awards galore ...

Last week, I was tapped with the Versatile Blogger Award by Molly. And Courtney. And Marlene. And Mrs. D. And Tall Mom. And Stacie. And Katye. Apparently, I'm pretty popular. But, you knew that already didn't you?

Anyway, to accept this award, I must divulge seven facts about myself. So, here it goes ...

1. I just got the save the date for my 10 year high school reunion this week. It's November 27th and I am really psyched about it. I'm 99.9999999% sure that not a single person I grew up with would have ever expected me to turn out the way I did. I'd like to go back and show them they had me pegged wrong. I also really want to see who I was wrong (or right) about.

2. Speaking of school, I had horrible attendance. I was home schooled twice, once in 7th grade and once in 9th, due to a broken pelvis and mono, respectively. Each time, I missed three months of school. Things didn't get much better when I returned. I was a classic overachiever and didn't really need to sit in class to learn the material, so I didn't want to sit in class and be bored. Because of that, I missed 72 days (almost all excused) of my senior year. I still got straight A's. And my parents were cool with the whole situation.

3. In high school, weight training was a large part of my daily routine as a shot putter. At one point, I could bench press 200 pounds. I was strong. And big. I could probably have lifted more than most of the guys at my school, which probably contributed to the way I was perceived back then.

4. Another thing that probably messed with people's perception of me was that I HATE being late. For anything. In high school, I was never late to a single class. I darted through the halls like a woman on a mission. I was so focused that I was often told I looked mean. (I'm so not.) Now, I generally arrive 10-15 early for everything. I always give myself a cushion. If I don't get somewhere early, something MAJOR has probably happened.

5. Now that I think about it, my appearance also contributed to the way I was perceived. I NEVER cared about how I looked. I wore soccer shorts, a tee shirt and sandals pretty much everyday. I was a mess. But I just wasn't concerned about putting effort into my style. I thought as I matured that this aspect of my personality had changed, but I was wrong. I recently realized that my soccer shorts and tee shirts have been replaced with running skirts or shorts and race tees. I guess you can't really escape who you are.

6. I am highly allergic to poison ivy. I don't even need to touch it. I just need to be in the general area to break out in a rash. One time in the fifth grade, I had such a bad reaction that my eyes were swollen shut and my fingers were covered and swollen so badly that I couldn't really touch anything. I ended up needing a cortisone shot to reduce the inflammation. It was horrible.

7. In the last month, I have stopped eating fried foods. I thought it would be really hard to do, but I am finding it much easier than expected. But I know that at some point, I am really going to want french fries and my will power will be tested ...

OK, so I am supposed to tag 15 more people, but I really don't have time for it right now. So, if you have the word RUN in your blog title, consider yourself tagged ...

fluke ...

Remember that deathly oatmeal vomit I spoke of? Well, I am beginning to believe it was a total fluke. I pressed my luck and fed Dilly oatmeal on Saturday and today and what happened?

NOTHING.

No puke. No rash. Nothing. Don't get me wrong, I'm psyched that my kid can eat oats. But really, what the heck was going on with all that projectile vomiting?

wild oats ...

Let me just start by saying that up until this point none of my kids have had any food allergies. Well, unless you count that Dizzle swears up and down that she can't eat anything green, thus eliminating 90% of the world's vegetables. But, seriously, we have been fortunate enough to not have to worry about what the girls have been eating.

Until now. You see, back on vacation, Dilly had what I thought was a bout of food poisoning. A case of tainted formula. She threw up pretty much non-stop for 20 minutes. In an aquarium. A "Eco-friendly" aquarium, without paper towels on site. Let's just say it was rough. I assumed that she was sick from the formula which had been stored in our fridge when the power had gone out. It made total sense and seeing that she didn't get sick again, it was obvious I was right.

But then came yesterday. A seemingly normal day. Until nap time, when I found Dilly laying in a puddle of vomit. Laughing. It was an odd picture. She clearly wasn't ill, but at some point in the two hours she was in her crib, she had thrown up. At first I didn't think much of it. But then I connected the dots. I asked myself, "What was the same about today and the last time she spewed bodily fluids everywhere?" The answer: OATMEAL.

The morning she got sick on vacation she ate it and guess what was on the menu for breakfast yesterday (for the first time since vacation, might I add) ... It got me thinking that maybe something else is going on here. Could Dilly be allergic to oat?

So, I called the doctor and the nurse thought I might be right and suggested that I not feed it to her again (for at least a year) and that I mention it to the doctor at Dilly's next checkup. Easy peasy, right? Wrong! Because the more I thought about it (and the possibility of life without oats) the more uneasy I got. I needed to know. NOW! So, I decided to feed her oatmeal again, and risk getting vomit all over the place. And I did. At lunch today. A full three hours ago. And we're still good. Hopefully, it will stay that way. Because vomit is SO.NOT.FUN.