Difficult road

So, as most of you know, my sweet little girl, Mollie, was diagnosed with leukemia last week. Without a doubt it was the worst week of my life. But, life goes on and we're already one week into chemotherapy and we're ready to fight the cancer with all we've got. I'll be blogging about it here.

Hopefully I'll be back to posting on this blog once in a while. It's kind of hard to have two blogs, but this one is just my own thoughts and experiences with no particular theme/topic.

Tonight I taught my biology lab. A bunch of students (the ones who get good grades) had the giggles all night and I couldn't figure out why until after class. Turns out someone (and I don't know who or WHY) left some porn and "personal lubricant" in one of the drawers at the lab table. EEEWWWWWW!!

And now, I am trying to keep from laughing out loud because my lazy cat, Otis, keeps slipping off the leather ottoman that he's sleeping on. Then he jumps back up and curls up right on the edge, only to slip off again. I think Garrison Keillor said it best, "Cats are intended to show us that not everything in nature has a function."

Happy Father's Day!

We had a little photo shoot in our front yard today and this is one of my favorites! I just LOVE how Lucy is looking at Mollie! Mollie wasn't feeling very good so I had to retouch (snot removal) some of the pictures but we sure hope Daddy likes them!

I'm back... sort of.

I haven't posted because I've been in the hospital getting re-hydrated after a bout with the worst gastrointestinal illness I've ever had. I don't want to be gross here, but at first it just seemed like run of the mill stomach flu. When I started to take in tiny amounts of fluid, I would immediately throw up (or otherwise void) at least 10 times the volume of what I put in. I kept thinking it would get better soon, but it just didn't. When I got to the ER, the doc told me my vitals were terrible (hypertensive, tachycardia) and pumped me up with 2 liters of saline. I felt better after the first 500 mL. Now that I'm home, my stomach is still churning, but I'm keeping fluids down much better and my anti-nausea medication is helping.

What I learned from this incident: Don't underestimate the danger of dehydration. Listen to your instincts. Be thankful for health insurance.

And, no, I didn't eat any tomatoes!

Funny shirt sighting

At the Jackets game Friday night I saw a kid wearing a shirt that said, "I put the stud in study hall!" I like it...

Summer's here

I already mentioned fireflies and super-high temps. So... this weekend we decided to admit that summer is in full swing. To celebrate, we went to a minor league baseball game, pulled out the kiddie pool, drank some beers on the deck, and gave in to the heat.

My mom always says she likes the heat and wishes she lived somewhere hot. I am here to say that hot might be good if you're on vacation, but it is not good for every day living!! On the list of things I wouldn't recommend doing in 90º+ heat:
grocery shopping
doing laundry (line drying is impossible due to humidity and the dryer makes the house hotter)
going to work (you will want to change clothes as soon as you get there)
cooking (hot, hot, hot)
nursing a baby
yard work (heat stroke risk)

What do you think of coupons?

With food prices rising so quickly, I thought I would look into using grocery coupons more often. I usually print out coupons for a few items (7th generation products, for example) and peruse the market's advertisements before making my grocery list/weekly menu. This usually saves me a few bucks on groceries. Some people save a LOT of money (or even get free groceries) by using coupons at different stores.

The more I read about these coupon divas, the more I realize it's not for me. It seems like a full time job: hunting for all the coupons, figuring out which products you need, which stores accept competitors' coupons or have double coupons, driving around to different stores, etc. And honestly, it seems like most of the coupons are for processed foods, paper products, and toiletries.

For now, I'm sticking to my regular plan- coupons that I come across without much searching, shopping the sale items or store brands, and sticking to my list (the biggest money saver!). If anyone has tried heavy coupon use and found that it really is worth the trouble, do tell!

Hotter than...

You KNOW it's not going to be a good day when you walk out of the house in the morning and it's already 85 degrees! Ouch! It's an absolute inferno here today (albeit humid), topping 102.

My SIL, Liv, just sent me these great tips for saving money on air conditioning (so timely). It's always good to re-assess the energy efficiency of your house. Unfortunately, when it's over 100 degrees, ceiling fans just don't cut it. I am absolutely worshipping our air conditioner (and power company) at the moment.

Catfish

Mollie and Matt have become good fishing buddies. Mollie is not scared of the flopping fish anymore because she's four (her reasoning). They landed this 3 lb. catfish over the weekend and it almost pulled Mollie into the lake!