Cheesey Souffle

My first souffle!  Of course, I was make a large batch and really didn't know how full to fill the little ramekins (she uses larger ones on her recipe, which I didn't notice until after I began mixing everything)... they did rise to the top, but soon after settled in!  They were so cute... so puffy... so TASTY!  I highly recommend this recipe for Parmesan Cheese Souffle!

The nose knows

Well, the nose is supposed to know... unfortunately mine never got the memo. What memo?  You know, the memo about being normal and not always having a sinus infection and all that jazz... yeah we missed that one!  I've been fighting a nasty and frustrating sinus infection since September, which brought on bronchitis at times and fluid in the ears.  I've had a handful of okay days in there, but mostly really crappy days.  I've been to several appointments, tried several meds... one gave a little relief, while two caused me to have unpleasant reactions to say the least, oh then there was the shot with two steroids (not pleasant), a handful of nose sprays, the netti pot (sometimes 4-5 times a day, even with the threat of the dreaded brain bugs), tons of over the counter meds, allergy testing, CT scan, and finally a consult with an ENT (who stuck a camera down my nose, not one of my funnest moments).

The one phrase the allergist used to sum it up: "You have anatomical abnormalities that cause you to have recurrent and long term sinus infections!"  Yeah, I didn't need a medical degree to figure that one out either!  So off to the ENT we went because that was really the only other person that could do anything about my situation.  As it turns out surgery is the way to fix my anatomical abnormalities... oh JOY!

In a few weeks I will go under the knife and wake up to a straightened septum and smaller something or others that need to be smaller (thanks to a laser), and 10 days after that I will be breathing a lot better! Yeah!

Thangs and Stuff

Thangs and stuff, that is how Snooker will answer the question, "What have you been up to, today?"... and that, my friends, is what I've been up to all these weeks of not posting.  Life has been busy this school year.  Starting in September I began teaching twice a month at our homeschool co-op.  I enjoy it for the most part, but it is somewhat time consuming on my brain.  I'm working with 12 students (including Snooker and Bubba)... 6 boys and 6 girls, who for the most part have never picked up a needle.  So coming up with the projects, and working out the directions, at times has been a real brain puzzler.

Our own school year has been a little rocky.  In some ways I wish I could say the problems are all new, but in all honesty, it's the same old problems just at a slightly higher level.  I'm sure the even more seasoned homeschoolers out there will chuckle at that statement.  I mean, for real, what was I expecting... that somehow their personalities would change and suddenly what they hated before they would love and that they would find new things to complain about... ha ha ha... not a chance.  Same old, same old!  Thankfully Daddio has once again stepped in and taken over the forever old reluctance in the math department!  I can't even begin to imagine our homeschool running without his help and support... I would be in the loony bin FOR SURE without him (or in a quiet house all day because they are away at school, hmmmm don't tempt me :-)!

So schooling has been stressful... what could be the only other thang that could be more stressful that that?  Obedience of course!  The last few months have been fraught with bizarre and frustrating behavior.  In all honesty, I have no idea where most of it has come from.  Although, Daddio reminds me regularly not to ask WHY, because there is no good answer... they are boys and that's what they do... we must just try to find ways to persuade them not to do really stupid things.  Yeah, that's work, NOT!  How bizarre you might ask?!  Well, 3am pantry raids, picking up pre-chewed gum off the street and putting in their own mouth, getting into his allergy pills and taking far too many, deciding not to get up to use the restroom (not a fun one to find out about), eating Nutella with their hands hidden in the corner of their room, stashing large sums of half eaten granola bars in their book case and then the pillow case (Daisy the dog found those for me, some need bomb smelling dogs... we have a food stash finding dog!)... the list goes on and on really!

Let's see what else has been keeping me busy... oh yeah, the holidays and my business.  Turns out if you have a shop on Etsy and products people want to give as gifts you will do quite nicely for yourself!  It is a lot of fun having a shop and creating products, but it has also been very time consuming.  Along with the sewing for my shop, we decided that all of the extended family gifts would be hand made (my hands would be doing all the making).  So between all the custom orders for the shop, and tons of gifts for the family, I WAS BUSY!  I can honestly say that I'm glad that is done!  Now that I know how it works, I will be far better prepared for it!  On a side note, while it is so exciting to see my goods here in the continental US, I've also had sales in London and Australia!  Boy, I was super pumped going to PO to ship those!

So that's it in a nut shell.