Monday, Monday....

So it is Monday and that means menu plan Monday. I know you have been waiting with bated breath for this post. But before I get to the menu, just a little public service reminder...

If you drop shoe string potato fries into your oven. And if a bunch of them fall through the crack at the bottom of your oven to where the fire is produced. They will catch on fire and fire will shoot up through the crack and you will take pause. Yes you will. You will stand there looking at your kitchen quickly filling with smoke. You will hear your children and maybe even a neighbor kid upstairs playing. And you will ponder. Do I call the kids down and shove them outside? Do I call 911? Do I dump water on it? Is it a grease fire? You know you do not want to dump water on a grease fire because you saw that video that circulated on the Internet 2 years ago where someone dumped water on a grease fire and the grease exploded all over them. You realize this does not apply to your situation since your fire is not in a pot of grease. Does the fact that the french fries were fried in a deep fryer before you put them in the 200 degree oven(to stay warm not catch on fire) qualify them as a grease fire? No.

So if this happens to you, first turn off the oven. Second get a cup of water and throw it down the crack and onto the flames shooting out of the crack. It is probably best to not waste any time pondering all that other stuff beforehand because really, who needs their entire house smoked up smelling like burned french fries? Oh and the kids upstairs? I probably should have called them down and shoved them outside. But they smelled the burning french fries and thought it smelled good so whatever. The fire didn't get out of hand. Nothing was damaged so all is well in the world. But you never know, it could happen to you too. So I just thought I would give you a heads up. French fries are dangerous!

OK so on to the menu.

Monday: Spaghetti with Italian sausage, garlic bread & Caesar salad
Tuesday: Elk meat sloppy Joe's, oven fries(yea I know-tempting fate)
Wed: crock pot venison stroganoff, noodles, salad
Thursday: homemade pizza night
Friday: Lent- so salmon in a butter/dill sauce, mac n cheese, salad, crusty bread and herb butter
Saturday: brats with sour kraut or corn dog depending on your level of maturity, sweet beans
Sunday: I have no idea. Maybe we will go to Mom and Dads for dinner. :)

Octo Mom

So, let me say that I think Octo Mom is a wack job. From what I understand, she got implanted with all 14 of her kids with no father in the picture or even a job. That right there is nuts. Who does that? But all the talk about not letting her keep the babies scares me. If they decide because her house is too small, or too messy, or she is too poor, that she can't keep the babies, where will that ultimately lead us? Will the government make a point of stepping in and taking away more kids from more families? Cause I am sure there are probably lots of L&D nurses out there that see some pretty wacked out families have babies and yes, take those same babies home with them. When we begin allowing government to make judgement calls about whether we can keep our kids based on the size of our homes, the messiness factor, etc. I think we are embarking on quite the slippery slope.

I think this story has angered many of us for many reasons. Some people are really mad because they feel she is taking advantage of the welfare system. Because clearly, she is not financially equipped to raise those kids without some sort of assistance. And I think people would probably feel differently if she didn't already have 6 kids at home and if she had a husband and if she didn't have 6 embryo's implanted at one time. Those three things really add up to people hating her. Then you add in the cost component of IVF. If you have never had to go through fertility testing or treatment, then you should consider yourself very fortunate. Not only for the obvious reason, you were able to conceive unassisted, but for the financial one.

They say IVF can cost a couple up to $15,000 per cycle. That means every month you have IVF you are paying that money. And most insurance companies do not cover the cost of infertility treatments. Which is another story all together. So how on earth did she afford to have IVF at least 6 times to result in the 14 kids? Think about that. It is an astronomical sum. Even if it was $10,000 per cycle, you are talking about $60,000. minimum. That is assuming she achieved pregnancy each cycle she tried. Which is unrealistic because it usually takes a couple tries minimum before IVF works. And if it doesn't, you are probably not infertile! In any case, how did she afford that? Rumor has it she paid for it with the Workman's comp money she received from a back injury. OK. Now I am getting even more mad. So she injured her back bad enough to warrant her no longer working and receiving in the ballpark of $160,000. but she went on to carry 14 children? In 7 years? Come on! I seriously doubt her back was injured that badly.

Then you have the doctor that did the insemination's. He was in my opinion extremely negligent. He should never have implanted that many embryos into that woman. And after having 6 kids, she should have been discouraged from even attempting more kids. Now she said the eggs were fertilized and they were her babies. I can respect that she feels that they are her babies. I would feel much the same. I am pro-life all the way so I can understand her not wanting them destroyed. But she could have DONATED them to couples who didn't work the system and get a large settlement to fund their desire to start a family.

So back to whether she should be allowed to keep the kids. While I do not agree with what she did. And I really dislike the way she treats her parents and assumes that everyone should just do whatever she wants and deal with it, I do not think the government should step in and just take the babies without solid proof that she will injure them or abuse them in some way. Not having a big house(who really does have a house big enough for 14 kids?), is not good enough.

A menu on a Monday.

I have no idea what I am going to do for meals this week. I can't find my menu that I made up last week before I went grocery shopping. How pathetic is that? lol So I guess I will figure it out right now. Hmmmm...

Monday: we always have some sort of spaghetti on Monday. So....Spaghetti
Tuesday: pork roast, sour kraut, spinach, mashed potatoes
Wed: hot dogs/brats with sour kraut, sugar beans
Thursday: some sort of take out
Friday: pizza for kids-mike and I have our monthly traveling dinner party
Sat: Steak, baked potatoes, salad
Sunday: friends coming for dinner. Maybe artichoke chicken. (unless I come up with something better. Any suggestions???).

So that's about it. I have a busy week with school. My lab practical is Thursday and I am nervous. I am not sure I will ever remember all of the stuff we need to know for this exam. The histology is driving me crazy. I don't even know why I need to be able to identify the type of tissue and what it does based on a slide of the cells. Whats up with that?

Happy VD Day!

So for Valentines day, we decided to do a couple of things that are special. We made pancakes this morning and cut them into heart shapes. The kids got strawberry milk too. They liked that. I also gave them each a candy heart. They loved that. For Mike, well he got a candy heart and a card. I got a homemade card which was very sweet. For dinner tonight I am making Pioneer Woman's French Onion soup. I hope it is good. That is one of my favorite soups so I am hoping we like it. I am also having cheese fondue and then hot wings and fries and for dessert, choc covered strawberries and bananas. Not the healthiest of meals but it is a holiday right? Even if it is a manufactured holiday. Hey, anything to soften the blow we Americans just go thanks to our good for nothing President and his congress/senators. By the way, did you know we are apparently rich? Um, yea. So we wont be getting that big 13.00 a week from the government. Damn. Now I don't know what I am going to do.... By the way Arlen Specter, I will NOT be voting for you ever again. you suck!

Monday and a menu plan

Monday: Sour Beef and dumplings(made with venison)

Tuesday: Rosemary garlic chicken in crockpot with mashed potatoes and spinach

Wednesday: Chicken n dumplings(made with leftover chicken from previous night)

Thursday: Pulled pork sandwiches and oven fries

Friday: Make your own English Muffin pizza's

Saturday: steak and shrimp, with salad

Sunday: Swim team banquet my contribution is a veggie platter with dip.

So this Thursday is my first A&P exam and I am a bit nervous. There is just sooo much information to remember. And next week is our lab exam. So pretty much all of my time and energy is going to studying. The good news is my abnormal psych exam was last week so I am not being forced to cram for two exams in one week. Thank God!

Over the weekend Mike and I went to WVA to the cabin. We had a very relaxed weekend. No kids, just a quiet, slow paced, do what you want when you want it weekend.

A little blogevity..

Blogevity(n): light frivolous blog post.

After yesterdays pity party, I thought I would lighten things up a bit.


Mensa InvitationalHere is the Washington Post's Mensa invitational - which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are the winners:
1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus (n.): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
3. Intaxication (n.): Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation (n.): Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy (n.): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
7. Giraffiti (n.): Vandalism spray-painted very,very high.
8. Sarchasm (n.): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the Person who doesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte (v.): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis (n.): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon (n.): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido (n.): All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler effect (n.): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are:
1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.
6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Heavy musings...

I was just reading a blog I follow and Beth announced that she is having a miscarriage. This after last year losing a twin pregnancy. A commenter posted this verse.

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”Psalm 55:22

And I wonder, how do you have such faith when you have been through huge loss? There is a part of me that wishes I had that kind of faith. That I could cast my cares on the Lord. I need someone to sustain me. I need to feel that someone or something is out there supporting me through my troubles and loss. But I do not feel that faith. Sure, I do believe in God. But I question that the Lord is sustaining me. I don't feel it. I just feel a lot of loss and not a lot of hope.

I pray that Beth is able to cast her cares on the Lord so she can be sustained. So she can feel loved and protected. I have faith that there is a God. I just don't think he is listening to my personal prayers.