My Sinus Solutions (reader-be-warned)

I'd like to think I came from a family pool of pretty good genes. Sure, I'm terrible at all things mathematical, and my hair has a cow-lick I simply cannot conquer, but overall I have little to complain about. However, if there's one place where genetics handed me a stocking full of coal, it would have to be in my proclivity towards all-things-sinus.

That is a very long way of saying I get a sinus infection almost every time my nose drops a drip. I've had so many over my lifetime, in fact, that I've learned how to recover from them without antibiotics. And it isn't any difficult process.

To avoid allowing a sinus infection to progress to the point that I need antibiotics, the only thing I need to do is prevent crud from hanging out in my sinuses. This involves a whole lot of nasty blowing noises, followed by lougie halking noises (are those even words?), a bunch of sleeping completely upright, and usually a very chapped nose. But hey, it works for me. And until recently, I thought it was the only thing that worked. Then I found this:

(This post is about to get ugly, friends)

I would totally not be sharing this with you if I didn't believe that it has prevented not 1, not 2, but 3 sinus infections from taking over my body in the past year. Nobody in their right mind would post vulnerable (read: blackmail-ready) photos such as these without a darn good reason.

The NeilMed bottle is based on the same concept as the (now famous) Neti-pot. The purpose behind them both is to introduce fluid to the sinuses, and invite the mucus to exit with it. In my opinion, the bottle is superior for only one reason: the user can control the rate of flow. Instead of allowing gravity to bring the water out of the neti-pot, into one nostril, and out the other, I can squeeze my little bottle and use a little more force, bringing more of the yuckies out than gravity alone would be able to.

The NeilMed bottle comes with packets of pre-mixed saline solution that dissolve in the warm water used to fill the bottle. Because it has a straw down to the bottom, it needn't be tipped during use.

Simply hold up to one nostril, and while breathing solely through the mouth, squ

eeze the warm saline solution into your sinuses.

The solution, along with whatever it collects on its way out, will exit the opposite nostril.

Continue with the other side,

blowing your nose gently when finished.

Sure. It feels really weird. At first you wonder if you're about to drown yourself. But once you see how much junk that saline solution brings out with it, you, too, will be a believer. Well worth $7.99, especially for those pregnant and nursing who have such limited medicinal choices. Find more information here.

Oh, and if you do decide to give this a try, I may have a couple tips for you. But I'll save the really juice stuff for those who actually want it :)

Tightwad Tuesday: Patience is a virtue (and it usually pays off)

Where does the time go? Oh wait, I know, there's a time-eating machine sleeping in his crib above me. Check.

Welcome to tightwad Tuesday. I started writing a tightwad-themed Tuesday post a few months ago when I realized that the more I write about the money-saving convictions I have, the better I am at following through with said convictions. Does that resonate with anyone else? It's kinda like a diet, you know? When you tell a bunch of people you're cutting calories and making a

concerted effort to lose weight, you're much more likely to do just that.

Anyway.

It should come as no surprise that there are a lot of things I would like to own. I'm sure you're the same way. Whether it's a hairbrush, or a dresser, a wall painting, or a food processor, we all want something. And it's up to us to decide whether we should buy it, or live without.

But I've found a third option. And it seems to be working swimmingly.

Patience.

What? Yes. Patience. Ok, let me explain. Over the last few months any number of purchasable items have come into my mind. You name it, and I've probably pondered buying it. But instead of heading out to search for the lowest price, or greatest deal, I've written said items on the whiteboard in our kitchen.

See? Some of them are still up there. There were more, but over time I came to the conclusion that I didn't need, or even want, some of them. And yet, some remained. One of those was a George foreman Grill. Yes, B&B, we still have the one you gave us, but honestly, it isn't big enough any more. I began searching out a bigger one a few months ago and kept coming up empty handed - until yesterday.

Yes, it was a quick and unscheduled trip to Goodwill that rewarded my patience with the granddaddy of double sized George Foremans. Would you believe it's hardly been used? Would you also believe it was 50% off, and set us back about $3.27? Indeed, it made for a good buy (and an even better replacement) which will save me oodles of time on dinner prep. We do, after all, use this little appliance 3-4 times weekly on a whole variety of "quick meals" I prepare and stockpile in our freezer.

... but I would be remiss if I didn't point out the potential for such a bargain hunting system to quickly turn into a system for accumulating things we don't need. You know, the "I found such a great deal, I just couldn't resist" stuff. So here is where the buck stops for me:

I will quote the book that I oft. do; "The Complete Tightwad Gazette", by Amy Dacyczyn. In it, a reader submitts a list of buying criteria which I found utterly helpful. It encourages patience, and diligence, and puts to rest haste, and greed. It also facilitates a better understanding of the difference between "want" and "need" - and couldn't we all use a little help in that department?

• Can I live without it?
• Does it do more than required?
• Does it cost more than it's worth?
• Can we do what it does with things we already have?
• How often will we use it?
• Where will we store it?
• Will using it be more work than we're apt to want to do?
• How many ways can we use it?
• Have we checked with people who own one and with consumer ratings?
• Would I be smarter to resist, and put the money toward another goal?
• If an item doesn't satisfy 8-10 of these criteria, could I at least sell it for the same price I paid (or better) should it fall short of my expectations?

I will add to this list the point "will it save me money, or the equivalent in time doing another task?" When I say equivalent, I'm actually referring to a mathematical equation. What I mean by that is, quite simply, my time is worth money. By doing something like, say, making my own yogurt, I'm saving roughly $3.64 each time I make a half-gallon batch, which takes about 20 minutes of my time. Therefore, I'm "earning" $10.92 per hour of "yogurt making". So, I measure a product's "time saving value" on the value of the time I would spend doing a similar task.

All that rambling to say that USUALLY, it's better to go without buying what first comes to your mind for two reasons: First, if you write it down and wait long enough you'll probably decide that either you don't need it, or that something you have will suffice. Or second, you'll maintain that you do need it and something gently used will turn up when you least expect it.

Why go to all this work? Why bother? Aside from saving money, it comes down to discipline, and stewardship. I want to model both of these for my family, and what better way than to put them into practice, to the very best of my ability.

Sure, my son may be left to play with MY childhood train set, on a table we salvaged from a curbside (both clean, and sturdy, might I add) But maybe, just maybe, that will instill in his little brain the notion that brand new is not essential, that we don't purchase on a whim, and that patience is indeed a virtue.

Christmas:a prologue

I think I've reached that point where I haven't blogged for so long that I don't know where to begin. So much happened over our Christmas vacation. As is the case with ALL four of my tips home, I learned so much about myself, my family, and my ability to cope with a toddler away from home.I would make a feeble attempt to summarize our visit, but I fear I would end up leaving gaping holes in said summary. Instead, I will slowly fill you in on the key points - over the next week or so. The other reason for stretching it out is that (since we've returned home) Levi isn't taking naps much longer than 75 minutes. Also, my unpacking is FAR from complete. Add to that the fact that we shipped a relocube to ourselves (of things we've been meaning to get from home for many years. great company, great prices, third time we've used them.) and I have very little time on my hands. So, these posts shall have to be short and sweet if I have any desire to actually complete any of them

First, I shall share that on Christmas day my son took a diving leap from the doorway down into the garage at my mothers home (about a 6" step). He landed squarely on his nose. Which might not have been a bad thing, but that little nose skidded on the wipe-your-feet type rug, and he had a nasty rug burn for the following week. He earned the nick-name "faceplant"

That nick name served him well as, not 10 days later, (the very night before we arose at 3:30am to catch our flight back to NE) and in a VERY irritable state, my 19 month old climbed over the side of his (formerly MY) crib, and fell to the floor. Terrible mother that I am, I did not make note of his falling until I went in to check on him 30 minutes later and found him asleep. On the floor. Insert call to pediatrician, mommy tears, and feelings of all-over guilt. Wow.

We met some woodland creatures at my grandfather's home. He feeds them. The return every night. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd capture a picture of my toddler THIS CLOSE to a pair of racoons.

Jonathan and I also celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a trip to a local irish pub (similar to one we frequented during our short honeymoon in Victoria BC, 5 years ago) and dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. Nothing like bumming around Downtown Seattle during the holiday season to remind me why I strongly dislike big city traffic. Our anniversary was wonderful - each year when we celebrate together, it reminds me how happy I am we married during the Christmas season. Not only do we get to celebrate the holidays with family, but they get to celebrate our anniversary with us. We have so many fond memories of anniversaries past!

I said earlier that I would make due note of the mistakes we made in our trip TO Seattle by plane. I do not need to use many words to do this. First, DO NOT plan on stretching out a toddler's bedtime during a layover. overtired is never good, and overtired does NOT mix well with benedryl. "nurse, nurse, doze, AWAKEN, SCREAM, ARCH, nurse nurse, doze..." for 3.5 hours. Ick. If you plan to use Benedryl, do what we did on our trip back to NE. Give it right before the plane takes off, and plan your departure during a normal going-to-sleep time.

Since we've been home (what, almost a week now?) we've been the gracious recipients of said relocube, and also (on the same day) 7 inches of snow. I was beginning to think we scared the snow off by purchasing a snow blower before nary a flake fell. Not so. Don't get me wrong, I think the snow is beautiful and all - and by now, I'm pretty darn used to the stuff - but I'm not a fan of traveling around the city in it, nor is my marshmallow-of-a-bundled-up-child. Today's high is negative two. I seized this opportunity to clean out my deep freezer, moving all of its contents to the detached garage while it thawed in our basement. So, you won't catch me saying the cold isn't good for something!

if these photos don't finish uploading soon you're going to have to endure a photo-less post. The child shall wake anon, and when he does, I shall post regardless.

Alright. There's my post, photos included. And there's my waking toddler. Adios.

Flying with a toddler is rarely as difficult as you think it will be
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Sometimes it's much, much harder.

When I get a little more sleep, and come to terms with the fact that I'm taking my (sleep deprived) toddler to one of the fanciest restaurants in the city tonight, at what would ordinarily be his bed time, I'll blog about yesterday's travel experience.

(this post will be alternately titled "mistakes NOT to make when flying with your toddler")

New do for a little dude

A couple of nights ago, I took the plunge.

Literally.

I took on the monumental task of cutting my toddler's hair...

In the bathtub.

Although the job didn't get finished there (that took a highchair, curious george, and one zoned-out kid), I did manage to snip the majority of my son's whispy locks inside the confines of the tub - and I also managed to save them!

It may be difficult to tell he even got a trim, but I assure you he did. No more rat-tail for my son, and (after this morning's high-chair episode) no more whispies growing over his ears. All clean and fresh.

Somehow, I thought this would feel like more of a milestone than it does. Hmm... maybe after his first buzz cut.

Not Me Monday

Some weeks are better than others, eh?

No, I mean really, some weeks you feel like super-mom (or super-dad, or super-employee, or super-spouse...) and some weeks you seriously wonder if you super powers were some sort of sick practical joke.

I started writing "Not-Me Monday" posts thanks to this blogger who has a heart for God, and so much love for her brood of five+hubby. Five? I can hardly keep ONE on the right track.

Here it goes. This one's a doozy, folks.

The week started out with a bang. Tuesday, I took my son downtown where we collected my sister-in-law (darling Jillian, you're priceless) and took her with us to keep and eye on Levi while I got my hair cut. We also went out for pizza! Having been a previous restaurant manager, I know how annoying it is when people walk into your establishment before you're open. So, knowing this, I certainly did NOT mosey in (and out of sub-zero temps) at quarter to eleven. Rude.

Upon returning home, let me be the first to tell you, my garage door was NOT wide open. I'm certain it had NOT been wide open (brand new snow blower and all) for the previous four hours.

Wednesday I had planned to make a meal for a meeting of 25 or so at our church. This has been on my calendar for a while - so I did NOT forget about it when I was reading my facebook feed in the morning and tell my friend (who has three under three) that I would be at the childrens' museum in the morning and more than willing to help her manage her handful. Not me!

While I was cooking up a storm at the church (and my son was playing with his pal Teague) I called to see how things were going at Rachael's house. She certainly did not inform me that my son had a fever of 103.1, and was standing by the sliding glass door pouting "mommeee?" Oh no.

We arrived home. I put my baby down for what I was *sure* would be a long nap. I was NOT wrong about this. Why would I be? I mean, MY son always takes loooooooooong naps. Enjoyable

naps! Knowing how ill he must have felt for having such a high temperature, I did not try to drag him to walmart (oh come on! you know you do this too when your kids take super-short naps. What else was I going to do with him?). On our way out the door my ever-independent son, who likes to navigate the stoop steps on his own did not get his fingers pinched in the door jam by yours truly. I also did not ad insult to injury by smacking his head on the side of the car whilst trying to get him into his rear facing car seat. I'm super mom, remember?

I did NOT continue feeling like a poor excuse for a caregiver... now.

Ok, so we get to walmart without too much trouble, and we're strolling through the store picking up a couple things on our list. As we made our way from the food section of the store to the home-repair section it was NOT my son who took ONE glance at the lingerie we passed by and,

without hesitation, looked me dead in the face, and with head cocked to the right, said "Milk?"

Oh gee my little nursling.

A few more before I look like a complete idiot... stay tuned

My son is learning shapes. And colors. and, of all things, matching (which he initiated, and I'll have to explain this further later). So he'll point out anything that looks like, say, a ball. He and I were snuggling after nap one day at which point he did NOT point to a small, raised, mole on my face and say "ball?" (Really?)

He did not then do the same thing to the (much larger) mole on his daddy's knee - and that most certainly did NOT make me feel just a little bit better.

And lastly, in my plight to offer my son a few more dosing moments during nap time (and being SICK of this short-nap business), I have been giving him a little motrin before he goes down. Well, the pediatrician wondered if he may have a sore throat and she suggested a little robitussen. Having gone back and forth between the two of these throughout the week (and seeing zero result in the form of more sleep from either of them), I would NOT have been the one to prop my toddler on my hip, and with both bottles in front of me, ASK him which one he wanted. He also would NOT have said something that sounded like "Morin".

He did NOT then go on to take a splendid 3 hour nap.

That's all I got folks. OK, lie. I have more notes here pertaining to other stupid things I did and said over the past week, but I don't have any need to degrade myself further.

...except to say that I might have put my son's potty chair on top of my own in an attempt to get him to stay on it for one solitary minute. Maybe I did that. But I'm just not sure.

Hum Drum Rut (and a map)

Do you ever feel yourself falling into a rut? You know, a routine that, without you even noticing, turns from "ideal" to "monotonous"? Well, I think We're there. Not to say we aren't enjoying our rut, I think we are doing just that - but it's offering very little variety lately.I suppose this is somewhat both normal and necessary. Children thrive with routine yes? I'm willing to bet the only difference between a healthy routine (which, I would imagine, includes a healthy dose of variety) and what we've got going right now is laziness and my outright desire not to make any endeavor that may require too much energy from me. I'm short on that. Energy. You know how that goes.

aaaaaaaany way. Levi is sick. He came down with a spontanious fever yesterday (while my friend Rachael was watching him for me. Teague, you're next) My firecracker has decided sleeping is most certainly NOT the way to get well, and as such has taken a sabatical from regular naps. Ugh.

Also, and completely unrelated to anything I just said, I logged on to google analytics (a program I am not very familiar with at all) and realized that, to my shock, my blog has been visited by individuals in over 20 countries in the past 8 months. Go figure! If you're unfamiliar with Google analytics, and you fear I'm trying to track down whose who, fear not, that's not the way the program works. At least, I don't think that's the way it works - and even if it is, I have no idea how to see exactly *who* went looking on my blog. Only where they were from in the world, and how long they stayed here etc. So, stalk on, my unknown Korean friend. And you, yes, you from Turkey, I know you're out there!

(dark green = most visits, light green = few visits, White = no visits)

I've used it before, and I'll use it again - my only excuse for excluding from this post a (current) picture of my darling son is that my camera is upstairs. Between it and me lie whoknowshowmany creaky floor boards and one napping toddler. Instead, this profile shot will have to suffice.

(all the obedient toddlers were painting their gingerbread men with green icing. Meanwhile, Levi was busily painting the inner reaches of Teague's mouth with sweet, sugary, goodness. That's my boy!)