Well Amanda had her wisdom teeth cut-out on Monday, the 8th. That was actually the date we were going to start our school for the year. But the insurance company took so freaking long in approving the refferal.

So anyways, she did well. I think I was more nervous than her. Bringing her home was I think the roughest, because the after effects of the anesthesia had her pretty wonky.

Once home, she plopped on the couch and went to sleep for about 2 hours. When she woke she took her first pain pill and ate some applesauce. She slept a little more and when she woke again she ate some scrambled egg and drank 2 glasses of orange-banana smoothies. She had some soup later that day then as well. Then on Tuesday she had more scrambled egg, more smoothies, lots of soup, and applesauce. She also ate some couscous. She was quite swollen, mainly on her left side. She was in a bit of pain, but not terrible. Wed. she was probably the most in pain since surgery. She more or less wasn't using the prescription but just some Extra Strenght Tylenol. That help better for pain. The script for sleeping. On Wed. she stuck to eating soup, smoothies and applesauce, with a little couscous. She did get brave and ate a grilled cheese also. She finally got a good nights sleep. She slept through the night without getting me up until about 4:30am. Today, Thurs, the swelling has gone done a lot. She has a bit of a yellow look to her cheek (normal from the swelling). But she is feeling much much better. No pain pills of any kind since about 11pm last night. She's been eating fairly normal today. She's had a turkey sausage, some pop tart, she ate a regular dinner of tuna patties, rice and peas. Then followed by a bowl of ice cream. I think she was a bit tired of smoothies as she didn't ask for one today. hehe

So I think by the weekend she'll be feeling like herself again. Hopefully the rest of the swelling will go down by tomorrow am. She terribly bored, but doesn't want to play online on the XBOX because she tends to be very loud and yells A LOT.. and she's afraid she'll hurt herself or pop a stitch. hehe

The weather has been so unseasonally cool here! Like mid to high 70's when typically it is mid to high 90's! I've been wearing capri's in August! This isn't right. I don't care for the high temps, but I'm going to miss the gradual drop in Sept. when fall creeps around. *sigh*

The rest of our August is pretty empty. We don't have much on the calendar. Amanda & dh's birthday are coming up. So Amanda is having her friends over on the 16th for some haning out time. They'll have the usual (cake, ice cream, chips, soda) and they're going to do some Henna Tattoo's. I've basically decided to give up on the pool. (I've had a terrible time keeping the water clear this summer again.) So no swimming.

I'm having a Tastefully Simple party next week. This is the first in-home party I've hosted in years! But I always love having food parties. hehe

Then over Labor Day weekend, we'll have a family picnic/slash birthday party for Amanda and Dh. Amanda's b-day is the 24th, Dh's is the 31st. (Plus we have my FIL's on the 26th.) Since Amanda has been 12 I think she's wanted a party with just her friends, no family. So then we do a combo deal on Labor Day. LOL

But then our slow, lazy summer will come to end once again. The first week of Sept. is very, very busy. We start on 2nd with Earth Scouts picking up again. Then on the 3rd we have our Annual "Not Back to School" picnic which I organize. And our little co-op begins for the fall/winter session on the 5th.

And after a busy busy week, Amanda will then have her wisdom teeth removed on the 8th and that week will be spent taking care of her. I'm not looking forward to it, but her wisdom teeth need out or else they'll cause problems with her perm. teeth if they do try to surface. I know she's going to be absolutely miserable.. and I am worried about whether she'll get enough fluids and nutrients in her. When she just has a cold or sore throat she won't eat or drink. I've been told to keep supplies for milkshakes, so I am hoping she'll at least drink these.

Read this on Sandra Dodd's blog, and it began on Molly's blog. I thought the "questions" looked fun. :)

What is outside my front door: Well since my front door opens to the side yard, it is my rugs hanging on the line from being washed yesterday. They weren't dry, so I just left them be to finish drying today.. instead of using the dryer. :D

What is on my mind: I'm really hungry and there is nothing I want to eat.

Things I am thankful for right now: Randy going back to work, everyone's healthy

What I am reading: "Joy of Doing Things Badly A Girl's Guide to Love, Life, and Foolish Bravery " by Veronica Chambers

Goings on inside the house: Absolutely nothing! the kids are still in bed.

What I am listening to: The sound of me typing and the fan blowing.

What I want: Something to eat.. but I just don't know what.

Things I'm creating: Nothing at the moment, but I do have more yarn to make some more dishcloths. They are fun to make. Might sit down this evening and knit.

Things from the kitchen: I have a lot of zucchini to do something with. Already have 4 bags in the freezer for bread, but looks like I'll be having more.

What I have planned for today: This morning I have to go to the pharmacy, the library, the post office and the grocery store. Then the boys are off to the game store. Amanda and I are doing some cleaning (she needs to clean her room and I need to clean the kitchen and dust/vacum the living room).

What I have planned for this week: Nothing much for the upcoming week until Saturday. Amanda is having some friends over for her birthday party. I am sure they'll all end up inside playing Rock Band.

Some current favorites: The nice, unusually cool weather we've been having in MD; John Mayer; Newman's (organic) coffees.

Thought I'd post a quick update on what's going on with our family. The biggest change is that Dh is back to work finally. After being off for 2 years due to a work injury. He's now working as a shop manager for a large trucking company in the area (or apparently in several states on the east coast). He started Monday, then had 2 days of orientation, and today he is back in the shop he'll be running. It seems like a good job, good pay, benefits, etc. So just hoping this works out.

Amanda is supposed to be getting her wisdom teeth removed, but we've been waiting since April for approval from the insurance. The dentist is who the regular dentist recommended, but isn't in the network.. so it has been a pita. Apparently they've been working with the insurance company for over a year, and just recently have they been dragging their feet. Of course, just when we need something from them. She was hoping to have been finished with this. Her birthday is coming up and she wanted it to be over and done with way before.

We had our oldest cat put down a few weeks back. He wasn't that old, about 8 years old. But he was sick (I suspect he had liver disease and possibly cancer) and I just didn't have the money to get tons of test done on him. We've been putting it off for awhile. Amanda doesn't seem to hate me as much as I thought she would, as he was her cat. She knew it was neccesary, but that didn't make it any easier.

So that's about it for updates, we haven't been doing much aside from staying home.

I don't use my crock pot as much as I should. It was one of the things I wanted to do to make supper time easier on me (Like wanting to do more freezer cooking). So recently I came across this blog (found it on another blog) about this mom who decided as her New Year's Resolution to use her Crock Pot EVERY SINGLE DAY of 2008. And she's doing it! But what makes her blog different than a typical crock pot recipe book is that she is making these meals for her family, telling us what they liked or didn't like, posting whether she changed the recipe in any way. AND her readers do the same. You get a ton of feedback on the recipes.

So anyways, so far this week I have used my Crock Pot 4 days (including today). Here are the recipes I've used:

Monday night was CrockPot Peppercorn Steak - This was great. My family HATES when I use a cheapy hunk of meat (round steak) to cook. They always whine about it being tough or chewy. Not this time! Everyone ate it right up. I told my daughter it was the cheap meat and she was like "Oh, why did you use that?". LOL

Tuesday I made Greek-style turkey burgers on the grill (mixed feta, olives and onion in ground turkey burger, then once cooked top with additional feta to melt and serve on crusty rolls).

Wednesday was CrockPot Fajitas - Another good meal. I forgot I didn't have any tortillas, so we used pita bread instead. Everyone seemed to enjoy these also. I had 2 grilled chicken breast in the fridge that I also tossed in. Next time I make these, I will add 2 packs of fajita seasoning. It just wasn't spicy enough for me, honestly you could barely taste any Mexican seasoning.

Tonights meal is Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry - I started off with this recipe for Chicken Teriyaki, but tossed in a bag of frozen stir fry mix. So I'll report back on how this taste. I did have a bit of bottled teriyaki sauce, but will check it later today to see if I need to mix up a little more. I really wanted teriyaki chicken with pineapple, but dh ate all the pineapple. LOL

Not sure what is on the menu for tomorrow evening. I had only planned up until Wednesday. I need to start menu planning again, it makes things so much easier.