Fish Tacos and Spiders Attack

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Wonderful week working its way through our lives. It's Thursday and so far this week is going well! That's a bonus for us since we have had a rocky start to 2024. From January until now, we have had our trials and tribulations to work through, but we've held strong, together. 

My accident was in January and that led us down a long path to healing. At least so I can walk again. It might be with a limp, but I'm there. I feel blessed to finally be able to hop along with the best of them.

Our baby kitty passed away a couple of days past my fall. Her body began to shut down a few days before I fell and that is where our immense loss began. That crushed us both. I find myself looking back on her passing and realize I didn't have a change to really mourn her death. 

Two hospital trips, two procedures, and then going to Lowell to heal a bit before returning home left me without the opportunity to fully grasp all that surrounded her leaving us. I still miss our baby and I know Terry does, deeply. Since she was with him all the years he was alone, he is so much closer to her than I was, but I still fell for her so quickly. She was his partner, his long time buddy who was with him through so much in his life before I came along. She was a sweetheart and I bless her heart for keeping him company during his sad, lonely moments. I miss her begging for love and attention.  

About four weeks ago I caught the flu. I guessed that's what it was. There was far too much vomiting and not enough eating going on anyway. That was a four day trip down Nasty Lane. Ugh. 

Well, lucky me. I caught it again. This time it was only one night of getting sick, but about three days now of belly pain, sore muscles from getting sick all night, and weakness in my body from the lack of eating or drinking. I'm over it! 

But, today was a great day. Hubby and I went to the store to do some shopping for dinner items, then to Costco. Mallory came over and we watched some Bridgerton, a show on Netflix. We got into the show a while back, but found ourselves bored after a few episodes. Season one had so many sex scenes in it between the Duke and Dutchess that we lost interest. It was like watching a mild porn movie and that's not what we wanted. It seems we weren't the only ones either. I mentioned the show to my daughter, Marina, and she said she had to stop watching as well, for the same reason.  

The story finally came together as season two unfolded. More than sexual desires came to the forefront and we are once again enjoying the show. 

After watching a couple of episodes, Mallory left and Terry and I ate dinner plus watched our show, Scorpion. Good, relaxing night. I did work a bit this morning, but the day was a little scattered with all the other interruptions going on. 

But one thing really stood out today. As I said in an earlier post, my 94-year-old mother had a series of strokes and had fallen. Her heart was not beating rhythmically and that was causing some of her issues. The hospital did not want to "reset" her heart by hitting it with some electrical stimuli, but my brother Mark insisted on it. They did the procedure and she is back to where she should be. The staff had informed Mark she stands a chance of dying by having the electrical jolts sent to her heart, but she could and probably would die if they didn't do it. He felt they had nothing to lose. I would have to agree. 

All of that was scary enough, but she ended up in the hospital the same day I did from my ankle injury. We were planning to fly out or drive out to Tennessee to see her before she might pass away, but my mother is strong. She is one of the strongest women I know. Health wise and emotionally, she's in the Herculean category. 

Coming out of Costco today, my phone rang. I set the phone down on a pillar base that I was standing by so I could rearrange things in my hands to answer it. I saw the word, "Mom" come up on the screen. I have to say, my heart bounced harshly into my throat. I was thinking someone in my family in Tennessee was calling me to let me know mom had either left us or she was in ill health again. 

I was frightened, my stomach flopped, but I picked up the phone and said a quiet, "Hello?" Hearing a familiar voice, asking, "Vicki?" almost made me cry. It was my mother. She sounded strong, happy, feisty, and her old self again. I was elated!

I could not call her during her healing time, as my brother had changed his phone number. Mom had moved in with Mark a few years ago. She could not use the phone, as the strokes left her with no phone familiarity and her speech was lacking to be able to deal with a phone call. 

We were getting messages from Mark through my daughter, Marina, as they were chatting on Facebook. Mark informed us of how mom was doing, but he said she did not wish to have visitors at the moment. 

My Aunt Shirley, mom's sister, flew out to see her for about three days on a trip she was taking anyway. She reported mom was actually doing fairly well. During this time, it was killing me not to be able to go to her or to speak to her. I was keeping the wish in my heart to be able to speak to her one more time at least.  

Mom is very stubborn and wanted no company. We did respect her wishes and I couldn't travel to see her at the time anyway due to my injury. That is mom though. Strong as nails. She came out of it and is sounding better than ever! At 94, I have to give her accolades for keeping the fight up and coming back to her original state of mind and health.  

Anyway, so this has been our week so far. I'm over the flu. Terry is doing fine. Mom is great. My family is awesome. Two of my great grandchildren are visiting from Arizona, along with their father, my grandson and his wife. This means a trip to Eugene for Mallory and I on Monday. Sweet man will be at work. I cannot wait to get my hands on that baby, Elena, Keenan, and his wife.  

Jessee is having very light contractions. If the baby doesn't come by next week, the doctor is doing a C-section. That's exciting and means going to Eugene one more time to be able to see the baby. The babies this family is sprouting is so exciting! Great grandchildren coming from everywhere and I'm loving it! 

The baby and family have arrived safely. Cannot wait to see them!

And speaking of great grandchildren, Zyrah is still doing what she loves to do ... Wearing mom's makeup to make herself even more beautiful!

I love this girl! My beautiful great granddaughter, Zyrah. Photo is taken by her mother, Jessee Ricker. 

This shows us that even through the tough times in life, there is always something to be grateful for. We all have blessings in our lives. We just need to recognize those blessings. My family is a huge blessing to me. My husband, mother, sisters, brothers, daughters and step daughters, grandchildren, and now these precious great grandchildren are all amazing blessings in my life. My fur babies top off the mix. Friends and extended family as well. Life is absolutely beautiful!

Friday, June 28, 2024

Our Friday begins with work. At least on my end. Terry of course has the four day weekend going for him. I love to see him have that much time off though. He's retired, so it's something he has earned. Since I work from home, at least for transcription, writing, and for closed caption writing, I'm fine with still working. In fact, it keeps me occupied and that's something I need. Keep me without something to do and I get bored. Very bored. That means I begin to think and that gets me into trouble every time. 

Over the years so many crazy ideas have sprung from the depths of my boredom. Many have come, many were tried, and many failed. Usually failed after I spent hour upon hour putting the idea together or had spent so much money invested in the idea, only to have it not succeed the way I thought it would. But that's okay too. I lived and I learned. 

Friday ended up being a prelude to a good night. Nothing much in the way of exciting things happening, but Terry and I had a great time together. We watched our show, had baked ziti for dinner, and settled in for the evening. Chatting about our past and our present, it left the future looking bright once again. 

Terry went to the store after his trip to his doctor's appointment. He came home and presented Kit cat with a cute new toy. A fish taco. 

The top fin was a bit crumpled due to the large cat teeth and slobber all over it, but nevertheless, it's his new toy. 

I love the large eyes, the color of everything, and the fluffy blue "fins" that add an attraction for the cat. Kit is always bored it seems, so having new things to play with is the key to saving our sanity and the new furniture. He is also quite protective over his new fish buddy. This is what happens when you make any attempt at lifting his fish taco from his bedside. 

The slash doesn't look bad and doesn't feel bad, but he definitely left a mark. He hates it when we mess with his toys. Possessive little fur ball. 

Kit climbed into daddy's lap and showed his appreciation for his new toy. He loves to cuddle with Terry at night or any time he can get the man to sit in the recliner. Typically he will stretch his paw up to Terry's face and tap him lightly on the cheek or he will place is paw on his shoulder or arm. He can be so affectionate and sweet. The next moment he's shredding the couch or choosing someone to attack. Gorgeous and beloved, but ornery at times. Kit is like having a toddler in the house. 

Sitting at my desk to work today and something on my left leg was itching. I reached down to swat at it and noticed a hard lump. Upon further investigation, I saw I had a large bruise around two bite marks. I was stunned with the bruise I had acquired during whatever nasty creature's attack on me. I swear, it never ends lately. 

The bite had me worried a bit, bruising being the key to the worry. Threw some hydrocortisone cream on it since I'm out of Benadryl, and ignored it. Later on I looked again and it seemed much darker.

 I guess my life of never being sick or having things like this happen, nothing ever broken in terms of bones, etc., even something as simple as a bug bite is catching up to me. The Universe is now saying, "Lessons to be learned." 

 It's only a bug bite? Yes, it is. Bruising is the odd feature here. The bite? Not so much. Just saying. Must have been one nasty spider that bit me and that creeps me out a bit. Not scared of them, but don't like the idea of the arachnids feasting on my leg while I'm sleeping or sitting either. 

Saturday, June 29, 2024

Today is a day of rest, household chores, and possibly baking some bread. I would love to have another loaf of bread to accompany dinner. Not even sure what the dinner selection will be this evening, but bread goes with a lot of things. So, bread baking it is. 

I found that recipe for the soft rolls as posted in the last blog entry. I thought I might eventually add apples, brown sugar, and some cinnamon to the rolled out dough and see how it turns out. I'm hoping it will be an amazing apple cinnamon bread that is light and fluffy like the rolls were. 

Great idea, sounds so good, but I will have to run the apples through the food processor to ensure they are in tiny pieces or shreds. If larger pieces are included in the recipe, it could flatten the bread or deflate that fluffiness the rolls tend to show. We will have to see. 

Once the loaf is done, I will bring a glaze to the party. Wish me luck in this endeavor!  I also have some red cherries. I thought about creating a cherry bread with glaze. Not sure how that will come out or whether it's worth the time and energy, but it gives me something to do. 

Apple cinnamon bread it will be. I will make it so. It's good to be the baker.

Tomorrow our plan is to drive to Bend, Oregon. The beautiful city is about three and a half hours away from us. We are taking an alternate route, as there is a fire blazing in La Pine, Oregon, and it sits very close to the highway. 

We will travel up and around, through Three Sisters and on down. Takes a bit longer to get there, but is a safer way to travel at this time. It's about 25 minutes longer for travel time actually. Last year, the concerts held in the amphitheater in Bend were cancelled due to fires in La Pine. We're hoping this is not the case this year. 

Our longer travel should lead us into a wonderful night of music and fun. We are going to experience a concert made up of the bands, Foreigner and then Styx. Either one is good and even better when both perform. 

Once we are finished with the evening's events, we have to drive back home. The concert begins around 5:00 PM, so we won't return home until around midnight or later. Terry has to work the following day, as do I. At least I can sleep in, so I will be driving home. Thank goodness Mallory can come over and stay with the fur balls. 

We are both excited! One thing we do share is the love of music. Styx and Foreigner are two bands we both grew up with, as did most people of our generation, meaning I'm sure most teens listened to this music. There are always those who don't care for it however. It will be an interesting concert and hopefully the bands can still rock until they drop. 

I threw on the bread and began to write some more on this post. Meanwhile, sweet man sent me a text asking if I wanted to go anywhere or do anything today. Of course the first thing I popped off with was, "Let's go through Wildlife Safari." Always my favorite go-to venue for entertainment. 

Since it was hot today, some animals had no desire to be up and moving. Like the bears. We found a couple of them actually walking around a bit, but not much. The rest were all laying in the shade under their hammocks and wood deck. But the rest of the photos we will post here. 

Beautiful blue skies and white, wispy clouds floated in the sky, making this a perfect day to travel through one of our favorite venues, the Wildlife Safari. 

Lions hung out in the darkest part of the shade. It was a lazy day for the animals, that's for sure. 

Zebras were also found in the shade, enjoying some hay.

The brilliant white, black and tan stripes were standing out today. They seemed to be brighter than usual. Maybe the light they were in or possibly they shed off the winter coat to appear more sleek, smooth, and brighter in color. 

One of my favorites, the guanaco. Guanacos are camelids, which is why the camel face. They love to stare into your car to see if you might throw them some food. I love these faces. 

And, of course, my goofy Spicoli loves his bear butts. The bear turned right as he was taking photos. Terry immediately made the joke of loving "bare" or "bear" in this case, butts. 

Love the Tibetan yak. Terry says he gets bored with them because all they do is stand around all day and yak, yak, yak. Men. Gotta love 'em. There was another Tibetan yak that was out of view today. Not sure where he or she was. This one was found standing in the shade. 

A pasture of the little guys. 

Then along comes this cutie. 

Always checking out people in cars to see if we purchased the park food to give them. 

Beautiful babies! Fallow deer are definitely one of my favorites. 

It was time to eat for the cheetahs and wow, were they alert! The feeding crew had just left. We saw more cheetahs and bears today than the others, but the bears were all hanging out in the shade, making it difficult to get any shots of them. 

Another fun day at Wildlife Safari. What follows a trip through Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon? Why a trip through Arby's of course! Terry grabbed our food and came to the table and told me, "Well, at least there are no single women in here today!" This refers to our original adventure to Arby's, and is mentioned in our post, "We Have the Meats!"

An order of chicken bacon ranch loaded fries and I'm ready to go home and nap or get sick. Not sure which. Either way might give me relief from eating all of that. 

Now, off to the store to get a couple of things that might help me make this new blend of apples, cinnamon, bread, and glaze. The bread dough was put in the refrigerator to keep it from rising too much until I could make it into a nice loaf. When I return, I will begin this project and hope for the best. I'm winging it, without a recipe. See? I get bored and think. Always trouble. 

I added a brown sugar alternative since we are diabetic, plus walnuts, diced apple pieces, cinnamon, and of course, apple pie spice. Rolled out the dough, slathered it in butter, loaded it up with the apple-nut mixture and formed a loaf. 

Our house smells like a bakery with fresh apple fritters in the oven. I looked for a powdered sugar alternative for a nice glaze on top, but they either didn't carry it or were out. But that's okay. Zero sugar white frosting from Pillsbury will do the trick just fine! While the bread is warm, I will smear frosting all over the top. It's going to be a good treat for later tonight!

Oh, my gosh! Later tonight, my bear butt. The loaf came out and I smothered it with drizzle, or actually sugar free vanilla frosting. Sliced into it. Gave sweet man a couple of pieces and I had one. I have found my heavenly space here on earth. We have eaten a couple of pieces each and now it's time to put it up. I'm going to cry. 

The loaf itself does not look like anything special, but believe me, the flavors came through! The loaf looked like a savory loaf until I added the frosting to give it that beautiful sweet bread glaze. The apples were there, in small chunks, as the star of the treat. Cinnamon and apple pie spice really kicked the taste into gear! The brown sugar melted into all of it, making an ooey, gooey, "love sauce" of sorts to cover the apples and walnuts. Icing on the cake, as they say, was the sugar free vanilla frosting. When I return home from the concert and then the trip on Monday, I will make another loaf. Half of the loaf is still here and has been left for Hayden and Mallory as they watch the dogs tomorrow. 

Bread that is light and fluffy. A filling that is remarkable and bursting with flavor! 

Crust covered in vanilla "drizzle" tops off the lovely sweet bread. Definitely going to be making this around Thanksgiving and in the fall in general. Yummy!

I love the chunks of apple. Apples, to me, go with any season, any day, any time. Beautiful fruit. My next thought is some lemon bread with blueberries throughout, topped with a nice lemon drizzle. We'll have to give it a try one of these summer days ...

I have another batch of apples, cinnamon, and the apple pie spice, plus more apples I can cut up if needed to make another batch of this yummy stuff when I can. I might even be nice enough to share some with Mallory for watching the house for us. Maybe. If she is real nice. 😀😁😂

Since we are traveling to Bend tomorrow, I'm going to leave this right here. Our trip and the concert will be journaled, for sure. The concert will be worth the trip, I hope, and a new blog post will give all the details. 

Thank you for reading the blog! Take care of yourselves! Have a safe weekend. See you on the other side of Bend!