Firstly, if any of you are concerned that I really believe an herbal salt bath will remove a zombie curse, I have to admit that I forgot one important, vital step. Before saying "Na-na-na-nah, zombies can't touch me!" you must put your thumbs in your ears and wiggle your fingers. Follow the magical statement with a loud raspberry and then proceed with your relaxing soak.

I mean, seriously, people, everyone knows zombies can't actually curse you. They have rotten brains.

Second, and this should be first - Explosion's heart is fine! Hurray! The doctor said his heart rate was between 105 and 112, which is perfectly normal. I pointed to the report, which very clearly said "sinus tachycardia" and he said, "The machine doesn't know the difference between children and adults." How ridiculous! The technician entered his height, weight and age, so why wouldn't the computer adjust for that? It's a computer, after all. HOWEVER, it's not all good news - the doctor is sending him for bloodwork to check for Type 1 Diabetes, we have a pediatrician appointment in a couple of weeks (to rule out ADHD, which I don't think the doctor is considering at this point), and there's a possibility of checking thyroid levels. There is something "off" in my child's health, and I'm determined to figure out what it is.

Third, is the weather in your area as miserable as it is here? It's been alternating between snow, hail and freezing rain all day, and it's horrible. Blech.

Fourth, the March Food Storage Challenge - I'm cautiously taking part. There are a few health issues (and no, I'm not telling anyone about them at the moment) that mean shortages might *have* to be supplemented at the grocery store. For example, fish has been added to our regular diet, under doctor's orders. (Repeated today - he's serious about this.) For now, that means frozen store-bought fish because it's all I can afford.  However, I'm going to talk to L to see if I can find a local source of affordable fish. Local lake fish is $18/lb, which puts it far out of my budget.

Fifth, Arctic Cod - Okay, everything I read about this says that it's "not commercially harvested in Canada", but it is now. Sobeys now has two pound bags of Wild-Caught Arctic Cod available for about $5, which is an amazing price for fish. I am going to talk to my sources and try to find a more local source of fish, but I was warned by our seafood manager that local fish sells for about $18/pound and she doesn't even bother stocking it for that reason.

Sixth - Starvation has the croup. I have always read that stepping out into the cold night air helps. Well, the cough just would NOT stop, so we bundled our toddler up in a warm blanket, I put on my coat and boots and I went outside. The cough stopped immediately. I stayed out for about ten minutes, and not a single cough the entire time. After I came in, it returned but at a very reasonable level. I'll keep the blanket and my coat handy. In the meantime, the humidifier is going in their bedroom, with the door shut, to try and get some steam action going.