MommyCoddle

pray for ruby

Yesterday afternoon, Dan was working outside, while the girls and I were in the house, in various stages of "getting ready for naps." Ruby had fallen asleep under the car and Dan backed it up, unaware that she was under it, sleeping in the dark shadows. We aren't sure exactly what happened. She wasn't completely run over, but must have been somehow pinched by the tire.

We took her straight to the vet, even though she was able to walk. But we could tell she was in shock. The news was grave–she had internal bleeding in and around her lungs and was in critical condition. We left her at the vet and returned home to pray and wait.

While one vet remained "hopeful", the night shift vet had a much more tragic outlook and seemed to be preparing us for the worst.

We went to bed, and I watched the hours tick by, thankful for one more hour passing without any bad news. The phone finally did ring in the middle of the night–the vet–needing permission to draw some of the blood and fluid off of her lungs.

I managed to get a few unsettled hours of sleep around dawn, as I waited until 6:30, the time I was supposed to call and get the next report.

The news was better. Encouraging. Ruby was awake, "acting like a puppy", but still having a hard time breathing. The outlook is much better. And a few things we were waiting to hear about–which could have been very serious–have all come out clear. Can I say that I have never been so excited to find out that my dog went the bathroom??!

It sounds like Ruby will be home tomorrow morning. She'll be slowly weaned off oxygen and then monitored. Her body will have to take care of itself, and heal itself. The rest is up to her.

I know some people would probably scoff at the expense and trouble we are going through for this little 11 week old puppy. But our family has been through enough loss this spring, to face it one more time. As my husband said to me, when I called him from the vet office, weeping over the "estimate" in front of me, that I was to sign my name to, "She's too good of a dog to just let die." She's already made an indelible mark on each member of our family–even the four-footed one, who comes to the car door, every time we drive in, looking for his new little pal.

I covet your thoughts and prayers for sweet little Ruby–for her continued healing and swift return home to her family.

Thank you, friends.
xo.

While one vet remained "hopeful", the night shift vet had a much more tragic outlook and seemed to be preparing us for the worst.

I managed to get a few unsettled hours of sleep around dawn, as I waited until 6:30, the time I was supposed to call and get the next report.

It sounds like Ruby will be home tomorrow morning. She'll be slowly weaned off oxygen and then monitored. Her body will have to take care of itself, and heal itself. The rest is up to her.

I covet your thoughts and prayers for sweet little Ruby–for her continued healing and swift return home to her family.

Thank you, friends.
xo.

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The grocery challenge wrap-up

I think it's taken me so long to write this post because I've been so overwhelmed by everyone's response to this challenge. It definitely got a lot of you thinking, as it did for me. Many of you are 'old pros' at what I attempted last week, some of you are daily grocery-store shoppers and couldn't imagine not going for a whole week. I get that, too.

I don't think I'll bore you with a week's worth of menu plans and "what we ate" lists. There were some definite highlights of the week, like lunch on Wednesday. When I reached in to the fridge for my leftover chicken from the night before, with big plans of chicken salad swirling around in my head. Only to realize that a certain man of the house had squirreled away all the chicken in his lunch. It even warranted a desperate call to his work, "You took ALL the chicken??!!! What are WE supposed to have for lunch???!!" He was sorry, he didn't realize there was so much in the container. blah. blah. blah. It's amazing how grumpy you can get over a few pieces of chicken when you're making every morsel count.

After I collapsed prostrate on the kitchen floor, weeping over the lost breasts of tender white chicken (not really–they weren't tender… No seriously. I didn't collapse.) I did one of those electricity-wasting moves of standing in front of the open refrigerator door waiting for food enlightenment to ascend on my soul.

And it did. In the form of leftover Orzo–one little box sure makes a lot. Some Ranch dressing–which makes everything edible for my children. And a few pieces of bacon–which makes everything taste good. We rounded off the meal with a can of soup and a few carrots hiding in the vegetable drawer. My children gobbled and proclaimed it their favorite meal, ever. (They tend to get dramatic when they're hungry.)

So, in a nutshell, here is what I learned this week:

* there is a lot of food in my pantry. especially a lot of side dishes–rices, beans, hearty grains. I need to use them in my meals more frequently.

* when you know you can't run to the grocery store as soon as you are out of something, you are more careful with portion sizes and waste. I offered less food at every meal. And carefully saved any bit that was leftover.

* I took more control in my kitchen. No more cupboard-diving by little girls. I tended to control and watch each thing that was eaten–which often led to healthier choices.

* I had plenty of food to get by for the week. Some of this was due to the fact that I had skipped a dinner the week before and had some of the supplies leftover. But I also found a few things buried in my freezer that I didn't know were still in there.

* I did not eat the deer sausage. But I will. For fear of receiving a lashing with a wet noodle from many of you. 🙂

* for me, the hardest part was when I wasn't in the mood to be creative. I have grown accustomed to my planned-out meals and some evenings, I just longed for something easy and planned to throw together. I didn't want to do the mish-mash, make-it-work kind of meal. When I whined about this over the phone to Emily, she reminded me, "Well, technically, you could have opened up your cupboards and freezer and made a plan with what you had at the beginning of the week." Oh yeah. I could have.

All in all, it was a great experience. There were a few low points. A few moments where I was really, really tempted to sneak off to the store. But I didn't. And I don't think my children, who suddenly became the grocery-store police, would have allowed it.

Though I haven't admitted it to my husband yet–who tried to get me to go another week on the challenge–I kind of wonder if I couldn't make this an every-other-week, kind of deal. I wonder if I could do a big shop one week, and the following week get by with a budget of about $50 for the farmers' market, fresh veggies and dairy? Hmmm…something new for me to think about.

If you played along or if you thought about food spending and using what you have this week, will you share your thoughts, observations? I'd love to hear.

So, in a nutshell, here is what I learned this week:

* there is a lot of food in my pantry. especially a lot of side dishes–rices, beans, hearty grains. I need to use them in my meals more frequently.

If you played along or if you thought about food spending and using what you have this week, will you share your thoughts, observations? I'd love to hear.

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Mouse in the house (and winners!)

I'm going to tell you the winners of the last Show & Tell giveaway, but first I'm going to make you sit through a ridiculous amount of pictures of kittens. Well, one kitten, actually.

This would be "Mouse", named by the girls. When these kittens were born, I had no intention of keeping any of them. Then we lost Rosie. So I let Emma keep a replacement.

And then, well….just look at this face? Mouse won us over. He's the chubbiest little, fur-ball, stumpy-legged, stick-straight tail of a kitten you could imagine. And my children have mauled him and loved all over him so much that he puts up with anything and has a knack for falling asleep anywhere.

Yesterday, I walked out onto the mudroom to find him flat out on the ground. I called to him. He didn't move. I picked him up, he opened one eye and closed it again. I had visions of Elizabeth squeezing the breath out of him and I was witnessing his last moments. I picked him up again, gave him a nudge. He opened his eyes, looked at me, then passed out again. His head began to loll to the side and I thought, "this is it." But no, he's fine. Apparently, he's just a sound sleeper and obviously takes nap time very seriously.

The rest of the kittens have all found perfect homes, all through the wonders of blogging. I'll tell you more about that soon.

I also owe you a wrap-up report about my grocery challenge. That is coming later today, I hope. My mothering duties started ridiculously early this morning thanks to one rumble of thunder.

Meanwhile HERE are the winners! Please send me an email (you'll find a link to it on my About page) and I'll pass your info on and get those VeggiChops to you right away! Congratulations!

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molli said…

this
looks like it's the perfect size! I love my chopper, but it doesn't
hold very much and I always have to find a place to plug it in. I like
that this one is 'person powered' – my arms could always use a work
out! 🙂

sarah

We won't
have berries for a few more weeks and then I'll be making jam. Wish I
could find a freezer jam that is more berry and less sugar.