Steroids, and other fun meds

I finally went back to the doc today...second time in two weeks..because the cough that I've been frightening people with for nearly a month now simply hasn't gone away. My kids have been sick, my husband has been sick, my cat is on her second round of kittie pneumonia and sneezing awful green toxic stuff all over the house, and I sound like a two-pack-a-day smoker. Any of you kin want to come for a visit? Our house sounds like a great place, huh!

Anyway...the doc gave me a shot of steroids to kick-start my recovery, and I'm pleased to announce that the side effects of steroids are that your heart races, and apparently you do too. I spent many hours today rushing around cleaning up the seen-better-days truck we're going to sell, a couple of bikes that are too small for the kids, and all manner of other crazy stuff. I actually had The Reenactor take my bp and pulse tonight because I just had this sensation that it was all going really, really fast....my pulse was, but the bp was fine. Now I see why pro atheletes take this stuff (although it might be a different sort of steriod)....hell's bells it makes you ACTIVE. Remember boys, chicks dig the long ball, and you get to feel hyper as part of your profession!!!!

My cough is actually much improved, thank you, and thank steroids. I've also got some kickass antiobiotics I'm on for a couple of weeks now. Oh, and the cat has a two-week course of kick-kittie-ass antiobiotics. I'm tired of cleaning green goo off the windows where she sits to watch birds. Apparently she gets so excited watching the birds it makes her sneeze.

I promise none of this will be in evidence if any of my family wants to drop by!

The Heart of Darkness

I went to Wally World last night. We were out shopping for a new tv because our current tv, which is about 10 years old, has problems with the tuner which would probably be more expensive to fix than to get a new tv. Our local choices for purchasing a new tv are all big box stores. We tried both of the large electronics stores, and short of spending over $1000 for a tv we're not sure we really need (HD, LCD, etc) we both ambivelent as to what to get. We could replace the same size and type tv we currently have for around $270, but we don't know if we want to actually do that. Too many choices!

Anyway....after getting pretty frustrated at only having two different places to shop I suggested we go ahead and look at WM. Here's my reasoning on this...for this particular type of product and market the choice of place to purchase a tv from are essentially the same....big box stores. There are no mom-n-pop stores selling tvs in this town, or anywhere around here (that I know of). The fact that we might purchase it from one store versus another is irrelevant at this point because they all use the same marketing and purchasing techniques.

So I was in WM for the first time in 7 weeks last night, and I was very aware of how my attention was easily distracted by things...kids books on an end display in the baby dept., cereal on sale at a GREAT price on the end of the cereal aisle. I didn't buy any of these things, but we did purchase some convenience food for dinner (frozen pizza). The other thing I looked for while I was there was some envelopes I've been trying to find elsewhere (no luck there either). But it bothered me to even be in the store. We didn't buy a tv there, by the way, because they apparently had done a poor job of setting up the higher-end tvs (HDs) and they were all grainy and looked awful. We couldn't get any sort of idea as to what they really looked like.

What's in your hat?

MG brought home a flyer today about the Presidents we celebrate on Monday. On the back page was a drawing of an empty stove-pipe hat and the kids were taught that Lincoln used to keep his papers in his hat to keep them dry, and they were asked to draw in the picture what they would carry in THEIR hat. MG drew candy and fruit.

So....fellow bloggers...what would you keep in YOUR hat?

Just so you all know I'm not making this stuff up, here is a photo of the loot my two kids brought home from their school Valentine's Day parties.

You will note that there is candy, more candy, chocolate-covered pretzels, more candy, pencils, stickers, tattoos, a plastic cup, toys, more candy, and, oh yeah, Valentines. There IS a carton of orange juice in the middle of the photo...that was not part of the stash....that was a much-needed blast of nutrition after getting home.

It is weird that all of the other Moms I know with kids the same ages as mine all complain about how much candy gets funneled to the kids at parties like this. At PE's preschool party this morning I was talking to another Mom about the fact that I didn't attach candy or some other treat to his Valentines to give to his friends (she didn't do it with her son's either) and we both were astonished at how much candy and stuff was being handed out.

Soooooo....if the general opinion is that kids are getting de-sensitized to just how much commercial crap they get handed on a daily basis....why aren't more parents doing something about it? For me, it was a big decision to not attach candy or another treat....I kept telling myself that the kids were going to get so much that one more bag of Skittles was NOT going to make or break PE's future in society. I'm glad I stayed with it.

If you haven't read a book called "Confessions of a Slacker Mom" you should. It is a great reflection on how we have heaped so many choices in terms of foods, toys, books, sports, tv shows, etc. on our children that they have forgotten how to play.

Here's the moral of the story:

PE has a room full of toy trains, Hot Wheels, Legos, dinosaurs and blocks. Last week during a visit to the doctor's office he got to pick out a "prize" from the "treasure box" for being a good patient (which I think means he didn't scream) and he picked out a rubbery, stretchy, gooey thing that looks like a hand with a long arm attached to it. The idea is to throw it at the wall, and the hand sticks to the wall, and you can pull it back to yourself with the long "arm." He has entertained himself with this five-cent toy for days. It has been virtually the only thing he's played with, and he actually has worn it out playing with it.

Too much stuffffff!!!!!

It is as if now that I've made the decision to avoid the temptations and obvious marketing ploys at Wally World I'm finding that I keep getting the message reaffirmed. I saw a daytime talk show this week with an expert organizer who said that American families are drowning in their own stuff...that we have so much of it we are overwhelmed by it, and that it affects our lives, our relationships, and our ability to be creative and think clearly. There are times more often than I can count where I cannot find a single surface in our house that doesn't have stuff piled on it. The fact of the matter is that everywhere you go, you get stuff. If you go to school, you come home with papers....homework, artwork, notes from teachers, etc. If there is a holiday mixed in, it is UNBELIEVABLE how much "crap" my kids come home with...like candy and cheap plastic toys that some poor kids who don't go to school in some hellish part of the world are making for OUR kids. If you go to church you bring home papers, more coloring pages and requests for donations, etc. If you go grocery shopping, you almost always come home with more things than you intended.

In what is supposed to be a paperless age--thanks to computers--I can't get over just how much mail we get every day, and just how much paperwork I am expected to keep and do something with. Even if you sign up for electronic billing you still get other information or sales pitches from the companies you are dealing with via snail mail. I am still getting requests for donations from charities my father gave money to 10 years ago, who have somehow tracked down his "address" as mine, but haven't managed to figure out that he has been deceased for five years. I have one full-size filing cabinet full of paperwork, both for our family, and for my parents (both deceased now) that I've been keeping, and need to keep for at least a few more years.

I'll probably rant about the "stuff" crisis more in future postings. But the point of this particular evening's post is that I'm inspired...I'm purging our house of as much unnecessary stuff as possible. It will be difficult with children who freak out if even a single Happy Meal toy is discarded...it all has to be done when they are at school, or otherwise occupied.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm making this the "theme" of my blog. I truly do have funnier and more interesting things to talk about. I guess it is my current obsession.

In other news...my daughter gave me a handcrafted Valentine the other night. She drew a picture of me holding hands with her, and her brother holding hands with her daddy. There were hearts all around. She folded it up, and wrapped it in discarded foil, along with a bead necklace she had made for me. The foil packet was put into a plastic grocery bag, that she had drawn hearts on with a marker. She is teaching me to recycle in a completely innocent and childlike way.

30 days sans Wally World

It's been 30 days since I last set foot in Wally World. It was a decision not made lightly in a rural, blue collar, midwestern, mid-sized town. Options for affordable groceries, paper goods (t.p. and cleaning supplies) and basics like school supplies for my kids are limited, and I'm already finding that to shop for all the different items I need each week is turning into a multi-store shopping extravaganza. The hunt is on!

My reason for making this decision is that I was personally appalled at just how much my family was spending each month in the local super center. Nearly one-fifth of our after-tax income was being spent there. Granted it was for groceries, clothing, cleaning supplies, birthday cards, etc. but the fact that I was dumping that much money into just one corporation began to really bother me. Then I saw a program on PBS (Frontline, I think?) about the corporate policies and strong-arm tactics for dealing with their vendors, and the way they basically bully all competitors, and it made me realize that as long as I purchased products from them I was supporting those policies.

And finally, as I've heard from so many friends of mine, just walking into the super center to purchase one loaf of bread almost always results in a purchase of at least $30 worth of other crap that you saw on sale and realized you couldn't live without. Just doing a quick calculation...not exact...my average total bill for each trip to W.M. since January, 2000 has been $81 per shopping trip.

So I'm giving it up. Cold turkey.