We Interrupt This Blog...

I just realized that I haven't updated in a while. I'm having a little mental health break.

I do have some good news to share. I didn't hook up to my "feed bag" that I'm on for my gastroparesis last Friday. Saturday morning my stomach growled for the first time in 6 months! I didn't have any message to my brain that said, "you're hungry", but the physical sensation was there.

I called my gastroenterologist and he's going to wean me off my tube feeding next week. In a couple of weeks I'm going to see a specialist at the University of Michigan hospital. Lastly I have an appointment with a pain mgt. doctor to try to help me with my consistant pain.

Stay tuned cause I'll be back in a few days with some updates, reviews & giveaways.

We Have A Winner!

I have to apologize for the delay in announcing the winner of this giveaway. I ended up in the hospital again for a few days.

The winner is Mack & Mia's mom! They are blogging friends of my Oskar & submitted this great recipe for Chicken Breasts with Portobello Mushrooms

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 small shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 thin slices mozzarella cheese

In shallow dish or on wax paper, mix together bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Press mixture into both sides of chicken.
In small frypan, place olive oil over medium-high heat. Add shallot and sauté until soft. Add mushrooms, parsley and pepper; cook about 5 minutes, turning mushrooms once.

Spray oven-proof casserole with nonstick cooking spray and arrange chicken flat in dish. Top with mushroom mixture, evenly divided over each piece. Arrange slice of mozzarella cheese on top.

Place in 425°F (220°C). oven for 20 minutes or until fork can be inserted in chicken with ease.

Makes 4 servings.

I'm sorry for the delay & thanks for much for playing.

Disparate & Multifarious

This came in the mail. Good thing they prepared it especially for us, or, ya know, whoever else happens to be living here.


*****************************************
As a big fan of Chick Lit, I've often read about Tim Tam cookies in books that come from Australia or the U.K. Imagine my happy surprise when I found these at my local Kroger.



It even say right on there, "Australia's Favorite Cookie!". They are yummy! I looked online & they make one with a hazelnut filling. I'll be on the lookout for those.

*****************************************
Chris got insurance & tabs for our motor home, so hopefully we'll be able to get out & do some camping this year. I lurrrve being able to get out & relax in the woods. Even Oskar loves camping!



*******************************************
The text for this his book lover's tote says in part "tote shows an open book with pages curled to form a heart. No words, no colors, no bells or whistles".



Am I the only one who sees words all over this dang tote??

A Day Without Sunshine

My nickname for my oldest son John David is Sunshine. (O.K. already started crying after writing this first sentence.)

John turns 18 today. 18! He's not here this weekend. His girlfriends grandpa died, so he's about 2 hours away in Tawas for the weekend. I can't put into words about how his turning 18 makes me feel. I don't know how this possibly happened. The worn out cliches about time flying are flying right into my face right now.

His life hasn't always been as easy as I've wanted it, and he may not always follow the path that I want for him, but I couldn't possibly be more proud of my handsome, funny, brilliant boy man.



I had John in 1992. I was 25 & had been married for almost 3 years. But in the 90's most women were waiting until their 30's or even 40's to have kids. It was the time of the career woman, so most of his peer's parents are older than I am. I loved being a "young" mom and still do.

He was a true baby of the 90's. I dressed him in tiny flannel shirts & workboots to reflect the grunge movement that was going on at the time. There was an unfortunate mullet that I made him wear when he was little, but his dad had one too, so who knew?

With 18 comes the ability for him to buy cigarettes (yep, he smokes), get the tattoo that he's been wanting, and the requirement to register for the draft. No more child support from his dad, Asshat, John is considered an adult now. How can he be an adult, when he is still my baby?

Random Dozen

This week I thought I'd play Random Dozen. Check out Linda at Second Cup Of Coffee to play along.

1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet? Probably at least 10 years old

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety? Samoa's, my very favorite

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to? I don't know how, but I think it would be fun to learn.

4. Were you a responsible child/teenager? Let's just say no & move on!

5. How many of this year's Oscar-nominated movies did you see? Very few if any.

6. If you're going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself? I would much rather do it myself. I'm very used to it by now & couldn't stand to see someone I love hurting.

7. What is your favorite day of the week and why? Saturday because hopefully my husband doesn't have to work.

8. Do you miss anyone right now? I actually miss lots of people.

9. Do hospitals make you queasy? No

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you. Probably Borders.

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items? Not usually.

12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels? I'd have to say neither.

Why don't you hop over & play along too?

Real Simple Cookbook Giveaway!

I have a copy of Real Simple Best Recipes cookbook that I will be giving away to one lucky winner. This is a stunning hard cover book with 90 of Real Simple's most easy & delicious meals. Each recipe has its own picture in stunning Real Simple style. (This is not a sponsored review.)

I need your help. I used to adore cooking, but since my gastroparesis has brought with it an apparantly permanent loss of all appetite, cooking is much harder for me now. I have 2 teenage boys, a husband and often my sons girlfriend here for dinner.

I need some new recipes to put together a bunch that are easy to prepare and family friendly. I need some inspiration.

Here's what you have to do to enter:

1. Give me your favorite easy, family friendly recipe. You can either leave it in the comments, or you can e-mail it to me at Screaming_Mimi@comcast.net. If you e-mail it, please leave a comment telling me that you are doing so. You must complete this step to be entered in the contest.

2. For an extra entry follow this blog. Please leave a seperate comment telling me that you are following me.

3. For an additional extra entry follow Oskar's Blog. Leave me a comment, on this post only, telling me you follow Oskar's Blog.

4. You can earn one last entry by blogging about this giveaway. Leave me a link to your post in a seperate comment.

This contest will be closed Tuesday, March 16th at midnight & the winner will be announced on Wednesday. Please make sure I have a way to reach you if you win.

Thank you to Amy at Keeping Up With The Schultz Family for hosting this Round Robin!

The Real Poo Bear!

A coulple of weeks ago, when I was "preparing" (shudder) for a colonoscopy, John's girlfriend, Leighanne found this in a magazine & cut it out for me.



Poor bear.

She also found this on a cereal box & brought it to me saying it looked like a little version of me. What do you think?





Here's a picture of John David & Leighanne last week on her 19th birthday.

I'm Mad About Alice!

I tooke my boyz, (note to self: You are 42 years old & unable to pull off using the term "boyz") John & Jack to see Alice In Wonderland today & LOVED it!

It just doesn't matter what they do, Tim Burton & Johnny Depp are perfect together. At the beginning of the move you would'nt guess it was Tim Burton, but once Alice drops down that rabbit hole all is perfect. Don't get me wrong, the beginning is visually beautiful and shows that Burton isn't a one trick pony.

There are a couple of moments where it's hard to understand what's being said, but I think that's to be expected since Lewis Carroll's original book made up plenty of words.

Anne Hathaway does a thing with her hands all the time that I found distracting, and there was something that happened at the end of the movie that almost wrecked it for me, but I don't want to say what it was and give anything away.

I do have to mention that we saw the movie in 3-D and wow has 3-D gotten better since the 80's. I've seen it on an I-max screen, but not at a regular theater in a really long time. It rocked!

If you're not a Burton/Depp fan this probably won't be your cup of tea, but if you are it's a great trip! (Speaking of a trip, any of you who may have done any "experimenting" in youth may have a flashback feeling, but in a good way!)

Huh?

This clip is stolen directly for a website that I don't care to admit that I read on a daily basis. (Right Joy?)

This is an actual IHOP commercial from 1969. I don't think creepy even begins to describe it!

Super-Terrific Goodies!

This post is delayed, but I'm still trying to get caught up! My super-wonderful friend Jeannie from Jeannie's Happy World sent me this super yummy box of goodies in January. She is an amazing card maker & sent me a box of scrips & scraps to use for my ATC's & projects.

Jeannie's an amazing Army wife, mom & cook. Come to think of it I can't think of anything that she's not good at. That would probably be annoying if I didn't love her so much!

Look at all of this goodness!





Of course it all came with one of her beautiful handmade cards.



Pop over to Jeannie's blog and say hi & tell her Mimi sent ya!