Ya Notice Anything New?

Those of you who visit somewhat regularly might notice a new "ad" box on the right-hand side (besides the AdSense ads)--it's from Gas Buddy. I'm not officially plugging Gas Buddy and I reap nothing from having it in the sidebar, but with gas prices being as wild and fluctuating as they are, this is a quick way to search the best prices in your area. Just plug in your zip code and go! :) This site is much more accurate than others; it relies on local participants reporting prices and in generally right-on. :) Enjoy ~ and catch those prices when they're at their lowest! ;)

Attack of the Killer Mosquitos!

I have always gotten 'bumps' from mosquito bites; the normal, red, itchy bumps. Pesky, but they go away. And as of the last few years, they go away exceedingly quickly, as the zyrtec in my system seems to dissipate them more quickly than normal metabolism of the stuff that skeeter injects in me. ::ick::

I'd heard about others who got "allergic reactions" to mosquitoes, but I honestly just thought it was an overstatement of a normal bite. That is, until MY kid had it.

[As an aside, why do we have a tendency to take things less seriously until we experience it ourselves? A natural bent towards skepticism?]

Brendan had normal mosquito bites last year; exactly like what most people experience. This season started off with what I thought was him scratching bites to infection. So I treated the open sores with neosporin and band-aids and a stern talk about not scratching and keeping his hands washed. Turns out it might not be that at all!

Several weeks ago, he got another crop of bites (they always seem to happen when he's sleeping) and I put Caladryl Clear on them. Unlike what you (and I) expect, there is no benadryl in Caladryl--they changed the formulation and it's pramoxine HCl. Several hours after the application of the Caladryl, he had blisters in the middle of the bites. So we (naturally!) assumed he was allergic to the pramoxine, and I bought benadryl cream.

Today he woke up with yet another batch of them, and didn't want any cream on them, so I left them alone. Guess what was in the middle of these bites by lunchtime? Yep--plasma-filled blisters. ::double ick:: So I pierced the blisters (lest he do it while scratching) and put cortisone ointment and bandages on them. Once I put him to bed, I immediately googled "allergic-reaction+mosquito-bite" and came across a site run by Princeton University in which many, many people posted about their extreme allergic reactions to mosquito bites.

I am so grateful I found the site; there's nothing a doctor can do, although there is some thought that taking singulair might help reduce the reaction (this medication reduces leukotriene reaction, part of what makes up an allergic reaction). I will talk to his ped when we're next in; in the meantime, I may start coating the child in Skin So Soft before bed. ;) I know it doesn't do a huge amount in terms of repelling mosquitoes, but I don't want to dip him in bug spray and put him to bed, either. And as long as we have this Eternal Summer down here, they're not going to die any time soon. Argh!

So that's our experience with the killer-mosquitoes--I don't know what's different for Brendan, except to think that it might be linked to his development of seasonal allergies. Even more reason to hike out of the Ohio Valley, where all allergens and pollens land on us! ;)

Random Thoughts

Ever have one of those weeks when you look back and realize it's been a jumble? Much has happened, but to characterize the week as "a good one" or "a rotten one" just doesn't seem possible. So in that vein, here are some random thoughts about my week....

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So last week saw the anniversary of the 9.11 attacks. And last Sunday found me sitting in front of the keyboard, staring at images of that horrible day, getting terribly emotional, and crying. When Brendan got up from nap, he noticed my eyes and sniffles and asked why I was crying. What do you tell an innocent 3 y/o child about terrorism?

I responded that when he was still inside of me, some very bad people did a very bad thing and crashed airplanes in to buildings. They hurt a lot of people who didn't do anything wrong, and when I remembered what happened, it made me sad. It was the best I could do at the time. (So much of parenting is on the fly!)

I knew his little 3 y/o mind couldn't wrap itself around that, but it satisfied his curiosity and got me a tissue and a kiss from my little sweetheart.

Later on in the week, he said, "I'm sorry, Mama." I asked why he was sorry and the reply came back, "I'm sorry that when I was in your tummy some people did a bad thing and made you sad." Insert collective "awwwww" here....

Kids can't grasp what happened that day, even if they were directly affected by it. But one little boy's attempts to comfort his sad mum did a lot to brighten my outlook and put a smile on my face. If it didn't, then wouldn't the terrorists have won? For our future is locked up in these cherubic faces, not in the evil that these criminals have perpetrated upon us in the past.

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Have you ever expected the worst, only to be pleasantly surprised (nay, shocked!) when just the opposite happens? I was, today. :)

I had the lowest of expectations of an individual and was very happy when I was able to cast aside my preconceived notions. It truly did change my perspective (immediately, I might add) and my attitude as a whole; everything immediately seemed less gray and despairing. I guess that should be my lesson to never underestimate an individual's work ethic and God at the same time...!

9.11 Remembered

People talk about major life events in terms of where they were, what they were doing, etc., when they "heard the news." So where were YOU when you heard about a plane crashing in to one of the Twin Towers? What were you doing and what was your first thought?

I can hardly believe it was 4 years ago today that it happened...in some ways it seems as if it was only last week, and in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago.

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I was already a wet dish rag, as we had just buried a 3 y/o from our church who drowned accidentally. I couldn't stop crying. I was pregnant with Brendan and the loss of a child is hard, no matter what the circumstances. But add pregnancy hormones to the mix, and it was a b-a-d combination for me.

I remember watching the news and getting ready to take our sick dog to the vet--I heard that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers and immediately thought of a Cessna or other small plane. The reporter on the news was saying that it was a loud, horrific crash that sounded like a missile, but of course I thought he was imagining things. When the second tower was hit, my stomach dropped out. I had just watched it happen live and although I saw it, I just couldn't believe it. That day was so hard--and we didn't know anyone in Lower Manhattan--it was just watching others suffer and thinking about the agonizing friends and family of those who were lost. As the towers fell, I think a part of my heart fell with them and the survivors.

The next day, my eyes barely opened due to puffiness from crying. Mark and I both said, "Yesterday felt like a bad dream." I had barely slept--I kept seeing the images of crashing jets and flames over and over in my mind. Oh how I wish that it had been simply a nightmare! The hatred and the evil was simply unfathomable to me, and all the conjecture in the world by "experts" didn't help explain it to my befuddled brain.

As the ruins smouldered for weeks, my head cleared a bit. I continually wondered about this baby I was carrying and what sort of world he was to be born in to--the thought scared me. I was grateful for the decisive action taken by our government and thankful to the young volunteers who signed up to defend our country.

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To this day, I still don't understand the hatred and vitriol that brought people to our land, bent upon our destruction. I doubt I will ever comprehend such evil, because it's just not the way I think or live my life. But I will never forget those who died in those 4 plane crashes or the survivors they left behind. They are heroes in this saga and although they didn't go to work that day intending to sacrifice themselves, their sacrifice will not be forgotten and is not easily put aside.


For those of you who knew or loved someone who perished on 9.11, my prayers continue for you.

For those of you (like me) who didn't know anyone who died in those attacks personally, don't let the busyness of this life crowd out the loss and the pain of that day--never forget what happened. Hold the survivors in your heart and don't let the actions of that day fade in to our history books.

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If you want to see an amazing tribute to the victims, survivors, and the heroes who sacrificed themselves on our behalf, go here.

The Unplugged Life

We were entirely unplugged from civilization last week. Okay, well not *entirely*...we still had phone and television, but the motherboard on my brand new (40 day old!) computer croaked on me. Ever try to do anything on a computer without a motherboard? A call (or 12) to the motherboard manufacturer (how many times can I hear, "Please hold. Your call is important to us" and not lose my mind?) and a hefty chunk of change for the new board (which will be refunded when they receive the defunct one), and all I had to do was wait. An interminable 5 days. If I thought that hearing a sappy, drippy voice in "On-Hold Hades" would make me mad, 5 days without connecting to the outside world challenged that notion.

I can hear it now. "You weren't *really* unplugged from the world--your phone worked and you had TV!" What you may not know about me is that I really don't enjoy talking on the phone (despite the lengthy periods on it with the motherboard manufacturer). And I really don't enjoy TV, although I am a bit of a current-events junkie. Typically, though, I get my current events from online sources and eschew TV watching.

I bet others of you are thinking, "Well jeez...I bet *she* got some things done around the house without being online!" Ehhh...yes and no. I spent a good deal of time under the desk, trying to figure out what was going on, a great amount of time on the phone with tech support, and some time doing other things (like sewing). If I had planned my online-fast, I would've accomplished more--but as it was, I took a good chunk of time to just read. And wonder how many emails were piling up in my inbox--with no way to stop them.

There were parts of last week that were refreshing. No reading testy messages on boards from people who were experiencing a precipitous drop of blood sugar and no time in the office (other than picking books off my bookshelf). I did miss my writing (and am behind as of now!), and I dearly missed my iTunes. But on the last day of this forced-internet-fast, I figured out that I could plug my iPod to the stereo via the monster cables that hooked up the AirPort and still hear my tunes. :) Too bad I didn't figure it out sooner! And I truly did enjoy the time to read--yes, I could've been painting or doing some home-improvement task, but I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and decided that some pleasure reading was long overdue.

I did learn that interpersonal stuff is easier online (in terms of time-management) than on the phone, but the connection of people is what's important--no matter how it takes place. So maybe a self-imposed fast from being online is in order every so often. It stretches me. And maybe someday I'll actually enjoy talking on the phone. But I'll make sure to set my listservs to "no mail" before I do it so I don't have 1200+ messages waiting to overload my inbox when I get back online. ;)