65 Roses Tattoo!!!

I finally started my newest tattoo and it is simply amazing! Jen Davis, the most talented tattooist around, is doing this one and I am so excited to be under her needle again. Jen has done a couple of my other tattoos, the lilies on my feet

and my white trash tattoo on my leg.


I've always felt that my tattoos, no matter how cute, silly, or odd are a representation of where I am at that time in my life. When I am old I want to be able to "read" my body and remember what an amazing ride this has been. So with that in mind, Paul and I talked about it, I threw a few ideas out, and we agreed that it was time to start my 65 Roses Tattoo.

A little background. I think everyone knows that my husband Paul has Cystic Fibrosis. And most folks know that I work for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as a Director of Special Events. So my whole life is CF...all the time! It really has been since I started dating Paul 13 years ago, but now that I work for the Foundation it is on my mind even more, though I hadn't thought that was possible.

There isn't a waking moment of my life that isn't consumed with a thought about CF. Did Paul refill his prescriptions? Is Paul coughing more than usual? How is my friend with CF doing in the hospital? How is my friend with CF doing with all the snow? Has the FDA looked at VX 809 again yet? Should I look into a live band for the walk in HB? Will I get the permits from the city for the new Long Beach walk? Can I meet my $750,000 fundraising budget this year? Have the latest lab results come back for Paul? How did my little 7-year old friend with CF do with her last surgery? She is such a trooper! What will the brand new CF mom tell me when she calls back, what is her CF story? Is that amazing young woman with CF still with us, or did she already pass away? Why didn't her body accept her new lungs? Will that happen to Paul someday? What will I do if I lost Paul?

Okay, so you get that CF is a large part of my life, but where do the roses come in? Read on, the first time I heard this story I knew I would have a rose tattoo...I just didn't know how many roses I would end up with!

"65 Roses" is what some children with cystic fibrosis (CF) call their disease because the words are much easier for them to pronounce.

Mary G. Weiss became a volunteer for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 1965 after learning that her three little boys had CF. Her duty was to call every civic club, social and service organization seeking financial support for CF research. Mary's 4-year-old son, Richard, listened closely to his mother as she made each call.

The Weiss brothers, Richard, 5; Arthur, 7 and Anthony, 16 months.After several calls, Richard came into the room and told his Mom, "I know what you are working for." Mary was dumbstruck because Richard did not know what she was doing, nor did he know that he had cystic fibrosis. With some trepidation, Mary asked, "What am I working for, Richard?" He answered, "You are working for 65 Roses." Mary was speechless.

He could not see the tears running down Mary's cheeks as she stammered, "Yes Richard, I'm working for 65 Roses."

Since 1965, the term "65 Roses" has been used by children of all ages to describe their disease. But, making it easier to say does not make CF any easier to live with. The "65 Roses" story has captured the hearts and emotions of all who have heard it. The rose, appropriately the ancient symbol of love, has become a symbol of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.



So Paul and Jen and I sat down and talked about it and decided on 65 roses on my left leg. Not the words 65 Roses, not a rose or two and then something abstract...65 whole, individual roses on my leg. When I called the tattoo shop to book the first appointment, I asked Jen how many hours the whole thing would take. I thought she was joking when she said 100 hours. She wasn't! So last month I sat for the first of MANY appointment and I have 2 roses! I go back this Friday for a few more.

Here they are, Rose #1

and Rose #2!


Check back this weekend for the newest roses! A few very special roses will be "in honor" of some very special people that I know and love with CF. Will YOU be the next rose I get?

What happened to my dad??

A couple weeks ago, on Tuesday, January 26th at 9:00am, I got a call from my step mom. It was a call that I have always feared...my dad had a heart attack and was being taken from his tiny hospital in Twentynine Palms to the large hospital in Palm Springs. By ambulance...

It was such a horrible phone call. I was at work and started crying uncontrollably. Paul had to come get me and we ran straight to Palm Springs. It was a nightmare. Below is the email that I put together for my stepmom, we were comparing notes afterwards to find out what went wrong.

Tuesday

In the ER, the nurse, Jessica, told us that Dad would be sent to the ICU while he waited for his cath, since he was on Nitro and he had to be in the ER or ICU on a Nitro drip. After a few hours, Jessica told us that she was trying to get him into the cath lab, but that they couldn't take him until 5:00 pm so she was going to send him to telemetry until then. I think that is when his Nitro drip was stopped.

Dad was moved to Telemetry and they came to get him for the cath around 4:45pm. Around 5:30pm, Dr. Rao came into the cath lab waiting room and told us that Dad had several major vessels that were 70%-90% blocked and that his right coronary artery was 99% blocked. Since he had so many vessel involved, Dr. Rao said that Dad needed a triple bypass in the morning. Sean, the cath lab manager, walked back to telemetry with us and said that Dad would see Dr. Habibipour between 8:00 am and 9:00 am to discuss the surgery and since they had a light schedule he would probably be operated on wednesday morning or afternoon at the latest, that Dr. Habibipour does 2 bypass surgeries a day.

Wednesday

Morning came and went, I got there around 10:00 am and no one had been in to talk about anything. At 10:30 am we started asking the nurses to page Dr. Rao and Dr. Habibipour to find out what was going on. A case manager was on the floor and called the Operating Room and told us that the OR said that dad was tentatively on the schedule for thursday. He was still NPO at this time.

At 12:00 noon, after 3 pages for Dr. Habibipour and 2 for Dr. Rao, Dr. Rao came in and didn't tell us anything. He said that Dad needed surgery and that it was up to Dr. Habibipour when he would have it, but that he thought it would be thursday and that Dr. Habibipour would be in shortly to talk to us. I asked Dr. Rao if dad needed to be back on Nitro until the surgery and Dr. Rao did not answer me. I asked Dr. Rao if Dad could eat, since he wasn't having surgery. He said that he had tole the nurses at 11:00 am that he could eat. Dad still had the NOP sign on his door and Dr. Rao took it down.

5 minutes later Dr. Habibipour came in and explained bypass and all the risks. He said that he was going to operate at 7:00 am on Thursday morning. I asked if Dad should be back on Nitro until surgery and Dr. Habibipour said that was up to Dr. Rao.

The day passed uneventfully, I asked the nurse, Maria, if Dad should be back on Nitro and she asked if he was having any chest pain. He wasn't, so she said no.

I left the hospital around 6:30 to find a hotel and get some toiletries. I called Dad at 7:30pm to tell him where I was and say good night. He told me that he was having chest pain and that they were going to take him up to the ICU. After talking to him, I called the nurses station back to get their version of what was going on, figuring Dad didn't want to worry me. I spoke to his night nurse, Tristan, who told me that they were taking Dad up to ICU. I asked Tristan if that was normal right before someone had bypass surgery and he told me that he was new and didn't really know. I hung up.

5 minutes later, Maria (Dad's day nurse) called me and said that Dad was having chest pains and that they had to take him back into the cath lab right away because the nitro pills weren't working and that after that he'd be int he Cardiac ICU. She said that I might want to come back.
I arrived back at the hospital at 8:10pm and Dad was being wheeled into the cath lab. He had the portable EKG machine onhis bed and he was in Vtach the whole way. I asked Maria if this was normal and she said not really, that his EKGs had been all over the place the last couple hours.

Dr. Himelman came in and introduced himself to me, and said that Dr. Rao was out of town so he was going to do the cath. He told me that understood that Dad was scheduled to have bypass in the morning and he was going to try to open the blocked vessel with the balloon, but if he couldn't, he would have to stent and Dad couldn't have bypass for a couple months.
8:30pm they took Dad into the cath lab. At 9:45pm Dr. Himelman came out and said that he had to put 4 stents in to open the vessel and gave me a picture of the before and after. He told me that because of that it would be at least 4 months before Dad could have bypass.

I asked him if he would answer a couple of questions. He said that he would rather not. I asked him if this all could have been prevented if they had kept Dad on Nitro all day. He said that he didn't want to answer that. I asked if he felt that they should have done the bypass that day. He said that he was uncomfortable answering my questions, and that Dad wasn't his patient, that I needed to talk to Dr. Rao. He started to walk out of the room and I followed him and asked him who I should talk to if I felt that Dr. Rao wasn't acting in my Dad's best interests. He said that he didn't want to answer that and walked away.

10 minutes later they let me go into the cath lab to see Dad. I told one of the nurses that I felt that this was Dr. Rao's fault for not acting quickly enough and not keeping Dad on Nitro. She told me that Dad might have died on the table if they had tried to bypass that day. I might have told her to shut up...I wasn't really in a very good place at this point.

We got up to the Cardiac ICU around 11:00pm and the nurses got Dad settled quickly. Noticing that I was quite upset, they calmed me down and told me that things happen for a reason, that maybe bypass wouldn't have been a good thing, if Dad's heart was too weak. One of the nurses said that sometimes they will wait 2 days after a heart attack to do bypass to see if the heart can handle it. They got Dad comfortable and I went back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Thursday I got the hospital at 8:00am, just as Dr. Habibpour was walking in to see Dad. He asked what had happened, and said that no one had cancelled the surgery and he had a team up from San Diego. He was unhappy about the miscommunication. He said that because of the stents, Dad had to be on Plavix and he couldn't operate while he was on it. He said that it would be 4-6 months before he could have a bypass. I asked if Dad's other vessels would make it that long and he said I had to ask Dr. Rao. I asked if he felt that the stents would cause any problems with the bypass in the future and he said no.

I wasn't in the room when Dr. Rao came in.

Saturday

Dr. Scott, Dr. Rao's assistant, came in to discharge Dad. He gave all the prescription and aftercare instructions and said that Dad would be on Plavix for a year, that he had to in order to keep the stents open.

Wednesday night, when I was alone in the Cath Lab waiting room, was the lowest moment of my life. I thought my dad was going to die and I was there all by myself. If it wasn't for my friends who were texting me the whole time, I think I would have lost my mind.

Here we are. almost 3 weeks later and Dad is doing well. I had lunch with him this weekend and he looks good. He went home after they released him and started following the instructions for a healthy diet and exercise program. He has lost 14 pounds already and is hoping to get his arteries in such good shape that they don't have to do bypass.

When we were at lunch, he got a call from case manager at the hospital. They are doing a "risk management review" of his case because we are still questioning why he had the second heart attack. Hopefully we will find out that they did everything they could and there is no premanent damage to him.

My poor, neglected blog...

I know that this would happen, I haven't posted anything here in months. So much stuff going on...where to start? I am still baking and working my way up to making a wedding cake in the fall for a couple of dear friends. It will be a 4 tier Nightmare Before Christmas themed cake that hopefully looks like this:

I took another cake decoarting class and am looking forward to 2 fondant classes coming up soon so I can really get the techniques down.

Since I posted last, I have made a couple other cakes for friends and family...

This is a cake I made for the family Christmas dinner, it was 4 layers of white cake with a mocha mouse filling and homemade marshmallow fondant covering it.

And this was a birthday cake for our good friend, Chris. His wife SPECIFICALLY requested this, so before anyone tells me how horribly inappropriate it is...it wasn't my idea. Not that I had any problem making it!!

And just today a friend asked about a Hello Kitty cake for her daughter's birthday! I am excited to make that one, I love Hello Kitty!

Reviews and recipes!

Well I finally remembered that I had a blog to talk to!

So a review on the recipes I posted last...the mushrooms were awesome! I have made them a couple more times and they are easy, quick and delicious. They would be perfect as an appetizer or a main course, if you did them with a large portabella.

The risotto...I don't know if I did it right. Truth is, I have never had a risotto I didn't make, so I am not sure what it's supposed to taste like, or what the texture is supposed to be. The risotto was tasty, but I don't think I'd spend the time again on it.

On to more recipes! I get asked for some of my recipes often, so I thought I would post them here for easy access for anyone interested!

The first is Mac & Cheese - with a warning...this is not health food. It's really, really good though!


1 lb large elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions and drained
6 oz Velveeta Cheese
1/2 lb each of Fontina cheese, Asiago cheese, Gruyere cheese, Monterrey Jack cheese, all shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground mustard powder
1/3 cup milk

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.

Cook the macaroni according to the package instructions and drain. Put the pot back on the heat, turned to low and add Velveeta to the pot. As it starts to melt, stir in milk, salt, pepper and mustard. Add the macaroni back in and continue to stir until the Velveeta is almost all melted.

Add all of the shredded cheeses and continue to stir until it is all melty and fabulous.

Pour this into a baking dish, 9x13, and cover with the Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 35-45 minutes, until it's all golden and bubbly. Enjoy!

*for an easy cheat that is still tasty, but not quite as good, skip all the fancy cheeses and just throw in a big bag of pre-shredded cheese blend from the grocery store.

Paul's Favorite Jambalaya

I make this at least a couple times a month for Paul. It makes a huge batch and he eats it, 3 meals a day, until it's gone.

6 Tbl olive oil, divided
salt & pepper
1 lb smoked sausage, diced - I use a smoked turkey sausage
4 stalks celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 green peppers, diced
1 onion, diced (this is how I trick Paul into eating vegetables...)
5 cloves garlic, minced fine
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small cubes
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 quart chicken stock (I really like the Wolfgang Puck stock, others don't seem as flavorful)
2 cups white rice, uncooked
1 Tbl ground cumin
1 Tbl ground corriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it hot)

Heat 4 Tbl of the oilve oil in a large pot. Add the diced sausage and cook it until it's browned. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sausage, leaving all the oil.

Add all of the vegetables, season with salt & pepper. Cook over medium heat until the veggies are softened, about 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove all the veggies.

Put the rest of the oilve oil in the pot and get it really hot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and throw it into the hot oil. Stir constantly until the chicken is cooked.

Add the can of diced tomatoes, in their juice, into the pot with the chicken. Add the stock and all the spices, stir well. Add back in the sausage and veggies and bring to a boil.

Stir in the uncooked rice and reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer. Stir every 5-7 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving. Eat for a week!

Dinner plans...

I went to Costco last week and bought a 2 lb jar of Sun-Dried Tomatoes. This was one of those typical Costco purchases...I don't have ANY need for that many sun-dried tomatoes, but it was $7.99 and I usually pay $4.99 for 6 oz. You do the math, I HAD to buy these.

Now I HAVE to use these! I googled and came up with two recipes that I actually have all the ingredients for, so I am going to give these a try for dinner tonight:

Mushrooms Stuffed With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1/2 oz dried tomatoes in oil, oil drained
18 white mushrooms, stems pulled out and chopped fine and caps reserved
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon water, broth, stock, wine, whatever liquid you think sounds good
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crumbled
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Lay mushroom caps, stems removed, face down on baking sheet either lightly sprayed with cooking spray or parchment paper. Bake them approximately 10 minutes, or until their liquid puddles underneath. Remove from the oven. Carefully pour off liquid that has gathered in the bottom of the pan, and then again, carefully, turn mushroom caps over so they are ready to be filled.

In a small skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook chopped mushrooms stems, shallots and garlic, stirring until shallots are softened.

In a bowl stir together mushrooms mixture, bread crumbs, tomatoes, liquid of your choosing, yolk, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mound stuffing in reserved mushroom caps and arrange caps in a lightly greased shallow baking dish, or the same parchment-lined pan you’ve roasted your mushrooms in.

Sprinkle mushrooms with Parmesan and bake in middle of oven 15 minutes.

Makes 18 hors d’oeuvres.

Risotto with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

5 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, bring the vegetable stock to a simmer. While the stock is heating, drain the sun-dried tomatoes and reserve the oil.

Chop the tomatoes coarsely and set them aside.

In a large frying pan, warm 2 tablespoons of oil from the tomatoes, add onion and saute until translucent; about 6 minutes.

Add rice to the frying pan and stir until white spots appear in the center of the grains; about 1 minute. Spoon a ladleful of vegetable stock into the frying pan and cook the mixture on low until all the stock is absorbed; about 2 minutes. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time until the rice is tender and the mixture is creamy, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Add the Parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil from the tomatoes, chopped basil, and salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.

Assuming I don't burn down the house, or lose interest the minute I see something shiny, I should have some opinions to share with you the next time I remember that I have a blog...

Can someone please explain this to me?

Twice now I have been driving and seen someone wearing these...for lack of a better term, "arm pants". I need to know what they are, but more importantly, WHY??

It's not the best picture, but the woman in it is wearing a short sleeved blouse and these things on her arms that cover her from where her shirt stops all the way down, and over, her fingers. They look well made, pretty fabric and even some lace was used.

It can't be because she is cold, it's 95 out today. If it's for protection from the sun, the glass windows in her car already provide UV protection. Is it a new fashion? I am perplexed.

Baking madness

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law asked me to make the cake for my nephew's birthday. He was turning 6 and had been deemed old enough to see Star Wars for the first time. My mother-in-law had the R2D2 cake pan she used for my husband when he was a kid, so she loaned it to me. That sparked a frenzy of cake making that has gotten a bit out of control. Here are the cakes from the last couple weeks.


The R2D2 cake that started it all...




















A "practice" cake I made for a friend's birthday
















Cake I made for my step-sister's going away BBQ before her deployment to Afghanistan
















And the most recent cake, for Colleen's birthday!