Karen

Girls Day Out With My Daughter, Emily

Did you know that yesterday was the 100th birthday of the Oreo Cookie? To celebrate, my daughter and I decided to take a day off and get pampered. Ok, so we didn’t know it was Oreo’s birthday. I didn’t know until I got up and found this posted on facebook by my OLDER brother:

facebook — Yes, last names have been removed to protect the innocent...

Emily and I had our outing planned for a couple of days. We went to breakfast at IHOP, then went to Top Nails in Douglasville for manicure-pedicures.

It was way past time for my pedicure. So far past time that they charged me an extra $5. Yes, it was not pretty. At least not until they were finished:

Emily chose her school color for her nails:

A little bit of wax on the old eyebrows and we were out the door. But look, next door was Cold Stone Creamery. Who can resist that?

And look, they were celebrating Oreo’s birthday, too:

oreo creme filling ice cream — Oreo Creme Filling Ice Cream

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I Never Thought I’d Agree With Neal Boortz…

Karen · 7 Comments

I’m not someone who listens to radio very much. As a matter of fact, I listen rarely. When I say rarely, I mean, I have only listened to a radio about three times in the last year. So, it is amazing that I would tune in to a radio talk show on this day, and have the radio talk show person actually say something that I agree with 100%.

Most of the time when I go somewhere in the truck, Fabgrandpa is with me. When we are together, we listen to and talk to each other. We don’t turn the radio on, or even put a CD in the player most of the time. Because even after almost twenty years together, we still have a lot to say to each other.

It just so happens that while I was gone to Maryland to look after Amelia while Owen was in the hospital, that Fabgrandpa went out by himself several times. And he apparently had the radio tuned in to WSB AM 750, probably trying to find a weather report or a traffic report.

This morning I went out by myself to meet my daughter,Emily for our girl day out. I turned on the radio to have some noise going on during the forty mile ride to Douglasville, and there was Neal Boortz. I used to listen to him in the late 90’s when I had to drive in to Atlanta every morning to go to work. But towards the end of my other life, I got tired of listening to him because somewhere along the line our viewpoints began to differ. A lot. So, I stopped listening to him, and as time went on, I stopped listening to radio at all.

Anyway, this morning I turned on the radio and Neal was talking about the pink slime that McDonald’s used in their hamburger patties. He talked about that, and then, he started talking about eating gluten free and how wheat is not good for us. I was definitely paying attention to him at this point, because you know, I have been gluten free since 2007. He said that the wheat we eat now is not the “bible wheat”, not the same as the staff of life from two thousand years ago, and that is because of genetically altered wheat that is being grown these days to increase the amount of gluten it contains.

I agree with that 100%. The corporate folks have altered the wheat that is being grown to increase the amount of gluten it contains because gluten gives products made with wheat the springy, high rising capabilities that we all love in our breads and cakes and pastries.

Boortz went on to explain that he had been having some issues and went to the doctor for testing and was diagnosed as gluten sensitive and possibly Celiac. And he has been eating a gluten free diet for a couple of months now. Mr. Boortz then said that the number one thing he has noticed since eating gluten free is that “His mood, his dispostion, has been changed.” He says he is happy, more alert,since eliminating gluten from his diet. He also recommended reading Wheat Belly. (Personally, I couldn’t tell the difference in his disposition now as opposed to fifteen years ago, but that’s just me.)
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I have known for a long time that symptoms of gluten sensitivity can mimic many diseases, including migraine headaches, arthritis, Chron’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, periphial neuropathy, and many others. It can cause behaviour disorders in children that can be mistaken for ADHD, ADD, and autism. It can make you feel depressed, moody, fatigued. Boortz mentioned in passing Type 3 diabetes.

I was not surprised to hear that because I have read about this new form of diabetes before. My own experience with eating a gluten free diet is that I have been able to keep my blood sugar under control much better since I eliminated gluten from my diet, and that what I thought were symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy caused by my type II diabetes completely disappeared just a couple of months after beginning a gluten free diet. Now, I’m not a medical professional at all, but I do know how my own body has responded to eating gluten free. Thank you, Neal Boortz, for giving me a topic of mutual interest for about twenty minutes this morning.

Also, Neal, if you ever read this, I have to tell you that while your ordering instructions to the the silly clerks at McDonald’s may sound perfectly clear, they must not be if you get your order incorrectly filled 100% of the time. Whenever I got to a fast food burger joint, I always order mine this way: “I want a hamburger, no bun please. Put the cheese in between the two patties, please.” And I get my order correct, 100% of the time. It just may be the delivery that throws them off.

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A Bit About Me And Amelia

Karen · 5 Comments

Now that the scary stuff with Owen is over with, I have a little time to reflect on my extended visit with Amelia. As you may know, it was the first time that we met since I have not been able to make it up to Maryland to visit since she was born on my birthday almost two years ago.

Because she did not know me, she fought everything I needed to do for her. Change a diaper? Nope, she ran away. Wipe her nose? Oh, heck no! She ran away. Get dressed? Forget that, you old hag! She ran away. This went on for the first four or five days. After that, she gradually warmed up to me, but by then, it was a game to run away. The difference was that instead of saying “No, Ganny, I don’t want to!” while running away, she laughed while running away. Sigh.

We had some good times, for sure. I discovered that she loves grapes and bananas. That she will ask to watch Despicable Me and “Ming Ming” on TV. That she calls her bottle her BoBo. And that she likes sleeping in her own bed with the door shut. That her “Blankie” must be within eyesight at all times. I also discovered that she does not like having her hair brushed, wearing her glasses, or wearing pants for very long at a time.

By the end of the “Twelve Days of Ganny”, we were good friends. She helped me make a video for Owen. On the last day there, she even came over to my chair and lifted her arms to me to be picked up after she had her bath and was in her jammies. Even with her Mummy and Daddy in the same room. I would say progress was made.

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Easy Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Pork Loin Roast Recipe

Karen · 3 Comments

I decided I wanted something completely different from my usual garlic pork roast, but I wanted it to be simple and easy to do. Nothing could be more simple than this! The sauce has a tangy sweet raspberry flavor with a mild kick of heat from the chipotle! Yum! Oh, and it is gluten free, too.

I bought a 2.5 pound pork loin roast, and a bottle of Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. Rinse and dry the roast, sprinkle liberally with meat tenderizer, and not quite so liberally with seasoned salt. Place in a roasting pan, and pour half the bottle of sauce over the roast. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes per pound at 350°. About half way through the cooking time, pour about half of the sauce that is left in the bottle over the roast.When the roast is done, remove from oven and let it sit for about ten minutes before slicing. Serve with remaining sauce.

I served this roast with steamed green beans and mashed potatoes. Delicious!

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OH! Look What I Did!

Karen · Leave a Comment

crocheted socks — My first pair of socks!

I have never learned to knit–I am rather clumsy and can’t hold two sticks at the same time and work the yarn with them. I never learned to use chopsticks either. TryIng to hold two sticks and the yarn without getting all tangled up is bad enough, but when I think about holding four needles to make socks, it makes me think I need to check out PCHTreatment.com for anxiety. But, I am pretty good with a crochet hook. My daughter, Becca, and I are members of a forum that has a needle work challenge each month, to complete projects for points. I have only made simple things like scarves and neck warmers in the past. But I have seen such beautiful things that the other girls and women have made, including such pretty hand made socks, and I decided that I would make a pair of socks.

The hardest part of making crocheted socks was finding a pattern. I looked for a pattern for about three months but it seems most socks are knitted, not crocheted. Finally, I found a pattern book at Joann Fabrics. The American School of Needlework Learn to Crochet Socks book has 12 sock designs in it. This pair I made is the basic sock pattern. I wanted something simple and easy to start out with.

I bought the amount of yarn the pattern said to buy, and started crocheting the first sock. There wasn’t enough yarn to make both socks, so I had to go to another store to buy some more. I tried to match the new yarn up as best I could to what I already had, but it doesn’t match exactly. So, my socks don’t match. However, it is the first pair I have ever made, so I am really proud of them!

I’ll probably make another pair soon.

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Bye Bye Bank Of America

Karen · 3 Comments

Yes, we did. I have wanted to fire them for over a year, ever since we tried to buy a cute as a button little house last year, and their mortgage loan rep asked me if I would be willing to pay MORE for a house in order to get it financed. Yes, you heard me right. He asked me to offer more for the house than it was on the market for because Bank of America doesn’t finance houses under $30,000.

That particular house was in good condition, on 2.5 acres, and the asking price for it was $29,000. It was appraised at $79,000, so in my way of thinking, the bank would have been financing a good deal. I just couldn’t believe my ears when he asked me to make an offer on it for $35,000 in order to get a loan from BOA. I told him NO WAY! And then I asked him “Isn’t that how the housing market got in the shape it’s in now?”

So, we just bided our time, and after we got our house financed through a different lender, we took steps to get to the point where we could fire them. We had been customers of that bank for more than 11 years, and have never ever bounced a check, or been late on a credit card payment with them, and had a pretty nice balance in our account. These days that means nothing to a bank, at least not one as big as Bank of America. So, as of this afternoon, we are no longer counted as one of their customers.

Our new bank isn’t a bank, but a credit union, and though we have only been customers there for a month or so, we are already treated better by them. So, take that, Bank of America!

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Have You Voted For Me Yet?

Karen · Leave a Comment

I know this is just an oversight if you haven’t, because I KNOW you all want me to win the 2012 Readers’s Choice Award. But for me to win, I need all of you to go and vote for me every day. All you have to do is click on the link, here, seclect Fabgrandma, type in your email address, then hit submit. They won’t do anything with your email address–no email list, no selling it, no giving it away. They just verify that you have voted only one time per day. So, if you love, get on over there and cast a vote for me, and then do it again every day until March 21. Because I want to win that award! Thank you for your vote.

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What Is Your Earliest Camping Memory?

Karen · 3 Comments

For me, that is easy to answer because I never went camping as a child. I didn’t go on my first camping trip until I was married to my first husband. We didn’t even own a tent. We slept under the stars in sleeping bags, and cooked our meals right on the campfire using an iron skillet.

My children all went camping before they were a year old, and we took our oldest grandson camping in our popup when he was 8 months old. As a Girl Scout leader for 8 years, I took lots of girls on their very first camping trip. I even planned a camping trip for 125 people! We had great fun camping together at a Girl Scout Campground in the north Georgia Mountains over a 3 day weekend.

Mark you calendar for Tuesday, March 6 at 9:00 p.m. EST to join in a Live Chat at the KOA Campfire. The topic will be Family Fun While Camping. Get some fun ideas for making memories for your next camping trip!
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