Going Green Today

Maybe it's because this whole "Going Green" thing is all over the internet and TV, but I have had this strange desire and interest in how I am doing my part to destroy our environment.

It's really made me stop and think about all the horrible things I do (habits I have), the more I am reading and learning about what it really means to take an active role in making a difference.

Some of the things I have noticed is that when I am home during the week with the kids, I probably go through about 2 garbage bags of trash a day. I use paper products, diapers, leave lights on, leave everything plugged in even while not in use, drive unnecessarily, consume chemical impacted food, the list goes on and on. And those are just the things that I understand.

I don't even know what all CAN be recycled.

So I decided to start small and try to make subtle changes to my daily habits, in all areas of my life, and in how we live. This week I started with changing all of our bills (that provide this option) to paperless statements and billing. I know what bills I get every month and what's due. I don't need them sitting in an organizer just to be tossed months later. I also have turned off both fluorescent lights at my desk the past week instead of leaving them on overnight.

I know it's not much, but it's a start.

I Am SO Bloggin' This

I think I can take him.

Nickolas' Surgery is Scheduled

On Tuesday morning my grandmother and I took Nickolas to an ear, throat, nose specialist per the advise of his pediatrician, and the specialist highly recommended inserting tubes and also removing his adenoids.

This should ideally help in preventing future ear and sinus infections. Nickolas is just shy of 13 months and has had probably 4-5 sinus infections and too many double ear infections to count, some of them requiring back to back rounds of 10-day antiobiotics.

I think that with a year left to go on the sippy cup, starting daycare so much sooner than Kolbe did and with the family history and allergies, it is the right decision. He will have the procedure done Friday morning, February 8th.

With that said, we are very nervous to have him go under anesthetic, and any warm thoughts are welcome!

Whole New Light on Ear Infections! OUCH!

Okay, so Thursday night I started feeling some pressure in my cheek and right ear, and just kind of mentioned it to Keith and went about the night. At 2am, I woke up the pain was so bad I almost really considered going to the emergency room, it felt like my ear was going to burst. I finally took ibuprofen and fell asleep at 5. Went to the doctor on Friday and found out I had a double ear infection!

What is a middle ear infection?

A middle ear infection is an infection of the air-filled space in the ear behind the eardrum.

How does it occur?

Ear infections usually begin with a viral infection of the nose and throat. For example, a cold might lead to an infection of the ear. Ear infections may also occur when you have allergies. The viral infection or allergic reaction can cause swelling of the tube between your ear and throat (the eustachian tube). The swelling may trap bacteria in your middle ear, resulting in a bacterial infection.
Pressure from the buildup of pus or fluid in the ear sometimes causes the eardrum to tear (rupture). The eardrum is a thin membrane that separates the delicate parts of the middle ear from the air and moisture in the ear canal.

What are the symptoms?

You may have one or more of these symptoms:
earache (YES)
hearing loss (YES)
feeling of blockage in the ear (YES)
fever (YES)
dizziness (YES)

And I may have had additional bouts of cries, whines and complaints according to Keith.

So, I started the antibiotics, vicodin and still took ibuprofen. For 3 days all of this did nothing. I took vicodin after giving birth and it helped, but it didn't help with my ear!! Went back to the doctor yesterday and got a new round of antibiotics and some prescribed ear drops, and finally today I feel somewhat normal. I still can't hear out of my right ear, but the doctor said that could take up to 2 weeks.

I now realize what my kids are going through when they get them, but it has to be worse because they still are up and about and won't just lay still, and they are getting picked up and sometimes hauled off to school. I just can't even imagine. So hopefully this experience has taught me to have empathy at a new level when they get infections.

Adult's Resignation

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8-year old again. I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day. I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset. I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.

I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, and a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So....here's my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit card bills and my 401k statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, cause.....

"TAG! You're IT!"

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(Courtesy of Kevin Carroll who I was fortunate enough to meet and spend time with twice in 2002)