Oh no! I was just going to post that my father, years ago, knew someone with that name. Hmmm. Two people with the same unfortunate name or a small world!

Wallabies! You win. That is a strange one. How on earth did you come to have her tested for wallabies? DS once reacted to [random nuts in the air?] in a store at Hershey Park. That was another weird, mystery reaction. Hmmmm, your twitching story makes me wonder, too. DS has those moments - I wonder if I miss one of his off the wall, not ana allergens here and there.

That's a good idea! We have a few local yahoo groups - I bet if I post it, someone would come take it away. It is definitely too good to toss, but I am not going to mess with selling it. And taking it to GoodWill feels strange. Thanks!

Yes, how about a dog walking service? We didn't opt for a full time house sitter, but we have a local company that comes to do dog care while we are gone. They walk the dogs, do all the basic house care things, and spend some time just hanging out and playing with the pups. It's much less stressful for the dogs. Unless he has separation anxiety, in which case a house sitter might be better, so he's not left alone all night.

And you can't give it away, what do you do with old curriculum? Our unschooly friends don't want this stuff, selling is too much hassle. What do I do with old stuff? I have things like Right Start B taking up a lot of space, and a ton more. If I donate it, can we get a tax write off?

Anyone want to share bizarre allergy stories? Mystery reactions? I need to feel a little less freakish, re: allergies. Hearing some stories would make me feel like we're not alone. DS is ana to a lot of foods. Big list. He's had airborne reactions, too. The latest: we were in Wegman's and he had a reaction. Had to leave the store, take Benadryl and use the emergency inhaler. We were very close to using the epipen. The cause? I don't know! He shocked his finger on the shopping cart and put his finger in his mouth - twice. They give out samples sometimes. Maybe it was contaminated? Or it could be that we were standing near the hot food bars, ordering catering. He's reacted to cooking lentils before, maybe they had lentils cooking? I'm scared to take him grocery shopping now. :( This is not our first mystery reaction. Blech. Does this happen to anyone else?

How did I forget convicted? That's one I mostly see here, though. Another one: irregardless. It's regardless, people. Irregardless makes no sense. My MIL says this and it makes me cringe inside each time.

It is so very difficult, isn't it? We are purging for a move and a radical lifestyle change, also. One thing that helps me is keeping our goal at the forefront if my thoughts. Most difficult for me has been a house full of wonderful vintage items collected by my best friend and mentor. These were given to me when she passed, by her mom. I am releasing some of them now, and find that I keep telling myself, "she is not in this [insert item]." Her spirit and her memory are in my heart, not in these things. I am keeping only those things I know she'd want me to have, or that her son might someday like. Everything else I am giving to others. The fifties pottery went to a college student starting a collection, that sort of thing. It helps a bit.

Preggers and anywho make me shudder, too. Girls - when referring to body parts. I'm fine with almost any other name, but calling breasts "girls" makes me cringe. They are not separate from us. Gifted or gifting. I am well aware of the origins of the use of the word, but its recent comeback is disappointing. I am completely comfortable with "given" and "giving." Busted. And last but not least - squat. I have no idea but the sound of the word squat is just bizarre to me. Wow, I have a lot of word peeves. :huh:

I did Lupron, too. For me, it was necessary emotionally, as I needed to feel that I'd tried everything before opting for hysterectomy - I was young, with no bio kids. Knowing what I know now, I'd never recommend Lupron. :( I had 2 surgeries prior to trying Lupron - those were laser. Then Lupron. Chemical menopoause is not fun. Like a PP, I did it my first year of marriage, too. Poor DH. The Lupron gave me one week of pain relief per month, but that was it. Not enough. It also gave me double vision, nausea and vomiting. One of my most vivid memories is out in the field (I was in archaeology), vomiting behind my tent daily, hiking and finding a bush/rock when necessary. Lovely, eh? Ick! I stuck it out, hoping for results. Within a month of going off of Lupron, I had the heaviest period ever, and pain that almost sent me to the ER. Same thing repeated the next month. Then it just spiralled downhill. Within months I had another 2 surgeries. Then I opted for a hysterectomy 5 months after going off Lupron. I was 28. It was bad, I won't go into all the details. You can pm me, if you want more info. Years ago, there was a Dateline type special on Lupron. Not sure if you can find it, but it might be worth watching. The women interviewed had long-term negative effects. Personally, my health has not been excellent since prior to Lupron. With a lot of work, it is good, but not the kind of excellent health that I had prior to all this. I don't know if it was the Lupron itself, or if the Lupron threw my body's balance off so that it could no longer cope with underlying issues, or if these things would have happened anyway. Maybe it was a result of multiple surgeries and stressors? Plus Lupron? I don't know. If I were going through this again, I would hunt out the very best specialist in endo possible. 12 years ago it would have been a doctor in Bend, OR, or one in Atlanta, GA. Not sure who it would be now. I would find the very best one who does microscopic excision. Not laser surgery. And I would fly to that doc and do exactly what s/he says. If that failed, and I was finished having bio kids, I'd opt for hysterectomy. Actually, I opted for hysterectomy, and just planned on adoption. No regrets there, but not all people feel the same about that issue. Good luck. It's hard, and I hope you find the right answers for you. PM if you want to chat about it.

:grouphug: So glad to hear he called and left that message. Thinking of you!

Too funny! We did this, too! We sang Goodby Paci to the tune of Hello Dolly. It was so much fun! Sorry for the tangent.

We struggle with this, too. Sometimes it feels like a bubble is the only way to go, but that's clearly not an option. The right combo of meds will help, plus reducing his overall allergy load by cleaning up his space at home as much as possible. You're working on his space at home, and working on the meds. Public places are no less full of allergens (dust, pollen) than home or any other space. Libraries tend to not only have their own allergens (dust, pollen tracked in on shoes) but also all the potential allergens from other people's homes - books go home, stay in houses with a different set of allergens (dander, smoke, etc) and come back to the library. Same thing for the Y - dust, tracked in pollen, allergens coming in on various people's clothing. ETA: We never know how the air filtration systems are kept up in public places, either!

Hoping all is well. Hard to imagine the grief she must feel if this will be her third loss. :( She is so young, to experience so much loss.

I have had the same thoughts since reading this thread, and haven't been able to formulate a response that didn't sound snarky. Cat said it better than I could. I hope that none of my friends ever put our friendship in quotes. :( OP, maybe it's a matter of family culture, and your family does not generally celebrate adult birthdays? Or you feel that your friendship isn't significant enough to celebrate birthdays? Gifts are always optional, so don't let that stop you. Whatever the reason, I hope you'll let your "friend" know that you won't be attending so that she can invite another friend to celebrate her milestone birthday.

Are they outdoorsy? Your list of ideas sparked a memory for me. Many years ago, I spent 10 days canoeing the Everglades. It was amazing. You might look into something like that if they are into that sort of thing. We did it in Feb, and the weather was perfect. ETA: You do have to really like the person you'll be canoeing with for this amount of time, though! Might be too much for an aunt and nephew. Maybe there are shorter trips than the 80+ mile route we took. :)

Vermont Nut Free - they will pack it with a cool pack to be sure it gets there unmelted. Their truffles are insanely good. Their dark chocolate... mmm... Everything is insanely good. Unless, of course, you're looking for nuts. :)

My guy is 9, and I could have participated in this thread a few years ago, when it was started (but didn't). A few things that helped us... Joanne's words. Yep, remember reading them, way back when. We started using a scale of 1 - 10 as reference, and discussing what would be appropriate. :) We worked through this book: http://www.amazon.com/What-When-Your-Temper-Flares/dp/1433801345 during school time, and implemented the strategies that made sense for DS. Aside from that, there were physical issues here, and getting those under control helped tremendously. DS has asthma, which we did not realize was poorly controlled (his presents atypically, there is no wheezing), and getting that under excellent control made a huge difference. Not getting enough oxygen makes him anxious, irritable, and angry. Is it any wonder? He started with a new allergist, and that made a gigantic difference in his asthma/allergies - which bled over into his behavior. He is dealing with a LOT of allergies. We were diligent about the ones that cause anaphylaxis, but tended to ignore the ones that were not life and death, since he has soooo many, and limiting more foods just seemed like too much. We are now gluten free and dairy free, in addition to avoiding his anaphylactic foods. Huge difference. No more eczema, less asthma, and overall better behavior. The words better behavior are a real understatement - before this, he was a great, great kid until one of these fits. Then he was like a different person, for that time period. Fortunately, now he's just our great kid all the time. Oh! And not to overlook this - his previous allergist had him on Singulair, an allergy med known to cause behavioral issues (big, bad, scary ones). Getting him off of that probably played a huge role in his turnaround, too. Hoping everyone dealing with this finds answers soon!

Yep. Sounds like asthma. Cough variant induced by allergies. I never would have guessed that DS has asthma. He doesn't wheeze. But the cough. :( Now we know. You might mention it to the doc. We do a daily inhaler and Nasonex, have reduced his allergen exposure (knowing what to reduce was key) - and what a difference! Hope you find answers soon.

Right there with you. I have been steadily going at it this year, and seeing real progress. This weekend I am hitting the garage, aka the deep dark secret.

Thinking of you.

Thanks for the recipe ideas! We can do some seeds, so it might work! Yum.

We have a lot of food restrictions, and I can't remember if your kiddo is also gluten free? Ian's makes a good French bread pizza (frozen) that is GF/DF. It is DS's favorite treat now that he's allergic to dairy and missing pizza.

Will you share how to make the larabars? Is it possible to make them nut free? Thanks!

Our grab and go stuff is fairly simple. We have more food restrictions than you, but some might work: hard boiled eggs; cheese sticks (we don't do these any longer due to new dairy allergies); raw fruits and veggies (again, not something we do so much now due to OAS); leftovers from dinner; sunbutter on rice cakes or gluten free bread (or any sandwich filling, for that matter); egg sandwiches on GF bread; soups in a thermos; chili in thermos with chips on the side; sunbutter and apples; yogurt; smoothies in thermos. Oops, just realized I listed some sandwiches.