Update on the Doctor appointment.

I got up and ready to go yesterday morning and by the time I got to my friends house the Doctors office called. They cancelled my appointment because the doctor is sick. I am waiting for them to call and reschedule. They were supposed to call yesterday but I didn't hear from them. I called to see if they were rescheduling yet and they said they were trying to figure out what was going on since the next appointment openings are in the later part of the month.

My friend told me to call the nurse and tell them what is going on so I do plan to call later in the morning and talk to a nurse. I'll let you know how that goes.

Homemade yogurt... What a flop! But the cottage cheese was quite tasty!

With the price of yogurt being what it is, I decided to try my hand at making our own yogurt. I researched recipes and ideas and found a few sites that made it sound so easy. Even a moron can make it! Really? could you send the moron to my house because my last four attempts ended in sour milk. I was afraid to use it for anything.

Yogurt Flop #1
The idea behind it was that you heat milk to a certain temp, which I did. Then cool it down to a certain temp, which I also did. Then add a plain yogurt with live "cultures" (read as bacteria, MWAHAHAHAHA!) in it and stir. Put it in a crockpot with the lid on and cover with a heavy towel. Leave it for however many hours and VOILA! You have... sour milk? WTF?

Yogurt Flop #2
So I tried it again, this time I used the crockpot. Apparently I am an idiot when it comes to yogurt making. My next batch needed to be heated in the crockpot for however many hours, which I did. Stir in the yogurt again, which I did and then wrap it in a heavy towel. This time I wrapped it in two towels and then let it sit overnight. when I opened the crockpot the next morning, I was really hopeful because it kind of looked like yogurt (but not really). I went to stir it and it was rather soupy and smelled like rotting... something. Ew. It was GROSS!

Yogurt Flop #3 and #4... I give up!
My two batches went about the same. Flop and FLOP! One of them I actually was afraid to do anything with. Is yogurt supposed to foam? I don't think so. Anyway, I poured it down the sink too and hoped it wouldn't eat through my sink or the pipes. It didn't.

Cottage Cheese!
I finally gave up on making yogurt and decided to try something equally scary. Making cottage cheese! The idea is that you buy a quart of buttermilk in a certain type of carton. I bought the only one I could find and hoped for the best. Then you boil it in a pot of water (still in the closed carton) for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let sit overnight.

I'll be honest, the smell was, uhm, well...  fragrant. Let's just put it that way. I was really worried. The kids thought I had lost my mind and my few friends that came over swore off ever eating at my house again.

The next afternoon (I totally forgot I was making cottage cheese!) I opened the carton, gagged and then poured it into a drainer lined with cheese cloth. I let it drain for awhile. I wasn't sure what it should look like so I just waited until it didn't look totally scary. Then I dumped it into an empty, cleaned cottage cheese container.

Okay, so it didn't LOOK like cottage cheese and I spent nearly a half hour trying to convince my kids to try it first. I ended up with the short straw and went first. It wasn't bad at all. Actually, it was the best cottage cheese I have had in awhile since we moved from Tennessee and I can't get Mayfield's dairy products anymore. My oldest son was like "Oh hell no I am not trying it! I know that trick!" That's where I eat something and pretend it's delicious until he takes a bit... then I spit it out because it actually is putrid.

I eventually convinced him to try it. He liked it too! It was more like a super soft cheese spread than cottage cheese but the flavor was awesome.

I'll have to keep attempting to make yogurt. I'll let you know if I ever succeed.

YES! I will tell the doctor about my bowel issues... (Quit emailing me now)

Thank you all for your concerned emails, private comments, phone calls and text messages about my comment in my emu oil update about occasional bowel incontinence. Yes, I know this is supposed to be some big deal. Up until now I just get odd looks and "huh, that's weird." from the doctor. I finally became too embarrassed to say anything else and he didn't ask how that was going so I dropped it. I figured maybe it wasn't a huge deal after all and didn't say anything else.

As for the questions, no I don't need to do more kegals. When I am not in horrible pain, I do fine. No problems. But when I start hurting, everything gets numbish feeling. Depending on how bad I hurt depends on whether or not I can tell you if I have I have to go... drop the kids off at the pool.

The first time it happened, I was mortified! I ended up giving up trying to get anyone to listen after awhile and I started wearing Poise Pads around the house and Depends when I need to go out.

I have to say, out of the "protective underwear" and pads that I have tried, Depends and Poise are by far the best.

But I thought I would hop on here and tell you all, YES, I will talk to my doctor tomorrow and see what he says. I'll update tomorrow evening.

Happy Birthday to my Pumpkin Baby!

(Mendel with his pet rat, Yen, at a rest area)

Note to email readers: If you get this in email, you might want to go to the blog. I am posting pictures!

Today I am officially the mom of two teenagers. My youngest son turns 13 today. 

I could spend hours and hours telling you all about the fun stuff that I remember from when he was younger. He is very creative and funny... Loves games, has pet rats, loves science experiments and watching netflix... I love all the silly stunts he pulls :) Like the time I opened a new file to find this...

I swear, that was his doing. I did not shove his face into a scanner! He is as big as me. He'd have squashed me flat!

And here is a pic of us in San Diego at the Shelter Island Park. :) He was crab hunting and I was waiting to see our sail boat sail under the Coronado bridge.

We were playing with the camera this day. We tried different lighting techniques. This one is my favorite.

This is my second favorite.

And I love this one too :)

ROCK SURFING!

Here he is at the Maritime Museum. I am looking for a baby picture. I know I have one!

This is in the Anza Borrego desert.

He is such a great kid! I just wanted to share with you all... My baby is a TEENAGER! AGH!

Happy Birthday Mendel!

(I am making him a pizza for his birthday!)

Profound Thoughts of a Mother

I have been pondering this topic for awhile now. My sister-in-law suggested that I blog about my most profound thought as a mother. Damn you Tammy! Making me think! At first I was really excited about it but then I started thinking and I am not sure what exactly I should share. The profound thought of "I gave birth to an evil genius. How the hell did I birth a genius?"

I really got to thinking about it the other day and I am not sure I ever have profound thoughts on mothering. But here are some of my better ideas.

Let them dye their hair, hell, help them dye their hair. If the worse thing my sons ever do if walk around town with neon pink hair, then I can say I have done a pretty good job. Besides, hair will grow out, you can cut it or something. If my first son were still with us, I wouldn't give a crap if his hair were long or short, parted down the middle or spiked into a mohawk. I wouldn't care if his pants were crisp or ripped and ragged. I would care if they were below his butt though. Pull those things up! I don't care what brand of underwear you are wearing.

It's okay to let them learn from their mistakes rather than constantly standing over them telling them what not to do. Although this does have a downside. Like the time my oldest son decided to try burning a sponge in the bathroom, panicked and then threw it under the sink. He nearly caught the bathroom on fire and destroyed a stack of towels in the process.

When you teach your kids to think for themselves, don't be surprised when they argue with you. Oh boy do I ever know that one. They aren't really arguing, they are just standing up for what they think is right.


Kids need their dad. Even if you hate his guts and visualize a thousand ways of how he could die, let them see their dad. They will eventually see him for what he is. And when they do, try to give them another perspective to mull over. Stress, life, work, being broke, mid-life crisis... try to have them stand in his shoes for a moment. I am blessed that my sons have a good relationship with their dad even though we aren't together. But not every child is so blessed. Remind them of the good things he did or does and let them see the good side too.

I know sometimes it is hard to be mom, especially a single mom. But just remember, you are raising future adults so teach to be like the adults you want to know... not the ones you want to run over with your car... by setting a good example instead of being the good example of what not become.

And hug them often. Even on a horrible day, a hug and "I love you no matter what" can go a long way.