Category: Health

It’s About that Time of Year, is it?

Well, Jeremy came home with a bit of a cough about a week ago, and then it seemed to spread to Siah and then the girls started coughing…

I figured that it would pass in a few days and all would be fine.

Well, either it was a wicked little bug with some severe staying power or it just weakened our immune systems just enough for it’s friend “THE ALMIGHTY NASTY POWERFUL COLD” to move on in.

My mother-in-law was down for the count yesterday, but whatever she’s got is different from what I’ve got.  And I don’t think that I could have picked it up that fast from her anyway….you know with incubating periods and all….the little buggers have got to have some time to spawn….or something like that.

Anyway, so I’m full of snot and I have a bit of a cough but it’s mostly just in my throat…..there is no real chest involvement going on over here…..just lots and lots and lots of snot.

YUCK!

So, I’m pounding back the Vitamin C and drinking an entire ocean load of hot lemon water and if I feel like partying it up real hard, we might throw a little homeopathic remedy or two around – you know, just to keep it interesting.

The problem is…..I really am supposed to be working today.  I got stuff to do and books to cook and well, I’m just trying to figure out what is really important and what I can just put off for another day.  Oh so much fun!

What I want from you – my dear sweet Internet friends – is your best cough/cold remedy.

You know, the one that you use when you feel like crap?  Or maybe it’s the one that crazy Aunt Maude started pushing on your family 60 years ago and no one can explain why or how, but it really does work?  Or the one that Uncle Harry brought home from the war and claims that it saved him and an entire Amy Hospital from dying?  Or the one that your best friends mother uses and you have to avoid the house for 3 days because it smells so bad – but she claims it really works?

Ya know…..just help a girl out over here and in return…..

Here’s a cruddy first morning picture of me just crawled outta bed, no make up, one snot drip away from needing a fresh tissue…..I’m feeling really yummy here.

sick

Happy New Year Y’all

Alright, so did ya party it up? I hope so….

Me??? I hung out with Jon and Chris and we ate steak and crab legs and “Wii’d” it until approximately 11:30ish and then I tidied the kitchen….’cause I’m a party animal like that….it was AWESOME! Let me tell you…

And now..now, here we are 4 days into the New Year, and well…..there are some big changes that have happened and some more big ones still to come.

Jon and I are now on staff at the Life Center in Vancouver. At this point that means an hour’s commute….doesn’t that sound SO TOTALLY AWESOME!

We had our first day today and we had to leave the house by 8am and we didn’t get home until after 4pm. That was a LOOOOOOOONG day for us and it felt even longer for the kids.

We’ve been throwing around the idea of moving – not really “if” we would move, but more along the lines of “when” we should move…..tonight after dinner, the girls were talking and mentioning how LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG the day was and how if this was going to be “normal” then we should probably move in sooner rather than later.

We’ve been talking about staying put until the kids are finished school in June…..BUT….that’s 6 freaking months away and I might be just a little bit insane at that point…not to mention that I thrive on highly effective uses of time and energy and the thought of 2 hours of driving in a day just about kills me….fortunately we have decent phone plans and can make somewhat effective use the time so it’s not a COMPLETE waste…but still….it’s definately not the most effective use of time and energy and it makes me cringe a little…well…..a alot….so…..(you lik my use of periods there….it just means that I’m pausing in my thinking – work with me……’mkay?) we obviously have some thinking and forward planning to do.

So, ya…..well….Jon is still working doing Web Design and we have some planning and organizing and some decisions to make about that too…what to do? What to do? What to do?

It will all work out, but…….like my children who are still awake even though they were sent to bed 2.5 hours ago because they too are reeling a bit by all the change and tying to sort out what that means to them and how it will affect them – I am also trying to work out how this will all play itslf out. It’s a bit messier than I’d like. I don’t mean that it’s a messy situation, but that I like things neat and structured and this is a bit more of a fluid situation and I “get” to learn how to function within the fluidity….it’s a good challange for me and I like challenges…right?…..sure I do?

I will probably be working my thoughts out a bit in between all the other mindless drivel that I spew on you and so I welcome you along for the ride. It’s going to be fun and I have to say that for all my apprehension about the unknown, I know that its going to be good and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out and to seeing where we are at in a few months.

So, that was my big New Years excitement….how about you?

Oh, I almost forgot….I am also a part of a Biggest Loser Challenge and so I’ll be moaning about weight loss over the next 3 months…and that should also be AWESOME!

Hey! How YOU Doing?

Alright, so it’s been an amazing week of barf, diarrhea, diarrhea, and more diarrhea.

And you, How’ve things been for you?

I bet my week trumps your week, no?

On top of all that “fun-ness”, I reluctantly kept both Xandra and Jeremy home from school as school policy states that “your child should be 24 hours diarrhea-free” before you send their germ-y goodness back to class.

Let me just say that I so appreciate the teachers. Jeremy’s teacher in particular, but Xandra is a whole fun ball of emotional energy in her own special way, as well.

Now, it’s not entirely fair in that I get Jeremy “med-free” and we dope him heavily before we send him off to lay siege on his classroom, to war, to school.

I must explain…..well, actually – I really don’t have to, but I want to….because if me and my situation can in any way help you to understand some child and their parent better or to help you to give just a little extra grace to “that child” in church or at the mall or heck, even in your own family, or even if you just walk away and say “THANK GOD THAT’S NOT ME HAVING TO DEAL WITH ALL THAT” I think I might understand how or why that poor mom looks like hell so frazzled, nope I won’t ask her to bake 4 dozen cookies to bring to the “troop” meeting tomorrow night…..then my work here is done.

At this point, I’m actually just giong to go ahead and see if I can use a world record amount of punctuation marks, quotation marks and such in this post……

I choose to joke and laugh about the situation that we are in, mostly because I like to. I like to find the humor in things and well, in our family, there is a lot of humor to be found.

I can either choose to be angry about what’s going on and get all controlled and then get even more angry when “it” (life) doesn’t fit into my perfect little controlled scheme OOOOOOOOOORRRRR, I can laugh, and just kinda “Flow with it”.

I will honestly admit that I’ve been WAY more of a angry controlled type person for a lot of my life….not that I’ve had tons to be angry about, but the whole cycle of FEAR leading into CONTROL, leading into CHAOS, which makes us ANGRY mostly because we are full of FEAR, which cycles us right back into CONTROL and well….you can see how the cycle keeps on going, eh?

I’ve changed (some) over the past 3-4 years and it’s not been without counselling, but it has definately been for the better and not for the worse.

Okay, Back to my most wonderful son…..

Life with Jeremy is SO MUCH STINKING WORK!

It’s so true. Yesterday, after 2 days of being at home “med-free” I dosed him up. He was absolutely “pinging” off of everything. I had yelled at him lovingly helped him to understand the error of his ways, many, many MANY times, and this was all before 9am. Can you see how the day was shaping up to be a really awesome day?

So I did. I gave him some Ritalin, and even though it took a bit to kick it – yesterday was a pretty pleasant day….sort of. See, there is a HUGE sliding scale of what “pleasant” means. In my world, if nothing gets majorly burnt, irrepairably destroyed, no one gets seriously hurt, and there are no major screaming tear filled melt downs – then I consider it pleasant.

Did you notice all those adjectives in front of those words….yah…that there is the kicker. On a normal day….at that stuff still happens, but if we can “fix” the situation then I consider it to all be succesful.

Man, I’m tired!

I’m sure this post must be winning some award for the longest, worst punctuated, most run on sentances and poor grammer, but really…this is just how it is. Life is messy. My life might be messier than some, and less messier than others. But….this is my life, and I’m okay with it. Tired, but okay.

Okay, so I gave Jeremy some Ritalin….that’s where we were, right, and like I said, the day was okay.

The thing is…..I wonder sometimes…..I wonder what J would be like if he didn’t have ADD/ADHD. Would he be like he was yesterday? He was more subdued than normal. He worked his butt off helping around the house. He cleaned the TV room, he set the table, he wante to do the after supper dishes, he vaccumed, he cleaned his own room (and it looked like a nuclear bomb went off in there before), he got his pyjamas on without being asked, he packed his bag for the next day, he brushed his teeth and he got into his bed to “try” to go to sleep…..and then at 10:30pm he came out crying because he had been trying so hard to go to sleep and he just couldn’t….and that broke my heart.

This kid doesn’t sleep. It’s awful. I wonder if half his problem isn’t that he’s just sleep deprived. I don’t know what to do about that…but that’s a tangent….

He did all that stuff……NORMALLY….he would have ignored that mess and those responsibilites and created the worlds largest human-made spider web in the front room with my most favorite and most expensive ball of wool, and then would have been reduced to a sobbing mess when I didn’t leave it there as a work of art for the rest of eternity.

What do I mean by a spider web….well, take a ball of wool or string or something and attach it to and around every surface in a room, weaving under and in and out a couple of hundred times……yah…it’s awesome….and hell, to clean up….it usually involves scissors, lots of bad words mumble under your breath, maybe a yell or two, and almost always sobbing…..OH MY GOODNESS THE SOBBING!

Really, honestly, i have no idea where I’m going with all of this….I’ve just had 3 days at home with my darlings (I haven’t even talked about the “special-ness” of Xandra) and today is the first day that they are back at school and I have a moment to breathe.

I love my kids. I love their creativity. I hate that Jeremy needs some extra help to be able to function well in the world. I hate being tired. I hate worrying about Siah….that one’s weighing on me right now, but it must be a post for another day. I……..

Well…I have a lot of other “I’s” that I could say, but……couldd I hear from you?

What do you find is the most troubling, stressful or difficult thing that you deal with in your life? Heck, it doesn’t even have to be the most difficult….just something difficult or stressful?

Help a girl out, eh? Let me know that I’m not alone stressing about things?

More Barfing….and possibly more yet to come

So, as much as I want to chalk Siah’s Barfest up to an allergic reaction, the fact that he continued to barf off and on in completely random intervals leads me to believe that he had some weird bug.

One that left him still happy, with no fever, and aside from the occasional barfing, diarrhea, and being slighty “off” with his sleeping habits you’d not be able to tell that he was sick.

He barfed last night when we had friends over, and for whatever reason I started to feel sick. I wasn’t sure if it was just sympathetic barfing or the smell or what, but I barfed….and it was NASTY.

And then it started from the other end, and let’s just leave it at “last night was a really, really NASTY night”.

I woke up this morning still flowing and spent most of the day sleeping. Now it’s 9:30pm….I’m watching a hockey game and drinking some tea….I’ve meneged to keep some toast down, and I’m hoping that tomorrow is a better day.

The worst part…..Xandra jsut came up to tell me that she’s not feeling well and that she’s had diarrhea twice now…..Great! Go and get a bucket and a cup of water, darling and call me when you start barfing. I have no idea what she ate or how awesome tonight will be.

I’m hoping that it just skips Jon and the other two kids. BLECH!

Don’t you wish you could come and visit me right now?

AAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH

I’m not sure what’s up, but Siah had a allergic reaction last night and I was up with him barfing from 3:30am until 7am when Jon took him and let me “try” to get some sleep. I slept off and off for the last two hours, and now……I’m tired.

I had even gone to bed at 10pm to get extra sleep so I wouldn’t be tired. So Frustrating!

And on top of that, I’m not sure what happened.

I did make Shortbread Cookies (with Butter) yesterday for a cookie swap that I’m going to tonight, but I was very careful – or so I thought – that Siah didn’t get any of the butter or the cookie and so I’m not sure if the kids dropped a crumb or what the deal is.

I did eat a few, but typically butter has not been too much of an issue when I eat it (I’m still nursing) and so I’m really baffled on this one.

It was awful. I heard him at 3:30am gagging, and when I went into check on him, he was still sleeping, but when I felt around in the bed there was last night’s dinner….beans and salmon….nice mix to barf up, eh?

So he barfed and then just slept through it…..I tried to clean him up the best I could without waking him, and removed the barfed on blankets, and then I layed in bed waiting……waiting…..waiting….and at 4:30am iswhen he started into it for good.

It’s so awful. Not knowing what to do, or even what triggered it. Did he get some cookie or what?

There is no fever, and the barf has this “not regular barf” smell. I can’t explain it but it sucks….and now I’m tired and he is sleeping, so I might try to catch a half an hour if I can….UGH!

Do any of you deal with allergies for yourselves or for your kids?

I’m so thankful that he’s not having throat closing, breathing issues, because the barfing is enough for me…mind you, we’ve never given him straight dairy and so I don’t know how he’d react to that….I hope I never find out.

Too Busy – Looking Forward to Next Week

This week is insane for me.

My house is a disaster. I have a butt load of music to plan. I have to practise my mad guitar skillz. I gotta make some more necklaces to sell. I still have to fold the Mt. Everest of laundery sitting in my front room….plan and make dinners…pay bills…buy groceries….and all I want to do is to go to sleep.

As mentioned in my previous post I’ve been experiencing a bit of a Niagra Falls experience over here, and I think that as a result I think I might have a bit of low iron situation going on. I’m currently taking Floradix and am hoping that will help things out, but right now – I’m a cold, tired, whiney baby!

I have also been a bit distracted by the whole US Election, and am waiting to see the results of that.

In other fun and exciting news, Jeremy blew our microwave up on the weekend. Well, it didn’t technically blow up and it even still works, but he put a “warm bag” in to heat it up so that he could snuggle wth it and instead of putting it in for 2 minutes…..he went with the whole “If 2 minutes is good, then 10 minutes would be better” thought process, and seeing as we are such attentive parents, we didn’t notice until we started asking ourselves what the idiots downstars were burning this time, and ONLY AFTER multiple sniff checks through the floor heating grates did we come to the conclusion that THAT HORRID SMELL was actually coming from somewhere in our house….and OH MY GOODNESS CRAP! What the heck is in the microwave, and why is the microwave covered in orange yuck and man….put that thing out on the back deck…..

So, we are currently microwave-less. Which is not the end of the world because we were planning on doing it anyway – you know……bad radiation waves, and reverse polarisation and all that crap….and seriously…the stupid microwave was given to us as a gift by my grandparents before we got married as an engagement gift……oh…..400 years ago….or maybe just 13+ years ago and it’s had a good long life.

This just means that we have to think ahead in reagards to defrosting meat and reheating cups of cold tea or coffee. It’ll all be good – Right?

Well, the baby is still sleeping – it’s been two hours and so I’m going to go and work on some necklaces which means that as soon as I open everything up and just get started he’ll wake up….that way I’ll be sure to be completely frustrated and not just a little.

How’s your week been so far? Could you go micro-wave-less in your house?

Probably TMI……Guys! You’ve Been Warned!

So, I started my period on Wednesday.

This is the first one in exactly two years. I have never had my period while nursing, but I’ve always quit nursing around 14 -15 months, and have always started around 14 – 15 months. Josiah is 14 – 15 months and I started my period BUT…..I’ve not stopped nursing so I’m not really sure what the deal is.

Regardless, it’s been….um….interesting.

Things have always been rather heavy for me, and this one has been unreal.

Over the past 6 months, I’ve been thinking and wondering about what to do because we’ve been taking steps to using less “consumables” and making more ecological purchases and decisions, and I wasn’t sure what to do when I got my periods again.

I had looked at Glad Rags, but I hate pads and wasn’t really overly excited about that option. I know someone who is making reusable cloth pads for girls in 3rd world and developing nations, and I might buy some from her for my girls when the time comes. I do like the idea of no chemicals and less waste, but I personally don’t like using pads.

I’ve also been looking at (with a great deal of interest) at the Diva Cup. I know two people who have used it at they’ve both said the same thing. It’s great, but they wondered about having to deal with it in a public restroom when they were working.

For me that’s not a huge deal as I’m home the majority of the time and should be able to work around being out and not needing to fiddle with it when I go out, but dealing with it all before I go anywhere.

Soooooooo, I bought the Diva Cup today and have used it so far and I LOVE IT! So far, IT’S AMAZING….no leaks and no mess. It was easy to insert. It wasn’t difficult to read or to figure out the instructions. Removal was easy. Clean up was a snap.

It cost about $40.00 and by the time I finsh using it next month….It will be paid off. I will have gone through 4 boxes of tampons by the time this period is inished. I typically have a heavy flow and so for me this will be definately a money saver. Between the money saved, the product not consumed, the lack of leakage….I could just go on and on about how much I love this thing so far.

If you’ve been thinking about or wondering about getting it…..it’s money well spent, in my opinion.

It’s a New Day

So, it seems that Siah has made a miraculous recovery.

He was bad enough yesterday that I called the Dr.s office to ask what the “magic temperature” was. I didn’t want Siah’s fever to hit 105 or 106 in the middle of the night, and to not know what to do. It always seems to be the worst in the middle of the night when you can’t call anybody and your only option is a trip to the ER which is almost the WORST thing that can happen out here. It’s a zoo, and you will pretty much get better service if you just wait it out ’till the morning and check in with your family Dr or with a walk-in clinic.

Anyway, I called yesterdy around 4:30pm and they didn’t like the fact that his temp had been hovering around 104 all day and that even with Tylenol it was only coming down to 100.something.

I went in and they checked him out and couldn’t find anything right up front. Which I knew….I knew there wasn’t a ear infection, and he wasn’t coughing or barfing or didn’t have a runny nose…..NOTHING.

He was just listless, lethargic, and freaking hot.

He did a swab of his throat and took a urine sample, but I don’t think that it was either of those either.

Now that he seems to be on the up swing, it’s easy to see that it’s probably just a virus. Stupid Viruses!

Jon is gone all day today training people on how to do something “website-ish”. It’s nice to have the house to myself and it’s a little weird, too.

He’s always “just downstairs” and to have him not around…the house feels a bit empty.

Well as much as I’d love to stay and yab on and on and on….Siah is fussing. He’s not 100 percent his happy cheery self just yet, so I’m off to snuggle some more.

103.8 and Vision

That was Josiah’s temperature this morning when I finally was concerned enough at how hot he was and took it.

Not fun! NOT FUN AT ALL!

He slept peacefully until 3:45am and at that point I didn’t notice anything. He nursed and went straight back to sleep. Then when he woke up at 5 something…..Jon cuddled him and when he finally got him down he said that when he picked him up he was shivering badly.

He woke up again at 6ish and I went to go and get him and he was shivering terribly and I noticed that his head was quite hot. I brought him to bed and nursed him and he laid beside me and shivered. It was so sad.

Finally at about 6:45am was when I took his temp.

So, he’s been sleeping off and on since then. He is still trying to be happy and funny and chattering about things, but only for just a word or two and then he lays his head down like it’s way to heavy for him to hold up.

I gave him a bit of Tylenol because I figured that his temp was quite high enough and because he seemed to be really uncomfortable.

He perked up right around the time that the Tylenol would have kicked in and although his temp didn’t go down as low as I’d have liked, it’s still down some.

I have a feeling that I’ll be sitting, cuddling and nursing a fair bit today.

***********************

I’m hoping that IMAGE OPTOMETRY calls me today. Last Wednesday, I was wearing my glasses…. (click here to see my lovely beauties. It’s a bad shot, but seeing as I’m the one ALWAYS behind the camera there aren’t so many of me.)….and they fell right off my face, hit the table and landed on the floor in two pieces.

The arm had fallen off.

They’d had a good life – I bought them 3.5 years ago and have worn them just about all the time.

See, I have really light sensitive eyes. It’s not so bad when I’m pregnant, but I noticed it back in between when I was pregnant with Geli and Xandra, and has pretty much been wearing sunglasses ALL THE TIME since then.

I’ve gone and had my eyes checked and all is good – I have a slight prescription, and my eyes tend to run on the dry side, but all of this completely unhelpful information is just to let you know that if you see me, I’m not “rock star-ring” out. My eyes are just bothered by the light. Outside is really bad, but I’ve also noticed that inside is bothering me too, and so I just wear my lightly tinted glasses all the time, now. I also get wicked migraines and light can be a trigger so…..yah, so. I don’t know whereall I’m going with all that so I’ll just stop….

Anyway, I popped off to Image Optometry which is where the BEST OPTOMETRIST in the world works.

A big shout out to Dr. Jesse Manhas – amazing AMAZING Doctor. We love him.

Anyhoooooooo, I got the coolest glasses….and when I actually pick them up (they’re calling me either today or tomorrow to come and get them) – I’ll take a picture and show you.

They have tinted the glass and then used the Transitions technology on top of that….so they will always be tinted but they will go dark outside. Sweet! I’ve wanted this for a while, but just never did it.

I’m so excited. I can’t wait.

I should take a pic and show you the cheap “in between” pair that I bought in the mean time…..maybe if I get around to it, because I’m sure you all want to see them, don’t you? You know you do….

Well, I’m off to finish getting ready for the day (makeup and hair and all that crap) and to call the kids school to let them know that I won’t be helping out at lunch today….stupid fever.

******************

I do have a bunch of new jewlery to add to the store, and if I have the time today…I’ll try to make it happen. I’ve got some really cool necklaces and bracelets and even some mens necklaces to add into the mix.

So, check back soon to see the new stuff.

Falling Off the Face of the Planet

Hey! How’s it going? Did ya miss me?

It’s been a busy, crazy, wonderful, terrible weekend.

How ’bout you?

On Friday we went over to my sisters house for a fun night with friends….Saturday night Siah was up from midnight until 3am barfing – although this time I think it might be the flu. I finally got to bed around 4am (so much fun). Sunday we had Thanksgiving with my side of the family and on Monday we had Thanksgiving with Jon’s side of the family. Today, Angelica is downstairs in her room barfing.

IT’S BEEN AWESOME!

I also spent more this weekend than I probably should have. SUCKS, eh?

Well, it breaks down like this….

Entertainment (this could have totally not happened- Bad, bad, bad!) – $90.79
Gas (We got $22.02 free gas – YAH Superstore!) – $78.31
Groceries (Thanksgiving extras included) – $250.90

So that’s were it stands and the total for the month is $650.35. AAAAAWWWWK!

I’m gonna try and reign it all in again this week- get things back on track! It’s a good eye opener for me to see it all laid out here and to have to be accountable to you all. It’s just “keeping it all real“, eh?

Thanks to Cool Mama and Lala for your comments. I appreciate your honesty.

I had never even thought about the “guilt” side of it. It’s amazing how we view things through our own “grids”…through our own struggles and strengths and pain and….and…..well, it’s just interesting to hear that you felt or feel that way. I never got that message from the book, but then again for me…it wasn’t exactly about the “book” per se as about what I took away from it all after reading the book. I guess that’s more the case…the book made me think, and I got really exited about what I was thinking or feeling that I could do or feeling stirred up to do.

Regardless, I love hearing what you all are thinking. I love to hear different points of views. I think that when you are able to hear what others are saying, it helps to “round out” your views or even to challenge or strengthen your beliefs and convictions.

I am feeling rushed and pressured today because I have to go and help out at the school at lunch time today, and that just throws my whole day off just slightly….just enough to make me feel rushed. So, I think I’m gonna wrap this up for now.

I’ll leave you with my two most favorite moments from this weekend.

#1 My dad tearing up when we (the family) gave him and mom their anniversary gift – an overnight trip to Harrison Hot Springs

#2 My dad telling the story about the time that he hooked Grandpa Kennedy in the nose with a fish hook when they were fishing and the hilarity that ensued as a result. He (and we) were laughing so hard as he was retelling the 40 year old story. It was amazing.

What was YOUR most favorite moment from this weekend?