Allergy Testing

The kids and the hubby have seasonal allergies every season. I "suggested" that they get allergy testing done - and by "suggested", I mean "made appointment for, drove to, filled out forms for, sat with and paid for". I found out that they are basically mildly allergic to just about every environmental thing that's around us. The big ones are a lovely variety of trees that grow in Virginia, grass and grass smut (that's a mold that's prevalent on wet grass), dust mites, ragweed, and various molds.

I had to hold the kids so I didn't get a good view of what they were doing but I got step by step pictures of my husband!

We forgot to stop his Zyrtec 7 days prior to the appointment (we did it 5 days out) so they did a histamine (H)/saline (S) control test prior to the actual testing. 

Here's the scratch test tray after they applied it to him - we're non-smokers but don't complain about second-hand smoke and don't live in tobacco country so they skipped that one.

Here's hubby right after the scratch test.

3 minutes

9 minutes

AH! sweet relief for this guy who can't stand creams and lotions

 

Now on to intradermal testing - 

so fun for the guy who can't stand needles! (well, it was fun for me at least!)

 

These are titrations of some of the allergens and it's injected like the TB test

If you are ever at the allergist getting allergy testing done and you notice an itchy throat , things get WILD! 4 nurses and a doctor in this tiny room checking vitals and ready to administer aid. In this case, they gave him an Allergra and monitored his BP (high) and pulse-ox (normal) until it worked.

The remedy for my family? dust mite covers and nasal steroids - I'm AMAZED at how quickly my family improved after these simple changes! I've cut my tissue budget down to pennies (it almost makes up for the cost of the new meds)! Thanks so much Dr. Gelber and Richmond Allergy & Asthma!

What about business? I'm doing a vendor fair tomorrow with mostly snack and sandwich bags. I have quite a collection to show off (including some new fabric!).

I heart Fabric

There are a lot of people that can say this - I know I'm not alone - but I absolutely love fabric! The texture, the feel, the mood it brings to a room.

About  8 months ago, we got a new-to-us couch - bought it from some friends who were moving - and it came with 2 throw pillows. I love the couch! It's green and kind of a mid-century modern couch - boxy and off the floor (oh how I love that feature! no more losing thing under the couch). The pillows, well, my friend even described them as "beaten up"... The corners are fraying and there are pulls all over the fabric. I needed to re-cover them.

For me, that seemed like an overwhelming task! I have all this access to such beautiful, high-quality fabrics (although I usually keep my eye on the fun kid-themed one) and I have to pick one that I'll look at ALL.THE.TIME!  I wanted something that has energy but isn't too loud for this '80s deco den (wood slats to the chair rail and then this hideous marble-look rose-navy-forest green wallpaper). I didn't want a panel or to quilt it and it must be washable. Oh yeah, and it must feel good if someone wants to take a nap on it! I finally decided on a quilting cotton and purchased this lovely Michael Miller fabric - Hoopla Dot in lagoon - when my favorite fabric seller was having a sale! Today, while the power was flickering, I cut out the pieces for 2 envelope style pillow covers and sewed them up after the kids went to bed. I hope I still like them in 2 weeks!

Next up, making sandwich bags with the remnant like I did for this fabric!