Hodgepodge Dinner Night and a Soapbox.

Yesterday I picked up the kids and we got home at about 1:30. It was a beautiful day and I was looking forward to doing some organizing. (Why? We have a realtor coming next week to check out our house as we THINK we are ready to put it on the market....maybe.) I was getting Cohen ready for his nap and it hit...A MIGRAINE!! ICK. It starts with impaired vision...let me rephrase that, I GO BLIND! Then I lose feeling in my face and arms. Next comes blinding pain that lasts a few hours. During this entire attack, I find it very difficult to make complete sentences which is pretty scary to me. I was told last week that it isn't all that common for that to happen, but wasn't entirely impossible...I think I am going to get a second opinion on that one! Then the whipped cream and cherry on top...the hangover. Yes, for about 24 hours after, I have a migraine hangover. A dull headache that just lingers. Of course I went to Walgreens last night to pick up the new prescription for these headaches only to find that it had not been called in. Oh well, the damage was done. I didn't really want to cook and we had ordered pizza the night before so I decided to let everyone pick stuff out of the fridge for dinner. Here's what we picked.

The kids picked salad with ranch, leftover pasta, mandarin orange salad, fresh pineapple and strawberries and deviled eggs. (made from our Easter eggs!)

Easter eggs...pre deviled. huh, that sounds weird.

I had a salad with strawberries, pineapple, pine nuts and strawberry vinaigrette dressing.

Big Daddy had leftover pizza.

I have thought a lot lately about how truly blessed we are. Not only do we have enough for a meal one night, but we have enough left over to feed us the next night too! I am able to go to the store once a week and buy a BOUNTY of fresh fruit and veggies. There are people that may never have that experience. It's humbling to say the least. I dig through piles of leftovers for lunch while there are people who wait all day for scraps. My children do not know what it is like to go hungry and I PRAISE GOD that I have never had to tell them that I can't fill their little bellies. When Claire starts kindergarten in the fall, she will be wearing new clean clothes. She will have eaten something for breakfast when she is dropped off (lunch or lunch money in tow) and she will have a snack waiting after school. She will then have a nutritious dinner and then have her bath. To me, this is how it is supposed to be...it's the way I was raised. However, SO many kids RIGHT HERE in my own town will show up to school in dirty clothes or clothes that don't fit. They may not have a coat or have been bathed in days. School is often the only place these children eat lunch. Can you imagine trying to blend in...let alone concentrate and LEARN? I am a firm believer in helping our neighbors. I have never been on a mission to another country...and as long as I have children who depend on me, I never will. Not when there are so many children here who need my help. I have found a few ways that I can help. The first is Care to Learn which I just recently learned about. The commercial caught my eye because one of the teens that speaks on it is Cohen's FAVORITE Lady Chief, Miss Maddi. Another familiar face is Doug Pitt, Brad's brother. I listened and then went to their website.

Their mission statement: Care To Learn provides immediate funding and action to meet any emergent health - hunger - hygiene issue a child might have; addressing a physical need, restoring respect, and getting that child back in the classroom.

Uh HECK YEAH!!! Where do I sign??

Another one of my favorites that I have done in the past and plan to do again this year is the United Way Backpack Program. For less than $25.00 a month, I can send a backpack home with a child every weekend filled with non-perishable and easy to open foods. It's really the least I can do. Just thought I'd throw those sites out for you in case you feel led! For some people it's AIDS in Africa and others it's the rain forests. For me, it's children in my own community who are hungry. It hurts my heart.

WHew! That was heavy!!!