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1/29/2008 Tim was right.... It's FluLast night Tim and I both got very violently ill within hours of each other. I thought it was food poisioning, although it seemed like a stretch... but the fact that we were sick at the exact same time and the onset was so sudden, it was my first instinct, and neither of us had other symptoms. Tim said flu. Tim was right. This afternoon I started feeling achy and my temperature shot up past 100. Tim is in far worse shape than me, he can't even get off the couch. I would imagine he has a temp as well. I have never had a flu without cold symptoms, so perhaps this will be a quick illness and will be done soon. Payton is experiencing his own illness issues with this lingering diarrhea, and he is home sick from school today as well, so the three of us are just coping together.
In happier news, the Wii came yesterday- and Tim did get a few hours in playing Guitar Hero before he got sick. (Payton and I got to play our games too).
 1/28/2008 Payton's EarsPayton didn't do so well with his ear appointment today. He still has fluid in his ears, and when they checked his hearing, it showed mild hearing loss in both ears. This is not permanet, but left untreated it could develop into some other problems. So we are going to try one more round of medicine for two weeks, and if that fails to clear out the ears, he will need surgery to get tubes in both ears. I was hopeful that perhaps this last round of medicine might prevent him from having to get tubes, but now I think I am less optimistic. This surgery is outpatient, and routine. But it is still surgery and so I will still worry since my own last surgery was supposed to be routine and it didn't go so well. I am just reminded that all surgery is a calculated risk. And this one for Payton we won't hesitiate to have done, but it still won't mean we won't worry.
Can anyone explain this? I have read something saying it has to do with the 'slope' being different in one.
Read that explanation here ... still doesn't make sence to me. But I was not good at geometry.
 1/27/2008 WeekendTim and I had a nice weekend. Payton stayed with my mom and dad, and Tim and I went out. Unfortunatly we saw the Cloverfield movie, and got sick to our stomaches (literally) because of the way it was filmed. Shaky camera angles. The effect on the stomache was a little like being on a tilt-a-whirl for 2 hours.
Payton had a nice time at Grandma and Grandpas' except he had some diarrhea issues which continued this afternoon when he got home. I don't know if this is still relating to the medication he was on for his ears or what it is. He seems fine otherwise. He's not much of a complainer though. Tomorrow he has a follow up appointment with the ear specialist to check how the medication worked to clear out the fluid that was traped in his ears. I did a check myself with my home ear monitor I got for Christmas from Shirley, and one ear is now clear but the other ear still has some fluid in it even after this heavy medication that was supposed to clear it out. I don't know what that will mean for treatment... whether that will mean he will need tubes now or not. But tomorrow they will check the ears and (I think) give a hearing test.
Also tomorrow the Wii Tim ordered will arrive. I purchased a game on Saturday for it, and so we are both excited to have it come. Payton is not aware that we bought one yet, so when it comes he is going to be through the roof excited. He has been asking if Daddy was going to buy one for quite awhile now. Maybe when it arrives I will let him open the package and see if he can figure out what it is. He always wants to know what the packages are that the UPS truck brings.
The worst thing you could see when coming down your hallway:
 1/25/2008 Great Program for IowansI found a great program for Iowans yesterday. It is called Share Iowa. They actually serve more than just Iowa, I think they also serve Eastern Nebraska, Northern Missouri and South Dakota too.... Here is the gist of it:
You volunteer 2 hours per month. You get discounted groceries. It's that simple.
While I was at the Scouts meeting last night someone brought a sheet in from this organization and told about how another lady (who goes to my church) did it last month, and it worked out really well for her, she said the food was FANTASTIC and top quality. You send in your order via mail or internet (with payment) and then the food is delivered on one Saturday per month to various locations throughout Iowa... for instance, the location I would pick up my food at would be Logan, Iowa- 10 miles away.
The groceries are in "packages" there is a meat and vegetable package, Veggie only package, meat only package, and then specialty packages that would contain things like steaks, pies, or holiday items.
Another idea that was proposed is that if you do volunteer but don't need discounted groceries, why not get them and donate them to a food pantry or a shut in? That was also another great idea as well.
You can find out more online at www.shareiowa.org OR call the main number at 800-344-1107 and they will route you to your local affiliate who can explain the program to you in detail.
 1/24/2008 ThursdayMy dad had a minor surgery today to remove a tumor from his bladder. My sister Barb called and left me a message this morning to say it all went fine and that he will have to go back periodically to made sure that no cancerous growths reappear, but what they did take out was marble sized and they got it all. Sounded pretty positive. He's home already, and has to take some antibiotics and stuff as you would expect.
I have been really busy today myself. I did some more "recording work" with our choir director Loie this morning, not for the church, but for the high school choir. Basically it is just me sitting with my MP3 player recording Loie playing each of the piano parts for all the songs they sing. Then Tim and I make CD's and give the finished product back. After that I went to the gym... then back home.
I first did my budget for February... I like to get all my bills/checks written out early... so that when the 1st rolls around I just dump all the checks in the mail and can be done with it. Then I cleaned up my medical/insurance files for Tax season, and got everything rubber banded together. I don't think I made the cut off to claim a deduction this year... even with mileage added in... but I could be wrong. That is what the tax guy is for, and so I will have it all together just in case.
Then I worked for 4 SOLID HOURS on CubScouts. I am going to my first real meeting tonight and I thought maybe I should have all my ducks in a row, and so I entered all the checks and deposits into Quicken and reconciled them - from 2005 until present. No small task and my back hurts from hunching over my laptop. the good news is that everything balanced.
And Tim had a bit of excitement. (and me too) He bought a Wii and the Guitar Hero game for the Wii. It will be here Monday.
So tonight I'll be off to my first scouts meeting. I hope that I will be ready. I still don't feel ready despite all my work. I think it is because I still don't understand their system for tracking popcorn sales and scout accounts.
 1/18/2008 Payton SickPayton was sick last night, throwing up several times from midnight until 3am. He had complained before he went to bed that his stomache hurt... but I dismissed it. He says things hurt from time to time just to get a kiss so I thought this was one of those. I guess this wasn't. I felt bad for him. I was not sure if it was a stomache flu or something he ate. Anyhow, I ended up having 4 loads of bedding related laundry, since he would have 1/2 hour breaks in between each time he got sick. This morning he was up at 8, and feeling chipper. The first thing he said was that he felt better. I was certain that he would sleep in late after being up for nearly 3 hours, but I guess not. It was wishful thinking! He didn't have school today, 2 Friday's out of the month are usually no school days. Plus he has Monday off because of a teacher inservice or something like that. A long break from school for him!
 1/15/2008 Internet Shopping SpreeToday I got my new deluxe scale. I bought it (along with some other goodies) with 3 Amazon.com gift cards I had saved up (thanks Kendra, Ruth and the V iolent Acres Blog drawing I won). My scale is "DELUXE" because weighs you like a regular bathroom scale would, but it also measures body fat % and your % of water weight. It also will tell you if you are fat. Not out loud or anything, there is a small icon that will appear and tell you if your body fat is disproportionally high or low for your height/weight/age/gender. So in actuality, you could be calculated as "fat" but not look fat since it is measuring what is on the inside of you.
I also bought a small scale for kitchen/ebay use, a new CD Sound Machine Clock Radio with MP3 jack (to replace my old sound machine cd player that broke), and a new work out shirt (because I can always use more of those).
So now I just have to wait for the other goodies to show up. I also am waiting for my last Christmas present from Tim's mom, she got me a 10 cup food processor but it was on back order so she told me what it was... So now I am extra anxious for it to arrive. I have salsa to make. I have things to chop, things to blend. I do have a food processor now, but it is very tiny (2 cups). So not a lot of choppping or blending can happen currently.
Tim has not bought his Christmas presents from me to him yet (I had given him the proceeds from my ebay sales as mad money). He is still debating on TV models and which is the right one. There ARE a lot of choices. He's gone back and forth between TV's as low as $499 all the way up to $899 and whichever TV he gets will dictate how the rest of the money gets spent, obviously with a $900 TV there wouldn't be much money left over for the rest of the stuff he wanted. In the meanwhile, the large TV in the basement that he had been using broke so he has a little tiny TV down there now... Which is not probably his favorite thing to watch football on.
 1/14/2008 IRS.gov is not usefulToday seemed like a longer day than it really was. Most of my day was spent figuring out tax and payroll issues. I had to be on the phone with the IRS for over an hour, most of that on hold because I needed to find out what the Medicare and FICA/Social Security taxes are for this year, so I know how much to deduct from our church employee's checks tomorrow for the first payday of 2008. A simple question, and I thought easy enough to figure out by just going on their website and not having to call at all. Not so much. I browsed around for a few minutes, not finding anything useful, so I did a search for "Medicare Taxes" I got over 20,000 listings pop up, and none of which were what I needed, half of them were in spanish anyway. So I tried, "Medicare Payroll Deductions" and got the same result. I tried various other searches, with no better luck, so that is when I gave up and sat on hold. When I finally got a live person, she was able to assist me (thankfully) right away and gave me the info I needed.... I asked "next year instead of calling, where would you direct me to find out this information?" She tells me the best place is "IRS.GOV" and do a search. I didn't want to argue. I just said thanks and hung up. I'll be calling again next year.
But the good news is that I THINK I have all my issues resolved as far as the church goes, and all the year end/year beginning financial stuff is concerned. It isn't going to be nearly as difficult next year. This year, it has been a lot of brain work and figuring things out.
On a different note-
This morning, Payton had his ear appointment at the hospital in Missouri Valley. The doctor put him on a two week run of antibiotic and some other medication to thin the fluid that is in his ears so it will finally drain, and then in two weeks he is coming back for a hearing test and some other testing to see if that fixed the problem or what the next step is. So he may not have to get tubes after all. It isn't for sure at this point. I guess until we get these tests done we really can't know anything.
 1/10/2008 TypewriterYesterday I needed to procure a typewriter so that I could fill out the W-2's for our church employees (all 3 of them), and then also complete the W-3 form that needs to be sent in to the IRS along with the W-2's. This is my first time filling out W-2's. I am usually the recipient of them (when I worked). Anyway- I needed a typewriter because you can't fill out a form online and print it out, and they do not allow handwritten forms. Luckily the church had an extra typewriter that I could take home to "practice on" (You know how hard it is to get the alignment just right on a typewriter). So I brought it home and Payton asked what it was, and I said "What do YOU think it is?" He thought about it. And he said... "A keyboard?" And I said he was close, that it was a typewriter. He was intrigued with this ancient technology. And he wanted to try it out. I didn't turn it on or put paper it in, but that didn't seem to matter.
 He looks a bit maniacal in this next one....  1/9/2008 WednesdayI am selling on ebay again. This time some of my toys from the 1970's. I am hoping they do ok. My last round of Ebay selling before Christmas was wildly successful, so I hope this will work out too. If not, I'll have brought lots of junk into my home after having it perfectly cleaned out.
I also have found a new tax guy. Not that I disliked my old tax guy. I LOVED my old tax guy. But he is in Omaha, and far away... which was a pain to get there now that I don't work in Omaha... but I could live with that... and he was really expensive... but he was also really good so I could live with that. But last year he had his son do my taxes at the last minute because he was tied up and couldn't see me at my appointment time, that bugged me. I am sure his son is a great guy, and my taxes were done right, but I don't pay that kind of money to get the second man in charge, who I am not familar with and is not familiar with me. I kind of feel like if I am paying a premium fee I should get premium treatment. So I searched out a new guy locally and I met with him today. I felt like he will do a good job, so I set up an appointment for him to do our taxes this March. If all goes well this year I'll make the change permanent. Otherwise, I'll be having to do more searching next year.
In other news Payton loves math. He discovered math over Christmas, and has really developed an interest in it. I don't know what triggered it for sure, perhaps it was a game he got from us as a present that has a math theme... but he really loves to write out math problems and I have made him a number line so he can figure out the answers when he runs out of fingers. It would be so great if he liked math, since I never was that great at it.
 1/7/2008 Ah HA! I proved it!Women's clothing sizes have changed over the last 15 years. I got a box from mom this weekend with clothes from my senior year in highschool (1991) through about my sophomore year in college (1993). These were my "dressier" clothes I had grown out of, and had given to my mom. I got them back. I didn't want them back to wear, as they are hopelessly out of date. I wanted to see what the size on the tag said... and obviously to see if I could fit in to them now. First of all, Yes, I did fit into them, so I am about the same size as I was in highschool, although the weight I think is distributed a little differently. But I did discover that the size I wear now is "smaller" than the tags on the clothes. Most of the clothes were skirts and dresses, and the tags were all 9's and 11's. But in dresses now I wear a 6. And in a pencil skirt I would wear an 8. So this says to me that there has been a gradual shift in sizing... No wonder women find it so hard to find clothes that fit. How can we really know what size we are at any given time? Just wait another 30 years and I will be a size 2. no dieting necessary.
 1/1/2008 in WisconsinStill in Wisconsin, heading for Tim's mom's tomorrow. but this was my last day of internet... so I thought I would post all the photos we had so far (well, not all- just the highlights)
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