Influenza epidemic in the North Country!! We've seen lots of cases at work, and this week the kids brought a note home from school reminding people to keep their kids home if they have flu symptoms.
Normally in the first few weeks of school the kids drag home colds and we all get infected. We dodged the bullet this year and everyone has been shockingly healthy.
I know now that I've put that out in the universe Karma will smack us down.
Anyway, over the years I've come up with a bag of tricks to keep us healthy. I diffuse Shield and other essential oils.
We take Airborne at the first sign of a snuffly nose or tickle in the throat.
We eat a lot of citrus fruit to make sure we get our vitamin C.
I keep the himalayan salt lamp on.
I've started making homemade yogurt with as many strains of probiotics as I can manage.
We sometimes add Elderberry syrup and honey. Yum.
When we need to use the big guns we take a tablespoon of homemade fire cider a couple of times a day and/or Oregano oil.
I also make roller bottles of essential oils and slather everyone down when we spend a lot of time in public or anytime I think they could use a little immune boost.
What tricks to you use to keep your family healthy?
Addendum: As of this week we have one casualty of illness...I'm pretty sure Lauren has influenza. She had a sore throat for a couple of days and then Thursday had to stay home with a high fever, headache, sore throat, and generalized body aches. Friday was a little better, and by Saturday she has a sore throat and a little cough. We used the methods above and had a very short lived illness, and no one else in the house has gotten sick. Yet.
A few months ago Pey decided she wanted a pet lizard and started trying to make money. She gave foot rubs, picked blueberries, wiggled loose teeth, and helped watch Nora. Somehow, with the influence of a sister and cousin, she came up with the idea that Grandma and Dusty should bring her a lizard from Florida on their next trip up. Her cousin Jena from Florida helped, and they captured some apple snails and 2 lizards. The girls divided up the snails and Pey kept both lizards. One of the lizards was much smaller than the other, and came out on the losing end of some fights. He died within the first few weeks.
On the drive up Grandma and Dusty bought some dried meal worms for the lizards. when they got here, Pey went out and picked some green caterpillars off the kale and my rose bushes. Silver lining, Y'all.
One day about two months ago I went up to Pey's room to check on things, and couldn't find the lizard in it's cage. When I asked Pey about it, she said something along the lines of "Oh yeah. He's gone. Dad and I cleaned his cage this weekend and now I can't find him."
So, large lizard loose in the house. Not much I could do about it, and I figured he wouldn't last long with no food.
One morning about 2 weeks ago Corey was in the shower and the door flung open and Pey screamed "I found him! He's alive!"
She had been standing in front of her dresser getting dressed and happened to glance down at a pile of clothes on the floor, and there he was. She was afraid he was dead, but he was just slow since it's kind of cold in her room.
Now that we had a lizard again, he needed food. Lauren noticed on the jar of meal worms instructions to refrigerate. Needless to say, when they opened it the worms were no good and it smelled like death.
After Pey's hockey game on Saturday we went out to eat with family. While we waited for our food a few of us ran down to a local store that has a pet section to get some food for him. Of course Nora wanted to go. This store has fish, mice, birds, and bunnies. Nora was infatuated with the baby bunnies, and kept putting her fingers through the bars of the cage that was conveniently located at her level. Yes, I told her no and moved her away from the bunnies. We found some food for the lizard in the form of a cup 'o crickets.
While the adult of the group (me) and the older kids looked at the nasty crickets, we heard a sound behind us and turned to find Nora waist deep in the bunny cage with a petrified rabbit in her clutches. It had taken her a fraction of a second to figure out the latch on the cage and literally take matters into her own hands.
I got her out of there, took her to the bathroom to wash her hands, and we hightailed it to the checkout counter where I gratefully accepted the check out woman's offer of a opaque bag to put the crickets in. She said "that will make them easier to carry." I said "that will make them harder to see." I don't mind a cricket here or there in the wild, but 40 or so of them in a smallish cup looks really gross. The lizard was ever so grateful for the food and has been eating them with gusto.
As promised, it's Monday Tuesday and time for the giveaway!
If I only counted the votes done the right way, I'd be giving away oils. If I count votes by email and Facebook....I'm still giving away oils.
I decided to go with Spark Naturals for this one. They have a lovely starter pack that includes four 5ml bottles of lemon, lavender, peppermint, and melaleuca. Approximate value not including shipping is $19.99. I will also send a roller bottle for blends.
I spent hours of my life that I will never get back trying to be all tech savvy and using rafflecopter to organize my giveaway, but for the life of me I cannot get it to work. Therefore, I'm going old school and putting names in a hat.
Here's how it will work. A comment on this blog post is mandatory for entry in the giveaway. Please leave a comment and tell me which post has been your favorite so far! Please make sure your name and/or email is on your comment so I can reach you.
For an extra entry you can share this post on Facebook.
Again, if you only share the post you are not entered!
The Giveaway begins now and will end December 31st at midnight. I'll announce the winner on New Years Day!
Good Luck, and tell your friends and family to enter too!
Thanks guys!! Within one day we surpassed 1000 page views! So far there is one vote via Facebook for a scarf,
And one vote for an essential oil starter pack.
Keep voting, and the giveaway will begin Monday in a separate blog post.
Thank you all, this is so much fun!!
I want to give you things!! Seriously, I want to do a giveaway. Blogger lets me track how many page views I have, and I'm at 974. When I get to 1000 I will do a giveaway! Help me choose what to give by commenting on this post. The Options are:
1. A handmade scarf
2. An Essential oil starter pack.
I haven't decided if I should give away oils from Spark Naturals
or plant therapy, so I won't post a picture. I use and love both
companies equally. In addition to the oils themselves I'll also
include a roller bottle.
Help me reach 1000 by sharing this post, the more the merrier. Remember, this is not the actual giveaway, just getting to the goal and choosing the prize! I will post more details on how to enter and the prize itself once we reach 1000!
I started to write down a few things that Nora has said recently that I found hilarious. Here are some interpretations you'll need for context.
Lotion- Diaper cream
Headband- Bandaid, Headband, Rubberband
Bridge- Sounds an awful lot like B*#^h
Realizing Nora has a giant bowl of trail mix and has scattered nuts and raisins in various places around the house.
Me- Who gave you a whole bag of trail mix?
Nora-I don't know. Maybe you gave me whole bag.
Going for a drive out in the woods with Dad and Peyton.
Nora- My tummy is in a bad mood. Pey needs to change my diaper and give me lotion.
Playing with toy food
Nora- I eat lunch. You can't have any.
Me- I can't have any food?
Nora- No.
Me- You're something else!
Nora- I'm not a mouse!
Me- ?
Nora has just peed in the potty for the first time ever.
Me- Nora! Good job honey! You peed in the potty like a big girl!
Nora- Yeah. Three bunnies love the beach so much.
Me- ?
I'm in the bathroom. Door flings open and Nora saunters in.
Nora- Hi Mom. Can we pee wit you?
Me- Privacy?
I let all the cats in to eat and warm up. I picked up Peyton's cat Little Star to put her out.
Me- Oh! Little Star has an owie on her chin!
Nora- Oh no! She need a headband!
Cozying in bed in the morning.
Me- I'm gonna go get some coffee, Nora.
Nora- Me too. Nowa love coffee so much.
Facing me, holding on to my hands with one foot on my leg.
Nora- I'm gonna climb this bridge!
I had my second visit to the health and wholeness center. First I met with a Nurse Practitioner who does an overall health assessment. During our talk she pointed out that I've had liver, pancreas, kidney, and colon issues. So, I'm feeling like the picture of health! Quite a bit of her practice is based on ayurvedic medicine, which I'm not really familiar with. It originated in India thousands of years ago and the first step is to decide which of the three "Doshas" you are. She decided I was Vata which is the energy of movement. I'm out of balance so she recommended a specific diet as well as a food journal. Some of the main restrictions of the diet were: No meat and dairy together, no meat and grains together, and fruit must be eaten alone. I've been really bad and haven't followed the diet or even started a journal. I worked quite a bit and have been running with sports and long weekends away from home and haven't made it a priority.
After the wellness consultation I went to have my acupuncture. This time I had to change into a gown as the needles were going to go in my back. I had one in the top of my head and two in the base of my skull. I had 16 in my back, one in each elbow, one in each wrist, and several in my legs and feet. The one that bothered me the most was in the back of the knee. It just feels like a part of the body that should really be protected. Again the lights were turned low and the music was turned on. The heat lamp was placed over my back and I was left alone for the whole 20 minutes. It actually went really quickly. When he came back in he took some of the needles out and did some muscle release in my neck and back. It was uncomfortable but not as bad as last time. He used some essential oil and I believe it was Sacred Mountain from Young Living and I absolutely loved it. I felt so relaxed after the treatment I could hardly get up. It almost felt like being drugged. I just wanted to roll on my side and sleep!!
I have my third session tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. I don't know if it has helped anything yet, but I feel peaceful and good after the sessions so I'm planning to do a few more.
