3rd grade

CRAP!

We received an ivitation in the mail to attend an open house tonight at Trinks' school. It was an opportunity to meet the teacher and get comfortable with the school before it starts next week. I went to work early, rushed out early, picked Trinks up and made it to the school 15 minutes after it started.

Apparently someone decided to change the night and didn't exactly get the notice out to all of us parents. It was last night. We weren't the only ones who didn't know. I'm sure they used their phone system to let us know, but we don't use the land line anymore, nor do we have an answering machine. Anyone who knows us, knows we won't answer the land line. I was planning to change our number when Trinks brings home her millions of papers. So school hasn't even started and I hate it already.

My baby started school!

As usual, I am a beat behind every other parent. I walked into school with S and was informed today was the first day if kindergarten. Wow! I had no time to cry. I guess it was announced while we were away. The teacher wants to finish early, at the end of May, so she started today. Works for me!

We are watching S this year to decide if he'll be ready to start 1st grade next year. The class is really small, so I think he'll get some extra attention if he needs it. His writing is pretty good, but he gets frustrated trying new stuff. We'll see how it goes.

Vacation reading

Right before we left for Galway, I took out 16 books from the library. I have a few left to read. The books were a great combination of fun and educational.

From the allergy collection, we have:

How to live with a Nut Allergy by Chad K Oh. This was a great book about what nuts are in - EVERYTHING! S has been breaking out from sesame seeds, so this book was a help. We avoided anything that said it was made in a factory with tree nuts, but were confused by his rash. Then I read that sometimes sesame seeds and coconut are included in the exclusion diet. On top of that, nuts are in the craziest things! This was great handbook and even hubs glanced at it.

Allergy Relief by Sylvia Goldfarb. This book was a great overview of all the different treratments and cures for allergies. She covered standard drugs, NAET (90% cure rate!! Definitely worth exploring), vitamin and mineral deficiencies, guided imagery, accupuncture, accupressure and chiropractors. It gave me a lot of new ideas, plus gave more information about things I am exploring. It didn't go into enough detail to be totally useful, but I have some areas to explore.

The Miracle of Magnesium by Carolyn Dean. I liked this book because it explained why most Americans have a magnesium deficiency and which tests to ask the doctor to perform to confirm. Magnesium used to come from the soil, but the soil is depleted of nutrients. Coupled with the overprocessed food, we don't get enough. She also describes how the body uses magnesium. It's worth a shot to try. I have a list of high magnesium foods to add to my diet. Everything else I am trying for my allergies has worked.

The Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger. I thought I would check out some recipes for S. I have a nice long list of baked goods, snacks and side dishes to try. The book was written by a mother of children with gluten allergies. I figure since we are bombarded with food with wheat in everything, I'll see how easy it is to bake with rice flour. So this afternoon, I'll tackle some muffins, banana bread and granola bars. Then we'll have some puffed potatoes with turkey burgers. I'll share my favorites. If a lot the the recipes work, I may even have to buy the book.

From the financial world:

Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. I like Dave Ramsey, so I checked out his other book. I just wanted to keep the incentive to stay on target for my plan. My plan is to pay off the car three years early, kick out the home equity four years early, then get the house paid off. Debt makes me very uncomfortable. I want complete and utter freedom to do what I want to do when I Want to. The budget has been tight this year, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I like Dave's simple plan of buying cars in cash and having no debt. Assuming our '98 Accord lasts for the next 4-5 years, we will not have another car payment.

And in the fun category...

Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson. This is a great book about someone too stubborn to give up building his empire. It makes me want to only fly Virgin.

The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner. I loved these short stories. I have to figure out which books of hers I haven't read and order them from the library.

Knock Out by Catherine Coulter. Another in the FBI thriller series. Same format, same action, same unlikely situations and last minute rescues.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom. If you have read any of his other books, this is the same with a different situation. A nice story.

The Fortune Teller's Daughter by Susan Wilson. This was a cute story - perfect for the beach.

So now I have to finish the rest of the books, and return the ones I read tomorrow. There is another book waiting for me and the hold ends tomorrow. It's another allergy and asthma book. More research!

My sommelier

My father is so proud of Trinks. He taught her how to open wine and pour it. She is a great sommelier at the ripe age of 8. She won't try the wine, though. Her brother, on the other hand, likes the cork and the wine.

Homework on vacation

Both kids have homework packets to complete before school starts. Trinks was supposed to do 20 minutes of multiplication tables every night since school ended. Have we done that? No. But she knows a lot of the tables and we had to teach her division to complete her packet. She has to read 15 books. We actually did more. Then she has several pages of math, 20 writing assignments and several science experiments to write up. How is this fun for parents???? She is in a snit, throwing things around the cabin, screaming and crying. I am not inclined to help her finish and will let her accept the consequences for not finishing.

S has a packet for kindergarten. Again, we've had since June to do them. He's been protesting, but at least the homework is reasonable. It's a bunch of letter writing, color by number, patterns, and sequences. The teacher just wants to see what level the kids are at. S has a very small kindergarten class - all of four kids! That boils down to a lot of personal attention.

Today is our last full day on vacation! It's hot, hazy and raining. In other words, a good day to waste with homework for the kids.

Orange

S has great comedic timing. But he is attempting knock knock jokes now. His favorite is Knock Knock. Who's there? Boo. Boo who? Awwww, don't cry. My mother stumbled through the whole banana one. You know, Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad I didn't say banana????

S does not understand this joke and is struggling to tell it with hilarious results. If you run into him in the next couple of weeks, be prepared to play knock knock with him. You may end up with one of his good ones. Or you may end up with the why did the (fill in the blank) cross the road.

A rainy night on the lake beats work

Sunday night. And hubs continued to grill in the rain.

Lake Sacandaga

Yes, we have a cabin right on Galway Lake. Yes, we can go swimming here. But, a few years ago we found a great campground with day use privileges. It's hands down the nicest beach around. Today it was close to 90 and there was no breeze on Galway Lake. I walked 4.5 miles, threw the kids and lunch in the car and mom and I headed to The Great Sacandaga. Once there, I walked another 3.5 miles around the campground and then joined everyone at the beach. It was nice to be able to cool right down after the walk with a nice swim. There is something about swimming in a lake that I love. We are surrounded by mountains and the scenery is just gorgeous.

Don't waste your money on toys

Get your kids a dead fish. Trinks and S spent over an hour playing with a dead fish. First there was the "rescue", where S went out in the boat with a net to get it. Then there was the attempt to revive and feed the fish. Then there was the funeral and burial and unburial, reburial, etc. I have no idea where the poor thing ended up. But I was left alone to read my book, so I was happy.

S has his own DS

I was in the right place at the right time. A friend was getting rid of her almost new, cobalt blue Nintendo DS. I didn't hesitate. I agreed to take it off her hands. She wouldn't even take money for it.

We surprised S with the game on the way up to Galway. Trinks is OBNOXIOUS about her DS and rarely allows S to share. We casually handed S his fully charged, Mario Brothers loaded DS. He was shocked! In hindsight, we should have realized he would want to play it all day once we got here. But we're giving him time here and there to figure out the games.

Frugal or Bored?

So last weekend I spent ALONE! Hubs spent the weekend with his parents and the kids. I needed to regroup - I was a mess, both personally and housely (look - I made up a word). I needed to get a grip. I ran errands, tidied things, cleaned, threw a ton of crap out, ran the washer until it begged for mercy, and made laundry detergent.

Ever since I read that Trent from The Simple Dollar made his own laundry detergent, I've been intrigued. I didn't use his recipe because I prefer powder and have always sworn by Tide with Bleach. Instead, I found a recipe that uses washing powder (1/4 cup), borax (1/4 cup) and shredded soap (1 bar). I have a habit of stealing soap from hotels, so I made my detergent with some pretty nice smelling soaps. I made the mistake of throwing a bar of glycerin soap in the food processer, so I can only use it for the linens. I use cold water for all other loads and I don't anticipate the soap melting in the water.

I anxiously awaited my first load. It worked really great! Once I finish the quadruple batch I made (why start with one batch? I had so many bars of soap to shred), I'll probably make more. By making my own soap in a really short amount of time, I am saving at least $60 a year. It's not a lot of money, but it's part of the larger savings we're hoping to accomplish. Every penny we save is closer to the financial freedom we are working towards. Ok - if I'm honest, it's closer to the obscenely lavish trip to Greece I want when we pay off the mortgage in a couple of years.

Ahhhh..... VACATION

We got to Galway NY at noon, fishing license in hand.

S couldn't get anyone to go in the boat with him at first.


Then Grandpa went out to drown some worms.


Trinks took her own boat. What you can't see is that she's 2 feet from shore.


Hubs in his element.



We had bass with sweet corn, yellow beans, and sauteed romaine for dinner. YUM!

I drove to MD for apples

And it was worth it. I love apples. I love FALL apples. You know the kind. Crisp. Tart. Sweet. Summer apples are mushy, nasty red and golden delicious. The golden delicious are the lesser of the two evils, so I hobble through winter, spring and summer with those.

Today a friend brought in a huge bag of Ginger Golds. I took one, expecting it to be okay. I was stunned. It was like a slightly sweeter Mutzu. I frantically tried to figure out when I could go get my own supply before we leave for vacation. I took S to kung fu, then we flew down Rt 40 until we reached MD. We made it to Milburn Orchards just before 7. I picked up the medium bag (I now regret not getting the huge bag), grabbed 2 loaves of apple bread and got back in the car. At this point the kids are hungry and confused about why we had to drive so far for apples. I handed them each an apple and they instantly understood. And they still ate dinner when we got home.

And LRNs, my exact words were "Go out and get some Ginger Golds". Not go out and get some. But then again, Amish hookers??

Eagles - GO TO HELL!!!

May the Eagles lose every fucking game they play this year. And hopefully someone will smear dog shit all over Vick's front door.

Hubs is even confused about why the Eagles took this ass. I am tempted to ban the showing of games in the house. But football is hubs' life and I don't want to punish him for his team making poor choices.

Conversations with S

I had two incredible conversations with S recently. Last night I was on Facebook and someone had posted a picture of a cat reclining on a couch. I showed both kids. Trinks said something about the cat being cute. S looks and says, "She looks like she's ready to grow babies." Ummmm.... WHAT?????

This morning I was driving S to school when he casually mentions that he and his best friend are popular. Of course I asked if he knew what popular was, and he free admitted he didn't. He continued, "but you do, Mommy". I have no idea what goes on in that crazy little head.

S has a girlfriend

This is my cousin's girlfriend. She danced with S at the World Cafe when we went to see the Mumbles. S had a blast and wouldn't stop dancing. Trinks almost fell asleep at the table.

Allergies

After S was diagnosed with his nut allergy, I had a melt down. I was looking at his Epi Pen, my antihistimines, and Trinks' asthma medicine. I freaked out. I don't want to need this stuff. I don't want to worry about S going into anaphalactic shock every time he leaves the house. Nuts are in EVERYTHING. Barbecue sauce, chocolate, various ethnic dishes, cosmetics, etc. Even trace amounts left from cross contamination is in everything.

So I did what I do when I need to learn everything about the enemy. I went to the library. I read The Complete Allergy Book, by Dr. Kevin Kwong. It's a brilliant book that makes alleries simple for regular people. It explains the different categories of medicines, so I understand why I use Atarax (or zyrtec or benadryl) for hive, but use nasonex for other allergies. It was a great introduction to Western medicine's treatment of allergies. But I wanted more. I want a CURE.

The next book I got out is changing my life. Allergies: Diseases in Disguise gave a theory on why allergies are on on the rise. It has to do with eating the same 15 foods and overuse of antibiotics. I don't like taking antibiotics because I get bad side effects, but I know they are necessary. Trinks was on antibiotics for most of her childhood while I sat cringing, begging the dr to find something else. Antibiotics kill off the bad bacteria in the intestines, but take the good ones out, too. That sets the body up for an over abundance of yeast in the gut. The yeast gets out of control and causes the body to attack itself. There is a simple 4-6 week program listed in this book to help take back your body. The way I see it, it can't hurt. None of the suggestions will cause any harm, and eating more raw, healthy food is good, whether or not it helps with allergies. I started this phase this week and I saw instant results. I'm moving on to adding a few more things this week, but so far, it's not hard and I feel better than I have felt in a year.

But even though I think this theory has merit, I took out a book on yeast to get more information. The Yeast Connection deals with more than just allergies, and is the first book to reference a cure for urticaria. Urticaria is hives for no reason and it drives me crazy. It also lists vague aches, pains and things a dr can't really diagnose as linked to yeast overgrowth. Heck, he has a list of diseases either caused or exacerbated by yeast. I think this theory has merit. I also think there is hope for controlling allergies naturally. I look forward to seeing how the next few weeks go. I also have a ton more books to get out of the library.

And disclaimer - I am NOT stopping any allergy or asthma medicine. In fact, I am picking up my inhaler today. I think western and natural medicine belong together. Right now western medicine isn't doing it for me and I can't find a natural allergist.

Cars

I got my car delivered to me at work on Wednesday. The driver was really nice, and I appreciated how the service manager treated me even though I was cranky about the situation. I made an off hand remark that we had to actually wait in line to pay tolls and he filled the gas tank up before delivering it to me. Classy. It makes sense. We have two Hondas, one which is 11 years old. While we intend to keep that car for 4-5 years more, we may get another Honda (civic coupe) when we get rid of it. He saved his dealership's reputation by accommodating a crazy woman.

But the most fascinating part of this whole thing is we didn't drive the Accord while the Odyssey was away. We only drove the loaner car, which was a Kia Sedona. For the last two years, hubs and I carpool whenever possible because we can earn and extra $40 per month from work for each of us if we carpool 15 days a month. An extra $80 a month doesn't seem like a lot, but last summer it was a tank of gas with a little change.

It's not easy carpooling. I can't sing off key at the top of my voice to get my blood pumping. Hubs hates to get out of bed, so he makes us late. Running the kids to 2 different places takes time. But somehow we make it work, to the point we barely use the second car. If we lived in an area with places near by to walk to, or good public transportation, I would consider living with one car. It would save a ton of money.

This is the best day of my life

S always has a hard time when Trinks is away. He just has no idea what to do with himself when she isn't here to boss him around. So we planned something fun for each night this week. On Sunday, I gave him a Mario Kart t-shirt. Last night he watched a movie from the library. Tonight, I picked him up early to take him to Kung fu. Then we had to get gas before picking hubs up from work (carpooling is never fun when his colleague is out of the office). S asked if he could pump gas, so I showed him.

We picked hubs up and I asked S to talk about his last swim lesson. Instead, he got all excited that I let him pump gas. Then we had dinner at Bob Evans. While we were waiting for the food, S sighed and exclaimed that this was the best day of his life.

They.Broke.My.Car

It's no secret I love my car. I've had it for 1.5 years and still love it as much as I did the first day I got it. I completely freaked out when hubs called from Honda to tell me that the mechanic who was changing the oil and rotating the tires ripped off the passenger side mirror. I just about fainted.

When I came to my senses, I asked to talk to the manager. He was ready to release my car to me so I could drive it until the mirror arrives. Ummmm...no! So we are getting a loaner. Of course I can't let it be without adequate compensation. So I asked for more and arranged for Honda to bring me my car when it's fixed. I am not wasting my lunch hour or time with the kids next week because they broke my car. I think the manager thought I would ask for a couple hundred dollars and was happy to settle with delivery. At least we have a van. We're going to see the Mumbles in Philly tonight and I really wasn't into bringing my own car.