aKathy's What's for Dinner 6/26

I need to go to the grocery store this morning because I forgot an ingredient for my Tomatillo Pork. That's what's for dinner!

Last Night in Iceland

After arriving at the hotel after our fabulous Golden Circle tour, we headed out to a sister hotel several blocks away for a wonderful farewell dinner. Speeches were made, a bag of tip envelopes was given to our Iceland guide and our bus driver, laughter ensued and many hugs were given. Early to bed as we head to the airport very early in the morning.

At the airport, we saw this sign and took one final picture.



Tomorrow I will wrap things up with flowers of our tour.

I hope you get your day of rest today. Sounds good. I could use one too.



This sounds awesome!

I had one meeting this morning and I have another meeting this afternoon with my coworker. She scheduled it and based on the topic, I think she just wants to know my future plans. In other words, she wants me to tell her how to do things. Sigh. I may just play dumb. I only have one meeting tomorrow and then none on Friday so that's pretty good. I'm a little bummed though because I like to schedule all my meetings for mornings. And well, I don't think she works in the morning.

I'm going to make some steamed kale with some creamy white beans for dinner. I also need to get making some pesto as I did a big basil harvest in my garden the other night.

I took my mom to the eye dr early this morning for her regular appt to get a shot in the eye. Grandboy #3 tagged along as he can’t go to daycare for 2 days due to loose bowel movements (TMI??). We also made a pit stop at WalMart. We are currently having a play time at our house because we have different toys. I’ll take him home later in time to get the big boys off the bus.

Last nights alphabet supper was delicious. I had a chicken burger topped with coleslaw and pickles.

Depending on the heat, I am planning to walk with my best tonight.

Supper will be beef fajitas.

I had my appointment with the neurosurgeon this morning and it went well. The doctor I saw was a younger assistant doctor, who went through all the findings with me and discussed my options. I have a 22mm long benign meningioma just above my right eye, right next to my skull. The three treatment options we discussed were ‘wait and see’, radiation and surgery. With either the wait and see or radiation, I might still have to have surgery if the tumour continued to grow, so his recommendation was surgery. Because of the location, it is actually a quite easy and safe surgery, as brain surgeries go. I would be in hospital for a week and then would need two or three weeks of rest and not doing much. I could go to rehab, but he doesn’t think that’s really necessary, as I don’t have physical symptoms that would need physio. I just spoke to DH and he also feels that surgery is probably the best option, so I will email the doctor and start the ball rolling in the morning. He did say we can try to schedule around DH’s travel, so we’ve found a time in early August where DH wouldn’t have to travel for at least two weeks.

As I was already in the city, I went to the food market and bought a piece of schnitzel meat and a bunch of white asparagus for my dinner.

Tomorrow I plan to sleep late and then be lazy after the past few days of crazy!

Wow sueg! From what you had said, I really didn't expect surgery. I don't know what exactly I thought might happen, but that wasn't it. I'm glad though that it's not a terribly difficult surgery. I'm sure you'll have good care afterward too. It's good you can time it so your DH can be there with you for a while. I just send you a hug.

scrapmaven I am so happy you had a great time with your family.

ntsf congratulations to your daughter.

sueg I am sorry to hear that you are going to have to have surgery but happy to hear it is benign.

Another dreary day here. We need the rain but all we are getting is high winds and just sprinkles.

I am off to get a pedi then dropping my Jeep off for an oil change. While that is being done, we will go visit my MIL in the nursing home. She has been having some really bad days.

If it doesn't rain, we are going to a baseball game tonight.

Dinner is undecided...

scrapmaven and jeremysgirl - I have known from last week that surgery was a possibility, but hoped I could avoid it. I mean, no one WANTS brain surgery. The length of stay doesn’t surprise me - Germany tends to keep people in hospital for longer than many other countries. He told me the first night would be ICU, as a normal safety measure, which I understand. My rehab stays after my knee surgeries were like a spa holiday with physio sessions. They also have rehab possibilities here for new mums and babies and for stress related illnesses, and they really are like a spa vacation..
I feel fine with everything now, after an initial moment of panic. Mind you, I also had a moment of ‘get this thing out of there NOW’ panic when I was first told of this. I have been really happy with the standard of medical care I have received through this whole process, even while feeling I was in an episode of House! I have had a previous surgery in the hospital where this one will happen, and all the staff were lovely.
And my favourite moment - when the doctor made the comment of ‘my recommendation, because you’re still young’. I could have jumped over the desk and hugged him! On our last vacation, we were asked at two different museums if we were seniors (65 here), so it was nice that someone thinks 63 isn’t old!

Congratulations to your dd!  That is a great accomplishment!


I'm glad you got some answers sueg ... I'm sure your dh will be a great support while you recuperate - we know he cooks!   


My oldest dd, Emma, who is going into her second year as a junior high teacher was just hired at a school yesterday!!!  She will teach (next year) grade 7 or 8 Humanities and either Art or Fashion Studies as an Option class ... it's the best scenario she could have hoped for!!  It is also a probationary contract which is just one step away from permanent!    

I'm so proud of her!   


I just got back from running a couple of errands and my mum is on her way over for a visit ... she's bored!   

I'm not sure what dinner will be ... 

Good news leannec! She really followed closely in your footsteps, didn't she? 😉

sueg I’m glad you’re getting this taken care of. It has to be nerve wracking though.

ntsf congratulations to your dd. How exciting you’re all going for the graduation. At least your son has something to fall back on. Did they move to DC for his job or hers?

leannec does Canada not have the teacher shortage that the US does? Is someone on leave that could come back and bump her? Have fun with your mom.

Dh decided we would go out tonight to the little college town north of us. They have a cute downtown with quite a few restaurants. We picked one. Ordered 4 times because they were out of stuff. We left and ordered a pizza and picked it up on the way home.

sueg   I'm sorry to read of your need for surgery, but glad you have chosen that route.  My SiL had one that she was unaware of as she didn't have any reason to have x-ray, scans etc. My brother had been diagnosed with kidney failure, on dyalisis and fighting the transplant system, when she became a little scatter brained. No one really thought too much of it, just thinking she was under a lot of pressure trying to work, care for their two girls, and deal with my brother's issues.  My brother was in the hospital at the time, when she fell in their yard. The girls (age 9 and 14) rushed out to help her and she was very disoriented. They called my mom and she rushed to their home 25 miles away and took her to the ER. That's when she was diagnosed with the benign meningioma. It had grown enough to be putting pressure on parts of her brain that caused her confusion. They immediately did surgery. She recovered quickly and never had any more issues. It is sad you had to have a scan due to the cheek vessel, but a God send in that they caught yours so you can deal with it should it possibly cause you problems down the road. I will pray for you that the surgery goes well and you recover quickly as my SiL did. I'm glad you are happy with the medical services you have been receiving. That helps a lot.

jeremysgirl, I was hoping for an update on your meeting with your co-non-worker.