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Nov 26, 2012

What A Week

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Last week at this time, I was expecting to have a relaxing Thanksgiving week. My only concern was for Wednesday, when the kids would be home from school while I was still working. I had an enormous to-do list with confidence that I would get it all done.

So then Cordy, who wasn’t feeling well Sunday night, woke up Monday morning with a high fever, cough, and headache. That meant she was home with me all day, on the couch with her Nintendo DS and watching numerous episodes of Beakman’s World on Netflix. I didn’t get as much done as I had planned because I was caring for her, too, but she clearly had the flu, so keeping her home was the right idea.

Cosmo kept watch, too.

That evening, right as she was fighting sleep on the couch, finally breaking a sweat after a 103.5 F fever, the cable/internet went out. As I tried to reset the cable box, my computer prompted me to restart for a Windows Update. I let the computer restart, hoping I could get my internet back again so that I could continue working.

But then the computer wouldn’t start again. It would try to restart, get to the point of loading Windows, hang, and then reboot. Safe Mode didn’t work, running diagnostics didn’t work…after fighting with it all night, I was computerless and lost an entire night of getting anything done.

Cordy was better on Tuesday, but still not well enough to go to school. Aaron took her with him to work, where she could hang out in his office with her games and books away from everyone else, while I figured out if my computer was dead or not. Aaron’s brother saved all of the data from the hard drive (YAY!), but the diagnosis was that the hard drive was dead.

The afternoon was spent researching new computers and working out how in the world we were going to afford a new laptop. I had been planning to buy a new laptop in a month or so, but this was just a little too early for me to be ready. Tuesday evening, I went computer shopping while Aaron entertained the kids, and by 9pm I finally had a new computer to resume my online life. The kids had no school the next day, but I hoped that at least most of my plan for the rest of the week would be back on.

I wish I could have got it without Windows 8.

And then Wednesday morning came and Aaron had been gifted with Cordy’s flu. Well…damn. To make it worse, we had my family coming over for Thanksgiving dinner the next day, and we had yet to finish cleaning the downstairs to prepare for the event.

I cranked through as much work as I could while tending to the chaos around me during the day on Wednesday. By 6pm, Aaron voluntarily went to bed feverish and achy after shivering on the couch all day. After I put the kids to bed, I dumped as much clutter as I could into boxes and hid it in the garage. (The perfect hiding place when you need a house de-cluttered quickly.)

Then I pulled out the Lysol wipes and Febreeze antimicrobial fabric spray, and completely wiped down the entire first floor of the house. No fabric or hard surface that anyone might possibly touch was forgotten. None of our visitors were going to leave with the flu. I finished this task (and a lot of internet surfing) around 3am and slept on the couch.

Thanksgiving went smoothly. Aaron was still too sick to come downstairs, so Mira and I ran care packages of food up to him while we feasted downstairs. It was great to spend time with family, although I felt bad that Aaron couldn’t join us.

I did participate in Black Friday shopping. I don’t really like the craziness or the crowds, but it does allow us to get great deals on things we need and gifts for others. Luckily, I got most of our shopping done online this year, but did have to go to the stores to get a few items for family members.

By Friday I was completely drained from the week. I had barely slept for days, I was mentally worn down from the stress of losing my computer and having my plans upended, and all I wanted to do was shut down. And for the most part I did.

It’s now Sunday night. I’m still playing catch up, but feel a little better. Everyone in the house is almost well again, and Mira and I escaped the flu. I hate having my plans changed – I can handle the little stuff, but with so many large roadblocks thrown at me this week, I wanted to scream.

Tomorrow morning the kids go back to school, Aaron and I go back to work, and everything goes back to normal. At least that’s the plan.

Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, family time, holidays, plague · Tagged:


Oct 19, 2012

We Might Belong On The Gluten-Free Bandwagon

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Gluten-free seems to be the new big thing in food lately. Some say that switching to a gluten-free diet will cure nearly anything bothering you. While that’s certainly not the case, there is a growing body of evidence that many people might be sensitive to gluten, even if they’re not completely unable to eat it. And for those who truly need to be on a gluten-free diet, the influx of new products in the grocery and restaurants with labeled gluten-free menu items has made it a lot easier for them to find foods that comply with their dietary needs.

I’ve wondered if my family would see any benefit from going gluten-free. I have no digestive problems, but I do have a constant battle with low energy, especially after eating. Aaron, on the other hand, has a long history of stomach aches, cramping, and other digestive problems. But I’ll admit I also feel like gluten-free is the new fad that, while necessary for a small percentage of people, is being adopted by some for no reason other than being trendy.

While at BlogHer in August, Udi’s Gluten Free Foods was there as a sponsor and suggested I try going gluten-free for 14 days to see if there was any benefit to it. I expressed interest, and they sent me a sampler of some of their products to get me started.

I’ll confess: I did the challenge more for Aaron than myself. He’s never talked with his doctor about his digestion issues, and I suspected something in his diet was probably the culprit. If he was willing to try it with me, then maybe we’d have a clue to his stomach issues, or at least be able to cross one potential cause off the list. (Note: we didn’t have the kids go gluten-free. I didn’t feel the need to stress them out with a sudden shift in their diets for such a short period of time.)

We started on October 1 and stayed gluten-free for 14 days. The Udi’s bread, cookies and muffins were great to help with our craving for baked goods, but we didn’t limit ourselves to those items. I found a gluten-free pasta at the grocery made from corn and quinoa that was just as delicious as any wheat-based spaghetti.

It was HARD to go out to eat. Everything had to be carefully scrutinized, ingredients checked, restaurants vetted over the internet before we made a choice, etc. And even then we still ran into problems. We carefully checked before going to a local pizza shop for dinner one night. They advertised their gluten-free pizza crusts – too bad they were all out of gluten-free pizza crusts at the time. I had a salad and some baked gluten-free fries for my dinner that night.

I also found that gluten is in nearly everything. Sauces were a big hidden source of gluten, especially soy sauce. Even some lunch meats have gluten.

But there were also several foods we already were eating that were still safe to eat. My ham sandwiches were fine as long as they were on gluten-free bread. Pirate’s Booty cheese puffs and hard cheeses were still OK. Our Indian dinners we make at home were also naturally gluten-free. Some McDonald’s entree salads were still fine, too. And Nutella? Still gluten free. (Yay!!)

While we did have to be more careful and switch some of our usual products to gluten-free versions of the same food, it wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. I didn’t feel deprived of any food. And the gluten-free foods tasted really good, too. Udi’s whole grain bread has a lot more flavor and texture than the bread I had been using. The bagels and cookies are also delicious. They were moist and had plenty of flavor, erasing my worries of food that tasted bland or had a hard texture.

At the end of 14 days, it was time to return to gluten. To make it even more of a gamble, it was the same day I was leaving for a three-day trip to Cleveland. I hoped that nothing horrible would happen to me.

The results: I do not appear to have any gluten sensitivity. While I enjoyed the foods, and did notice that I wasn’t quite as foggy-headed after eating, I didn’t notice any significant differences overall.

Aaron, on the other hand, was a different story. Throughout the challenge, he said he didn’t feel all that different. I started to doubt that gluten was a problem for him. But then he went back to his usual diet and, well, Monday was a rough day for his insides. Not to get into too much detail, but he felt pretty lousy from the stomach cramping and intestinal upset. He’s already returned to eating gluten-free to see if it will calm his digestive system down again, and will be seeing his doctor to get more information.

(If he’s willing to call the doctor and talk about this, then I know it must be pretty severe. He hates going to the doctor and hates discussing this topic even more.)

The next step will be deciding if we’ll try going gluten-free with the kids. Mira’s pediatrician has said it would be worth a try since she had a blood test for allergies that resulted in no actual allergies but an elevated IgE level, meaning she was having an inflammatory response to something. And if one or two members of our household are gluten-free, then there’s a good chance most of the food the other members eat will be gluten-free, too, just for ease of food preparation.

I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of having family members who need to be gluten-free. It is a little more expensive – or a lot more if you buy mostly convenience items – and requires more thought and planning to eat outside of the home. But if it’s needed for the health of my husband and/or my kids, of course I’ll suck it up and do it. At least it’s easier to find products and support for it now.

Big thanks to Udi’s for giving us the push with the 14-day gluten-free challenge! It helped us think more carefully about what we eat and may have even uncovered a clue to Aaron’s health.

Full disclosure: Udi’s sent us product samples and coupons to help start the 14-day gluten-free challenge, but we still supplemented beyond that. And while most beer has gluten, I can happily report that most vodka is gluten-free.

Filed Under: Aaron, daily life, healthy living, me me me, reviews ·


Aug 30, 2012

Don’t Let The Praise Go To Your Head

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We signed the girls up for gymnastics over the summer. The once a week classes were our best hope for our two daughters developing any coordination, balance, or the ability to not trip and fall while walking on a smooth, level surface.

Both kids insisted they wanted to take gymnastics for the fall session, so we signed them up again. Last night was the first night of gymnastics, and both Cordy and Mira did a fantastic job. We were really impressed with how enthusiastic they were and how much progress they made in a single night. So impressed, in fact, that we told them on the way home that we had a surprise for them.
“Since you worked so hard tonight at gymnastics,” Aaron told the girls, “we’re stopping for ice cream on the way home!”

“YAY!!” both girls cheered.

“You’re the BEST parents in the WHOLE WORLD!” Cordy exclaimed.

Mira looked at her sister and sighed. “Weeelllll…I don’t know about the WHOLE WORLD, but they’re pretty nice sometimes.”

Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, daily life, kid logic, love, Mira ·


Aug 22, 2012

End of Summer Trip, Day 1: Cedar Point

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Last week we had the chance to get away for a couple of days before the start of the school year. With only a couple of days to get in some fun, we stayed closer to home and traveled up to Lake Erie. Day one was an amusement park adventure to Cedar Point. We went there last summer, and at that time it was the first amusement park for both girls. We didn’t know what to expect last year, but Cordy surprised us by wanting to go on roller coasters, with her favorite ride being the Cedar Creek Mine Ride.

The entire drive up, Cordy talked about how she wanted to go right to the Mine Ride, followed by the Iron Dragon. We were impressed with her bravery, but reminded her that we had to make sure we went on things that Mira could ride, too. Mira, who was too small for anything but the little kid rides last year, was hoping she’d be tall enough to try some “big kid” rides this year.

When we arrived, we had the kids measured to determine ride height. Doing this outside the gate saves a lot of time, because the kids get colored wristbands that let everyone know how tall they are, so they don’t need to measure at every ride.

Mira was leaning in this photo

Cordy added several rides to her available list with her new height of 52″, while Mira was still a little too short for most coasters, but at 46″ squeaked by for the Iron Dragon.

Going on a Thursday in August is just perfect. The park was full but not too crowded, and lines for most of the rides were under a 15 minute wait. (The big coasters of course are a longer wait.) The weather was also gorgeous that day, with a cool breeze from Lake Erie.

After a few warm-up rides, Cordy really wanted to go on the Mine Ride. So Aaron took Mira to the antique cars while Cordy and I took on the Mine Ride. Cordy suddenly got anxious on the ride, which was a surprise considering how much she wanted to ride it. After the ride, she still said it was a lot of fun.

What a difference a year makes, eh?

Cedar Point has three areas specifically focused on rides for kids, so we wound through the frontier area and then into Camp Snoopy, where both girls tried out just about every ride in the area. Mira loved that she was tall enough for each ride, and thankfully Cordy was still short enough for each ride.

Mira as the Red Baron

Eventually we found our way to the front of the park again, and Mira begged to go on the Iron Dragon, since she’s tall enough to ride it. It’s a suspended coaster and has always been one of my favorites. Cordy and I rode it last year, and while it scared her a little she wanted to go again this year.

But as we stood in line, Cordy started to get anxious again. I reminded her how much fun she had last year, but by the time we climbed into the seats, she flipped out. As the shoulder harness snapped into place, she looked at the attendant and cried, “Please don’t make me ride this! They’re trying to kill me!” Want to know the fastest and most embarrassing way to get booted from a ride? That would be it. The attendant signaled for the harness to be released and asked Cordy and I to please exit the ride, with no chance to explain. I’m amazed he didn’t call security over that one.

We waited for Aaron and Mira to finish the ride as Cordy calmed down. Mira came out of the exit beaming and shouting to me, “Mommy, I LOVE the Iron Dragon! I want to go AGAIN!” It appears we now have a coaster junkie on our hands! (I’m so proud.)

Cordy did calm down after a little break, but decided she didn’t want to try any other “big” rides for the day. We were disappointed, but understood that her anxiety sometimes gets the better of her. She still enjoyed several other smaller rides, and I’m sure next year she’ll want to try again. While Mira was bummed that she was too short for some of the other coasters, she was still big enough for the Jr Gemini and the Woodstock Express. Despite being small, she had plenty of thrill moments to keep her screaming and cheering.

Note: Cedar Point has a neat feature called Parent Swap to make sure you can ride the rides. You can sign up at Guest Services, then one parent waits in line for a coaster. After the ride, they give their parent swap pass to the ride operator, and the other parent can then walk up the exit and get on the ride immediately. It’s great for those who still want to ride but have kids who can’t go with them.

In the late afternoon, we played games and browsed the shops. Mira rode the Iron Dragon one more time with me so I’d get the chance to ride it. Oh, let’s be honest – she wasn’t doing me any favors, she REALLY wanted to ride it again. At the games, Mira won a stuffed Pokemon in the water gun races (with some help from Aaron), and Cordy won two stuffed frogs.

We were quickly losing our energy around dinnertime, and took one final ride on the midway carousel before going to our hotel.

long arm, in-motion shot

I loved getting to spend the day having fun as a family. There were so many laughs, and smiles and sighs of happiness. Yes, Cordy did have a meltdown, but those certainly aren’t uncommon for us, and she did recover to enjoy the rest of the day.

The kids got to ride just about every ride they wanted to (and were tall enough for), some multiple times. It felt awesome to see our daughters so happy as they skipped through the park, clutching their stuffed animals and looking for the next ride. We had a good mix of thrill rides and taking moments to relax and get ice cream, play games or enjoy a slow ride on the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad.

and hang with Snoopy

There are still things we didn’t get to see, but there’s so much at Cedar Point that it’s hard to do it all in a single day. I think we can call the day a success, though, judging by how hard the kids slept that night. Mira said she dreamed about growing just two inches by next year so she’ll be tall enough for many of the roller coasters at Cedar Point. She has big plans to conquer them all!

Giveaway!

Want to make some of your own family memories at Cedar Point? I’m giving away a pack of FOUR tickets to Cedar Point for one lucky reader. These tickets are good only through the end of the 2012 season (including HalloWeekends), so please be aware of the short date on them!

To enter, just leave a comment below telling me the first amusement park you ever went to. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you’re randomly selected as the winner. Contest is open to anyone 18+ but be aware you have to get to Cedar Point on your own if you live far away.

Entries will be accepted through August 28, 2012. Good luck!

(And if you don’t want to win but just want to leave a comment telling me how my kids have grown a foot since last year, feel free!)

Full disclosure: I was provided with four tickets to Cedar Point as the result of winning a blog contest. (Thanks, Tracey!) Our wallets will show that no other compensation was received, as it took several tries to win the stuffed animals we went home with. Tickets in the giveaway are being provided by Cedar Point. All opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Cedar Point or the folks who witnessed Cordy’s meltdown.

Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, family time, giveaways, Mira ·


Jun 5, 2012

Did I Mention How Much I Dislike Uncertainty?

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So remember how I said Aaron was being laid off at the end of May? Yeah, that. Well, he’s not quite laid off yet. He didn’t work on Friday, but yesterday was back in the office. Confused? Me too.

Seems that one of the vice presidents of the company reaching his boiling point at having his ideas ignored while the owner continued to mismanage everything, so he quit. With his leaving, the owner decided he wouldn’t re-hire for that position, leaving more money in the budget from the lack of one salary. Another VP then saw an opening and begged to have his team back together in some way. So their only human relations employee – also the receptionist – was brought back from part-time to full-time again, and Aaron found himself putting his unemployment application on hold.

He’ll only be working 25 hours a week at the moment, hourly now instead of salaried. But the bonus is they are allowing us to keep our health insurance. The premiums will eat up a large chunk of his part-time pay, but we’re not looking at this stay-of-execution as a long-term plan, so we’ll keep cutting back and make due with what we have. There’s a chance they’ll bring him back to full-time if they are awarded a new contract for a job, but either way Aaron has lost any trust in the company owner and plans to continue job hunting as if he was unemployed.

There was one snag, however. Aaron was supposed to be paid on the last day of May, like everyone else in the company. An email sent out late the night before informed everyone that a few payments from vendors were late, and as a result they had to make the choice to delay the pay for a few people. Aaron was one of them, of course. Never mind that we had bills to pay, or that at the time we were expecting this to be his last paycheck and needed that money. As of today, he still hasn’t be paid for the last half of May. Good thing I didn’t schedule any bills to be paid yet. Grrr.

Thankfully I still have my job, and we’re busier than ever. Last week truly was a blur to me. I was going full-steam for so long that by Saturday night I felt lost without something to do. This week is the same, and I’m working on perfecting my ability to keep as many balls in the air as possible. I’m still dropping a few, but I’m doing my best to pick them right back up and keep going. It’s fun and works well with my ADD nature – I never have to stay focused on one thing for long.

I’ve also had some great local opportunities in the past week. On Wednesday I shared a delicious lunch and even better conversation with Chef Dan, the head chef for McDonald’s, and on Saturday I had the opportunity to be one of the first of the public to tour our new Nationwide Children’s Hospital. More on those soon.

My goal for this week is just to get through it. Summer camp doesn’t begin until next week, so Cordy is home with me each day. Yesterday she gave me a math quiz on fractions using Draw with Stars on the iPad while I worked. Today she says she has a spelling test planned for me. I hope I pass.

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Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, money, the J-O-B ·