Good Friday Wrap-Up

Well, Westin's swallowing problems have held steady this week. When I ask how his swallowing is on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being perfect, he gives it an 8. That works for me. I imagine we will continue on the dairy free diet for another week and maybe stop the proventil to see if that changes. I will give the gastro a call on Tuesday.

The vacation is still in the works but Jason seems to think that my idea is a bit too much. He thinks we should get our feet wet a little closer to home. So if I had to pick a place a little closer to home than say Arizona, I think it would be South Dakota. I have so many fond memories of South Dakota from my trip as a kid. Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, etc. It is a great place. The only reason we wouldn't do that trip is if we are granted a scholarship to the childrenwithdiabetes.com Friends for Life Conference in Walt Disney World, Florida. That would be a dream come true and it would be "the vacation" this summer. It is in July and is a huge diabetes conference. I have always wanted to go but the timing has always been hard as it is a busy time of year for business.

Speaking of business, the shop is officially closed and cleaned out. We have a mess at home to sort out but I think it will free us up to do more of what we would like to do...live life! Jason will be returning to working out of a trailer and just part time. The goal is to make enough to live off of but to have time to explore other interest and eventually get out of the business all together or at least manage it from afar. We will see where it takes us. I guess I should start a master calendar with all of our dr appointments and such so we can plan ahead a little farther. Maybe we could squeeze in both the trip to South Dakota and FFL if we were chosen? I really just strive for great learning and teaching opportunities with my boys and myself. :)

Friday Wrap Up

This has been one hell of a week! Last Saturday at about 1pm Westin came out of his room thinking he was having a low blood sugar. He checked and he was 73. Not low per say but treatable. I was doing dishes so I gave him a juice box and went back to the sink. A few moments later he walked out to me, sat the juice box down on the counter and tapped me on the arm. I turned to look at him to find he was in the midst of a partial seizure affecting his left side of his face. I was amazed that he could walk out to me and stand there while he was having it. It makes sense though as it was just a part of his brain seizing.

So then on Sunday his difficulty swallowing returned in a big way. It had kind of started days earlier but Sunday it was bad enough that he was upset by it. I called the gastro on call and got a script for flovent called in. So my kid with asthma has to use another inhaler, but this time he has to swallow it.

After playing back the last few months, since we stopped the prevacid, trying to figure out what caused the change in swallowing, we have decided either allergies or milk. So we stopped all dairy. Well, Westin stopped all dairy. I have also added a antihistamine to help with the extra post nasal drip due to the time of the year. Believe me, he is on plenty of allergy meds already. But he did complain about thick mucus and drainage. I read somewhere online that the post nasal drip could contribute to increased stomach acid, which could be causing the esophilic esophagitis (sp?). So I am going after both options at once. If we see some relief we will stop the flovent and see if we continue to see relief. If we do then we will re-add dairy and see what happens. Ugh, playing guinea pig with your kid is not fun!

Then on top of all of this he has had this tremor in his lip when he eats. I have to wonder if it is a residual effect from the seizure? It seems to be slowly going away.

So, this week can be written off as for the dogs. We did ZERO school work as I couldn't concentrate and neither could Westin. I am so glad he isn't in school. That would be a nightmare.

The art of reinventing and other random stuff

My husband is in a position to reinvent himself, or at least that is the positive spin I have put on it. Our business has gone through so many changes over the years. This, though, seems like the last change. We have decided to close shop and slowly work our way out of the business once dh figures out what he wants for the next chapter in his and our lives. He jokes that this year will kind of be a sabatical. So after we get the garage cleaned out and all of the business moved home, what's next?

First, a garage sale! Maybe more like a basement sale. We have a ton of stuff to get rid of. We are planning it to coinside with the Eagle Lake/Crooked Lake sales. I called the township and found out they are April 17th and 18th so that is set.

Second, we need a vacation, or better described as an adventure! We haven't really gone anywhere for 6 years. I worry about an adventure with a three and a half year old but maybe I can find the grace to survive. :)

So where will we go? WEST! When I was 11 years old my parents took us on an adventure. There wasn't much of a plan. We had two weeks and $800. We had a full size conversion van and a tent for a family of 5. My parents took the $800 and split it into two envelopes. One for each way. So when the first envelope ran out we started headed back towards home. We ended up starting towards Branson where we had relatives and ventured across the panhandle of Texas to New Mexico where we got to see the land my dad bought when he was in the Army. Then to the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Momument Valley, into the Rockies, over to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, Wall Drug, Corn Palace and back home to Michigan. Sure, we didn't make it to California or the northwest but we had a great time! If we just had had a little more money maybe we would have made it to the Pacific!

So, while we reinvent we will give our entire family an adventure and hopefully learn something new about ourselves. Life is all about learning!

We hope to be able to pull this off by May but might have to delay until July if we can't come up with the funds. I will keep this blog updated on our progress and our adventure. I think this can be a learning experience for everyone. I will chronicle our route, expenses and experiences.

We have a Ford Excursion so will have plenty of room to pack. It doesn't get great gas mileage but I guess it does better on the highway. Dad has most of the camping gear we need. I will take inventory when I actually see it. We will tent it and live out of a cooler as much as possible. I don't know how much money we can scrape up but I would shoot for at least $1500.

Keep watching and see what happens!

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Ok, THIS is the house I want to build!

From: http://www.macdonaldarchitects.com/design/residential/survival_consultants/sun_cottage_3br/

This is the house I really, really want to build! Even at a time when I don't know where in the country I want to live, this design will work anywhere. You can see the series of articles on the Sun Cottage from "Mother Earth News" at this link: http://www.macdonaldarchitects.com/profile/works/

Ramblings

Okay, so life has gotten kind of crazy. We are moving our shop to Westnedge. It has been a long troublesome project. Tonight I am about to go completely off on Jason over the whole thing. I can't even put into words what the issue is.

I have changed building plans again. I have wanted an earth bermed home, but couldn't figure out a way to give it the look we want. But this week I had an inspired moment and I think I have it planned out. With some open rafters, I think our look can be accomplished. When I get plan down, I will post it. We can all keep count of how many versions of home I can come up with in the next year or so before I can start it :)

I have found my new creative outlet!

I want to build a house! Yes, hands on, build a house! I think I have worked up a small plan that will work for my family. 24x24! Yes, that is the size of my garage.