Simply Stacy

Reality Check

As you may have noticed, I haven't blogged in a few days.  Busy?  Yes, but that is nothing new. 

Actually, I have been hit with a reality check.  I am getting old.  And this realization comes not with a birthday or a life event.  It comes little by little until you finally have to acknowledge it.  Here's a recap:

Having a little trouble with my eyesight.  I need to start wearing myglasses.  You know, the reading glasses that were first prescribed to me in high school, so surely this has nothing to do with age.  I just need to start wearing them.  I started wearing them and they were not really helping.  Oh, well.  I just need new glasses, I say to myself.  After all it has been way too long since I had an eye exam and new prescriptions.  I will work that in sometime.  

Fast forward two or three weeks.  Now they have a little worse and I am getting headaches because of it.  No problem, nothing a little Excedrin can't handle.  I really should make that appointment.  Maybe next week. 

Next week or so.  Still no appointment.  The eyes aren't causing these headaches daily.  It must be the weather.  With all of the hurricanes and low pressure floating around in the south, my head should be hurting.  It always does when the pressure changes drastically.  I will wait it out.  Maybe next week.

This week.  Headaches everyday and now the Excedrin is causing me to have heartburn.  What?  I haven't had heartburn since I was pregnant.  OH NO!  That's not what's going on , is it?  Check it out.  No, thank you God!  Still having headaches and blurry vision now more in one eye than the other.  I think, now that I can't take the Excedrin, my head hurts so bad that it may be causing me to just squint to keep out the light.  Maybe it is the headaches causing the blurriness. 

I woke up this afternoon (my morning) and it just hit me like a ton of bricks.  I am denying that I can't see as I once could. One's vision changes around this time in life.  Yes, I am nearing 40 and the reality is not only can't I see as well, apparently I am prone to the downward spiral of health issues if I don't resolve the cause. 

Tomorrow I am resolving the cause...8:15 appointment with Dr. Sanders.  Wish me luck.  At least I should get some new glasses out of the deal!

Chef Charlie

I stayed up later this morning after work to run some errands in Jackson.  Yes, girls, I got our scrapping stash.  I can't wait to play in it and come up with the kit for the class on Friday.  I digress...I stayed up later so I slept later this afternoon.  I got up around five.  The boys were just coming home with Pat who was just getting home from work.

I heard, "Can I have something to eat?" a couple of times and thought well I better go rustle us up something to eat before the troops revolt.  I will take the time hear to remind you that we have been on vacation, therefore the cupboards are bare.  I started looking for something to throw together when sweet, hungry Charlie comes walking in the kitchen. 

"Mama, can I help you cook." 

I am thinking man I wish you were old enough to not just help but to COOK.  I said, "Sure, honey."

"What are we cooking?"

"Good question.  We don't have a whole lot of choices." 

So we continued to look and finally I came up with a box of tuna helper from the pantry.  It is not my favorite but it will do on a day like this.  I asked Charlie if that is what he wanted for supper and he said no.  Then I told him he could make it by himself (with me right there of course) and he was all for it. 

I have to take you a little aside for this to make sense later in the story.  Pat and I cook about equal amounts of the time and one thing that we both agree on is that when we have been in the kitchen making anything...do not say I don't like that, I don't want that, I won't eat that, etc. when we bring it to the table.  And we are working hard to make the boys understand how rude it is to say such things. 

Okay, back to the story.  Charlie and I don matching aprons and we are set to cook.  He does all of the mixing and he even measured the milk.  Then he was off to tell Daddy and Britt how he is making supper by himself. 

Charlie makes his big announcement and Daddy tells him how excited he is to eat his supper.  Britt, however, looks up from the Wii to say, "What are we having?"  When Charlie tells him, Britt comes back with, "I like Hamburger Helper much better.  Can't you make that?"

Charlie's little face dropped a little of his excitement with that last statement from Britt.  He came back into the kitchen with me and stirred his not-as-good-as-Hamburger-Helper.  He looked up at me and said, "I don't like it that much either but I wouldn't say that because it is a lot of work to make supper."  I am thinking...Finally, one of them understands.  I am about to tell him that when he adds.  "I will just have to make something that Britt likes more than this...what do we have, Mama?" 

This child is going to be something great...he will definitely work in service to others. 

BTW, we didn't make something else for Britt, but we did add some of his favorite yeast rolls to go along with it.  And Charlie and Britt cleaned their plates without complaint.  It made Charlie's day when I told him to come into the kitchen and showed him the four empty plates because everyone loved his meal.

Maybe he will feel like cooking tonight too.

Later.