~*~ August Pagan Familes Circle~*~ - Page 29

[redveg]

Oh Clay. (((Hugs))) to you and your family.

[Aeress]

Clay- *hugs*

Err, had a whole post and reply ready and hit the darn key and poof it disappeared. Well, I will have to come back to it, time to get the kids going with school work.

thinking of all this morning

[Maiasaura]

Aeress, I so hate when that happens! The other day, it was my fault, not the internet's-- I hit the delete key on my keyboard instead of the reply key on MDC

Originally Posted by witchygrrl

DH had his interview yesterday, and he said it went as well as it possibly could have. There are 3 other people vying for it, and we'll find out by the end of the week. Mamas, we both want this so bad. It won't pay nearly enough, but it would be a foot in the door at a really fabulous school.

You know, though, a foot in the door is really a good thing compared to the money, IMO.
M had to take a cut in pay in order to have a job at all, recently (remember he was on unemployment? and he got hired just in the last week of his benefits?) and he's making a lousy $13/hour-- he's worth $30! But I told him, there are WAY better benefits besides the money, and when I pointed them out, he reluctantly agreed
His health insurance kicks in on the 9th, I think

LOTS of good job wishes for your DH, witchy!

I found a really cool thing I can do for a job. I'm not going to apply yet, as I don't need a job yet, but it's like a home health aide of some sort-- kind of like CNA but not doing CNA things, just hanging with old people, helping with laundry, dishes, cooking, shopping, and being a companion-- and here, it pays only slightly less than CNA! And I do believe the hours are flexible. I can do it during school hours!
Plus, this company, they have it in MA, too! I would love that. It sounds so fun. I like old people

8 days till I see my love again

[wombatclay]

I'd go for chickens if you want them and you have a backup plan.

One of the books I got for Tor's birthday is "Ooops" by David Shannon. I was looking through it the other day and it's just perfect. I don't actually like most of the Diaper David books but this one is just so "Torin". The book is a baby's first words format, one word per page... so the first page is BALL, but the picture is of the baby looking through the hole in the window made by the ball. And then you have DOG which is the dog, covered in mac/cheese. Or WHEEEEEE with baby on a tryke. And eventually (after a half dozen more words) MAMA, which is baby dead asleep on mama's shoulder. It's really adorable and completely not a book I would have liked pre-Tor.

Holiday gift planning- so, I came across a couple of ideas that I'm mushing together into a single holiday gift and I thought I'd share so other families can borrow the idea if they like. Basically, I'm going to make lap quilts! I'll have the kiddos draw pictures on inexpensive muslin fabric with fabric markers. Then I'll stitch the muslin along 12/12 inch dividing lines to make 'squares' and create the quilted effect (probably use a thrift store fleece blanket as the "fill", or possibly I'll pick up some fleece for this purpose since it's on off-season sale now). The final product will be about four feet by four feet, the perfect size for a lap blanket or snuggle blanket, and the pattern will probably alternate squares with kiddo art and squares with kiddo handprints/footprints. I'm thinking that we could make these for the grandparents and great grandparents. The muslin is roughly 2 dollars a yard, the fleece is about 3 dollars a yard (blankets at our thrift store are about 5 dollars each).

Other than that we're going to "give" honeybees through Heifer International and accompany the donation with a jar of local honey (so there is something to unwrap).

I'm stumped on gifts for the kids though... we usually exchange handmade gifts or special gifts at Yule, then open gifts from extended family members on Christmas, and have a few handmade goodies from La Befana on Epiphany. And I'm drawing a blank! Laia likes dinos and space, Ro likes long sleeves/hugalugs, and Tor likes tools.... hmmmm...

[Aubergine68]

Aw, Clay There is just *no* way to make sense of something so terrible happening to an individual, to a family. Hopefully your mom will be able to take the supports that ore offered to your dad now, to make those tools truly work for your dad. And for herself.

You are such a strong and calm person, and you always seem to deal with adversity with such intelligence and such a sense of humor...I can see why people in your life look to you for support. It must have been a great relief to your mom and dad to have you with them for that appointment. I really believe that when you show the medical establishment that the patient has a united and involved family, then the patient gets better care, at least more courteous and humane care ( to that UAV doctor your dad saw before!). It was well done, mama.

I know in my own life I have found it very, very hard to get past the feeling that I have to be everyone's caregiver and caretaker when people who used to take care of me have begun to fail. A few people have reminded me now and then that my own health and the needs of my own marriage and children *have* to come first or I will be no good to anyone. Looking back, I feel that that reminder has truly helped me, so I'm passing it on to you. Wishing you balance and peace, dear Clay!

Sending good thoughts for your dh's interview, wytchy!

I have to pack up 6 kids and head to an appnt for my dd's homeschooling program. Going to be a busy morning!

[femme_rouge]

Clay- I'm so sorry for you, your dad and your family. You are a great support to them.

Aweyn-Hoping all's well with the move-in. Ready or not here you go! It will all work out. There's is plenty of time, and it is ok to do things slowly in stages.

Aubergine-Wow! Heading out with 6 kiddos! You're amazing. I feel so accomplished spending the day out with my 4 & 6 yo who are pretty easy going. My mama gene has been growing in a bit at a time.

Maia- That job does sound great. I bet you'd be fantastic doing something like that.

witchy- Hoping your DH gets the foot in.

Mo3- I would love some chickens. If our yard was fenced, I would do it.

DoK-Sending healthy vibes to you and Roo. I'm in the red tent right now, and I always get caught off guard by my emotions before. Then I start, and the light bulb goes on. At least you have better awareness than me during this time. Seriously, I ought to set an alarm on my phone or something. I hope you find a way to get a massage soon. One thing I do is use a kid's rubber ball-like the kind at mainstream grocery stores in the big wire cage? Anyway, I lay on my back on the ground and put the ball at the top of my back and gently roll the ball down by scooting up with my feet (engaging your abs is important). My back and shoulder pain feels so much better after doing this. It's just a thought.

Cari- Missing your fun posts and hoping everything is going well with you and all your boys.

Sorry I couldn't get to everyone. I'm out of time, but I'm definitely sending love and happiness to all

Off to enjoy our 4th day in a row of sunshine!

[mamaofthree]

witchy: fingers crossed!

maia: there is this woman i know in maine who does something like that! she loves it. she goes to this womans house everyday (7 days a week) for 2-3 hours and helps her out, she said it is th best job she has ever had. the woman and her hit it off and it doesn't bug her at all that she works 7 days a week (of course it is only 20 hours a week). it could end up being a great job! good luck with that.

clay: nice idea!
after reading "Three Cups of Tea" i have decided that we are getting a copy for every family and then donating money to the CAI in their honor. i think i have said before that no one in either dh or my family likes homemade gifts and honestly i am not buying people who have everything and then some more stuff. i would rather send the money to children for schools in the middle east. it is so amazing to me how so little money in other parts of the world can make such a HUGE difference. $500.00 is an annual teachers salary. you can build a 4 room school house for less then $20,000. put in a pumping station for fresh water for about $2000.00. you can send a child to school for a whole year for about $100.00. i wish we had $20,000 to send. lol

h

[wombatclay]

I love the book/gift idea! We generally do dontation/gifts for most family members (also not a big "hand made gift" group) but the grandparentes/great grands get home made (or rather, kiddo made) items. And you're right about the difference a small sum can make. It's amazing. And humbling.

[unschoolinmom]

Sorry I haven't been on here. FB and online school have been taking up my time computer wise.

Clay I'm sending major hugs to you, your dad, and family.

I'll PM that spell tonight, I promise!

I am really bothered by this anemia problem. I'm nervous about the results of the blood work I had done yesterday. I'll find out Wednesday. I'm doing Floradix three times a day now and went to Trader Joe's yesterday to grab a ton more high iron foods. I know I need to watch out for calcium, but what can I take to get the calcium I need?

I hope they figure this out, because if I can't get my hemoglobin up to 10 in five weeks, I'm not having this baby at the birth center like I wanted.

[mamaofthree]

maybe do the OJ with calcium in it. can you do dairy at all? yogurt and cheese might help also and leafy greens are good too. almonds are good also (i hear) and fortified tofu. maybe doing a smoothy with greens and yogurt and fruit?

h

[unschoolinmom]

They fear if I eat calcium it will block the absorbtion of the iron. I swear I'm half tempted to have him here at home.

[mamaofthree]

ok i understand now. lol so i know that humans tend to absorb iron better from animals sources. do you like liver? someone here on mothering said she takes liver freezes it and cuts it up into pill sized pieces and eat about 1/4 cup a day (swallowing them like pills with OJ). also when eating plant based iron foods eat them with citrus to help absorb the iron better.

h

[unschoolinmom]

Ah okay. I love liver! So is that like taking lemon and squirting it over a spinach and arugula salad?

[mamaofthree]

YES! and i think, if i remember right, if you cook the spinach you get more iron... but i might be mistaken. if you do cook it, you can just give it a squirt of lemon.
also something i learned... if you want to use the beta carotene in the carrots you need to ad a fat...like steam the carrots and add butter. so yum!
lol

h

[mamaofthree]

my mom got some good news today from the pulmonologist! after the biopsy, pulmonary function test, bronchoscopy and CT the doctor said she does have COPD, she has asthma and emphysema, and chronic organizing pneumonia. she does NOT have cancer, valley fever or TB. she needs to be on steroids for 6 weeks and go back to see the doctor if there is improvement then she has to stay on them for a total of 6 months and it is possible that she will no longer need to O2 and it should clear up the chronic organizing pneumonia and possibly the emphysema! and she is sending her to a physical therapy consult that deals with people with lung issues. so she can learn how to get moving and maximize her respiratory function. which i think is great. because being on the steroids will make her gain weight AND could cause her to have diabetic issues. so if she can get moving it will help! my mom sounded really optimistic and she is really willing to seek out the therapy, which i am really happy about.

h

[Aubergine68]

Anyone else hitting lots of emotional highs and lows during this Pices full moon?

I am making some really deep connections that I never expected to. Lots of spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions.

I communicated with a client on a level I never have before. An awesome meeting.

A friend I haven't seen much of lately shared some sad news she's been sitting on (a recent stillbirth ) I cried all afternoon in empathy and sorrow for her and her family -- I would always have been sad for her, but this seemed like excessive emotion? Met up with her this eve, and we had a great talk. I am there for her and I think it helps her a little. It feels good just to know that.

I don't know if you remember me whining about being an overworked volunteer at my local crunchy family resource center charity last spring. I attended and helped organize some parent meetings tonight and I think we've solved that problem. My co-volunteers and I, including a couple of passionate newbies who weren't even around last spring, prepared for the meeting but spoke unrehearsed, shared our love for the center and its programs and expressed our view of what it needs to keep going. We got all kinds of support and volunteer commitment from the families who use our programs I treasure-mapped this support happening, and I can't believe how perfectly it went I was dreading that meeting and now I can't wait to help with another one next week.

Ran into a parent who told me all about something sweet that my ds1 did to help her little dd at the year-end party last year. That would have made my day alone! So nice to hear that my rambunctious kid is considered "a good kid" by someone and I didn't even know it. (Makes up for the sideways comments about his misbehavior I've gotten from others lately )
Lots of what overwhelms me in my personal life is still there, but I feel like that fish swimming the waters of emotion going *with* the current instead of fighting it. I'm feeling a lot of enthusiasm for the future, even though I know it won't all be easy.

redveg -- I don't think I answered the question about what is growing for me with all this rain. My lawn has never been so green, lol. My peas are good, my chard is good. I have an abundance of apples, but they actually taste watery to me, like the usual intensity of flavor is diluted. The kids are eating them, though!

Mo3 - great news about the positive direction for your mom!

Glad you're enjoying the sunshine FR, and thanks for the kind comment -- Wrangling 6 is easier when I have my nearly-teenaged dd and school-aged son along as 2 of the 6. They are a big help. The littles were good for our meeting with the homeschooling coordinator, who is used to big families, I think. We did end up leaving the playground early because it was just too crowded and dangerous. I got my exercise quotient pulling a heavy wooden wagon carrying three littles and a box of textbooks up that hill though!

[Aeress]

Mamaofthree- That is much better news! My aunt was diagnosed with something similar last year and has been doing very well.

Aubergine- Your post was very uplifiting to me this morning, even with some sadness, I felt your energy.

Presents- If I can get my butt in gear, I am planning a more homemade solstice and christmas this year. Time to pull out magazines/books for inspiration. Maybe we will make food stuff again.

I decided to write a dh a letter but not give it to him. We had discussed some of my short temper episodes which were related to my feeling like dh hadn't been doing what he said, which is a big issue for me. After our awful year last year, dh was working on getting out of his head more and actually relaying his thoughts and or asking for help when needed. Well, when the CPS thing happened, I could see where he needed help but never vocalized it, and in fact, didn't ask for help even when I asked if he needed it. So, long story made short, i felt like he wasn't keeping his word. SO, I had to make a decision- I could forgive him for sliding back a bit or hold it in. Well, until the letter I was holding it in. I feel better now and dh corrected the issue. I had planned to do a "release" and recharge last night but I had a sinus headache so I crashed early.

[wombatclay]

mo3- yay! I'm sorry she (and you) are facing such challenges but thrilled that the really scary possibilities are off the table!

parental health- I know some of this is just being the so-called "sandwich generation" (adults who have both young children, due in part to delayed childbearing, and ailing parents) but Mike and I have been talking a lot about our parents and their health (or rather, lack of it) and we're both committing to life changes that we hope will spare our own kiddos these experiences. We updated our living wills and making some health changes a priority so maybe that's the silver lining?

Had a very emotional/tough discussion with dh last night. Not sure where this is going, but could use some happy thoughts. DH has a performance review today and he is convinced that it "wont be good"... I haven't seen him this down in a looooooong time.

[Maiasaura]

and Clay, and to your DH, too.

Originally Posted by mamaofthree

my mom got some good news today from the pulmonologist!

my mom sounded really optimistic and she is really willing to seek out the therapy, which i am really happy about.

Yay, that rocks! Will she be willing to try to move more, then?

Originally Posted by Aubergine68

So nice to hear that my rambunctious kid is considered "a good kid" by someone and I didn't even know it. (Makes up for the sideways comments about his misbehavior I've gotten from others lately )

Right? Same here

You sound so up, Aubergine, that's great! Somehow I missed that you have 6 kiddos, too (I mean "too" as in along with MO3, not me! Y'all know I only have the one!)

Originally Posted by Aeress

I decided to write a dh a letter but not give it to him.

I feel better now and dh corrected the issue. I had planned to do a "release" and recharge last night but I had a sinus headache so I crashed early.

Yay! Glad things are working out for you, Aeress.

I think M is in a bit of a snit lately, too. He's his normal, funny, loving self, but a couple times has gotten off the phone rather abruptly, and this morning was kind of snippy (not at me, just in general), and yesterday afternoon was very short with the people at the pharmacy for not getting his prescription in a timely manner. To be fair, he'd called it in the day before, and still had to wait an inordinate amount of time, even IMO, but still. No need to go swearing about it.

We are going to have another open house this weekend. I'm having second thoughts about it, as it's a waning moon-- should we do it anyway? Or wait till waxing?

[unschoolinmom]

I have to take ds to the ER. Ugh, not a good start to my morning.