Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Treat Cabinet is Alive and Well

It's Sunday night and Thanksgiving is over. Everything is quiet in our little home. It's just the two old farts and their computers with the hum of the reef tanks in the background. In other words - normal.

Does anyone remember the "Treat Cabinet" that I put together a few years back? If not, here's the story. I decided to devote a lower kitchen cabinet to treats for the grandchildren. It wasn't just a bag of chips and a candy bar. I had a wide variety of stuff in there. M&Ms, Cheerios, gum drops, various crackers, Oreos, etc, etc. You get the idea. To little kids it looked like a real store display. The rules were: No treats until you have eaten your meal. If there's something that you don't think you like - try it anyway - two bites. You earn treats - no raiding the cabinet. Always ask an adult before opening the cabinet. Each kid was allowed to select his own treat.

Yes, I admit that at times I was lenient with the kids but only to a degree. My regular blogging friends were cool with my Treat Cabinet for the kids. However, there was a few who thought it was their obligation to God and country to let me know what a fool I am and how they would never allow their children to visit anyone who would, in effect, ruin a child's life with junk food. I was "put through the ringer" over the Treat Cabinet. Didn't change a thing at this house!!

I still have the Cabinet (it is well stocked) and the boys are fine! This evening they both ate a BIG salad, beef tenderloin, corn, baked veggies, Texas fries, yeast rolls and cherry pie. The Treat Cabinet didn't ruin their diet nor did it hurt their teeth - their teeth are perfect. They eat a wide variety of good food and they STILL select their treats. They are slim, fit, active kids.

I read a blog from a long time blogging friend that prompted me to write this blog. We live our lives, try to do the right thing, and just have to tell the naysayers to kiss-off.

This is post is written in a different tone that my usual entries. I've think that I've had a bur under my saddle over the Cabinet for a long time. There! I feel better.

Thanks for visiting. Visit again when you can

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Holidays are Beginning

It has been a long time since I wrote here or anywhere for that matter. Sometimes life just doesn't allow the time nor mind set to write. However, here I am this dreary morning - sitting here with my fingers on the keyboard trying to write. Several things are tumbling through my head but nothing has really come together yet.

This is Thanksgiving week. I have so much to be thankful for - family, friends, a secure home, a loving spouse, and life itself. Our Thanksgiving dinner will be on Sunday. I'm doing the cooking and looking forward to the day. We'll have beef tenderloin, baked veggies, cream potatoes, and a couple of other dishes that I've not really decided on yet. Dessert will probably be home made apple pie. The reason Harry and I are having Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday is to give Thursday's dinner time to the in-laws. They don't "do" Christmas and so I claim Christmas for this home. It works for everyone involved. Give and take is the secret for a stress free life filled with harmony among the players.

The house across the street from us was on the market for almost a year. It was a beautiful house with the most beautiful woodwork that I've ever seen. It sat directly on the golf course beside one of the prettiest greens on the course. The problem was that it was a split level home and they just aren't popular these days - that and the price. Why am I telling you this? Because that house and lot have been my entertainment for almost three weeks. Someone bought the lot with the contingency that the house be moved. Watching a split level home be picked up and moved has been an experience. As I sit here, a crew is removing every tree from the lot. It's a hole in our community. Some of us are uneasy about what kind of house the new owners will build. There are community "rules" so it can't be too bad. New construction in an established community can meet the "rules" and still not be a fit. I keep telling my neighbor (she is worried) that everything will be just fine . . and it will be.

I'm still semi-house bound because of side effects from my medications. My oncologist did change my prescription from Arimidex to Femara. The change has been good - side effects are much less worrisome but still an issue. We are happy and coping very well. I have evaluations scheduled for late Dec/early Jan. The evaluations will be repeated in early summer. If all is still good, I'll be off this schedule and back to yearly check-ups. Even though I've had many pity parties and grunts I realize that I'm a lucky old woman. Not everyone with cancer has the care or outcome that I have had.

I think that I've run dry for now. I hope that I still have a reader or two, but we'll see. I check and read blogs every morning while I drink my coffee. I comment sometimes but - bad me - sometimes I don't. Even when I don't comment I think good thoughts for you and wish you happiness and health. Thanks for stopping by.