You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2007.
A friend in Atlanta was feeling blue yesterday, so some friends and I decided to send her a care package. We opted against sending flowers, hoping to find something a bit more personal (also, good wine and chocolate can cure just about anything!)
After doing a little web searching, I came across GiftTree.com. They had a great selection of gift baskets with various themes. We chose the one in this picture, which included two bottles of wine, chocolates, crackers, and other items in a nice basket arrangement.
The price was comparable to Harry and David’s, and the delivery fee was only $12 for same-day service.
Last night I caught up on a little TiVo’d Oprah (I love my Opie!)
I watched an episode featuring Randy Pausch. Randy is expecting to die in the next few months.
Penguin makes an excellent cornbread mix that I make without dairy or eggs. It has a great taste and bits of corn kernels in the mix. My kids eat them by the handfulls; they are good bribes for eating the other items on their plates.
I make it without eggs or dairy by using soy milk and substituting 1 teaspoon baking powder + 1 Tablespoon water + 1 Tablespoon vinegar (added last) for each egg. If possible, let the mixture sit for a few minutes before you pour it into the muffin cups. Cook 18 minutes for muffins.
The only drawback to not using eggs is that they are a bit more crumbly, but they taste great. You can use vanilla soymilk for a sweeter taste.
You can buy a big box at Costco that contains several packets that make a dozen muffins or one loaf each. Occasionally they are out of stock, so I buy a couple of boxes at a time.
Bon appetit!
Last year I remember mentally rolling my eyes at a friend who wouldn’t allow her three-year-old to be the flower girl in a wedding. Said friend was worried that the stress would be too much for her child, so she turned down her best friend’s request.
Fast forward a year, and my husband’s sister, Bette, was getting married. Bette asked her three youngest nieces to be flower girls. An older niece would be a reader and all four girls would wear adorable, matching dresses.
While I’m recording random thoughts…
Dole raisins are markedly better than every other brand I’ve tried. I mean way better. It’s not just the form factor, either; cardboard box to cardboard box, Dole is still the best.
Unfortunately I’ve only been able to find them at Giant grocery store (not Harris Teeter or Wegmans.)
I think when I start waxing on about raisins it’s probably time to step away from the keyboard. I have strong feelings about dryer sheets, too, but I know when to say when!
God help us if the terrorists ever harness the adhesive power of dried milky Rice Krispies. It practically takes a blowtorch to remove them from my countertop after breakfast.
As I’ve mentioned before, we are an allergy family.
My oldest, Collin, is allergic to dogs, cats, feathers, and eggs. I’m allergic to cats and lots of green things. I started allergy shots this summer to tackle my chronic sinus infections and eczema. My husband has the most exotic allergy in the family with a severe (freakish) allergy to potatoes. Luckily Serena has tested negative for allergies and Bennett hasn’t shown any allergy symptoms…yet.
All of these allergy goings-on have caused us to make frequent visits to our allergist, Dr. Richard Loria. I’d like to take a moment to sing his praises. Simply put, our allergist is a total bad-ass.
As I would expect, Dr. Loria handles standard issues well. He diagnosed Collin’s allergies with the requisite skin and blood tests and “eliminate and challenge” protocols for various foods (we had a LOT of false positives in our initial testing.) Dr. Loria explained the links between allergies, asthma, and eczema, and Collin’s symptoms have been in check ever since. This is impressive, given that Collin had previously been sick at least monthly and once spent two and a half days in the hospital for a respiratory infection.
This standard-issue care is great, but not enough to merit a shout-out. To do that, I offer you two of the many examples of Dr. Loria’s allergy ninja skills. The first comes from a good friend, Janie, who first recommended Dr. Loria to us.
When Janie’s son was a preschooler, he had undiagnosed illnesses that caused him to be so small that he didn’t register on the growth chart. After taking him to multiple pediatric specialists in DC and Baltimore, Janie was referred to Dr. Loria. After an endoscopic exam, Dr. Loria diagnosed an allergic reaction to foods that was causing the boy to have internal sores in his GI tract. Since his diagnosis, Janie’s son has had a excellent recovery. Although he’s still small for his age, he’s eating and growing and is now on the growth chart.
My daughter, Serena’s, case is also remarkable. When Serena turned two I realized that she’d had congestion and a runny nose at least ten months out of the last year. I had mentioned it to her pediatricians several times, but no one had solved the problem or even taken it too seriously. When I mentioned at her two-year checkup that I was considering consulting an allergist about her runny nose, her pediatrician gave me a vague “yeah, that might be a good idea.” When Dr. Loria entered the exam room he read Serena’s chart, looked at her for a moment, asked one question, and promptly said he thought she had chronic sinusitis. He prescribed a CT scan, a blood test to check for allergies and autoimmune disease, and aggressive antibiotics. We were stunned by how fast Dr. Loria had diagnosed her — literally by looking at her — after we had been to the pediatrician at least six times with no indication that this might be the problem. I was concerned about getting a CT scan, which involves radiation and anesthesia. I called Dr. Loria’s office and argued with the nurse about whether it was necessary, and I got a second opinion from our pediatrician, who said that this approach was very aggressive, but medically sound.
We decided to go ahead with the CT scan, and sure enough, Serena had extreme blockage in all of her sinuses. She probably had had the same infection for months; it breaks my heart to think that she probably thought having a severe sinus infection was normal. Dr. Loria referred us to an ENT, who eventually cured her infection through multiple courses of antibiotics; thankfully she didn’t need surgery. What our pediatricians had missed in multiple office visits, Dr. Loria diagnosed in five minutes.
Dr. Loria’s bedside manner isn’t jovial or cuddly. He’s very proper and intellectual. He’s confident on the verge of cocky, but he’s a good listener, and he respects my opinion as a parent. He listens when I disagree with him (although to date he’s always ultimately been right) and backs up his opinions with medical literature that he invites me to read.
I have three healthy kids, and some of that credit is due to Dr. Loria. I wholeheartedly endorse him. Oh, and I’m not the only one. He’s one of Washingtonian Magazine’s Top Doctors.
Recent Comments