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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Finally can breathe again -- party time!

We went with a carefree tapas-style celebration. Pictured here is Hubby's Garlic Thyme Chicken, alongside some hard cooked eggs with a smoked salmon topping that I made. (Combine 4 ounces of smoked salmon with 1/2 cup mayonnaise, then pipe over hard-cooked eggs.) Sorry, no artsy shots this time around. Hiding behind the chicken are a corkscrew and my mom's medicine box!
FINALLY got to celebrate Christmas with my family! On Christmas eve, Mom had a mild heart attack, but following a heart stent procedure and three grueling nights in CCU, all is good with the mumsy. (I slept in a recliner at her bedside during those nights. Don't know how folks without an advocate get proper care when unable to fend for themselves. Wasn't until the second time I had to go retrieve a nurse that I realized the nurse call buttons on the hospital bed were non-functioning. *sigh*)
   When Mom got home, we had plenty to celebrate! She went from being in the hospital one night to throwing a party the next! Of course, her darling children (*wink*) brought all the food, so our matriarch just got to sit and look pretty while being pampered and fed.
As you can see, taking pics was an afterthought. By the time I thought to take a pic, here's what was left of my Vegetable Empanadas: eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes, cooked down and seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper, then baked in a puff pastry crust.
After spending too many days/nights at the hospital with Mom, it was soo good to be home. For some reason, I had the need to "reclaim" my space, so I scrubbed a floor and decluttered some things on my first day home. Still goaling toward becoming more of a minimalist. These books didn't make the cut--donated them to the library yesterday.  Felt downright cathartic to downsize.
These were some of the keepers.
   Sadly, I learned something yucky about myself: I am a fair-weather friend to green and frugal. In those stressful days spent with mom at the hospital, I forgot my water bottle one day, so drank out of a Styrofoam glass; another day, I ate pop tarts out of the vending machine even tho' I had Clif bars in my bag. When I finally got to stay home, I tossed a few perfectly good foods because I knew they'd go bad before I got to use them...didn't even think about freezing them to use later. Oh, the shame of it! ;)
   No worries, I will cut myself some slack due to the circumstances, but our little family crisis makes clear that it does take time and clear thinking for me to be frugal and green.
   Hope your holidays weren't half so stressful. Around here we now celebrate a new lease on life for my mom's heart.
True to form, I've gotta end with food. For our family's belated Christmas celebration, my "little" brother made bruschetta! (My little 'brudder' is 6'3"!)
Loved baby brother's pâté bruschetta!
   Wishing you and yours a VERY Happy New Year!!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I hope your mom is completely ok now? wish her all the best..
your food looks..hmmmh:0) your mother has a great daughter;)
and for my posts I think your linksystem do not update the posts!?
JenMuna;)

Dmarie said...

thanks, JenMuna, she is MUCH better. At her age, there will be some recuperation time following the heart procedure, but her prognosis is excellent. :)

Lynda said...

So glad your mom is better. My husband got his first of 5 stints when he was only 40...he's 68 and doing just fine.

Lea White said...

I'm so sorry to read about your mum! Praying that your 2012 will be happy, blessed and filled with love and hope!

Sue said...

Ack-wish I would have known you had those Taste Of Home cookbooks--I would have bought them from you!

Glad your mom is doing better. Scary scary situation.
Happy New Year!

Practical Parsimony said...

Dmarie,
Okay, this was the first I read of your mother's health. Your remark on an advocate strikes terror in my heart since I must undergo three surgeries without a soul with me. My children are a thousand miles away.

Don't be too hard on yourself and your perceived fair-weather friend status in regards to green and frugal. Things happen. You did take the Clif bar. The siren pop tart is to blame...lol.

We all toss things in extreme circumstances!

Your food looks amazing. I am hungry now.

Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

I am glad that your mom is going to be OK. Happy New Year!!

Dmarie said...

@Lynda, Mom's had several heart procedures like this one...in fact, she's 25 years past triple bypass surgery. maybe this one will give her another 25!
@Lea, hope the same for you. let's hope it's the best year yet for us all!!
@Sue, thx! and I'd have given you the TofH books--this way tho' we can both check them out of the library! you may have to move here first. ;)
@Practical, if I hadn't been there, I've no doubt my mom could've hollered loudly enough when needed. ;) --will pray for the best possible outcome for you!
@Mel, thx, and same to you but more of it! ;)

Wan Sharif said...

Oh happy new year to you and yours.. May the new year brings youand yours lot of love and good health...

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