The Fall

Alright, so I dropped my little bombshell yesterday, and now it is time to explain. Monday was a very normal day. Will was up at 7am and played with me and his toys until 9am when he had his breakfast. At 10am he laid down for a nap, which normally lasts for about 2 hours, but on Monday was shorter, only about an hour and half. We had more playtime, lunch at noon, and nursing at 12:45. At about 1:30 I laid him back down for his second nap. I sat in the recliner in our living room and checked my email, surfed the net a bit, and chatted with a friend from Baltimore. I must emphasize that this was all completely normal and I felt fine all morning.

Shortly after 2:00, I heard Will wake up from his nap, again earlier than usual. I put the computer down and walked into his nursery. I did my usual talking to him while he stands up at the side of his crib and then picked him up and moved him to the changing table. After laying him down I was suddenly extremely hot and dizzy, my hearing was momentarily tinny and I remember thinking "Why do I feel like this?" I must have tried to steady myself by holding onto the changing table, but I then lost control of my limbs, stumbled around, and fell. I heard the bones in my left ankle snap, and I had the moment of simultaneously being horrified because I knew I had broken it, and hoping I was wrong and the sound I heard was something else. I grabbed my ankle and made some not very happy noises, and immediately looked up to see Will looking down at me from the edge of the changing table. I had to get him down. So I scooted over just a little to be able to reach him, and pulled him down to me. He was already upset because he had a dirty diaper, and now he was scared because I fell. I put him in the floor for a second and I processed what I needed to do, and he immediately started to crawl away from me and towards some cords. I grabbed him and got myself to the crib ( I am a little fuzzy on how exactly I did it). The first try of putting him in the crib I was still on my butt and couldn't reach far enough to get him in the crib. So I hooked my arm around his middle and got myself onto my knees (which hurt, well, ALOT) and was able to get him into the crib. Thankfully, once I got onto my knees it hurt less because there was less pressure on the ankle, and I think adrenaline had kicked in. I turned and crawled out of the nursery, down the short hallway and into the living room where my cell phone was sitting. I would love to say I did all this stoically and without a sound, but that would be a lie. I will say that it seems strange to me that while I definitely made some crying sounds, I didn't actually cry at that point. There were no tears and I wonder if that is just a typical trauma thing- lots of moaning and such but i didn't cry until later in the hospital. Anyway, I called Eli's lab and scared the life out of one of his co-workers telling her "It's Sam, I need Eli- its an emergency". I just didn't have time to explain. So she ran and got Eli very quickly and I gave him the gist- fell down, broke ankle, calling 911, Will is fine in the crib. He said ok and was off the phone. At this point my calm was disappearing pretty quick. I dialed 911 and got some general operator, and they transferred me to the medical operator. I got my address out first and then the rest of the information. As I talked to the operator I realized that the EMTs wouldn't be able to get in because the doors were locked, so I crawled over and unlocked the front door, and just laid there in the floor talking to the operator. I deteriorated pretty badly at that point. I don't remember the conversation very well but there was alot of moaning and worrying about Will, and then apologizing about doing both. The operator was wonderful and did her best to keep me as calm as possible.

The EMTs arrived and things got better very quickly. I of course did not want them to touch my ankle, which simply isn't realistic, and they ultimately got me in a foam splint and onto the gurney. There were three men, a middle-age man who was quiet but firm and the authority figure, a man who was probably in his mid-30's who was very friendly and kept me talking, and a man who had to be in his mid-20's who watched over Will. They were wonderful. When they were taking my vitals they sat Will down next to me and he instantly stopped crying and just looked at me and everything that was going on. They ended up packing him into his car seat and taking him with me in the ambulance. Will was so funny- his eyes were HUGE, but he didn't get scared or cry again, he just took it all in. They gave him a little teddy bear and he really seemed to like that.

The trip to the hospital was quick and uneventful. The EMT in his 30's talked to me during the ride, asked me some questions and even suggested that maybe I would be lucky and it would only be a bad sprain. In my mind I was thinking he was crazy, but to be fair there was no obvious deformity to my ankle and it hadn't started swelling when they were with me, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. As we were arriving they got a message from the ER that they were run over with people and that i might have to sit in a wheelchair and wait to be seen. The EMTs got me in the ambulance bay and into the hall, where a volunteer was waiting with a chair. The EMT who had talked to me during the ride took one look at that and said, "Hold on I will be right back". When he reappeared he said "Take her to room 8, I pulled some strings". I could have kissed him full on the mouth when he said that. I could not imagine trying to sit in a chair with my ankle like it was and trying to keep Will calm while he was strapped in his car seat. So they wheeled me into the room and helped me onto the bed. Then they disappeared. I wish I had gotten their names so I could send a big thank-you, but I do know which ambulance house they came from so I should be able to track them down.

Once in the room things continued to calm down. Will played in his car seat with a rattle I had in the diaper bag. The registration nurse came in to get my information, and I think she got interrupted at least three times just trying to get me registered. The x-ray tech came in and we had to move Will to the other end of the room to shield him from the machine. X-rays were not fun because we had to take the splint off and move my foot around. But she did it quickly and about the time she finished Eli made it to my room.

When Eli got there I did cry. And cry, and cry. I felt so guilty that I had done this stupid thing and that now things were going to be messed up for a long time. Eli was wonderful and calm, and told me it would be ok. He even joked that i would have something to write in the baby journal. He took Will out and got his diaper changed (finally!) and wrangled him the rest of the time. At some point the nurse practitioner came and said she was going to go over the film with one of the orthopedic guys and she would let me know. My regular nurse came in a few minutes later and said it was definitely broken- in two different places. I asked her if she thought I would need surgery and she said she didn't think so, just a cast. That was a huge relief to me as I was scared of surgery.

I guess we were in the room for about 2 hours total. They gave me some kind of super tylenol for pain, which did basically nothing, so a little later they gave me a shot of something that helped much more. The nurse practitioner then came back in and said that I would in fact have to have surgery, and they were sending me home in a temporary splint for the night and that I would need to come in and see the surgeon in the morning. Well after thinking I wouldn't need surgery this was terrible news and I got pretty upset. They got me up and into a wheel chair and rolled me to the door while Eli took Will to the car and pulled it up to get me. We needed to stop at Walgreens to fill my pain medicine prescription and rent some crutches (the hospital didn't have any to give me). Between the shot and being upset about surgery I had gotten fairly queasy and told the nurse so before we left, but I guess they didn't think it was serious because they didn't do anything. So in the car on the way to Walgreens all the sudden I realize I am going to be sick- NOW. I told Eli and he looked around the car frantically for something to catch it but there was nothing. I grabbed an old paper burp cloth that was in the side console and then got sick EVERYWHERE. It was terrible. It got all over me, my splint, the car, and even Eli. There was nothing to do but continue driving- changing course to the house. This was the breaking point for Eli. He had to this point handled everything with his typical calm, quiet manor. But watching me get sick on top of being badly hurt and being able to do nothing about it was just too much. He got very upset and looking back, if anyone happened to look into our car on that ride home I don't really know what they would have thought. It would not have been good, that is for sure.

We got home and Eli backed into the drive so I would be closest to the front door. He got out to open the front door and make sure I had a clear path to the bedroom. Meanwhile I opened the passenger door and continued to get sick all over the drive. The Exorcist had nothing on me. After I finished Eli brought me a new t-shirt so I wouldn't rub it all over him and anything else i might have to touch, and we threw the old shirt on the ground so I wouldn't step in my own sick. Now came the fun part. Because we had to change course, we did not have the crutches needed to get me from Point A to Point B. So Eli had to get on the side with the broken ankle and we had to do a strange hop/carry/dance routine to get me to the bed. It was pretty bad. But, we did make it and Eli even laid a towel on the bed so I could remove the rest of the soiled clothing, wipe off and change into fresh clothes. I managed to scoot into a normal prone position on the bed, and Eli brought me a garbage can in case I got sick again.

At that point Eli had to leave me to go get my medicine and crutches. I laid very still and just tried to be glad that I was back home and not in a hospital room for the night. I talked to some family and friends to let them know I was ok. I got sick a couple more times, but it wasn't as bad since I was home and had something to be sick into.

The rest of the night is actually a little fuzzy. Turns out strong narcotics make me sick AND loopy, so I was in and out a bit. I tried to eat some chicken nuggets to have something in my system when I took my first pain pill, but that didn't work. I finally just took a couple sips of a milkshake, took the pill, turned out the light and closed my eyes. Thankfully it worked, because I went to sleep and wasn't sick anymore.

The next morning was pretty quiet. I got up and moved to the recliner in the living room. I was still loopy from the medicine and scared of my stomach so I mostly drank 7up and had a piece of dry toast. We went to the doctor around 9:15 that morning. Poor Eli tried to get Will, his diaper bag, my purse, and me in a wheel chair into the building, but that just didn't' work. Luckily, he found a hospital volunteer to come help me in. It took a few minutes before I went back to an examination room, and I was pretty uncomfortable during that time. But we did go back before too long, and Dr. Maynard's nurse, Sarah, came in. She told me we would need to undo the splint so Dr. Maynard could look at the ankle, something I was not looking forward to at all. But she was very gentle and didn't mess with it too much, so it wasn't bad.

Dr. Maynard came in and said I would in fact need surgery. He explained that I would need a metal plate and several screws on one side, and a couple of screws on the other. I have an oblique fracture on one side and broke of the tip of the bone on the opposite side. When I fell, I broke my ankle out away from my body. ICK. Eli and I both asked him several questions and he was very patient and funny and answered all of them to our satisfaction. He drew me a diagram of what he needed to do, and went over all the risks and his techniques. He made me feel very comfortable. Because of the large amount of swelling I had, he said he wouldn't be able to operate until next week, and that I should come back and see him on Monday. He even wrote me a prescription for a different pain medicine to help with the sickness.

Then came the bad part. They needed to put me in a better, more stable splint since I was going to be in it for a week. Normally when they splint an ankle, they make the bottom of the foot flat. That wasn't possible in my case because of where the break is and the swelling. So this made fitting a splint very difficult, and as a result, very painful for me. After two tries, and me sobbing in pain, Sarah the nurse stopped and said "I can't do this to her again, I will be right back." She left the room and a minute later returned with Dr. Maynard. He took one look at the situation, and had a plan of action. He actually had me pull the fiberglass material into place while he and the nurse supported my leg, and because I was doing it I was able to get it where they wanted it and much tighter because I knew what hurt and how to move so that didn't happen. It was amazing the difference. They were able to wrap the splint in no time and i felt a million times better. I can tell you that my opinion of Dr. Maynard was raised even more after he took care of me that way.

So that is my dramatic story. I go back to see Dr. Maynard on Monday, and surgery will be either Wednesday or Thursday. Meantime i spend my time either in bed or in our recliner, though I have learned I can't spend much time in the recliner because my hip hurts. I did get the most beautiful flower arrangement from Eli's co-workers, and that really made my day brighter. Eli has been amazing, taking care of Will and me and getting office work done too. We are incredibly fortunate because we have people who are willing to help us. My Dad is coming this Monday and staying for 3 days to help so Eli can go back to work. I don't know if Dad realizes yet what he has gotten himself into, but we will survive and I really appreciate his coming. Then, the most fortunate thing is that Daphne is going to come stay with us. As long as we need her. I cannot tell you what this means to me and Eli. I can't really tell her either because I would get very emotional, which would just be weird for both of us. Needless to say it is incredibly generous, and takes away alot of the worries I had about the negative impact my accident would have on Eli's work and our finances. So now I am looking nervously towards surgery, and then a long recovery time. I am terrible at staying still for any amount time, so any suggestions for activities to keep me occupied would be welcome.

Catch Up

I fell off the face of the blogging planet about 2 1/2 months ago. I felt bad about it, but I was also happy because the reason I fell off was that I actually became busy! This was really good for me; I was becoming increasingly unhappy with my lack of activity to that point. Let me do a quick recap to bring things up-to-date.

My last post was in April and it was about the visit my sister and her family made to see us and our trip to the Arch. That visit actually happened in mid-March. The first weekend of April we went to visit my Dad in St. Joseph and had a really nice weekend trip. Eli and I even got to go on a date to Olive Garden, which we really enjoyed (we even took pictures of our desserts-it was that big of a deal).

A million things have happened with Will and his development, but I have decided to save that for a separate post so I don't leave anything out.

Mid-April we filed our taxes and were happy to get a pretty good return, which we put to work in many different ways. We saved some away for Will and our retirement, paid off some debt, did some major maintenance on my 8-year-old Concorde, and had some left over for home improvement. The home improvement was my favorite part. We decided to plant a vegetable garden in the back yard so Eli got the tools and seeds he needed to begin. We planted 8 small azalea bushes in the beds that run along the front of our house, and happily they seem to be doing very well. The most exciting stuff though was for the inside of the house. I may not have mentioned in this blog before the large amount of work we would like to do to our kitchen. Most of it is aesthetic, but it was in need of a major increase in counter space. We purchased 5 feet of base cabinets and counter top for a blank wall in our kitchen. I was incredibly excited about this addition to the kitchen. The new counter top literally quadrupled the amount of working space I had previously. Not to mention the amazing amount of storage the cabinets added. We were also able to purchase an exhaust fan for our kitchen (there was none when we moved in,nor any evidence that there ever had been one). This was a necessity for many reasons. The steam from cooking on our stove top would accumulate on our cabinet doors and drip back down-ick! Not to mention that I couldn't draw hot air out or strong smells like onions, garlic or fish. I cannot imagine how the previous owners of this house managed without an exhaust fan in the kitchen.

We were also able to purchase a new, baby-safe television stand for the upstairs living room and a much needed ceiling fan for our bedroom. It was so nice to be able to tackle some of these projects. It can be so frustrating to want to fix something and know it isn't terribly expensive, but still not have the extra money to do it. I know that Eli and I both felt like we managed to stretch our money to accomplish alot.

The first weekend in May we got company by way of Robbin and Brian Brooks and Daphne. Robbin and Brian stayed for the weekend and we had a really good visit. Nana Robbin got to play with Will as much as she wanted and that was alot of fun to watch. We got to grill out that weekend and introduced Robbin and Brian to the handmade bratwursts we can get from our local butcher. Robbin and Brian also brought us gifts when the came, in the form of 3 tables, a nightstand and 4 lamps. I cannot explain how happy I was to replace those wobbly, particle board round tables with real, honest-to-goodness wood tables. And anyone who knows me is aware of my love of lamps and my severe dislike of overhead lights (much to Eli's dismay) so the lamps were a major bonus. Daphne stayed with us through Thursday and actually helped Eli put in our new cabinets. She hung out with me and we did a little wandering around, but it was generally a quiet week.

The following Sunday was my first Mother's Day. Eli and Will gave me a wonderful and sweet day. I woke up that morning to the most delicious french toast, bacon and coffee. Daddy helped will make photocopies of his hands and feet to put in my card so I will always know how big he was on this day. I also got some fun kitchen gadgets- a really nice box grater and some flexible cutting mats that I had been pining for. It was a really special day and I enjoyed spending time with my guys.

Just 2 weeks later we took a trip to Morehead. Olivia Adkins was graduating from RCSHS this year and rather than go to graduation, she requested that we come see her in the school play. We were more than happy to do this, and we framed a 4- day weekend around the show. Liv was Lucy in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and she was phenomenal. The entire production was wonderful, and I enjoyed getting to see some people I haven't seen in a LONG time. We stayed out at Park Lake for our visit, and that was a really nice bonus to the trip. It made everything seem more like an actual vacation for us, and was so relaxing. It can be hard to travel with a baby and stay at someone's house with them because it is inevitably disruptive for everyone involved. Being able to go back to a quiet, empty cottage at night made everything so much easier.

Memorial Day weekend was quiet and relaxing for us. We didn't travel and we didn't make any big plans. The Wednesday after Memorial Day I got to start something I was really excited about- ZUMBA!! I had heard so many people, including Kristi, go on about how much fun it was, and I was able to sign up for a fairly inexpensive class at the local YMCA. The first class kicked my butt, but I really enjoyed it. Coincidentally, the day I started that class, I also accidentally discovered the most wonderful park on the edge of town. I happened to be driving around with Will, just looking around some roads I hadn't traveled on before, and came upon West City Park. It is absolutely beautiful, and the answer to my long-standing wish for a good place to walk with Will. The park has 1.5 miles of uninterrupted walking path around several large ball fields and two large ponds. There are lots of geese and ducks for Will to watch, multiple large, well maintained playgrounds, and fishing in the ponds. It has quickly become one of our favorite places to go, and beginning that Thursday after Zumba I started walking with Will every morning.

The weekend after Memorial Day, Kristi and crew stopped over for a day on their way back from vacation at my Dad's. We took them for a picnic at the park, and Eli and Jeremy got to fish while Kristi played with Will and Liv made use of the playgrounds. We had a really good time. That night we were going pig out at Cici's, but as proof that Eli and I don't get out much, we arrived at the location to find out that Cici's had in fact been closed for some time, long enough for a new restaurant to be opened in the same space. After a quick debate we ended up taking them to Ryan's for dinner. They had never been to a Ryan's, and both Kristi and Jeremy's eyes' nearly popped out of their heads when they saw the size of the spread. We had a good, if quick, visit, and they headed back to Morehead the next day.

The following two weeks started a bout of bad luck for us. First, Eli accidentally shattered one of the panes of glass in our downstairs sliding glass door while weed eating. I had just looked out an upstairs window to check on him when I saw him charging up the hill of the yard at a brisk pace. I met him at the door to ask if he was alright, and he informed me of what happened. After a panicked attempt to cover the door because we were sure the rest of the glass would brake at any moment, we had the man who installed our windows last fall come by and give an estimate on a new door. It will cost a pretty penny, but the good news was that we could calm down because the rock that had shattered the first pane of glass had done no damage to the second pane so we have some wiggle room before we must replace the door this winter.

Next, the television in our upstairs living room died a quick, quiet death. We had been having picture problems for sometime, but weren't sure if they were related to the set or the satellite. It was definitely the set, as it just kicked off one night, made a strange humming sound and emitted a bad odor for the short time it took me to detect it and unplug the unit. We carried it outside to the carport just to be safe, and moved our little 19 inch television from the bedroom to the living room.

The third stroke of bad luck was that Eli had been working on an abstract to prepare it for a conference this fall and after a lot of hurried, hard work, his boss decided not to submit it for the conference at all. It was frustrating for him and for me because he had spent so much time on it.

Things seemed to ease up a bit after that and we thought our run of bad luck was over. This last weekend we took a trip to Dawson Springs to see Eli's family and had no problems. We had a nice visit with everyone and an uneventful trip home. Sunday was Father's Day, so Will and I got to give Eli his presents- a charcoal chimney for his grill and a tackle box now that he gets to do some fishing. We had a quiet afternoon to relax before Eli had to go back to work on Monday.

All of this catch up brings me to this week. I will write about the specifics of what happened this week in my next post. All I will say now is that the reason I suddenly have so much time to write a small book in my blog is that I am going to be off my feet for a long time. I fell on Monday and broke my ankle in two places. Ouch. More tomorrow.

Meet Me In St. Louis

"Meet Me in St. Louis" was the first show I did with the Morehead Theatre Guild. I was finishing my 6th grade year, circa 1994. Holy crap I am old.

Anyway, that tidbit aside, this post is about the actual St. Louis, not the musical set during the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Three weeks ago my sister, brother-in-law and niece came out for the last couple of days of their spring break to see us. Well, truthfully they came to see Will (and who could blame them) but they didn't mind seeing me and Eli too. Their visit gave me an excuse to do something I had neglected to do in the 8 months we have lived here- visit the Gateway Arch. I have driven relatively close to it several times, and seen it from a distance countless times, but before this trip had never actually seen it up close and personal.

Before I share my thoughts on this monument, let me say that my expectations of the Arch and adjacent park were not particularly high. Having had the opportunity to live in Washington D.C. or within a short drive, I have experienced some truly beautiful and meaningful monuments and memorials. D.C. is many things, including a den of political self-importance, but it takes its role of national capital very seriously, and as a result the monuments and memorials are incredible. They are surprisingly well-run, awe-inspiring and informative, and maintain a reverence that normally is lost whenever large crowds are involved. Sadly, my experiences with other monuments and national parks have never really matched up. So going in I was not hugely excited.

Our drive into the city was uneventful. I was sure I would get us lost, but the directions were clear and took us directly to the parking structure beside the park. Right off the bat this raised the experience in my opinion, because the design of the area was so smart, and the parking truly convenient. We got out of the car, got the baby situated into his stroller, and began the walk to the base of the Arch. This walk took us down a wide path through a park that was still a little dull from winter, but promised to be quite lovely in spring bloom. There was a large pond to the right where geese were lazily paddling around. To the left you could see the Mississippi River, wide and dark, flowing slowly but constantly. The walk was fairly short, and as we got closer the trees cleared to reveal a truly spectacular view of the Arch. The sun was shining and the Arch gleamed as if it had just been polished like my grandmother's silver. Any expectations I had were immediately surpassed. The view was incredible.



Between the legs of the Arch, underground, is the Museum of Westward Expansion. Centered primarily on the exploration of Lewis and Clark, the museum has an interesting design and flow, and a very good collection of period pieces and reproductions. For the kids, (and adults like me) they have several animatronic figures that tell stories from the point of view of various people from the period. Sadly, these figures were undergoing maintenance when we were there, so we didn't get to hear their stories. The museum also has two movie theaters that show films about the expedition of Lewis and Clark, and the construction of the Arch.

After we toured the museum, the Skaggs split off and took an hour-long riverboat ride up and down the riverfront while Will and I stayed back so he could have lunch and a nap. While they were gone I took a stroll with Will around the green under the Arch. It was a beautiful day, and people were scattered on the grass, lounging, eating their lunch, or reading a book. Looking toward the city from the Arch you could see the historic Old Courthouse, where the famed Dred Scott case was tried. After our walk, we settled on the grass and while Will napped I just sat and took everything in. It was a wonderful way to spend an hour.

The Skaggs returned from their riverboat ride and told me it was well worth the time and expense. I think its pretty neat that you can still take a riverboat ride on the Mississippi, and I know my niece had stories to tell, and plenty of information for the paper she had to write about her trip. I know I learned alot, but instead of cribbing the notes from the brochures, here are some tidbits of information from the website:


1. The Arch is the tallest national monument in the United States at 630 feet; it is the city's best known landmark and a popular tourist attraction.

2. Construction began February 12, 1963 and the last section of the Arch was put into place on October 28, 1965.

3. The Arch is a structure known as a catenary curve, the shape a free-hanging chain takes when held at both ends, and considered the most structurally-sound arch shape. The span of the Arch legs at ground level is 630 feet, the same as its height.

4. Each year, approximately a million visitors ride the trams to the top of the Arch. The trams have been in operation for over 30 years, traveling a total of 250,000 miles and carrying over 25 million passengers.

5. The Arch weighs 17,246 tons. Nine hundred tons of stainless steel was used to build the Arch, more than any other project in history.

6. The Arch was built at a cost of $13 million. The transportation system was built at a cost of $3,500,000.

7. In order to ensure that the constructed legs would meet, the margin of error for failure was 1/64th of an inch. All survey work was done at night to eliminate distortion caused by the sun's rays. Since the Arch was constructed before the advent of computer technology, relatively crude instruments were used for these measurements.

8. The Arch sways a maximum of 18" (9" each way) in a 150 mph wind. The usual sway is 1/2"

Green Thumb???

I promised no excuses for lags in this blog and I will stick to that promise. The Roberson household has had an exciting and crazy few weeks. I will chronicle the highlights in the next couple of posts, but today I think I will share with you a new side project that we have begun.

When Eli and I lived in Baltimore we shared a 3rd floor apartment in a nice area. However, as any past or present apartment dweller can attest, your yard more often than not is a concrete slab balcony. We missed having green at our doorstep, so we decided to create a balcony garden. I originally envisioned a few planters with mixed flowers just to pretty things up. Eli however, had ambitions to grow vegetables, particularly tomatoes, though some other veggies were attempted. This garden had varying degrees of success. We actually did get a few tomatoes out of Eli's hard work, but dealing with less than ideal conditions meant only a few plants ever thrived.

Fast forward to last summer when we bought our house. One of the features we were attracted to was the decent sized front yard and large back yard. We immediately saw endless potential for flower and vegetable gardening. Of course, I was 7 months pregnant when we moved in July, and between unpacking and preparing for Will's arrival we were lucky to get the lawn mowed. So our dreams of gardening were put on hold.

I should stop at this point acknowledge an important piece of information. Neither Eli nor I have any real experience gardening. My Gran maintained lovely gardens around the house, but any lessons she attempted to give were wasted on my youth and then disinterest. Eli's grandfather did some farming, but he passed away when Eli was fairly young. So we are charging into this project largely uneducated. I checked out 3 books on gardening from the local library just to try and figure out some basics.

Despite our lack of experience, we have some pretty grand plans for our gardens. We actually started with some flowering trees that Eli received through a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation. We planted half of those last Wednesday, and will finish planting in the next couple of days. I have decided to try azalea bushes in the beds that run across the front of our house, with some perennial flowers in the front of those beds to fill in until the bushes get some growth. I am also going to plant a mix of perennials in the beds around our front tree and mailbox. I really want to plant all kinds of bulbs- tulips, daffodils, crocus, etc- but have to wait until the fall to do that. This is all very ambitious for me, so if I can manage to keep most of it alive I will consider it a major victory.

The backyard is going to be the main event. Eli has a huge vegetable garden in mind, and I am excited to see it grow. I know for sure he is going to try several varieties of tomatoes, sweet peppers and banana peppers, onions, and green beans. He has several other possible additions that I am not sure if he has decided on yet, but I know he is also planning to make me a little herb garden. I have dreams of these vegetables and the yummy things I can make with them. I think for both of us we are excited to have a project to work on. I have been looking for ways to feel more productive and active, and Eli has a strong desire to work on a project that has a clear end result. Hopefully between the two of us we have at least one green thumb.

Banana Cream Pie

I have been craving pie for some time now. I know, pie isn't exactly at the top of my healthy foods list, but I learned a long time ago that if I try to totally ignore cravings I ultimately end up falling off the wagon in binge proportions, so its better to address the craving in moderation and get past it. I wasn't just craving eating pie, but making it as well. I pulled out my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and read through the section on pies and tarts. So many looked yummy, but I focused on the cream pies because I hadn't tackled those before. Better Homes' recipe calls for a vanilla base filling that is modified to make various flavors like Dark Chocolate Cream, Coconut Cream, Banana Cream Pie, and and unfamiliar one, Sour Cream and Raisin.

I was also determined to make the crust from scratch, and understood going in that producing a good crust would probably be the most difficult part of the recipe. Too much flour or water would mean a tough crust. Too much shortening would likely have it falling apart. Overworking the pastry would also cause problems. I decided to use the food processor directions, and ultimately was glad I did. I do not consider using the processor cheating, though I know some would. I have to say of the entire process, I am most proud of how my crust turned out. I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the crust before the filling was added, but it looked pretty good. It tasted better.

The production of the filling was fairly simple and uneventful. Eli sliced the bananas for me and lined the bottom of the pastry shell. I poured the filling over and baked as instructed. Per Eli's request I exchanged the meringue for whipped cream as he isn't a huge fan of meringue (though I really want to tackle that soon as well).

The final product was, well, satisfactory. With the first bite I made a list of all the things I needed to adjust or do differently next time. This drives Eli nuts because he thinks I am too critical of my cooking, but I am really just trying to do something better every time I try. He thought it was delicious, and I was glad since I needed him to eat a considerable amount of it. For me, the first time you make a recipe and follow it exactly, it is a practice run. In the aftermath is when you actually grow as a cook, when you say, "I want to do this differently" and start making changes. They aren't always successful, but you have to make it your own. Most of my critiques of this pie were about execution rather than creativity, but I know the next pie will be better if I apply what I learned.




The List
1. Need to find a recipe for a 9.5 inch crust rather than a 9 in crust as the pastry shell came just to the edge of the pan and about 1 oz. of the filling couldn't go in because it was full.
2. Crust should have baked for 1-2 more minutes as the final product, while done, lacked the golden brown color it needed.
3. The base filling should have cooked on the stove top for a little longer, as the final product did not set as firmly as I wanted. Also, cornstarch rather than flour should have been used as a thickening agent.
4. Extra large eggs should have been used rather than Large, or another egg should have been added.
5. Bananas should have been riper. To my taste there was still a touch of green flavor to them.
6. Amount of vanilla should have been cut in half and replaced with and equal amount of banana flavoring.



Even with all of these notes, I feel like my first cream pie was a success. Next on the agenda (in a month to 6 weeks so I don't go completely nuts) will be coconut cream pie, this time with meringue.

Baby Teeth

Once again, apologies for my slacker ways. This past week has been off-kilter for reasons I can't put my finger on, and as a result my early morning Momma time was inconsistent at best. I seemed to lose my recently celebrated energy, and complained about it all week, which certainly didn't make anything better. Anyway, it is a beautiful mild day today, and Eli and I have managed to accomplish all our little chores early enough to enjoy some true down time for the rest of the day. Our windows are open, there is soup bubbling in the slow cooker, and Eli is enjoying a rare session of video game play. So now I write.

The topic of this blog actually was a hot topic last Saturday. As I mentioned in my 5 month update of Will's progress, we were experiencing teething. Well, after his morning nursing, I decided to check, and to my amazement there was not one, but two teeth coming through his bottom gum! The funny thing is that neither of the teeth were the one I thought was going to come in first. That lump remains just a lump for now, though it could come through at any moment. Aside from one day the previous week when he was clearly out of sorts, we had observed none of the behaviors I had been waiting for with dread. He didn't seem to be in any noticeable pain, he didn't run a fever, or reject his food, or drool any more than usual. As he has handled most unpleasant experiences in his life so far, he took this with ease. Bless his father's easy-going heart for contributing such a steady personality to our little guy.

I have to be honest though, this new development more than any other really emphasized how quickly our baby is becoming a little boy. Don't get me wrong, he still has many baby days in front of him, but as I have commented here before, it truly moves faster than I ever realized. I admit a shed a quick tear or two (mother hormones are way stronger even than my already sensitive pre-mommy hormones) about the situation, and realized that in a scant 6 months he is going to become an entirely different little guy. Walking and talking some and eating new foods and getting into all kinds of trouble. The first few weeks of his life I remember thinking in times of complete exhaustion and new parent worry that I couldn't wait until he was just a little bit older. Now I wish I had more time with him as a little baby.

Slacker

I am a complete slacker. The week went by and not a single post was written. I have no excuse. I will make it up to you dear readers. Tomorrow you will hear of baby teeth and made from scratch banana cream pie. For now I have a husband and a baby to play with!