Oink
The swine flu has decided to make an appearance in my little valley. I can't tell you how thrilled I am. I've always wanted to be part of a pandemic and now it looks like I just might get my chance! YES!! I will be part of history... gotta love that, right?
Okay, not really. I'm not freaking out yet, but I am concerned. After all, I have a child who can't talk. If he gets this, he won't be able to tell me. We'll just have to wait for him to be completely miserable before we will know that he needs help. Sigh. So, we are taking a few precautions...
Hand sanitizer was sent with Red to school along with instructions for him to use it, especially before he eats, and share it with anyone who wants some. Little Bug's class already uses hand sanitizer, but I'm going to buy more to send for the class. We will also be bathing in the stuff once or twice a day.
The everyone will change clothes when they get home from school/work/shopping... wherever they could be exposed to the flu (ugh! I don't even want to think about the mountains of laundry I am creating for myself here :S). If we find out that someone from the family HAS been exposed, their clothes will be burned.
Clorox wipes are now in my purse to wipe down shopping carts, door handles, and anyone who sneezes or coughs in my general direction.
My Mom is sending us some masks to wear if someone does get sick. If no one gets sick then we just might wear them anyway and pretend to be Michael Jackson.
Hand washing will be required throughout the day. I'm even thinking of waking everyone up in the night to make them wash...
And we will be staying home unless there is a really good sale somewhere. Then, I'll take my chances.
Not a lot of changes but it should be fun, don't you think?
There is a silver lining in all this though... we already have a subscription to Netflix. So, if we do get sick, we will still be entertained. Can't ask for more than that... right?
(Please recognize a healthy dose of sarcasm in this post... I'm not that crazy. Not yet anyway...)

Decisions, Decisions
I have a dilemma. And so, as usual, I'm turning to you, bloggernauts, for your guidance and inspiration.
I have a membership to Barnes and Noble. So, every time I order a book, I get a discount between 10-40% off. On top of that, every so often they send an email with an extra discount code in it. So, I have an additional 20% off one item (oh, how I love discounts!).
And that's where my dilemma comes in. I can't decide what to use it on! I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to books. I love getting new books... but (there's always a "but" isn't there?) I'm also hesitant. I don't like reading books that are gory,vulgar (language or sexual content) or just plain boring! And so, I always worry about spending money on a book I haven't read before. What if it's nasty? What if it's foul? Or what if it is so stinking boring that my brain turns to mush and leaks out my ears? See? This is a big deal!
And this is where you can help. What have you read recently that you've liked? And, if you had a 20% off coupon for Barnes and Noble, what book would you buy? Or would you use it on a game? DVD? CD? What would you get?

Oh, and one more thing... Barnes and Noble has just opened an Audio Bookstore. You can download over 10,000 books. I've done a few price checks and B&N is anywhere from $5-15 less than what I found on iTunes... I've only looked at a few books, but what I've seen has been encouraging! We listen to audio books whenever we travel... so this is a great thing for us! Just thought I'd give a heads up in case anyone else out there loves this format as well. (And no, I don't work for Barnes and Noble and this is not a paid blog spot... I just really love buying things from them!)

Liquid Refreshment?
Several of you have commented or contacted me in some way asking if I've dropped off the face of the earth. I haven't... and I'm here to explain where I have been...
The other day I was feeling rather worn out but couldn't really put my finger on why. I had slept well, had a good breakfast, and I had even exercised. But I was exhausted. I started looking around online and found that fatigue can be caused by dehydration. So, I went on a quest to figure out just how much liquid is recommended in a day...
They say that you should get between 8-10 8oz. glasses of water every day. That's 64-80 ounces to stay healthy and hydrated.
8 oz. of pomegranate juice
Then we have milk... 3-4 8oz. glasses each day to get the calcium you need.
Grape juice is next on the list (full of all those great antioxidants, ya know) 1-2 glasses at about 5oz. each.
You should have about about 8 oz. of cranberry juice each day.
Another 8 oz. of grapefruit juice should also be consumed.
Then there are all sorts of herbal teas, protein shakes, health drinks and a myriad of other juices. The list goes on and on.
Basically what I'm saying is that I haven't been blogging because I've been living in the bathroom. I no longer feel tired... quite the opposite actually. I haven't felt this lively or done this much running in a long time!
Okay... not really. But it was funny, right? (Oh, and just so you know, you really shouldn't drink that much liquid. It's around 64 to 80 oz. total liquid intake. I know all my readers are smart, but I don't want some stranger stumbling onto my blog and start drinking a couple of gallons of beverages every day... I think that would be a bad thing and I don't want to be held responsible. Anyway...)
I haven't been blogging lately because I just don't feel like I have much to say right now - not even in comments. I seem to go through spurts like this every now and again. Hopefully inspiration will hit and I'll be writing up a storm and keeping up with all y'all again soon.
Thanks for checking up on me!

Just Keep Swimming
I've rewritten this post a few times. Okay, so maybe more than a few! I'm just kind of at a loss and a little bit overwhelmed right now.
You see, yesterday we had a meeting to discuss Little Bug's goals and testing results with the school. Now, we get to go to quite a few meetings for my little guy, but this is the one that I dread the most. This is the one where they let me know just how far behind he is. This is the one where they let me know that my 8 year old is functioning on a 2-5 year old level. And in some areas it's even lower than that. It's never fun to have another person point out areas where your child may be lacking. But it's one thing to have a person give their opinion on what they think is wrong. It's another to have a set of professionals (psychologist, speech therapist, behavioral therapist, teacher...) sit down with test results in black and white to illustrate each and every area where your child is struggling. He has made progress and I'm thankful for that. But sometimes it's hard to see those steps forward because they are usually microscopic.
And after these meetings I always wonder... what more can I do? And then, of course, the guilt comes rushing through me because there is always MORE I could do. I start a list that is not unlike the one given to me by the school. I'm lacking in so many areas. And as I continue to pile things up, I begin to feel more and more desparate for solutions. But each solution seems to bring with it another mountain of problems and soon I'm feeling suffocated and overwhelmed. Because, really, how can I do everything I need to do for each of my kids (especially Little Bug) and keep myself in a sane and happy place? I'm starting to wonder if it can be done.
And so I sit. Paralyzed by the vast amount of things that I should be accomplishing. And in the end? I've done nothing and everything in my life suffers and then my guilt list grows.
I think my biggest problem right now is knowing where to start. I have to move a mountain and I feel as though I've been given a teaspoon to do it with. So, how do you tackle the mountains in your life? How do you keep moving forward even though your progress doesn't really seem like progress? Does anyone else feel this way? Or is it just me... and Marissa?