When does mothering end?

Yesterday Sunday Jan 30, 2011 I was back in the saddle again.  Son Dan (20 3/4) had stomach pains and I had to brush the dust off my problem solving skills, bring them to the frontal lobe and help determine what he should do.  No nausea, no bleeding, regular bathroom activities but major stomach pain in the abdomen under his belly button.  Appendix?  Jump up and down Dan to see if it gives you excruciating pain.  No more than he currently has.  OK.  Call your urgent care clinic and have them look at you while you are in an acute pain situation.
Result....appendicitis!  Thought so, but you can never be sure.  He went directly from clinic to hospital for CAT scan, to ER, to surgery, to recovery and then to a room. 

Before surgery

After surgery

Mom and Dad were there from the "ER on" sequence until he was resting in his room (approx. 7:30p)  His day started at 7:45 with severe pain and ending groggy with severe pain.  Good news, he didn't have to be cut open to remove the appendix.  Laperoscopy (sp) is the new technology.  Three holes in the abdomen and they take it out without major cutting.  Amazing.  Recovery is shorter and he won't have any restrictions.  He'll be back at before we know it.  I guess you never forget how to mother and you never will stop being a mother when it comes right down to it.  Wouldn't really want it any other way....except............

Inspirational Reading

OK.   Last post for the day then I'm off to the movies.

Share with me your FAVORITE inspirational book title and/or author. 

• Biography or Autobiography
• Influential person
• Favorite President bio
• Etc

Favorite Soup Recipes

One of our favorite meals in the winter is soup.  We eat it three to four times per week.  My personal favorite is Chicken or Turkey Vegetable, made with either homemade dumplings or rice.  Simple but VERY satisfying.
If you have a favorite let me know.  Are you willing to share the recipe?    We (mostly Jeff the Soup Nazi) make large batches and freeze them for future meals.  The family favorite is Hamburger Soup.  Easy and scrumdilisous.
We NEVER let a chicken or turkey carcass go to waste, beef roast bones or ham bones either.

Currently in our freezer:

• Pea Soup
• Red Chili - Wendy's style
• White Chicken Chili
• Vegetable broth (made from those bones mentioned above)
• Booya 
• Hamburger Soup

We're having a pre-Souper bowl party at my Dad's on Sunday.  No football...just SOUP!

Start brewing.  I know....I'm stirring the pot!

TV Time

In my day....TV was called the Boob Tube.  Don't know why and don't really care.  What I really want to know is how much TV is too much?   Now that I have more time on my hands, it could be really easy to tune in more.  The reality is that there is so much I have put aside until I "have more time" that I cannot justify tuning in for long periods of time.  Sooooooo, my semi-retiree motto is to only "sit-down" and watch after 4pm unless I am exercising at the same time.  I really like Oprah's final season and will usually tune in daily for that.  An occasional peak at the news and weather and after dinner to relax while knitting, crossword puzzling or reading.   During the winter, snuggling in on my recliner, blankie and Westie pups sitting beside and in-between my legs keeping me warm.

My 2011 favorites include:

• Any rerun of Seinfeld
• Any rerun of Sex and the City
• Monday's lineup of
• How I met your mother
• Mike & Molly
• Hawaii Five-O 

• Wednesday/Thursday
• American Idol

• Thursday's lineup of 
• The Office
• The Big Bang Theory
• Outsourced

• Movies of any kind

TV watching goes way down in the summer as I enjoy being outdoors.