Life in Kansas City

It's been almost 3 months now since my husband had his aortic dissection. He's doing very well, and has just gone back to work full time. I do think we still have a long road ahead with recovery, but hopefully everything will be grand by next summer.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I also want to send our heartfelt thanks to Regretsy, April and all the CF4L members who have been so awesome to us through this difficult time. YOU ROCK!

The rest of settling in though is not going well. Trying to find a pediatrician for my son seems to be out of the question. We randomly picked Dr. Cowden, who is affiliated with Children's Mercy Hospital. When calling them to make a well child exam yesterday, the conversation went like this:
Receptionist: I'm sorry, you can't make an appointment with Dr. Cowden. He's booked and doesn't have time for new patients til January and that schedule isn't out yet.
Me: ok, so what if he gets sick?
Receptionist: well, we do have an urgent care and an ER.

I was livid.

So I asked at the bus stop for recommendations, and got what I thought was a good one - Dr. Cattaneo with Priority Care Pediatrics. I called them today. Here's how that conversation went:
Receptionist: We aren't taking new patients unless they are newborn or a sibling of a current patient.
Me: (in tears) ok, so can you recommend another doctor? I really need to have a doctor for my son.
Receptionist: No, and I'm hanging up on you now because you're upset.

I am beyond livid now, and want nothing more to do with this seemingly ass backwards city. I can't even get flumist for my son here as no one has it. If anyone in the Kansas City area reads this and can recommend a pediatrician (we're up by Zona Rosa) or knows who has flumist, I'd really love that information!

On the bright side, I'm currently planning a trip to California. Actually, planning 2 trips, one by myself and one with the family. My son really misses his friends and can't wait til summer to visit them. Until then he gets to experience a whole different life than we had in California. He met Father Christmas over the weekend...



Happy Thanksgiving!

Scary times..

As I stated in my last blog post, this move has not been easy.

It got worse.

Much worse.

On August 21st, my husband and son went to a cub scout info meeting. On the way home, my husband began to experience possible heart attack symptoms. I rushed him to the hospital, where they determined it wasn't a heart attack.

Instead it was something uncommon - a dissected aorta. He had to have immediate surgery, as a dissected aorta can be fatal - in fact it is most of the time. He was very lucky.

He is currently recovering at the hospital. He's had a couple of setbacks this week, but continues to work towards the goal of coming home and getting back to work.

Since he just started work, he has no vacation or sick pay built up, and we have no income for a while. I had planned to reopen my shop when I had time to retake my photos, change up descriptions and play with SEO stuff. I've decided now is a good time, in case I can make gas or grocery money from my shop. Please share this post with others to help me provide for my son during this very stressful time.

And remember to give extra hugs to your loved ones - you never know what's going to happen.

p.s. I apologize if I don't make much sense - I'm in a state of perpetual exhaustion right now.

First Kansas City post!

We are slowly getting settled in. I won't bore you with details, but it has not been a stress free move nor an easy one...

I am making a few changes to my blog - not only will I talk about my crafting and the happenings of a stay at home mom, but I will be sharing recipes and reviewing local restaurants and activities.

To that end, I'd like to talk about my lunch experience today. I thought it would be nice to have a lunch date with my son. We discussed options, and he decided he wanted Winstead's. They have been around since 1940, and have your typical diner fare.

First of all, they seemed awfully shorthanded. We were brought water, and then we waited for a bit. Colin ordered the grilled cheese sandwich with a side of fries. I ordered the BLT without the cheese. Colin and I chatted about some stuff while I looked around, and hoped he didn't hear all the foul language coming from lawyers at the next table... I spied some fries on the counter - pushed out of the way and forgotten. Soon I saw our sandwiches up there, but no fries. The waitresses kept reaching up over the fries - a couple of times they almost had fries in their armpits! ewwww! In the meantime, a BLT was sent back for not holding the mayo, and a burger was sent back for having cheese... I knew in my gut that this lunch was not going to end well...

So, we finally got our food that had been sitting up there for at least 10 minutes. And guess what fries we got! Yep, the armpit fries!!! eek! I promptly sent them back,and peeked in my sandwich. I had cheese. I opted to scrape it off vs. sending it back, but I did let the waitress know. I personally think it was the kitchen's fault - as it appeared that only one person and the manager were working back there - but the waitress said it was her fault. We ended up getting the fries and BLT of our bill, leaving only the grilled cheese. It was a nice gesture, but I'm not really sure we'll be going back in the near future. There are too many other places around here to eat to have to deal with that.

On the bright side, Colin loved his grilled cheese! And other than being heavy on the mayo and the tomatoes not tasting quite right, mine was ok. The bacon was super crispy, just how I like it. I tasted Colin's new fries and they were pretty tasty. Not greasy and not over salted.

Well, there's my first KC post and first review. I have another review in mind of someplace we went recently - Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque. I want to compare it to my favorite Mongolian bbq in Manhattan Beach, CA, Big Wok.

Changes...

So lots has happened since my last post...

We will be moving back to the Kansas City area in June. Big change for us, since we've been in the Los Angeles area for 11 years now. My son was born here and other than visiting family back there, he has no idea what it will be like. I think he's stressing a bit (not unlike his parents) and I hope I can get him through the last month of school with some sense of normality. Of course, how normal is it to have boxes stacked all over the apartment... ;)

My shop will be deactivated June 1st, so until then I am offering all inventory at half off! Just use coupon code MOVING when you check out. My shop will reopen probably in August, after we get settled. Colin will be starting school mid-August, so I'll have lots of time to create new items! I have lots of ideas.. can't wait to share them with you!

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's been a crazy day! A crazy week, actually! My son's first grade class is doing the Nutcracker (the play, not the ballet) on Friday. Today was dress rehearsal, and they did very well! I need to finish up some hats for the costumes, but it's all coming together...

And as promised, I went to random.org to pick a giveaway winner. I had 14 entries between comments here, on my Facebook fan page and Twitter. The website randomly picked #7, which is Ann! Check out her shops on Etsy... she's very talented! I linked to only one of her shops, but she has 3 others, and they can be found by clicking "read more" on her shop announcement. Congrats, Ann!

Ok, that's it for now. I have a new year's resolution already, and that is to blog at least twice a week. One post will be about what I'm up to in my shops and life in general, and the other post will be featuring some other lovely Etsians. If I don't get back here before the new year, have a Happy Christmas and a terrific new year!

It's the busiest time of the year...

I don't know about you, but I have so busy lately! Making gifts, trips to the post office, baking, and making costumes and sets for my son's 1st grade play has kept me out of trouble! Downside is there has not been much "me" time...

That changes Wednesday when my birthday rolls around again. The best gift I can give myself this year is a day of down time. :)

You are invited to celebrate my birthday with me by entering to win my giveaway:



This is a stretchy bracelet, in the European 4 in 1 chainmaille weave. It has little silicone rings matched with aluminum rings. It is very lightweight - many people who own this cuff say they don't even notice it's on.

So, how to win? Simply go to my shop at http://RedBessBonney.etsy.com, pick your favorite item and come back here to post it in the comments. Here's how you can get two extra entries. You can follow me on Twitter and RT this giveaway. Be sure to @RedBessBonney so I know to add an entry for you. You can also like Red Bess Bonney Creations on Facebook, and leave a comment for me. On December 15th, I will use random.org to pick the winner. Once your address is confirmed, I will ship the bracelet out.

Ok, so go enter! :)

Zombie Dinner!

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures last night...

But I made the most fun dinner!

It was actually a baked ziti with cauliflower. My husband commented it looked like brains. I got to thinking that if you substitute spaghetti for the ziti, that it would be an awesome zombie meal of bloody brains and veins...

Here's the recipe:

8 - 10 oz spaghetti
1 head cauliflower, cut up
1 T olive oil
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 T fresh shredded basil, or 2 t dried basil
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 c mozzarella

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan according to the package directions. After draining, return spaghetti to the saucepan.

3. Meanwhile, toss the cauliflower, oil, salt and pepper together on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring once, until golden brown and tender, about 20 minutes. Stir basil and tomatoes into cauliflower and bake 10 minutes longer.

4. Add the cauliflower mixture to the spaghetti and stir well. Put the mixture in a casserole or baking dish. Top with mozzarella. Bake until cheese browns and bubbles, about 5 minutes.

This recipe originally came from the Cook Yourself Thin website, and makes 4 servings at 310 calories each. And it's vegetarian!

Tips: Feel free to play around with seasonings - make it to your taste! Add garlic to keep away the vampires.. ;)