Pink

Pink Eye

I woke up with pink eye in my right eye this morning.  It's oozing and gooey and gross.  It's not actually all that pink anymore, but it's gunky.  I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow anyway, so I will see if I need eye drops then. 

I find it odd that I've never had laryngitis or pink eye, yet I've gotten both within the last month.  I also find it odd, though predictable, that it's my right eye.  It seems like everything that goes wrong with me is on the right side of my body.  I swear, it's like my left is perfect and my right is pathetic - just like politics!  Ha! (Note: I don't actually think the left is anywhere near perfect, but I do think the right is pathetic).  

Brick & landscaping

There's a guy putting the brick facing on our front pillars as I type this.  It's so hot out today.  I feel terrible that he's out there sweating away in this heat doing that type of work.  The other bad part is that the porch railing is so damn close to the pillars, which is not ideal from either a functional or aesthetic perspective. 

The landscaping is closer to being complete.  It still needs some plants to line one side of the sidewalk, but the nursery doesn't get them in until Wednesday.  There are also some large rocks due to be installed.  The mulch is in and looks nice.  I'll update with some pictures tomorrow.  It's too hot to take them now.

We met with the designer to pay much of the remaining balance of the work.  He came in under budget on most items, but, of course, charged us for the lighting.  I'm a little annoyed by that because I sent a two sentence email asking him how difficult it would be and how much it would cost to put in lighting.  He responded with something like, "Sounds great! I'll make it happen!" and then proceeded to install tons of lights.  The reason I'm only slightly annoyed is that I am actually very happy we have the lights.  They haven't been turned on yet, but I know I'm going to love them because I always love outdoor lighting.  We definitely would not have done it had we known the cost ahead of time, but since that ship has sailed, there you go. 

Acupuncture & NP

I am convinced the acupuncture is working wonders on my energy and sleepiness.  Even without dietary changes, I am hardly napping at all.  Even with being sick and the family drama, I haven't been napping. It's amazing how much you can get accomplished when you're awake! 

I think I am going to chat with the NP next time I see him and just see if I can settle into an acupuncture routine versus taking any dietary steps.  I can't see going through the elimination diet successfully without having someone cook every meal for me.  I realized another factor in my failure at sticking to it was boredom.  Not even boredom with foods, but I would have had to cook every meal at home.  We typically eat out 2-4 times per week.  I need that just to get out of the house and do things.  That is an ingrained part of our lifestyle. 

I did ask about eliminating one category at a time, but that is less effective because people often have two categories they react to, so you may eliminate one, but still feel poorly because you're still eating the other. 

Avery's Sleeping Rewards

Avery finally earned her pink dress for the latest sleeping reward.  It took twice as long as it took to get either of the previous two dresses.  I think that was because I didn't have the actual dress hanging up for her to see since it hadn't arrived yet. 

For her next reward, we're going to bump up the number of nights from four to six or eight.  I also bought her a set of toy kitchen utensils from IKEA rather than a dress.  We'll see how well a toy motivates her.  

Parking Space

One of my favorite Avery quirks is how she refers to a spot to sit as a parking space.  For example, the other day she asked me to sit in a particular spot on the floor. I wanted to stay on the couch, so I suggested she come sit by me.  She said no and explained that, "there's no parking space for me." 

Just the two of us

It's a good thing I have all that acupuncture energy because D has social or work engagements every night this week.  That means I'm on for bedtime routine duty every night this week.

Scootering

I saw this on Free Range Kids: scootering is replacing cars for getting kids to and from school in England.

It makes me think D and I should get scooters for down in Mexico.  The pavement is a little bumpy, but I think once Avery is a year or two older, they'll be good for getting to and from the pool and beach. 

Full day

It was actually a fairly full day for me today.  After dropping Avery off at school - in her new pink dress which is waaaaaay too big for her and makes her look like she's in Little House on the Prairie - I headed to acupuncture, then to do some volunteer pinch-hitting on the database I created for them back in the day, then hooked up with D and some of his coworkers for lunch, then hit IKEA.  I spent a good hour and a half at IKEA.  I have never spent that much time there since I usually rush in and out because I can't handle the people.  It was fairly empty, I had no little person in tow, I had no husband who is just Ready To Leave.  So I shopped. I went for paper organization boxes.  I left with considerably more.

I'm excited because I bought a large bookcase cube unit (25 cubes) that I'm going to have the handyman install and affix to the wall in the garage.  For most people, IKEA would be a bad place to purchase garage organization since it typically doesn't hold up to wear and tear very well.  However, I realized for us, it's perfect!  We go out and get one screwdriver.  There's no heavy use of tools or garage-stored items, so I just need a place to get things out of the way and organized so I can find the screwdriver when we need it (you know, to hand to the handyman).  Anyway, what I bought was way cheaper than buying shelving units from Home Depot and should give me plenty of room for storage.

And now it's 5 pm, so I shall leave to get Avery soon.