Remission NUMB3RS

500+ miles of driving from NoVA to Harrisonburg, then back to NoVA, then back to Harrisonburg and back home again all in one day

3  siblings who skipped school for the opportunity to spend a little time with their big brother  (I'm counting my two homeschooled kids in that number)

10 minutes total we spent in Harrisonburg

2 hours total Spence spent in Northern Virginia

20 minutes of which were spent at Spence's favorite NoVA restaurant, Cava Mezze

1 mom, happy to see her son, but tired from all the driving around and determined to find him an oncologist in Harrisonburg for future appointments.

16 months of being cancer free!!!

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Clinic Stats:
Weight=69.5 kg, WBC=11,000 (high, but within the realm of normal for someone with a cold), Platelets=168, Hgb=15.2, ANC=7750

Quebec City

This is a long-lost blogpost I found from last summer that never got published.  I am pre-dating it back to September, so that it ends up in our blog books in about the right place.  I have no idea if it'll register in my feeds, but if you do happen to be reading this in May 2014, know that we have just as fond of our memories of Quebec City eight months later as we were  right after we got back!

It wasn't on our original itinerary, but my dad talked us into it adding it by telling us that  it was one of the prettiest drives in all of North America.  He had served his mission there many years ago and it holds a very special place in his heart.

We didn't go there with very high expectations, but from the moment we arrived, we were enchanted.

Quebec City is a city that has everything--history, natural beauty, decent prices, and plenty of free things to do.

We only ended up there for about two days, but we could have stayed ten and not grown tired of it.

There were costumed people everywhere, none of whom actually seemed to be participating in any reenactments.  It was something that greatly amused all of us, especially Ellie.

We also loved the architecture.  A tour guide told us that half the architecture is French and the other half English.  I'm not well-versed enough in architecture to know the difference, but the effect was charming.  We felt like we had plopped ourselves down in the middle of Europe.

Even the food was great and not overly expensive.   Random cannonballs lodged into trees proved entertaining as well.

Our obligatory dinner of authentic French crepes.  YUM!

If you ever get a chance to go to QC, know that it comes highly recommended from this family!   

Boy, my kids look small...

I want to move to this house.  I guess I'll start brushing up on my French.

I did take 6 years of HS and college French, but I didn't need to use it much in the touristy parts of QC, since everyone spoke English.

As soon as we got outside the tourist parts of the city, no one spoke a word of English.  

I look forward to another trip to QC someday, although I think that this time we'll make it a destination in itself instead of a side trip.

See here for my other Quebec blogpost.  

Kitchen Updates

For years and years we've been daydreaming about one day redoing our kitchen and now that it's finally happening I can't believe how petrified I've been through the whole process.  While we are quite excited to finally be rid of the 47-year-old cabinets, countertops, oven, and linoleum, it has been a painstakingly slow process of deliberation to choose their replacements.    

On the one hand I know that brand new anything is going to feel amazing after living with a half-working, broken down kitchen for the last year or two (our dishwasher, oven, and sink were all broken at the time of tear-down), but still I have this nagging worry that I'm in way over my head with these expensive  (and permanent) decisions!  Thank goodness our contractor has been patient with us, because it's literally taken 9 months after signing the contract, to get to a place where we felt comfortable enough with our decisions to let them start working....and still we have our doubts.  

Now here's hoping that all the polling of my friends,  my Houzz and Pinterest perusing, and frequent Home Depot and showroom visits will have proven helpful to my cause, because the further we get on in this process the more I realize....

there's no turning back now!

And one of the only good things about taking so long to make all the decisions, is that I started freezing meals for these days back in April and had plenty of time to compile quite a stockpile in the meantime.   Now I have a freezer full of delicious homecooked meals ready to pop into the toaster oven most nights and I am proud to say that we've made it through one week of being kitchenless without a single fast food run.  Frozen convenience foods...yes, but fast food...no!   (I'm sure this streak won't last, so I better brag while I can...) 

Here's a glimpse at what we ate:      

Day 1:  Lemon-Herbed Chicken and Veggies (frozen 3-1/2 months) - 3 stars-- we froze it already cooked with  all the juices, then cooked it frozen in 450 degree toaster oven (convection setting) for about an hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The veggies were mushier than we preferred, but it was still enjoyable.

Day 2:  Homemade Pizza (frozen 2 months)-- 5 stars -- we baked the pizzas as usual, allowed them to cool, and wrapped them in plastic to freeze.  Then we put them still frozen directly onto the rack of the toaster oven (2 at a time) and baked them at 450 for about 15-20 minutes.  They turned out perfectly!

Day 3: Grilled burgers and hot dogs

Day 4:  Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles (frozen 4 months)--4 stars-- We cooked this as usual, then combined the chicken, sauce, and noodles all together and wrapped it tightly in plastic before freezing.  We thawed it in the fridge for about a day then baked it in the toaster oven at 450 (convection setting) for about 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes (as soon as it's thawed enough to stir).

Day 5:  Boxed Taquitos from Costco with homemade salsa that Cami made with the heirloom tomatoes from our garden

Day 6:  Yogurt Baked Chicken Parmesan (frozen 4-1/2 months)--5 stars--Freeze raw and wrap in plastic.  Allow to thaw in the fridge for 24-hours, bake at 400 degrees in toaster oven (convection setting) for 50 min.  Increase temp and cook at 425 for last 10 minutes.  These turned out delicious and you could not even tell they'd ever been frozen.

Day 7:  Turkey Taco Casserole--Chicken Pot Pies from Costco--we had the turkey taco casserole thawing out in the fridge, before I realized that I was eating dinner at Enrichment night!  No need to waste a perfectly good homemade meal on a night when I won't be eating it.

*I froze all my meals in disposable 9x13-inch baking pans and wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap and foil.   I used sharpies to label each dish with what it was, the date, and any cooking directions.  I intended to do most of my cooking in a  toaster oven and didn't realize until I almost bought one that was too small, that most toaster ovens are not big enough to fit 9x13 pans.  It wasn't as big of a selection in the bigger sizes, but we have still been happy with the oven we bought and intend to keep using it even after our kitchen is done.  

PEI Quiz

Here's a short quiz to test your knowledge about Prince Edward Island.   You may or may not see some clues in the pictures below. (ANSWERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST)

1.  Which of the following statements are true about Prince Edward Island?

a.  the homes and farms are charming
b.  the red soil and green rolling hills are breathtakingly beautiful
c.  the fishing is amazing
d. the whole island is over inundated with references to Anne of Green Gables
e. all of the above

2.  Which of the following did we NOT see in Prince Edward Island?

a. a cute Anne re-enactment
b. a pig race
c. old friends
d. a wild fox
e. an old fashioned hoe-down

3.  Which of the following lessons did we NOT learn in PEI ?
a. Cami is a mean fake manure thrower.
b. PEI residents are called "Edwardites".
c. Raspberry cordial is overrated.
d. Boys can have fun visiting Anne of Green Gables sites too

4.  True or False.  Canadians always refer to the province by its full name, Prince Edward Island?

5.  Which of the following statements about PEI are NOT true?   

a. the main industries of PEI are tourism, fishing, and agriculture
b. PEI has the highest per capita cancer rate of all the Canadian provinces
c.  the bridge that connects New Brunswick to PEI is the longest bridge in the world
d.  Lucy Maud Montgomery (author of Anne of Green Gables) was a Prince Edward Island native.

6.  Which kind of fish did we catch dozens and dozens of? 

a. mackerel
b. tuna
c. sunfish
d. cod

7.  True or False.  We plan to visit Prince Edward Island again as soon as we can.

 

QUIZ ANSWERS:  

1--e 

(all of the above were undoubtedly true)

2--a 

the Anne actress at the Avonlea Village was  not in the least bit endearing 

3--b

PEI residents are actually called "Islanders"

4--false

people wouldn't even understand us if we said the full name "Prince Edward Island"

 Prince Edward Island is PEI and British Columbia is BC

5--c

at about 8 miles long the Confederation Bridge from NB to PEI is actually only the world's longest bridge over ice covered waters

6--a

we could catch a mackerel (and sometimes two with the double hooks) almost every cast

we then used pieces of the mackerels to try to catch cod

7--false

while we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there, we decided that we would not ever feel the need to return.  we have too many other places on our list

Welcome to Crazyland

/ˈkrāzē/land/

noun

definition:

the part of the earth's surface where insanity prevails synonym:  "Lara's house"

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Welcome to Crazyland....

where barely a week into trying to figure out this whole homeschooling thing...

the entire contents of our kitchen....

and dining room....

have been moved to boxes and bins in our basement....

until this....

turns into this.

In the meantime,  all of our food will be coming either from here...

or from here....

and I  am trying to look at the bright side of all the chaos by appreciating paper products and the good excuse it provides not to do any dishes for a few weeks!

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