Allergies Have Hit Our House. We Have #EyesonVISINE

A couple of weeks ago, one of my first messages of the day was from my oldest daughter. She was asking me if I was having problems with my allergies yet. Her allergies are kind of my barometer for when allergy season has hit. lol Once she gets started, the rest of us fall like dominoes. VISINE®-A® Eye Allergy Relief Eye Drops, as always, to the rescue. My first question to her was, "Have you stocked up this year?" lol No, of course not.

Back in the day, when there weren't any over the counter options for allergy sufferers, I went to the doctor once a week for shots. My oldest daughter started dealing with allergies as a young teen and now my oldest son, a few years ago, started up with season allergies and mostly cat allergies. So far, my two other kids have been kept out of the allergy loop.

My biggest symptom with allergies is itchy, watery eyes. That wasn't an issue for me until I was an adult. Now, it can totally disable me. My eye allergies filter into sneezing and a runny nose and sinus issues. If I can keep my eyes under control, to start with, then the rest is usually...usually...safe.

Allergy is the fifth leading chronic disease in the U.S. among all ages, and the third most common chronic disease among children under 18 years old. This was definitely true for me, and has proven to be the case for two of my kids.

Now, throw in Fred, who has allergies about as bad as my mom's and we're all a fun bunch to hang out with when allergies strike. Did you know eye allergies happen when airborne allergens and other particles land directly on the surface of the eye, causing irritation and redness; subsequently, the body reacts to the substance by flooding the eyes with tears and mucus. Delightful, right? VISINE®-A® Eye Allergy Relief Eye Drops are clinically proven effective for eye allergy relief.

In case you're wondering about allergies, the most frequent airborne allergens include:

o Pollen
o Pet dander
o Grass
o Dust
o Weeds
o Mold

VISINE® ALLERGY TIPS

INDOORS:

• Wash linens and clothes regularly

• Keep windows shut to keep out pollen and other outdoor allergens

• Vacuum and dust often to reduce indoor allergens, such as dust and pet dander

• Run the air conditioner or air filter to sift out allergens. Make sure to keep those air filters clean and replace them regularly

• Put allergy proof covers on pillows, mattresses and comforters to ward off dust mites

OUTDOORS:

• Check the pollen count before going outside each day – pollen counts tend to be highest 5 - 10AM

• Shower after being outdoors to remove allergens that may have stuck to you. Use a sterile saline eye wash to flush allergens out of your eyes

• Do not hang laundry to dry outdoors because allergens can stick to the clothes

• Glasses and sunglasses act as a barrier or shield to minimize allergens from sticking to your eyes

• If you prefer to wear contact lenses, choose a daily disposable lens, which can minimize accumulation of allergens as well. Contact lens wearers can use VISINE®-A® Eye Allergy Relief, but need to remove contact lenses before use and wait at least 15 minutes before reinserting contact lenses after using the drops

For more allergy season tips and tricks, visit http://www.visine.com/understanding-eye-allergies/histamines

Moms’ Night Out In Theaters 5/9 #MNOMovie

Last month I had the absolute pleasure of pre-screening the movie Moms’ Night Out. I’ll admit, I really wasn’t sure what the movie was about. I had seen a quick commercial here and there about it, but hadn’t really picked up on what it was about. All I cared about was the fact that I was out on a date…with no kids. So for me, it was mom’s night out with her boyfriend.

The funny part when we got to the theater was Fred asking if he could go watch another movie (somewhat jokingly) because all he saw was a sea of women walking into the movie. Thankfully, once we got our seats, he saw several other men. heh heh heh

As a mom, I was able to immediately relate to the main character, who also happens to be a blogger. I would say that we weren’t 2 minutes into the movie and I was laughing my butt off! The entire theater was.

Allyson is a young mom of 3. She’s a mom who just needs a break. I mean, if you work in an office, you get to leave at the end of the day and have weekends off. Being a SAHM is a job that’s 24/7/365. Just one night, that’s all she wants. And what I love, her husband is all for it. He really sees what she does as a mom is valuable.

The dads…oh the dads…they’re going to help out. They’re going to pitch in so the moms can have some grown up time. You know THAT’S going to be interesting.

I have to admit, I could relate a lot to Allyson and to Sondra. As a mom, we either feel like we’re failing our kids and family or we don’t want anyone to know any of the problems going on and we just put on a happy face. The way they do it in this move has you laughing about it while taking it in. If you’re a dad, you can relate to your wife’s craziness, too.

What I love about this movie is that it truly IS family friendly. No swearing, no nudity, nothing suggestive, etc. We need so many more movies like this. It would be nice not to have to read the reviews on Plugged In Online every time the boys or I want to see a movie.

Moms’ Night Out is in theaters May 9th, Mother’s Day weekend. Yes, very apropos. Do the moms in your life a favor and give them a good chuckle and a night out. If you’re a dad, suggest your wife get a few ladies together and go see it or make it a family night. If you want more movies like this, you need to get out and see it! You won’t be disappointed, trust me!

My pastor’s wife came up to me last weekend and told me she’s getting a group of women together to go see it! I’m so excited. Wishing I was home to see it with them!

The Love Dare Day 8: A Jealous Bone

So far with a couple of the chapters of the Love Dare, I’ve thought they were going to be about one thing and they somewhat, for the most part, turned out to not be about that one thing.

History has taught me that I have every reason to have a jealous bone in my body. Men aren’t trust worthy (so says my past) so it makes sense to be jealous of any woman who could possibly catch the eye of my guy. Fred has done a really good job at building up my trust in this area, but it’s no where near 100%.

The authors do talk about the kind of jealousy that, if Fred were to have a wandering eye, they’d say I had a legitimate right to feel. It’s similar to God’s jealousy when we turn away from Him towards something else. It’s a justified jealousy.

Then there’s the illegitimate jealousy that just stems from us being selfish. It’s the kind where we’re green with envy. Now this jealousy I don’t struggle much with. I rarely want what others have. There are things I want that other people have, like a 52” Smart tv. I think to myself, “dang, I’d seriously love one of those.” But, I don’t walk away thinking, “Why don’t I have one of those? What makes them so blessed that THEY get to have one?” wah wah wah

I mean, that’s just not me. Ok, well, there are a couple of things where the green streak might come peeking through. If a woman has a gorgeous head of hair, I would probably have all kinds of thoughts like, “Why did God decide to give HER that long thick hair? Look at my dumb, do-nothing hair!” Or if a woman is well endowed, heck if they’re even slightly endowed I wonder, “Why did she get the lion’s share? Where’s my part and why did God see fit to make me like this?” Now, that last one can cause me to have jealousy towards her too, not just be jealous of her, that Fred might prefer her physically. Then my mind is off to the races.

So, yea, Fred gets to deal with that little gem. I’m praying that as time continues on I will gain better trust of Fred in this area. I can’t say that that niggling feeling will ever be 100% gone.

The other part of illegitimate jealousy is that we’re jealous of any success of others. Whether a co-worker gets a promotion or your loved one is more popular, you’re envious of them and it causes anger and division.

I don’t ever get jealous of Fred or anything that’s going on in his life. I think maybe I haven’t been put in that position yet? I can see myself getting jealous of him being pulled in a lot of directions once he becomes a pastor. There could be jealousy if he’s not careful in counseling women as an elder or pastor.

Don’t get me wrong though, Fred knows a couple of my jealousies. I won’t name them here, but he has a lot of control over situations he puts himself in or how he places people in his life. For me, those situations are a mix of legitimate and illegitimate jealousies.

In the end, I definitely want to be Fred’s biggest cheerleader. When he has success, I want to be the loudest person cheering in the room (definitely not an issue of being the loudest person). If my co-worker gets a raise, I want to be the most excited person she knows.

My task for the Love Dare today is to take my negative list from yesterday and burn it. lol I have no way to burn it. I don’t have matches or a lighter so I’ll have to tear it up in to tiny pieces and throw it away. Then I need to share about how glad I am about one of Fred’s recent successes. Definitely not a problem.

How good are you at sharing in other’s success? Are you jealous of your loved one or others in your life?

LiveJournal Tags: Love Dare,Marriage,Dating

The Love Dare Day 7: Believing the Best

You know, all I had to do was read the title of Day 7 of the Love Dare and I cringed. I can believe the best about pretty much anyone. Anyone but men who are close to me. My experience says that men have an agenda and I can only believe the best “so far”.

Enter Fred who seems entirely different than any men I’ve had as an intimate part of my life. He’s one of the good guys. He’s attentive, and sweet, and kind, and gentle in spirit. My list can go on and on (and it will in a bit), but…but, little things have happened consistently over the course of our relationship that have led me away from always believing the best. We’re working on it.

Believing the best, at least for me, also involves a certain amount of trust. I trust anyone, until I can’t. Lose trust with me, have a fun time trying to get it back. Especially if you’re the man in my life. It’s an uphill battle. That’s what happens when you date a woman who’s had nothing but hurt and disappointment from the men in her life.

With all of that delightful stuff out of the way, let’s discuss chapter 7. Today the authors talk about two rooms in our hearts. One is the appreciation room. The room where when we met the person we love, we wrote all kinds of wonderful things on the walls of that room about that person.

So like I mentioned above, “Awww he really loves his kids”, “He’s so attentive and texts me so much”, “What a sweet heart for God”, and so on. Those are all very true things and only scratching the surface of the things I wrote on the appreciation room wall about Fred.

Then there’s room two. That room is the depreciation room. This is the room where we write the not so great stuff about our loved one. “Why can’t he keep track of his schedule?” “Why can’t he remember what’s important to me?” “He’s so inconsiderate of my needs” and on and on. The problem is, I can visit this room more often than the appreciation room.

Oh, and if he’s totally ticked me off, I’ll hang out in the depreciation room for quite some time. Looking around at all of the things written on the walls and fortifying my feelings. This room reminds me of how “right” I am and how “wrong” he is. It also reminds me of all the other things he’s done or not done or how he thinks and it helps bolster my resolve to stay in that cruddy place.

On a different personal note about this room, this room is comfortable for me. It’s a false protection for me. In this room I’m safe. This room helps me to build walls that keep “hurtful” people out. This can be my unhealthy comfort zone.

If I spend too much time in the appreciation room, someone, like Fred, could get one over on me. They have the potential of getting too close and hurting me in the same way I’ve been hurt before. I feel naïve in that room, vulnerable.

The thing is, the appreciation room is true about Fred and others, too. People aren’t only a depreciation room. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Fred if all he was, was all of the bad things. I just lose site of those things when I’m hurt. When things build up, when he does the same thing over and over again, I disregard the appreciation room and all of the good things I know about Fred.

We’re encouraged to move into the appreciation room. We have to make that decision. Trust me, it won’t be an easy decision for me. I’m going to have to be intentional. I like that the authors, and God, understand that the depreciation room exists. It’s there. For all of us. We just need to focus on the positive. Spend more time appreciating instead of depreciating. Easier said than done. I know.

So, my task now is to make two lists. One is about all of the positive things about Fred and one about all of the negative things. After I write my list, I’m supposed to put the lists away for a future Day in this journey.

Where do you spend the most time? The Appreciation or Depreciation Room?

LiveJournal Tags: Love Dare,Marriage,Dating

The Love Dare Day 6: Irritable

I’ve decided that God gave Stephen and Alex Kendrick a prophetic word to write the Love Dare because He knew I’d need it some day. God just left out the part that said, “Dedicate it to Mimi.”

I’m on Day 6 and for goodness sakes, it’s getting ridiculous. The first paragraph once again is me in a nutshell. Now, I don’t go looking for opportunities to get irritated with Fred. They just show up on a very regular basis on my doorstep delivered on a silver platter.

Unfortunately, I take many of those opportunities to tell Fred exactly what I think. I don’t live life in a state of irritability, I can just get to that point in the blink of an eye. Especially if it’s the same stuff, different day. I do have the rare occasion where I react pleasantly, but I’m not characterized by that.

Now, I’ll admit, stress definitely heightens my irritability. I think it does for most people. Not Fred, at least not outwardly like me. He’s more of a stuffer. One of the things that would be a good skill to learn and employ is praying through my stress instead of tackling it on my own. That tends to be when I get in the most trouble. Going about something on my own, at the moment, based on how I feel.

Today we’re supposed to react in loving ways instead of with irritation. Today, and every other day, that means I have to seriously be intentional about it. I’m NOT good at all with being intentional in a loving way. Well, at least not in this way, a gentler way. I’m supposed to find a way to add margin to my schedule (oy vey) and to list wrong motivations I need to release from my life.

One margin I need is to not be working so late into the night. I need to try and get a bulk of my work done during the day so I have time to sit back an relax, clean, blog, etc. Just not work. Fred and I aren’t together every night so it’s mostly having free time with my boys here. I’m not 100% sure about wrong motivations. That one has me stumped.

One of the prompting questions is “When have you recently overreacted?” smh Oh, how about yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. I think about one of the ways in which I reacted to some information I received and I know I was harsh, but I also know it’s a bigger issue that doesn’t need to necessarily be dealt with, but where we come to a place of understanding. Sometimes when you see things differently than someone else, that’s where compromise or understanding comes in.

Would your loved one classify you as an irritable person?

LiveJournal Tags: Love Dare,Marriage,Dating