Monday, June 30, 2008

Yummy Pasta Salad






My husband would love it if I would cook more often, but working full time, it just don't happen very often anymore. I love to cook, but I have to be in the mood, plus have the time to do it properly ... see, there is the quandary - mood plus time .. doesn't happen at the same time very often anymore for me. This past weekend however, I did have the opportunity to try a new recipe and it was relatively easy - my kind of recipe! It was a layered pasta salad and it was sooo good, we had some left over and it was good on Sunday and tonight - even better to me! Here is the recipe my alterations in italics ... :






Layered Pasta Salad






2 c med shell pasta, cooked and drained (I used about 3/4 of a whole bag)



1 large red onion (I used a small one - not a big fan of uncooked onion)



1 10 oz pkg frozen peas thawed and drained (I threw mine in frozen ...)



1 pkg (6 oz) smoked sandwich ham ( I used about 3/4 lb deli smoked ham)



1/2 cup mayo



1/2 cup ranch dressing (for this part (mayo and ranch) I just eyeballed it and used more than this)



1 cup 3 cheese crumbles (I guess you can buy it like this, I just mixed sharp cheddar, colby jack and med cheddar and mixed in a little of feta cheese)



1 cup halved grape tomatoes






Layer pasta, onion, peas and ham in a clear bowl, set aside



MIX mayo and ranch dressing, spread over salad, top with cheese and tomatoes, cover, refrigerate several hours before serving. (It says to toss before serving, but you should make sure everyone gets to see it first, because it is really pretty and it impresses people :) ...)



Later, Velda

CPAP or NO CPAP

This is the way I was geared up last night ..... I forgot my camera so this shot is off the web.
Last night I went for my sleep study. I was so resentful of even having to do this sleep study, but my surgeon wanted me to rule out my need for a CPAP before my surgery, so off I went. My resentment stemmed from the fact that I have not exhibited any of the typical signs of sleep apnea. I sleep all night, I don't stop breathing, I don't wake up gasping for breath, I wake up rested - most of the time (I do have 3 house dogs, so sometimes ... dogs happen..), I don't nap, except on Sundays, (that is mandatory isn't it), and okay I do snore but not all the time, plus my family doctor and I had discussed it about 2 years ago and he said he really hated to send me over for a sleep study because everyone he has sent has been placed on a CPAP and he was getting less hasty about sending patients because he was leary of the need (I paraphrased his words ...).


Well, sure enough this morning when I was awakened (with at least a hundred wires hanging off my head and 6 or 8 attached to my body), awakened - not for the first time since going to sleep at 10:30 PM the night before, and was told I would be going home with a CPAP. So, I asked - did I stop breathing any --Answer: No; was I snoring heavily, Answer: No, actually did not snore at all, so what was the problem? The only explanation I was given was that I had exhibited a couple of episodes of breathing difficulties. Well, HELLO - surgery in two weeks to hopefully correct this problem. I left the hospital with a CPAP, stewed and stressed until 2:30 PM about it, called my BCBS found out I was going to be responsible for about $700 of this device, got in my car and turned it back in.


Okay, I might have to go back and get it, but not until I hear the actual test results from my doctor; and, given medical reasons from the sleep doctor which will need to be backed up by my surgeon, before that happens. I did email my surgeon, who told me to take it back immediately and not to even think about purchasing a device until he sees the test results himself. I was so impressed, my surgeon actually emailed me. I had actually emailed his nurse to let her know about my sleep study and my surgeon actually responded, I am still in awe of this. I am a paralegal and we pay doctors thousands of dollars to talk to us and still have a hard time getting them to just respond to a letter. So this very quick and unexpected email was a new thing to me.


So CPAP or no CPAP, that is the question. We'll see.


Thursday, June 26, 2008

Starting Again

Okay, I started this blog two years ago because my daughter had one of her and own and it inspired me to start my own ... I thought! One post and I was through. So here I am again, wondering if I have anything to say, will people think I am silly. Silly or not, I am going to give it a go again.







I've got health issues. I have severe airway stenosis. I can hardly breath anymore, and I am scheduled for surgery next month, which I hope will give me significant relief. Right now I sound like Darth Vador from Star Wars when I breath - not a pretty sound. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but not by much. Well, I was just getting into the groove of the "woe is me" "poor pitiful Me" routine of feeling sorry for myself with regard to my health issues, when my husband decides to show me up with his own newly discovered illness! He has been diagnosed with diabetes! I was shocked and surprised and then brought down to earth in regard to my own problems! He has been placed on oral meds and we had to go to a training class today. He is not severe - for which we are grateful - but changes will have to be made to his diet and exercise routines. I hope this will be a good thing for both of us = because I need to make changes too and lose weight, so we will be doing the changing together.







So anyway, as much as I would like for the universe to revolve around me at times, it just doesn't work that way --- and that is most definitely a good thing! God really does know better than that!





Velda