This is yet another reason why we don’t step foot in Walmart. Remember this company profits over 2 billion dollars per quarter. Over 60% of its workers have no health insurance (or get it in other ways). And now taking money away from poor families that need it.
Walmart Sues Permanently Injured Employee
Excerpt:
Employers grab accident victims’ cash
Wal-Mart’s health plan sued an ex-worker, brain-damaged in a crash, to collect money from a settlement she’d received. It’s part of a trend in which companies aggressively try to recoup insurance costs.
By The Wall Street JournalA collision with a tractor-trailer seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved.
After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Deborah Shank’s care.
Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Deborah’s former employer, Wal-Mart Stores.
Read the above link for more on the story and you can also donate to the family at Walmart Watch.
Each year at Easter, we hide the Easter Baskets..or ahem, the Easter Bunny does. He also does something that my mother did for me when I was a kid. She leaves clues. The kids come downstairs on Easter and find one clue on the table for each of them. For Connor, its like a pun where he actually has to first figure out what the clue is pointing to. Here’s an example;
They call me a box
But I don’t look like one
Inside me you’ll find letters
Check me daily for some
A place to cook
Not in the kitchen
Under my lid
Might be some chicken
I spin in circles but
I’m not a ride
The only passengers I have
Get dried
For a few years for Owen, I’ve printed out pictures as the clue (van, bike, oven, dryer, mailbox, etc). This year, I’ll probably use short words. Each clue takes them to a new place, which has another clue. I try to make this last for a good 20 minutes and have them go back/forth, inside and out. The final clue they search for is where their Easter baskets are!
They love it as much as I recall from my childhood. 
The Environmental Working Group answers basic questions on the BPA issue. A great site to send someone who isn’t aware of the BPA concerns as its a simple read with clear and concise information.
The HP Blog’s BPA entries.
If you haven’t seen this site yet, its worth the look.
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?icl=7
I’ve been neglecting my blog while attending to pox and other fun things at home. The chicken pox made its way through everyone in my house including my husband (which was not fun for him)….all a week or so apart. We are now pox free! YAY. Back to our regularly scheduled program.
with the Chicken Pox!
Connor had what we though was a bug bite on his forehead Wednesday night… some “boo boo oil” (lavender) and all was well. Connor and Owen both woke up with a fever on Thursday morning without too much else in the way of symptoms. Owen has had a slight cold all week but nothing major or worth mentioning.
Then Connor has another bug bite on his chest on Thursday during the day. And Friday morning we woke up to the motherload! 90 “bug bites” so far including a few on his scalp. He’s handling it quite well. Owen so far has no pox but has the fever and got the fever about 12 hours after Connor. This is good because we were hoping that Owen was infected by the same source as Connor and not by Connor himself, as there might have been a 2 week incubation otherwise.
I’ve given Connor some Rhus Tox and Sulfur homeo remedies. He’s a little itchy but not overly so. I also read that apple cider vinegar is wonderful for helping with itch HOWEVER, I’ll add that one should expect pretty intense stinging, which we weren’t prepared for. I got that “you hurt me” look from my 9 year old. If its going to hurt/sting, they can usually handle it if I warn them! Anyhow, I made a paste from baking soda, water, lavender eo and a dash of apple cider vinegar which Connor says is helping (plus it dries so he can put clothing back on and move about normally).
I had the chicken pox as a child and have the scars to prove it. Dh thinks he never had it..so now we have to find out what to do there and possibly have his titres checked. We’ve been “meaning” to do this for so long since we knew it was inevitable the kids would get CP (and we wanted it that way) but of course, life got in the way and we never got it done. So now we’re faced with this “what do we do now” situation. So if anyone is in the same boat….go get your titres tested NOW!
This photo doesn’t look so bad, there are clusters of them in spots. What amazed me more is that my “little boy” is looking quite broad in the shoulders! Wow…how did I not notice that before?
Oh gosh, I can’t believe how long I’ve been absent. Nothing too major going on there, just life but it has whisked me away from my online time since the Holidays.
I’ve made a new commitment to check in and write something at least a few times a week and even if brief, at least for a bit.
I am not a baker. I’m a good cook so I can adapt to just about anything but my ventures into healthy baking have always produced pretty dismal results. SO….I made a decision to first excel in the not so healthy baked goods and then gradually convert my recipes that rock.
So this is the result of 2 days of baking not so healthy stuff (all purpose flour, florida crystals, brown sugar, etc), my neighbors and local friends are happy. :) We’ve got oatmeal raisin (dh’s favorite), chocolate peanut butter chip, sugar cookies with homemade icing and good old chocolate chip. We made truffles too that looked really pretty but tasted not so good.
Enjoy your holiday!
I found this in my email box this morning and it is cute enough to share…..
Dear Santa,
I’ve been a good mom all year. I’ve fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor’s office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son’s red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I’ll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.
Here are my Christmas wishes:
Continue reading ‘Dear Santa…’
