Everyday Mom

Spectacular! That is really all I can think of.  This movie was everything I expected.  I loved it!  I’m not a big DC Comics moviegoer either.  I was really most drawn to seeing Heath Ledger play the role of The Joker, but the movie itself did not disappoint.  Christian Bale is near perfect as Bruce Wayne/Batman.  I did comment after the film that the voice of Batman was a bit much sounding more like my goofy husband doing a poor impression, but by the end of the film, the graveled deep voice was drawing me in. 

 The Dark Night is the follow up to the action-packed Batman Begins and portrays Batman in a way that keeps him firmly in his place as a hero with a very dark persona.  Dark in his case is conflicted, determined, elusive, and controversial.  With Leuitenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, he sets out to dismantel mob crime in Gotham City.  All is going according to plan until the entry of the criminal mastermind in The Joker played by the late Heath Ledger.  The Joker is real to me in this film.  He is more than a comic book character.  He is a real, evil, manical, twisted person who unleashes incredible evil on the city.  This movie takes the normal twists and turns with only a few unexpected moments; however, the story is acted beautifully.  I loved Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine.  I was most impressed with Ledger’s portral of The Joker.  He was phenominal.  I know that I should encourage you to see the film for the film itself, but if you only want to see Heath Ledger in his final role, that’s good enough for me.  You will not be disappointed.  I’m saddened actually that he will not be around to play other roles.  Did I say he was spectacular?  Go see it!!

I wish I could put into words for you how I’m feeling these days as I sit helplessly watching as my father fights cancer.  Oh, he has good days in with the bad, but it seems like no matter how much I want him to be feeling better, even better isn’t as good as it used to be.  He’s ever so slowly going down hill. 

Over the holiday weekend, we gathered at his house for a cook out.  He planned the whole thing because he wanted to get us all together for  a day of fun.  To plan a family gathering is very rare for my dad.  I was happy to have an opportunity to offer him great memories of all of us together but sad to know that his motivation was to make sure that he enjoyed us as much as possible before he no longer can.  He called a couple of weeks ago to request that we make the 2 hour trip to his house on Sunday, July 6th to share some time in the shade with some good food and a cold drink.  He bought squirt guns and bubbles for the kids and had all of the food prepared.  He didn’t even want us to bring a covered dish.  Of course, I did anyway!  I made Banana Pudding.  He loves the flavor and the texture would be easy for him to swallow. 

When we arrived at his house, he was in the swing on the front porch.  It was wonderful to hear my children’s excitement that grandpa was up and moving around.  All of the excitement was short lived though because when we saw him up close, we were all heartbroken.  Nobody said a word about how he looked, but I knew from their immediate reactions that all of us felt the same.  He didn’t look like himself at all.  His hands were bruised and frail.  His face was so puffy and swollen as were his feet and hands.  He was holding a cane and could barely move from the spot he was in.  It really took everything in me to not react with sadness and tears.  The kids hugged him and engaged him in the normal chit chat about their lives.  His voice was strong, and he sounded like Daddy.  I’m assuming that is what kept the kids from saying anything about his appearance.  At least he still sounded like Grandpa.

He was enjoying the afternoon and seemed determined to host us instead of having us wait on him hand and foot, but he just wasn’t strong enough to do it all.  Just before it was time to eat, he went in the house to take baked beans out of the oven.  The pan was too heavy for him, and he spilled it in the oven.  In an attempt to save the pan and the beans, he lost his balance and fell to the floor cutting his hand open and hitting his head on the kitchen cabinets.  My heart broke for him because he was so embarrassed.  While my stepmother and my aunt cleaned up the beans, I took care of Daddy’s hand and made him sit down with an ice pack on his head.  He insisted that he was okay, but I was so scared. 

The afternoon carried on and all was fine.  We had burgers and hot dogs with all the fixin’s.  The kids played while Daddy watched and tried to stay cool.  A squirt gun fight turned into a garden hose fight, and before it was over, all of the kids needed a change of clothes.  My sister took lots of pictures and even got the kids on video squirting Daddy.  It was fun even though we were all quietly crying inside. 

After clean up, we gathered our things to make the trip back home.  I haven’t really been the same since.  I know you are supposed to remain positive and fight the good fight.  I fully believe that our God is an Awesome God and can do all things.  I know that my Daddy isn’t gone yet and still has a lot of life left in him.  However, it is just becoming too real that he’s dying.  I told my husband that if he makes it to Christmas, it could very possibly be his last.  That makes me so sad.  There won’t be enough tears in a good cry to get over the loss of my Dad.  I need to stop mourning and start celebrating, but it really is easier said than done. 

He starts round three of a series of twelve chemo treatments today.  He has such a long way to go.  I hope his body carries him through.  Say a prayer for my Dad.  Say a prayer for everyone fighting cancer.  Say a prayer for the families who quietly watch helpless to change the situation.  Say a prayer for the doctors who are working hard to advance the treatment of cancer and other diseases.  Most importantly, say a prayer for yourself and your loved ones that you might do the things you need to do to take of your bodies.  I for one know it isn’t always easy, but it is so important.

Do you struggle to find just the perfect recipe for those overripe bananas?  Do you toss out the bananas when they turn brown?  Do you have a recipe that you just aren’t satisfied with?  Well, I am willing to share mine with you.  I realized this week when I cleared all of the old bananas out of the freezer that, while I grew up on the occasional loaf of really good banana bread, some of my friends had no clue that you could save bananas and use them in their own bread later. 

I buy bananas every week, and every week there are always one or two that get too ripe and soft to eat.  When they reach the point where they are no longer fresh, I toss them in the freezer.  Once frozen, they generally turn very dark in color and the sweet flavor intensifies.  In fact, my son thinks they smell like banana extract when you thaw them.  I have to agree that they have a little bit of a banana liquor smell.  Once thawed, you simply snip the ends, squeeze the pulp into a bowl, mash, and measure for your banana bread recipe.  I promise when you taste the bread made from these old bananas, you will have a freezer full of them!  I make this recipe every few months (generally prompted by the lack of room in the freezer!).

 Banana Bread

1 c. sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

3 T. milk

1 stick butter, melted

1 c. mashed banana (3)

Mix all of the ingredients together adding the melted butter and bananas last.  Pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. 

This recipe is easily doubled and makes great muffins as well.  I love the silicone muffin cups.  Check out a previous post by Everyday Mom to read more about the best muffin cups ever!  Enjoy!

I told you that we had a yard sale this past weekend.  It went well for the most part.  Both days combined netted me $190, and we got rid of a lot of junk.  There was one item that didn’t sell that we really thought (okay hoped) would. 

While cleaning out our closet a few weeks ago, we came across our old video camera.  When I say old, I mean it too.  It was purchased while I was pregnant with our first child more than 13 years ago.  It was a dinosaur of sorts.  It still worked and was complete with carrying case, battery pack, tapes, etc.  We only wanted $20.00 for it and assumed that someone would snatch it right up.  My 10 year old daughter looked at it several times and asked tons of questions about what it was and how it worked.  Of course, she wanted it.  I explained about 10 times that it wasn’t a toy, and she wasn’t getting it.  But, she wore me down!  I figured, “Hey, I  don’t want it.  Why would I care if she played with it?”  So, I told her that if it didn’t sell, it was hers!

That camera has become the coolest “toy” ever.  She has been walking around with it for the past two days filming everything she sees.  I am really glad now that it didn’t sell.  It will be so funny to see the films that she makes of everyday stuff and even stuff that she and her friends make up.  It will be a rare glimpse into their lives at play.  I may even have a budding film maker on my hands.  I’ll keep you posted on this little yard sale find!  My trash has definitely became her treasure.

Do you like yard sales, rummage sales, garage sales, or whatever they’re called where you live?  I don’t particularly care for them, despite the fact that I spent nearly every Saturday morning when growing up going from sale to sale.  I even enjoy going “yard saling” from time to time just for fun.  It’s having my own sale that seems like a necessary pain in the butt!  Our neighborhood has a group sale in the summer and again in the fall.  I always say that I am not going to participate because it requires hours of work for only a few bucks.  Of course, I never stand by my word and end up putting some stuff out (some of which has been out multiple times–proof that noone wants my junk).  I don’t know why I feel compelled to participate, I just do.  I also always claim that I am not dragging the sale items back into our house.  I claim that if it doesn’t sell, it’s going to the trash or charity or anything but back in here, but does that happen, no!  I drag it back in, put it in the basement, and complain the whole time. 

This year, however, has not been so bad.  Our neighborhood sale started today, Friday.  I rarely start mine on Friday because I always have to work.  Lucky for me, I was not very busy this morning and was able to put stuff out and experience the Friday traffic.  As in past years, I started with the attitude that the stuff had to go because it is not coming back in this house.  Usually, I get so mad that people want to barter over $.50 and refuse to take what they are willing to give me.  Not this year–this year, I was givin’ that crap away.  LOL!  My stuff was priced to sale.  I made $150.00 this morning and got rid of a lot of  it.  I was willing to barter and not too proud to take pennies if that’s what they were willing to give.  I am actually looking forward to tomorrow morning.  I might succeed at getting rid of all of it or at least only leave a few things to take to Goodwill.  I might even scour the house tonight for some more stuff to liquidate!  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right!