It's Snowing!!

I get to see winter!!  I'd have preferred a different way of seeing winter, but it's winter just the same.

The good news is, my mom continues to improve.  The ventilator was removed today and she's off the sedation but still extremely groggy.  With the vent off and tubes gone she's able to communicate a little better although it's only a very low raspy voice at this point.  

Today, and quite possibly for the next 24 to 48 hours, I will not be leaving the hospital.  Not because I need to be here specifically for any reason, but because it's snowing, and I don't drive in snow.  Just looked out the hospital room window and there is a man with a snow shovel clearing the walks. 

I snapped a couple of pictures through a large window in the hallway looking out towards a parking lot.

I know, it doesn't look like much but to an inexperienced driver, it's a mountain of snow.
 

There are points to the south of here that already have 8" of snow.  I'm so very thankful this weather wasn't around on the day I drove up.  I'd be an absolute nervous wreck or ... just a wreck in a ditch!
 

The sunsets up here can be so wonderful.  This is just one that I snapped back on Sunday as I neared my destination.  There wasn't much way of avoiding the power lines so just pretend they aren't there.

I had lunch less than an hour ago in the hospital cafeteria and it really wasn't bad, honey mustard chicken with rice pilaf and broccoli that still retained it's color.  I put a little cheese sauce on the broccoli.  Also picked up a small bag of potato chips so I'd have something to snack on later without having to go back to the cafeteria and then return to ICU and have to wait to be buzzed in. 

My dad called and said he'd be out if he could figure out how to put the chains on the car...oh dear.  I'd prefer he just stay at the house, but he's been so excited since last night with Mom's improvements that he's just that much more antsy and anxious to be here with her frequently.  I think a part of him thinks she'll be home in a day or so, but that is not the case.  She is still a very sick puppy that needs a lot of attention and though there's been wonderful improvements, things can change rapidly.  I'm quite realistic about such things, though I am optimistic and very hopeful that she will be home some time in the coming weeks.  When she leaves ICU, she'll still be here in the hospital for a time before being released, and then to a convalescent center even before going home.

Mom's resting comfortably right now and I'm feeling the need for a nap.  Wonder if I can curl up in this chair that makes into a bed-of-sorts?

Tonight's Dinner

Last night I took out a package of pork country ribs thinking I'd do BBQ ribs in the crockpot.  I'm clearly not thinking well these days, because by morning with those puppies in the fridge all night, they weren't much more thawed than had I taken them straight out of the freezer.

And then it was mid-afternoon and I'm thinking, what am I going to fix for dinner?  Dinner planning can be such a chore some times. 

I thought about burgers, grilled in a pan rather than on the outdoor grill - they were frozen too, but at least can be cooked from frozen, but I had no buns.  What to do, what to do?  Make a grilled cheese hamburger!!  I had our favorite cracked wheat sourdough bread (San Luis Bakeries) and lots of sliced cheese.  Yum.

Grilled Cheese Hamburger :)

But a hamburger didn't seem like enough, so I threw together a pot of beef soup too.  I sauteed some onion, celery, and carrot in a little bit of olive oil, added three cans of beef broth and the liquid from the can of roast beef (from Costco), brought it to a boil and added some farfalline pasta and when it was cooked, added the roast beef and a cup of frozen roasted corn.  I rarely add salt while I'm cooking, so at the table sprinkled on some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning - love that stuff - to my individual bowl. 

"Pantry" Beef Soup

The picture is of the leftovers.  It'll be great for lunch tomorrow...especially now that I have to take lunches into account with Marty still unemployed. I made four Grilled Cheese Hamburgers thinking Nick would eat two, he's a growing teenage boy you know, but he'd eaten lunch late and wasn't that hungry.  He also didn't try the soup, so Marty and I can split the 'burger and have a bowl of soup for lunch tomorrow.  And if those pork ribs thaw, they'll end up in the crockpot with BBQ sauce for tomorrow's dinner :)

And to put a cap on the day, in cleaning the kitchen, the trash bag needed to be taken out and on my way I saw what remained of what must have been a very nice sunset.  For some reason this turned out very dark, but that streak of color was quite vivid, and to top that off, there was a bat flying around.  I can't tell you how long it's been since I've noticed a bat around here, but the humidity has been up and hanging around for the last couple of weeks, so I'm sure Mr(?) Bat was finding lots of dinner too!