Monday, August 30, 2010

Friday, August 27, 2010

Say it ain't so.

Dinner one night this week...


Gluten Free? Impossible you might be say. It looks so delicious and there is a oozing crispy grilled cheese sandwich on that plate.

Wrong!! Completely gluten Free. Thanks to Udi's gluten free multigrain bread.


Apparently it's the best in gluten free. It's the first I tried, but I thought it was great and didn't even notice a difference from regular multigrains. Jim even agreed.


Thursday, August 26, 2010

Footwear

My oh so lovely, AND bulky air-cast has required me to reevaluate my footwear choices this week. Especially since most, actually all, my work shoe are heels. I don't know when it happened, but I'm a definite heels gal, particularly for work attire. My choices were narrowed down to slippers, flip-flops, or flat sandals with an open back. Considering that the flip-flop is partially to blame for my current state, I've been leaning toward my dirty old moccasin slippers around the house or sandals when I'm going to be seen in public.

These mustard yellow Steve Madden's from last summer have been a favorite for not only casual paired with comfy jeans and a vintage tee....


or for work.....
with my favorite hip slung Gap khakis, polka dot top, and navy LOFT blazer...


I'm craving Fall.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Gluten Free. Week 1


I know that no one really wants to hear about my gastrointestinal problems. Let's just say...my shit ain't right and a trial period of 3 weeks gluten free has been recommended. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, & barley. Easy enough, right? Just stay away from bread, pasta, pastries, & anything bread related.

Quite honestly, I don't eat a ton of carb loaded foods anyways. Probably because I already kinda had a hunch that I might have a problem with gluten and was just in denial about it. There are some dietary staples that I'll be missing...Amy's Pizza and burritos, Triscuits, a delicious roll with my turkey burger, rye toast on weekends, beer, and of course the dessert treats like chocolate cake & oatmeal raisin cookies. I can deal. What makes the next 3 weeks a real challenge are all the random foods that are not bread or pasta but contain gluten ingredients...which is pretty much everything!

About a week and a half of surfing the web and researching gluten and one expensive trip to Whole Foods, I gathered enough info and ingredients to put together a gluten free menu for week 1. Sunday night I did a lot of cooking and food preparation for the week and so far haven't noticed a difference in life without gluten.

Quinoa Salad
(original recipe by the dearest Sarah)


Cook according to package directions ( I use the organic Trader Joe's brand)
Let cool.
Mix in chopped veggies. I used red onion, red pepper, yellow pepper, and cucumber.
Toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted veggies
(prepared ahead of time for lunch time wraps)
Cut yellow squash, zuchini, onion, and garlic.
Combine in large bowl and toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Add rosemary. Fresh is best!
Bake at 350 about 10 minutes. You want the veggies to be undercooked.
Let cool.
Add feta cheese and sliced cherry tomatoes.
Reheat next day and enjoy (gluten free style)
or pile onto a warm wrap or pita bread (gluten filled style) and sprinkle with fresh alfalfa sprouts

Both simple, delicious, and gluten free. Man I love my veggies!
I also made a batch of hard boiled eggs for easy on the go breakfast.

More to come...


Monday, August 23, 2010

Monday...

"The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind."

~Philipus Aureolus Paracelsus

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Cake.

I became instantly obsessed with obtaining a cake painting for my kitchen after seeing this post...


Aren't they just lovely?!

GrandPop's 90th Birthday...

Jim

me and Timmer

GrandPop with Aunt Evelyn and Johnny

GrandPop playing washers

Beautiful blue skies

Shaggy


*****Photography courtesy of Gabby (soon-to-be 1st grader)****



Saturday, August 21, 2010

Peg Leg-Day 7

One week post injury, and I was really hoping I'd be back in action. Unfortunately, this ankle sprain is no joke.
Over the last seven days it got worse before even thinking about getting better. The swelling was immense and my entire foot turned gangrenous greenish/blackish blue...all the way to my toes. Seriously I didn't even know the little webs between your toes could bruise so dark and purple.

I've been trying my best to keep it elevated, use the crutches, and follow the good 'ole R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) instructions. I went back to work on Tuesday, but remained limited with my activity and even had a coworker pick me up and chauffeur me around (don't feel badly for him, he was getting paid).

I initiated ABC and circular movements early on; starting applying biofreeze and electric stimulation therapy, and using kinesotape about day 4; infested my system with NSAIDS for the first few days; and increased my fish oil intake while keeping up with my regular vitamin routine. Jim and I eventually were able to make a trip to the health food store and I've switched over to arnica and epsom salt, and started aqua therapy in our pool on Friday. I was hoping to use Boswellia as an anti-inflammatory, but the only brand they had wasn't gluten free, (more on that later) so I had to pass for now.

Now, it hurts. Constant throbbing. And it's more concentrated over what I would diagnosis as the precious injury sites. Yes, sites as in multiple. And those sites are of course located over the anterior talofibular ligament, posterior talofibular ligament, and calcaneofibular ligament: your classic inversion injury.

Provided by Nucleus Communications, Inc.


Combined with lateral gapping with passive inversion and a definite positive anterior drawer sign, we're talking Grade II with a possibility of Grade III. Advanced imaging is probably the next step. I mean I'm no doctor....oh wait...I am a doctor and so is my husband. And in my meer six years of clinical experience involving lots of sports related injuries and, in more recent years, plenty of slip and fall injuries, this is the worst ankle sprain I have ever seen in real life. And it just happens to be my real life. Waaaaaa!!!!

Jim has excelled in his responsibilities as a husband; picking up the extra slack cooking dinner, carrying anything and everything for me, helping with laundry and cleaning, and still pursuing our endless lists of household renovation projects.


SoFee dog has also been a huge help; licking my wounds and keep me company during otherwise lonely periods of confinement while applying ice and elevating my foot. She's also deathly afraid of the crutches and kindly stays out of my way when I'm up and moving around, so there have been no instances of tripping over my bestest ever four legged friend.




Friday, August 20, 2010

Monday, on Friday

With all my whining about being injured I forgot my Monday quote. So here's one for your weekend...

"Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday, August 19, 2010

In his defense...

Apparently Jim's comment " ...Ohio seems like a very red neck place to be from. I don't know how much they work on reading skills instead of picking corn or fixing cars out there." really hit a nerve with some of my fellow Ohio natives. You know the comment on the post about me. Aboug how much he loves and adores me as a wife. (Maybe they missed the point.)

In Jim's defense:

People born & raised or routed in on the NorthEast coast for a good majority of life, all think that the midwest is full of stupid hillbilly red necks sitting on a rockin' chair on the front porch with a shot gun. Until I left I didn't know there was such a harsh view of the whole non-coastal US. I didn't even realize that people consider Ohio to be the mid west until I moved away.

It's called stereotyping. heard of it? I don't think it's anything to take offense to. I guess lots of people do, but I think it's just silly to get your panties in a bunch over a little bit of truth mixed with a little bit of exaggeration. I mean what do you think about people from New Jersey or New York City? Arm pit of America, Sopranos, stinky polluted air, heroin needles lining the beaches.

Well that's what I think and I can't get enough of making fun of Jim for his New Jersey roots.

And, he equally can't get enough of making fun of me for my red neck Ohio roots.

It's been going on since probably before we even started dating.

Jim grew up thinking that New Jersey was some kind of holy land. Like the skies opened up one day and dropped Jersey down to bless the rest of the unworthy land in America. He really thought he'd never leave the place. That there is no better place on earth. He intended to take a brief hiatus to live in NY , get his degree, and head straight back to that stupid traffic filled, jug handle circle chaos, over populated land of unhappy jerks. As a matter of fact, that's exactly what he did...with little 'ole country bumpkin Chelle Jo tagging along (I eventually convinced him to at least escape over the state line to PA and we're both soo happy we did).

Furthermore, it's no secret that Jim had a superior education than myself. For god sake they had vocabulary words until the 12th grade. I'm pretty certain we stopped having vocab after 3rd grade, maybe 4th. I've always said that my teachers were just happy that I was a smart kid naturally. I was never really challenged academically, not the way Jim was. It was like an all out war to be valedictorian. Kids giving up any kind of social life and burying themselves in a stack of text books for 4 straight years to ensure their spot at the top. Sounds serious. I'm pretty sure our valedictorians spent Senior year in the home-ec lab making chocolate chip cookies. (no offense Kayne or Seth)

And Ohio, it could be worse. At least our accent is subtle. We gave birth to aviation and lots of president ( i think 8 in total). And, we have rock n' roll and football hall of faming it on our turf. Personally, I'd rather be viewed as an illiterate redneck than a self inflated asshole anyday. I love meeting or running in to someone from the midwest around these parts. I can usually tell right away, they just have a softer soul.

Besides. Who care what Jim thinks anyways?

Ohio, just remember, you're the 'heart of it all.' Be proud. Stand tall. and if you come to the east coast bring a book.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Shades + SoFee dog

New find: iheartfaces photo challenge.

This weeks challenge: 'got to wear shades'

My entry: Me and SoFee dog enjoying a long hike in the woods last fall.

If I managed to do this right there should be a link below to check out other entries.....

Peg leg-Day 3

Did I mention we're renovating our house and have about a half million projects going on?


Did I mention that I drive 1hr one way to work every day and spend a good portion of the day standing and performing fairly physical activity?


Did I mention that I'm I tripped over my own feet and wrecked my right ankle on Saturday.


Did I mention that I'm home from work today and about to go stir crazy at 9:30AM.




Last night.
Forced to keep my leg elevated by mean 'ole Dr. Jim.
My ankle was actually looking worse instead of better.
Somewhere in my doctor brain I know that this happens. I can hear my own haunting words to my patients..."it's not uncommon for injuries to progress in the first 24-48hrs..." Blah, blah, blah.

Good ankle.
Look at all those lovely veins and bony surfaces.


Bad ankle.
Enough said.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Peg leg


Immediately after typing my last post, I got up from the computer and somehow managed to get my flip-flop caught on the rug and rolled my ankle over. It hurt like H-E-double hockey sticks.

After a quick trip to the ER, I was sent on my way with a pair of crutches and an air-cast. Seven to ten days on the crutches, 2 weeks in the air-cast, 5-6 weeks for full recovery. Although I'm certainly glad it wasn't broken, I know that a bad sprain can take longer to heal than a fracture.

I've been compliant with my home instructions for resting, elevating, applying ice often,and NSAIDS every 6 hours. It's really an inconvenience.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

I love it.

I'm sitting in the spare room with the windows wide open with a light breeze rustling the curtains. It's so quiet outside. This neighborhood is so unbelievably quiet. I love it. I love it so very much. It's my favorite thing about our new house. It makes me feel content even amongst all the construction and chaos. It reminds of growing up and small towns. It's like I managed to find my own little small town right here in the 'burbs. At first it was kind of eerie. Especially when you combine it with the fact that EVERYONE in the neighborhood is super nice. Like one of those movies that start out all sweet and cheery and then all the sudden everyone is getting killed or there's a crazy ghost or evil spirit that haunts the neighborhood at night. Nope. Didn't happen. Everyone's super nice. and it's always super quiet. And I love it.

This weather would be perfect for camping. I'm really craving a weekend of campfires, s'mores, long hikes, and just hanging out with nature. We usually try to take at least one trip in the late spring and another in the fall, more if we can fit it in. But this spring and summer has just been too busy with the house, plus I don't even know where to find all the camping gear amongst the piles of boxes in the basement. We tentatively scheduling a weekend get away in mid September. I think we just have to make it happen.

This weekend we're booked up with GrandPop's 90th birthday party and finishing up a lot of little projects around the house. Changing out the light switches, hanging a curtain rod, perhaps installing a dimmer switch in the kitchen. Sounds like fun, right!?

Friday, August 13, 2010

Summer Night

I'm loving this weather!! Cool and crisp with a splash of sunshine. A perfect way to start the weekend...

After successfully installing the recessed lighting fixture, we decided to take advantage of the
beautiful weather and spend some time relaxing and just hanging out.

We took SoFee dog to the park then fired up the grill for a Friday night feast.


On the menu: grilled salmon, yukon gold potatoes, asparagus, red pepper and onion, and fresh sliced tomatoes. Using as many herbs and veggies from our little garden as possible....Yes, it was just Jim and I, but in our defense, we rarely eat lunch on Fridays so we were both ready for a hearty meal.

The lovely 'patio' tomatoes picked from the garden were fan-freakin-tastic. Sliced and served with a just a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper. Fresh tomatoes. It's reason alone to love summer...


We rolled the potatoes in olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper; putting them right straight on the grill whole. I whipped up a little 'sauce' with sour cream, fresh rosemary, butter, salt and pepper in the food processor.

We splashed the salmon with a simple squeeze of lemon, lime, and olive oil and grilled 4-5 minutes per side. The asparagus, a summer favorite around here, also rolled in olive oil with a dash of salt and squeezed with lemon after grilled.


Delicious. Every single bite!


It was especially nice to just spend a quiet evening together, enjoying good food, a glass of wine, a good conversation. It's been such a busy summer...it's hard to believe it's almost mid-August.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Thursday's thoughts


I really need to change the songs on my iPod.

I have nothing planned for dinner.
I wonder what it's like to have a personal chef?

I think I am incapable of making a decision on new countertops for kitchen.

My hair is super duper frizzy today.
and I don't even care.
I wish I had been around for afros.

I want to go back to Vermont.
In the Fall
and go apple picking.

I just got a little surge of excitement just thinking about Fall
and candy corn.

Now I can't concentrate.

What was I thinking about?

Is it really only 2:30?

Dunkin Donuts ice coffee is the best.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Points on a wonderful wife

(edit. Jim accidentally posted this on my blog last night instead of his. It now rightfully appears on The Garden Club, but I thought I'd leave it here too. It makes me happy. Jim makes me happy)



I just got back from the Phillies game with my wife, Rachelle. Rachelle, when you read this I want you to know that I love you very very much. My wife and friend. You are the only person that I can hold a conversation with for more than 30 minutes. I don't know how you tolerate my wackiness sometimes. I see you, looking at me with slightly squinty eyes, wanting to tell me what to do but allowing me to make my own decision like a big boy, like a grown up, like I should. I know you see me look up at you with my head bowed down while I try to read your expression to see if I should continue with my decision. Sometime ago I was putting on my dress socks. They had a little hole in them over the big toe. Rachelle can not stand for holy socks. She has consistently thrown away perfectly wearable socks because of a few minor holes. No one sees my stockinged feet but you baby! Anyway as I'm putting the socks on I catch myself looking to see if she's watching me, feeling guilty about wearing these unacceptable socks but knowing if I can get my shoes on before she sees I can be home free for the rest of the day. She didn't catch me that time but she has in the past.
Rachelle, your musical knowlage has grown significantly in the time we've been together. Whenever I ask her "who sings this" and she doesn't know, she knows to guess The Grateful Dead, probably because they have multiple singers and a lot of different sounds which makes them hard to identify unless you know the song. I would say she is about 75% correct in playing our game and can nail all Beatles and Dylan songs. Tonight she missed on CSN's Suite Judy Blueeyes, but had acceptable guesses with The Dead and The Allmans. Nicely done Rachelle, but I do love to stump you now and then.
She is unbeatable at connect 4, also known as "four in a row". Overall, she is surprising smart. Up until recently I think I thought in the back of my head she was barely literate because she is from Ohio and Ohio seems like a very red neck place to be from. I don't know how much they work on reading skills instead of picking corn or fixing cars out there. But I can not beat her at connect 4. One game she could have beat me three different ways! It was like I was a toddler. There was a 9 year old little boy I used to babysit at the Quaker meeting who could beat me at Guess Who every time. That little kid was impressive. I wish I could find him and make him play, and beat, Rachelle in a board game war. That would wipe that smug grin off her face. Haha, you have no such grin Rachelle, only a beautiful smile! Haha.
Best of all, she is always watching out for me. She made me understand that using the same pair of tweezers to pluck my unibrow as to pick the ticks out of SoFee was a bad idea. My arguement was that the tweezers never touched my skin, but she pointed out that they were only 99 cents at the supermarket and it probably wasn't worth the risk of slipping and jabbing a pair of tick infested tweezers into my forehead. Good one chelle.
You are clean and healthy, tidy and interesting. You give excellent advice and still listen to all my blabber. All in all Rachelle you are my favorite person in life.


Rachelle + Jim

08.10.10

Monday, August 9, 2010

Monday...

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

~Will Rodgers

Friday, August 6, 2010

Merry Go Round

This made me laugh...

A little playground humor to get the weekend started.

Happy Friday!



Monday, August 2, 2010

Spoiler Alert

Do you watch True Blood?


It's one of the reasons I love Sunday nights. Crazy twisted love affairs. Lots of blood and dramatic deaths. Plus they're are Southern accents involved and a large bowl of popcorn...

Did you watch last nights episode?

Bill seemed pretty unemotional about almost killing Sookie, don't ya think?!

He was ready to marry the damn girl and now a after a few days amongst his vampires and his Mr. Tough guy is his fancy jumpsuit. I was expected some bloody vamp tears when he showed up at the hospital. "I can help." Really?!

Maybe the emotion is yet to come in next weeks episode, but...

I don't trust Bill Compton.

I've been suspicion considering he was hiding a secret file about Sookie and her family tree, but his lack of emotion after draining Sookie into a coma just pushed me into fully not trusting him.

Besides, I think Alcide is pretty good looking...

and I can see that there's some potential for a little romance to unfold between him and Sookie...


What/who the heck is Sookie anyways? I enjoyed getting a few more clues about her secret powers and her secret dream world but still so many unanswered questions....

Monday...


"The bravest thing that men do is love women."

~Mort Sahl