Leaving Phoenix

So we said goodbye to Phoenix and all her traffic, and hit the road on our way to Salome. Yeah, bye bye, traffic. Bye bye, road construction. Bye bye, airport landing pattern. Bye bye, motorcycle repair school and all those crotch rocket riding fools. We're headed for the desert.



I have had enough of the congestion, road work, noise, and airplanes flying so low overhead I could read the letters on their landing gear.




Our little Bluebird Of Happiness rides with us everywhere we go. I don't remember how ong we've had him, but he lives up there on the visor most of the time. Although sometimes he shows up on the rearview mirror, or inside the trailer. He is most happy when we are driving down the road.

There was interesting scenery today. This mountain was on one side of the road.

Highway 60 out of Wickenburg was very straight and flat.

This is what the desert looks like across the road from the RV park. I think it is quite beautiful in its own way. I'm sure not everyone thinks so, but I like it.
And at the end of the day, the sky was absolutely gorgeous. This is looking east from our campsite. Not exotic, but nice. Quiet. And they told us not to drink the water when we checked in. Oh, well, can't have everything, I guess.

My Horoscope For Today

This morning when I signed in to My Yahoo, I looked at my horoscope, and here is what it said:

"You could be travelling or perhaps planning a journey to an exotic destination. You may even have to decide at a moments notice..."

Hahahahaha!

Yeah, well, we ARE leaving Phoenix today, going on down the road about 100 miles to Salome. For anyone who may be in the area, we'll be at 3 Dreamers RV Park until April something or other. FabGrandpa and I would love to see you.

The 5 and Diner, 27th St Phoenix, AZ

I am in love with the 5 & Diner Cafe. We happened to find this place when we went to get my ultrasound done. The atmosphere is all 50's, with the waitresses wearing bobby socks and ponytails and poodle skirts. And of course there is a neat counter there, why else would I love it? This day we didn't sit there so all I could do was stare at it lovingly across the room.



One consolation of sitting in a booth, though, was the cute old time juke boxes on all the tables. Of course the didn't work, but you COULD flip through all the old song titles and reminisce about the good old days..



The breakfast wasn't bad either. Yeah, I order my eggs over medium, then mash them up with a fork. FabGrandpa had a patty melt, which looked and smelled divine.

The prices aren't that bad--comparable to what we would pay at Cracker Barrel or Denny's, plus they had a frequent diner card that let's you get your 5th meal at half price, and your 10th one free. too bad we're leaving town tomorrow.

Project 365 Day 59

OK, so I said I would pick up with Project 365 next week, but I couldn't pass up this great cloud formation. Deer Valley Road at 19th Ave in Phoenix, December 26, 2008.

Gluten Free Baking Classics

My daughter, Becca, is also gluten intolerant. She bought a new cookbook, Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts. Click here for Becca's review of the book. Even Ken, who is not gluten intolerant, loved the cupcakes she made. So, I wanted to give the recipe a try, too.




The recipe uses a brown rice, potato starch, tapioca mix, the recipe for which is given in the book. It makes a really good layer cake, that does not crumble apart, and was moist and tasty the second day, too. It actually calls for using a lemon curd in the filling between layers, but I was too lazy to make that. The Lemon Buttercream Frosting was delish, though. This recipe is posted with permission from Annalise (thank you, Annalise!)

Lemon Layer Cake 2 Cups sugar 4 eggs 2 1/2 cups Brown rice flour mix 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp baking powder 1 tsp xanthan gum 1 Cup Canola oil 1 Cup Milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp lemon extract 1 Tbsp grated lemon rind Preheat oven to 350 Line 2 round 9-inch cake pans with parchment or wax paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Beat sugar and eggs at medium speed for 1 minute Add the rest of the ingredients and beat at medium speed for 1 minute Pour batter into prepared pans and bake about 35 minutes (40 minutes for 8 inch pans, 18-20 minutes for cupcakes) or until center springs back when touched and cake pulls away from sides of pan. Cool cake in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Use a knife to loosen cake from sides of pan. Invert cake layers on a rack, peel off paper and cool completely. Place one of the filled layers on a plate and spread with about 1/2 cup of frosting. Place the other filled layer on top and spread sides and top with remaining frosting. Lemon Buttercream Frosting 1 Cup butter 3 1/2 Cups Confectioners sugar 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 tsp lemon extract 2 tsp grated lemon zest Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of the sugar, lemon juice, lemon extract, and lemon zest and beat to blend. Add remaining sugar and beat until creamy.

Today Was A Good Mail Day...Oh, and Project 365

I love getting snail mail, more than I love getting email and comments on my blog. Because I am a gyspsy, traveling around the country fulltime, I don't get mail often. Our daughter, Becky, has the key to our post office box in Georgia, and has been sending us our mail for 8 years. Thank you, Becky!

In today's mail bag there were lots of goodies! First, there were two Christmas cards from people who love me. Ahhh, I am loved, after all. Second, there was a refund check from that nasty telephone company, remember them? It wasn't much, but by dang it, that is MY money. There was also a check from the cactus guy, ooooooooo, and it was a good one too, Thank YOU Robert!

And last of all but best of all, I finally got my passport! Yippee! Now I can go to Mexico.

And I do want to apologize for falling down on the job of posting my project 365 photos. I will start up again, starting where I left off, next week. I am not really loving being in Phoenix, I feel like all the tension of being in this huge town, driving in all the traffic everywhere we go, has stiffled my creativity. Yeah, as if. But seriously, I will be doing Project 365, Day 59 next week.

A Holiday Thought For You

The weather in Phoenix today started out sunny and warm. It was such a nice day that I did not think about taking an umbrella with me when we went out to do our weekly shopping. So, as I was walking along the sidewalk from one store to another, in the rain, I brushed past a young man on the sidewalk with a scowl on my face, not making eye contact with him when he asked for 30 cents so he could “catch the bus.”

In an instant after I walked past him, I felt so guilty, because I have always believed myself to be a nice, benevolent person. Because there have been many times in my life when I needed something, and thanks to the generosity of friends, strangers or acquaintances I barely knew, I received whatever it was I needed without asking for it.

I have not thought about my friend Michelle in many years. She was one of those people who came into my life “for a season”, and who helped me out the kindness of her heart. I had known her for a couple of years, when I found out that my then husband had been unfaithful to me in a most awful way, a way that I can not talk about here. I went to an attorney to talk about a divorce, and found out that I needed $1800 to pay for it.

Later that same day, when I needed someone to talk to, I turned to Michelle for the comforting shoulder to cry on and the ear to listen. When I told her what was going on, she immediately, without hesitation, offered to pay for my divorce. I was astounded, as it had not been my intention to ask for a loan---I just needed to vent over what was happening. She told me that she had been left a trust fund several years earlier, that meted out to her $1800 every year once a year, and that she usually gave that money to her church, but that she thought I needed it more and that she thought her church would understand. And she made it perfectly clear that it would not be a loan—it was a gift from her to me. The thought of Michelle went through my head in those few steps I took away from the tatooed young man.

So, I turned around and walked back to the young man on the sidewalk. He had a surprised look on his face, but told me that he rode his bicycle to town, and did not want to ride it home in the rain. He was short just 30 cents for a bus ticket. He said he would give me a postage stamp in exchange. I gave him all the change in my purse, and shooed away his offers of an AA battery out his MP3 player, or the offer to play a song in his harmonica.

As I walked away, I still felt ashamed of myself, for not IMMEDIATELY offering to give him the 30 cents. I have always believed that we should be kind to everyone we meet, because we never know which one is going to be our guardian angel. That elderly woman, who is tottering along, blocking your path? That obnoxious child who is screaming at the top of his lungs in the grocery store checkout? That tattooed, multi-pierced young man on the sidewalk? Which one will it be? And because that 30 cents? Will it still “count” as a good deed done, because I walked on past with a hardness in my heart first?

Budget Report Week 7 Cash Monday

Time for the budget report already!? We did a very good job this week--we still have $37.90 in our pockets after a very busy week. We went to breakfast twice at the 5&Diner, lunch once at a "not so good" Mexican restaurant, another lunch at Armando's Mexican Restaurant; went through the drive through at McDonald's twice, and Taco Bell once. I bought myself a new scarf while I was out Christmas shopping (the Christmas shopping money came out of another pile of money. Remember, our weekly $300 is for our normal, everyday living expenses, like groceries, fuel for the truck, going out to eat, sightseeing and such as that. And yes, I set budgets for everything.) FabGrandpa bought himself his favorite magazine and an expresso at the book store. And he picked up some lottery ticket scratchers and some ice cream for me while he was out and about one day.

So to recap, we still have the $37.90 in our pockets, making us under budget for this week. For the entire 7 week period, we are under budget by $127.31. So far, so good.

Some Random Pic From My Camera

FabGrandpa says I take pictures all the time, and he is right. This morning when I took the card out of the camera to upload the pics onto the computer, I had quite a variety of stuff on there.

Here is the mountain across the highway from the Christmas tree lot (behind the outlet mall) at sunset the other day:




It rained most of the week in Phoenix. The day we had to break down the trailer to take it two blocks across I-17 for warranty work to be done, it was pouring down. We both got soaked.



You never know what you will see in an RV park. Here, obviously, is a chair having a picnic.



My new scarf. While I was out Christmas shopping, there was a deal too good to pass up. I love wearing scarves in winter. It also helps prevent those sore throats I am prone to get.


An experiment with light. I was playing around with the camera during one of the many dull moments at the Christmas tree lot. This turned out pretty cool.

A Palpable Mass, Part III

I went to the chiropractor again yesterday, and while I DO feel better in my neck and shoulders, and DO agree that the visits to him did me some good, I STILL have that pesky lump and pain in my left arm. Granted, it does not seem to be as big as it was or hurt as much as it did before, but that could also be because I am not using that arm as much, and because Lynda, Charlie, and FabGrandpa are not letting my drag trees around anymore.


So, today after breakfast we went over to the lab where I got the ultrasound done, and requested a copy of my ultrasound pictures. I am posting them here so that you can see what I am talking about. The problem is in my left arm, and the report from the radiologist said that "the left arm was more globular than the right arm." But to me, there does not seem to be ANY glob of any type in the right arm. What do you think?

My New Project--An Etsy Store

I have been wanting to open an Etsy store for some time now. I love to make things because for some reason I have a need to keep my hands busy. When I am not writing, I am usually making something. So, a lot of my spare time for the last couple of weeks has been spent doing the behind the scenes stuff to get my store open.

So, for your viewing and shopping pleasure, click here.


Please take a minute to go over there and look around. I have more things I want to put on there, and because I am always making something, there will be new stuff up there frequently. I would also appreciate any feedback on my store, good or bad, and any suggestions you may have to make it better.

Also, I am going to be having a contest! yes, a contest, to promote my store. If you would like to have an entry to win a "Wait Book" in your choice of colors, all you have to do is

1. Write a little bitty blog post with a link to my Etsy store. Here is the link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6518503

2. Leave me a comment here to let me know you have done it. Remember I will need your email address to be able to contact you if you win.

That is it. The contest will run until January 2. I will pick a winner randomly to win the prize.

Edited to add: I DO ship to Canada and Everywhere else, but I did not know how to add that option to my listings. I will fix that as soon as I can, but don't not enter the contest because you don't live in the US. I'll ship anywhere.

A Palpable Mass, Part III

I went to my appointment with an open mind this morning. When I arrived, they were waiting for me, there were no other patients there, so I had a lot of one on one attention from this doctor. He stood me in front of a mirror and showed me how I was standing lopsided and crooked. Then he had me stand on two scales, one foot on each one, to see how my weight was distributed. I have been to chiropractors before, but have never had THAT particular little test done. The result of stepping on those scales showed that I was standing heavier on the left side by 8 pounds. Weird. (FabGrandpa and I joked that it was because I have an 8 pound knot in that arm.)

Then, he used a couple of electronic devices to measure "muscle tightness" and "energy flow" or something like that, in my spine. The results showed that I had a lot of tightness and a lot of electrical impulses on my C1 on the left side, which is what controls the left arm muscles and nerves. He also did some X-rays of my spine and neck, which we will see tomorrow.

After he determined that my body is pretty much screwed up on the left side, he did some "gentle touch adjustments" on my body. I felt almost nothing, but I started to feel better right away. I had a lot of muscle tightness that I didn't even realize. I kept thinking about that old joke that goes "If your head hurts that much, let me stomp on your toe." You know, my arm was hurting so much I did not even feel the pain in my neck.

We made an appointment for me to go back tomorrow, at which time he will do a "laser treatment" on my arm (I do not know what that is since I have never had one.) And if I am not considerably better in a few days, he will refer me to the DO.

After he was finished with my adjustment, he asked me about my diet, and we discussed my gluten free eating habits. He asked me if I was taking any supplements, and suggested that I take Omega 3 fatty acid supplments and a digestive enzyme. He also suggested that we do a very thorough blood, hair, urine lab workup to determine what other things, if any, are going on with me. While I am very interested in this sort of thing, I am not financially prepared to do it at this time, as it is a very expensive panel of tests, and I suggested to him that I wait for that until next winter when we come back to the Phoenix area. He thought that was a good idea.

So, there you have it. My first experience with a naturopathic chiropractor. I was impressed with the attention and time he spent with me. Time will tell if he did me any good.

A Palpable Mass, Part II

A week or so ago, I wrote about my arm, my left arm. I told you about how it is swollen and how it hurts when I pick things up or try to open the door of the truck. I went to a doctor and they sent me to get an ultrasound done on that arm.

Yesterday, they called me to tell me that the ultrasound did not find anything. Well, the exact wording of the report, which I drove over and picked up today, is:

" We studied the area of soft tissue swelling in the left forearm and made comparison images of the right side.

I do not identify a superficial mass or fluid collection on the left side.

The deeper muscles on the left side have a little more globlular shape but no definite abnormality was identified there.

Impression: No discrete sonographic abnormality proved. Deeper forearm muscles have a slightly more globular shape on the left than on the right..."

They went on to say that I should be referred to a primary care physician so that primary care physician can refer me for an MRI. I asked them to refer me to a doctor because I do not know any doctors in the area, and they referred me to the General Practice group that is associated with their Urgent Care Facility.

They also told me that because I am a new patient, I will have to pay a higher fee, even though I have already been seen at their Urgent Care Facility. (what a ripoff, they have the record of my visit already). I made the appointment for Thursday. Then we went over to visit with our friends, Lynda and Charlie. Yeah, even though we were off today we went over there anyway.

I was telling Lynda about my medical stuff to bring her up to date, and I mentioned to her that the "doctor" I thought I saw at the Urgent Care Facility was actually a Nurse Practioner. Now, I have nothing against nurses, or nurse practioners, so if you are one or know a super one, don't go getting your panties all in a wad. It was just that "my impression" of this particular nurse practioner was that she was a ditz. That she was preoccupied with something other than "my" arm when I went in there to see her. And that she could have cared less about my arm. It was a Saturday, and it was close to quitting time when I went there. So, maybe she had other things to think about. That's just how "I" felt about it. That maybe she was not the best person for me to see.

We had met a Naturopathic Chiropractor who came to the Christmas tree lot to buy his family's Christmas tree, and chatted with him about a lot of stuff (we were not that busy). He seemed to have a lot of the same thoughts on medicine as I do, and he gave me his business card. So, while I was at Lynda's I called his office. His receptionist is also his wife, and she remembered me from the tree lot. After I told her what my problem was, we made an appointment for me to go see him tomorrow. If he can not figure out what is wrong with my arm, he will refer me to a Osteopathic doctor who is in practice with him. Right now, I feel like that is the best way for me to go. I feel sort of "led" to go in that direction. Why else would I meet this doctor and strike up a conversation with him, if he was not supposed to be in my life right at this moment. We'll see.

In the meantime, I want everyone to tell me all the horror stories about their best friend's cousin's mother-in-law who had a swollen arm, and what the problem with them was. I want all the scenarios I can get, so I can google them and maybe self diagnose my problem. Comment away, let me know what YOU think may be wrong with me.

I still think, my best guess, is that I have a fracture in the a bone in there. But no one in a medical suit listens to what I have to say.

Finished Shopping

I started and finished my Christmas shopping today. All the gifts have been got, and wrapped, and put in shipping boxes, and addressed. They are going to Ft. Lewis, Washington; Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland; Denver, Colorado; Villa Rica, Georgia; and Douglasville, Georgia. The kids are scattered out all over the place.

I only made one gift this year, but it is something I have wanted to make for its recipient for some time. I call it a "Wait Book".




He is a rather rambunctious little guy, and needs something to hold his attention when he is waiting for something. Whether it is when he is sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office or waiting for dinner to arrive when he and his parents go out to eat, he really needs something TO DO.



He likes to draw, paint, and color. He likes to tell stories about the drawings he has made. So, I made him this little book:



It will fit in his Mommy's purse, or he can carry it himself with the handles. It holds a refillable pad of paper and 16 crayons. There is a place for every crayon, so they won't fall out and get lost. He likes orange. A lot. I made him a quilt for his room a couple of years ago that has a lot of orange in it. No wonder they call me the FabGrandma!

Budget Report Week 6 Cash Monday

This week was a little busy. We took the truck over to Chuck's Speed and RV and dropped it off for some custom exhaust work. Got a car at Enterprise Leasing for the day. Got an ultrasound done on my arm (NO, I haven't heard from the doctor yet!). And worked 5 days at the Christmas tree lot.

We took out the usual $300 from our checking account last Monday. Went out to breakfast 4 times: Once at Cracker Barrel, once at Fast Eddie's, and twice at Denney's. Picked up lunch once at Taco Bell, mmmm. And had a treat at Coldstone Creamery. If we had stayed out of there we would have made it under budget. Oh well, life needs ice cream once in a while.

The bottom line this week: We still had $13.35 in our pockets, but we used the debit card once at Fry's when we picked up milk and cereal, for $23.99. So, for the week, we are over budget by $10.64. But for the 6 week period since we started doing Cash Monday, we are under the budget by $89.41. Not bad. If you guys know how much self control this took, you would be cheering so loud I could hear you all the way out here to Phoenix!

Full Moon

Thursday night was a beautiful night at the Christmas tree lot. There was a full moon up there, making the whole place glow. In the photo above, the highest light is the moon. The other ones are the streetlights in the mall parking lot.


This is a Nobel Christmas tree. It has been the most popular kind so far. The people are here are buying huge trees, over nine feet tall. I never had a house that had a place to put such a large tree. Heck, I never had that many ornaments!




Lynda's handmade Christmas ornaments are selling quite well, too. She has a lot of different kinds, but I like these the best. Very cute.



We also have some wreaths to sell. They are beautiful! This one didn't have a bow on it yet, but it is still pretty.

The job itself is pretty fun. Yes, we do have a lot of work to do. We have to make sure the lot stays full, so after a sale, someone has to stand up another tree, measure it, put a tag on it, cut off the twine that binds it, and fluff it out. It keeps us quite busy. Today is supposed to be the busiest day of them all. We'll see.

A Breathing Treatment For The Truck

We have a 1997 Ford F250 diesel pick up truck. It has been a great truck. In December of 2006, we got one of those superchips for it, that revs it up and gives it more power. Ever since then FabGrandpa has wanted to get a custom exhaust pipe put in. The existing exhaust pipe was flat, and did not allow the engine to "breathe" as well as it should, so it could overheat when towing a large travel trailer over the mountains.


Yesterday, we went to Chuck's Speed and RV in Phoenix to get this done. This involved me getting up early on my day off. We got there at about 8:30 a.m. FabGrandpa had made an appointment with them last week to get this work done, so they were expecting us. They took the truck right in and started working on it.

We called Enterprise and got a rental car for the day so we wouldn't have to just hang around waiting. They came and picked us up at Chuck's and took us to their office to get the car. It was a Chrysler Sebring, not the smallest car out there, but after riding in a Ford F250 for years, I felt like I was riding in an enclosed skateboard. It was a nice enough, but close to the ground.


The nice people at Enterprise told us about Fast Eddie's Diner. They have been in business for a long time, and have a lot of regular customers. Their breakfast is $3.99 all day every day. It was pretty good, and had a great counter. I just wish they weren't so far from where we are staying so we could go there every morning. It was that good!


We went back home after breakfast. I washed my hair and FabGrandpa took a nap. I had an appointment to get the ultrasound on my arm at 2:00 p.m. The lab is only two miles away. We got there with plenty of time to spare. I forgot to take my camera with me to get a shot of the ultrasound, dang it! To see what it looked like, click here: Ultrasound of lipoma in arm That's not my arm but it looks just like mine. The mass was sort of oval, shaped like an egg, definitely there. She did one scan of my right arm for comparison and there was no egg shaped thing in that one. I guess I am eating too many eggs, as I am growing one in my arm now.


About 4:00 p.m. the guy called from Chuck's to let us know they were finished with our truck, so we went back over there to pick it up. Here is what the new pipe looks like:


And FabGrandpa got these two really cool gauges:


The top one measures the temperature of the air coming out of the new exhaust pipe. The second one measures "turbo boost". He is in "guy heaven", he is such a gauge kind of guy. They even light up at night.

Project 365 Day 58 The Perfect Desk

OK, not exactly perfect but dang near close. We had to go over to Whole Foods today, and there is a Container Store next door to it. I have been wanting to go in there and look at some things since the first time I saw it but never had time until today.


That place is so neat! They have all kinds of containers and shelving and racks and stuff. You could organize anything with stuff from there. I want to get some square plastic containers so I can organize my pantry. Right now everything is in empty coffee cans that I have covered with white paper. I want the square plastic ones so they will fit in there better.

Anyway, while we were in the Container Store, we saw this desk:


It is 34" wide, and the space I have to put it in is 36" wide. A perfect fit! See how it has that section that pulls out? I would have plenty of space for sewing , and when the day is done, I can set the sewing machine up on the next level, and push that lower one back in, out of the way. It even has a drawer for my scissors and pins and stuff. I am in love with this desk!

The only problem is that it only comes in dark chocolate wood color at that store. I went online and found it in oak, same price, at a different place.

The other solution I thought of was to go to Home Depot and get a piece of counter top and a small base cabinet. I could attach the counter top to the side of the dresser on one side, and set the other side on top of the base cabinet. I saw some really cool basket type drawers at the container store that would work well with that sort of set-up.

But, now, I think I will just go for the desk. That way, if I traded campers I could move it with me. What to do? What to do?

Project 365 Day 57

The breakfast counter at Fast Eddie's Diner in Glendale, Arizona. Yeah, I love those places. The breakfast was good, too. $3.99 for 2 eggs over easy, 2 stips of bacon, hashbrowns, and toast (if you eat bread). mmmmmm......

A Friendly Visit

Yesterday I had some visitors at the Christmas tree lot. Harlan and Arnette, a couple from California who are workamping in Mesa, stopped by to say Hi! Arnette introduced herself and said she reads my blog. She really introduced herself as "Anonymous", as she has commented a couple of times anonymously. It was great to meet them.

This is their first time workamping. Arnette just retired in May, but Harlan has been retired for 12 years. Lucky dog! They described their job as being "food service", but what they do is serve punch and coffee and oversee whoever is serving the food at meal functions at the campground where they are staying. It sounded like a pretty good gig.

Oh, I just LOVE being recognized. It is so much fun.

Budget Report Week 5 Cash Monday

It's that time again, Cash Monday. This week we did pretty good. We went out to breakfast three times, once at Cracker Barrel and twice at Denney's across the street from the Christmas tree lot. We picked up lunch at McDonald's once (I had mine with no bun, of course). We drove across town looking for a particular store that sells Bio-Kleen dishwashing detergent because it is the only one that does not wreak havoc on my hands. (after we got there we found out they don't carry it in the store after all, but we got some really good stuffed olives instead)


This week, we have an appointment to get some work done on the truck. We got one of those superchips two years ago, which really does boost the horsepower on our Ford F-250. Now we are going to get a custom exhaust done, and that will improve the performance of the engine, too.

When we were in Pennsylvania in 2007, FabGrandpa had talked to a mechanic there who quoted a price of over $1300. We were pleasantly surprised when the guy here in Phoenix told us it would be only $890 and that includes heat gauges! So, that little job will take place tomorrow.


The same day, I am going to the radiology place to get the ultrasound done on my arm. They quoted me a price of $100, which will come out of my pocket since I have no health insurance. (we call it self insured. what else can you do?) We also have to pay for the service done on our refrigerator last week over at the RV dealership(more on that later). That will be $120 or so. We haven't paid them yet because we still have some things that need doing under warranty. We have to take the trailer back over there on Wednesday to finish that up.


So, while we are doing great on our spending money budget, we seem to be breaking the bank in other areas. This week's bottom line is: we have a total of $14.11 left in our pockets. That puts us under budget for the entire period by $100.05. That should pay for my ultrasound. Whoo hoo!

A Palpable Mass

I have been having some trouble with my arm for about two months, ever since we were in Flagstaff. When we were there, I walked into the door between the living area and the bathroom in our trailer, and hit my left arm. I didn't have a bruise or anything, but my arm has been hurting ever since then.



It doesn't hurt when I lift it up over my head, or when I move it back and forth, or side to side, but when I try to pick something up, it hurts. Like when I try to pick up a can of soda or open the door to the truck, I have no "grip" and my arm hurts.


Then, this week, I happened to notice that it looked swollen, right below the bend in my elbow. I had FabGrandpa look at it, and said it looked swollen to him, too. And, there was a knot in there. Not a bruise, but a huge "bump" in there. My friend Lynda looked at it too, and said, "yeah, it's swollen up, Kid" (she always calls me kid, I love that about her!)


So, today, we went to the urgent care clinic in Anthem that is down the road from the Christmas tree lot. They took a look and said "yep, it's swollen". They gave me a prescription for Naproxen, and orders to get an ultrasound done at the hospital in Phoenix. I have to call on Monday and make an appointment. The diagnosis right now is:

Palpable mass in left forearm. It does looks swollen in this picture:
The doctor I saw said it was probably just a cyst or a benign tumor. After I get the ultrasound done, they will call me with the results and refer me to an orthopedic surgeon. (Ick!) So, there ya go---the suspense is palpable!

Project 365 Day 56 Pie

My favorite pie in the whole world is Lemon Meringue. My mother used to make these pies for our family reunions, at Christmas, and maybe at Easter, too. If she ever asked me what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, I am sure I asked for a Lemon Meringue pie instead.

I have not had a Lemon Meringue pie since I started eating gluten free in April of 2007. But, the week before Thanksgiving, I found some gluten free frozen pie crusts at Whole Foods in Scottsdale. When I saw them, my head just about exploded with joy, and I knew I would be making a lemon pie soon.

This morning, I made my pie, using my mother's recipe. I think it is actually from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook from the 1940's or 50's. Mama had that cookbook forever, so used that it came apart from the binding. She kept it in a drawer in the kitchen, wrapped in rubber bands to keep it together. Several years ago, she wrote down a bunch of her most used recipes, and I made copies for all my siblings and one for myself.



Here is the recipe:


1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3 eggs, separated
juice and grated rind of 2 lemons
1 baked pie shell

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a boiler. Add water, stirring constantly. Beat egg yolks, add a little of the hot cornstarch mixture to the eggs. Beat well, and return the egg mixture to the boiler, stirring well. Cook for 2 minutes longer or until very thick. Add lemon juice and rind, beat well to combine. Pour into baked pie shell. Cover with meringue. Bake at 325 degrees until meringue is browned.


Meringue:

3 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites until frothy. Add sugar slowly, continue beating until stiff. Add vanilla.



Refrigerate at least one hour, if you can wait that long, before cutting the pie. Enjoy, repeat until the pie is gone. MMMMMMMMM.....

Project 365 Day 55 Sunrise In Phoenix

I am almost never up before the sun comes up, but FabGrandpa wanted to get the oil changed in the truck today. He wanted to be first in line so we had to be there before 7:00 a.m.!! While he was getting the truck stuff done, I bought groceries. We had everything done and back home before 8:30. Can you say NAP?

Budget Report Week 4, Cash Monday

We had a really good week this week. We spent a lot of money on groceries, because I cooked the Thanksgiving dinner for us and our friends, Charlie and Lynda. We had roasted chicken, squash casserole, sweet potato souffle, steamed green beans, and cranberry jello salad. It was all good.

We ate out at Cracker Barrel twice for breakfast, at the Chinese restaurant once for lunch, and at a Mexican place for lunch once. We also worked at the Christmas tree lot every day starting on Thanksgiving day.

At the end of the week, we had $59.99 left from our $300. The best week so far. FabGrandpa also had about $8.00 in tips from loading trees on people's cars, and I sold one apron for $25. Not a bad week at all.

With last week's ending total, we are now under budget by $85.94. Yay!