Blessings and Transitions

In March my husbands' seizures increased so much that he had no more time off at work - even with his doctors FMLA paperwork for time off. She was unhelpful this year in changing medication to something that worked better as the two he was on had stopped working. Unhelpful with filing the new needed paperwork for him to retain his job and unwilling to do anything that might have helped us. Needless to say, she isn't our doctor anymore.
Not that it makes a huge difference as we are uninsured until I've been at my new job for 3 1/2 months. At that time we most likely would have been searching for a new doctor who took our new insurance anyhow.

Leap ahead I was offered 3 jobs - huge blessings as I've been a stay at home mama for 13 years - on my 39th birthday I was offered the job I truly wanted. Its 7 minutes from my home, I stay busy all day long and time vanishes quickly. Even better I have work I enjoy and feel like I do a good job in my position.

Hubby's having a go at being the stay at home dad. He's doing a great job and he's still mostly sane even being around our dastardly duo 24-7.
Our life has been full of ups and downs, after 12 years at his job building up a decent 401K we cashed out enough to pay off tiny bills and buy ourselves a small unretirement gift.

After searching for a while we found a wonderful gem. A 40 yr old class C motorhome in near perfect condition! (insert squeal here - louder)

I made a joke as we drove it home that he had just bought his own dog house (joking, just joking).
He came back with that as long as we have it we will never be homeless - touche, he wins the point.

Our amazing friends S & S thought we should run it up for a quick trip over Labor Day Weekend (since I had it off paid) to test it out - they, of course, came with us in their RV to make sure we were safe. Also, they adore camping. S's parents also bought a class C RV (2018) this year and wanted to test it out so they joined us. We had an incredible time.

This year has been full for us, so many blessings, so many changes and lots of new experiences.
Prissy was asked to Homecoming next week and our small circle seemed to flip. Dress from a friend, shoes from our neighbor, nails being done by my bestie S & hair cut by me - most likely styled by me as well.

Winter will be spent fixing up the motorhome, we want to paint inside and outside, fix the brake light, the hot water line & change the valve on the propane. We also are going to give it a tune up and change out the fuel filter. Lots of little things that will give it the TLC love it needs to shine. It truly surprised us camping - everything works! Furnace, AC, propane, stove, sinks, toilet, onboard generator etc. Even more amazing it made it up Parleys Canyon! (For those of you who don't live in Utah it is a main road up a mountainside with a 6% grade for MILES to reach the top. It's not the grade of steepness that makes the road so hard to get up but the length in which you need to drive your car up that steep of a climb. Its burnt out more than one engine.)

So while our garden has been amazing and I've already canned several fun things this year I really have been to busy to blog - on any of my blogs. Not even the most amazing surprise birthday love from all my neighbors this year - so hi, still alive, still here, still making it one day at a time.

Early Easter, Dirt and TMI

Hubby's work once again did the Easter Egg hunt for the kids! We did the 4:30 hunt, but due to how many employees they have, they also did a 5:30 hunt as well.

G'man went nuts and came away with more candy than I think any other kid got - his bucket was FULL.

Prissy was just happy that she got to take a photo with the Disney Princesses!

Both kids have enough candy to make them sick for at least a week! Easter isn't even here and already I'm wishing the candy far far away!

My sister ended up in the E.R today and will be going in for surgery to remove her gallbladder soon.

Prayers for her health, safety and finances are greatly appreciated! 

My kitchen garden dirt (half topsoil/half compost) arrived and needs to be shoveled into the bed area.

We are hoping its enough dirt - if not we may need to buy more.

I think between the pile and the rest of our own compost pile we will have enough. Hubby is slightly worried.

He is such a perfectionist - I don't know how in the world he's managed to be married to me for so long and stay... somewhat sane?

My grasp on sanity slipped years back - if I ever had a hold at all.

I am still working out daily and still losing. Its slow but I'm seeing progress! 

Also in a weird, what the hey, TMI moment I got a new tiny cute torture device called an Epilator. This is a mechanical tweezer machine that rips the hair out of your body. The first minute or so is quite painful - it fades and you are left with incredibly smooth arm pits and legs.

Seriously my body hasn't been this smooth since I was 12.

If you want to have smooth skin for swimsuit season and can handle a little pain, you should look into one!

Goals and Catching Up

I know that its been almost two years since I've blogged regularly. So what happened? Well if you followed me for a while or read through my, Path to Me, posts you would know that I've been working on finding me again.
The snarky, feisty, loudmouthed trouble maker that I missed terribly, but had become to tired and depressed to be.
Two years ago I WOKE UP.
Fully and completely.

Around the same time my husband went in for gastric bypass surgery and started to have seizures. He has dropped from 365 pds to 209!!!

Hubby when he's bored and missing me at work

He is still having seizures - they are growing more frequent and terrifyingly we haven't been able to determine the cause.
Thankfully he is on a medication that has minimized the effects of the seizures and has stopped them from being severe.

Due to his amazing progress in weight loss my darling hubby put money aside so that I could go in for the surgery as well. When he went in I weighed 236 pds. This Jan. I've finally managed to reach 216 pds.
Twenty pounds isn't something to be sad about, but still in a year in a half I wanted more progress so I agreed to undergo surgery.
HOWEVER - while I may be fearless about many things, I'm a HUGE chicken butt when it comes to hospitals!
The next day after agreeing to meet with a doctor for surgery I started HARD work on the treadmill. Starting with 60 min a day. After a week moving up to 90 min and now I am at 100 min a day.
I am down to 208 pds. and will continue to work my BUTT (quite literally) off!

I would rather cut out junk food, soda and work hard then have invasive life altering surgery. I have also agreed with my over clever husband that if I slack off and stop - I go in.
He is afraid for me. He is afraid that something could happen to both of us. Which coming from a long family line of heart issues on both sides of my family, I have to admit, his fear for me is valid.

The best thing about getting my spark back? My sense of fun?
I have more energy. I'm more creative. More active. My life the past two years has been FILLED!

To add to the fun list of things I need to catch you guys up on, my husband spent a weekend a few weeks ago and built a chicken coop from scratch. (Yes, he really is that good)
We have 9 chickens at the moment living and stinking up his office/my workout room. Tomorrow we will finish the outside fence of the coop and get them outside!
(You have NO idea how happy I am about this!)
I will post photos soon. Maybe even tomorrow but I can't make promises.
We will be hard at work getting the outer fence up, as well as running a power line from the back of the house to the coop so they won't freeze at night.

So in the quick brief bit I managed to write out - I'm awake, alive, causing mayhem and getting projects done!

Root Canal and my Grow Box!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152313677024507&l=8113614559437479119
If that link doesn't work click this one.

Prissy had a Root Canal yesterday. We tried to take care of this when it was just a cavity but being my sweet princess we ended up in the ER, then in the allergist's office and then finally at Rocky Mountain Endodontist, paying to have her knocked out for a Root Canal.
Somehow she takes the most normal things and turns them into a very complex procedure!

The link will take you to the after video of her in the car waking up - its hilarious!

Also my sweet hubby made me a grow box! Today I was able to finish getting it planted!
I am super excited about this! We also have the large garden in the back tilled and ready for planting! Next week I get to start on that large project!

I have 3 types of lettuce and a spinach growing each in their own section. We used pavers to separate the box, allowing me areas to hold onto and kneel on when digging out weeds and cutting out salads!
The soil is a special garden blend half top soil and half compost, we had to wait two weeks just to get the dirt for the project!
Also the plastic is 6ml plastic sheeting found at Lowes or H.D in the paint department. I read many reviews from other DIY gardeners who have used this for greenhouses and they adore it.

Also for those that want an update on the hubby we still have no clue what is causing his headaches, good news though is its not life threatening.
We are going to talk to his regular doctor about seeing a, ear, nose and throat specialist.

This month is shaping up to be very busy! We started out with the root canal and grow box, we have an 8th birthday (G'man), Easter and our 12th Anniversary coming up!

Spring break has been filled with tons of work, stress, bills and fun - hoping yours has been wonderful!

MRA and Life Updates

Last fall I found a "ding" special on the fridge. You may drool over my stainless steel beauty, but I got 600.00 off due to a dent in the front!
Where is the dent?
Its hidden under one of the fun magnets I placed on the fridge!

This week with our tax refund the hubby bought me (and had it delivered for free from Lowes) my new stove!!!
This is an AMAZING stove! It has a center long burner that is perfect for cooking fish OR you can remove the middle grate and place a griddle there (included) for grilling bacon, burgers and anything else that you want.
Also another fun feature on this stove is that you can run the oven and the broiler at the same time! For less than 600.00 this stove packs a great bargain! Not to mention it rocks the reviews.

In short my kitchen is quickly turning into my dream kitchen. It might not happen like on a design show, beautifully done in 2 weeks, but we have plan and are working toward that goal by doing a little bit each year.

Hubby celebrated his 40th last month and his seizures are doing much better. However, in January he started to have thunderclap headaches.
Today he had an MRA. Last year we had an MRI but it didn't show enough detail.
 I am not sure I want to know an answer. I am scared they will find something and scared that they won't.

My health has also had a strange few months, but I am on track now. I have been diagnosed with PCOS and HS. I am currently trying to heal my gallbladder, liver and spleen to see if I can balance my body's chemistry.

The kids have been in great health with the minor hiccup of catching Fifth disease last week. Prissy broke out into a massive full body rash and was diagnosed with it. Both children were kept home from school at the end of last week since they were contagious.
Fifth disease or slap cheek is not relatively bad - unless you are pregnant.
This week we have played catch up on homework, as well as making sure Prissy is getting caught up.

I am frustrated with the school system. My daughter comes home with a report card full of N's which means she is so far behind they couldn't give her a grade, and yet we have to have continual meetings with the teacher and principal to try to get her into a one on one setting.
My son is averaging a B+ and yet he gets a one on one teacher.... how this makes sense is beyond me.
I am getting pissed off with the No Child Left Behind CRAP that keeps pushing my girl into a higher grade when she can't pass ANY tests.
How can the "No Child Left Behind" help my child when she ends up in the 7th grade at a 2nd grade reading level?
Fact - It can't.
It's sole purpose is to make it seem like they are working on fixing a broken system. A fake band-aid if you will.

(Also do NOT comment on this and try to explain how she is supposed to get help to get caught up because the help she IS getting is keeping her at a second grade level and they are NOT trying to get her any further help unless we are in their face demanding it.)
I know how the system is "supposed" to work. Supposed to and Actually doing are two very different things.

The Little Things in Life

There are times when you wonder (like Amy and Rory from Doctor Who) if life just got started.
The past few months seems like our life kicked into hyper gear.
We have been busy with Doctors appointments, dentist work, school, soccer, birthday parties and so much else.
I never meant to go quite for so long. Really I meant to come back and give you the update on Hubby and his seizures.
So here we go - one massive missive, condensed to a semi manageable length.

Prissy ~

In October she turned 10! (Where has the time gone!) We had a great Monster High Birthday party for her - they watched 13 Wishes (the newest M.H Movie) We had a Monster Dance off as well as a mummy wrap contest.
The winners took home some great prizes and everyone had a ball - really they are still talking about this party!

G'man ~

My boy has had a BALL this fall. We placed him on a indoor soccer team and they came in first place. Okay not to brag but they won all 8 of their games and some of them they won at 15-0. He LOVES soccer now!
He also won B.U.G lunch at his school on the same day as his Best Bud. (Bringing Up Grades). I am very proud of how great he has been this year!

The Hubs and I

 

Hubby has had 11 cavities, 3 crowns and one infected tooth worked on. He has also been on two different meds as well as diagnosed with Left Frontal Lobe Epilepsy. 

The medicine he is on has helped. He is having seizures less frequently but they are growing worse in strange ways (he was able to do a task while one part of his brain was still seizing).

I have been having a ball with my Bestie as this is the first year that all four of our babies have been in school full time!

Our friend C.A just came home from Cambodia and she has 6 more weeks to go until her first baby arrives! I can't even say how happy I am that she is back in the states!

Weather across the nation has been cold and brutal - Utah is no exception. We have been under 32d for the past two weeks! With most days starting off at 4d and getting as warm as 18d today's 30d actually felt warm - we got close to having something (anything at this point) melt!

Luckily before the cold settled in we were able to install a new warmer front door as well as plug up some large holes.

This came in handy last weekend when G'man turned off our heater with his soccer ball. Even though it dropped down to 4 degrees that night it was still a frigid 52d when we woke up.

 

We still don't have all the answers. Hubby's health still isn't where we would like it and we don't know if it ever will be again. 

Today.

Money is still tight. 

Family is still family. 

However, we have a home. 

We have each other and we have hope for tomorrow.

So today is a good day.

Today, I miss my mama, but cuddle with my son and daughter. 

Today is important.

Its filled with the little things.

School, work, fish and chips, family movie night, frigid air and hot cocoa. 

I don't know what tomorrow holds but today... today is a good day.

Neurology and Everything Else

Where to start... I guess I would have to start explaining today, by starting with Monday. ps. this is a rather long post, but worth reading!

Monday hubby had a dentist appointment. Basic cleaning and to find out what was going on with a back tooth that was hurting (feeling like it was being pushed out).

As we drive down SR-111 (very middle of no where) I hear a very dreaded sound. Thump, thump, wump wump.

We pull over and Ta-Da! Flat tire!

I call the dentist to let them know we need to reschedule.

After spending around 20 minutes to acquire the spare and jack the car up to a manageable height. We run into a major snag.

I can't move the lung nuts. It isn't going to happen.

Hubby gets one lug nut off and then spends the next 10 minutes holding his tummy (where he had major invasive surgery two months ago) and trying not to cry.

Note to the new visitor of this blog - I am married to a very manly man. He does not cry. It takes more than you would imagine to get this man to cry over being hurt - ever! (I have seen him undergo 5 surgeries)

We call in help. Hubby's BFF JarHead and his very amazing Wife came to our rescue! ~ Thank you so much you two! ~

Now fast forward to today. A month ago we made an appointment to see a neurologist due to hubby's surgeries. The appointment was at 1 pm. I had made arrangements with my BFF for her to watch the kids.

BUT we had a dentist appointment that needed to be made up. Hence we got a 10:20 appointment this morning.

So here I am driving down SR-111, again, on the way to the dentist, again, and I BARELY miss hitting a doe! 

We make it to the dentist in one piece (Thank you Jesus!) and the kids and I get comfortable in the waiting room watching Despicable Me and then the first ten minutes of Meet the Robinson's.

Hubby comes out at 11:52! By this time I was getting worried about not making it to my BFF's and back up to the doctors!

Hubby has 15 cavities, an infection - needs a root canal, a few fillings and to remove and plug one of his teeth! All in all roughly 12,000! They are going to send us a mock up of plans and stages at varying prices for our tiny budget and we will go from there. 

This year we need to worry about the infected tooth, the rest can wait.

Now my hubby is very clean - the dentist was impressed with how clean his teeth are - the problem comes from bad diet as a child and extremely poor dental hygiene as a child. Also his C-pap might cause some damage to his teeth.

You just can't undo what's been done. 

We dropped off the kids and run to the Neurologist appointment - already both of us are drained!

Two hours later, we have a follow up, an EEG planned, new trial medication and most likely a diagnosis of Epilepsy. 

Nothing is definitive yet. Nothing solid. Nothing known.

However, Dr. Buchanan was a very well spoken, polite and knowledgeable doctor. 

We run grab the kids - who have amazingly been ANGELS (why don't they act like that HERE!?) and come home.

So to recap my week - broken garden hose, busted car tire, broken bathroom faucet, HUGE amounts of dental work, and a very large unknown in our future.

I think its safe to say we need prayers. I also would like to find the Angels that is holding my blessings. He seems to have gotten lost.

The good news? Hubby is down 78 pounds and I am down 18 pds. I had a bad week the week of my birthday and had to re-loose all the fun I had! 

Next week, I'm hunting an Angel.

Two Month weigh in and Health update

First off I am sorry I have not been blogging lately. Our life has taken a few turns that we didn't expect.

My darling hubby has lost a whopping 70 pounds exactly in two months!

 

I have lost 15!

While the surgery and diets have been amazing and we wouldn't want to go back, it has triggered something else.

What we are not sure of.

It started about two weeks after his surgery. He had a very scary grand mal seizure. (freaked the living crap out of me!)  Then he had a few more - then even more.

To make a very very long and scary two months short, we have been to the doctors, the ER and for a contrast MRI.

We have an upcoming appointment with a neurologist as well as an EEG and an ECHO.

The MRI did not come back great. In fact it has left us with more questions and heavy hearts while we wait to meet with the neurologist.

It showed a few "dead" spots in his brain as well as the fact that his brain is no longer functioning on the same level as most men his age.

This is all recent as we had an MRI done just 2 years ago.

As for current treatments - he is on an anti-seizure medication that has helped as he has only had 1 in the 9 days that he has been on it.

Needless to say this is scary for us. Right now we are waiting to find out more, waiting for more tests... I feel like parts of me are slowly coming undone.

The scariest part is all the research I have been doing. The fact that the may not be able to figure out what is happening. That it may continue to happen.

That my beloved could die from this has me more emotional than I can say.

So, I will blog more. Wait. Pray and of course update you when we know more.

 

A Long Weekend

Friday we took the kids to their school PTA Carnival. 

Saturday morning I woke to the news that a very good man and friend, Randy Chavez passed away.
Here is his obituary so that friends and family can attend the Memorial and Funeral. 

Later Saturday another friend of mine (a woman I baby sat for) died, no funeral information for her has been past on, but my humble respects to Gina Smedly's family.

Sunday we went to the zoo - Hubby has been house bound for two weeks and wanted to get out and be in clean air.
We made it through the Asian Highlands and the Arctic Exhibit before we had to turn around and come home. It was too much to soon. Hubby is still in lots of pain and his energy is very low. Right now at the Hogle Zoo they have several large animal statues done in lego's, due to our short trip we only saw three but we will be heading back soon, the blessings of a membership.

Today (Monday) is my husbands two week weigh in after the surgery - so far he is down a whopping 41 pounds!
I am down 6 pounds!
 

New Beginings

The black shirt is from Christmas - its the original before.

The red/hospital gown is after losing 20 pds in the two weeks before surgery.

He is home.

No more complications.

A few very long days of recovery and then we start to walk!

I have lost and gained back the 4 pounds and am still working on losing.

Healthy diet, exercise and sticking to it - should help.

This is the last stage on my Path to Me.

The first few stages were waking up, getting active, accomplishing goals and re-finding my sense of humor.

The last phase and the longest is to lose all the depression and baby weight that I gained.

Will keep you posted.

This is a little bit of the amazing moments that kept me away from my blog. Sorry, its been so long. Will keep you posted on our weight loss.

The hub's and recovery

Monday Hubby went in for Gastric Bypass Surgery.

He was supposed to come home today.

Supposed, is the key word.

There was a minor complication.

Minor as in, it won't cause any problems, need surgery ect ect.
Complication as in, he's not home.
Tomorrow they will x-ray him again, check his progress and decide whether or not to release him.

You see they have to check to make sure there aren't any holes. However, sometimes - like this time - they see something else.
The upper intestine was LARGE, filled with air. The small intestine wasn't moving. Two things can cause this, a blockage and a temper tantrum.
Luckily for my hubby his is due to a temper tantrum. (They have a very technical term for it) However its when the muscle refuses to squeeze again.
In other words its angry at being cut and throwing a baby fit.

On its own it will start to work again within a few days at max. They will go in and x-ray him again tomorrow and see if its moving yet.
If it is then he will be released.
If not he will spend another night in the hospital.
Thankfully all of this is covered by insurance.
As long as the doctor notes it in the charts (and he has) we have already met our out of pocket deductible so this is all a free ride.
Too bad its not more fun.

The kids and I, miss him, miss normal and frankly I think I could drive to the hospital blindfolded.

Will post photos hopefully tomorrow.
The good news is in the 2 weeks pre-surgery hubby lost 20 pounds! Can you imagine how quickly he might lose the weight over the next few months?
I really have to kick my butt into gear so I can catch up!

A long time with a long road

Its been two months since I have posted. I am sorry.
I have so many things I would love to share and document.
So many projects, activities, and family events that I have stored away wanting to share.

They were swept away with our recent choice. My husband is going in for Gastric Bypass Surgery, tomorrow.
For the past two weeks he has had nothing to eat, drinking only fluids and protein shakes.
I tried to follow the same diet as he did, I made it 2 days. Kid you not, I get grouchy without food!

Instead I swapped to eating breakfast (smaller portions and calories) and dinner (also smaller portions).
In the two weeks I have lost 4.5 pounds. Tomorrow we will find out how much hubby has lost.

We are determined to have our lives back.
Since this is a very physically demanding task - losing so much weight so quickly weakens you - we have been running around the house finishing off projects, getting the house as ready as we can for the next few months.

We have even worked more on the kids playground as they will be off school soon.
In the mean time while my husband is off work recovering (you have to be able to move around and his job is sedate) we are hoping to get some house painting done.
Today we finished fixing the out side lights, the leaky faucet and a few things out side.

Tomorrow at 1:30 pm we go in and he should be released to come home Tuesday.
 I will post more - hopefully some before and after photos as well!

An Eye Full

So today was a full day of running around.

First off I dropped off Patch for his hair and nail cut appointment.

Then I came home (attempted to clean but didn't).

Ran back to pick him up and run him by the house.

At which time I then had to run to the school grab both kids for their first eye visit.

First off I am not a slacker when it comes to getting things checked but I have paid attention to my children and Prissy has always seemed to have great vision.

It wasn't until this year that G'man started complaining about seeing the board at school.

Then he started getting closer and closer to the TV to watch it.

After talking with his teacher I made an appointment for both of them.

No surprise Prissy has 20/20 vision.

G'man is nearsighted,

but he also has astigmatism in his left eye.

Which can cause blurry vision, tired eyes and cause further damage if left to struggle on.

The good thing is that he will only need to wear the glasses at school.

For sports, summer and around the house he will hand them over to me to take care of.

So the above has a photo of the glasses we ordered and will be here shortly.

I have to say that I LOVE our Shopko eye center!

Our Dr. Broadbend was amazing with G'man. 

Talked him through everything, calmed him down about what was going to happen and was amazingly patient!

Patches before and after photo!

He is so cute!

Sunny Day Picnic

I know I haven't been blogging lately - I wish I could say I was very busy - saving the world - something fun.
In truth though I have been done with the cold crappy weather. I lacked ambition. Focus.

Today, however, the sun came out! It was actually warm and dry!
The kids decided to celebrate by spending most the day outside - including begging for a picnic lunch outside.

A few months ago (my southwest Miche party) I bought 120 nacho bowls. (and yes that was the smallest amount I could buy at a time!)
Now I have been finding tons of fun uses for these containers around the house.
Today was another great day!
I made their sandwiches (turkey for G'man & PB&J for Prissy) in the cheese area I added some chips.

Yesterday we ran to IKEA, my hubby has a chair. A very special chair. The only chair.
You see a few years ago hubby had back surgery. This makes it very hard for him to bend, or move up and down.
Thus he can not have a soft, plushy, squishy chair. It needs to be firm. Supportive.
This is a chair we bought a few years ago at Ikea. Then the kids got a hold of it and... well after a few years of my children trying to climb the chair and their papa, it broke.
As this is the ONLY recliner we have ever found (5 years searching) that does not hurt his back, we went and got him a new one! This is his b-day, valentines day & fathers day all rolled into one.

I have lots of fun news I will be posting this week so I will be back! and soon!

Utah's Toxic Air

Before the almost full foot of snow that's dropped in the last two days, we had Toxic Fog. A thick heavy layer of smog, fog and pollution.

It hard to tell due to the large amounts of white, but its around 3 feet, yes its a four foot fence but it slopes down. Its hard to describe and depending on drift, my yard has anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 feet. We have more snow inbound tonight and tomorrow so we will see what we end up with.
The rest of this post will be on last weeks issue of Toxic Fog ;). Hope you enjoy my rant.

New's Quote, 

The icy fog has smothered the Salt Lake Valley for several weeks and trapped lung-busting soot emitted in the city underneath.

The level of pollution in the city is now the highest in America according to the Environmental Protection Agency and medical experts are now urging residents to stay indoors.

And

The greater Salt Lake region had up to 130 micrograms of soot per cubic meter on Wednesday, or more than three times the federal clean-air limit, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Utah regulators are working on a set of plans to limit everyday emissions, including a measure to ban the sale of aerosol deodorants and hair spray that contain hydrocarbon propellants. Those plans, however, will take years to show results.

Snow cover amplifies the phenomena called a temperature inversion - Salt Lake City was a foggy freezer box Wednesday at 18 degrees, while Park City basked in sunny 43-degree weather. The warmer air aloft acted like a lid on the frigid valley air, leaving it with no place to go.

For weeks, industrialized cities in northern China have been dealing with bouts of sickening smog several times more toxic than Utah's. But by U.S. standards, Utah's pollution index is off the charts with readings routinely exceeding a scale that tops out at 70 micrograms a cubic meter. The EPA sets a standard for clean air at no more than 35 micrograms.

News links on our Toxic Air.

Daily Mail - Utah's Toxic Fog make's UK's newstands - great photos of the fog.

CBS News

Fox 13 - Attempting to make it sound better

Fox 13 - Our government not really making any changes - trying to leave cleaning the air up to using public transportation. 

Fox 13 - Utah Mom's for clean air trying to get government legislators to pledge to a more active role in cleaning Utah's Air.

Utah Mom's For Clean Air - How did I not know about this group until now?

So while the snow has in fact "cleaned" the air for us once again, the simple fact of the matter is any time the air "settles" (still air, dry air ect) we get inversion. That by itself is still nasty to breathe. Add in varying factors and voila Toxic fog/air. 

The main problem is that even if this legislative session makes and creates real air changing laws and ideas, it will be years until they are implemented and even more until they are effective. 

It can be another 10 years before we see cleaner air on a full time basis. 

So what do we do in the mean time?

I for one am looking into buying special masks for Asthma and Allergy. (links at bottom of post) Since my daughter Prissy has sever Asthma and hayfever, buying washable, re-usable masks is key.

I will also pick one up for my son and I - not sure if hubby will agree to wear one or not even though he also has asthma.

We may look silly for the first year or so - however, if things continue the way they are we may be at the forefront of a new fashion. At least locally.

How about you? IF you live/lived in a polluted area what measures would you take?

 

Links to masks

Here are the top two I am looking at

For the kids (latex free & washable)

For me and the hubby (washable)

and others

I can breathe Masks

Mask buying guide 

One Long Day

The day started early. My BFF picked me up bright foggy and early. Utah is having toxic fog, smog and inversion the last few days - its horrible!
We went downtown to the new salt lake Library where the Utah Autism Coalition was meeting. They are getting ready for the coming legislative session.
For those that don't know Utah has the highest amount of Autistic kids in the nation and yet we still don't make sure that they all qualify for health care!
The UAC is trying to get a bill passed that will allow people with Autism to receive the treatments or meds they need.
Now many people say that this is too expensive. NOT helping is too expensive. With the proper help 70-80% of the kids can grow up to hold jobs, take care of themselves and be all in all, "Normal".
Without help of any kind only 2-6% make progress enough that they will be able to care for themselves as adults.
Helping them now will save taxpayers a fortune in long term care. Not to mention that the numbers of Autism continue to grow!

Next up in the day my hubby went with my BFF to see if he could fix her grandmothers shower - long story short - Nope.

She returned, dropped him off and mentioned that she had the rest of the day off!
My husband and her husband agreed to both watch the kids and give us the day for a girls day!
We went and watched Les Miserables! It was amazing!
We cried for almost 3 hours straight!
Then we went out for dinner at our favorite place (at the moment) Iggy's!
Yummy!
We spent the time talking back and forth both about the movie and about Autism. Her two amazing children have autism, so this is a subject near and dear to us.

Before going home we ran by the store, grabbed a few groceries.
When I got home it was almost time for the kids to go to bed.
I started to help them with their bedtime routine.
Right before Prissy went to brush her teeth I sent her out of the bathroom to take her night asthma mends... That's when the crap hit the fan!
My daughter started screaming!
I mean bloody murder, terrified screaming!
Hubby ran from the living room and me from the bathroom.
My daughter had her EPI Pen, sticking out of her FINGER!

HINT: if you look up EPI Pen in finger on the internet they will tell you MANY times to NOT put an EPI Pen into your finger!!!!

This is a needle that is meant to go through blue jeans into your thigh! Its long and its sharp!
Not to mention the medicine is life saving, but dangerous! It is not meant to go any where near your fingers!

We ran to the ER.
Alright, I didn't run, but I did drive like a crazy woman!

Note: my hubby and I had both tried to pull it from her finger, to prevent the releasing of more medicine... it wouldn't budge.

The ER Dr. gave us the option of numbing the area before pulling it free - to which I reminded him that she is allergic to Lidocaine. He told Prissy tough luck and yanked the needle free - pulling it from the bone!
We had to x-ray the finger to make sure that it didn't cause a bone fracture.
Thankfully it didn't.
We have been very blessed!
The EPI medicine didn't not release into her finger because the needle pierced the bone.
It didn't fracture or hurt nerves or veins.
Again we are blessed!
She will be fine.

On the way home I bought her a finger brace to protect the weakened bone and we will need to watch it to make sure it does not get infected over the next few days.

So the day was a great girls day, the night a bad night with Prissy!

Blizzards and Family

Its a blizzard out side so I tell the hubby its his turn to get the boy. 

He says, "I wouldn't know where to get him."
I say, "What would you do if I break my leg or get in an accident?"
He says, "Drive carefully!"

So I went and got G'man in the snow, car's sliding all around, half the cars are driving without their lights on.

Visibility is 20 feet max.

I get there, get the boy, clean the car off again - as it was covered again in the 3 minutes it took to get him.

On the way home I'm yelling at all the cars that are driving like idiots. 

Then a large WHITE truck is driving toward me I can barely see it at 10 feet away because aha! it doesn't have its lights on!

Yeah they win the prize - the your the dumbest idiot on the road prize, lets drive in a blizzard, in a white out, in a white car without our lights!

Brilliant.

Two hours later when its time to pick up Prissy from the after school program... yeah hubby does it.

I take the photos above, go back inside and get comfortable. 3 minutes later hubby calls me to come out side to help him get the van out of a snow bank!

Luckily he only got stuck the once, but he did have to take the long way to pick her up.

Now finally my whole family is home and safe!

As of this moment we almost have a foot of snow in just 3 hours! Most of it being dumped in the last hour in a half.

As for the hubby health update

Yesterday - hubby saw the new doctor. The CT was a much clearer photo, he has ONE kidney stone its not 11.8 instead its 8.8 and its not obstructing anything. So its not causing the pain.

Doctor thinks its due to hubbies weight and previous back surgery. 

Not (like the other doctor) that the surgery area is having issues ie a screw loose, but that due to his having fused the lower sections of his back and still being over weight that the vertebra above the surgery area is now also being pulled out of alignment and may need another surgery.

Today - hubby (before the snow storm) hubby went for an MRI with contrast to check his back.

So we will see soon if its his back or if we are still searching for answers.

Thankfully this doctor seemed much more tuned in. 

Also if you live in an area like or near mine you might want to try a new family favorite recipe

Oven Chili Cheese Dogs - check it out!

Hubby's Heath Update

And why I hate Doctors...

So we've fired his most recent doctor and today we are giving our current clinic their last shot at being in charge of my husbands health.
Two months ago my husband started to have intense back pain. Having had both a back surgery AND kidney stones in the last 10 years we had to submit to several different tests to determine the cause.
An Ultra Sound revealed that he had stones in both Kidneys - one as large as 11.8 mm.

Since a stone over the size of 6 mm can not pass on its own we know we have two options - one where they break up the stones with sound waves and allow them to pass in smaller forms. - Two surgery.
The doctor wanting a clearer photo of his kidneys sent him for a CT Scan, yesterday he went in to get the results of the CT Scan.

She didn't have it, didn't look for it, didn't remember asking him to get it. She also thinks he may have gall stones since his liver levels are still off.
Meanwhile, he is having severe diarrhea  vomiting and is starting to get dizzy.
So to re-cap possible liver failure, possible kidney failure, possible gall bladder issues.
No tests, no help from the doctor, and no surgery scheduled - in fact the doctor still somehow thinks that it maybe a screw loose in his back (from his back surgery) despite the fact that we KNOW he has several large kidney stones.
Does she have any plan on dealing with them? Nope.

Yeah, we fired her and complained about her lack of professionalism.
Today we try again.
We are also looking for an internal medicine doctor who will stay up on his Kidneys, Liver and other functions.
Today we will find out what the scan shows, make possible future plans or appointments.

Friday we have an MRI scheduled for his back - this way we can check to make sure everything is still in place correctly back there and allow the doctors to focus on his Kidney Stones.

I am frustrated.
Tired.
Grumpy.
Worried.
Stressed.
Aging quickly.

Now I am going to find something, somewhere that will help me to calm down - chocolate and tea hasn't touched it! (yes that is truly depressing)
Also my happy pill is not working so approach with caution.

Winter Moon

We have almost two feet of snow and it snowed lightly again today. 

As for the moon - its was achingly beautiful.

So much better than the photo - I am still learning my different camera settings and this was the best photo I was able to get before the cold had me shaking to hard to continue.

Hint: if you want to take a photo at night, in the middle of winter, put shoes and a coat on FIRST!

Right now it looks like we would be starting off the new year in surgery.

The hubby has several kidney stones on each side - one is as large as 11.6 mm!

The doctor needs to check the stats and figure out if they can blast them apart or if they will need to go in and remove them.

Also we will have to have his para thyroid checked again.

Last time he had 14 kidney stones we ended up having one of his para thyroids removed (it was HUGE)

They are what can causes calcium kidney stones.

So we may be back in for surgery on his thyroid - we did the last one 8 years ago - the day before my mother died, not hard to remember that date.

We are still in the early stages, the doctor has yet to finish testing or choosing what options to pursue in treating this - please keep us in your prayers as this is causing my husband a great deal of pain.

Edit: The largest measured kidney stone of my husbands (so far) is 11.8 mm - more scans are being taken and it may not be the largest.
Also he had issues with my word - achingly - to which I suggested he start his own manly blog with manly words. ;)

A Sprinkling of Magic

Every child's life needs some Magic...
                                                     ....*
                                                      *...
                                                         ..
                                                           *

For my children it's the tooth fairy

Now some have been confused.

We don't have Santa in our house and the Easter bunny isn't welcome either.

The part that people get confused on is WHY they aren't welcome.

They cover or gloss over important holy days.

I want my children to know and appreciate the real reason for Christmas and Easter.

It's not that I don't want my children to have dreams or a little bit of Magic, Childhood should have a small touch of Magic.

The Tooth fairy however, is allowed.

My children place their teeth into a bag (my girl has a tinkerbell tooth fairy pillow)

Last night my son finally lost his tooth - or rather papa finally was able to yank it from his head!

Due to the holiday we allowed him to place his tooth under his Christmas tree - easier for the toothfairy to find it.

Now both my children have been caught bragging to others that their tooth fairy doesn't bring them useless money.

They get toys, stickers, candy...

Pretty much whatever mama finds in dollar bins that looks cool and I hide it away for later.

A few weeks ago our friends Shayne & Sara invited our family to join them for a special showing of Arthur Christmas at Jordan Commons today at 9 am.

G'man, the cutie above, who looks fine now, woke up at 6 am SICK.

First it was vomit, then it switched to Diarrhea.

Really bad, every five minutes, can't make it to the potty Diarrhea.

In one hour he went through 6 changes of clothes.

I had to wash the floor twice!

I am tired and exhausted.

However, Papa and Prissy went to the movie.

G'man and I watched it on pause at home - pausing every time he ran for the potty!

Prissy came home with two huge goody bags!

Jordan Commons had Santa and Elves at the Theater and gave away very nice goody bags for everyone that came and even one little sick boy that didn't!

As for the movie, Arthur Christmas

I only recently got this move and watched it.

Its a new family holiday favorite!

One young man in the Santa family, but not a hopeful for the title, still cares.

He goes to extraordinary lengths, battles his own fears and in the end prevails on getting the last present delivered.

Its worth watching.

I encourage you to add it to your holiday watch list this year!

As for G'man - now that he cleaned out his whole intestinal track - he is fine.