Kelly's Korner: March 2009

Actually it started Friday....Jack had a dentist appointment. He was actually excited about going believe it or not.
We got in and they took us back so he could get xrays. That went pretty smooth. Then back to the dreaded 'chair'..with the ringing of drills and strange smells wafting through the whole place..I shuttered...This place by far makes me weak in the knees...I loathe the dentist...even though it has been eons since I came for a check. If and when I do go I will need to be fully drugged and out of it before I let any one fondle my mouth....
The tech was super nice to little man, and kept asking Jack questions. Jack apparently was speechless and responded with a funny grin, baring all his teeth. I had told him the dentist would want to see all his teeth and that is the only thing that stuck..lol.
While she was cleaning his the teeth, the dentist approached us and stuck the xray film in the thing..(not sure what it is called, but you know what I am talking about..that white thing with the light to check out the xray..) I was watching her..closely..and she kept writing stuff down, then looking at the film, then writing more stuff. She then pauses, looks at me with creepy, shifty eyes, I smile politely and she sneers, turns back to writing. Hmm..that was weird.
Then she looks at me and informs me that Jack has cavities.
"Oh" that is the only thing I muttered..because I thought it was weird for him to have any. He brushes 2x a day..no candy, no soda..and look at Lily..she went to the dentist for the first time when she was 9 and had no cavities.
Then she says not only does he have cavities..but 6 of those little buggers!
I practically choked on my gum.
After regaining my composer...
"WTF?"
Well I didn't really say that but I am presuming by the look on my face, she knew I was completely baffled.
Apparently he has cavities in between teeth, which means that the two teeth will be affected.
Crap.
I asked why they would have to be filled since they were his baby teeth, they are gonna fall out anyway.
Well true, but it will go up into the nerve and to the root she says.
Crap.
They didn't do it then..I wasn't prepared and Jack obviously wasn't either.
Unfortunately, we will be frequenting that wretched office again. Sooner than later.
And if that wasn't bad enough..to top that off Lily had to go to ER on Friday.
Thursday Justin and I were watching a movie while the kids were playing in the backyard. Lily comes in screaming because there is something in her eye. I flush her eye with water and there is a small eyelash in the corner, so I was able to get that out. Whew..that's all it was.
Boy, was I so wrong. She continued to cry..like all night..and finally she stopped when she fell asleep.
I told her if her eye still hurt then she could call me from school and I would come pick her up.
That morning..(after Jacks dental disaster) I was at a friends house..we were going to work out. No less than 5 minutes after I arrive there, the school is calling my cellphone. I go get her and bring her home and immediately call Kaiser. I told them the whole ordeal and tell them her eye is burning and her vision is blurry.
The told me a nurse would call me back in 2 hours.
Whatever..
So we waited and waited..and at exactly the 2 hour mark the phone rings and its the kaiser nurse. She lets me know that any eye issues need to be sent directly to ER..that they won't even take them in the pediatric office.
I was so mad..they couldn't tell me that 2 freaking hours ago?
I get the kids and off we go. I drop Jack off at Justin's office and Lily and I head to the ER.
It was my worse nightmare. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a germophobic hypochondriac...and this is the wrong place to come.
There were countless bloody folks...I counted 4 people with barf buckets and old people moaning. There were about 50 people in there. We found 2 seats in the corner. And there we sat for 3 hours.
Finally they call us and off we went. The nurse was really nice, and he was making jokes with Lily.
We went into 'the eye room' and sat and waited for the doctor..for another 35 minutes. He came in and immediately started some procedures...He did some stain thing and then had her look in this big black eye machine..(sorry folks, I don't know the correct medical terminology) and he did find that she had a very small corneal laceration. Those usually heal on there own in a few days and he wrote a rx for eye drops for pain.
Four hours and $110 later we stopped and grabbed some dinner and went home. I was already 1 1/2 hours late for work.
And wouldn't you know, after that she never once cried or complained about her eye..and to top it off, we never even used the eye drops.

This was super good...

The sweetness of the cornbread and the savory spiciness of the chili was fantastic....

First up...

Using a cast iron skillet, brown up one pound of ground turkey...drain

In a a bowl combine the turkey, 15ounces of canned chili, some fresh garlic and 1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning..(I however realized at this point that I didn't have this particular spice, so I improvised and threw in some paprika, cumin and black pepper..not sure if that's whats in Cajun...but I was too lazy to research it on the computer)

Next.... slice one green and red bell pepper into rings...for a total of 12 rings..(six each color).

Arrange the pepper rings in the cast iron skillet in a circular pattern, overlapping them

Chop up some onion and put that over the pepper.

Now put the turkey mixture over the pepper and onions in the skillet.

In another bowl combine 2 8.5 packages of corn bread mix..

3 eggs, 1/2 cup of water, and 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese..Mix well. Add in some more Cajun season (if you have it) to the corn bread mixture.