New Home For Triage From Home!

Don't forget:
I'm transitioning my blog over to my own domain, so please come and visit there. For the time being, I will continue to update both blogs so I don't lose anyone, but please update your following status and bookmarks to my new page:

www.triagefromhome.com

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Win Your Choice From Juicybags - and lots more!!



I'm participating in a HUGE giveaway contest on one of my favourite blogs. Please check it out at His Boys Can Swim. If you're pregnant or a parent, you could win one of 31 prizes, worth close to $1600 in total, including your choice of anything from MY SHOP! There are going to be 31 winners, so it's really exciting and you'll have a lot of fun doing your entries. Their blog explains all about how to enter. See you there:-)

Good luck!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Couch Surfing?


I mentioned a few posts ago that my daughter and her friend packed up and took off on an adventure to Alberta a couple of weeks ago. Against my (better, I think) judgment, off they went in her friend's car, with barely a dime between them, no job prospects, a shaky plan about where to stay and really no idea what they were doing. Not to mention, driving through the Rocky Mountains in winter. I ended up paying for them to stay in hotels for 2 nights on the way there so they wouldn't be trying to sleep in the car or drive for 24 hours straight (I can remember being 19 pretty well sometimes!)
I continue to struggle with my maternal urge to protect her and the desire to let her learn from this experience...
They started out staying in an apartment that her friend's father owns in the city. It turned out that the apartment was connected to a business that he has there and they weren't able to stay more than a few days. They both got jobs in a restaurant after about a week. Then, they got a 2-day gig over the weekend, house-sitting for someone who works in the office.

Here's the situation now:
Since Sunday, they have been 'winging it', staying at some random friend's house and sometimes sleeping in the underground car park under the apartment building. This is where I started getting "nervous".

Ok, a bit more than nervous maybe:-) My brain was screaming "ARE YOU GUYS CRAZY? YOU COULD BE RAPED OR KILLED!!" but I restrained myself slightly and said something like "I bet that's cold."

Then I talked to her today and she was hanging out in her friend's car all day while her friend was at work. When asked where they were going to go tonight, she had no answer.
My brain screamed again "MY CHILD IS HOMELESS! I MUST SAVE HER!"
but I said something like "do you guys have any idea where you could go?"
Of course, she had no ideas and said they would probably stay in the car park tonight.
Well, my maternal super-hero couldn't resist. I started looking up hostels in Calgary online and found one not too far from where they were. I ended up faxing my credit card info to the hostel so they could stay there tonight. *sigh* Of course, Aly was all teary and thankful and sorry they hadn't planned it all better, etc, etc, etc...

So now my brain is screaming (a little less loudly now) "what are they going to do tomorrow?" and then my sweet, wonderful husband sent me an IM saying 'what about couch-surfing?'
"YES!"
So, off I went on my google search, and found Couchsurfing.com which is an online community of folks all over the world who offer up their couches, extra beds, and sometimes a room to travelers for a night or a few nights....for FREE! What a neat concept. I had read a bit about it on SparklytoSingle's blog. She had an interesting experience in Europe with couch surfing, (and stirred up quite a controversy on her comments) but I'm not going to think about that right now:-) Besides, I've only sent requests to couch-offering females. Now, I'm just waiting to hear back from a (hopefully nice, kind, sweet, friendly) person who will allow my child to crash on her couch for free.

Whew, this teen stuff gets more and more challenging. Moms of 20-somethings keep telling me it gets better...I sure hope so. This has got me sprouting grey hairs everyday!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

New Home For Triage From Home

I'm transitioning my blog over to my own domain, so please come and visit there. For the time being, I will continue to update both blogs so I don't lose anyone, but please update your following status and bookmarks to my new page:

www.triagefromhome.com

I've found a wonderful graphic artist to develop a custom theme for my new blog and I'm really excited about that. The trouble is- she is very busy so I have to wait a couple of weeks until she has a chance to work on it for me. In the meantime, my new blog looks a bit plain, but hopefully it is clear and easy to navigate around. Let me know if you have any suggestions to make it better while I wait for it to be revamped and beautified:-)

Ooh La La Mama! Start Your Bids!


Please place all bids at the new blog site HERE

I've decided to start posting the auctions more frequently than once weekly because I've been getting lots of wonderful donations of products and I can't wait that long to share them all with you!
Don't forget that the Love Letters Wall Monogram auction is still continuing to take bids until Feb 23rd, so get your bids in quick.

Today's auction was very generously donated by Cindy from Ooh La La Mama! a very unique clothing store for kids. Cindy has offered up for auction ANY ITEM on her site! The winning bidder can choose his or her very favourite item and in the perfect size:-)

Cindy is a full-time ER doctor, as well as a mom of two little ones herself. You can read all about how she got her clothing line started on her website. If you browse around there a little, you might find some pictures of the celebrities who love her kids' apparel too:-)

Here's How To BID (it's easy!):

1: Hop over to Ooh La La Mama! Have a look around to choose your favourite item from the shop.

2. Come back here and leave a comment, telling us:
a) the name of your favourite item
b) the $ amount of your bid for the item you want!

3. Check back often during the week, to see if you've been out-bid. You may bid as often as you like.

4. Bid increments for this item will be $1 minumum (for example: if the highest current bid is $10, you must bid $11 or more)

5. Bidding starts at only $10.00 for YOUR CHOICE of any item from this shop!

Bidding for this item will end at 12:00 noon PST on Feb 25th.
Winners will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours with their shipping details. Item will be shipped directly from the supplier.

All payments for items won can be paid via my online donation page at the End Cancer website (or I can invoice you via Paypal if you prefer) Net proceeds from the walk go directly to the BC Cancer Foundation.
Your item will be shipping directly to you from the donating shop owner.

Want to see your products here?
Please contact me at helen(at)triagefromhome(dot)com if you would like to donate something for the weekly auction. I would love to showcase your shop and products. Let's help each other!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Winner of the Sweetheart Pendant Giveaway!

And the winner is: (chosen by the random integer generator)

Danetta, who said:

"Everything in her shop looks so fabulous! One of my favorites is the Another Dimension Sprinkle Star Pendant"

Congratulations Danetta!
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.
Please shop at Everythingsblue's Shop- her jewellery is so much fun!

Brainstorming For Fundraising Ideas

So, ever since I signed up the other day to do this 60 km walk for breast cancer, I've been brainstorming to try to come up with ways to help me raise my goal amount of $3200.00 in donations by August.
I've started the online auctions, as you can see by yesterday's post, and I got the first bid today-- Yippee!
Some of the other ideas I've been bouncing around:

1) Holding a BIG yard sale next month, once the weather warms up a little.

Since I'm not much of a hoarder, I don't have a lot of stuff to sell, so I'm thinking of dropping a flyer in everyone's mail slots in the neighourhood asking for donations of stuff to sell.
I found some 'Awareness Ribbon' shaped cookie cutters online, so I thought of making pink-iced ribbon cookies.
I also found pink ribbon temporary tattoos for sale online for cheap. I could sell those to the kids:-)
My brother suggested checking craigslist in the FREE section regularly and trying to pick up anything nearby that might be worth selling.
I thought of selling pink balloons, seeing if I can wangle the donation of a helium tank for them.
Perhaps getting a cotton candy machine rental donated.
I know signage is a big one. Will have to make some clear signage and draw big pink awareness ribbons on it.
Of course, I'll advertise it everywhere FREE I can find- craigslist, etc.

This is starting to sound like a circus...LOL

Anyone else have any good fund raising ideas?
Any good tips on how to have a successful yard sale?

I just had a little fund raising fantasy sitting here while I'm working: I was thinking that if everyone who is following me on Twitter donated $1 to my fund-- I'd be nearly done:-)
(I told you it was a fantasy, but it's nice to think something like that is possible!)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Love Letters- Auction for Breast Cancer Walk!



Here is the first item up for auction to raise funds to sponsor my 60 km walk this August, during the Weekend To End Breast Cancer!
There will be lots of auctions here, so please keep coming back to check them out. There will be some GREAT products offered here that I know you're going to love.

Today, we have a Custom Monogram Wall Decal, graciously donated by Rebekah at Love Letters. The colours will be customized to the winner's preference, as will the name (child's name, last name, etc.)

I recently purchased 2 custom wall decals from her shop and they are great! Excellent quality and she was so much fun, friendly and easy to work with. You can see my LoveLetters decals here.

Rebekah is a former TV News Reporter turned stay-at-home mom. She loves words, writing, quotes, quips, you name it. She wanted to do something that would allow her to stay home with her children, working only when they sleep, but also combine her love of words and creating. Thus, Love Letters Vinyl Lettering was born. It's truly a labor of love. She LOVES finding a new quote and turning it into a design, doing custom work, and knowing that her designs will be a part of a home. But most of all, She LOVES her little family and the blessing that this business has been for them.

Here's How To BID (it's easy!):

1: Hop over to Love Letters. Have a look around to choose your favourite item from her shop.

2. Come back here and leave a comment, telling us:
a) the name of your favourite item
b) the $ amount of your bid for the auction prize item.

3. Check back often during the week, to see if you've been out-bid. You may bid as often as you like.

4. Bid increments for this item will be $1 minumum (for example: if the highest current bid is $10, you must bid $11 or more)

5. Bidding starts at only $5.00 for this lovely Custom Wall Monogram!

Bidding for this item will end at 12:00 noon on Feb 23rd. I will notify the winner via email and once payment is made, Rebekah will be notified so she can ship the prize.
Anyone can bid, as Rebekah has agreed to ship the item anywhere (thank you Rebekah!)

All payments for items won can be paid via my online donation page at the End Cancer website (or I can invoice you via Paypal if you prefer) Net proceeds from the walk go directly to the BC Cancer Foundation.
Your item will be shipping directly to you from the donating shop owner.

Want to see your products here?
Please contact me at helen(at)triagefromhome(dot)com if you would like to donate something for the weekly auction. I would love to showcase your shop and products. Let's help each other!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Before She Grows Boobs!



I did it!! Today, I registered to walk 60km over 3 days in August to raise money for breast cancer research. I have been thinking about doing this walk for several years, but was always put off by the seemingly HUGE task of trying to raise at least $2000 in donations.
This year, I'm pretty sure with the help of my blog and twitter that I can do it! I'm open to ideas as well.
My first idea is to ask for donations of items I can promote and sell via 'auction style' bidding here on the blog. I will post up one item per week and take bids all week. Bids can be made by leaving a comment under the posting of the item you are interested in. The item will be sold to the highest bidder and all funds will be collected directly via my personal online donation page at the Weekend to End Breast Cancer website. That way, I don't have to handle the funds at all and bidders can feel comfortable in knowing the funds are going directly to the cause! The items will be sent out directly by the person donating them- just like during a normal blog giveaway.

Please let me know if you'd like to help by donating a product. I will promote you and your shop and will require bidders to visit your shop to choose their favorite items when they are bidding.

If you'd like to make a direct money donation to help me, you can donate directly here. The first 5 people to donate will get a free Juicybags coin purse! Leave me a comment on this post after you've made your donation and I'll connect with you for a shipping address:-)

I'll be walking in honor of my aunt, Sharon who died much too young from breast cancer. She wasn't there to attend her daughters' weddings, or to meet the 4 grandchildren they have had since she died. She didn't get to meet my wonderful husband or to come to my wedding either.
I also walk in honor of my father, Frank who died of cancer a few months before my aunt and has been gone for 10 years now. He missed so much too.

I miss them both very much and I hope by walking in this event, the money I raise can help to prevent other people from missing out on great times with their friends and family.
Let's find a cure for breast cancer SOON!

Winner Chosen for Juicybags Giveaway

I recently donated one of my totes for a giveaway on Keeper Of The Cheerios blog. The winner was chosen: (drum roll please)

Kelly from Circular Logic -- an Orange and Strawberry Kiwi Totebag is coming your way!

Congratulations:-)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Vinyl Wall Decals = Fun!

I just finished putting up some really fun wall decals that I bought on Etsy from a shop called Love Letters. They look great and I think they add a sense of humor to my laundry room and the kids' downstairs bathroom.
















I was thinking of asking the shop owner if she would like to do a giveaway contest. I'm really pleased with the product and she was wonderful with creating these custom decals for me to my specifications.

If you know teenagers, you know that you sometimes wish you could charge for showers and supplies!


The bathroom is quite small, so it was hard to get a good photo of this one, but you get the idea:-)












Update:
Yeay! Rebekah from Love Letters has agreed to do a giveaway on my blog on Monday, so come back then to enter!

Juicybags Camera Cases


I recently did a custom order for an Etsy customer. One of the things she was looking for was a small case for her pocket camera, to prevent it getting scratched up in her purse. Most regular camera cases are padded and quite bulky and not practical for tucking inside a purse. I created these little Juicybags camera pouches for her.
The sides are made from strips of recycled denim, just like my larger totebags. I may tweak the design a bit, perhaps using a narrower bias tape for the edges, and make some more for my Etsy Shop.
What do you think?

Winner of My First Giveaway!

I chose the winner for my first weekly giveaway by using an online random integer generator. The winner of the set of prints from John W. Golden is:

Erin from Dinner Time Chimes
Congratulations Erin!

Thanks everyone for entering!
Please enter this week's giveaway contest for a really adorable Sweetheart Pendant from Everythingsblue

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Wordless Wednesday- My guys

One of my favorite pictures from 2001 of Jon and Devon.
Love my guys...

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Swiss Breakfast Muesli

We had swiss style muesli like this when we were on a cruise with Holland America Lines in 2005 for our honeymoon. It was so yummy, but I'm sure their recipe was loaded with high fat ingredients. After we got home, I googled it to see if I could find a recipe. I found this healthy version and I try to make it as often as I can. It's low-fat and full of those 'super foods' like oats, almonds, yogurt, apples and honey. Try it and let me know what you think. It's the only breakfast that keeps me going well into the afternoon without getting hungry, and it's really tasty too.
Wish I could get my teenage son to eat this, but he'd rather have Cap'n Crunch...bleah:-(

2 cups large flake oats (not quick oats)
1 cup low-fat milk (I use 1% because that's what we drink)
1 Tbsp. honey
1 cored and grated apple (I leave the peel on)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
low-fat vanilla yogurt (or any flavour you like)

Mix oats, honey and milk together. Cover and let sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning, transfer it to a larger bowl and add almonds and grated apple. Mix well. If you're eating it all right away, mix in enough yogurt to make the consistency you like, divide it up into bowls and serve.
This makes 4 large servings, so we like to add the yogurt to each serving just before we eat it and store the rest in the fridge till the next day.
Fresh fruit is great on this too, cut up grapes or berries....yummmy!

Enjoy:-)

Monday, February 9, 2009

Monday Giveaway - Sweetheart Pendant


I'm so excited about this week's giveaway. I recently bought an adorable heart pendant for my daughter from Maria at Everythingsblue on Etsy. It was a big hit and the best thing was that none of her friends had anything like it;-) Maria's resin jewellery is so much fun to wear.

She has offered up one of her latest heart pendant designs to one of my lucky readers! This pendant is so SWEET in every way. Yes, those are real candy sprinkles encased in resin. It looks good enough to eat!

Maria lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons. She does all sorts of different crafts, like crochet, knitting, sewing, and a little painting but resin is her true love!
She's a self-proclaimed resin junkie and partakes in her craft when everyone else is snoozing. She started her Etsy shop in May 2008 to support her resin habit and has never looked back!

It's so simple to Enter to WIN this adorable pendant:

**Just hop over to Maria's shop here, have a look around and then come back here and leave a comment telling us about your favorite item in her shop (don't forget to leave your email for contact)**

For additional entries:

1. Follow me on Twitter here
2. Follow my blog.
3. Add a link back to this giveaway on your own blog (give us the URL in a comment here)
4. Blog about this giveaway with a link back here (worth 3 extra entries!)
5. Add my blog to your blogroll

Please leave a separate comment for each of your entries. The contest will run for a week, from Feb 9nd till Feb 16th at noon (or as soon as I get a chance to do the draw that day)
Winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email or through their blog. The winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn and you'll forfeit your prize. One entry per an entry method per person.


Good luck everyone!
Maria will ship the prize anywhere, so everyone can enter.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Gonna Be a Wordpress Girl

Jon is transferring my blog over to our own domain and we'll be using the Wordpress software for it. I'm excited because it's going to add lots more functionality:-) and FUN I hope!
I'd like to get customized 'look', something like Miranda's blog at Keeper of the Cheerios. I love the way her blog looks; so fresh, cute and fun, and it's so easy to follow her links to the different categories with the tabs across the top.

On a completely different subject: My oldest has (temporarily) flown the coop! She and her friend took a road trip to Calgary and are settling in for a yet-undetermined-length stay. They've barely got a dime left between them after the trip to get there (12 hours on a the highway through the mountains) but it sounds like they are doing okay so far. It's an uncomfortable feeling knowing she is so far away and that if she needed me urgently I wouldn't be able to get to her right away. She's been calling every day though. Even today I was looking up the Alberta Health advice nurse number for her. "Mom, I have such a sore throat, I can barely swallow!"
Then I see from her facebook photos, she was out clubbing last night (their first night in town!) so maybe she used her voice a bit too much...? heehee...
It's so true what they say about being a mom: It never ends. My mom still worries about me and my sibs, so why would I be different? Just gotta hope that some of the stuff I've been nagging about for 19 years sunk in, right?

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Tuesday Tips- Kids and Fever


Fever is so misunderstood in general.
I answer many calls about fevers every day, mostly from worried parents. When I worked in the pediatric emergency room, many patients visited with fever everyday.
Fever scares parents. It's easy to understand why, since some very serious illnesses present with fever as one of the symptoms; such as influenza, pneumonia, and meningitis. The truth is that most childhood fevers are due to mild viral illnesses which require nothing more than home treatment, and will last for less than 3-4 days. Fever is the body's natural way of resisting infections. Fever all by itself is not dangerous in any way and is part of the body's defense system. It is normal for a fever to fluctuate over the course of the day.
You might wonder why doctors and nurses advise giving medication to reduce fever, since most fevers are helpful. Well, if you've ever had a fever yourself you know how it makes you feel: shivery and uncomfortable, achy and tired. Taking fever medications like Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Advil (Ibuprophen) can bring the fever down temporarily to give comfort and allow the patient to rest.
It's important to realize that these medications don't affect the underlying cause of the fever and have only a short term affect. They also need to be given carefully according to your child's age and weight. If you're unsure, always check with a pharmacist to clarify the safe dosage to give.


Myth #1: Fever causes brain damage and seizures

The truth is, a normal childhood fever won't cause brain damage. The brain controls how high a person's temperature can go. Occasionally, a young child can have what is called a febrile seizure, meaning a seizure caused by fever. It is believed that these seizures are caused by the body's temperature rising rapidly. A seizure like this may look very frightening, but is not dangerous or damaging. It usually lasts less than a few minutes and the child recovers quickly. It is always a good idea to seek medical attention for a seizure, especially if it lasts longer than a few minutes or it is the first one your child has had, just in case the fever is not the only cause.

Myth #2 : High fever = more serious illness than a low-grade fever

This is not always true. Children and babies often have more frequent and higher fevers than adults. Rather than focusing on how high the fever gets, it is more important to notice whether or not the fever responds to home treatment (does the fever come down at least 1 degree celsius an hour after giving fever medicine and other cooling measures? does the child 'perk up' after the fever comes down?) and to notice what other symptoms the child might have:

Things to check for:
Breathing: Is your child breathing rapidly and shallow? Is she wheezing or having other noisy sounds with breathing? Is her colour pale? Is she having a hard time nursing from the breast or bottle because she has to break suction to breathe? Does he have a persistent cough?
Hydration: Is your child still drinking fluids well? Having wet diapers or urinating at least once every 6-8 hours? Is the urine pale or dark? Is your child having vomiting or diarrhea?
Level of Alertness: Is your child alert when awake? Confused or very irritable? (It's fairly normal for a child to be a bit clingy and tired when the fever is high, but he should perk up somewhat when the fever comes down) Does your child respond to you normally?
Any other symptoms: Complaints of pain, excessive crying that is hard to comfort, pink/cloudy or foul-smelling urine. A new rash or bruising. Neck stiffness or pain and headache. In babies- is there a bulging or sunken area over the soft spot on the scalp?
Prior Medical history: Any prior medical conditions, such as being born prematurely or having a congential heart condition, diabetes or asthma can make your child at higher risk in cases of milder illnesses.

Myth #3 : It Is Urgent to Bring a Child's Fever Down to Normal

As mentioned, since fever is not dangerous, it's not urgent to bring it down. If your child is sleeping comfortably there is no need to wake him to give medication for fever. Simply remove any extra layers of blankets and keep the house at a comfortable temperature. A hot environment and too much clothing will make it difficult for your child's body to let off the extra heat to cool itself. If he becomes too hot and uncomfortable, he will wake up to let you know.
Cold or even cool baths are not necessary and are actually very uncomfortable when a child has fever. They will usually cry and resist, get goose bumps all over and start shivering. Shivering is actually the body's way of trying to warm the skin, so this will work against trying to bring the fever down. If your child wants a bath, make sure the water is warm enough that it doesn't cause shivering.
Dress your child lightly in enough clothing to cover and prevent shivering. Give fever medicine if the child is uncomfortable and re-check the temperature after an hour.
Sometimes older children with a fever will find it soothing to have a cool cloth on their forehead, but just for comfort, not to try to cool their body down.

IMPORTANT note about babies under 3 months of age:

ANY fever (37.6 C or higher, measured under the armpit) in a baby under 3 months of age should be evaluated by a doctor immediately, even in the absence of other symptoms. Very young babies don't have a well-developed immune system and are at higher risk for serious illness.

Here is a really helpful website to refer to if you'd like to use an online tool to go through a symptom checklist to decide if your child needs medical attention for any symptom. Just type the symptom into the 'enter health topic' field and click on the GO button.

For example:
If I type in "fever" the first 2 results are:

'fever, ages 3 and under' and 'fever, ages 4 and older'

Choose the appropriate topic, then click on "check your symptoms" in the right hand list. This will guide you through a list of yes/no questions which will help you decide if your child needs more than just home treatment. It's very easy to navigate.

There are over 3000 topics to choose from with lots of detail and resources listed, and all the information is updated regularly to keep it current. It's a fantastic resource for any parent to have in their bookmarks.

* As always, the information I share here is general and comes from reliable sources, as well as my pediatric nursing experience. It doesn't replace a doctor's advice and is not meant to diagnose. If you are concerned about your child's symptoms, you should always contact your doctor for specific advice *

Monday, February 2, 2009

My first Monday Giveaway!


I'm so excited about my FIRST weekly blog giveaway! John W. Golden's work is wonderful and he was kind enough to offer this set of three 5x7 prints from his Lunastrella series for my readers. This is my favorite set from his site, but since I can't win them, I am putting them on my wish list. I also love the print of the low-top sneakers. His prints can be made with many different colour backgrounds, to fit in with any colour scheme.

His Etsy shop is here
Etsy just did a feature on John the other day and it's here

John been involved in art since he was 11 years old. In that time, he has created a large catalog of work in photography and illustration, and his commercial work in design and animation has been seen on Cartoon Network, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, CBS, TNT, TBS, PBS, and TechTV.

He creates all his work digitally, mostly starting with a blank screen and using the mouse or a pen and graphics tablet to create an image. He uses scans in his collage work, but everything else is painted or drawn within the computer.

Here's how to enter to WIN this great set of fun space prints! It's so easy...

** Visit John's Etsy shop here, then come back here and leave a message telling us about your favorite item from his shop**

For additional chances to win:

1. Follow me on Twitter here
2. Follow my blog.
3. Add a link back to this giveaway on your own blog (give us the URL in a comment here)
4. Blog about this giveaway with a link back here (worth 3 extra entries!)
5. Add my blog to your blogroll

Please leave a separate comment for each of your entries. The contest will run for a week, from Feb 2nd till Feb 9th at noon (or as soon as I get a chance to do the draw that day)
Winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email or through their blog. The winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn and you'll forfeit your prize. One entry per an entry method per person.


Good luck everyone!
John will ship the prize anywhere, so everyone can enter.