Allergy testing for Layla

 I took Layla to the doctor last week for allergy testing. This was not a pleasant experience. We didn’t tell her until we were on our way because we didn’t want her to be freaked out (she is only 6) . She started crying in the doctor’s waiting room, and didn’t stop until we were at the store  afterwards, buying a toy. It took 3 nurses to just coax her to lie down on her tummy on the table. Then came the  72 back pokes (hard pointy plastic dipped in the allergen then rubbed hard onto her back to see if she had a surface skin reaction) followed by 20minutes of lying completely still on her tummy. These came back negative, I thought we were all done. Then came the intra-dermal injections…… 24 of them!!! (these are like TB tests, the allergins are injected just under the surface of the skin and bubble the skin up slightly) OUCH!!! The nurse keep Layla looking away, and I tried to play I spy with her to keep her mind off it!! About 15 minutes of shooting allergens up and down both arms (on the underside  of the forearm) she again had to wait 20 minutes for the doctor to “read” them.  Testing done, and we have a meeting next week to go over our new food elimination diet, she is allergic to several things (tomato, dust, mold, hay) and wheat….I am just starting to explore the wonderful world of gluten-free food, and can I say “Gritty”?? My great friend Carol (who has Celiac’s Disease and cannot tolerate grains) took me shopping last night for some snacks and foods for Layla. It is going to be interesting because everything costs triple what normal food does! A very small loaf of bread that has no gluten is $5.00, a tiny bag of gluten-free pretzels is $3.99.  I have a feeling I will be doing some baking soon!! Layla is taking all this in stride, she enjoys telling the boys “you can’t have this, it is just for me because I can’t have wheat!” The very next day after her allergy shots, she begged me to not wash off the number grid on her arms b/c she wanted to “show and tell” her arms to the class. (they were very interested and asked lots of questions, like “did it hurt?” to which Layla responded “A little, but mom took me to the store and got me a toy afterwords.”) Kids really are amazing little humans. I am still adjusting and worrying about the Mom aspect of things, like what will happen when someone brings in cupcakes for their birthday and she can’t have one, or what do we order for her when we eat out? (no fried food, buns, desserts, yellow cheese, crackers, etc.) So if anyone out there has some suggestions, please email me, I really do need some help sorting it all out. I am actually more worried about me then Layla, she is doing fine, and feeling better. :0)

Today

Today is one of THOSE days. It’s not Monday, so I can’t blame it on that. I am not sick, so I can’t blame it on that. The kids and James are not annoying me, I took my medication, the sun is even shining!!! But somehow they found me, I don’t know how, I didn’t hand out a map, I didn’t invite them, I definitely don’t want them…..but here I am with a bad case of the “blahs”. How this happens I have no idea, things can be going just peachy, you can even have a dish of JUJU bees next to you (I do), but they come anyway! And, they don’t come alone, oh no, they bring with them, their awful cousins…”poo” and “sigh” together they wreck havoc on your day. So here I am with blah, poo, and sigh hanging out with me at work. One must ask the question, what do you do with them at work? To that I answer…..blog. (who incidentally, is a second cousin twice removed on the poo side of the family.) Blog usually chases poo, sigh, and blah away. I am not sure how, but before you know it…..you are eating JUJU bees in the sunshine, and loving life (I am).

small miracles

It was a beautiful snowy Saturday, and we were headed to downtown Plymouth, Mi to meet our new friends Keith and Carol, and look at the Ice Sculptures. We bundled up the kids, jumped in James’ truck and headed out to brave the cold. We all met at Starbucks, got hot drinks and chatted awhile, then off we went. We saw some amazing creations; a large viking ship, dinosaurs, bouquets of roses frozen in ice and even ice people! The kids thought it was  wonderful, and we had a great time laughing, and chatting with our friends. Then I spotted it…..in a wagon on the sidewalk, could it be? One of my most prized possessions from my childhood? A “little sprout” sleeping bag? That jolly green giant side-kick was my favorite, and I had a sleeping bag that I treasured my whole life, until if fell off the back of a truck when we moved in 1998. I never got over that I lost it, but I always imagined that a homeless man found it, and loved it like I did. So here it was right in that wagon. I don’t even think they made that many, they were a promotional item, that my dad had received because he worked at a grocery store. The odds of ever finding one was impossible, I have looked on-line. So what should I do? My friend Carol answered that one, we went inside the Kid’s Cafe where the little red wagon was parked and flagged down several families to see if they may be willing to part with the Little Sprout sleeping bag, for a price….but to no avail, we couldn’t find the owners. We headed out the door, sigh…oh, well, we tried. Then I got an idea….I would leave a note. It was a long shot, but I scrawled a note on some paper (side note here, my friend was running out the door, when she felt a small voice say…”grab some paper and a pen” so she went back inside and put 3 sheets of typing paper and a pen in her purse.) I wrote that I used to have a “Little sprout” and would they be willing to sell theirs to me, as it was special to me as a child. I left my cell phone number, and we headed to the library with our friends to visit and let the kids look at some books, but not before my friend Carol, grabbed us up in a huddle, and said “let’s pray…….Lord, we know there are wars going on, and this may seem small, but could you give Ginger this blanket? Thank you, AMEN.”  Later that day we all said goodbye, and we headed home. No sooner had we driven two blocks then the phone rang….”Hello?” 

“Hello…you left a note about the blanket?”

“Yes”

“It was mine when I was a little boy.”

“Oh…..well, I understand, mine was special to me too, I guess it’s not for sale.”

“No, it isn’t for sale, but would you like to have it?”

(shock…disbelief…tears) “Are you sure?”

“Well, it sounds like it would mean a great deal to you.”

     So, my hubby turns the truck around, and there waiting on the corner is a young couple with a bright yellow and green sleeping bag bunched up in their arms. They freely gave it to me, with smiles on their faces, and expecting nothing in return. I thanked them over and over, and as I waited on the street corner for James to come back around the block, I marveled at the wonders of a tiny wish, a tiny prayer, and a tiny amount of faith.  The snow was falling in little snowy clumps and I was softly weeping into a small vintage sleeping bag…..you know, sometimes we may forget God, but He never forgets us, and He delights in surprising His children with small miracles.

If only…….

Did anyone catch the comment by Simeon Cowell on American Idol last night? He said, “I just realized something about Americans, you guys are genuinely happy when someone else does well! I can’t say I would be all excited if something great happened to one of my good friends, I just wouldn’t feel it!”  There were some “boos and hisses” from Paula and Randy that followed, but just the same it got me thinking. How happy would you be if, say, you were in line at the drug store to get a lottery ticket, and you let an old lady cut in front of you…..not just any old lady, let’s say it was grandma….and she gets the first lottery ticket, and you get the second one. The scratching begins, and you rub off one cherry, then two, and then…..utter disappointment an orange, oh well, it only cost a dollar. Then grandma let’s out a little squeal……”honey” she says, in that shaky little voice… “what does 3 cherries mean?!”  Right then and there, granny had won $2000.00 dollars…..for crying out loud, what will she use it for? dog sweaters, denture cream, or that oh-so-necessary bunion remover? Then you catch yourself thinking…….if only…..if only I hadn’t driven granny to the store, if only I hadn’t let her cut in line, if only I had won…….oh, if only, if only, if only…..I could pay some bills, get that new sweater I wanted, and go crazy at Target on shoes, and….sigh…..fly out to see my boyfriend in Connecticut. Just when you think the “if onlys” will take over your life, granny taps you on the shoulder….”honey” she says in her sweetest granny voice, “you need 3 cherries more than I do” and she hands you the ticket. You know, for once, I think I disagree with Simeon.

It’s amazing what a good book will do!

 My mom sent me a book before Christmas by Randy Alcorn entitled “Safely Home” it is a novel based on the Christians that have been persecuted in China. It started out slow, and I was reading it just here and there, more to get through it than for enjoyment. 2 days ago, however, it got interesting……very interesting, so I started chapter 30 around 3pm, and was finishing the book, chapter 52 at 10pm!(Not as fast as Gillie, but hey I was at work part of the time) If only I was that motivated to do my laundry, or….read my Bible?! We really have much  freedom here in America that we take for granted! Although the book was fiction in nature, it was written from real stories the author collected in China, from REAL Christian who have been imprisoned, beaten, and forced to labor for the Chinese government. Christians who meet in secret caves, and only have one Bible to share with hundreds who are hungry for it’s life-changing message. Who see the Word of God as a treasure above all others, and who readily die for their belief in “Jesu”. It really made me take a hard look at my life, and examine what it is I am doing here on earth. Am I just here in America taking up space and living off the fat of the land, or do I have a higher purpose? The biggest thing I think I take for granted is my Bible, as it collects dust, there are those willing to die, just to hold one in there hands.

Chinese Buffett Woes

My sister just sent me an article ( from foxnews.com )  about a man who was charged double at a Chinese Buffett. He was a regular customer, and being a large man, could put away an alarming amount of crab legs. The manager tacked on an extra $10.00 and when the argument got heated the police were called. The part of the story I thought was funny is the sign on the wall, it read:  ” FOOD IS FOR EATING, NOT TOYS  FOR YOUR CHILD”  handwritten  below was ”or 20% added .” I can’t say I blame buffett owners, the obesity rate in America just shot up to 66%. My brother in-law was actually asked to leave a Chinese Buffett once, the waitress just walked up to him and said, ” you have too much…you go now” and took his plate!! What is America coming too? First they take our buffett rights, next it will be our condiment rights, then our right to free toilet paper!! I say we put a stop to this buffett nonsense and eat like piggies!! I know I did at the Pizza Hut buffett today at lunch, I had six pieces, but 4 of them were thin crust, so that really only counts as 2…I don’t know where this blog is going, but I feel a snack coming on….

Battle of the Batteries

What always happens AFTER all the gifts are unwrapped? The realization that….we don’t have 16 AA batteries to make all the toys work!! This is what we were confronted with yesterday. So off we go to the store to purchase AA and C batteries, only to discover, upon returning home… that one toy needed AAA batteries….grrrrrrr. Thus began the “let’s see what runs on AAA batteries that we can steal for your new toy quest” I HATE THIS QUEST.  Kids scatter in all directions opening the backs of everything from TV remotes to electronic toothbrushes.  We finally swipe 2 AAA from one remote and 1 AAA from another remote. Nice….we now have one working Christmas toy, and 2 non-working TV remotes…..sigh. In other news, the house is now overrun by all manner of LOUD, obnoxious, blinking, screeching, singing toys…..the good news is– I will soon need to use the TV remote, and will most likely steal the AAA batteries from the walking-eating-roaring dinosaur that now prowls around the living room. Hope you all have a well-charged, AAA free New Year.

Welcome to my blog :0)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we had way to much to eat and as a result are suffering from “turkey coma” symptoms….I am sure you are familiar with it. The ” I can’t move off the couch to get to the pie” type feeling we all get after a big holiday meal.  Aside from that, we all seem to be doing well. I always wonder what the garbage men are thinking on the first pick up after Christmas…..are they just happy that the bags are lighter? Are they bitter that they didn’t get a “Suzy wets alot” doll? Do they completely realize, more than any of us, how spoiled we are as Americans? If nothing else, I can say we are definetly BLESSED.  I hope as we all come into a new year, we can find ways to BE a blessing to others, and make the world a kinder place. Happy Holiday’s to you all.