Chat-a-Thon 2017-18 Thread!

[GoJays]

Oh my goodness @Natalka ! What a day you had! Hope you are able to break your new bed in soon, but once you do, oh man, it's going to be fantastic!

[walkonby]

Holy casserole, that ended up long - sorry!

I read and cried right along with you on every word @Natalka . I was just picturing how helpless you felt, but then I was bursting with joy when Milan said " trust him " and he assisted you back into the new bed. I hope that the time it takes to adjust to this new bed is short, you certainly deserve a good nights rest in comfort after all this time.

I feel for you @flemeth and that illness hanging on...ugh none of us need to catch anything at this time. Hoping for a miraculous Christmas Eve recovery for you!!

Today began well before 6 a.m. ( DD had a 7 a.m. shift ) but once I returned from dropping her off I went straight to work in the kitchen. I have so many lovely veggie options to choose from for our meal on the 25th, and as everyone else is feasting on the heavy carb ( spuds, dressing, gravy ) I'll be happily selecting from the options that fit my eating plan which include:
- grilled baby bok choy
- sauteed yogurt dipped & crumbed slices of baby eggplant
- green beans sauteed lightly in sesame oil with toasted almond garnish
- pan browned large sliced Portabella Mushroom caps that were soaked in wine and sprinkled with a powdered herb mixture of garlic/onion/nutmeg/cayenne pepper.
- Mashed cauliflower ( my " potatoes " )
- roasted heirloom carrots ( purple,yellow,white )
- regular carrots also roasted
- I am allowed SOME squashes now, so there will be Butternut and acorn ( roasted )
- 2 kinds of sweet potato, the white ( purplish peel ) and the orange ( copper colour peel )

Since I'm allowed free reign on most lean meats I've decided to serve the Gobble Gobble guy along with a prime rib Roast and something I personally won't have ( the salt! ) but an apple/sausage stuffed pork loin ( Marc Angelo )
Lets see who leaves the table first!!

OY! @Natalka my post went on a bit too long as well.
Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!!!

[GoJays]

[Lynn49]

Greetings, everyone!!!

Oh, Natalka, I felt your frustration and disappointment as you transitioned from your bed to your kitchen table. Like Walks, I loved that Milan told you to trust him as he lifted you up and assisted you back into bed. You're so right about having to adjust to a new mattress; I found our new one so uncomfortable for the first few days, and now it's just the best! I know you'll get there and eventally just melt into it very soon. I have to tell you about my huge crying, scared session, I hope you don't mind....when I still had my hip to toes lovely pink cast on, according to my physiotherepist, it was time for me to go down our 4 stairs from our bedroom/bathroom level, to our living room and kitchen/dining area. So my BFF came over to help (she had been a registered care-giver), and there I was, at the top of those 4 stairs, that huge black band around my waist, my Hubby holding on to it behind me, my Friend near the top of those stairs, and I was supposed to use my crutches and "HOP" down that first step!! Hop??!! I don't know if you ever had a fibreglass cast, but those things are not light!! I was just sobbing so much with fright...I'd already fallen, which was why I was in that predicament, and now I was to "hop" down a stair on only my left foot with the weight of that cast attached to me!! Well....obviously I did manage to do those 4 stairs, brave girl that I am, and oh my goodness, to be out of that bedroom after so many weeks, only transitioning to the bathroom then back to bed? Priceless!! God, what we take for granted, eh, Nat?? Are you generally able to get into the kitchen using your walker? How horrible that you had such difficulty yesterday. But it's all done now and I hope you're resting comfortably and that you don't need to "hop" down any stairs!
{{{hugs, Natalka!}}}

A quiet day here, very much unlike you, Miss @walkonby !! Good grief, Lady!! Are you sure there weren't any other vegetables in the grocery store that you may have missed?? Those men of yours must have big appetites to dig into all those wonderful foods you make!!
So hang on. You can have all the meats you want...so you're cooking up a turkey, a prime rib roast, and a stuffed pork loin???! I can't even begin to imagine it all!!! Then all those tarts for dessert?! It'll be THEIR turn to diet after tomorrow!! You sure do spoil them and I'm equally sure they appreciate it all so much!!!

Now I'VE gone on for far too long here!!!!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lynn49]

And they're all americans, @GoJays !! Seriously! I'm on a couple of Christmas threads on FB, and otherwise intelligent women can't use proper words like that! I particularly love the, "I got no...." Ugh. (is that a word???)

[flemeth]

OH @Natalka I am so sorry for all that you have to go through. I am happy that Milan figured out how to make it work. You enjoy your new bed and try and get a good night sleep.
Milan seems to be a great Son you are a very lucky mother to raise him with great values.. He is always there for you when you need him Take care my friend and I hope and pray that 2018 be a much better year for you

[GoJays]

And they're all americans, @GoJays!! Seriously! I'm on a couple of Christmas threads on FB, and otherwise intelligent women can't use proper words like that! I particularly love the, "I got no...." Ugh. (is that a word???)

It's one of my top ten most used words

[Natalka]

Ooo, @walkonby - your meal sounds so delish!
@Lynn49 - my son totally empathizes with what I am going through because of what he went through with his broken leg and surgery, so I have come to understand a bit better what you went through, as well.

No, I haven't been able to use the walker to get to the kitchen in about a month - gah, that's how long I have been stuck in the bedroom. A giant part of me didn't want to go back into the bedroom yesterday...

In a way, what saves my sanity is that the bedroom is right off the living room, so with the door open I get full view of the men on the couch, we are probably only eight yards away ( just guessing). It would be so much more isolating if we were in another style of house with the bedrooms down a hallway.
So, one bonus of being in a tiny house!

Vader the kitty is back to normal after the goings-on yesterday. First she was freaked with the door being opened as bed pieces went out and in - and just the moving of stuff. Then once I was back in the room she felt safe enough to come investigate, but she was slinking really low to the floor, and moving ever so slowly - it was quite funny. She made many tries to come closer to the new bed, but if there were a sound in the next room, she would be spooked.

However, under the bed used to be her safe hiding space, but now the bed is directly on the floor. She can still go under the bureau, double dresser, or under the shelf behind the door.
She had wanted so badly to join me on the bed, but would only do the meerkat thing a few times. Took her until mid-evening before she felt safe enough to come on the bed.

Well, I had best plan the best method of prepping for supper once Milan comes. I can do some cutting sitting on the bed with a big chopping board on the walker in front of me. It is a bit more awkward now since before the walker seat could come closer in front of me because the wheels would partially go under the bed.

For supper we will be having:

baked whitefish (so glad we could find some this year!)
Pyrohy (perogies)
mushroom dill gravy
Lazy holubtsi (better than nothing, first year I have been unable to make cabbage rolls)
Kapusta (sauerkraut) and peas, made with onions and lots of garlic
Marinated vegetables
Poppyseed roll - no one ever has room for sweets usually.

[walkonby]

oh my! I love that you three are going to have a nice dinner together tomorrow @Natalka . If it means chopping some stuff as you sit on the edge of the bed so be it......considering your health limitations you are contributing big time to that meal.

Oh and btw @Lynn49 I actually DID forget to write something on that list of veggies.... my beautiful 3 colours mini bell peppers! They are so freaking cute and sweet, I will grill them too.
Yeah, I know there is a lot of food but it is what we do best!! ha ha
As far as the meat portions I am allowing myself, ahem....the Christmas Day meal will be my only meal for the entire day so I plan to help myself to both the turkey and the leanest pieces off of the roast.

Tonight I am not sure how strong I'll be though as I prepare and heat up the various hors d'oeuvres. I am permitting myself to enjoy some of the better ones ( Nutrition labels were not too awful ...lol ) and fill in the gaps nibbling some raw veg. There are no promises being made about the pumpkin cheesecake though...I tasted a smidgen last night and nearly fainted!

[Lynn49]

So I'm watching George C Scott in "Scrooge" and he just called his sister "little Fan", and that she was "quite a woman now". If his Mother died giving birth to HIM, did his father re-marry, which resulted in little Fan? Because if his mother died giving birth to him, how did she have little Fan? Or was she older than him? Likely not; his dad must have remarried. I must be missing something and can't remember how it was resolved in the novel....

[cabmonk]

Hope everyone has a good Christmas. Ours didn't start out too well. Was supposed to go to my cousin's as usual for Christmas Eve. However my aunt's sister in law wound up in the hospital and she is slowly dying and it's a matter of hours or days. Still going to my cousin's for Christmas dinner but it definitely feels weird. Everyone keeps apologizing to me that it's not the usual. I said I understand and please take care of yourselves and I'll see you tomorrow.

[Natalka]

So sorry to hear that, cabbie.

[Lynn49]

Aw, Cabbie, such sad news and all the more difficult at this time of the year. I hope being with family tomorrow brings you all some comfort and perhaps a little joy sharing memories with your Aunt and her sister.

[Lynn49]

Aha!! Yes, Scrooge's sister Fan WAS younger...from Dickens's A Christmas Carol, 1912, The Pears' Centenary Edition of The Christmas Books, vol. 1, page 54.



Charles Dickens messed up, I think.

[Lynn49]

From the original book:

He was not reading now, but walking up and down despairingly. Scrooge looked at the Ghost, and with a mournful shaking of his head, glanced anxiously towards the door.It opened; and a little girl, much younger than the boy, came darting in, and putting her arms about his neck, and often kissing him, addressed him as her "Dear, dear brother.""I have come to bring you home, dear brother!" said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to laugh. "To bring you home, home, home!""Home, little Fan?" returned the boy."Yes!" said the child, brimful of glee.