Back to reality

So life can’t be all cruises, towel animals, castles and gorgeous European pastries, which I guess is a good thing because otherwise I don’t think we’d appreciate it when we do get it.  Once home from our trip (and if you missed it, here are the posts:  cruise posts are here, here & here.  Travel posts: Ponta Delgada (Azores), Amsterdam, Malmö, Sweden, Copenhagen day 1, day 2 & day 3 and lastly London) life has been busy as we tried to catch up and get back on schedule. 

Our first day back Maisie couldn’t wait to return to her gymnastics practices but after being away for six weeks, her five hours of practice and conditioning in one day did the poor girl in.  Her long practice plus still having her body on a different time zone made for one tired little girl.  The following day her poor tummy muscles hurt so much that instead of her attending her teammate Aspen’s birthday party, she (and I) ended up spending most of Mother’s Day weekend lounging around and taking lots of naps. 

The following week was filled with more gymnastics practices, lots of doctor appointments for both she and I and also for both of us, we started a series of horseback riding lessons.  I’ll be doing a post about her horseback riding very soon, I just have to get my act and pictures together for that one.  We did have the follow-up appointment for her previous surgery and unfortunately the surgery didn’t help her congestion problem as much as hoped.  The doc decided to throw everything at her medicine wise one last time to see if it could get to the infection before looking at another surgery.  So Maisie was put on oral steroids, a steroid nasal spray, Singular and another 30 days of antibiotic.  The poor girl is currently on her 80th day of stomach-churning antibiotics.  I had hoped that all the medicines would make a difference so that further surgery wouldn’t be needed but poor little Maisie Miao Miao is still congested.  Now we return to the doc in a couple of weeks, they’ll most likely do another CT scan and there may be another surgery.  Not a happy Mama.

Our final two weeks of May were busy and fun with gymnastics, horseback riding, some play dates and time at the pool.  Now that we’re in June we are on summer schedule, the weather is gorgeous, the pool is open and life is good. 

Between Maisie’s surgery and being away, Maisie managed to loose two pounds and she also put on almost 1/2-inch so I have been working on her diet, trying to get more calories in her so that she gains back the weight she lost.  The little thing was back under 40 pounds so she and I made her favorite Baked Meatballs and for a fun snack, Candied Popcorn. 

The Candied Popcorn recipe posted today over on Cook Lisa Cook as it’s Secret Recipe Club reveal day, one of my favorite cooking post days of the month.  Maisie and her friends adored this popcorn and I know that we’ll be making it again and again.  As usual, click on the link or the picture to be taken to the recipe.

Other recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook include: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Aloo Gobi, Mint Lassi, Red Curry Chicken, Lamb Curry, Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing, Baked Egg Cups Two Ways, Thai Peanut Salad, Holy Guacamole, Cantaloupe Agua Fresca, Wallaby Darned, Piggy-Out Cookies, Wicked Good New England Lobster Roll, Long Beans with Garlic, Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad, Grandma’s Teriyaki Steak, Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, Red Chinese Long Beans with Peppers & Red Curry, 24-Layer Crêpe Cake, Fig & Watermelon Salad, Grilled Chèvre & Fig Panini, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad, Grilled Prawns, Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon, Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies, Pesto Pita Pizza, Cilantro Lime Chicken, Nutella Crêpes, Mango, Lime & Chile Spiced Ice Box Pie, Roast Beef & Garlic Herb Cheese Sandwich, Layered Crespelle with Bolognese, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil, Jamaican Jerk Meat Pies, Nutella No Bake Cookies, Velvety Mac & Cheese, Welsh Cakes, Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), Lime Jewels, Southwest Pasta Salad, Walnut Roca Squares, Uncle Bubba’s Shrimp & Grits, Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Copycat “KFC” Coleslaw, Happy 6th Birthday Maisie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, Thin Mint Irish Coffee, Caramel Apples, “Rotisserie” Chicken, Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Mummy Hotdogs, Mango Upside Down Cake, Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens, Aloo Tikki, Pink Strawberry Cake Balls, Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Dumplings, Rum Cured Salmon, Apple, Cranberry & Rhubarb Crisp, Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic Sour Cream, Crunchy Oat, Almond, Cashew & Pebbles Granola Bars, Texas Chicken with Lime Butter, Biscoff Fudge, Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter, Creamed Corn with Cheese and Cilantro, Potato Crusted Pork Chops, Oatmeal, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars, Texas Chicken Sandwich, Seared Scallops with Creamy Pesto & Lemon Pepper Pasta, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Glazed Lemon Squares, Chang-Style Brussels Sprouts, Maisie “safe” No Bake Cookies, Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart, Pork Dumplings with Rice Wrappers, Sweet & Spicy Apple Pork, Dark Chocolate Dipped Candied Lemon Peel, Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites, Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake, Malted Pretzel Crunch, Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing, Apple Pancakes, Baked Egg & Avocado, Health(ier) Peanut Brittle, Crab Cake Stuffed Mushrooms, Broiled Sushi, Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter, Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Slimmed Down Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Baked Meatballs, Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Hearty Sausage, Mushroom & Cheddar Mini Quiche, Strawberry Soup & Chicken Tenders.

Enjoy!