Drug testing

A few years ago I decided to start randomly drug testing my teenager. Not because I didn't trust him but because someone brought it to my attention that random drug testing your child is a great way to give them an easy out when peer pressure comes about. It's sorta scary to ask for your child's pee. I get butterflies in my tummy and I fear the "what if." It's also hard sometimes to go to the store and spend the money on a drug test when you have no indication that your child is doing anything wrong. My reasoning in spending the money is 1.) it's cheaper than re-hab. 2.) I love him enough to give him an easy "no" to drugs and 3.) His life is worth more to me than money can buy. So with that I faithfully go to the drug store and buy a drug test. When I say it's random that's no joke. The first two seemed to be back to back and this weekends drug test it has been almost a year. I never meant to go that long but like I said when your child doesn't give you a reason to think he does drugs sometimes it skips my mind.
So I get very nervous right before I give him the pee cup, and the second he sees the cup he just says "Oh OK" and takes the cup to the bathroom with no problem. That sets my mind at easy. But this weekend he goes into the kitchen to drink some water and after the 3rd cup says. I just don't feel like peeing. "Oh my" I think. So we give him some time. A couple of hours later he goes up to pee. Those couple of hours feel like an eternity. But I am so glad to report another clean drug test. I always tell him Thank you for not doing drugs after a test, most of the time he just shrugs or says I told you I don't do that, but this time he looked at me and said Yeah it's hard. It broke my heart that the reality of peer pressure exists for him. But I am so proud of him for saying no and for never having a bad drug test.
Pre-Teen has been warned that her drug testing will start here shortly.

PS the reason I decided to blog the drug testing of my children is because several people have mentioned they had no idea drug tests were so available. You get them in the pharm. section of the store. I have bought all of mine at Wal-Mart (bottom shelf by the nicorette gum) And Walgreen's has Breathalyzers too. Bri has told me one of his friends gets tobacco tested by her parents although I have never heard of or seen one of those.

Entomology lesson

OK Utah you need a lesson on BUGS!!! Every since we have moved here the above bug has been refered to as the potato bug. I have seen a real potato bug in my own back yard in California and the above bug is NOT a potato bug. This is a pill bug or as the kids in CA. like to call them rollie pollies because of there cute little way they curl into a ball when you pick them up. They provide hours of intertainment for the young. They live in your grass not your potato garden. Now here is a picture of a real potato bug "warning not a very cute bug!!"

This my dear sweet Utahns is a potato bug. Not fun, not cute, and not something you want to see your kids playing with. I don't know if they are dangerous or not and they are big (as compaired to most bugs) and scary when you come acrossed one. :)

for a chance to win

Hey check out my friends blog for a chance to win a gift card to Jiffy Lube
http://www.familyfishbowl2.blogspot.com/

1.8 is my number

OYE OYE OYE!!!!! I posted a couple of weeks ago my unhappiness about my weight ups and downs. I told you all I was watching very closely to what I am doing so that I can figure out what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong. Well I was only confusing myself. I have come to one conclusion however. I think what I do this week wont reflect on my Wednesday weigh in next week it will be the week after. I think! And here is how my weigh in have been going.......
up 1.8
down 1.8
up 1.8
down 1.8
and so forth. I guess that means I am maintaining my weight but that's not what my goal is. I think this week I am gonna take a close look at my water intake and my exercise. SIGH!!! Wish me luck!!

Anniversary Trip

Today is our 13 wedding anniversary. To celebrate we went to Arches National Park. We left Friday evening for Moab stayed in the KOA and woke up early on Saturday morning to spend all day in Arches and come home on Sunday morning. Because we only had one day in Arches I felt like we were racing against the clock to see all that we wanted to. Our first big hike was to Landscape Arch. We also did several of the small trails that branched off of the main trail. Jeremy calculated that it was about 6 miles of hiking. It took us 3 hours with our stops and picture opportunities. When we got back to the truck we were both pretty sore. Our feet were killing us. I knew I probably had a blister or two because I get blisters pretty easily. After lunch we went on over to Delicate Arch. Looking at the map that one was a 3 mile round trip hike. I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal. So we started hiking and as we were climbing up the hill I started to notice a stabbing pain in my hip. I really did not want to turn around and miss this view so I pressed on. The pain was horrid and Jeremy stop me to ask if I just wanted to go back to the truck. We decided to go on. When we had gone so far that we were thinking it's got to be any minute now I noticed the pain all of a sudden wasn't so stabbing anymore. It still hurt but I was able to bend at the hip and bare it. I picked up my pace to get there before the pain came back. When we got there I was so relieved to see there was a great place to sit and rest. We sat there for a bit. When I stood up to leave there was no pain at all. I don't know what I did wrong to cause the pain or what I did right to make it go away, other than pray :). So the walk back down the hill was at a much faster pace and with much more easy. On the way down there was an Indian family (the India kind) hiking down with us. The man was caring his daughter who was too little to walk, I would guess somewhere between 7-8 months old, and he didn't have his shoes tied. He fell and was sliding down the hill head first unable to stop himself because he was holding the baby to protect her. Jer stood in front of him so that he would stop him from going any further and the other man with the group grabbed him to stop them. The baby was crying but not hurt and the man had road rash on his elbows. He tied his shoes to finish up the hike. I couldn't believe some people's choice of foot wear for hiking. I saw a few wearing flip flops, most in tennis shoes. Some in shoes that I don't know how to classify them other than work shoes or old people shoes. I have very sensitive feet so I can't imagine wearing anything but the proper foot wear. I did end up with very nice blisters and bruises on the bottoms of my feet. I am still having a hard time walking on the balls of my feet where the bruises and blisters are. All in all this was a fantastic weekend. there are still some more things I would love to do down in Moab. I wold love to do Canyon Lands by night and the Firey Furnace hike. So maybe next time.

complaining again

So I have decided to keep a very close eye on my weight. So close in fact I weigh myself every day to see if my different choices of food and exercise makes a difference in my weight. Well i have just made myself aware that nothing is making any since at all. I start off the week losing weight and every Monday I not only gain but I gain all or more back. I have been extra good over this last weekend to make sure this doesn't happen this week and it did AND it's a gain more week. I can't seem to lose any weight between Monday and Wednesday. Wednesday's I weigh in. I have been charting this weight loss/gain and I feel so confused. If you have any advice other than starving myself send it my way. If not I fear I may resort to starving!

Neti Pot

Our allergies are horrid right now. The news said this morning to expect it to be a very bad allergy year. Both kids are miserable right now and I know for me, meds. just take the edge off of the misery, I still have a yucky nose and itch eyes, throat and ears it's just not as bad as if I am not on the meds. Last night in the middle of my sleep I woke up sneezing like crazy. I had to rip of my mask in a hurry, because I don't like to sneeze in it, and frantically search for tissue. So I decided to give this Neti Pot thing a try. I figured it can't hurt much to run saline through my nasal cavity. Well I just did the Neti Pot for the first time and I can't decided what to think. I was under the impression that very gross nasty stuff would come out the first time I used it and nothing did. It was just clear water, or saline. And now I think I have more pressure in my ears then I did before I did the treatment. I plan to give this a try for a month or so to see if I improve. I am hoping to be able to talk the kids into this also. I sorta see them freaking out on me. I will let you all know what my opinion of this is as time goes on.