Sunday, August 30, 2009

The triumph of the Cherry Tomato

We have a Farmer's Market downtown on Thursday's in our town. http://www.piquafarmersmarket.com/contact.php

I can't tell you the name of the vendor where I got these sweet red snacks from...at least not yet. But I'll let you know.

These red delights are wonderful. They taste just like they did when I was growing up. Talk about a bargain! The freshness is unbelievable. You know the saying that you don't realize what you're missing until you get it again. Well this is one of those things. I was so excited to get a hold of some cherry tomatoes because our local grocery stores really only carries grape tomatoes. When I do splurge on the netted bag of cherry tomatoes they are the larger ones and don't taste or pop in your mouth like these wonderful fruits.

I popped one of these guys in my mouth immediately upon purchase...bam.. there it was...a tomato! The way God intended it, without hydroponics or genetically altered parents. A good old fashioned cherry tomoato. It was warm and firm and it tasted heavenly. I bought two containers for $2.00! I've finished the first one and I have to make the second one last 5 days until the next Farmer's Market. I'm planning my lunches around them! During my shopping excursion at Sam's Club today I bought some snack cheese and multi grain crackers to pack with my lunch. (I'm planning on the tomatoes being my dessert.) I would love to grow some of these plants one day...but for now I'll have to go to the Farmer's Market.

Speaking of Sam's Club...my husband and I went today. For a rare treat we had lunch together...alone in this Italian eatery. http://tonysitaliankitchen.com/default.aspx The baked ziti was pretty good. My husband devoured his sausage and pepper spaghetti. We'll have to go back there sometime and get it to go. This little restaurant is right across from the Englewood Dam. A little Italian picnic in the wooded area would be a sweet way to spend lunch another day. Actually it could be the perfect place for a picnic...


http://www.metroparks.org/Parks/Englewood/Home.aspx

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Cancer Sucks!









My father lost his battle with brain cancer on April 27, 2009. He was under the wonderful care of Hospice of Miami County. I absolutely can not say enough about this wonderful organization!


It's been a few months now since he passed and I still miss him greatly. I miss just calling him and asking for advice or keeping him up to date on what's going on at work and on the renovation end of our house.


You see, I bought my childhood home from my Dad in 2007. My Dad sent me a card after that purchase telling me how proud he was of me, I still have the card, it's filed away with the mortgage paperwork. It was to be the only time that my Dad sent a card outside of the normal birthday and holiday cards. Every day I look at the changes I've made to the house and know that he is proud of me and would be proud of how I've made his home our own. So I am going to dedicate this blog to my Dad, without him none of this would have been possible!


Love you always Dad! Rest in peace.







Friday, April 3, 2009

My Dad is Sick...

Four little words....with huge connotations. I never dreamed, as a little girl, that I would grow up to be in my mid-thirties facing the reality that both my parents would have already passed.

My mother died, within weeks of finding out that I was pregnant with my youngest, a daughter, of a brain aneurysm. Death stole her at an early age of 49.

Now, it seems, that death is knocking at the door looking for my father.

I was getting ready for bed one late night in October 2008 when I got the call. My father, the strongest, smartest man I know, was being rushed to the emergency room in an ambulance. Unresponsive.


I gathered a days worth of clothes in a bag and prepared to make the drive from Ohio to Tennessee with my stepsister and my brother and sister in law following behind. That night's journey was the fastest trip we have ever made down I-75. The deer in the middle of the interstate near Corbin, KY was a mere distraction, as we stared out the window in passing, our hearts were already racing.

Arriving at the emergency room we were greeted by my father's wife and the most compassionate ER personnel I have ever crossed paths with. My heart dropped when I saw my father laying in that bed looking pale and not waking up, but I knew I had to be strong. He taught me that.

We transferred him from the small community hospital to the larger hospital in downtown Knoxville. He went straight to Intensive Care. A battery of tests were ordered and performed while they kept him sedated, not knowing why he had had a seizure while he laid inbed that night. He had no history of anything, no medical problems. My dad is a big guy, he's tall and he's round, but he is healthy. No heart problems, no diabetes, no cholesterol, no blood pressure issues, nothing. Why on earth would he have a seizure?

The MRI that night, early morning, showed that there was some swelling in the left temporal lobe. The brain wave activity showed that there were more smaller seizures. They slowed the sedation medication down and he woke up! He woke up! This was a cause for celebration, I probably scared the hell out of my brother when I came out of Dad's room running and crying telling him to go see Dad. I had made it the full night, seeing him look so sick, without a tear. It felt good to release it for joy.

The diagnosis was that he had herpes encephalitis. A herpes infection in the brain. They put him on some potent antibiotics and transferred him to a regular room. He was ready to be released, until the doctor came in and said that the spinal tap didn't confirm what they thought. Turns out it isn't herpes, but they didn't know what it was, or why he had a seizure. They released him and ordered him to follow up with a Neurologist.