Travel Horror Stories

The instigator of today’s post is Absolutely Bananas… so if you don’t like it, blame her! ;)  She’s not literally bananas, or maybe she is.  Regardless, here is my travel horror story.

In the Spring of 2006, My Little Critter had just passed her first birthday and I was dating a man in AZ.   (This was obviously pre-Oregon Dad days.)

Things worked out that LC would be coming along with me for a long weekend visit.  Of course, this meant we had to fly.

I’m not sure I had given much thought to what it would be like to fly, ALONE, with a young child and the plethora of baby junk this entailed.  But, I’m a trooper and figured we’d make due.  So, bright and early in the morning, LC and I load up in my 1993 Ford ’scort wagon (it was HOT, I’m telling you.) and began the 1.5 hour drive to the airport.  Figuring out how to handle getting us (and stuff) from the long term parking lot in B.F.E. was challenging.  But, once again, we managed.  Baby was attached to Mommy in a sling,  Carry-ons strapped to top of rolling suitcase, car seat over Mom’s shoulder via the tether strap.  You get the picture.

That isn’t the story.

Our real adventure came once we were inside the airport, had checked in and were waiting for our flight.  (The VERY nice check in clerk blacked out a seat for LC’s carseat, even though I had only paid for one ticket.  That’s not the story either.)

Once we were at the gate, I realized we had well over an hour before boarding and I had an adventuresome baby-almost toddler on my hands.  The nice ladies at the counter held onto the carseat and other junk I couldn’t carry all over while LC and I headed for some much needed food and beverage.

While walking back from our quick meal (keep the mental image in your head… Mom, baby attached to front in a sling, luggage, etc…).  There is this man standing off to the side near our gate.  He inquires of me, “where you headed?”  I said, “Phoenix”.  He steps a bit closer to me and says, “oh, why don’t you postpone your flight until tomorrow.”  I replied (as we continue walking away), “We can’t.”.  The man was insistent that we could wait a little while to fly out, just stay one more night.  I finally piped up with, “Daddy is waiting for us on the ground… can’t delay our flight.”  Which wasn’t true, but it worked.

My first thought was CREEP.  Trying to either get Mommy to delay so he can get some nasty hotel action on… or trying to steal my baby and sell her on the black market.

I felt a bit shaken and jittery.  We returned to our seats in the terminal and pre-boarded with wonderful flight staff helping out with LC’s carseat and getting us settled.  A few minutes later, when regular boarding commences I stood up in the aisle to rearrange our overhead bin.  That’s when I saw THE MAN, the one from the terminal boarding our plane.  Now my thoughts take a whole new direction.  Why would he be trying to get me to NOT fly (in a creepy not an I’m not wanting to fly with a baby kind of way) when he is on the same plane?  The flight attendants kept stopping by to check on LC and I and coo over how cute she is, etc… so I pulled one aside and told her about our little “incident”.  Pretty soon I had several members of the flight staff around me talking in hushed tones, wanting me to repeat what had occurred prior to boarding.  Our flight was delayed for take off for a good 20 minutes while the pilot was informed and the staff took whatever precautions they felt necessary.  Before take off, a nice attendant came back by to tell me the pilot had decided we were okay to fly and had checked the manifest against potential threats, rechecked the plane, etc…

My stomach didn’t stop doing flip-flops the entire flight.  The flight staff stopped by often to update me or just check in.  Several times some of the gentlemen a couple rows over inquired how we were doing.  I just smiled and said flying made me a little nervous.  I wasn’t about to tell them I thought we might have someone on board with terrorist intentions and cause a panic.

Luckily we landed safely and all is well.  I will never know what that guys deal was.  I know without a doubt that it had NOTHING to do with my having a young child on a very full plane.  There were lots of other children on board and I didn’t see him approach any of the other parents.   I can’t help but wonder if somehow he was moved by this mother and child duo and didn’t carry out whatever plans he might have had.  Or perhaps its was just all some weird coincidence, one that I would like to never repeat.

The real horror story was having to leave my pack-n-play at home because there was no way I could tote that as well.  Where would this baby sleep?

 

Four Random Sentences

Shamelessly Sassy is my inspiration… cuz I currently have none of my own. Bleh.

There is a giant migraine forming at the base of my skull due to trying to get kids to do their chores. Husband and son are on the way to Seattle for a Mariners game, what fun way shall I find to spend today? Girls vs. Boys on Kabooki, three nights in a row… girls kicking serious Kabooki- Wii Butt! House smells like dirty cat box… must get kids on that ASAP.

 

Linky Love

It’s getting toward the end of a very busy Friday. Aren’t Friday’s always busy? Around here they certainly are. Lately I have been thinking a lot about the friendships and relationships formed online.

One woman has become a far-away best bud… Meg who owns the Earth Friendly Shoppe. Her and I share a passion for saving the Polar Bears, curing the world of Global Warming and recycling in addition to laughing about the similarities between our two husbands and juggling life with Motherhood.

Steve over at N*ked on the Roof, is a blogging Dad. He rocks. We follow each others blogs and share comment love back and forth on a regular basis.

Then we have Tenille over at Gluten Free Frugal. She is like a warm ray of sunshine, with kind words and a positive outlook. I must say, she is also thrifty and crafty.

What We Need Mom, Darcy has shed lots of light for me on the struggles with my youngest daughter. She is there to listen and offers advice and resources. She also shares funny, touching stories of her adorable and precocious little man, C.

Want to take a peek at some fabulous photos of super cute kiddos? Stop over to visit My Sweet Life. Kelsey responds to EVERY comment I leave on her page.

I know this woman probably gets a lot of love… but I can’t help it. I love her too… plus she is a fellow West Coast-ian… (yes, I just made that up) So go on over and read all about how she is living it up at the Big B (or that which we shall not speak of) right now while I sit in the living room playing Kabooki on the Wii with the fam. Heh… who says my life isn’t exciting.

You know… it still tickles me pink to see myself (or my blog or my recipes) written about elsewhere. I get a little giggle every time. Most recently, Our Gluten Free Family made my donut recipe… hers look REALLY GOOD.

And how about some feel good love. Watch this YouTube video and delight in human nature.

Check back after the weekend to hear all about MY TRAVEL HORROR STORY. Until then, be well.

 

Summer Time

In our household, Summer Time means friends, playing in the water, baseball and berry picking! This weekend we covered it all!

Friday night we had three families from church over for dinner. Our minister and family were included, like us they have a larger family with four children. Our evening also included two young couples, one recently married and the other getting married next month.

We started the evening off by letting all the kids play on the Banzai water slide while we visited and got dinner ready. We enjoyed garden rolls (tapioca wrappers, rice, sauteed veggies), chicken skewers on the BBQ fruit salad and garden salad. We decided that Asian food was the way to go as we had numerous allergies to contend with. The evening was concluded with young and old(er) alike playing Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii, It was a great time.

Saturday morning we woke up and decided to go Strawberry picking. We found the spray free fields recommended by the other Mom who was over the night before. A half hour later we had 22 lbs of beautiful, ripe strawberries.

What to do with that many berries? Oregon Dad and I decided to make jam. I’ve never made jam before, but part of my “plan” for this year is to can and jam everything! We used a low-sugar recipe and it turned out amazing! Oregon Dad and I both received several splatter burns, and the kitchen was a disaster once we were done! We are already plotting our next round, Raspberries followed by Blackberries.

Saturday night found us at a Triple A ball game, but that’s a post by itself. And Sunday took us to the skating rink. Tales of those fabulous events are to come! Sometime this week I will get pictures and recipes up for the dessert’s I made Friday. Chocolate rice pudding (YUM) and Faux Flan (my eggless version).

Cheers!

 

Things To Ponder

I received an email forward today, my normal response is to delete them. For some reason, I opened this one and read it. Not only did I read it, but I clicked the link that was included.

What I found was a link to Red Skeleton talking about The Pledge of Allegiance. I have listened to this several times today, and took the time to play, pause, write, play, etc… so that I had all the words written down.

My intention was to post the words here, because they are powerful. However, at the end of the recording, the credits pop up and it says you can’t reproduce or publish without permission from Red Skeleton’s estate.

Now, I don’t know if this constitutes “publishing” or not… but I’m not going to risk it.

So, have a listen for yourself. I recommend writing the words down and having your children listen as well.

Red Skeleton on The Pledge of Allegiance - 1969.

 

Celiac??? Me??

The thought has been lurking in my brain since I began to learn more about Celiac.  If at least one of my children has Celiac… the likelihood is there that I could be the parent carrying the gene.  Especially with the myriad of health issues I have had throughout my lifetime. (I’m not going to go into those here, if you’d like the whole nine yards, shoot me an email!)

Finally, I get in to the Docs… I have been so busy with the kids, that I haven’t found the time for me.  It was time for my annual.  (ICK). So, I asked to have the screening for Celiac done while I was there last week.  My Doctor called today to tell me the results: tTG-IgA elevated, EMA IgA normal.  She didn’t know what to make of the results and is sending me to a GI specialist. (I wasn’t screened for AGA-IgG or AGA-IgA, we don’t know if I have an IgA deficiency which would be a reason for the EMA IgA to be normal.)

From the research I have been doing online, the tTG-IgA is the most sensitive and accurate blood test.  A positive result here indicates a high likelihood of Celiac.

Do I want to proceed with a biopsy to confirm what I have already believed to be the case?  Not sure on that one yet.   Part of me wants the definitive answer… especially since Hubby says “you’ve lived this long on a normal diet why not continue.”  I tried to explain how severe my GI symptoms have been, but really, I don’t talk about that stuff with him.  It’s too embarrassing! I also attempted to inform him of the lifetime implications of untreated Celiac… not just the GI and fatigue, but also the link to diabetes and other auto-immune diseases, osteoporosis, etc…

I am so tired of being tired and rundown all the time.  I go like a crazy woman.  Afterall, I have five kids to take care of, a Mother who has ALS, a Husband who travels often for work, my commitments to the school PTC and Church Hospitality… and then of course, I have taken on another duty by choosing to homeschool TeenGirl this coming year.  I need, need, need to feel like I have slept when I wake up in the mornings… lately it takes several cups of coffee just to keep me awake! (Fatigue is only one of my “symptoms”.)

If the answer is a GF diet… so be it.   It’s going to be hard to give up my favorites… toast, bagels, pasta… but I will survive.  I told K3 that I might have to go on her diet as well, instead of being happy to share her diet she proclaimed, “I don’t want to be on this diet anymore!”.  I told her, that if Mommy and Little Critter are on the same diet, then it won’t be such a big deal for her.

I advised Oregon Dad that if my diagnosis is Celiac… our entire family will be mostly GF, afterall we have one kid GFCF with another that is going to be soon by all indications and possibly myself.  That’s 3 out of 7 and its much easier to cook meals everyone can eat.  We do a lot of pasta around here, it’s a relatively inexpensive way to feed this crew, normally I just boil separate noodles for K3 and make a sauce that everyone can enjoy. We are either going to have to give up pasta or I need to figure out how to make a really tasty one that is GF.  The commercially available GF pastas are too pricey to feed the entire crew!

It will be a great day when we have figured out all the health issues in this house and get everyone on track.  I really think we are getting closer.

By the way—- this month marks the SIX month anniversary of TeenGirls remission.  It is also the point where we begin to wonder if her immune system will turn on her again or if she will stay healthy.  All signs are pointing to continued health.  She will continue to have monthly blood draws to monitor her and regular check ups with the Hematology/Oncology Docs at Doernbecher, but we are confident she is going to be seeing a decent amount of time as a healthy teenager!

 

Stupid at the Library, Restaurant Openings and Through The Eyes of a Six Year Old

Today started out pretty much the same as any other day. I made pancakes from scratch (yum yum yum). There is a little bit of Heaven in hot from the griddle pancakes smeared with butter and drizzled with REAL Maple Syrup. Mmmmm. I’ll get the recipe up in the next couple of days.

Then K-Man had a BB game… the sun was shining and it hit 70 degrees here today. Bonus! I dropped everyone off at the ball field, then K3 and I ran a couple of errands… gassing up the truck with Flex Fuel E-85, stopping by the natural section of Fred Meyer to get K3 a dark chocolate candy bar so she can have a treat when everyone else does (she gets 3 little squares at a time, so one bar gets us through 4 treats). After that we ran to the library as I was in dire need of some *light* (by light I mean, Smutty Historical Novel) reading. My brain has been overwhelmed with all the serious reading I’ve been doing (No I haven’t forgotten my reading list… patience!).

So, K3 and I are in the library. I’m toting two novels by Nora Roberts. Not sure they are historical… but they should be plenty smutty. We venture into the kids section and I put K3 on a mission… find a book for self and one for each of your sisters and brother. I hit the search on the computer for a book I’m planning to buy… but would love to take home to read if it’s in… GREEN CHIC.

The book isn’t cataloged at this library, but is at several others in the county. I wander over to the nice librarian (in the children’s section mind you) and ask if she can put a hold/transfer on a book for me. Of course she is glad to help.

I hand over my library card and the title of the book GREEN CHICK. After a couple minutes, I look at her screen and say C. H. I. C not C.H.I.C.K. She says, “Oh you mean GREEN CHIC (Sheek)” Huh… guess I can go take my English Major and flush it down the toilet.

Okay, here is my thought process behind thinking it was GREEN CHICK (Spelled CHIC) and not CHIC pronounced SHEEK.

Around here, we use the word CHIC or CHICA a lot for well… CHICS… GIRLS… So, when I read the title “Green Chic” I’m thinking, yeah… cool, green and CHIC (Chick)… to me CHIC (Sheek) expresses class, I found this book more modern, hip and funny instead of yuppy and classy… so, to me it should be GREEN CHICK. (I’m not knocking… I’m GREEN, PSEUDO HIPPY, CLASSY, YUPPY and CHIC (both CHIC AND SHEEK… Thank you very much!).

Taken down by the children’s librarian… sigh.

Arriving back at the ball field, I am turning the giant, gas guzzling, monster of a truck, around so that I can park. I did a three point turn on a quiet, suburban street. Our truck faces straight at a house and its GREEN GREEN GREEN lawn… where a sprinkler is running. K3 pipes up from her booster in the middle of the backseat… “Mom, why is there a sprinkler going and no one is playing in it?” Good question K3!!!! I explained that the people who lived there were watering their grass. “Why are they watering the grass?” Another great question. Before long, she will also wonder why they would be watering the grass at two in the afternoon and therefore allowing a large amount of that water to EVAPORATE. I momentarily thought about parking right there and taking K3 up to the door to ask her questions of the owner. I restrained.

To round out the evening, two girlfriends and I went to a pre-opening at a California Pizza Kitchen. I’ve never been to one of these restaurants before… but hey, we are on “THE LIST” and everything is on the house. I’m in.

The staff was over-eager and NERVOUS. That’s expected when a restaurant is just opening with a lot of unseasoned staff. Our waiter was a kid of 19, his name tag claims the home state of Alaska. Welcome to Oregon and your new job at the California Pizza Kitchen. (Is it just me, or is that a bit odd? Shouldn’t it be Oregon Pizza Kitchen?)

It was a fun time, we ordered three entrees to share… Blue Crab Cakes with a Lemon Caper Pasta and Asparagus, Garlic Chicken Pizza and a Seafood Miso Salad. The pizza was AMAZING. The crab cakes were VERY GOOD… the lemon/caper pasta was not so good and the asparagus was overcooked… sad because its my favorite veggie. The Miso Salad was good, except ours came with chilled chicken instead of seafood.

A and H went on to the bars afterward (were they are drinking themselves into oblivion as I write this)… I hauled my over full self home to kick off my high heels. The girls laughed at my early need to retire… I advised that this Mommy would be up at 6am with the kids… Oh, the blissful days gone by of sleeping til noon!

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Tags: kids, funny things kids say, watering grass, being green, California Pizza Kitchen, Restaurant Opening, Library, Green Chic, Girls Night Out, GF Pancakes, Gluten Free Pancakes

 

Polka Dot Mommy’s Link-A-Palooza

Check out this yummy Gluten Free candy over at THE CANDY BLOG. Mmmmm… tasty!

Then head over to Lentils and Rice to see how to make Stretchy Beans…

Stop in at Mommy Doodles and enter this month’s contest for a Bee Crib Set. Cute Galore!

Bored? Read this… Warning, consuming liquids while reading could cause beverage snorts.

What happens in the spring… Well… you know.

Doctors can be VERY insulting.

What’s with people saying your baby is “so cute I could gobble her up!”… put your kid in one of these and someone might!

Real news too depressing? Check out this story…

Ready for a good laugh…

Get yourself one of these bags and feed 100. Doesn’t that feel nice? And the bag is cute/fun/hip.

Get natural, healthy hair here.

Thought you were getting a REAL post? Eh… maybe tomorrow.

Today’s Green Tip- plant a tree, plant, garden… something. The benefits are boundless.

 

A Day From Hell… Or Can Mommy Take a Sick Day Please?

This Mama has THE FLU… you know the one they give out vaccines for.  The very vaccine I didn’t get. 

Body aches, fever, chills, congestion, sore throat, crankiness galore… I’ve got it all.  Can I just crawl into my bed and sleep until its done?

Uh… nope, I’m a Mom.  That means packing lunches, picking kids up, ensuring chores and homework get done, playing referee to their fights, making dinner, answering a billion silly questions, refilling juice and milk cups, picking up dropped napkins, handing out vitamins and antibiotics to the walking pneumonia case and going on with everyday life. 

Jeepers life is grand. 

At least I was able to stay home from the ball game… Oregon Dad handled that one.  I am not in the mood to sit out in the damp Oregon weather for two hours watching eight years old hit balls and run in circles.  See… told you I was cranky.

To round out the perfection of our day… Little Critter has been at the daycare the last couple of days because I agreed to do a little bit of contract work for my former employer… just three mornings a week for six hours (which means 4 hours of daycare for little one) and only until school is out.  Well… evidently the return to daycare means “I can be as naughty as I want to” in Little Critter’s book.  No joke… the kid is trying every last nerve I have. 

Then waiting in my mailbox this afternoon was an envelope in my ex-Mother in Law’s scrawl… bleh… what does she want.  Best yet, it only had my first name on the front, like she couldn’t be bothered to assign me a last name. I know that she knows my last name as they took it upon themselves to fill out my ex husbands divorce papers and everything since then and its on my voicemail which she gets at least once a week.   It’s just another indicator of her rudeness. 

See, I’m cranky.  Better hurry these kids to bed so I can take a bubble bath.  Too bad I’m out of hot cocoa and too tired to make the homemade kind or I’d have some with Buttershots… mmmm.  Oh, wait, I have no taste buds currently.  Scratch that idea.

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Tags: Kids, Sick, Hot Chocolate, Bubble Barhs, Mother In Law, Sick Days, Naughty Kids, Tired Mama

 

Who Are Your Bed Fellows?

As if I don’t have enough obsessions, we can now officially add one more to the list… Dust Mites (Bed Bugs or whatever you want to call them). Ick. We have Oregon Dad and “Squeaky Green, The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home” to thank for this latest addition to my (already abundant) compulsions.

I was given this green manual for Mother’s Day. Hubby claims to have had a momentary twinge of conscious at gifting me with a cleaning book for Mums Day… I am sure it passed quickly I had pointed out the book on an outing one day… he remembered and got it for me. We must give credit where it’s due because I never want things…. which makes gift giving a bit difficult for him.

Back to mites. Just thinking about them gives me the heebies. I read the entire manual on Sunday. Hubby told me to pace myself. I advised that this is the kind of book one reads through, then returns to often for reference. So, no worries, it won’t be meeting the recycling bin anytime soon (or making its way to a new home).

Sections 1 and 2 grossed me out plenty… thinking about all the things my kids are crawling around with on the floor. Ew. Ew. Ew. The Skoy cloths in the kitchen went into the microwave for the second time today and the scrubby brush came out of the sink and went into a bowl of boiling water. It was section three (sleeping with the enemy) that threw me for a loop… dust mites, bed bugs and dead skin cells. All the icky things hanging out in your sheets, pillows, blankets, mattress and lurking in the dark corners under your bed.

It’s not like I have never heard of this stuff before. I’ve just never had it presented in this perspective before. Every morning I wake up stuffy nosed with itchy eyes and blame it on allergies. It probably is allergies… to DUST MITES. Gross. I don’t want to think about tiny bugs living in my pillows, mattress and covers. To top it off, this book goes one step further and explains how they feast on all the dead skin cells that lurk in your dust bunnies under the bed. Bleh.

Today’s mission is to clean out every unessential item lurking in my bedroom. Every little thing that is under the bed. I am getting rid of all the books I will never read again, old papers and magazines… whatever is hanging out under there collecting dust. I am vacuuming the heck out of every corner of the carpet (don’t even get me started on the carpet… I’ve been dieing to replace it with marmoleum or bamboo for months, must.save.the.green.first.) Before I can tackle all that vacuuming, I must get my machine up to par (since I cannot yet replace it with a Halo -kills everything with an ultraviolet light… yippee to no bugs???) So, that means taking the darn thing apart (outside to protect our indoor breathing air… don’t get me started on that!), replace the HEPA filter and use my blow dryer to clean out all the dust particles lurking inside. Luckily this isn’t a frequent requirement… since I have done it exactly, NEVER, its probably something I should tackle. Once the vacuum is clean, the nether regions known as under the bed are clear and every corner of my carpet is sucked clear of dust mites and all the things they feast on… then I must strip my bed, wash the linens and vacuum my mattress. Wondering if sticking the pillows in the dryer might be a good idea as well. I found these organic cotton dust mite pillow covers online… must order now. And a mattress cover as well… remember cost per use factors in and when you divide this price over its lifetime, it’s not too bad, especially when you can sleep free of thinking about little mites feasting on your skin and dancing in your hair. *shivers* So many things to do. Must make a list. I am such a type A… and I want to do everything right this instant. My list is in process. I am starting with my bedroom… then moving on to the kids rooms, one at a time. Then I will tackle the living room, kitchen and other living areas. As if I need more to do… now I am haunted every time I sit down or close my eyes by the thought of what is lurking in my home. Ew. And Geeze Oh Pete don’t use antibacterial cleaners… we don’t need to kill… we need to clean. Evidently OFTEN.

This really put a whole new perspective on things for me. I have been obsessed with getting the chemicals out of our house. And I have done good. *Pats self on back* We are switching to soy based candles with lead free wicks to clear the air, opening windows for frequent ventilation and adding house plants. I hadn’t even started to think about the need for clearing dust mites and itsy bitsy microbes that might be hanging out in the kitchen (okay, yes I have thought about it… but now I am going crazy thinking about it!) Oh… and as if I didn’t love this book, here is a reason to. Evidently the authors detest chlorine bleach as much as I. They talk about it several times (in an non-endearing way). Did you know, that for bleach to sanitize it must stay on the (pre-cleaned) surface for 30 minutes! What busy mom has time to clean the counter, spray it down and then not touch it or allow anything to touch it for 30 minutes! Then you gotta dry it completely or you’re asking to have bacteria start growing in the moisture.

Just get the book and clean your house. Then we can all be squeaky green and a bit healthier. (I just like the sound of that… say it with me, “squeaky green”… that’s the real reason I wanted the book.)

Today’s Green Tip- Change your air filters… it increases efficiency of your furnaces and improves indoor air quality.