Back a while ago, when I could barely swallow the mush that made it into my mouth, I loved yogurt w/ mashed bananas and yogurt w/ applesauce…both w/ cinnamon or nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. Well, I’ve moved up in the chewability scale and I’m living the hard, rough-and-tumble life of cottage cheese. Yes! I can now eat cottage cheese! I remember when it was like grating sand against my palate, but I’m making myself actually “chew” and it’s been a good week. I’ve chewed cottage cheese, and tho most still end up in my braces or hidden under the brackets against the sides of my molars, it feels good…like I’m eating again! That said, I think I’m beginning to regain some weight…I don’t want to. I want to loose more, to be honest, but not in the unhealthy post-major-operation way. I wanted to loose about 10 lbs more (believe it or not, I’ll still be w/in a healthy/medically acceptable BMI range).
And I’ve been feeling lots more energy…still a tad bit down from before, but I’m working on it. This week I’m def. gonna force myself to do more exercise. I do have 9 dance classes I’ve paid for at the Lou Conte dance studio home of (Hubbard Street Dance) and I’m determined to take at least 2 classes per week! I also want to squeeze in regular floor barre classes at Giordano Dance Center, I miss Fury Gold and the ladies I’ve taken class w/ for the past 2+ years. Maybe w/ more exercise I’ll feel more energetic and less…‘buggy’…don’t ask me what I mean.
I continue to have digestion issues b/c I’m impatient and just swallow food I can’t chew. It can’t be good and I def. feel ill alot after such meals. But I’m such a little bugger.
I cooked today! I finally made the minestrone that my friend passed on as her mom’s recipe. It was supposed to be a veggie-only soup but it called for a veggie stock cube and I didn’t want to use anything w/ MSG or artificial flavoring so I used 3/8th lb of lean ground turkey to help flavor the soup. It turned out to be more of a veggie-heavy stew. Here’s the original recipe my friend Jessica L. sent me:
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large stick of celery1 leek (use only the white part)2 carrots2 large potatoes1 lb. fresh green beans
2 zucchini1 vegetable stock cube (available in the Hispanic section of grocery stores)Heat the oil in a large pot. As it is heating up (keep it at medium heat), cut the fresh vegetables in roughly 1 inch pieces in this order and add each ingredient to the pot as soon as you are finished cutting: celery, leek, carrots, potatoes, green beans, zucchini. Stir in between veggie additions. Add the stock cube and enough water to just cover the vegetables completely. Let it simmer until the potatoes are tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Then just blend it and eat!
But I sautéed a little over a quarter pound of lean ground turkey in the olive oil and b/c I had no celery, I dumped in the remainder of my legendary beans-and-grains veggie sludge slow-cooked for days. [I think I figured out why it was so difficult to eat to begin with. It’s too heavy with the aromatics—onions, garlic, celery, carrots—it’s the best explanation I’ve come up w/ so far…the others were that it was brown and mushy, and it was too much root-vegetables.] I then chopped the pre-prepped veggies into about 1-cm pieces/cubes instead of the recommended inch-pieces. And I took my sweet time w/ it all so things cooked down while I chopped and added and stirred. I also added about 1/5th of a head of cabbage that was drying out in the vegetable box in the fridge. After I covered the veggies w/ water, I turned up the heat and walked away…and returned to stir every 10 mins for about an hour until I was sure all the veggies were mushy. It smelled pretty good. I made my brother eat a bowl.
I decided to freeze a couple quart-sized freezer bags of it. I added a cube of Korean curry-block to half the soup, not enough to be like a thick curry served on rice but just enough for a good, curry-spice flavor. Before it was a hearty and clean-tasting stew and now I have a bag of curry soup and a bag of what I’m calling Vegetarian Minestrone w/ (Ground) Turkey. I can’t possibly eat a large pot of stew by myself so the freezer will help me bring it back in a few weeks. I pureed a bit of the soup pre-curry, and it was good. But I think it can be “chewed” b/c all the veggies were cooked down so much. I’m still happy w/ the results. I learned that meat adds flavor as does oils/fats and cooking ingredients in certain orders adds/alters flavors too.
So now there’s mashed bananas w/ cottage cheese, papaya w/ cottage cheese, applesauce w/ cottage cheese and even oatmeal or cream of wheat w/ cottage cheese!
I also had ETHIOPIAN at Demera in Uptown, and I couldn’t eat the drumstick in the doro wot, but had bits of the egg and had some special kitfo (well-done, w/ home-made cottage cheese) even though it was hard to eat. The injera tasted so good and the texture was great and perfect for me! I also had my fill of kik alicha and tikkel gomen. I didn’t get any misir wot…b/c we chose a 2-veggie and 2-meat combo thing. I liked Demera, but I don’t know if it’s better than Queen of Sheba. I have to give it another go w/ more ppl and order more food when I can have some tibs.
That’s my gastronomic update.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Quarter-Century Lived
Hey all,
I feel old. Quarter-century old, to be exact. Yeah. Thought I'd say something but words escape me. Wow, what a rarity. But worry naught, verbiage will visit me again soon.
I wanted to go down to the farmer's market in our building's plaza today to buy some eucalyptus for my new office to mask the icky new varnish smell from the new furniture, but I was literally slammed w/ too much work today. Yesterday I was blowing imaginary bubbles and trying hard to look busy and today I didn't sit for 10 minutes in silence. I was constantly asked to come look at something, called on to update the progress of projects and start new indicies and given advice on future choices. Wow, it's been a full day at work. But I don't even have a slice of cake or a scoop of ice cream to welcome me into the second quarter century. I've been given a few cards...including the mandatory birthday card from the Chicago office head, P. Suse...and several dozen facebook wall scribbles and messages and e-mails.
I have to go to a DCC meeting after work...they may want to buy me a drink at the bar we'll go to post-meeting. But I sorta want to go to my first movie night at the residence of some boy I do not know yet, but I know other regulars of the movie nights and I'll go meet the host boy and see my dear friends. I hope this isn't an omen about how my life is going to be for the next 25 years...full of busy work and unmanageable and unpredictable projects. I hope it'll be more fun and relaxing than the first 25 years have been...at least I'll have functional teeth and jaws to work with!
I was not planning on really celebrating my birthday this year b/c I thought back, and in the past it's always over some great food. And since I can't really eat, there's no point...but at the request of some friends, I'm planning my own b-day dinner. I want Ethiopian, and I want a bunch of my gals to come together...I haven't restricted it as a girls' night yet, but I may. I don't know of any guys interested in coming to my b-day dinner anyways. And Tigist says she knows of a new place that's even better than the Queen of Sheba and I'm eager to try it out! :) And hopefully they'll roast some coffee beans when we're done and let us waft the aroma and drink mini tasses of sweet Ethiopian coffee.
That's my wish. I asked my parents to take me to Sweet Tomatoes for my birthday and my mom refused. She said, "and pay for a buffet when you're going to drink broth and can't touch any of the salads?" I retorted, "I'll eat the soupy parts of the soups and some of the breads and some of the pastas!" And my dad chimed in, "you can go have the frozen yogurt." Then he digressed to new Red Mango locations opening around Chicago and the suburbs. I want to go try it out...I just want some cake and ice cream. It's my birthday, afterall.
-Grace
I feel old. Quarter-century old, to be exact. Yeah. Thought I'd say something but words escape me. Wow, what a rarity. But worry naught, verbiage will visit me again soon.
I wanted to go down to the farmer's market in our building's plaza today to buy some eucalyptus for my new office to mask the icky new varnish smell from the new furniture, but I was literally slammed w/ too much work today. Yesterday I was blowing imaginary bubbles and trying hard to look busy and today I didn't sit for 10 minutes in silence. I was constantly asked to come look at something, called on to update the progress of projects and start new indicies and given advice on future choices. Wow, it's been a full day at work. But I don't even have a slice of cake or a scoop of ice cream to welcome me into the second quarter century. I've been given a few cards...including the mandatory birthday card from the Chicago office head, P. Suse...and several dozen facebook wall scribbles and messages and e-mails.
I have to go to a DCC meeting after work...they may want to buy me a drink at the bar we'll go to post-meeting. But I sorta want to go to my first movie night at the residence of some boy I do not know yet, but I know other regulars of the movie nights and I'll go meet the host boy and see my dear friends. I hope this isn't an omen about how my life is going to be for the next 25 years...full of busy work and unmanageable and unpredictable projects. I hope it'll be more fun and relaxing than the first 25 years have been...at least I'll have functional teeth and jaws to work with!
I was not planning on really celebrating my birthday this year b/c I thought back, and in the past it's always over some great food. And since I can't really eat, there's no point...but at the request of some friends, I'm planning my own b-day dinner. I want Ethiopian, and I want a bunch of my gals to come together...I haven't restricted it as a girls' night yet, but I may. I don't know of any guys interested in coming to my b-day dinner anyways. And Tigist says she knows of a new place that's even better than the Queen of Sheba and I'm eager to try it out! :) And hopefully they'll roast some coffee beans when we're done and let us waft the aroma and drink mini tasses of sweet Ethiopian coffee.
That's my wish. I asked my parents to take me to Sweet Tomatoes for my birthday and my mom refused. She said, "and pay for a buffet when you're going to drink broth and can't touch any of the salads?" I retorted, "I'll eat the soupy parts of the soups and some of the breads and some of the pastas!" And my dad chimed in, "you can go have the frozen yogurt." Then he digressed to new Red Mango locations opening around Chicago and the suburbs. I want to go try it out...I just want some cake and ice cream. It's my birthday, afterall.
-Grace
Friday, June 20, 2008
Taco Mash
I was told by my college dormmate friend, Lindsay, that she ate this thing she called "Taco Mash" alot after her jaw surgeries. And for the last week, I felt I was well enough to move on to this cullinary delight and other such soft foods, so I was planning on buying a taco or two and dumping the contents out on to a plate and mashing everything up w/ the refried beans. But whaddaya kno? Our office had a staff appreciation lunch today...TACOS! So I had my taco mash, for the first time, and I wanted to eat another huge plate. It was that good.
My Taco Mash started off with one soft tortilla at the bottom of the plate (I can't eat it, but I love flour tortillas and chapatis and other foods like that). I topped that w/ a couple serving-spoonfuls of refried beans (the consistency is very similar to very soft mashed potatoes, my vehicle for eating minced food), some seasoned ground beef and some of that saucy liquid (I picked out the carrots and peppers in there), spanish rice (also minus the veggie additives), a generous sprinkling of grated queso fresco, a scoopful of salsa and even a bit of shredded lettuce! I had to use my knife to mince the lettuce some more, but it was sooooo good!!
This is what it was, sorta, minus the taco shell/bowl, sour cream and guac...and I had queso fresco instead of the shredded cheddar-looking cheese and pretty smooth salsa instead of the chunks of tomatos.
I was looking for some pictures of taco insides on google and started watching youtube videos on how to make a taco salad...and noticed that I didn't get avocados or sour cream as a choice for my taco mash.
I have a couple avocados sitting at home, so I guess I can try a taco mash at home if I get adventurous enough to grocery shop and cook this weekend! I'm not a huge fan of sour cream to begin w/ so I didn't really miss that, but avocados, I like. And since the surgery, I've single-handedly consumed at least 4 avocados on my own...all w/in the first 8 or 9 weeks. That's more avocados crammed in any 2 months of my life! And I think I wanna try ground turkey instead of beef. :)
...I a thin wire holding the main wire and hooks to my brackets unravelled inside my left cheek, on the upper teeth and hurt me all day until I went in for my 6:45 pm emergency ortho appt. Well, I think I was squeezed in at the end of the day b/c they couldn't see me any other time. Well, my orthodontis, Dr. Kusnoto wasn't there b/c his wife's water broke and he went on paternity leave. So a colleague of his saw me instead, she was really nice and looked young for a professor, but she found some loose hooks and tightened them for me when she replaced the thin, loose wire. I wasn't seen until like 7:30 pm b/c I think she had to take over all of my dr's patients as well as her own so they had to stay late, but thing are fixed in my mouth!
It's 11 weeks post-op and my surgeon, Dr. Heffez, allowed me to return to normal physical activities, such as dancing and jumping and running...but I think I'll have to watch it b/c my mouth still hurts alot, and downward dog, which I attempted last Sat. during basic ballet warm up, was stressful on my sinuses, mouth and overall head. So...we'll see what happens this weekend!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Follow ups galore
My teeth hurt in new and different ways. I'm back to drooling and spewing when attempting speech. My speech sounds like I'm newly acquiring some obscure Bostonian accent...or regressing into baby-talk.
On Monday I met w/ my OS, who is set on quelling my fears about my metal plates. He tried to wiggle my upper jaw while pressing on the plates (in the places that I said was hurting) and he said everything needs to stay where they are right now. So a small sigh of relief...I half wanted the plates removed b/c of the pain and noises but really didn't want another operation and really, really didn't want stitches in my mouth again so soon.
...I was slightly surprised when he said I didn't have plates in my lower jaw when I said I only have dull pain there but not any specifically pokey pains or sounds. He then pulled up my x-rays and corrected himself. It's been nearly 11 weeks, and he's busy, but how does he forget? I haven't forgotten b/c it's my own mouth, it hasn't been that long and I live w/ my jaws everyday. But anyways...
He moved my elastics to hook in the same places by my canines on top and way back to the last bracket on the bottom. I drooled alot yesterday but overall felt pretty good, minus the back teeth. By moving the elastics back, I could fit a spoon in my mouth and I felt like I could open my mouth w/ more ease.
But...I went to see my OD for the first time since the surgery, and the elastics moved again. Dr. Heffez said on Monday that if Dr. Kusnoto moves my elastics again, that'll be okay.
In December, he had moved his practice to a new facility. I didn't see him at his private practice since late last November when I was deemed ready for surgery, but insurance took so long and then the OR schedules were so screwy and unreliable that I didn't have my surgery until April. And it's been almost 11 weeks since my surgery and now it's June and I had to fumble my way to the new office in a neighborhood of Chicago I don't think I've ever been. The facility was pretty awesome, w/ portable/rolling dentist's platforms w/ computers at each examination chair, some partially walled-in places for more private consultations and surgeries and a large, clean reception area. I was impressed.
I arrived a bit early and was seen before my appointed 5:30 pm after a short wait. Dr. Kusnoto had more assistants and even a separate front desk girl/lady. His assistant, Beth (Huibi) was glad to see me as was I, and it seemed like she was now managing the place instead of doing the chair-side work for him.
I had my power chain replaced, it hurt coming off and going on. I don't think my OD has different colors, just different strengths in the same greyish-whitish-clearish color. He did something else to my upper front brackets, maybe replace some rings, but they have thin wires holding everything together. I don't know....
In any case, he moved my elastics again. The top positions are essentially the same, on the upper canines, except that on the left side he has the elastic on two hooks instead of one. On the bottom the elastics hook on to the last bracket on each side and forward to the lower canines. I'll take pictures soon. They're larger triangles and he says it'll only take about 4 months for all the spaces to close up and my teeth to come together! I'm really stoked about that...I was expecting 8-10 months. But I won't get too excited too early...my teeth are lazy little things and procrastinate their moves. But even w/ some delays, I hope to have them off by Christmas!
Last Christmas, all I wanted for Christmas was my surgery, Christmas of 2006, all I wanted for Christmas was my two front teeth to stop hurting. All I want for Christmas 2008 is my two front teeth freed from its wires and chains and brackets! And the rest of their buddies freed as well, if at all possible. :)
All my teeth hurt now but that's expected after an orthodontist fiddling around your mouth, right?
I'm talking much better and overall feel better. I'm getting used to all the teeth pains. I get compliments from ppl all the time about my improved speech and enunciation. I still drool on occasion but it's rare and sometimes I can feel the drool coming so I can quickly react. The corners of my mouth are still a bit lazy but I'm not gonna complain b/c I feel things even in my lower left lip. Improvements!
I get to go back to all physical activities, including dance. Yay! Which reminds me, I have to reply to Linda about this Friday's free midnight funk dance class at Hubbard Street/Lou Conte Dance Studio. If anyone is in Chicago, come by! I've never taken funk/hip-hop, but it sounds like fun, and it's for all levels. I'm still on soft foods, which doesn't bother me b/c w/ the elastics going so far back to my back molars, it's hard to brush my teeth anyways, so soft foods will be easier to clean up after. :)
...and one more thing to be happy about: I move into my new office tomorrow!!!!! It's an interior office and I'll be there for only a month...depending on when I decide will be my last day here at this dear old firm. But law school, here I come! W/ a new, functional bite!
On Monday I met w/ my OS, who is set on quelling my fears about my metal plates. He tried to wiggle my upper jaw while pressing on the plates (in the places that I said was hurting) and he said everything needs to stay where they are right now. So a small sigh of relief...I half wanted the plates removed b/c of the pain and noises but really didn't want another operation and really, really didn't want stitches in my mouth again so soon.
...I was slightly surprised when he said I didn't have plates in my lower jaw when I said I only have dull pain there but not any specifically pokey pains or sounds. He then pulled up my x-rays and corrected himself. It's been nearly 11 weeks, and he's busy, but how does he forget? I haven't forgotten b/c it's my own mouth, it hasn't been that long and I live w/ my jaws everyday. But anyways...
He moved my elastics to hook in the same places by my canines on top and way back to the last bracket on the bottom. I drooled alot yesterday but overall felt pretty good, minus the back teeth. By moving the elastics back, I could fit a spoon in my mouth and I felt like I could open my mouth w/ more ease.
But...I went to see my OD for the first time since the surgery, and the elastics moved again. Dr. Heffez said on Monday that if Dr. Kusnoto moves my elastics again, that'll be okay.
In December, he had moved his practice to a new facility. I didn't see him at his private practice since late last November when I was deemed ready for surgery, but insurance took so long and then the OR schedules were so screwy and unreliable that I didn't have my surgery until April. And it's been almost 11 weeks since my surgery and now it's June and I had to fumble my way to the new office in a neighborhood of Chicago I don't think I've ever been. The facility was pretty awesome, w/ portable/rolling dentist's platforms w/ computers at each examination chair, some partially walled-in places for more private consultations and surgeries and a large, clean reception area. I was impressed.
I arrived a bit early and was seen before my appointed 5:30 pm after a short wait. Dr. Kusnoto had more assistants and even a separate front desk girl/lady. His assistant, Beth (Huibi) was glad to see me as was I, and it seemed like she was now managing the place instead of doing the chair-side work for him.
I had my power chain replaced, it hurt coming off and going on. I don't think my OD has different colors, just different strengths in the same greyish-whitish-clearish color. He did something else to my upper front brackets, maybe replace some rings, but they have thin wires holding everything together. I don't know....
In any case, he moved my elastics again. The top positions are essentially the same, on the upper canines, except that on the left side he has the elastic on two hooks instead of one. On the bottom the elastics hook on to the last bracket on each side and forward to the lower canines. I'll take pictures soon. They're larger triangles and he says it'll only take about 4 months for all the spaces to close up and my teeth to come together! I'm really stoked about that...I was expecting 8-10 months. But I won't get too excited too early...my teeth are lazy little things and procrastinate their moves. But even w/ some delays, I hope to have them off by Christmas!
Last Christmas, all I wanted for Christmas was my surgery, Christmas of 2006, all I wanted for Christmas was my two front teeth to stop hurting. All I want for Christmas 2008 is my two front teeth freed from its wires and chains and brackets! And the rest of their buddies freed as well, if at all possible. :)
All my teeth hurt now but that's expected after an orthodontist fiddling around your mouth, right?
I'm talking much better and overall feel better. I'm getting used to all the teeth pains. I get compliments from ppl all the time about my improved speech and enunciation. I still drool on occasion but it's rare and sometimes I can feel the drool coming so I can quickly react. The corners of my mouth are still a bit lazy but I'm not gonna complain b/c I feel things even in my lower left lip. Improvements!
I get to go back to all physical activities, including dance. Yay! Which reminds me, I have to reply to Linda about this Friday's free midnight funk dance class at Hubbard Street/Lou Conte Dance Studio. If anyone is in Chicago, come by! I've never taken funk/hip-hop, but it sounds like fun, and it's for all levels. I'm still on soft foods, which doesn't bother me b/c w/ the elastics going so far back to my back molars, it's hard to brush my teeth anyways, so soft foods will be easier to clean up after. :)
...and one more thing to be happy about: I move into my new office tomorrow!!!!! It's an interior office and I'll be there for only a month...depending on when I decide will be my last day here at this dear old firm. But law school, here I come! W/ a new, functional bite!
Friday, June 13, 2008
ouchies. and snapping elastics
My elastics on the right side keeps on snapping every few days while the ones on the left have never snapped. I spent the whole day yesterday w/out elastics b/c the right side snapped the night before and I forgot to replace elastics in the morning. And by last night I couldn't figure out what was going on w/ my bite. It was skewed and my left molars were smashing against each other or scrunching up and my right molars didn't feel like they were closing at all. :(
Once I put the elastics back on my bite returned to normal w/in half an hour, but I can't figure out why my right elastics keep on snapping while the left side never snaps. I did notice while I was putting the elastics back on last night that some are skinnier than others, but I can't believe that for one, there are that many irregularly skinny elastics in my bunch and two, that I consistently put skinnier/weaker ones on my right side and the thicker/stronger ones on my left. I'm not that gifted.
In any case, can I keep these elastics for as long as I have braces? I didn't like the way my bite screwed itself up w/out them in a day. It troubled me dearly until I got the elastics back on. For a hysterical second I thought maybe I've really screwed things up and all b/c I was neglectful...and forgetful. But now that the bite feels as good as ever, I wanna keep these forever. If I my mouth can't remember how to bite correctly w/out elastics and outside help after less than 24 hours of free-flapping, then I don't know how I'm going to manage w/out them long-term.
The ouchies refer to my metal plates and screws. I feel them. The ones closest to my nose. The ones holding my lower jaw hurt occasionally but I never feel them independent of the pain. Even when it hurts, it's not like I feel the metal plates, it's more of a dull pain on either side of my lower jaw, usually in the mornings after I'd slept on one side. I feel the metal plates holding my upper jaw together 24-7. The ones closer to my ears aren't as bothersome and I only feel those when I apply gentle pressure, they feel like they're poking my teeth roots. But the ones next to my nose are troublesome. They hurt and make noise randomly that only I can hear. The ones on the right side hurt w/out even being touched, and I feel pokey things. I don't really want another surgery to have them removed b/c stitches under my upper lip lasted at least a whole month and were the most painful ones of all...and my upper lip kinda got sucked up into my mouth after the surgery and they're just now beginning to loosen and become a little fuller again. But I feel the dumb plates all the time and they hurt even when I'm not bothering them. :( I really want to just get used to the feeling, but I don't like the feeling of scratchy metal rubbing on my bones...or screws working loose...this might be in my imagination, but the weird sounds every once in a while doesn't help.
Honestly, I can't feel the gap I felt where they cut my upper jaw that I felt the first month post-op. And I don't hear as much liquid/bubbles passing through that gap, or bones creaking around in there, but the teeny, very occasional noises scare me more now than those louder, bubbly feelings of yore.
Oh well, I go see Dr. Heffez again on Monday after my first whole month away from my doctor! And, to add to the excitement of next week, I get to go see my orthodontist for the first time since the surgery on Tuesday! I've been "released to Dr. Kusnoto" as Dr. Heffez says :) yay!?!? I'm happy about this release, but kinda not so excited about the orthodontics part...sooner I start it, the sooner I'll be done (damn those necessary evils). On a brighter note, it'll be sunny tomorrow and won't rain (or so weather.com says...tho it's been raining for the past week and a half and it's supposed to rain on Sunday)! Wheee!!!
Monday, June 9, 2008
inching towards week 10
I just had another food idea…this is turning into more of a food blog now that I’m eating and recovering. It helps that I’m not in constant excruciating pain, or dripping blood out of my nose. The snack/mini-meal that made me happy today was a quickie-bread pudding-like thing w/ mashed bananas and almond butter. I mashed a banana and ate half and pushed the other half to the side of the dish. Then I took half a slice of wheat bread and tore it into 3 pieces. Then I smeared a little less than a tablespoon of almond butter on the pieces of bread. Next I topped the almond butter w/ a teaspoon of thick honey, evenly divided among the 3 pieces. I arranged it on the dish w/ the mashed bananas, the bananas scooped on top of the bread, sorta covering it all. Next I added a splash of milk and microwaved it for 30 seconds. It was slightly warm and the milk was absorbed. I added about a 1/3 cup of milk and ate! It didn’t look awesome but tasted really good!
It’s been 2 months and although my doctor didn’t give the official go-ahead to run, I jogged a little to catch a train on Friday and to catch up to someone on Saturday. I’ll see my surgeon again in about a week, and I’m pretty sure he’ll let me get back to normal activities. I am itching to go back to ballet. I’m going to go back to classes and just do the barre and the center floor stuff and excuse myself for the hard stuff like jumps and such, this week. As long as it’s no impact I’m sure it’ll be okay.
It’s storming really badly and there’s been several severe rain, thunder and possibly hail warnings in this area in the past 2-3 days. It’s wicked humid and can get hot enough so that it feels unbearable and icky b/c the sweat won’t dry in the sick humidity. It’s storming now…lots of loud, rumbling thunder that vibrates through the house and lots of lightening.
I love watching the lightening…ever since some “Korean language camp for MK’s” I suffered through during the week of Easter break in 8th grade. It stormed one night and the electricity went out so all of us were gathered in the mess-hall type place called the Ark, probably after dinner and it was raining so bad that none of us wanted to trudge through the mud rivulets to get to our respective cabin-bunking areas. Hak was strumming a guitar, Hannah Lee totally into him, some telling scary stories to the little ones, the really little ones crying or clinging to their mothers who were volunteers or to the other teachers/adults. I don’t remember what I was doing, but I wandered over to a large window and just stared out at the night and the rain. And lightening struck! It illuminated the entire garden I was looking out into; everything was washed in a bluish-white light for a fraction of a second. Fascinated, I kept my post and a little later, another lightening! And this time it was a purplish light, it was so beautiful. I think my friend Esther found me and joined me for a bit and I explained to her the beauty of lightening. She watched w/ me for a while then got bored but I kept on staring out at the pitch-dark rain, waiting for lightening, and saw so much beauty that one night. Ever since, I loved watching the world light up in the middle of the night for barely a slice of a second, hoping not to blink, b/c I’ll miss it literally in the blink of an eye.
I’ll end w/ another food thing. I made a type of savory salmon bread pudding tonight. I greased the inside of a casserole w/ a touch of butter and lined the bottom w/ the heels of a loaf of bread, torn into itty-bitty pieces. I ripped the edges off of 3 and a half more slices of bread, tore it into bits and added them to the bottom. I then opened and drained a can of salmon, flaked it w/ some fresh-ground black pepper and spread it evenly over the bits of bread. I sprinkled maybe a tablespoon of parmesan cheese over the salmon and sprinkled about a teaspoon each of lemon pepper and garlic pepper over that. I then thawed about a cup and a half to 2 cups of a tomato and cheese soup that I froze a few weeks ago b/c it tasted more like sauce than soup, and spread that over the salmon. I tore the crust-less slices of wheat bread into more itty bits and evenly covered the tomato and cheese soup-sauce layer. I sprinkled sweet paprika powder on top for flavor and color. Over that, I poured a mixture of 1 egg beaten w/ a cup of milk and just a splash of chicken broth. I let it sink in, and b/c it wasn’t soaking into the bottom of the casserole, I poured more chicken broth along the edges and poked a butter knife through to the bottom in several places, easing the liquids down. I baked it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and b/c the center wasn’t set and still a little eggy, left it on 300 degrees for 15 minutes longer, covered it b/c the edges were getting crispy and it could be tough to eat. It turned out well, I never added salt to any of it b/c the soup-sauce had salt in it, the chicken broth was seasoned, and the garlic pepper and lemon pepper had salt too.
It was good. Probably about 1000 calories for the whole thing but it could easily be 6 meals for me. Yum…and nutritious too!!! I think it’s a good carb-and-protein balance, esp compared to the amount of protein I’ve been managing to consume. I need more fresh veggies soon or I’ll develop some sort of deficiency.
It’s late so I’ll go nite-nite! The storm seems to have quelled…
It’s been 2 months and although my doctor didn’t give the official go-ahead to run, I jogged a little to catch a train on Friday and to catch up to someone on Saturday. I’ll see my surgeon again in about a week, and I’m pretty sure he’ll let me get back to normal activities. I am itching to go back to ballet. I’m going to go back to classes and just do the barre and the center floor stuff and excuse myself for the hard stuff like jumps and such, this week. As long as it’s no impact I’m sure it’ll be okay.
It’s storming really badly and there’s been several severe rain, thunder and possibly hail warnings in this area in the past 2-3 days. It’s wicked humid and can get hot enough so that it feels unbearable and icky b/c the sweat won’t dry in the sick humidity. It’s storming now…lots of loud, rumbling thunder that vibrates through the house and lots of lightening.
I love watching the lightening…ever since some “Korean language camp for MK’s” I suffered through during the week of Easter break in 8th grade. It stormed one night and the electricity went out so all of us were gathered in the mess-hall type place called the Ark, probably after dinner and it was raining so bad that none of us wanted to trudge through the mud rivulets to get to our respective cabin-bunking areas. Hak was strumming a guitar, Hannah Lee totally into him, some telling scary stories to the little ones, the really little ones crying or clinging to their mothers who were volunteers or to the other teachers/adults. I don’t remember what I was doing, but I wandered over to a large window and just stared out at the night and the rain. And lightening struck! It illuminated the entire garden I was looking out into; everything was washed in a bluish-white light for a fraction of a second. Fascinated, I kept my post and a little later, another lightening! And this time it was a purplish light, it was so beautiful. I think my friend Esther found me and joined me for a bit and I explained to her the beauty of lightening. She watched w/ me for a while then got bored but I kept on staring out at the pitch-dark rain, waiting for lightening, and saw so much beauty that one night. Ever since, I loved watching the world light up in the middle of the night for barely a slice of a second, hoping not to blink, b/c I’ll miss it literally in the blink of an eye.
I’ll end w/ another food thing. I made a type of savory salmon bread pudding tonight. I greased the inside of a casserole w/ a touch of butter and lined the bottom w/ the heels of a loaf of bread, torn into itty-bitty pieces. I ripped the edges off of 3 and a half more slices of bread, tore it into bits and added them to the bottom. I then opened and drained a can of salmon, flaked it w/ some fresh-ground black pepper and spread it evenly over the bits of bread. I sprinkled maybe a tablespoon of parmesan cheese over the salmon and sprinkled about a teaspoon each of lemon pepper and garlic pepper over that. I then thawed about a cup and a half to 2 cups of a tomato and cheese soup that I froze a few weeks ago b/c it tasted more like sauce than soup, and spread that over the salmon. I tore the crust-less slices of wheat bread into more itty bits and evenly covered the tomato and cheese soup-sauce layer. I sprinkled sweet paprika powder on top for flavor and color. Over that, I poured a mixture of 1 egg beaten w/ a cup of milk and just a splash of chicken broth. I let it sink in, and b/c it wasn’t soaking into the bottom of the casserole, I poured more chicken broth along the edges and poked a butter knife through to the bottom in several places, easing the liquids down. I baked it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and b/c the center wasn’t set and still a little eggy, left it on 300 degrees for 15 minutes longer, covered it b/c the edges were getting crispy and it could be tough to eat. It turned out well, I never added salt to any of it b/c the soup-sauce had salt in it, the chicken broth was seasoned, and the garlic pepper and lemon pepper had salt too.
It was good. Probably about 1000 calories for the whole thing but it could easily be 6 meals for me. Yum…and nutritious too!!! I think it’s a good carb-and-protein balance, esp compared to the amount of protein I’ve been managing to consume. I need more fresh veggies soon or I’ll develop some sort of deficiency.
It’s late so I’ll go nite-nite! The storm seems to have quelled…
Monday, June 2, 2008
Month TWO coming up!
Tomorrow, it'll be two months since my surgery!
Still on mush and purees. I can't exactly chew soft things, but I can swallow bits of bread, small amounts of soggy rice, and even meat sometimes if cut up into a mash and mixed w/ mashed potatoes or something like it.
I've been eating tons of bread pudding, b/c it's one way to consume bread, but I don't make it so sweet so it can be eaten room-temperature as a breakfast or a dinner, not just a heavy dessert. But I've always loved bread pudding, so I'm going to try a Savory bread pudding recipe. I have the general idea down, milk and eggs w/ spices w/ either sugar/dried fruit/berries or pureed meats and veggies.
I microwaved half a can of spaghetti-and-meatballs thing and mashed it up w/ a fork for a good 5 minutes and that was good. If I'm careful, I can eat w/ a fork w/out damaging myself or the elastics too much. I mash fish when available and I cut up noodles doused in sauce or soup and slurp/swallow that. But I choke on alot of stuff so I should be more careful.
Little red bumps around my lips/nose are still there, but teensy zit-like bumps have joined the group. I am starting to wonder if they're b/c of my continued use of Vaseline Lip Therapy. I love that stuff! It goes on morning and night, and sometimes when my lips feel dry and stretched during the day. Should I stop using it for a week and see if that's the problem? The bumps are painful, unsightly and annoying!
Another hypothesis that I've come up w/ is that b/c my body is still trying to heal there, it's sending an overload of blood and repairing supplies, and among "repairing supplies" is extra lipids. And whatever doesn't get used w/in an allotted time is being dumped out via the epidermis. If this is the case, then there's nothing I can do about it. Which sucks.
I can still feel the metal plates holding my upper jaw in place, I wonder if the feeling will go away or they'll keep on bothering me and will have to be removed next year. I don't want to remove them any sooner than the first anniversary of my orthognatic surgery. I want them to be there to make sure nothing wobbles around, and surely w/in a year all the bone healing will be done.
But, I've worked over time last Wednesday and tonight. I get exhausted when I do work overtime, so I am a little frustrated at my low energy levels and stamina. But all in good time, right?
Still on mush and purees. I can't exactly chew soft things, but I can swallow bits of bread, small amounts of soggy rice, and even meat sometimes if cut up into a mash and mixed w/ mashed potatoes or something like it.
I've been eating tons of bread pudding, b/c it's one way to consume bread, but I don't make it so sweet so it can be eaten room-temperature as a breakfast or a dinner, not just a heavy dessert. But I've always loved bread pudding, so I'm going to try a Savory bread pudding recipe. I have the general idea down, milk and eggs w/ spices w/ either sugar/dried fruit/berries or pureed meats and veggies.
I microwaved half a can of spaghetti-and-meatballs thing and mashed it up w/ a fork for a good 5 minutes and that was good. If I'm careful, I can eat w/ a fork w/out damaging myself or the elastics too much. I mash fish when available and I cut up noodles doused in sauce or soup and slurp/swallow that. But I choke on alot of stuff so I should be more careful.
Little red bumps around my lips/nose are still there, but teensy zit-like bumps have joined the group. I am starting to wonder if they're b/c of my continued use of Vaseline Lip Therapy. I love that stuff! It goes on morning and night, and sometimes when my lips feel dry and stretched during the day. Should I stop using it for a week and see if that's the problem? The bumps are painful, unsightly and annoying!
Another hypothesis that I've come up w/ is that b/c my body is still trying to heal there, it's sending an overload of blood and repairing supplies, and among "repairing supplies" is extra lipids. And whatever doesn't get used w/in an allotted time is being dumped out via the epidermis. If this is the case, then there's nothing I can do about it. Which sucks.
I can still feel the metal plates holding my upper jaw in place, I wonder if the feeling will go away or they'll keep on bothering me and will have to be removed next year. I don't want to remove them any sooner than the first anniversary of my orthognatic surgery. I want them to be there to make sure nothing wobbles around, and surely w/in a year all the bone healing will be done.
But, I've worked over time last Wednesday and tonight. I get exhausted when I do work overtime, so I am a little frustrated at my low energy levels and stamina. But all in good time, right?
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