Intolerance

I absolutely have come to detest intolerance.  Not the racial or gender kind which ARE bad, the food kind.

My son is allergic to nuts, which means no nuts in our house anywhere, no nuts in our desserts at dinner, no nuts in snacks or meals... no nuts at the baseball game.

My daughter, in addition to being a type 1 diabetic is now lactose intolerant.  Do you know how many things have milk in them? Almost everything!  They use milk solids to fill out foods, they use whey to stick things together, they put cheese on everything!  Trying to find kid snacks with no milk in them is nearly impossible.  No cheese, butter, milk, ice cream, chocolate.  Nothing good at all. 

Thankfully we don't have a gluten problem, although that is becoming more popular and so there are more gluten free products out there. 

Some people say it's because we aren't supposed to drink the "breast milk" meant for baby cows.  But what are we supposed to do? Have dairy's full of women who are milked daily?  People have been drinking the milk of animals for thousands of years.  God talks about it in Deuteronomy, so we know that they drank goats milk.  People in other parts of the world drink milk from yak, water buffalo, sheep, goats, horses, reindeer and camels.  Why do we suddenly have a surgence of allergies and intolerance? 

I don't know - hormones, chemicals, pesticides or just change - whatever it is, it's a pain in my butt!

cars

I was walking in the parking lot today, glancing at the cars as I went by.  I realized that our cars have become an extension of ourselves.  More than just a machine that takes us from one place to another, we use our cars to advertise information about ourselves.  You can tell a lot about someone by their bumper.

Political stickers - I think you should NEVER advertise your political views on the bumper.  First, what happens when they lose and you're stuck with Perot 2004 on your car forever?  And with the political climate being what it is nowdays, you really could end up in some kind of road rage over your Obama sticker.  Just not a good idea, but lots of people do it.

Family stickers - I admit, I have these.  The little stick figures that represent each member of our family.  However, if you have to put two rows or even cover the entire back window just skip it.  And fine, your dog and two cats are part of the family, but the fish, bird, lizard, turtle - whatever?  COME ON!!

Licence plates - my plates are JDRF in support of my daughter.  So are my husband's.  Colorado has quite a few charity plates, each showing what you believe in.  They even have Rockies plates this year - man was I torn!

Sports stickers - I continually replace the Colorado Rockies sticker on my back window because it gets hard and chips off.  Whether it's college, high school or pro, you can find a sticker. 

Animals - I had a SeaWorld Manatee bumper sticker on my car for awhile, but people have all sorts of things.  From Dogs to Save the Whales we try to convince people to believe our way by reading 6" on our bumper in traffic.  Do these really work?

Stupid stuff - I have not put one of those cutesy bumper stickers on my car since high school.  Stuff like "back off or I'll flick a booger on your windshield"  "husband in trunk"  "my other car is a pumpkin carriage". 

So, before you stick that sticker on your car, consider - what does this say about me?  Because one day someone might notice.

Moving

Recently we moved. 

We weren't planning on moving, but things worked out and fell into place.  One day we're looking at towns online and 2 weeks later we're putting in an offer on a house that costs twice what our current one did. 

Don't get me wrong, I love our new house.  I love my new neighborhood, I love the schools my kids go to and I even love the new church.  I have a fabulous deck out back where I can sit (when its more than 30 degrees) and read and look at the mountains.  I have a jacuzzi tub where I can relax at the end of the day. 

I'm doing well at keeping it clean, even though it's twice as big too.  I've kept up on the laundry and dishes, I've mopped the floor and swept weekly.  Every Saturday we switch sheets and we clean bathrooms. 

But there are things I miss too.  My sister for one.  I barely see her anymore.  And my neighbor Kristin.  She's having a baby, I've been there for all of them, I'll miss this one.  My grocery store.

Now, you say - "a grocery store?  They're all the same!"  But not really.  Sure, some things are the same, but you get to learn where everything is, and you can run in, grab something and run out.  The pharmacy people get to know us (we're there a lot) and you know which gas pump is the best one.

Then there's the new place - finding a place for everything, remembering the place you put it in, deciding if that's the permanent place, or finding a new place and going through it all over.  I've got the kitchen set, and my laundry room is very close.  We have no furniture in the living room, but the food tables are always nice.  The toy room is still a DISASTER of epic proportions. 

Bottom line - moving sucks.  It's stressful on your family, your body, your life, your marriage, your relationships - everything!  But once you're on the other side, hopefully you find that it was worth it all.