August, it's August!

Already! This summer has passed by so quickly. And let's be real, August is still summer, but when school starts in the first half of it, summer starts to feel like a memory instead of still happening. Early bedtimes, homework, organized sports, new supplies, making lunches, school clothes, drop off, bus pick up....and 1st Grade here we come! Asher starts in TEN days. How can the summer feel sooooo short yet sooooo long all at the same time? Ash is ready. He is bored. It hasn't helped by having so much rain and cooler weather (we are in the mid to low 80s here) has made for not as much "fun in the sun" as we are used to. I refuse to complain about the weather, I'm just stating the facts! I am ready too, mostly. I have LOVED sleeping in. This has been the first summer since we have had kids that they have slept past 8, and most mornings almost 9! I am NOT a morning person, and there's nothing much better than having a lazy morning with nowhere to go. Speaking of nowhere to go. I have needed to go to the YMCA, I have just fell out of routine with this summer schedule, as I was afraid would happen. I did good the first several weeks, but then our trip to see John's parents, then the Yoga instructor being gone for over a week, then appointments and little stuff and then going to Myrtle Beach. It all adds up to complete sabotage on a workout schedule! lol. I was going to start back this coming Monday, but yet again there's a vet appointment for the kitties and also picking up Cooper (another story). This is also Asher's last full week of summer break, and I want to take he and Allie someplace fun, like Coney Island (near Cincinnati). So my ultimate goal is to start back on the first day of school, which is Wednesday, August 12, if not sooner. Oh yeah, and it is my 32nd birthday next Thursday the 6th. Woohoo. (Complete Sarcasm). When did birthdays become NOT such a big deal to me???? All I want is a Bluetooth Earpiece thingie so that I can talk on the phone here at home/in the car without krinking my neck/speakerphone. Now to explain Cooper. He has had chronic belly issues since we adopted him over 4 years ago. It used to just be gorging himself then throwing up, but in the last year and a half he has had ongoing diarrhea which is what resulted in him becoming an outside farm cat. It has continued on and even gotten worse, so we finally decided to take him to the Vet and get another opinion on what in the world is going on with him. The Vet ran some simple tests to check for obvious things, like Feline Leukemia and AIDS, and parasites. All negative. He feels like it is Colitis (inflammatory bowel disease) and is trying a few different treatments. Cooper has been there since this past Wednesday, and the Vet said we can bring him home probably tomorrow when I go to get the kitties their 3rd round of shots. We aren't sure we can even fix what is wrong, but it is reassuring to know what it's NOT if that makes sense. We just don't want him to be in chronic pain! Another farm story I keep forgetting to get down here; at least I'm pretty sure I haven't blogged about this yet. John has developed a severe bee venom allergy! We noticed that when he got stung this past Spring he had a big allergic reaction that lasted a few days, just around the sting. When I took Ash to have his allergy testing done, I mentioned to the ENT about John and so John had a vial of blood drawn and specifically tested for bee/wasp venom and it came back high and extremely high for most types! EEK! So the ENT ordered special allergy drops for John that he is to only take while at work in case of reaction to them (so far so good). We hope to de-sensitize him to the bee venom. Meanwhile, he has to keep an Epi Pen with him and isn't supposed to work the bees alone. Also, we need to buy him a full bee suit instead of him doubling up shirts and wearing his veil/gloves. They have stung him right through his two layers of shirts. He even has considered giving up beekeeping entirely, and inquired with some fellow beekeepers about buying his equipment. They are a lot to take care of, especially with little to no reward. I think the hives need to come back to our farm, it obviously takes more time and energy to take care of hives on neighboring farms. Plus he has to weedeat and maintain the area for the farmers. He has kind of put it on the back burner these last couple of months, but this past week he has said he wants to go ahead and get the full bee suit, whether to continue working the bees or move them home, he needs to have it. On Tuesday we received on of our bee magazines, and interestingly enough there was an article in it about beekeepers who have developed bee venom allergy, and this study that was done, etc, etc. It was textbook John! It's conclusion was, with successful de-sensitization, beekeepers can continue to work the bees. However, de-sensitization may take months/years. OK, it is Allie-Gator's naptime (John's nickname for her!). Not sure what we will do today, we need to mow if the ground is not too saturated - it rained again a bit last night! John also needs to hay the fields, but it is way too wet and more chances of rain this coming week. Ah well. Oh! Here are this month's One Little Word/Quote/Scripture: August = DO ~create or design ~carry on; function ~cause to happen ~get done ~perform an action Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ~James 1:22 Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. ~Chinese Proverb