Our PVC Anniversary

Monday was our 7th Anniversary. Last summer we bought a card for Garrett's parents that listed the "Standard Schedule of Anniversary Gifts," but fun ones like caulk, spandex, soup, and Velcro. The 7th is scheduled for PVC! We were jazzed.

Garrett didn't have to work, so he decided to visit me at work. He had Josh bring in the arrangement above all wrapped up for the cold. He was shortly behind.

So, yes, it is arranged in PVC. Garrett crafted the vase all by himself! Spray painted and everything! Can you imagine the look on the florists face when Garrett asked her to arrange in PVC?? He told her I was a former florist..no pressure! :)

Garrett gets and "A" for Creativity and Good Taste. Hopefully, I get and "A" when my surprise occurs later in the month (any time between tonight and Jan 31st - but I'm not telling).

FDA

I have never appreciate the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requiring all ingredients to be listed on food products more than when we discovered this week that Ryan may have several food allergies.

We scheduled his appointment in December after yet another round with runny nose, sinus issues, and a cough. The Allergist books 4-6 weeks out, so Tuesday was the earliest available.

Ryan was a trooper. They did the "scratch test" on his back for food allergies (because I thought they would be the easiest to solve once we knew what the allergies were). It wasn't painful for him. They just barely poke him with possible allergyns. And then you wait.

The results came back positive for corn, cow's milk, chocolate, and beef.

That's when the allergist said that there isn't always a direct connection between a food allergy and his symptoms and there are sometimes false positives. "Great!" I thought. But off we went with instructions to eliminate those items from his diet for a week to see if he gets any better.

Of course, he forgot to mention that corn is in EVERYTHING. And if corn isn't, milk is! Don't believe me? Go to your cupboard and find a mulit-ingredient item that doesn't have corn, corn syrup, cornmeal, gluclose, dextrose, or milk. I dare you! Let me know what you find!

A Week Without Kids

It's Saturday night and it's hard to believe the week without kids is almost over. I've managed to work A LOT of hours this week (too many of them trying to fix IT issues), get Christmas decs down, clean not as much of the house as I would have hoped, and watched lots of episodes of Numbers.

It will be nice to have the little ones back around next week and to get into the routine again. But I have enjoyed the time with my husband - and with myself!