Ginger soup

That's me ( nickname: Ginger from a friend at a former job, for those of you that don't know that) + a detox bath. I found a recipe online and it seemed like a really good idea to shake this flu (or whatever this ailment is that's kicking my ass).

The recipe?

2 cups of Epsom salts (you may recall from an earlier post that I fell in the bathtub back in September taking an Epsom salt bath and  injured my wing. Don't worry, I was careful)

1 cup of baking soda (I almost used baking powder thanks to my fuzzy head but I caught the mistake early enough)

2 tbsp. of ginger

Oh, and water....as hot as you can stand it.

The directions said to stay in the bath for 40 min. but I thought I would be happy if I just made it to the 20 min. minimum.

I put my hair up, grabbed my book ( Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan- highly recommend) and 32 oz. of cold water (because you need to replenish the fluids you are about to sweat out.) I got into the tub very carefully....that Epsom salt can turn your tub into a death trap, so detoxers beware!

Within minutes, I was sweating like I just finished a Turbofire workout and I started to get dizzy....like bed spins dizzy.  My skin started to smell a little funny like the garlic and cayenne that I consumed yesterday while trying another home remedy.

With Hubby not home, I started to get a little worried. I wouldn't want him to come home and find me a victim of my latest bright idea but I just kept telling myself it was the poison fleeing from my body and that it would be ok and would all be worth it to be able to breathe and, hopefully, speak again. I did not have enough common sense to bring my phone with me but I toughed it out and I do think it was worth it.

When the alarm clock went off 40 min. later ( yep, I managed the full 40 min. thanks to a good book and the 32 oz. of water that I polished off) I was ready to get out. I felt sort of drained but in a good way like how you feel after a good workout or massage and I'm kind of looking forward to my next one. It's been over an hour and I can breathe and my body is not aching. I drank another 32 oz. of water and feel like I could keep going. I'll spare you the details of the expectoration but I will warn you to keep a tissue box close by.

The takeaway? I think it is a great way to help your body get through an illness. If you can stand the heat and smelling like a restaurant, you should try it.  I can give you the link to the page if you request it.

Homemade is best

 That's what Grandma always says and she's always right.

I have been avoiding pre packaged foods for years as it aggravates my Crohns but ever since dealing with infertility, I have been moving toward a more natural lifestyle. Not only in how H and I eat, but in how we take care of ourselves.

Acupuncture has been invaluable in regulating my cycles and quieting my mind and tummy and seeing a chiropractor has helped with my posture and neck and shoulder tension. H even sees someone in the acupuncture office ...no needles for him but he does take the Chinese herbs that the Dr. prescribes and it helps him tremendously.

I was always that girl that believed in loading up on NyQuil and Dayquil and resting as much as I could to get better. The older I get, the less this seems to help. Or maybe, it just takes longer to get over stuff as you age. Who knows?

I don't get sick often but when I do, it levels me. So, when my throat started to get sore yesterday morning and I sneezed a few more times than usual, I consulted my "Be healthy" board on Pinterest. I had pinned a bunch of home remedies when news of the flu outbreak hit the wires weeks ago. You know, just in case.

Here is what I came up with:

1. 1 tsp. of raw honey with 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon  in the morning and
before bed.

2. 2 oz. of apple cider vinegar in 8 oz. of water (really gross )

3. Vicks vapor rub on my feet at night (with a pair of socks, of course)

4. Hot water with lemon....lots of lemon, throughout the day.

This is in addition to my usual cold care:  hot steam vaporizer at night, Tylenol, neti pot and plenty of chicken soup and orange juice.

Whew! It's like a job getting all of this stuff together. I am on day 3 and I can't tell if it's working yet. I still have a wicked sinus headache...my face hurts and my teeth feel like they are going to fall out from the pressure but things do seem to be loosening up.

Thank goodness I have the weekend to ride it out. As it is, I had to take 2 sick days this week. That just means less time off when we finally take home our baby. Damn the flu.

One more romantic Valentine's day

Let's hope anyway! Next year I want to be changing diapers and snuggling with my little one.

I'm looking forward to cupid onesies and fun Valentine's day Pinterest crafts.

We are not into romance in the true sense. We don't usually light candles or scatter rose petals (ever) H does not buy me flowers (I'd rather a new throw pillow or pair of boots, please) We treat each other with love, appreciation and kindness all days, not just February 14th. (Hell, yes we have fights and get annoyed with each other,too but it all comes back to love.)

We don't even usually go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. This year we did and I can only describe it as "ehhhh". I don't know if it was my mood due to losing a relative and attending the funeral earlier in the day or if it was the restaurant itself (normally a good meal) but I was not impressed with dining on a holiday.

I think from now on we'll stick to our old routine: celebrating on the weekend after the holiday.

A confrontation is a brewin"

I feel it. It is bubbling up inside of me and when I finally explode my Caseworker will not be happy. I am sure that I won't feel great either.

I try to walk a very fine line. I am not sure how much I can push at this agency. What if they decide they don't like something I have said and choose not to show our profile? Sure, it's unprofessional but they haven't shown me that I can count on them. If anything, the "service" we have received has been less than attentive. However, I will not put up with constant screw ups. So far, I have been quite gracious about it but I am growing tired of letting everything go.

I gave her a week. When I spoke to her on 2/1 I could have sworn she told me to let her know when we made appts. and then she would email me the forms that we needed. Well the appt. were made and I sent a sweet but firm email. I simply asked for the forms and stressed the fact that I don't want to miss any profiling opportunities because of missing ppwk. Can you blame me for all the times this woman has dropped the ball with us? I also reminded her very nicely about an answer she owed me as well. ("I think you were also supposed to get back to me about......")

She called me back immediately and she played it really passive aggressively. Overly sweet voice...thanking me for reminding her.....and she let me know she was reaching out because she did not want me to worry. She claims that she told me that she would get the info. to me with in a couple of weeks (What she actually said: "a couple of days" and more than a week had gone by.)There was a bit of snottiness to her voice. I certainly did nothing wrong. I could have. I let H read the email and he confirmed that it was professional and quite nice......nicer than she deserves according to him. She actually made me feel quite small for following up on her. By the end of the call, I was apologizing to her and she was patronizing. I wonder if someone reads her email? She always tells me how she prefers I reach out by telephone.

So how to I deal with her? When is it time to go over her head? Will that increase our wait time? As it is, when we spoke she promised me 2 different forms and she only sent 1 of the forms. I emailed her back saying that it wasn't attached. Hopefully, she won't be pissed about it.

This isn't even the complicated stuff. It's just bullshit paperwork. It doesn't involve other people. What happens if there is an issue with a potential match and I can't get in touch with her?

Right now, I am frustrated. I knew I would have moments where it would be like this but I feel like giving up some days. Why am I putting myself through this? I hope it will all be worth it. I'm tired of fighting my way to becoming a mom.

Maybe I should switch careers

I seem to be much better at being a Caseworker than my actual Caseworker.

I'm getting annoyed with my agency again. I spoke to my CW last Friday after leaving her a msg. 24+ hrs. prior. I called to discuss some upcoming deadlines and the msg. that I left her stated just that. In my industry, deadline means "hop the fuck to it" but she doesn't seem to have a sense of urgency.

She loves to start out with small talk and to ask what we've been up to while I want my questuions answered and to get off the phone. If she is so busy that she can't call me back or even check in with me, then she doesn't need to waste time bullshitting, right? The last time I spoke to her was 12/22 in regards to the profiling opportunity that we turned down. Not a word since. Until today when I called her. That's right. I called her.

I don't like the idea of her not being on top of our case. I'm sure she has a lot to do but I was led to believe when we signed with the agency that when we needed to provide them with updated paperwork we would be notified in plenty of time. Not the case. It's a good thing I don't trust people and that I am militant with my follow up skills.

See, it turns out that we need to provide an updated version of our criminal background form (just a bunch of addresses and how long we lived there) by March 6th. We also need to have physicals again by March 8th. It is very difficult for me to get an appt. with my Primary Care Dr. so we are already behind schedule. As it is, I had to beg my Dr. to squeeze me in on the 8th.....which is a Friday and 2 days before we leave for vacation. I'm sure the Dr. won't even have the paperwork finished.

It's now a week later. She promised me:

#1 to email the forms that we need to provide
#2 to check to see if they need another letter from my Therapist just like last year (who charges $125.00 for such a letter)

I have not heard from her.

The best news? If our paperwork is NOT in order, we do not get the chance to be profiled. I had to remind her of that. At the opening of the conversation, she told me that we didn't need to worry until June (when our HS needs to be updated and paid for again.) Now, it's not like we have had a lot of profiling opportunities in the past 7 months. (Um, ONE) We really can't afford to miss something that might come along because the agency dropped the ball.

So, I have to call her..... again. A week is enough time to give her a chance to do as she promised. Now, I also have to ask her how my Drs. appt. being late will impact our chances to be profiled. Just another complicated layer to the whole mess of dealing with this agency.

At this point, I am on the fence about contacting the agency owner. If I do that could she retaliate by not showing our profile if a case does come up?

I know that 7 months might not seem like a very long time to wait but I am starting to get a bit anxious about this process again. Not trusting the agency rep who is supposed to be guiding us through the process makes it all that much harder.

How to do superbowl right

We aren't really into watching sports. H is more of an active guy. He would rather be working on a car or tearing down a wall than sitting around watching sports. I am the girliest girl there is.....I never watched sports, never even bothered to learn the rules. Sometimes he will tune into a basketball game and he will usually want to watch the big stuff like superbowls and world series games.

However, he loves the idea of superbowl party food. Every year I make him a bunch of snack foods and he will watch the game. I'll sit next to him and read or play on my tab and look up when the commercials come on.

I was so proud of my healthy menu that I had to share.

Jalapeno popper dip with b low fat cream cheese, mayo, sour cream and panko breadcrumbs...I dipped with veggies, H used tortilla chips

Homeade chicken fingers dopped in ranch dressing, panko breadcrumbs and baked

Butternut squash fries (thank km you Hungry girl)

Zucchini "fries" (baked actually)

All served with various dipping sauces from hot sauce to honey mustard to ranch dressing.

Ok so it's not going to make us lose weight but I didn't gain a lb either. I bet most superbowl attendees can't say that! Won't I make a great mom?