So...whats for dinner?

I actually cooked myself a real dinner tonight - lamb chops, baked acorn squash and broccoli and carrots in a garlic and herb sauce. Ok - the veggies were frozen, but the rest was all prepared by moi. It was pretty damn good.

I've been off the board for several days, so I'm pages and pages behind. My almost 93 year old dad was in the hospital for several days with pneumonia and a UTI. He was then sent to rehab. They wanted him to stay a week. He lasted less than 48 hours before we took him home. He's up and walking with his cane, but still weak. He doesn't remember that he had pneumonia or that he was even in the hospital, so he couldn't figure out why he had to stay in rehab. I got him out of the house for a while yesterday before the storm hit to take him shopping for a new recliner.  He has a power lift one with heat and massage, but it's too big for him. He manged to slide down in it and was too weak to pull himself up. He was too far down for my DB#2 to use the power lift. He would have slid right out of the chair.After DB manages to pull him up and get him out of the chair. Dad comments that he's weak and should be in the hospital - no kidding. His memory loss and dementia are getting worse. If it wasn't for the housekeeper that comes every day, we would never be able to keep him at home. We may get to that point eventually and based on his brief rehab stay, it won't be an easy transition.

I just got through watching 'The education of Dee Dee Ricks' On HBO (Documentry) It is about a millionare who gets breast cancer and then advocates for the poor who dont have insureance or money to pay for treatments, I wont give away anymore for those who want to watch it, but it made me cry.

At least you are eating good while waiting for a room LOL!  Are they serving coctails too?

Wow, I guess we lucked out.  We mostly got ran and ice here.  Had over an inch of ice on my car Sunday morning.  Everything is melted now.  Hope you get power back soon.

Funny story from when my DH went to pick my DD up from camp this summer.  I didn't go because it was only a seek and a half after my sx.  She was in Hancock,NY and was in a couople of performances on Saturday at the camp and it was when that hurricane was coming through.  DH had a hotel for Friday and Saturday night in Binghamton, which is the closest "city".  When he left Saturday morning to go to camp and see her shows, he took all his stuff because with the hurricane wasn't sure if he was going to drivem back to Binghamton (half hour driv) or come straight home (3.5 hours).  They decided safer to go back to Binghamton and come home in the daylight.  They got to the hotel about 9 pm and went to the room, someone else's stuff was in there.  Since he had taken his stuff with him, the hotel (Holiday Inn) decided he had cheked out and given his room away!  I couldn't believe they did that.  They did end up being able to find them a omparable room (after first putting them in a smoking room where people in next room were smoking pot).  While they waited, they comped them with whatever drinks or food they wanted in the restaurant.  I think they got off easy. 

Chabba - that is an amazing story!  People really do come through at times, don't they? 

Kay - I cannot believe that the hotel gave away your DH's room, how bizarre!  I think you are right, they definitely got off easy!

We are at the hotel.  Actually, DH had to go to a job site near here so that is why we chose this particular hotel.  We are staying again tonight unless something happens and the power is back on at our house.  The grandkids are here and just spent a couple hours at the pool.  DD is bringing lunch and then they'll go back to the pool, I think.  It's not too bad, but I am thinking of the food in my fridge that will probably get tossed out when we get home.  I doubt things are staying at the right temperature even though it's chilly in the house.  I guess that's one way to clear out the fridge.

Yup, prime rib!  Apparently they have a banquet center at this hotel and the chef was here.  It looked really good, too, a nice medium rare.  And the salad looked incredible!    I guess they served turkey, too.  I didn't look at it until it was pretty well picked over. 

Ah, thanks Bedo!  That's so kind of you, and I'll bet your place would be delightful...in July! 

This hotel room is actually a little suite with a living room area, microwave and fridge, and two queen beds.  We are quite comfy, plus the kiddos loved swimming this morning.  My daughter's power is back, so they will be all set.  Ours appears to still be out, so we'll stay here again tonight. 

Our home phone is going straight to voicemail, so our power is still out. 

The high was in the low 70's today with low humidity.  A beautiful day.  We complain so much about the heat, humidity and hurricanes here in south Louisiana but we do have some great weather, too.  It's very dry, though.  We've been sleeping with windows open.  So nice not to have the A/C humming.

Dinner was Dreamfield linguine with bought pesto, ratatouille and sauted greens (fresh small turnip greens and arugula from the CSA) and a green salad. 

Hope the power is restored soon in the NE.

I'm happy to report that we are home, the power and cable are back, and all is OK.  Not sure about all the food in the fridge and freezer, because everything was nice and cold when we walked in.  Power may have come on in the middle of the night.  I guess we'll have to use the "sniff" test to check for spoilage.  But I think it was chilly enough that things stayed cold and safe.  We'll eat some chili for lunch and see if we die afterwards...lol!!!  With the acid content of the tomatoes, I'm pretty sure it should be just fine.  Need to call JoyceK and see how things are going over her way.

Carole - I like Dreamfields, too! 

Last night we went to my SIL's brother's house.  We held a "Hide and Seek, Trick or Treat" for the kiddies as all outdoor Trick or Treats were cancelled.  The kids had a ball and we had lots of laughs.  We ate our lasagna for dinner, so that was a good thing.  All in all, we made the best of it and the kids have some great memories.

Joyce- Oh that is terrible, what a mess that storm caused- Glad you are all safe

Tonight we had Crescent rolls with cheese dogs and cheese steaks rolled up in them with french fries.    I couldn't really taste them,  but they looked good.   LOL

Thanks Seaside and the rest of you who commented on the power outage story.  I do believe you will find similar stories is most small towns across the country.  Maybe not so much in other Senior Centers since we are totally self supporting and not bound by the rules of funding bodies..

My two big projects right now are planning, staffing (with volunteers) and directing the execution of our community family dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas Days.  Most organizations will have their dinners on "some other day" because "everyone has family to be with" on the holiday itself.  In our town a LOT of people of all ages have to family nearby.  And we have way too many people living way below the poverty level.

Welcome, peachypie!

Debbie - you are up either very late or very early...lol!   I have not tossed food except for a few ice cream treats that seem to have melted.  The ice in the freezer wasn't even close to melting, so I am sure everything in there was ok and still frozen.  The temp in the house was in the low 50's, so I suspect everything in the fridge was probably ok.  We'll use the "sniff" test in the next few days and get rid of anything "suspect."  I had some lunch meat, a hamsteak and a package of hot dogs.  The lunch meat is the only thing that might not be OK.  The cheese, fruit, juices, veggies and all the condiments should be OK.  We'll buy new milk today.   We had some chili for lunch yesterday and it was just fine.  I made sure to heat it up enough to kill anything that might have grown, but the tomato acid probably protected it, too.  All in all, everything seemed OK.  And we figured out from our DVR recordings that power probably came on around 9:30 p.m. on Monday night.

My son and his SO still have no power, so they spent the night with us.  We ate the ham steak, macaroni and cheese, pineapple and glazed carrots.  It was nice to cook a whole meal for "company" and sit at the table.  DH and I usually eat in the living room in front of the tv.

Chabba - you are awesome! 

I'm getting my port removed this afternoon - yesssss!!! It is a nice "milestone" and I'll be happy to have it gone, even though it has not caused me a moment's discomfort.