and Tyler can stay cool and non-toasty...since it is a throw blanket...and technically not meant for two. Perfect.

While I am staying toasty and cozy I am watching this:

#2 PBS Masterpiece rocks!! I love it and I just can't get enough of this series. I am absolutely smitten. Check out the trailer. It is so good.



#3

This is my favorite magazine (thanks sisters for the subscription). I get very excited when it arrives in the mailbox...of course it usually disappears and I have to wrestle it away from Reilly. One of my New Years Resolutions was to try some new recipes. That isn't really too hard for me to accomplish since I like to cook but I REALLY need to add some great new recipes to the old dinner repertoire. Most of the ones I have tried this month have been okay...nothing too thrilling in a knock-your-socks-off way UNTIL...last night when I made this:

Thai Chicken Soup

OH.MY.GOSH. I could've licked the pot clean...Tyler pretty much did. No joke. I believe he had thirds. My kids all liked it too except for Ailey who hates everything. You just can't win with that girl. But seriously...DELICIOUS. It's very easy and quick to make and not to mention cheap!!

Here's the recipe. TRY IT!! It has gotten rave reviews online and I add mine as well. This soup knocks it out of the park. It is really good vegetarian too.

Thai Chicken Soup (from Jan. 2011 Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons green curry paste
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 15-ounce can coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce, plus more to taste
• 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 4 ounces thin rice noodles, broken into pieces
• 2 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), very thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and curry paste and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk and fish sauce; cover and bring to a boil.

Add the bell peppers and noodles and simmer, uncovered, until the noodles are al dente, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Add more fish sauce and lime juice, if desired.

(I doubled the recipe, slightly upped the curry since we like things spicy around here, upped the fish sauce and lime juice as well.)

Have a great weekend!!

The Love Fest Continues

Is it possible to curl up in bed...enthralled...and unable to put down...a cookbook? Oh yes. If it is The Pat Conroy Cookbook which isn't really a cookbook. It is more of a memoir about food, travel and interesting people from his life with some good recipes thrown in at the end of each chapter.

I serendipitously read this book the week after reading his book My Reading Life. How fortuitous. Even though this book was published several years before My Reading Life there are many of the same influential people mentioned in this book that were mentioned in his other book and it felt like I was reading a sequel. Fantastic!! Plus, there was the added bonus of quite a bit of background information on my favorite book The Prince of Tides which was icing on the cake.

This book was pure joy to read. I loved it. I was pulled in again to the life, friendships, loves and passions of Pat Conroy. I couldn't put this cookbook down!! If was full of everything that I enjoy and value in my own life. The people that I like to surround myself with in my life are people who have a great sense of humor, a love and appreciate for great food, have a rich appreciation for travel and literature and tell great stories. This book has all of that with some Southern flare thrown in for good measure. It was a delight. And...there are some superb recipes as well.

You all know my love for Mr. Conroy and all I can say is that the love fest continues.

My Rating: Excellent