Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy T-Day
Whatever the unfortunate origins of this particular holiday (dang puritans...they're all, "We must have the freedom from religious intolerance to practice our own religious intolerance!"), it has spiraled into an out-of-control orgy of feasting and secular humanism just like any other holiday in America--you can't get any more inclusive than that.
So I say, pull up a chair, consider all you have to be grateful for (you've got the other 364 days of the year to gripe), and dig in.
Enjoy the Foodening.
So I say, pull up a chair, consider all you have to be grateful for (you've got the other 364 days of the year to gripe), and dig in.
Enjoy the Foodening.
Labels: Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Gravy, Man
Check out the new November décor for Janet's Blog.
I wasn't sure I was going to keep up the holiday themes, but my dad suggested that I should do it. He said it would be like going to visit Grandma's house.
I wasn't sure I was going to keep up the holiday themes, but my dad suggested that I should do it. He said it would be like going to visit Grandma's house.
Labels: Dad, Grandma, graphics, Thanksgiving
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Giddyup
During our weekend at Brian's parents house in Evart, Michigan, we thought it might be neat to go horseback riding. The weather was beautiful, and I thought there might be places out in the country that would support riding stables open to the public.
Brian's dad heroically called a bunch of places, and Brian called a bunch of places. It turns out that many stables that normally would have trail riding were closed either for the holiday or because it's hunting season.
I suppose it would suck to get shot at while out riding.
When Brian and I left on Saturday, we found ourselves on the western side of the state at the Double JJ, which did indeed have openings for a trail ride at 2:00 p.m. We arrived early and wandered around the "Back Forty" which is set up like an old western town complete with jail, souvenir shop, and saloon where you can get burgers and grilled cheese and fries and what not.
We lined up to climb the stairs of the mounting platform, and the ranch employees brought forth around 20 horses for all of the people riding that day. We were instructed to take the horse over to one of the watering troughs, then line up by the gate. Brian's horse, Speckles, was very thirsty and Brian couldn't get him away from the trough (later during the ride, we opted for the slower ride that was walking only...I will not say it was specifically out of deference to Brian's lack of experience--I'm tempted to, but it's just as well I didn't try to bounce the heck out of my gimpy hips on a trotting horse). There was some debate about my horse's name. Some of the employees call her Oatmeal. Others call her Vomit. She was sort of dappled beige, cream, and brown.
I guess it depends on how you feel about oatmeal.
I enjoyed the ride very much. We saw wild turkeys and did not encounter any hunters. The Double JJ has cattle drives where they actually teach you how to herd cattle.
This ride was important to me--back when I broke my hip, I remember emailing Sarah (Sarah and Danielle and I had talked about planning a trip to a "dude ranch" the previous summer) that I probably wouldn't be able to ride horses any more, and that the possibility of a dude ranch vacation wasn't looking good. Well, f*ck that. I can ride a horse; I don't see why I can't take any kind of vacation I want (money notwithstanding). I am very proud that I was able to get on the horse's back and that I could walk when I got off. Ok, I was a bit saddle sore, but that's normal.
Brian says he prefers his steel horse. That's fine, but I don't get to ride the steel horse by myself.
The Double JJ also has sled dogs; we spent some time feeding them doggie treats from a gumball machine bolted to a tree by their enclosure. There's an indoor water park, but we did not have bathing suits. As we ambled to the car, walking funny from the long ride, a wedding party showed up--the bridesmaids were carefully carrying their dresses and I think we saw the wedding dress arive. They (the people AND the dresses) were going to assemble in the dance hall for the ceremony. I wouldn't necessarily have wanted a western wedding, but it made me pretty happy that people were assembling to have fun and celebrate.
Brian's dad heroically called a bunch of places, and Brian called a bunch of places. It turns out that many stables that normally would have trail riding were closed either for the holiday or because it's hunting season.
I suppose it would suck to get shot at while out riding.
When Brian and I left on Saturday, we found ourselves on the western side of the state at the Double JJ, which did indeed have openings for a trail ride at 2:00 p.m. We arrived early and wandered around the "Back Forty" which is set up like an old western town complete with jail, souvenir shop, and saloon where you can get burgers and grilled cheese and fries and what not.
We lined up to climb the stairs of the mounting platform, and the ranch employees brought forth around 20 horses for all of the people riding that day. We were instructed to take the horse over to one of the watering troughs, then line up by the gate. Brian's horse, Speckles, was very thirsty and Brian couldn't get him away from the trough (later during the ride, we opted for the slower ride that was walking only...I will not say it was specifically out of deference to Brian's lack of experience--I'm tempted to, but it's just as well I didn't try to bounce the heck out of my gimpy hips on a trotting horse). There was some debate about my horse's name. Some of the employees call her Oatmeal. Others call her Vomit. She was sort of dappled beige, cream, and brown.
I guess it depends on how you feel about oatmeal.
I enjoyed the ride very much. We saw wild turkeys and did not encounter any hunters. The Double JJ has cattle drives where they actually teach you how to herd cattle.
This ride was important to me--back when I broke my hip, I remember emailing Sarah (Sarah and Danielle and I had talked about planning a trip to a "dude ranch" the previous summer) that I probably wouldn't be able to ride horses any more, and that the possibility of a dude ranch vacation wasn't looking good. Well, f*ck that. I can ride a horse; I don't see why I can't take any kind of vacation I want (money notwithstanding). I am very proud that I was able to get on the horse's back and that I could walk when I got off. Ok, I was a bit saddle sore, but that's normal.
Brian says he prefers his steel horse. That's fine, but I don't get to ride the steel horse by myself.
The Double JJ also has sled dogs; we spent some time feeding them doggie treats from a gumball machine bolted to a tree by their enclosure. There's an indoor water park, but we did not have bathing suits. As we ambled to the car, walking funny from the long ride, a wedding party showed up--the bridesmaids were carefully carrying their dresses and I think we saw the wedding dress arive. They (the people AND the dresses) were going to assemble in the dance hall for the ceremony. I wouldn't necessarily have wanted a western wedding, but it made me pretty happy that people were assembling to have fun and celebrate.
Labels: Brian, Danielle, Double JJ, Evart, hip, horses, Sarah, Thanksgiving, vacation, wedding
Sunday, March 19, 2006
More Fun with Nausea
I've tried at least four different kinds of medication to deal with nausea, hoping with each switch to find that magic thing that will keep me from spewing the contents of my stomach everywhere, or from dry-heaving the lack of contents until I can't do anything besides gag, shaking, over whatever receptacle was close enough to get to, if I was lucky enough to get to one.
I have actually made food choices based on what things will taste like coming back up. I'm worried that I will develop dislikes of foods I had previously enjoyed because I've thrown them up. I adore spinach dip, but there's nothing quite like picking spinach out of your braces...twice.
This latest medication does a fairly good job at keeping me from feeling nauseous, until the actual moment is upon me, and the maddening thing is that I haven't figured out what the triggers are for sure. I don't know why I'll be feeling fine one day and then suddenly the next, bleahrgh....
Is it just activity level and stress? How on earth am I going to be able to control that? Sigh. Being able to wear smaller clothes is nice and all, but I need to be able to retain nutrients and things that will help me feel better. I've been advised to get a juicer. Does anyone have experience with those things? Will drinking lots of fresh juices make me healthy and give me unparalleled bushy eyebrows? Maybe my system won't like nutrition in juice form and will just spew it up again. Then I'll have invested money in a contraption that takes up space and is useless, rather like the pile of prescriptions in my medicine cabinet which have been tried, and rejected as just not performing well.
I have actually made food choices based on what things will taste like coming back up. I'm worried that I will develop dislikes of foods I had previously enjoyed because I've thrown them up. I adore spinach dip, but there's nothing quite like picking spinach out of your braces...twice.
This latest medication does a fairly good job at keeping me from feeling nauseous, until the actual moment is upon me, and the maddening thing is that I haven't figured out what the triggers are for sure. I don't know why I'll be feeling fine one day and then suddenly the next, bleahrgh....
- I experienced one awful day on mine and Brian's honeymoon. It was the day after the very hectic Late Show/Spamalot combo. The next day I was so pukey ill I couldn't eat anything or get out of bed.
- Last Sunday I went to visit my mom's, something I hadn't done since Thanksgiving. I was nervous about the steps, but felt that I could handle it and was very glad to see Skippy, her very bulky chihuahua. Monday I felt horrible and couldn't keep anything down.
- Thursday I had a very busy day going to the dentist and various banks and offices, making official name changes and what not to Janet L. Elkins, and Friday I was miserably ill again.
Is it just activity level and stress? How on earth am I going to be able to control that? Sigh. Being able to wear smaller clothes is nice and all, but I need to be able to retain nutrients and things that will help me feel better. I've been advised to get a juicer. Does anyone have experience with those things? Will drinking lots of fresh juices make me healthy and give me unparalleled bushy eyebrows? Maybe my system won't like nutrition in juice form and will just spew it up again. Then I'll have invested money in a contraption that takes up space and is useless, rather like the pile of prescriptions in my medicine cabinet which have been tried, and rejected as just not performing well.
Labels: Brian, dentist, mom, nausea, Skippy, Thanksgiving
