What I Ate Wednesday - Hattie B's Hot Chicken

Hey, y'all! I'm back again this week for what is unintentionally becoming a weekly blog. I have been really sick. Just too sick to think about words and complete sentences and articulate thought... but I'm hopefully getting better. I came down with a cold about two weeks ago and by Monday, it had developed into pneumonia. I knew at this time last week that I was feeling far sicker than a cold should make me feel. Marvin did such a great job taking care of me last week when our weekly date was pretty much just me sleeping while he brought me stuff to make me feel better. All I have wanted to do for the past two weeks was sleep, honestly. I would wake up enough to talk to him on the phone a couple of times a day but mostly I was just going from sleep to sleep. I had a doctor's appointment already scheduled for this past Monday and  my dr knew right away... pneumonia. So... I'm on an antibiotic (a whole new world of unpleasantness) and am scheduled for a follow up in two weeks to make sure it has all cleared out because ... with me, it rarely does with just one course of antibiotics.

That's part one. Cold - turned to pneumonia - hopefully getting cleared up with antibiotics. Part two is my blood pressure. Tuesday my blood pressure was 153/120 AFTER starting a new (fifth) medication to try to bring it down. I have been dealing with high blood pressure since I was 35 and for the most part, medication and behavior modification have controlled it. Lately, nothing works. One possible reason is sleep apnea. I was diagnosed with this back in 2011 but there was so much going on with my health then that I just couldn't afford the time off work, cost involved, etc to get that issue sorted and honest to dog... I just don't want to deal with the c-pap machine and all of that nonsense. However, uncontrolled sleep apnea creates so much stress on your blood vessels because of the interruption in breathing... your body goes into fight or flight and your heart pumps harder and harder to keep you alive. Doing that every single night will ruin the elasticity of your blood vessels and cause a lot of other issues... so, as much as I hate the process of controlling sleep apnea, it's a part of the puzzle in getting my bp under control. The other step is seeing a cardiologist because... once your blood pressure is as high as mine has been for as long as it has been without finding a solution with medication... you have to start looking at the mechanics.

The past seven years have caused me to develop a love/hate relationship with the medical profession. I hate that I need them. I hate the cost. I hate the inconvenience of going to appointments, especially when I'm seeing new specialists and I have to start at square one with them. My medical history is crazy. When I start listing diagnosis' I sound like an absolute hypochondriac. OH how much do I wish I was just a hypochondriac. I would love to never have to deal with prescriptions and doctors and copays and ... all the things. There have been times that I have just abandoned the process because I hate dealing with it all... just as with the rheumatologist. I was supposed to follow up in February 2017 in the ongoing quest to isolate the specific auto-immune disorder going on in my body. The bottom line for me is that nothing they suspected was anything they could treat with one magic pill. It's still a symptom by symptom resolution which is what we're already doing... so... anyways... not happy to see a cardiologist. Grateful to have the health insurance to be able to do so. Hopeful that he will have a solution for this blood pressure issue. It just becomes very scary when you know you're taking all the meds and trying to eat healthy and still, not able to lower it.

SOOOO... today's blog is about our trip to Hattie B's Hot Chicken for lunch today. I know it seems completely contradictory to what I've talked about so far but ... I try to take a 80/20 approach to healthy eating. I do the best I can within my resources (as far as feeling too poorly to cook for the past two weeks, not feeling like shopping for myself, etc) and then on date night (and day and night and day) I loosen the boundaries a bit. Honestly, I had one piece of fried chicken, some potato salad, black eyed pea salad and lemonade. It wasn't horrible. What was horrible is that I completely forgot to take pictures. Cody met us for lunch as he was working right down the street and his birthday is the 30th... not sure when we might be able to celebrate so we did today. I've snagged some photos from the web and you should also check out Hattie B's website.

We had passed by Hattie B's a few weeks back when we went to The Vortex for lunch. Hattie's had a line going down the street so we thought... hmmm... we should go there... and we also though, hmmm... we should get there early. Win on both counts today - we got there about 11:15 and had zero wait time. You order at the counter and they give you a number and bring your food to your table. The menu is pretty straightforward and simple so ordering was easy... the table service is attentive and helpful. We were able to order dessert without getting back in the (then very long) line. The food is fresh and hot (except my potato salad and black eyed pea salad which are meant to be cold). I got the very bland - no spice - chicken because I'm a wimp and because my belly is kind of unwell from the antibiotics. Marvin and Cody both got medium spice and agree that it was about as spicy as they would want to go. I got light meat because that's my preference and it was not the least bit dry. Marvin and Cody got dark meat because they worried that the white meat would be dry. It wasn't. There is limited parking, Cody had to pay to park so... that's a drawback but it's in the city so, it's just part of the process. We snagged what Cosy refers to as "Nana parking" because I have the handicapped tag. Definitely though, if you're in Atlanta / Five Points area, I would recommend Hattie B's. There are also locations in Nashville and Birmingham.

What else can I tell you about the past week? We had lunch with Cosy last Thursday and then had a good time playing with her afterwards. I didn't see her over the weekend because I was feeling so rough and then finally got her again yesterday (Tuesday) and had THE BEST TIME despite my blood pressure being high. Austin was around and did most of the actual caring for Cosy, I just got to enjoy her. She dried my hair for me and helped me put on makeup... she's just the best medicine!

Tomorrow Austin and Cosy are coming to pick me up from Marvin's. I don't have to drive, which helps when I'm not feeling myself. Until then, I'm just tucked in, enjoying being spoiled a little and appreciating the peace and quiet. I'm basically just trying to feel better. I think the blog creativity will improve as I start to feel better... in the meantime, I'll try to keep you posted. Thanks for stopping by! Love and hugs, y'all!

 

Adventures with Cosy and Oliver

 

Back update: no improvement. I see the doctor on Friday. I am having a hard time sleeping even while taking ambien. The pain breaks through. I haven't checked my bp today.

Next order of business: the beginning of "date night" (and day and night and day) has been moved from Tuesday evening to Wednesday lunch date (and night and day and night). Don't want y'all to be disappointed when I don't check in from some place fabulous tonight... just know that I'll check in from some place fabulous tomorrow and then tomorrow night I'll have a fabulous What I Ate Wednesday post telling you ALL about it! (Well, all about the food anyways... *wink*)

I picked Cosy up this morning about 8:30 (in the car, I don't mean that I physically lifted her) and brought her to my house. She stayed and played a bit. She and her dad made a donut run... and then they took Jessi to work... and in between we played with beads and bubbles and used the bug zapper. She is addicted to these moronic toy opening videos on YouTube and I had reached saturation point today so I changed it to the Wizard of Oz in hopes of creating a new, much better obsession. Cosy loves to sing. She will sing "the itsy bitsy spider" with me as many times as I will. I'm out of breath and sweating and having a full on cardio workout from helping that spider crawl up the water spout a gazillion times and she's clapping her hands and saying, "AGAIN! AGAIN!!!". SOOOO... I thought, as long as I'm singing along and being animated, she might just be ready for the Wizard and YES, it worked! She did ask a few times to change it to her thing but I said, "let's just see if that Wicked Witch comes back...." and I did the evil laugh with her and... I'm not saying she's asking to be Dorothy for Halloween but she's definitely following the yellow brick road.

 
I have so much work to do with this one to fully indoctrinate her into loving musical theater. There are so many alternatives out there. She is a country girl, after all... but her name is Cosette and it would be a shame for that name to never been listed in a Playbill somewhere... is there any better name for a musical theater geek?

I digress. Austin carried down the laundry for me and Cosy helped me load the washer. This is one of her favorite things... watching my clothes take a bubble bath... see how even laundry becomes fun when you're looking through the eyes of a child?

  

I took a lot of pictures of Oliver when we FaceTimed last night. They were outside on his new trampoline so the light was good. He was tired and not Tigger bouncing all over the place like he normally does when we FaceTime, ironically, since he was literally ON A trampoline.... so I was able to get some photos that weren't just blurs. I just can't get over how beautiful he is... that gorgeous curly hair, his big brown eyes... he's so articulate and witty and smart. I had heard that kids who are bi-lingual sometimes have delayed speech but that's not at all the case with Oliver. I also wondered if he would realize that some words are English and some are Spanish because to him, they're all words, right? But we've noticed that he uses the same phrases with the the people he heard them from... and he ends up speaking Spanish with Marquee's family and pretty much just English with me, except for the Spanish phrases I use with him. It's fascinating to watch a little one grow up with two languages from birth.

 
What else can I tell you about Oliver? He's pretty much potty trained (still working on the poo... he tends to do that when he has his pullup on at night). He loves sports, just like his dad. He loves music and animated stuff and... really, all kinds of things on tv. He loves his cousin Cosy and has endless patience with her when she won't hug him or share toys with him. He will sometimes be an instigator, especially if he thinks he'll get a laugh like when he is persistent with trying to hug her and she is shrieking and pushing him away. We shouldn't laugh but it's just so stinking funny!  I won't make Cosy hug back though because I think it's important to let her know she has ownership of her body and doesn't have to share affection with anyone unless she wants to. (these are things I didn't think about as a parent but I think about now that I'm a Nana and have a lot more time and experience). (also, these are things I think about when raising a girl that never occurred to me when raising boys, which is sad, because boys get abused just as much, if not more than girls).

 
Oliver is outgoing and friendly and loving and smart... he will have the occasional meltdown as all three year olds do. He is constantly in motion, he mind works overtime. When we FaceTime he always has to know where Cosy is... where is Uncle "Hoggie"?... where is Pop?... where is the cat?... what are you doing? And when we start to say goodbye he will kiss the phone and tell me he loves me. He can show you how many fingers old he is and he can also make the sign for "I love you" in sign language. He is honestly, the most perfect little boy that I could ever imagine and I consider myself an expert on little boys. It's hard not living closer to him because I don't get the one on one time with him that I have with Cosy but we talk on Facetime a couple of times a week and I feel very bonded and connected to him. He has so many people in his life that truly cherish him and I know that he's growing up feeling loved and supported and will be able to do great things because he is loved.

And now... please, God, I'm going to try to catch up on a little sleep because my body needs rest, deep sleep rest, in the worst way. Hope you have a great day and I'll be back again tomorrow night with a restaurant review for What I Ate Wednesday!

 

Tuesdays With Cosy

The new normal pain level is continuing... yesterday (Tuesday) was such a long day and although I've done a whole lot of nothing today, I'm absolutely wiped out. I feel flat... like it's hard to communicate or be sociable or even just function and I feel so bad for Marvin who is stuck with my blah self for company. I'm trying, y'all. It's just at a point where pain is robbing every ounce of energy from me. I want to cry. I want to sleep. I want to ... anything but this. I'm just so tired of feeling this intense pain. It's not just my spine, is the muscles in my back, the nerves shooting down to my toes. It's the aches and pains from moving in a different way to accommodate the sore parts. Anything that involves physical exertion leaves me completely out of breath and makes my heart race. I woke up this morning feeling like I couldn't take a good breath... my heart was racing, I was near panic and I just tried to lay as still as possible and focus on one breath at a time. Once I got up and started moving around it was better but... I'm nowhere near my normal self.

Yesterday I had Austin go pick Cosy up from her mom's. That's normally my favorite thing. I take her to Dunkin' Donuts and we pick up a coffee for me and a pink donut with sprinkles for her. I love those first minutes of the day with her and I feel like she's more cooperative with me if I start the day fresh with her. Instead I had Austin get her and do the donut run. She was definitely happy to see me once they got back to the house. She climbed right up in bed with me and I got lots of great cuddles. We played with slime for a little while but she was afraid to touch it because she doesn't like to get her hands dirty. Then she hung out in the bathroom with me while I tidied up and got my shower. This picture is where she wanted to stay with Nana in the bathroom and play in the sink and her dad wanted her to get dressed... "save me Nana!". I know it's naughty and I try to never lead the grandbabies astray. I tell them all the time that their mommies and daddies are the boss and nana is NOT in charge but... I have to confess, her hanging on to me for dear life was pretty cute.

Austin took her outside to play in the pool and I had a few minutes to try to finish getting dressed for the day. I could hear her happy squeals all the way back in the house! They came back upstairs and got out of her wet swimsuit. She was playing and walked past the bedroom door and smacked her foot on it really hard. She immediately started screaming, that kind of scream where they hold their breath. Although my back is wrecked, I picked her up and started blowing in her face to get her to breathe. It's reflex. Then I laid her on the bed to check out her foot. It was already turning blue. I told Austin, "I think we're heading to the ER...this foot is definitely broken" so he ran over and flipped on the overhead light and said, "that's sidewalk chalk from where we were playing outside." I was relieved, of course, but... my word! She asked for a "bambage" (bandage) so I wrapped her with medical tape and she was perfectly fine.

We had to get Austin's van insured and registered yesterday but on Monday, the insurance quote he got was way beyond what he could afford. I wasn't really up to dealing with it then so I told him to shop online and I'd see what I could do to help him in the morning. So Tuesday I emailed a former co-worker at State Farm and started brainstorming with her about how to lower his insurance cost. To make a long story short, because my dad is a long time customer with State Farm, Austin qualified for State Farm's Mutual company, which has much lower rates. It took the cost of his insurance from $154 a month to $44 a month.

While I was making the arrangements for the insurance I sent Austin to town to find out how much his tag was going to be and to get a fax number so we could send his proof of insurance over. I was emailing back and forth with my friend at State Farm and all of a sudden I noticed that Cosy had dumped out the bucket of slime and was covered in it. That stuff is of the devil. It is an ooey gooey mess. You cannot get it off. I would get one little appendage cleaned off and she'd stick it right back in... so of course I was bent over, stretching my back all kind of ways and basically in tears thinking, "why me?" but also laughing at the predicament because she was just freaking hilarious! I finally got the bulk of it off her but she needed a bath to get the rest off. I couldn't let her walk because she would leave footprints of slime all over the carpet so I picked her up and carried her to the bathtub... and once again, my back was just screaming at me.

At any rate... Austin got home about then and he bathed her so I didn't have to bend over. She had a great time in the bubble bath! It was all just a great adventure for her. I posted several pictures of this on Facebook yesterday. After her bath, Austin took her home and finished up all the details on his van so he is now all set and independent. He can drive, he has his own vehicle and I can do whatever the heck I want, whenever I want and not have to worry about anyone else's schedule and that feels really, really weird. It's the first time in my whole life I've been this ... carefree... and all I feel like doing is sleeping.

I came down to Marvin's last night for date night (and day and night and day). We went out to a restaurant in Atlanta that he had always wanted to try, The Red Snapper. It was amazing and I'll post a review about it on Friday. Then we went out for ice cream and then came home and I went to bed. Today we slept late, went out for lunch, went to Publix to pick up a few things and I'm in for the rest of the night while he is hosting trivia. I'm about to get in the bathtub and then catch up on Better Call Saul, it's what we're watching right now. I'm a few episodes behind him.

Tomorrow will be a stay in the house and chill day, probably. I've got a post ready to go up in the morning so be sure to check that out and I'll be back for Food Friday to talk about what we've been eating this week. Hope your week is going well! Love and hugs, y'all!

Food Friday - Moonie's BBQ and Saigon Cafe

It's a two for one this week on Food Friday! We had an amazing food week with the 4th of July and with Marvin being off work on Wednesday night it meant an extra date night eating out for this girl! I'm really proud of my "eating to lower my blood pressure" plan for this past week and I feel like I was probably 80/20 good to bad ratio with my food choices and that's a doable percentage for me. I stayed on task with fresh/healthy/clean/protein and veg, fewer processed foods, etc. Did it lower my blood pressure? Not really. I had one normal blood pressure reading on Saturday and otherwise it's stayed high. Have I seen the doctor? Nope. We'll talk about that later.

Fun things first! On Tuesday night Marvin and I went to Wild Wings Cafe with two guys from his softball team, their significant others and some of their friends. I think there were nine of us in the party and it was busy and slow. We got there at 6:30 and by the time we were seated and fed it was 8:30 but it was fun to hang out and chat with everybody. I'm not a big wings person. When I go to Wild Wings I get the shrimp skewers which you can have with the same sauces as the wings. I went for ginger flavor and thai flavored. I ate the celery that came with Marvin's wings and I had fries on the side.

On Wednesday morning we slept in because... you know, day off (for him)... then we went to Moonie's Texas BBQ in Flowery Branch for an early lunch. You can click the link if you want to check them out. I had the pulled pork basket which comes with a pulled pork sandwich and a side... I had creamed corn. My dad makes the best creamed corn and I have a very high standard for the dish... and Moonie's is a close second to my dad's. The pork is amazing... lots of burnt ends (my favorite!). They have a Georgia Sweet sauce that I really love and of course, I had sweet tea to drink. It felt like a very patriotic meal for the 4th of July. Marvin had the same as me except he gets their pulled pork sandwich with slaw on it. I'm not a huge fan of slaw so... not for me. At Moonie's you order at the counter and then seat yourself. They were busy on Wednesday, lots of people were getting large to-go orders, I'm guessing for picnics and cookouts and such but it didn't take long for us to get our food and tuck into it. And of course, the nice thing is that you're then not obligated to tip because you've served yourself. The restaurant is clean and the counter service is friendly and generous. Definitely recommend them in you're in or around Hall County.

Little addition to this bit on Moonie's... Marvin said I have to tell you about their other sauces because he is a huge fan of Moonie's. They also have a Texas Red sauce that is vinegar based, a Carolina Gold that is mustard based and a Spicy sauce. I'm a fan of the Georgia Sweet because I don't like spicy and honestly, the Georgia Sweet is a bit spicier than the sweet sauce that I get at Sonny's BBQ and at North Georgia BBQ, just for comparison sake. I haven't tried Moonie's beef brisket because I'm mostly a pork bbq girl but Marvin says it's amazing. Anyways...

We went home and had a nice nap... yep, slept in and then napped... that's my kind of holiday! Then we went to dinner at Saigon Cafe in Buford near the Mall of Georgia. It's a Vietnamese / Thai / Chinese / Malaysian restaurant. Here's the thing... I loved the food and would very much love to go back and try lots of things from their menu. The menu is colorful and descriptive with big pictures of the food so you had a great idea of what you were getting which is so helpful when it's a cuisine you're not used to. I'd love to go back but the service was terrible. I've linked the online menu for you above. As a starter I had the goi cuon - slivers of boiled pork and shrimp fixed with vermicelli rice noodle, lettuce, bean sprouts and wrapped in rice paper. Dipped in a mixture of peanut and hoisin sauce. Marvin had thit nuong cuon - slivers of bbq pork mixed with vermicelli rice noodles, lettuce, bean sprouts and wrapped in rice paper.

pad thai

I didn't try his roll but mine was awesome. I really love basil rolls when I get Thai food and this was comparable to that. The peanut sauce was thick and sweet. Honestly, I could make a meal out of the rolls and maybe a soup or something. They had pho - which I have never tried and really would like to but it was so steamy hot outside that I couldn't imagine eating soup. Marvin had me try panang curry recently at our favorite little Chinese restaurant close to his house and I loved it so instead of going with something I would normally order, I was a bit adventurous and ordered the panang curry with chicken. Marvin ordered chicken pad thai. We asked the waiter to make mine less spicy and his more spicy. Apparently that was lost in translation in the kitchen because the curry came out really spicy and the pad thai, not so much. I tried to soldier through it but Marvin was a real gentleman and offered to switch entrees with me. He likes spice... me, not so much... so I had his pad thai and he had my curry and we were both happy!

panang curry. 

Our food came out quickly and despite the spice mix-up, both were really tasty, better than average for sure. But our waiter disappeared and we never saw him again. No refills, no "how is everything"... not even a bill. I found a pitcher of water and refilled our glasses - but there was no ice. Later I finally went and grabbed the first waiter I saw and said, "please, we have been abandoned, can you find our check so that we can leave?". The check came and there was no apology, no explanation... nothing. Honestly, if the service had been even fairly decent, this is a place I would ask to go back to frequently. There were lots of things on the menu that I would like to try, such as the pho. By the time we left the place was busier but by no means busy... there was no one seated anywhere around us. Maybe that was the problem? I don't know. I would just say... go there for the food because it was definitely a step above but be prepared to spend some time there, just in case.

When we left the Saigon Cafe we noticed that the Hot Fresh sign was lit up at Krispy Kreme and Marvin had a buy one dozen, get one dozen free coupon so... yes, please! Krispy Kreme was packed but it moved really quickly and everyone was in a friendly, chatty mood in line. We got two dozen glazed and it made for a nice dessert that night and breakfast in the morning. Marvin likes his donuts hot... I like mine a day old or so... so we both got exactly what we wanted.

On Thursday we slept in again (notice a pattern?) munched on donuts and then Marvin fixed hamburgers for our lunch. He used blackening spices and bacon bits with bleu cheese dressing and they were amazing! Then I was feeling out of sorts and thought I should go ahead and drive home while I felt well enough. It's not a bad drive - about 45 minutes.

When I got home Cosy was still here with her dad and she was so happy to see me! I held her and she laid her head on my shoulder and stayed there for like... five minutes. She's not really a big cuddler because she's an introvert so it was a special treat for me to just be able to hold her and get lots of love. She had been such a good girl for her dad all day. She seems to have turned the corner on the potty training thing and just all of a sudden is owning it. As long as we don't bug her about going, she will let us know when she has to go and she stayed dry all day for her dad. I'm super proud - and relieved. The trick seems to be putting her in undies instead of pullups and letting her decide when she needs to go. She had really gotten to the point that when we tried to put her on the potty on a schedule she would absolutely refuse and throw a fit and... just totally not cooperate. Letting her decide when she needs to go is working for her. Austin feels like she's totally potty trained now but I told him we still had to work on the whole poop situation. That's a whole 'nother issue!

Since I've gone from eating to pooping, I guess it's time to wrap this post up. I hope you are enjoying my Food Friday posts as they are definitely one of my favorite type posts to write! Have a great weekend! This is what I'll be doing... in the middle of this...

Throwback Thursday - July 4th and 5th

This week I'm going to look at what happened on this day, July 5, and the day before July 4th in my blog history. These have been two very memorable days in my life. Last year on July 4th, my dad went to the hospital to see my mom who had been in the hospital for the past few days. She had been very sick but mentally fine. That morning, July 4th, changed everything. From that point on we only had brief glimpses of who my mom used to be. I can remember one day when she seemed particularly clear and I tried to hurry and talk to her about everything, knowing it could be my last real conversation with her. It was.

In July of 2015, I was enjoying tiny baby Cosy and looking forward to Oliver's arrival. This year the highlight of the month will almost surely be Oliver's birthday party on the 21st. It will be Cosy's first ever visit to Oliver's house and her longest road trip. I'm so excited to be there for his party this year. Last year my mom was so unwell that it was impossible for me to travel that far away. Instead I gave him a little party at my house for the family up here. It will be nice to go to his party (and also to not have to give  a party!) this year.

The post summarizing my 4th of July in 2014, didn't go up until a few days later. Cody and Marquee and their friends had come up for a visit. They had a nice swim in the lake and we did fireworks and sparklers and it was just a nice time with friends and family and friends that feel like family.

On the 4th of July and 5th of July in 2013, we were growing mushrooms in our front yard. It was a very wet Summer, our first full Summer up here. The basement flooded frequently. My level of frustration was pretty high but at the same time... life was much easier since I had recently stopped working.

On these days in 2012, I was at Grandma's house in Hayesville, North Carolina, staying with her until it was time to move her to Assisted Living. She went through a lot of emotions that week and it was... rough. The whole process went much more quickly that I had thought it would but I feel proud that I was able to spend those days with her at the end of her time of independence and help her say goodbye to the people and places that were so important to her. It was hard.

Probably the hardest 5th of July I ever faced was the one in 2011. I was at work and I received a call from Austin letting me know that the house was on fire. Our little duplex had been struck by lightning and caught fire. The next two weeks were hard... some of the hardest days I had ever lived through at that point but in the end, we were ok. A lot of special treasures survived the fire. We survived the fire. The cats survived. I had renters insurance (it's so important! If you're renting you really NEED it!) that paid to pack up all our stuff, clean it, salvage what was salvageable and move it to our new apartment. I felt very, very blessed throughout that whole process. It was not easy but having renters insurance made it bearable. The fire is covered in blog posts that you can access by clicking here and here.

Looking back at 2010, I was talking about losing weight and what was different for me in that weight loss effort than previously. You can read my posts here and here and here is a fabulous recipe for this really yummy frittata. Now I need to make a frittata this week!

AND... the oldest blog post I have for this day is from 2009 when I had just had my wisdom teeth removed. It's short and sweet but if you'd like to read it (and your fabulous comments!) you can click here. 

Hope your 4th of July was amazing and I'd love to hear how you spent it this year... and what was your most memorable 4th of July?

Reasons To Love Monday - Random Edition

Cosy and Whiskers

I would say that Whiskers is voluntarily laying with her

I want to take the babies to see Incredibles 2. Oliver's mom thinks he's not ready to be still that long but Cosy is such a little couch potato that I know she would sit still. She might not like the darkness of the theater... but I'd like to give it a shot.

I have been trying to learn how to put on fake eyelashes. So far... it's a mess. Not even sort of passable. It's a freak show. I've tried upgrading my glue but still.... I don't have the skills. Probably need to watch a youtube on it.

I got Cosy this morning instead of tomorrow. I had planned last night to get her but then I didn't sleep well last night and at first I was just going to wait until tomorrow. Once I realized that I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, I thought I might as well get her today and then I won't be as tired for date night tomorrow night.

Unfortunately... Cosy's mom got in an accident going home from dropping Cosy off. She says her chest hurts and I think they might have her checked out at the hospital. Her car is totaled. I could hear the sirens from here but I don't have a car at home at the moment... and I wouldn't want Cosy to see anything that would upset her. Fortunately, Cosy is perfectly happy watching YouTube toy opening videos. She is obsessed with them!

Well... she was watching videos and then I mentioned going to play in the water and she was happy to do that. I haven't bought a little pool for her this year yet and I didn't want to have to reach down in the foliage to get to the spigot to turn on the hose so I just filled a dishpan with water for her to play in. She decided it would be fun to pour water on Nana. That escalated into her pouring water through my dress and catching it as it dripped through. We were both soaked. I posted a lot of stories on Instagram and Facebook if you want to hear Nana scream like a little girl over getting wet while Cosy laughs maniacally.

Then as we were on the porch making our way inside I noticed what I thought at first was a crack in the big stone beside our front porch. Then the crack moved and I realized it was a snake. I screamed and tried to get in the front door but it was locked... fortunately we have one of those locks where you just punch in the number and it opens... I did that quickly while screaming at Cosy to get in the house. Fortunately... she heard the terror in my voice and ran inside quickly and fortunately... Oscar did too. He had to jump over the snake to get into the house as he was in the little patch of level yard right in front of our house. Once they were inside safely I cracked the door to take a picture.

Now Cosy is back inside in dry clothes... well, in her undies but... she went potty so I didn't make her put on the rest of her clothes. It's just us girls because my dad went down to see Grandma today and Austin is at work. She in dry clothes... I'm in dry clothes... and the youtubes are going again. I know we should limit screen time but I consider this an unusual situation... because who knows how long I'll have her and I have been awake since 1am. As long as she's happy and still.. Nana's gonna let her enjoy screen time. We can undo the damage on a day when her mama or daddy have her.

I know this isn't the traditional Reasons To Love Monday post but I've just been able to type here and there in between taking care of Cosy. Reasons to Love Monday- Cosy was not in the car with her mom when she was in the accident because she would have been badly hurt or worse. AND... the snake didn't get us. Austin and Marvin both told me it was a good snake. I don't buy that crap. There is no such thing as a good snake.

Blood pressure before the snake incident. I doubt it's lower since then.

Hope you're having a great Monday. Love and hugs, y'all!

Random Quotes, Topics and Photos

I am honestly beginning to think that Cosy will never be potty trained. She is so completely resistant to it right now. Oliver picked it up in about a week or two but I've been working with Cosy for over a year. Girls are supposed to be the easy ones. Of course, she's with me maybe six hours a week. When her dad has her by himself he doesn't force the issue as much. Her mom and other grandparents are keeping her in pull ups - I think. Maybe that's just when she's going somewhere, I'm not sure. When I have her I put big girl undies on her and take her to the potty frequently. She doesn't like the interruption in her schedule but she does get proud when she goes. She has accidents but I never make a big deal of it. I just help her clean up and we go about our business.

I had the best nap today... and also yesterday. I don't have the easiest time going to sleep at night or staying asleep and lately I'm waking up too darn early. I used to never be able to nap during the day but lately I'm using this specific formula of the hum of the a/c window unit, my muscle relaxer (that I'm supposed to take three times a day but don't because it makes me sleepy) and something sort of boring on tv. I can sleep for two hours plus with that formula provided no one disturbs me. The bonus of being in the guest room is that nobody wants to come all the way up here most of the time. As Cosy says, "Pribe-acy".

Does anyone else put salt on their watermelon? Marvin says it's weird. He has sort of been hammering the Fried Shrimp Theory on me over the past few days. Basically... when going out for seafood I would always order fried shrimp because I knew I liked it until he had me try fried crawfish and I realized that I like it SOOOO much more than fried shrimp! The Fried Shrimp Theory is about trying things outside of your comfort zone and... it's true, I have spent most of my adult life - at least the past two decades - as a single woman and as a single woman I have eaten exactly what I wanted and watched what I wanted to on tv and only seen movies that appealed to me. Sure, I've missed some good ones along the way. Whenever Marvin has suggested that I watch something that the rest of the world has already seen, Silence of the Lambs, for example, I have been willing. There are probably a solid dozen movies I've watched in order to catch up with the rest of the world. But I've had to point out to him that I'm the one in our relationship who has gone outside of their comfort zone the most since we've been hanging out. For instance, Mamma Mia collected dust on his dresser for several months and he never ended up watching it. I picked it specifically for him because yes, it is a musical but it's a musical with ABBA music. Not exactly Oklahoma or The Music Man.... ROCK music. Well, pop music anyways.  He will say that he watched Sweeney Todd with me but really, he put it on so I would be entertained while he took a nap. He slept through most of it. I think it should work both ways... he needs to expand his horizons to some of the things that, as a man (single or otherwise) he might not have been as willing to do. Eat something besides fried shrimp!!  Although, truly, I'd rather keep some things sacred rather than have to experience them in the eyes of someone who doesn't love Musical Theater like I do. But salt on watermelon... that's just good eatin'.

Honestly, I think it's ok for us not to be clones of each other. Some of the music he likes... I'm just never going to get into. Some of the movies we've watched... eh, not my thing. Pulp Fiction - no thanks. It was too confusing since it's presented out of order. But I really loved Sling Blade and Shawshank Redemption and several other that we've watched.

I'm a hardcore creature of habit. I find something I like to eat and I'll eat it every day for four years (Luigi's Mango Italian Ice). I hear music I particularly like and I'll listen to it every time I'm in the car (Butch Walker... Les Miserables...). I don't think it's always a matter of teaching old dogs new tricks. I think sometimes, going back to something that you know is going to tickle your fancy is exactly what you need. Especially when things are not going well. I tend to control the things that I can control when other things are out of control.

I've been struggling for the past day or three with really bad back pain. With me, it's always something. My worst headache days this week were Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. My back started bothering me Wednesday night and has been better and worse off and on since then. It's definitely worse after I wake up from sleeping but I'm just so tired from not sleeping well because my back hurts. Same for me is just easier than having to mentally process different when all I can think about is what hurts. My blood pressure today was 140/95 so... borderline.

Poor Austin has this sore... we aren't sure if it started out as a pimple or ingrown hair or spider bite or what... but that thing is terribly infected and painful for him. He doesn't have health insurance but he may end up having to go to the ER to get an antibiotic for it. He's doing warm compresses and peroxide and neosporin and keeping it clean but ... ew. It's rough.

Oliver got to go to the Braves Game yesterday. I tried to catch a picture Friday night of him with his foam tomahawk doing the chop but he moves too fast for me! Here are two pictures where I missed...

 

And the cheesy picture his dad sent me from the game yesterday...


























A few quotes I collected over the past few days that I wanted to share with you... and also keep for my own remembering.

And I guess that's all I have for today. Hope you've had a great weekend! I have barely moved from my nest since Thursday afternoon and it may continue that way tomorrow, too.

 

Cosy Pictures

I bragged on the phone this afternoon about feeling good and then out of nowhere... BAM!... another headache. I didn't play around with this one... it got the good migraine meds right out of the gates. Last week I was nearly comatose over date "night" (and day and night and the next day) and I'd like to be a little more engaged this week. Sprinkle all those good "headache be gone" vibes my way, if you would.

Gamer Girl watching her dad play

This morning I had the little chickadee and her furry companion with me. I picked them up and we drove through Dunkin' Donuts for an iced coffee for Nana and some munchkins for the munchkin. The employees gathered in the drive-thru window to see the tiny kitten and tried to bribe her from us. Cosy would never forgive me if I gave her kitten away. They are fairing fairly well, I think.

Tucked in for a nap

We did have to have a conversation today about not throwing the cat... and how to pick her up gently... and then there was a complete meltdown when we had to leave the cat at home to make a little grocery shopping trip. I'm telling you... three year old girls are probably the most emotional creatures on earth. It wasn't just tears... it was tears and hyperventilating and giving her dad the stink eye... she's hard core, that one! But before that we had a nice, peaceful... sort of... happy morning. Thought I'd share a few photos with you, especially for the ones who aren't on Facebook or Instagram or the other spots in cyberspace I tend to hang out.

Now I'm going to close my eyes for a little while before time to head south for Date Night (and day and night and the next day). Hope your Tuesday has been lovely! Love and hugs, y'all!

wearing a chair for a hat

Laughing at her silly dad... 

A bit wound up...