Forest of the Plains

Today started out like any other Wednesday. Jacob and I ate a quick breakfast then set out for Newton. I got my allergy shots and some blood drawn, then we got groceries. A quick detour to give my boss her birthday present (Grandpa's borscht), and we got back home just in time for Jacob's lunch.

After lunch, Jacob went to sleep and I sat down to read emails and blogs. My inbox greeted me with 5 new messages, all about the same person. We are connected to Venita in several ways - Her dad is John's great-uncle, we attend the same church & usually I sit beside her during choir practice, and she is the director of nursing at the local nursing home where John is on the board of directors. It's really amazing how many connections you can have with one person, especially in a small town!

from the nursing home director 7:29 am: "They have taken her to Wichita early this morning. She has a cerebral bleed. Things do not look good. I do not have any other information. Please hold her and the whole family in your prayers - we are all in shock here."

from the church prayer chain 9:14 am: "She is going into surgery to remove a part of the cerebellum (brain) where there is swelling. Surgery is very risky. Prayers are needed for the family immediately."

from the Goerzen prayer chain 10:14 am: "She is in surgery now, was in fact just going into surgery when the church chain went through. The family is there, as well as Pastor Corey."

As I type this, it is overwhelming to know that literally hundreds of people are praying for Venita's recovery, for her family, and for the professionals who will care for her and her family. At least 300 people were reached through the prayer chains. There is a devotional time led by staff members before each meal that is served at the nursing home. The very people that Venita cares for each day are now doing their best to care for her - sending out over 100 prayers at once during those devotional times, and probably doing some independent praying as well.

We are assured that something good will come from today. How I wish I knew what that good thing will be!

Prior to my admittance to preschool, I was required to participate in a developmental screening. I was asked to stack three blocks; I put them in a row. I was asked to put on my sweater and zip it; I zipped it then pulled it over my head. I was asked to complete a sentence: If your mommy is a woman then what is your daddy? I proudly answered, "A KANGAROO!"

Mom was rather embarrassed by the whole thing. The screening people ignored Mom's assurance that I could do all those things correctly and said that I had to go for a "special" screening. A couple days later Mom called back and they let her reschedule. On the way to the second screening Mom promised that I could have ice cream if I did what they asked me to do. I passed that second screening with flying colors!

*jump ahead 25 years*

Last night Jacob had his 1-year-old developmental screening through Parents As Teachers.

When asked to pick up a Cheerio, he almost rolled his eyes. The look on his face said, "Are you serious? I've been doing this for years! And, why did you just give me one Cheerio?"

When asked to tap two blocks together, he wouldn't do it. Five minutes later you couldn't pry those blocks out of his hands, he was tapping so much!

When asked to stack two blocks, he tried, but it didn't happen. Twenty minutes later when he thought no one was looking, he stacked two blocks.

When asked to roll a ball to me, he tried to make the ball bounce. Then he put the ball into a cup and pushed the cup to me. (He rolls balls and trucks back & forth with us all the time.)

For the final test, the screener repeatedly said that there was no way he could do this, but she had to ask him anyway. She gave a little doll and bottle to Jacob and told him to "feed the baby". Jacob put that bottle right to the baby's mouth! The screener's jaw dropped open.

I wonder what will happen at his two-year-old screening?

If John is in the right mood and I follow his rules, he is okay with shopping. The most important rule is that I have to agree to leave the store when John can't take it any more. Otherwise, the experience changes from "shopping" to "shOOOOping". As you can guess, I usually leave John at home when I shop.

John and I have now been married for six years. We went to Abilene to celebrate. I wanted to go to the Eisenhower museum, mostly because I hadn't been there before. I have now been there. It was interesting, but not enough for me to want to see it again.

After the museum we had some time to kill before our dinner reservation. So, we drove around Abilene looking for antique stores. Most of them were closed, but we found one store that was open. The store was chock full of anything you could imagine - all three stories of it! (And let me tell you, my imagination was working overtime in that dank, musty, dimly lit basement!) John came home with a typewriter and a newly kindled appreciation for shOOOOping!

We ate dinner at Kirby House. It's a neat place with good-yet-over-priced food. I'd go back again, but maybe not for dinner.

While we did all this, Jacob got to play with a babysitter. When he saw her the next day at church, he got all excited! I'm glad that he had a fun day, too!

When Jacob was about 3 months old we discovered that he responded well to a bedtime routine. (As in, before the routine he slept about 8 hours TOTAL in a 24-hour-period and after the routine he slept about 14 hours in a 24-hour period.) Since that wonderful discovery we have been careful to maintain a sleep routine. He now usually sleeps 12 hours straight through at night, plus a 2 hour afternoon nap.

When Jacob turned one we started planning the end of breast feeding, which meant a change in bedtime routine. (More about breast feeding in another post.) Recently we had been trying to separate nursing from sleep, but since the two activities generally happened within 30 minutes of each other, there wasn't much separation!

On Monday night we set the new plan in motion and it actually worked! Yea! Now I put Jacob in his pajamas and brush his teeth. John reads him a story, sings the bedtime song, and puts him in bed.

Yesterday John commented on how nice it is to put Jacob to bed. Throughly confused, I asked why it was nice. "He's so happy to read books and when I sing to him, he snuggles into me." My experience with bedtime is more like Jacob reaching for his toy box or playing with the curtains while I sing to him. Maybe Jacob prefers John's singing?

If I am still wearing pajamas by the time Jacob takes his nap then I deserve to take a nap, too!

I subscribe to the American Institute on Cancer Research’s Health-e-Recipes mailing list. They send out a weekly recipe that follows AICR diet and health guidelines that can help you reduce your risk of cancer. Sometimes the recipes are really weird, but other times they turn out great. I’m a little dubious about last week’s recipe. What do you think? Really, it's the mint that gets me. I can't imagine the flavors going well together at all.

Wild Rice and Corn Salad

2 cups cooked wild rice
3/4 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen (defrosted)
2 green onions, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup finely chopped mint
3 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp. chopped red onion
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, combine the wild rice, corn, green onions, mint, nuts and red onion. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and oil and add them to the rice mixture. Toss to combine the ingredients and season with salt and pepper. If possible, cover and let the salad stand for 30 minutes before serving it to allow the flavors to develop. This dish keeps for 24 hours if it is tightly covered and refrigerated.

When I was growing up, my mom had some rules about laundry.
*Any money that was left in pockets and came out in the washer or dryer became hers.
*Only clothes that were put into the clothes hamper were washed. If they were on the floor somewhere, they stayed there.
*Clothes were washed & returned to you in the state that they were put into the hamper. For example, if your shirt was inside out in the hamper, it was inside out when you got it back.

The more laundry that I do, the more these rules make sense!

I used to administer the Mini Mental Status Exam as part of my job at CICOA. The MMSE scared me a little bit because several of the questions were hard for me. If they were hard for me when I was 25, how hard would they be when I am 80 and demented?

I decided to practice the questions. I gave up counting backward from 100 by 7s (100, 93, 86...), but decided that I had a chance memorizing how to spell "world" backward. DLROW, DLROW, DLROW - I can now do it with minimal thought!

Recently I was talking to a person who currently administers the MMSE. He referenced spelling "earth" backward. WHAT? That's right. Some agencies still ask you to spell world backward, but some have moved to asking for earth backward. All the time spent practicing dlrow, and now I have to practice htrae.

Maybe I should just resign myself to the fact that I'll be living in a locked unit. They make pretty nice ones these days!

On Friday I told John that I had a new blog post. "It's a pop quiz and a simile," I said, "Fall is to Pumpkin Ice Cream as Spring is to blank."

"So what's the answer?"

"I can't tell you that! That would be cheating! Come on, can't you guess the answer? You should be good at this."

"I always hated these things on the ACT. Usually there was a way to make every answer correct."

me: rolling eyes

-one hour later-

"Yea! At least my mom got the right answer!" (Well, the fully complete answer was "Cadbury Creme Eggs with Dr Pepper for breakfast", but Mom was close.)

I did like how Jim remained with a seasonal ice cream flavor theme. Cliff threw me a curve ball, but luckily John was able to explain it to me. Yes, pumpkin ice cream in Fall is as essential as having springs in your mattress!

Thanks to all who participated!

Fall is to Pumpkin Ice Cream as Spring is to ______.