Just a little culture

This weekend has been a whirlwind of activities!  The top billings were 1. Sarah, Emi and added attraction, Nancy, came from California (and by now you know that their arrival equals haircuts/colors for all, 2. Gabi's long awaited performance of "Jungle Book" which she's been practicing for since September and 3. Sophie's big Spring Sing with the Children's Chorale, which she too, has been months practicing.  And just to give Nancy a better taste of things, she was invited to go with Gabi's class on a field trip to Arvada on Friday.

 Saturday morning, I rode along with Carrie to the UCCC to take Gabi for her dress rehearsal (and so that I could take pictures) and stayed until showtime in order to save 20 seats. Since the performance was in the smaller auditorium which seats 200, saving 10% of the seating took some strategy!  Sarah and Emi flew into Denver that morning, and then went directly to see the play.  Nancy had some additional Grandma time watching Corbin play soccer right before arriving at the play. Carrie posted my favorite pictures on Facebook, but here are a few more (of the over 500 that I took!)

 

( Note how bright eyed Emi is in the picture above )

After the play, we all headed to the Frost home to start a long series of hair appointments (Thank you, again, Sarah!  We so appreciate you!)

 Even those whose faces don't beam with appreciation, do!  The Frosts have a new outdoor attraction, a trampoline, which got much use while the cutting was going on indoors.

We all had dinner together, then home to prepare for Sunday.  With the rain all day, it was hard to feel motivated, but Brad helped me and I got a few  housekeeping essentials done.  Then it was off to hear Sophie's concert.  What an amazing group the Chorale is!

the same Emi at round 2

 

Grandma Susan, Matt, Heather and Keva came for the concert

 

Monday night, the Californians and Frosts joined us for dinner, which I left up to Brad to make.  He was to make a recipe that he has made about a hundred times before, but when it came time to get it started, lets just say that he had a lot of questions.  The call I got at work that afternoon was.....hmmm...complicated, to say the least.  Anyway, he got it done and we had a chance to visit after dinner. Sadly, they left for home this morning - their visits are always so brief.  This afternoon (Tuesday) we had the follow up appointment for the MRI that Brad had on Friday.  The MRI, as usual, looked fine and when the doctor asked him if he had any questions or concerns, you'll be shocked (as was I) to know that his only problem was not being able to drive.  He told the doctor that he WAS going to drive, regardless of his recommendations, otherwise he would have no reason to live.  The doctor said that Brad should abide by what his neurologist told him and of course, he believes that driving was never mentioned by the neurologist.  Yeah, that's exactly why it's worthwhile to have an extra person at those appointments.  I think Meredith would agree with me that he WAS told he couldn't drive.....

Double vegetables make you silly

The saga continues....try these new combos on for size: asparagus/summer squash, brussels sprouts/cauliflower.........

I asked Gramma Monday if she had bridge this week.  "No, I just have my doctor appointment tomorrow to get my pacemaker checked. It's at 8:40 and Lynn is going to take me, then we'll have lunch afterwards". My question. HOW FREAKING LONG DOES THAT APPOINTMENT TAKE?  I'm thinking lunch at 9:00! (Turns out it took 15 minutes) After her appointment, she shared the results with me which consisted of several EPIPHANIES- 1.)the doctor wants her to eat three meals a day, including supplementing with protein bars, boost, instant breakfast etc. because of her weight loss since her last visit, 2.)cut her blood pressure pills in half since her pressure was 98/56 3.) drink more milk ("did you know that there was milk with vitamins in it?") and finally, 4.)surgically replace her pacemaker in 2-3 months. WHY????? She's ok with the plan since her "insurance pays for everything"....
Speaking of AH HA moments....I wish Brad would have a few of those.  Yesterday we went to Walmart where he wanted to get some fresh flowers (sweet).  We came home and he was arranging them and cutting stems for the vase (I left to go out with the "girls"). This morning, I noticed that the bouquet was a little droopy already and then on further inspection, he'd forgotten to put water in the vase.  A couple of times this week, he has referred to things that happened in the past (2 weeks or so) as things in the future, such as,"when your brother comes for dinner" (that was Easter).  He has an MRI next week, which I feel confident will show nothing new, but he still is steadily mentally declining.

Not much in the week's news....I went with my co-workers and boss on a surprise outing on Wednesday.  He treated us all to a new pair of sunglasses (mine are Michael Kors) which I'm freaked out that I will lose, then to dinner at Bonefish.  Erin brought baby Stella along where we all had the opportunity to snuggle her!

On Friday, Brad and I went with Carrie and Corbin to Corbin's eye appointment, then to lunch, then stopping at a sporting goods store for THE hat (and Eaton Reds baseball cap) which he was thrilled about.

Sunday, we drove to Denver for Pam's pre- 60th birthday dinner at Mom's house.  Had a nice dinner and visit with Mom, Pam and Kevin, along with birthday cake, and a few laughs, of course!

 Not much happening last week, other than a week of crazy weather- lots of rain, wind and then this morning, the grand finale- Snow!  (just a smidgeon on the grass) with more predicted next week.  Hope the weather is good for next weekend when our Californians come!  Looking forward to their visit

Oregano/ and Life with Brad

Brad loves oregano on everything- it's his new favorite seasoning.  When I come home from work expecting Italian food for dinner (according to  the smells coming out of the kitchen) I'm surprised to see that it's a crock pot roast covered in broccoli and summer squash with oregano-a-plenty....  Hmmm...I had to grab it away from him when I made some chicken tacos last week.  Good thing we buy that stuff in the bulk Costco/Sams containers and always have a backup bottle on hand.
Carrie suggested to me that I leave him a list of something to do each day while I'm at work. One morning last week, his chore was to mop our bathroom floor.  Around noon he called me at work and asked for directions. He couldn't figure out why there was no fluid coming out of the mop.  Sadly, it was because he was using a vacuum instead of the Swiffer. After leading him to the right tool, he had trouble getting the pad on the bottom (and "broke it all up", but then taped it back on).  The conversation getting to that point took around 15 minutes.  When I got home, after scoping out the floor, I asked which floor he had done, because it would have taken quite an imagination to believe he had done OUR floor...Oh well...It was a good idea.....(check out the tape)

He was so proud of the fact that he had made me something special for dinner.  He thought he was grilling me a buffalo burger to go along with the hamburgers he'd grilled for he and Gramma.  As I noticed the size of the burger (huge), I questioned where he got it. He showed me the package in the freezer (another package of hamburger) and I mentioned that I had written "buffalo" on the others to distinguish it from the hamburger.  Did I forget that he can't read? Yup!  Another new feature at our dinner is the "combo-vegetable".  He likes to combine 2 to 3 vegetables..squash and broccoli or  cauliflower and carrots and previously green beans and asparagus.
This weekend, he needed some sweetener for his iced tea and it took 3 trips to the store for him to remember what it was he needed, the first two times, he got the "other thing" he wanted, and as you know, he currently does NOT run out of lifesavers! Always has an extra bag on hand within easy reach! On the bright side, he has been playing bridge every Wednesday at the Senior Center, where there is an endless supply of 80+ year old women who want to be his partner.  One of them comes to pick him up every week.  On Saturday, he REALLY wanted to play bridge with me (I thought we were going to the kids soccer games) and stated something to the effect that we may not have that many more opportunities to play...What does that mean? Anyway, we played and got first place and he was happy. (and I was surprised)
Sunday, we talked about getting together for dinner and how difficult it is to cook for 4 dieters and a vegetarian!  Rory and Grayson were hanging out with us, so I asked Rory what he wanted for dinner, and predictably he said "french dips".  The three of us went to the store and got some sliced beef, some provolone and buns and a gallon of ice cream and chocolate syrup, came back and put the beef in au jus in the crock pot.  Meredith brought some salad and rice krispie treats and we were in business. The dieters had "bunless" sandwiches, the vegetarian some fish, and the kids rejoiced with extra helpings of ice cream.
It was a windy day, so the kids wanted to try flying kites and they did......try without much luck (it's possible that a few pieces were missing after being in our garage over the winter!

 

 At dinner, Carrie remarked at how much Curt and Sophie look alike- true that!  Same coloring...

 Rory and Elijah were comparing "notes" (on their phones) and both commented that they were anxious for Sarah to get here with her scissors....We are ALL anxious for our upcoming hair "appointments", Sarah!  Oh, and by the way, congratulations to Emma for getting chosen to be in Production (theatre at her school) after reading a monologue for her tryout.  Happy Monday!

Eggs-Actly!

Easter seems to always have a way of sneaking up really quickly on the calendar.  It wasn't until Saturday that we even confirmed where the festivities would be held....my house or the Frost house.  The Frosts were gracious enough to host this year, although Carrie had a broken toe and was not moving so fast.  Don and Vicki (my brother and sister-in-law) and Mom joined us for dinner. Spencer chose a Honey Baked Ham (his favorite) and we dieters (Meredith, Carrie and I) had turkey instead.  The crock pot full of mac-n-cheese was also "off limits" while we loaded up on the baked brussel sprouts and salad.  It was a yummy Easter dinner (as if we've ever had a holiday meal that WASN'T yummy!)  Afterwards, we played "Cards Against Humanity" (always appropriate for a religious holiday...) which provided lots of laughter. (and embarrassment). Mom brought an ambrosia cake and Emma made some cute M&M snacks.

 The kids had their usual Easter Egg Hunt, with just the four youngest participating this year.

 

 Once again, we had beautiful weather, after the previous few days of cold temperatures.
Erin (my co-worker) sent this cute picture of baby Stella in her Easter dress! (6 weeks old)

 I had Thursday off work this past week and spent the day going to Denver to see a new neurologist for Brad.  Meredith met us at the appointment, and we all really liked the new Doctor.  He changed some of Brad's meds to hopefully keep the seizures from continuing and reconfirmed that he doesn't want him driving.  Brad, of course, heard THAT conversation differently than did Mer and I.  That is going to be an ongoing battle, I'm sure.
On Friday, Carrie brought the kids to the house for the day, and I ended up picking up Rory and Sophie at Tasha's to take the four of them to a movie, "HOME", the alien animated movie.  I'll bet most 5 year olds would have found it very entertaining!  Afterwards, we dyed eggs at the kitchen table, with Grayson an Gabi being the most interested. Sophie and Corbin did a few, then were outside playing.

 

 I will be so sad when they all outgrow that tradition!