Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 40

Yes, it is true, I am 40 years old today. I don't really celebrate much. Tomorrow, my mom will come over, and we will barbecue. We have spent a lot of time with friends this summer, and my sister was here in May, so it has been an active summer for us. Today I get to move furniture, yay, who doesn't want to do that? It really does need to get done, and then we will swim, after we are all hot, and sweaty. I mostly like to just relax, when it is my birthday. I have been on a month long hiatus, from my nursing job. Some of it was vacation, one week I had a severe migraine, and the other one they had Swine Flu at the prison where my husband works, so he had to cover. I actually only work every Friday, but when you count in the time you have to sleep to work 11-7 shift, it is more like you are working Friday, and Saturday. I used to actually do both Friday, and Saturday, and if any of you remember at Christmas time I had a big fight with the DON, and got cut to one day a week. That has actually turned into a blessing for us. Though it did put a major pinch in our finances, it got me to look harder for online work, and reevaluate my personal feelings about my nursing career. For almost four years, we were very limited on what we could do, due to me working every single weekend. At any rate, I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately, it seems to be a normal process when you start to get older. Yesterday, I returned to the doctor's office for my blood work results. As you may know I have been suffering from migraines, for some time, but noticed them to be changing, and more severe. My blood work was completely normal, with just a very sl elevated cholesterol. Of course they immediately want to push drugs on you, which I refused. I said I would do the diet changes first, and exercise, to see if I can get it down on my own. I do not think she was real happy, but since she has never spent more than five minutes with me, for the eighty bucks she gets from the insurance company, I guess I don't care. I asked her to check in my ear, as that seems to be the originating point of the facial pain. She looked, but not enough to say so. I am seriously considering going to the ENT myself. Insurance refused my MRI, seems I have not suffered long enough to warrant it. I have tried avoiding MSG, not easy trust me, caffeine, and cured meats to see if that will keep them under control. I have only had one migraine in three weeks, and they were coming every two, so I guess there could be some progress there. I may have to look for another provider, if I continue to feel like this one just is always in a rush, and never really listens. I really do dislike that.





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Sleep How Much Are You Getting?

I have read some really interesting articles about sleep lately. Like the fact that children need at least 8-10 hours of sleep every night, and adults 8 at the very least. Do you get 8 hours of sleep, do your children get 8-10 hours. One of the reasons I decided to homeschool was because of just this fact. I would have had to get my kids up at 5:30 AM to prepare to be to the bus stop by 7 AM. Then they would not get off the bus until the earliest of 3:30 PM. With baths, homework, playtime, and other family commitments bed would come the earliest at 8 PM, and probably closer to 9. That leaves just enough time for sleep, if your child falls right to sleep, of course most do not. Add all the extra homework that gets added every year, and your child will slowly whittle away at their sleep. Sleep is when your body rests, and recovers. Without proper sleep you are more prone to illness, stress, poor grades, behavioral issues, just to name a few. I personally have seen what the lack of sleep does to people. It can destroy your nervous system. So get on a schedule, and get plenty of sleep.


Lesson Plans for 1/27/09:

Reading: Chapter 10 of Dolphins at Daybreak
Language Arts: Statements and questions, punctuation
Math: Multiplication, division, add 3 or more numbers
Writing: You are at Pirate Camp, write a letter home
Science: Animals, recalling facts about animals
Spelling: Lesson 17- write each spelling word, and circle the consonants
Vocabulary: Lesson 17- use each vocabulary word in a sentence
PE: 30 minutes

Martin Luther King Jr Activities, Health For Children

Today was test day here at Melissas Homeschool, and Monday we have no school due it being Martin Luther King Jr day. Below is a 10 min piece, done by a child for a school project. Check it out. Here are some other Martin Luther Kind day activities I found http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jan/king.html http://www.education-world.com/holidays/archives/mlking.shtml

One of my favorite websites for teaching young kids about all issues to do with Health including, their body, being safe, fire safety, drugs, peer pressure just to name a few can be found here Nemours Foundation We do have a Health workbook, but it is kind of over mature for my 8 yr old, and 4 yr old. I use this website for most of our Health classes. There are no worksheets, but I make my own, if I feel I need to. Most of it is discussion, between the three of us. I will be adding both of these links to my side bar, for future reference.