Welcome ICLW!

If you're stopping by from ICLW: Welcome, and thanks for stopping in!  :)  You can read more about me, our about our TTC journey (updated since last month!).

I don't have much more to say today, other than this blog is slowly starting to take shape and move in a cohesive direction, much like my life is right now.  :)  So... you'll probably see a gluten-free product review this week, some reflections on my piano students, maybe a post about my work with the MTHFR family (yes, that's an alias), and some musings on my walk with Jesus.  If you stick around all week, you may even hear about my allergy test results.  I'm expecting to get those some time this week.

Test Results!

I called the lab this afternoon to see if my test results were in, and they were!  :D  So, I walked up there, and got them.  Turns out I've got one copy of the C677T gene, just like Daniel!

I came straight home, sent Daniel an e-mail, called T (of the MTHFR family), and then Skype'd my dad.  My results mean that one of my parents has at least one C677T gene, and one parent has a "normal" gene.  Can't tell who is who unless they get tested.

We still don't know about my COMT status.  That will come later when we have enough money to do 23andme.com's genetic test.  :)

Busy Week!

Sorry to disappear for two days!  This week turned out to be a lot busier than I expected.  I started back to work with the MTHFR family on Tuesday and Wednesday.  After I finished there yesterday, I taught my other two students over there, and by the time I got back last night, I was exhausted.  I slept pretty good last night!  :P

Yesterday our naturopath called in the order for my allergy test, and my MTHFR test, so I'm looking forward to getting those results, though I'm not really looking for ward to the process of getting them!  I hate needles!

Great Day So Far!

This morning we had some errands to run in the next town over.  We went to Ted Brown Music to buy some books for my students, pick up some soap from the MTHFR family, and pick up a book I forgot at my students' house. Then we swung by Ebony & Ivory pianos, and talked to the owner for a little while. He even let me play some grand, upright, and digital pianos.  That was a ton of fun.  Probably the highlight was playing the grand.  :)  <3 it.  They even too my contact information in case they have people come in looking for a teacher!  I met their on-site teacher who said he's totally swamped right now. He seemed relieved to hear that I have some spots available.  :)  We'll see what happens!

This afternoon I have a lesson with my oldest student. I'm glad we'll have a half hour to play the piano this time. Hopefully this will give me a much better idea of where she's at.  I picked up more books today to try with her, so hopefully one of them will work, and we can return the rest!

Back to the Grind

My parents and my sister came for Christmas, but they left this morning, so it's back to the grind now. Daniel only had yesterday off, so he was back to work too.  I went to see the MTHFR family today, but they're not back to school yet, so they're still off their routine.

Tomorrow the books for my only male student should get in, so I may go pick those up and flip through them.  I also need to call my newest student and arrange a time for her interview and trial lesson.  I'm thinking I might plan that for Friday.  She's not in school right now either, but her mom seemed very excited for her to start lessons.  :)

Just about forgot to post today!

I just about forgot to post today.  Life has been... interesting, the last 24 hours or so.  We're planning an almost-impromptu dinner with another couple we've met... twice.  They're coming on Saturday night for dinner.  Monday we're meeting with a potential website client.  Somewhere in there we have to go by the hospital and visit with the billing department about a mistake on the claim they sent to our insurance company for Daniel's ER visit in July.

And in the midst of all that, Mama "T" is sick, so I won't be going over there tomorrow.  That's probably okay though, since I started a new supplement, and I'm detoxing pretty hard.  :P

So, What Do You Eat Anyway? (Part 2 of 3)

Last week I told you a little bit about why we've gone gluten, casein, soy, and corn free, and explained what we eat for breakfast.  Some of you may now be wondering,"If they eat oatmeal or pumpkin bread for breakfast, what do they eat for lunch?".

The simple answer:

Leftovers.

Daniel usually takes leftovers from last night's dinner for lunch the next day.  Two days a week, I'm not home for lunch, and the other three days I am home by myself, I either don't eat lunch because I ate brunch instead, or I eat a more typical breakfast for lunch. Usually I'll fry up a couple eggs, and cook some turkey bacon in the microwave and add a piece of fruit on the side.  If we have lots of leftovers, I might eat those too.

This winter, I think I may experiment more with gluten-free, homemade soups, with a side of potato bread on the side. Oh? I haven't told you about potato bread yet?  Well, that's another recipe from the MTHFR family.  It's pretty simple, it's really just rice flour and potato flour mixed together with some water, and then rolled out and cut into circles.  Because it doesn't have any yeast in it, it doesn't rise. It's pretty much a flat bread, but it's oh so yummy with olive oil and spices on it!

Come back next week to find out what we eat for dinner!  If you eat gluten and casein-free, please leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite, inexpensive, GFCF meal is!

A Day Full of MTHFR

My schedule changed again this week, so today I'm going to work with the MTHFR family, and then attend a presentation about MTHFR tonight! :D Should be a good day, but I didn't sleep so well last night, and "R" had dance yesterday (cue exposure to perfumes and other icky things), so it could be an interesting day. Prayers would be appreciated.

Working with the MTHFR Family--Going it alone...

Yesterday was the first day I had all three kids by myself at all ever. It was only for about 10 minutes... but they were the busiest 10 minutes I've ever had! H kept himself entertained pretty well, but F and R require a little more supervision. T had a meeting at F's school, so she had to leave before her mom arrived to take R to dance. H had hockey practice in the evening, so he had to get ready for that, F had to have sweet potato french fries, and could NOT take a bath, and R needed to get ready for dance, and have something to eat and take her evening vitamins.  H and R pretty much took care of themselves, but F and I had a bit of a confrontation when he decided he wanted to take a bath.

Just at that point, Grandma rang the doorbell, but H was outside, and R is too short to unlock the deadbolt, so I had to leave F in the bathroom, run to the front door, let Grandma in, and very quickly get up the stairs back to F. Thankfully, F was dressed again by the time I got back upstairs.  So... crisis averted.

Working with the MTHFR Family--Flexibility is Key!

Well, it looks like there's been a change of plans for today!  :)  One of the MTHFR kiddos was up LATE last night (okay, early this morning! [flexibility point #1]) and T didn't get much sleep at all. So, she canceled an appointment for this morning (flexibility point #2), and e-mailed me to let me know. But, her e-mail didn't come through (flexibility point #3), so I waited for awhile, and then decided to call T. That's when I found out about the missing e-mail (I just got it now), and the new plan. They're just resting today, and so we're going to shoot for tomorrow.  :)

Working with the MTHFR Family

My sister asked about my job, and how I like it, so here's the answer to her question.  If you have a question for me, please leave me a comment! I'll write a blog post and answer your question!

Note: Names have been changed to protect the innocent.  :)  Their last name is not actually MTHFR, but there's five of them, and five letters, so hey, it works, right?

It all started one day when I was hanging out with Mom MTHFR, who we'll call "T", about the time we found out about Daniel's MTHFR defect. She mentioned something about "R", her youngest, wanting to learn how to crochet, and how to play piano, recorder, and flute.  Funny. I crochet, and I play piano, recorder and flute, and we were also in need of some supplements for Daniel. So, an idea was hatched.

"T" ran our idea past her husband, "M", who thought it sounded fine, and Daniel was in agreement, too, so it was decided that I would spend two days a week helping the MTHFR family out with various household tasks, as well as teaching "R" some crochet and piano.

I've been going over there for about a month now, and it seems to be working out really well.  On an average day, I get there about 9:30am, and most of the time "R" and "H" are still working on school work. So I help a little bit with that, and then do some piano with "R". Right now we're working through Faber's Piano Adventures Primer Level, and "R" is doing great! I think she enjoys playing piano, and she's pretty good! We're also working on independent practice skills so that she can practice without supervision. We did attempt a few crochet lessons, but it was difficult for student as well as teacher, so her parents and I decided to put that aside. In the mean time, "H" has taken a liking to crochet though, so I've given him two lessons!

Somewhere around noon we usually break for lunch. By this time, "H" is usually all done his school work, "R" might have a little bit to finish after school, and "F" is home from special ed. After lunch, we work on finishing up school work. Depending on what day it is, the kids are typically free to play on their own in the afternoon while "T" and I talk and take care of household things (wiping down bins, doing dishes, making sweet potato french fries, or various other tasks), or we get ready to head out the door for "R"'s dance class. Tuesdays work out that I leave straight from their house to Bible Study, and on Wednesdays, they drop me off at home after taking "R" to dance.

I'm enjoying working with this family, and I'm learning a LOT about working with kids with special needs, as well as ways to work with the MTHFR issue in our own family. I'm always amazed when "R", who is 7, spouts off some random fact about a particular supplement or food that I didn't know!

So, that's my job, and what I do! What does a typical day at work (including HOME, for my SAHW/M readers) look like for you?