Sounds funny, doesn't it? We got a call about a week ago from the Psychology Dept at the U of I. We're not sure how they knew that we had an infant, but they called us none the less. Matter of fact, they didn't even know how they got our number. The only association they have is with the Infant Cognition Lab, but we have never taken Madalyn there either. Who knows.
They invited us to do a study on recognition, so we took Mady over there yesterday. We walked in, and while Jenn was filling out all the waivers and pertinent documents, Mady had a blast with the 3 college girls who cooed over her and played toys with her. She liked this little vibrating duck, where you pull the string and it hops around on the floor. She also played with Little People and some plastic food.
For the study, one of the gals took Mady and I next door where we were seated in a chair. The room was pretty dark and Mady sat on my lap. The idea was they were going to see how she learns and responds to a new words. "Crad" was the new word they were going to teach her. They put these black-out sunglasses on me so that I can't help Mady, or give subconscious indicators to her what the right answer should be.
Then they start a video on these 2 screens next to each other. This woman's soothing voice starts saying over and over again, "The duck is cradding. The duck just cradded. The duck is cradding." Evidently, one of the screens had this duck doing something that they say was "cradding." (Again, I don't know what it was.) Then, after about a minute of this, they switch and the video asks "Which duck is cradding?" Both TVs show different things, and Madalyn is asked to communicate which duck is cradding. And somehow, they watch to see what Madalyn will do. I know she was looking back and forth, I'm not sure if she pointed or smiled or what not. After about a minute of this, it was over and we were able to join Jenn next door.
Madalyn played some more with toys and for her involvement, she got a free book of her choice. We ventured back out into the current snow storm, and headed home. They will keep us on file, and they study kids up until the age of 3. It was fun, it would be nice to read the final thesis to see their findings.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
New Addition (to our blog, that is!)
If you haven't noticed, Mark has added a new link to a new blog on our main page. It's on the left hand side and is called Making Cents Of It All. If you click on Save a Penny you'll be taken to that blog. Mark has really enjoyed doing various things to save a buck here or there. He'll often be posting about ways he has gotten deals or things he has learned. I'm also going to be posting at various times about great things I've found. (As you can tell, we like deals!) So, check it out periodically.... I hope you enjoy!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Close Call
I've escaped a few close calls over the years while driving. I've also seen a few accidents 1st hand. When I was in college, a gal in front of me pulled out into oncoming traffic at a stop sign and got T-boned. That was crazy. The metal crunching metal sound is sickening, and once you hear it, you'll never forget it. Those of you that know what I'm talking about are probably nodding your head and smiling right now. When I was living in Chicago during my internship, I saw a Toyota Tacoma do a 360 on I-290 while on snow, cross 3 lanes of traffic and not hit a car or a guard rail and escape unscathed (during the morning rush hour commute, doing 50 MPH!)
Yesterday was about as close as I've personally ever been to getting hit and escape without a scratch. I was coming back from a client visit in Danville. I was about 3 miles from my exit here in Champaign. The roads were snow covered, granted, so we were only doing about 60 mph on interstate 74. This baby blue Dodge Intrepid was in the lane to my left, slowly passing me. I look over as I hear the "sliding on snow" sound. He started to spin around right next to me, but was sliding away from me, towards the far guard rail. I also for a brief second looked down at his tires, and it looked as though he had slammed on the brakes when he started to slide (a no, no). He ended up doing a 180, facing backwards, while still going forwards. A brand new black GMC Yukon was right behind him, and he ended up going around the Dodge on the shoulder, and also escaped. The Dodge and the GMC literally missed each other by inches. By this time, I had already passed them both. It was as close as I've even been without being in an accident (knock on wood, but I haven't caused an accident yet). My heart was pounding out of my chest by this point. It's crazy how fast things happen and split second decision making on my part (to tap the brakes and not hit them hard) was the difference between being in an accident and driving by a near miss.
Yesterday was about as close as I've personally ever been to getting hit and escape without a scratch. I was coming back from a client visit in Danville. I was about 3 miles from my exit here in Champaign. The roads were snow covered, granted, so we were only doing about 60 mph on interstate 74. This baby blue Dodge Intrepid was in the lane to my left, slowly passing me. I look over as I hear the "sliding on snow" sound. He started to spin around right next to me, but was sliding away from me, towards the far guard rail. I also for a brief second looked down at his tires, and it looked as though he had slammed on the brakes when he started to slide (a no, no). He ended up doing a 180, facing backwards, while still going forwards. A brand new black GMC Yukon was right behind him, and he ended up going around the Dodge on the shoulder, and also escaped. The Dodge and the GMC literally missed each other by inches. By this time, I had already passed them both. It was as close as I've even been without being in an accident (knock on wood, but I haven't caused an accident yet). My heart was pounding out of my chest by this point. It's crazy how fast things happen and split second decision making on my part (to tap the brakes and not hit them hard) was the difference between being in an accident and driving by a near miss.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Cystic Fibrosis Conference
Jennifer and I were invited to participate in this year's CF Winter Retreat this past weekend in Glenview by Chicago. We drove up and stayed with some good friends of ours (Paul and Tammy Timm and their family) in Lemont on Friday night. We woke up early Saturday morning so that I could have a quick drug study check up at 7 am before the conference started.
We weren't really sure what to expect with the retreat. We had heard good things about it, and it was almost a no-brainer to go since the clinic was only about 5 minutes from the Glen Club where it was held.
The Glen Club was quite nice. It was essentially a country club with rooms for events like this.
When we arrived, we had a nice breakfast of fruit/bagels/pastries and coffee. It was nice, but hardly a meal for someone on a weight gain diet. I was hungry by 9, and breakfast was at 8. At least the catered lunch was Awesome. Lots of pasta, meatballs, salads and meat. I was shaking I was so hungry. By the time I was done, I was loosening my belt and going for coffee...
The different sessions (general assembly, small hand-picked seminars) were quite good. The one session that impressed me the most was definitely the one that Dr Woo from USC spoke at. She was incredible. Very articulate, very well-versed. She is, simply put, a pioneer in lung transplants. She is on the cutting edge of research and science.I was thoroughly impressed and actually leaned over to Jenn and said that if, God forbid, I should need a double lung, I will have her perform it. It was really eye opening, and her success rate is unparalleled.
Jennifer and I shared on an adult panel during the 2:00 session. We each had an opportunity to talk about how CF had impacted us personally. Jenn did champion work. I was very impressed with her. She did a fine job.
I was able to field questions regarding adult life with CF, the IVF process and parenthood. I wish that we had more time, as I felt an audience connection, but alas I'm thankful for the time that we had.
Lisa Bentley also spoke. She's a 10 time Ironman triathlon champion (including the big one in Hawaii). She gave us a great motivational speech on getting out there and exercising and not letting obstacles get in our way. Her passion was apparent to all. She taught us to work hard, have a good attitude and not give up. She was inspirational, exuberant and genuine. I was so glad that they brought her in. Oh, by the way, did I mention that she also has Cystic Fibrosis?...
Lisa Bentley and I
Jennifer and I with Mindy, my research coordinator and clinical nurse and Dr. Boas, a true CF clinician and researcher
Jennifer and I with Dan and Katie from DeKalb. Dan and I are going through the drug study together. They are becoming good friends and are dear Believers.
We weren't really sure what to expect with the retreat. We had heard good things about it, and it was almost a no-brainer to go since the clinic was only about 5 minutes from the Glen Club where it was held.
The Glen Club was quite nice. It was essentially a country club with rooms for events like this.
When we arrived, we had a nice breakfast of fruit/bagels/pastries and coffee. It was nice, but hardly a meal for someone on a weight gain diet. I was hungry by 9, and breakfast was at 8. At least the catered lunch was Awesome. Lots of pasta, meatballs, salads and meat. I was shaking I was so hungry. By the time I was done, I was loosening my belt and going for coffee...
The different sessions (general assembly, small hand-picked seminars) were quite good. The one session that impressed me the most was definitely the one that Dr Woo from USC spoke at. She was incredible. Very articulate, very well-versed. She is, simply put, a pioneer in lung transplants. She is on the cutting edge of research and science.I was thoroughly impressed and actually leaned over to Jenn and said that if, God forbid, I should need a double lung, I will have her perform it. It was really eye opening, and her success rate is unparalleled.
Jennifer and I shared on an adult panel during the 2:00 session. We each had an opportunity to talk about how CF had impacted us personally. Jenn did champion work. I was very impressed with her. She did a fine job.
I was able to field questions regarding adult life with CF, the IVF process and parenthood. I wish that we had more time, as I felt an audience connection, but alas I'm thankful for the time that we had.
Lisa Bentley also spoke. She's a 10 time Ironman triathlon champion (including the big one in Hawaii). She gave us a great motivational speech on getting out there and exercising and not letting obstacles get in our way. Her passion was apparent to all. She taught us to work hard, have a good attitude and not give up. She was inspirational, exuberant and genuine. I was so glad that they brought her in. Oh, by the way, did I mention that she also has Cystic Fibrosis?...
Lisa Bentley and I
Jennifer and I with Mindy, my research coordinator and clinical nurse and Dr. Boas, a true CF clinician and researcher
Jennifer and I with Dan and Katie from DeKalb. Dan and I are going through the drug study together. They are becoming good friends and are dear Believers.We left around 4:00 and hit rough traffic going in and then out of Chicago. Funny thing was that we decided to stop around 7:00 to get some dinner at a KFC. We pulled into the parking lot and there was a big bus of kids and adults getting out of the bus and running into the KFC. Jenn and I both groaned, knowing that this was going to take a little longer than expected. We decided to go through the drive-thru when we passed the 40+ group of people and Jenn says, "Is that Heidi Beck?" We had pulled into the same place as the Big Fish group that had also gone to Chicago for the day. We said hi to everyone, got our dinner (by way of the drive-thru), drove down to Jenn's folks, picked up Madalyn and drove back to Champaign. Made it home about 10:30, exhausted.
My eyes were opened at the conference. Yes, I learned about some new medications that will help, but most of all, I was reminded what is most important to me. When I was sharing during the panel, I shared that perspectives change when you have children. That is oh so true. I was reminded on what is important in life. My family needs me, and Jenn and I made a commitment to do everything possible to keep me healthy. Working out regularly, doing all my treatments, taking all of my meds and getting good nights of sleep. I have a newly realized heightened appreciation for the good health that I have, and I want to keep it. Who knows...maybe I'll run a marathon some day!
My eyes were opened at the conference. Yes, I learned about some new medications that will help, but most of all, I was reminded what is most important to me. When I was sharing during the panel, I shared that perspectives change when you have children. That is oh so true. I was reminded on what is important in life. My family needs me, and Jenn and I made a commitment to do everything possible to keep me healthy. Working out regularly, doing all my treatments, taking all of my meds and getting good nights of sleep. I have a newly realized heightened appreciation for the good health that I have, and I want to keep it. Who knows...maybe I'll run a marathon some day!
Friday, February 8, 2008
Freebies!
Many of you know that I like to find deals. I love garage sales. I love coupons. I love free things. Period. Everyday I visit a couple of different websites and get information about ways to be thrifty and even ways to get free things. It's not that I don't have money to spend... it's just that I really like to get good deals! I like being thrifty!!!
Back to my story... I have been signing up for different "freebies" as they are called. I've signed up for books, razors, sippy cups, magazine subscriptions and yes even air freshners! It's really quite fun. This past Tuesday (yep, Super Tuesday as mark put it in an earlier blog post) I was able to actually use my free coupon that I had received for a Febreze Noticeables Scented Oil Air Freshner. The crazy thing was $8.00 at Walmart and I gave her my coupon and BAM! it was FREE!!! How fun. It works great too by the way... Febreze is definitely onto something with this one. ha.
So, if you're interested feel free to check out www.freebies4mom.com
Hopefully you don't become as addicted to being thirfty as I have done... But do have some fun and get something for free!!!!
Back to my story... I have been signing up for different "freebies" as they are called. I've signed up for books, razors, sippy cups, magazine subscriptions and yes even air freshners! It's really quite fun. This past Tuesday (yep, Super Tuesday as mark put it in an earlier blog post) I was able to actually use my free coupon that I had received for a Febreze Noticeables Scented Oil Air Freshner. The crazy thing was $8.00 at Walmart and I gave her my coupon and BAM! it was FREE!!! How fun. It works great too by the way... Febreze is definitely onto something with this one. ha.
So, if you're interested feel free to check out www.freebies4mom.com
Hopefully you don't become as addicted to being thirfty as I have done... But do have some fun and get something for free!!!!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Super Tuesday
(added Information in parenthesis by Jenn)
If you can't tell from the title, it took me a couple of days to finally have the time and energy to sit down and write this. Super Tuesday nothing. Super rough Tuesday times 6! Daniel Powter wasn't the only one having a Bad Day. And McCain got the republican nod for Illinois and not Romney (who has since dropped out), but I won't go there. Regardless, I know you've all had days like this, but I thought you might find it interesting all things considering.
Woke up to a pretty typical day. I got a phone call at about 9:00 am Event #1. The truck wouldn't start in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Jenn calls from inside Wal-Mart because she forgot her cell phone, so communication immediately became an issue. I called Gallo-Miller who had just finished our truck last week, thinking that something that they did caused a short. Dave Miller met me up there in the parking lot. I ended up just fiddling with the battery posts and she started up. Dave offered for me to come back to the shop and he tightened up the neg post connection, which was loose, and we haven't had an issue since. (let's not forget that I had the carseat in the truck with me and Mady was right in the middle of her nap when I called Mark. He woke her up and stuck her old infant carseat in the car in order to take her with him. When they got to Walmart, she was scrunched in the carseat, graham cracker in hand, but happy as a clam!)
Got back to the house and found out that a friend of ours from church had passed away from a brain tumor. The Lord was merciful in that he took him home quick. Jenn and I were both very saddened by the news. Event #2.
We got the mail and found out that we still owed $100 for some major dental work that we had done back in November, and were just now getting the bill. Event #3. Not a big deal, I thought. I will call and they will write off the bill considering the fact that when I paid for all of the dental work in November, they assured me that I paid in full. No such luck. They underestimated the insurance payment. Argh. Ok.
I got a call right after this from Enterprise Rental car (we had a 2008 Dodge Magnum for 29 days while our truck was being fixed). I knew that we had an $800 max for rental car insurance, but the night that I picked up the car, Enterprise assured me repeatedly that if we hit our max, they would work with the body shop and our insurance to get an extension, no worries, they would call us if there were any questions. Evidently, they didn't follow through on their plan. Event #4. Country insurance only paid $800, which we knew, and that we are now evidently responsible for the balance of $191. No biggie I thought, I will call Country and explain to them the situation and they will give us an extension and write-off the balance. Not so much. Country told me that it was ultimately my responsibility. Yes, I know this, but I explained what Enterprise told me the night I picked up the car. Country Insurance told me that they had no right to say that to me. How was I supposed to know this? I've never had a rental car except for my trips to Ohio for work, and that was for business, and only for one day. I called Enterprise back, asked if they would write it off, citing bad customer service. They said that I knew about the max. I told them that they were supposed to call me if I met my max and I didn't have an extension. They said that they tried to call County on 4 different days, and didn't know that I didn't have an extension until AFTER I returned the car. I offered to settle with them for half. They agreed, and I dished out a second $100 for the day.
And then it started to rain. Oh my goodness it rained. And it got warm, and all the 5 inches of snow that we had also melted...and ran right into our basement...Event #5. By about 5 that afternoon, we had copious amounts of watering seeping into our finished basement. I got out the shop vac and we ended up taking out from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday night about 40 gallons of water out of our basement. It just simply wouldn't stop. We've been here 3 years and not had an episode like this. (For what it's worth, I went and bought a sump pump today and I'm going to install it after getting some good advice from our friends - our basmement's never had one before). I took some trim work off the walls so that the moisture would dry out behind all the wood work I put up after we bought the house. We are concerned with mold growing, which obviously would be hazardous with my CF. It's pretty dry now. We've had the fireplace running to dry it out and 2 fans and the dehumidifier running non stop. It's drying up, but our light gray carpet is getting discolored, and the musty smell is noticeable. At least the carpet doesn't have a pad, so I don't think the carpet is ruined. And it only soaked about 1/3 of the basement.
We went to bed exhausted after cleaning and vacuuming for hours on end (Jenn was a champ through it all!). We fell into bed and turned on our air purifier/noise maker to help drown out my snoring. And...it didn't turn on, the motor had burned up. Event #6. Jenn was much more upset than I was. She ended up sleeping on the couch. Evidently I really do snore, and she can't sleep, even with Daryl covering her ears. Daryl is her body pillow. I call him her body guard. Daryl comes between us during the night sometimes. I don't like Daryl. Down with Daryl. Woke up at 4 am to go down and clean the basement the next morning.
At least Wednesday was better. I took our air purifier to Electrolux where I bought it 6 years earlier and got a free replacement. (The funny thing was that the guy traded it out with thinking that we would go ahead and buy a new $75 filter for it. Nope. Mark traded it out and said no thank you to the offer for a filter and walked out the door. Little did that guy know - all we need it for is noise!)
The water has gone down, but it still needs shampooed, and I'm not convinced it's totally dry. I guess it could be worse...we could have a foot of water across our basement and it had ruined all of our stuff... I found out that we didn't have water back up damage insurance on our home owner's insurance. We do now...a $150,000 structure/personal property basement policy!
If you can't tell from the title, it took me a couple of days to finally have the time and energy to sit down and write this. Super Tuesday nothing. Super rough Tuesday times 6! Daniel Powter wasn't the only one having a Bad Day. And McCain got the republican nod for Illinois and not Romney (who has since dropped out), but I won't go there. Regardless, I know you've all had days like this, but I thought you might find it interesting all things considering.
Woke up to a pretty typical day. I got a phone call at about 9:00 am Event #1. The truck wouldn't start in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Jenn calls from inside Wal-Mart because she forgot her cell phone, so communication immediately became an issue. I called Gallo-Miller who had just finished our truck last week, thinking that something that they did caused a short. Dave Miller met me up there in the parking lot. I ended up just fiddling with the battery posts and she started up. Dave offered for me to come back to the shop and he tightened up the neg post connection, which was loose, and we haven't had an issue since. (let's not forget that I had the carseat in the truck with me and Mady was right in the middle of her nap when I called Mark. He woke her up and stuck her old infant carseat in the car in order to take her with him. When they got to Walmart, she was scrunched in the carseat, graham cracker in hand, but happy as a clam!)
Got back to the house and found out that a friend of ours from church had passed away from a brain tumor. The Lord was merciful in that he took him home quick. Jenn and I were both very saddened by the news. Event #2.
We got the mail and found out that we still owed $100 for some major dental work that we had done back in November, and were just now getting the bill. Event #3. Not a big deal, I thought. I will call and they will write off the bill considering the fact that when I paid for all of the dental work in November, they assured me that I paid in full. No such luck. They underestimated the insurance payment. Argh. Ok.
I got a call right after this from Enterprise Rental car (we had a 2008 Dodge Magnum for 29 days while our truck was being fixed). I knew that we had an $800 max for rental car insurance, but the night that I picked up the car, Enterprise assured me repeatedly that if we hit our max, they would work with the body shop and our insurance to get an extension, no worries, they would call us if there were any questions. Evidently, they didn't follow through on their plan. Event #4. Country insurance only paid $800, which we knew, and that we are now evidently responsible for the balance of $191. No biggie I thought, I will call Country and explain to them the situation and they will give us an extension and write-off the balance. Not so much. Country told me that it was ultimately my responsibility. Yes, I know this, but I explained what Enterprise told me the night I picked up the car. Country Insurance told me that they had no right to say that to me. How was I supposed to know this? I've never had a rental car except for my trips to Ohio for work, and that was for business, and only for one day. I called Enterprise back, asked if they would write it off, citing bad customer service. They said that I knew about the max. I told them that they were supposed to call me if I met my max and I didn't have an extension. They said that they tried to call County on 4 different days, and didn't know that I didn't have an extension until AFTER I returned the car. I offered to settle with them for half. They agreed, and I dished out a second $100 for the day.
And then it started to rain. Oh my goodness it rained. And it got warm, and all the 5 inches of snow that we had also melted...and ran right into our basement...Event #5. By about 5 that afternoon, we had copious amounts of watering seeping into our finished basement. I got out the shop vac and we ended up taking out from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday night about 40 gallons of water out of our basement. It just simply wouldn't stop. We've been here 3 years and not had an episode like this. (For what it's worth, I went and bought a sump pump today and I'm going to install it after getting some good advice from our friends - our basmement's never had one before). I took some trim work off the walls so that the moisture would dry out behind all the wood work I put up after we bought the house. We are concerned with mold growing, which obviously would be hazardous with my CF. It's pretty dry now. We've had the fireplace running to dry it out and 2 fans and the dehumidifier running non stop. It's drying up, but our light gray carpet is getting discolored, and the musty smell is noticeable. At least the carpet doesn't have a pad, so I don't think the carpet is ruined. And it only soaked about 1/3 of the basement.
We went to bed exhausted after cleaning and vacuuming for hours on end (Jenn was a champ through it all!). We fell into bed and turned on our air purifier/noise maker to help drown out my snoring. And...it didn't turn on, the motor had burned up. Event #6. Jenn was much more upset than I was. She ended up sleeping on the couch. Evidently I really do snore, and she can't sleep, even with Daryl covering her ears. Daryl is her body pillow. I call him her body guard. Daryl comes between us during the night sometimes. I don't like Daryl. Down with Daryl. Woke up at 4 am to go down and clean the basement the next morning.
At least Wednesday was better. I took our air purifier to Electrolux where I bought it 6 years earlier and got a free replacement. (The funny thing was that the guy traded it out with thinking that we would go ahead and buy a new $75 filter for it. Nope. Mark traded it out and said no thank you to the offer for a filter and walked out the door. Little did that guy know - all we need it for is noise!)
The water has gone down, but it still needs shampooed, and I'm not convinced it's totally dry. I guess it could be worse...we could have a foot of water across our basement and it had ruined all of our stuff... I found out that we didn't have water back up damage insurance on our home owner's insurance. We do now...a $150,000 structure/personal property basement policy!
Friday, February 1, 2008
It's a sad day when the biggest excitement is...
from a SIPPY CUP!
As many of you know, we've been working with Madalyn for a while now on drinking her milk out of a cup. She'll guzzle her water out of a cup but when I substituted the water with milk, she would spit it out. She only would drink her milk if it was in a bottle. I have been wanting to get rid of the bottles ever since she turned a year old but so far it wasn't happening and so I was learning to deal.
Wednesday I went to get her milk for her after her nap and something told me to put it in a cup. I had to run in the other room so I set her milk, in the cup, in the middle of the floor. Next thing I knew she was walking around drinking it! I was so excited that I was dancing around and having her give me "fives" so that maybe she realize it was a big thing. I was so excited! She drank a bit out of it with dinner but wouldn't touch it before she went to bed.
Yesterday she wouldn't use the cup at all with milk. We were right back to where we were before!
This morning I woke up to Mady screaming in the living room. Apparently Dad had tried to give her her milk in a cup and she was totally not having anything to do with it. Then at lunch I decided to try a different cup.... What was I thinking all along....? I put her milk in a little cheap plastic random cup and she started guzzling it! She drank her milk during all meals today except breakfast! soooo exciting! The true test will be if she takes it in the morning! I'm so ready to pack up the bottles - they are actually already in a plastic bag just waiting to be put in storage. Hopefully we have a good thing going here...
As many of you know, we've been working with Madalyn for a while now on drinking her milk out of a cup. She'll guzzle her water out of a cup but when I substituted the water with milk, she would spit it out. She only would drink her milk if it was in a bottle. I have been wanting to get rid of the bottles ever since she turned a year old but so far it wasn't happening and so I was learning to deal.
Wednesday I went to get her milk for her after her nap and something told me to put it in a cup. I had to run in the other room so I set her milk, in the cup, in the middle of the floor. Next thing I knew she was walking around drinking it! I was so excited that I was dancing around and having her give me "fives" so that maybe she realize it was a big thing. I was so excited! She drank a bit out of it with dinner but wouldn't touch it before she went to bed.
Yesterday she wouldn't use the cup at all with milk. We were right back to where we were before!
This morning I woke up to Mady screaming in the living room. Apparently Dad had tried to give her her milk in a cup and she was totally not having anything to do with it. Then at lunch I decided to try a different cup.... What was I thinking all along....? I put her milk in a little cheap plastic random cup and she started guzzling it! She drank her milk during all meals today except breakfast! soooo exciting! The true test will be if she takes it in the morning! I'm so ready to pack up the bottles - they are actually already in a plastic bag just waiting to be put in storage. Hopefully we have a good thing going here...
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