The Great Deep-Freeze!

Our dream came true!  We are finally proud owners of a deep-freeze :-)

We had been wanting one FOREVER but just never felt it was the right time to spend money on one.  However, as school grew nearer, our freezer in the fridge was busting at the seams--and I hadn't even started freezing meals for the school year yet.  The future of our frozen goods was not looking too hot...catch that?!  hehe...It's been a long week...

Anyhow, after some research, we discovered that Sears was having a sale on freezers that particular week....on top of that, their after-hours Friends and Family special was running that very evening so we would get an additional 15% off the sale price.  We could get a new one for the price of a used one off of Craigslist--score!  Amazingly enough, there wasn't a price difference between a chest freezer and upright freezer in the size range we were wanting so guess what...I was able to talk Justin into getting the upright one :-) 

Check out our new baby:

Justin's pumped.  He now has room for unlimited ice cream, french fries and frozen pizzas.  It's his junk food haven!  I'm excited because we finally have plenty of room for frozen casseroles, vegetables, tv dinners, BOGO cuts of meat AND there's even a drawer in the bottom for all the random stuff :-)  Hopefully it will also save us money in the long run--I've already been able to freeze a bunch of odds and ends for an "Everything But The Kitchen Sink" soup later this winter.  Before hand, they would have gotten thrown out to make room for the basic necessities each week.  Needless to say, our excitement over a crazy deep freeze makes it pretty obvious that we're getting old and practical!

Coleslaw Crazy

How do I know that I'm getting old?  I have suddenly found a liking for cabbage.  Really, there are a bunch of other signs that I'm becoming "more grown-up," but this sign--it took me by surprise!

I have NEVER liked coleslaw.  All the farmsales, church suppers, summer potlucks we went to as kids had coleslaw and boy, did all the old people get excited over it!  Oh, coleslaw!!!  You would hear them talk about how creamy it was, how it wasn't too sweet, their-recipe-this, their-recipe-that.  Just hearing the conversations was enough to steer me clear of it.  If old people liked it, there is no way I was trying it!

This fall I came across a recipe for Asian country style ribs that I posted here at http://taddylonglegs.blogspot.com/2010/12/epic-fail.html...I can't get enough of the ribs when we make the dish and unfortunately it's a greasy, greasy calorie-laden recipe.  Justin loves having rice with his meat dishes (pretty obvious he's not a meat-and-POTATO boy from the Midwest!)...I was trying to find a way to lighten the dish and read somewhere about substituting cabbage for rice.

I gave the cabbage a try and was hooked!  And I immediately realized I was getting old...

I'm still not much of a creamy mayo-based coleslaw person...I'm not sure if it's the taste or the flashbacks of the old people chatter that turns me off.

I have found two coleslaw recipes this summer that are actually pretty decent.  If you're anything like me and try to avoid using a hot stove/oven/microwave during the warm months, these may be up your alley!

Spicy Taco Slaw adapted from Semi-Homemade by Sandra Lee
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Chipotle hot sauce (I used Tabasco brand)
2 teaspoons chili lime seasoning (Mrs. Dash has a Fiesta Lime blend that is perfect!)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 (16-ounce) bag coleslaw mix

In a small bowl combined the sour cream, mayonnaise, chipotle sauce, chili lime seasoning, and lime juice. Mix well until blended.  In a large bowl add the coleslaw and pour the sour cream mayonnaise mixture over top and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
*This slaw is the closest thing I can find to the spicy slaw that So-Long-Saloon (in Aggieville) serves on their fish tacos.  It's very versatile--we tried it with grilled steak tacos, ground beef tacos and even pulled pork sandwiches.  Justin and his coworker absolutely loved the slaw on the pulled pork!
If you're in the mood for a lighter--not so fatty--slaw, try this one:

Mexican Coleslaw adapted from Eating Well magazine
1 (16-ounce) bag coleslaw mix
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk cilantro, vinegar, oil and salt in a large bowl. Add coleslaw mix; toss well to coat.  Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Toss again to refresh just before serving.
*If you feel up to it, add a dash of cumin for a nice smoky flavor.  This also makes a perfect topping for chicken tacos but is great as a side salad as well.

Music Maniacs

It seems that all we did this past weekend was check out live music!

It started on Friday evening with BeauSoleil at our City Park.  BeauSoleil, French for "Beautiful Son," is a Cajun band from Louisianna...with Justin being from the region, I thought it would be fun to check them out!

Little did we know that they're a Grammy-award winning band...and there was no charge for admission!  I have to give some props to our city for being able to bring them in time and time again in recent years.  Even though most of their songs were in what I assumed to be French or Creole and we had no idea what they were signing about, we still bought a CD to take home with us.

The newspaper misprinted the start time of the event, so we were a bit early...but it gave us a chance to sit back and admire just how pretty our pavilion and stage is!

Live with BeauSoleil!

Then last night...well, it was entertaining!  And a bit risque!

George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic were the headlining act at the Smoky Hills River Festival.  It had been close to 20 years since I had been to the River Fest, Justin had never been AND he had never gone to a real concert before.  Therefore, it became absolutely necessary that we go!

The man is 70 years old...and STILL getting down!  If you saw him from the back, you'd never know he was 70...but then he turns around and the eyes tell it all.  Pretty obvious that he's seen some fun in his day...
We were lucky--we scored admission buttons for just $10 AND we sat in the fourth row.  For a first-time concert experience, it was a great one for Justin!

I do have to wonder what some people were thinking when they brought their small children along...Maybe they're not quite familiar with George Clinton and the P-Funk???  There were some sights that would have made my grown brother blush!

That said, I'm hoping I can post some videos from the concert...but until I figure that out, here are some pictures!

Justin doing his silly "#1" before the concert started...I jokingly told him it would be our way of remembering it as his first concert!

The musicians slowly entering the stage

The man himself!!!  He took off his hat to reveal a wave cap...there is NO hair on this man's head!  Quite surprising considering he's known for his outrageous dreads

This dude was killing me...talk about an emaciated body, visible ribs and all!  And he strapped on a handtowel to form a diaper!

George Clinton and his back-up vocalists

Their tambourine man on vocals

This gal was George Clinton's granddaughter.  She came on for one song where she both sang and rapped...She was pretty good!

Two of the guitarists were featured at the very end

Georgie Boy did a quick cap change at the end of his show and gave the red one to the audience before leaving for the night

My New Toy

I have a new "toy"!!!!!

The first week of March, I came home from work with a nagging headache that Tylenol wasn't touching.  All of a sudden, I had an incredibly sharp, shooting pain above my temple and then from my temple down to my jaw the left side of my face went tingly numb.

I freaked out.  I was convinced I was having a stroke.  Considering I had JUST switched insurance 4 days earlier, I called my new provider to see what my coverage was for ER visits.  Nothing like trying to be cost-effective at all times!  Justin was still at work so I called Mom to describe what was going on.  As we talked, I looked in the mirror and the left side of my face was still moving--so maybe I wasn't stroking out after all?!

As is typical for myself, I decided to wait it out.  After all, if it was a stroke, I probably wasn't going to succesfully drive myself to the hospital.  Guess Justin would just come home from work and find me! 

As I sat on the couch with a cold pack, I did some internet research about my symptoms.  According to a variety of sites, I either had a brain tumor, ice-pick headaches or TMJ.  I decided it was time to stop scaring myself and I went to my gardening class...

The next morning I woke up and I could barely move my jaw.  The joint itself didn't want to move and the muscles on the left side of my face were super tight and ached like crazy.  Guess I wouldn't be doing any public speaking that day!

I called my regular doctor and they couldn't get me in for another 2 weeks.  My regular dentist was off that day so I saw someone else instead.  One poke at a muscle in my jaw and I about jumped out of my chair!

TMJ it was.  I just wish it would have progressed slowly.  Wait, you mean being unable to open your mouth wide enough to eat an apple is a sign?  Waking up in the middle of the night with clenched teeth wasn't good?  All my ear pain and nagging headaches might be related to my jaw problems?  Huh, guess that's why I'm not a dentist.

Anyhow, fast forward 8 weeks and bunches of muscle relaxers later...by the way, muscle relaxers are no joke!!!  I stopped by my dentist today to pick up my new Occlusal Device!

This is NOT my mouth...but that's basically what my mouthguard looks like!

That's right--a mouthguard is my new *and crazy expensive piece of plastic* toy. 

I'm super excited.  My daily pain has already decreased some since my flare-up but I still wake up in the mornings with sharp pains along my jaw joint and soreness in my cheeks/temporal area by the end of the day.  I'm hoping I will be pain-free before long!

But the best part?  Justin's had a full-coverage mouthguard for about 6 months now to prevent him from further grinding down his teeth.  I used to give him a hard time for being so "sexy" with his mouthpiece (NOT!) and we'll be popping in our plastic devices together come bedtime tonight.  Wow.  How old are we again?!  Last I checked we have only been married 7 months but it's never too early to grow old together :-)

Sleeping Like a Baby

Maybe you saw my post from Valentine's Day...maybe you didn't.  Our new Tempurpedic mattress was delivered that evening and it's been heaven ever since!

Why do we love it?

1.  It's a whole 12" inches wider and 4" longer than our old queen...therefore, at 6'10" Justin has two extra inches of matress before his feet fall off the end!

2.  With the extra width, I no longer find myself waking up with half my body draped over Justin.  After the first night, he commented on how I didn't cuddle him that night.  Who said I was ever cuddling him?!

3.  I no longer "roll" into Justin.  On the rare occassion that I would try to stay on "my side," I would still wake up in Justin's culvert.  He weighs almost twice as much as I do and the poor spring matress just didn't cooperate with me.  Thank god for memory foam!

4.  The animals love it.  Yes, the dog sleeps with us.  And the cat?  He comes in during the middle of the night and hops in the bed as well.  Both of them can really put on the dead weight.  I have no clue how many times I would wake up to them hogging the bed but they felt like they weighed 30 pounds when I'd try to move them!  Now they can find their own spots and nobody touches each other--it's awesome!

5.  I've been sleeping like a baby this past week.  I have only woken up once in the middle of the night, just to fall right back asleep.  I'm out cold.  Justin is out cold.  We don't even hear the live band up the street once our heads hit the pillow!

5.  The best part--it gives me an opportunity to "redecorate."  What a Marcene thing to do!  My grandma was notorious for finding reasons to redecorate/buy furniture and I think I have a bit of that myself...but hey, it was Justin's idea to get a new bed so I blame him!

After many weeks of searching, we found the perfect bed and ordered it...I just can't wait until it arrives!  We're foregoing the modern bedding in favor of some hippy-modern floral duvet cover we bought with our Christmas money...bear with me, but I think it will be a cool combination when all said and done!  Now time to brighten up the curtains, find a cheap night stand of the proper proportion and we'll be good to go :-)

Up In Smoke

My brain is fried...I have taught the same two lessons...10 times each...in just four days.  I'm not sure if I even know how to create an original sentence at this point!  All I know to do is hit "repeat" and I'm good to go for the next 50 minutes.

This semester of Life Skills has me spending 95% of my time with 8th Graders...the curriculum for their level does not cover the individual substances as they would already have had that information during the 6th grade instruction.  Instead, we discuss in more detail what drug abuse is, why people use substances and how drug abuse occurs.  If I have to say the word tolerance or dopamine ever again, I may just lose it!

I have always said, I think we're starting Life Skills too late.  Personally, I think we need to start it in the early years of Elementary School and continue with the supplemental lessons as children grow.  I have had some uphill battles getting into classrooms (but I ultimately win considering Life Skills was mandated by the Superintendent!) and I completely realize that teachers' schedules and expectations are already outrageous as they are...However, research and common sense both tell you that when students make good decisions, it reflects in their classroom work/attendance/ability to retain information.  Hello, better assessment scores!!!

One common topic that the students love is marijuana.  Am I surprised?  No!  It is such a socially accepted drug and thanks to the recent legalization debate, they seem to "know" plenty about it!  Maybe the following comments will shed light on why I think we need to start the conversation earlier:

--In front of the class, without hesitation an elementary student recalled making AND consuming marijuana brownies...Did this surprise me?  No.  Am I concerned about this student?  Yes.

--One student asked me:  "What IS marijuana?  Like, I've never even heard the word before."  Were they living under a rock?  I'm not sure.  Is it good to be that naive?  No.  Am I concerned?  Yes.

--Just last week, a student said to me "I know they make cigarettes in a factory--I can't remember where, but they do.  What factories make marijuana?"  Once again, is it good to be so naive?  No.  Does that alarm me?  Yes.

--Yesterday, a student raised his hand and asked "What's the best kind of weed?"  Did I know what he was trying to get at?  Most definately.  My answer?  A very long, drawn out (but not detailed!) explanation about how THC content is determined by the cultivation process which I hoped would bore him to tears.  His hand then went back up and he said, "But you didn't answer my question."  Was he going to stop testing me and/or acquiring information for "personal gain"?  Nope!

--Countless times, I have students tell me that medical marijuana is the best thing ever.  Do they realize that marijuana has over 400 chemicals in it?  No.  Do they realize it contains tar--just like what is used on our roads and causes black lungs?  No.  Do they realize it contains carbon monoxide--a lethal colorless, odorless gas?  No.  Do they know that companies already manufacture pharmaceuticals that contain THC for pain management?  No.

And even crazier--did you know that only a handful of today's 8th Graders know who Cheech & Chong are?!  Whatever happened to the infamous stoners being infamous?!  A few additional students are able to recall the movie "How High" but when you mention the "Harold & Kumar" series, ALL hands go up!  Does this make me feel old?  Yes!

Anyhow, it's amazing to see the spectrum of students and their knowledge bases...Those who are so naive that it puts them at risk...and those who know more than they ever should.  Do I believe that all 800+ of my students will follow the advice of the Life Skills curriculum?  H-E-double hockey sticks no.  BUT I hope that education will give the naive students enough information to make a good decision and for those who are experienced beyond their time, maybe they will think twice about doing something later on.