Kelsey's Traumatic Neck Condition
Kelsey came home from school with some friends at lunch, saying that her neck was twitching. I thought it was just a little twitch and she said she was going to take them back to school and then come right home. Well ... by the time she got back it was like she was having seizures. I had never seen anything like it! Her whole right side react -- shoulder moving up, eyes closing, and even a little sound some times! I called the Doctor but they couldn't get her in for an hour and it kept getting worse so Kraig said to just meet him at the emergency room. I was really starting to freak out a bit -- and so was Kelsey!!!!
The Doctor's took one look at her and said she had Torticollis. In her case it was causing acute spasms in the muscle that runs down the side of her neck and into her shoulder on the right side. Because of the pain she would move here neck to the left side to relieve it and that would cause it to pull back and look even worse.
After we found out it wasn't a brain tumor or that she had Turret's syndrome ... we started laughing. It was really kind of funny. They put her on muscle relaxants and the next day we went in for a miraculous treatment where they manipulated the muscle and by the end of the week she was fine. Such a freak thing! Of course we had to take a video to show Jessica! The first one in the hospital when she had her neck laying down isn't quite as bad but the one in the car coming home from the hospital when she is sitting up is awful! We titled it Spaz Girl!
20th Wedding Anniversary
Kraig and I celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary on April 28th! We originally had big plans to go to Paris or someplace with some of his accumulated Flier Miles but with Jessica & Nate's Graduation, Kelsey's Graduation and Girl's Camp happening, that will have to wait for another time. However, my husband surprised me by getting a room at The Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver for the evening.
This spectacular hotel was built in 1892 and every President of the United States has stayed there since Teddy Roosevelt except Calvin Coolidge. It is so beautiful inside and the service was incredible. We even had room service the next morning that was so classy and beautiful.
I loved it and I dearly love my husband of 20 years and 5 days!
They upgraded us to a suite on the corner on the 9th Floor! It was so "sweet" -- we had a view from 3 corners!
These pictures are inside the fabulous lobby. They serve a full "tea" at noon each day.
Had to buy a disposable camera because my battery ran out!
Not very good pictures!
He even bought me roses! What a man!!!
Recipe Club
Our theme for April was "anything layered". I was talking to Jessica about it and she mentioned a Cook Book she saw about "stacking" food. Sooo .... I went online and found the funnest idea on how to "stack" salads. Virtually ANY salad can be stacked using an empty soup can.
I decided on a Chicken-Cobb Salad. It is better to have a couple of ingredients that "stick" so that it holds your stack together. Normally you just place ONE salad on a plate but because it was for a group and I wanted to leave one in the can and show how to serve it, I put three on a plate! It was really fun! To eat it, you just tip it over into the dressing.
First you put dressing on the serving plate and a slice of tomato (the size of your can) on top of that.
Then you make a tube from a large soup can (like Progresso etc.) and cover one end with foil. Then you start layering. I did chicken salad, avocado, crumbled bacon, shredded lettuce, another slice of tomato and at this point I kind of pressed it down ... just a little. Then top that tomato with Bleu Cheese crumbles or Feta, then a slice of hard boiled egg, sliced green onion tops and chives.
Remove the foil and set can on top of the tomato on the serving plate. Push slightly on top of egg and slide the stack out of the can. You then have a really cute "stacked" salad!
I also found the MOST AMAZING thing to use as a drizzle -- because of the 3 stacks on one plate it was a bit too much going on with this one plate, but this stuff is FANTASTIC on salads or for dipping bread.
Rachael Ray's Balsamic Reduction -- yummmie!!!
