I just need to say....

I just need to say to everyone how thankful I am for my husband, family, and my job. There have been a few humbling things happen this week at work, and I just need to let my family and my husband know how much I love them and appreciate them. And also I am very grateful for my job and Richards new job. It is a hard time to find work, as we well know, and I am so grateful that Richard has found a really good job that could support us if needs be. There is nothing like a few experiences that brings you to your knees and helps remind you of how well off you have it even when you think you don't.

Love you all

Meghann

FLU KIT

Hey every body I got this "FLU KIT" from my mother in law who is a nurse in southern Utah and I think it has a lot of good information that NEEDS to be passed on before the flu season starts. I work in one of the busiest ER in the SLC, and we just had a huge training about the up coming flu season. Most hospitals are having "flu stations," where patients with flu symptoms will not go into the ER and contaminating the others but go somewhere else, the IHC hospitals in the SLC valley are not even letting people get out of their cars, (they are having drive up flu stations.)

There is a lot of good information in this and I have some other tid-bits that I want to share about the flu season. Some of it will be redundant but it is still a lot of good information.

***People are most contagious a day before they start to feel sick, and you will feel sick for 7-10 days. Be courteous to others around you, let them know you are/were sick so they can take the precautions necessary to protect themselves.

*If you feel sick... you have the flu. Most places are not testing for the flu anymore they are just treating everyone as if you have it. But there is no need to panic it is just the flu!

*If you have the flu or signs and symptoms of the flu STAY HOME, even from church, school, outings, anything, anywhere you don't want to pass it on to someone and they get even sicker.

*Children under 5, Pregnant women (in their third trimester), elderly with medical problems, and any person with Respiratory (lungs), Cardiac (heart), Renal (kidney), or Hepatic (liver) issues are at GREATEST RISK. Even though it is said that the elderly people have an immunity to the flu from the 50s, if there is any other health problems that makes them a risk. Pregnant women should contact their doctors immediately if they get sick; and children under 5 should be watched closely.

*This flu virus will live on any surface for up to 5-7 hours, so sanitize and clean everything. There is a recipe below for a cleaner but the store bought Clorox wipes will work too. Don't forget to get places where little kids will touch (low places), toys, door knobs, and any surface touchable :). I would also suggest washing all bedding at first signs of getting sick and as soon as you start to feel better.

*Keep plenty of medicine on hand so you don't have to go out in public to get more. It is a virus so no amount of medicine will get rid of the flu, but it will help with the symptoms and help you feel better even though you are STILL SICK.

*If you have a new baby and as much as you would like to show the baby off to family and friends, DON'T!! Don't take the baby out or let anyone in!! If by some chance you do let them in make them wash (water and soap) their hands and up their arms, use hand sanitizer, and wear a mask. ***If you can get some from your doctor awesome, reuse them don't throw them away, there is a national shortage of mask, and it is better they get sick rather than your baby.*** I don't know if you can by masks at a medical store but I would definitely look into it!

*Can't stress enough again fluid intake, rest, and yes ISOLATION.

and this one is just me ranting....
*Please don't come to the ER if you just feel "sick" or have "flu symptoms", go see your primary care/family doctor or an instant care. There are those special people out there (pregnant, under 5, over 65 and are really really sick) that it may be necessary for them to come to the ER but hopefully they have first tried to call their primary care doctors.

I hope this helps people understand a little bit about the flu situation this year and how to help themselves as well as others. Don't panic, its just the flu!!!

Love you all lots and lots

Megs

--------------------FLU KIT--------------------

Disposable Tissues
Liquid soap
Paper Towels
Alcohol gel hand cleaner, with at least 60% alcohol
Thermometer
Tylenol (Acetaminophen) and/ or Ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin)
Fluids for replacement (Gatorade, juices, teas, jello, pedialyte for children, see recipe below)
Cleaner/disinfectant for surfaces (see recipe below)
Masks- regular one for the sick person to wear, one with a plastic eye shield for the person to wear that is caring for the sick person/ child that won't wear the mask.

Phone numbers to keep handy Physician_______________________________ Pharmacy_______________________________
Some one to care for Children_________________
911

Remember to get your regular prescriptions filled at least 5 days before they run out. You may not be able to get to the pharmacy and getting them 5 days early helps you stock pile a few so you won't have to worry.

Have a plan ready as to who will take care of the kids if school is closed so you can come to work or if your children and or spouse get sick who can care for them so you can work.

TWO RECIPES TO KEEP YOU WELL

Disinfectant for surfaces
One part Bleach to 4 parts water

Electrolyte replacement recipe
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
7 Tablespoons sugar
May add one packet of sugar free kool-aid for taste. Store in refrigerator. Make homemade Popsicles or ice cubes for variety.

SIGNS OF DEHYDRATION

No Saliva
No tears when crying
loose sagging skin
No urination or wet diaper for 12 hours

To keep babies and toddlers hydrated give 5 ml's (one teaspoon) over 5 minutes every 5 minutes for 4 -6 hours, if keeping that down go to 10ml's or (2 teaspoons) every 5 minutes etc.

Give small amounts frequently (Popsicles and flavored ice helps you take fluids in slowly to keep hydrated) or small sips every 10 minutes.

It is thought that a person is contagious with the flu one day before they become ill to up to 7 days after.

GOOD HAND WASHING IS YOUR BEST DEFENSE!

JUST SOME " FOOD FOR THOUGHT" SO THAT YOU CAN LESSEN THE IMPACT OF THE INFLUENZA PANDEMIC ON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

Summer in a nut shell

This summer Richard and I have been trying to squeeze in as much play time as possible. Here is a rundown of the rest summer.


After our anniversary (06-30), was my birthday (07-11), it was low key. We went fishing at Mirror Lake with our neighbors, I just wanted to be outside and I knew Richard would love to go fishing plus our neighbor has been begging Richard to take him out, so we made it a family/friend thing and did it all together on my birthday.

Here is a picture of us at Provo Falls and our neighbors, with their very active two year old. And I love this picture of Richard climbing all over the Provo Falls.

When we picked our spot to fish I just enjoyed getting the sunshine on my face. The little boy wanted to be a big boy and he played with all the fishing poles, dad was out in the water, mom is prego, so me and Richard did what we could to keep him entertained (Good birth control.) Here is the little man "fishing."

Where we were at first, we didn't get anything worth keeping. I caught a little 6incher, oh and the funniest part was the little boy cried and ran away from the fish. It was so funny!! Richard moved us to a different lake where the guys went off fishing and the girls soaked up the sunshine. They guys caught 4 good sized fish so we took them home for dinner. Not too long after thunder heads started to roll in so we had to book it out of there. Once we made it home we went over to our neighbors for the cake and ice cream, (we went over there because our place is so not baby proof!!) It was a very pleasant birthday and although it wasn't with my family (parents and brother were in NY, sisters working in Logan) it was nice to spend it with friends.

Work and School, Work and School, Work and School, Work and School, Work and School...

Weekend 24th of July- We went up to Logan to spend it with my family because it is my parents’ anniversary. They celebrated their 27 year together. To start the day off I went to the Logan parade with my BFFs the Trappetts. As I was watching their kids run after the candy and wave to the pretty girls, and clap for the people, it brought back fond memories. I even caught a piece of candy! I was pretty excited about that.

After the parade we had lunch and then Me and my little sister and my BFF Brooke were running around town trying to find stuff to dressed up Sock Monkeys to go along with a card my little sister found for my parents anniversary. Now the funny thing is my parents were in SLC with Richard at the outdoor expo and on the way home Richard was doing all he could to stall them so we could finish the monkeys and the banner (a Powell family tradition.) It turned out great. The family went to a movie that night but I fell asleep and didn't wake up till the next morning (those sleep deprived people.)

Which the next morning was what I was waiting for all week...(wow how many "w" were in the one line? Never noticed how popular "w" is till now... look I used it again!)... Bear Lake!!!!

Sammy, Richard and I headed up in my car and the Trappetts in theirs. Now I did not think about this until we were there and Sammy said she thought about it, 25th of July everybody off work at the beach... and she wasn't kidding. It was packed, more people than I have ever seen it! We had to go way far south to find a spot and even then some people left and we hurried and took their spot, but it was worth it! The water was warm (once you got over the initial shock) and it was a nice over cast, a light breeze, just beautiful. Oh I loved it! I love the water! We played in the water a good 4-5 hours. But before we headed home we had to stop and say hi to Sammy's man. He works at Bear Lake and we had not had the opportunity to see him yet so we had to stop.

Sunday was spent at home with family, after church we got ready for family dinner which I planned with the Trappetts (whenever I come up they always come over for family dinner,) Navajo Tacos!!!!! It was great everybody loved them, James did an awesome job on the dough. Then we played games and had a blast with each other, makes me miss home with times like that.

Monday we spent with Sammy and Rob (her man), because he was unable to play with us in the water at Bear Lake he wanted to go again and there was no complaining from me. We ate lunch at his restaurant (Thanks Rob) and then went to Minnetonka Cave. While I was on the tour I was trying to remember why I thought hiking 888 stairs (total) in a wet, slippery, cold, smelly cave was fun? Still haven't figured it out other than the company I was with.

After the long exhausting hike, (look at me do I look like I do a lot of aerobic exercise? Despite my want and need to, I don’t for lack of time, working graveyards is time consuming. So to get me outside of running around the ER was quite the work out.) We played in the water!!! Richard and Rob started feeding one Seagull a piece of bread and then pretty soon there were tons of them all yapping at each other because they wanted the next piece. It was a fun and relaxing last day before going back to work and school, and I cannot wait to go back and play in the water before to gets to cold.


And so for the rest of July and so forth into August has been back to the same routine... Work and School, Work and School, Work and School, Work and School, Work and School....

Finals came and went with a breeze but unfortunately I will not be able to go to school this semester L which makes me really sad. I have been picking up lots of shifts at work to make up for that but now there are too many employees that I can’t do that anymore, so I have no clue what I am going to do to pass my time. Richard is doing great with his job, loving it and having fun. He already had to put out a fire! He still has to go on his business trip which he is not looking forward to.


I do want to give a big thank you to my sister-in-law Christie for taking care of the animals while we are way. You are the best to always do that for us, thank you, thank you, thank you a thousand times over. We owe you for it.

Labor Day

This is Labor Day was chill, we decided at the last minute to go up to Logan. I had to be back Monday by 5pm to get to work, which means that we had to leave Logan by 2:30 at the latest. We weren't sure what we were going to do, it was just nice to get out of SLC.

Monday morning we sat as a family and talked about our option for the day. Richard knew we had a little zoo but he had never been there so we decided to go to Willow Park and have a picnic. It has changed so much from what I remember it as a kid, oh those were the days.

After lunch and Willow Park we went to play miniature golf, and had a blast! It was so much fun. We were laughing with each other at how many times it took us to make it, good old clean fun.

The only down fall to playing golf was the heat, we all got over heated we didn't finish all the holes. We skipped out for ICE CREAM!!!!

It was a great day!!!