Productive Week So Far

 Thanks to Mr. Cecil Burks and Douglas Culpepper for building on a ramp to my home so my dad can enter my home easily to visit mom.  These guys rock.  Thank you to their bosses Mr. Turgeon and Mr. Brandon for letting them help in this way!  Thanks to my brother for having the "spy cam" so that I could be at work and watch what was going on at my home without being there.  That is how I took and can share these pics....work computer + internet!  Look out any future criminal wannabes; we are watching you from wherever on the internet.  :-)!!!

 Next few pics are the progress of their work.

...and took these "real life" pics after work when I got home with my phone cam.  Looks nice!

 Last Sunday turned out to be a productive day.

Deepika and Ramona came over and helped me start a big sewing project.  Great friends they are!

.....while, at the same time, Olivia visited with my mom and kept her company.  BTW--Mom is doing somewhat better for those who know of her health trial.  She is still weak, yet getting stronger everyday.  God definitely had and has a hand in her miraculous health situation.  For someone not to have a pulse or heart beat for about 3 minutes, and then to be revived like that was a faith builder to all of us!  Most people who suffer from a heart attack and then cardiac arrest...AKA sudden death, are not resuscitated.  It's been almost one month now of recovery.

Healthy Food Post

I've been cooking for mom what I call "heart attack recovery" food.  No sea salt, butter, and now gradually adding olive oil back into the mix.  Normally, the above "foods" are healthy, but for heart attack patients, no no's, so I've had to learn to cook differently.  Fresh lemon juice takes the place of sea salt and makes food have the "illusion" of being salty.  Lots of green leafy vegetables(spinach and kale), avocados(good fat), berries(very good for the heart), steel cut oatmeal with raisins and flaxseed(it's important to keep elimination regular), lentils and English peas (good for the heart), fish(fish oils VERY good for the heart), bananas(loaded in potassium), etc are pretty much heart attack recovery food.  Not too bad.  Her plates are looking pretty much the same, with a slight variety every day.  :-)!

In trying to stay heart healthy, I picked some fresh mint from mom's herb garden and decided to use my dehydrator.  It's been in a box for about a year.  I picked and dehydrated spearmint leaves.

Once denhydrated, crushed the dried spearmint leaves.

Then, added them to empty loose leaf tea bags that I keep on hand to make my own teas, or use loose leaf teas I buy.

Voila!....Mom has homemade spearmint tea picked from her own herb garden. 

Next project.......dried fresh sage and fresh basil that I had bought from the store for preservation.

voila!  Just like the store bought rosemary and sage and tastes so much better!  I don't know why I haven't used my dehydrator much more before, but in taking care of my mom, it's coming in quite handy.

Made homemade brown rice milk for a smoothie.  Heart Attack patients cannot have any dairy products, and I noticed that store bought rice and almond milk even from the health food stores have unnatural ingredients in them.  I mean, there should be two ingredients in rice or almond milk.....water and almonds, or water and brown rice.  :-)  Anyway, made my own.  The recipe for this can be found in my cookbook on sale at Amazon called "The Cookbook of Culinary Elegance."  

BELOW:  The following pics are the ingredients I put in the smoothie really for my own future reference since I've never made a "heart healthy" packed smoothie before.

bananas and blueberries

dates(used as the natural sweetener) and fresh mint leaves

avocado and mango

kale and spinach and organic flaxseeds

power packed healthy smoothie

An Original Quote

"Gymnasts are only successful in their routines when they are very flexible and have absolute perfect balance."  "Even if they start balanced and flexible; the moment that they become off balanced and inflexible is the moment that they will get shaky and fall."---Carolyn Coats

...and the lamb shall peacefully dwell with the lion :-)

 It seems as if Sophia has inherited that random Coats gene that seems to hit some of the girls in the family for a passionate liking to wild cats otherwise known as dangerous untamed creatures.  Look at that smile!  #Stuffed Black Panther in Aunt Carolyn's Home

Photo by:  Sophia's lovely Mommy

The gals in our family seem to think that the future is here, and that the dangerous animals are already tamed and fun to play with. :-)!  Below:  Back in Granddad, Grandma, Daddy, and Aunt Carolyn's day it was the stuffed lion.  :-)

A Fav Quote

Napoleon put a premium on speed and mobility.  His enemies wanted to wage war in a more leisurely fashion.  That is a big reason they were so often his victims.  Waging war casually will get you killed.----GRF, How to be an Overcomer

Catching up with Photos & Another Sophia Video

My fun room was re-named  "The Baby Room" by Austin Szabo.  He kept asking me something about a baby, and I finally realized he was calling my fun room the baby room.  His sister Katrina entertained on my keyboard while their parents visited my mom. 

Done with music fun, now moving on to coloring art fun.  These kids are so respectful and sweet.

Above:  Mrs. Brandon was soooo kind and cooked my family dinner for the LDULB.  That was such a big load off of me and it was delicious!

Below:  I really liked the encouragement/appreciation gift from some of my fav AC Senior friends.  They know who they are.  :-)  I loved the gifts, but it's the fact that I was thought of that is so touching!  Thank you!  I needed that.  I am going to miss them when they graduate next month and move away to start a new chapter in life!  :-(  :-)

Sophia with her mommy.  You have to be quick to catch a baby smile just right.  :-) 



NTBMO Photos

First stuffed leg of lamb.  Yes, I am in my thirties and finally cooked lamb for NTBMO.  My dad found the recipe.  It took me a long time to prep, but was worth it in the end.  It was a stressful time for the fam, but it got done.  Now is a good time to also thank Victoria T. for handling the appetizers and desserts, as well as help me run the NTBMO.  I was under so much stress that day for personal reasons, so Victoria really was a fab help.

Above:  Random pic we took a few weeks back one day.

Below:  Another Cute Sophia video shot by her mom in my guest bedroom.  She has gotten into clicking her mouth and mimicking coughing.  She is not really coughing, she is faking it.  LOL