Ear Candling

A while back some friends and I were talking about ear candling. For those of you who do not know what it is...

Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular therapy, is an alternative medicine practice claimed to assist the natural clearing of earwax from a person's ear by lighting one end of a hollow candle and placing the other end in the ear canal.

After going to the doctor last month and finding out that I had an ear infection I was curious. I had no pain from my ear infection and never noticed a difference even after all my antibiotics were taken. Did I really have an infection or was the doctor seeing lots of blockage? I knew I always had trouble hearing (It runs in the family, right Dad...Hahaha.) and I often have ringing and popping noises in my ears. Well after talking about what ear candling does I figured I'd give it a try. Maybe all I needed is to clean out all the wax and build up.

Last weekend when Corey and I helped my mom move she came across an extra set of ear candles. She gave them to me to try and knowing I needed help in doing this I called her over today to help me. I prepared myself by watching a 'how to' video on the Internet...maybe not such a good idea. I thought I was going to loose my lunch after looking at the debris that comes out of the ears.

But I thought I'd still give it a try. We went outside to do this. It was a good thing that the weather was nice outside...the flame from the candle lets off LOTS of smoke. My mom and I sat out on the front step and laughed at the people walking by wondering what the hell we were doing.

I started on my right ear...that one has been the worst. After the 12" candle burned for a little over ten minutes, my mom distinguished the flame and we looked inside. Ewwww! I almost lost it. My mom wanted to see how much build-up actually came out of my ears so she cut open the hollow candle and measured about 4 inches of waxy crap! Ewwww, again!

Next we burned a candle in my left ear and more waxy crap came out on the side. It's absolutely gross. But, I do feel that I can hear a lot better now. I'll give it a couple of days and see if there's any changes.

It is a disgusting procedure but well worth it.

Quote of the Day

"At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate."

Sisters addicted to Cotton Candy!

My sister, Stef, received a cotton candy maker from the Easter Bunny today. I'm so jealous! Here's why...

When my sisters and I were younger we attended St. Michaels Church/ School in Prior Lake. Every April at the end of the month they have their yearly "Aprilfest" carnival. They have games, a raffle, silent auction, beer, food, bake goods and bingo. All money is raised for the school and church. When I was in sixth grade my parents were one of three couples in charge of running the whole Aprilfest.

Needless to say that for a couple of years of having my parents in charge we spent the whole weekend at the church. We played a few games and brought home our share of live goldfish from the ping-pong game. But we spent most of our time in line for cotton candy.

I wish I could remember the guy's name who ran the cotton candy machine, but I always recognize his face. I saw him two years ago at Christmas Eve service at our church...we were in the elevator on our way up to the main level. I couldn't help myself and I asked the guy if he remembered serving cotton candy at St. Mike's Aprilfest. He said he does it every year. I told him that my sisters and I (over 15 years ago) use to stand in line over and over wasting all of our tickets on cotton candy. He told me that he remembered me and my sisters and that he earned the most money at his booth those couple of years. I had to laugh that he actually remembered us!!!

I got a call from my sister, Stef, tonight and she said that her in-laws got her a cotton candy maker for Easter. I had to laugh. During my sister's pregnancy with Parker that was the one food she craved the most. Now she can make her own.

I think I'm going to spend plenty of time in New Prague eating cotton candy. I'm hoping that when I go down to see my sister that she at least lets me try out the machine myself! Hahaha.

I think the three of us need to make a special trip to Aprilfest this year and let Mr. Cotton Candy Man know that we're still addicted.

Wonderful Weekend.

Friday night was nice and relaxing for me. I took Summit for a nice walk...the weather was great. I finished watching TIN MAN on SciFi. I recorded it last Sunday and have enjoyed the mini series, it's a spin off of the Wizard of Oz.

Saturday I had a great lunch and venting session with two of my co-workers. We used our E-Nails gift cards given to us at Christmas time by one of our students. We were truly pampered with a luxury pedicure. Best teacher gift ever!!
Corey and I had fun Saturday night celebrating St. Patrick's Day with our friends. (Can't wait to see some pictures Pete, I forgot to bring my camera.) I had one of the best margaritas ever...I'm excited to try the homemade recipe myself. Anne made some great Guinness chocolate cupcakes! I may need to get that recipe too. ;)

Despite going to bed late, or should I say really early in the morning, we managed to make it to church for Palm Sunday. We took Summit to Cleary Lake Dog Park this afternoon ...everyone had the same idea. The place was packed but we managed to find a nice area to play in and get muddy and wet. Ewwwwww...we had to give her a bath when we got home.

I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather around here...snow, snow go away!

Quote of the Day: From Our Wedding

"Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."

My Newest Scarf!!

It only took me a couple of hours to make this scarf. I'm pretty impressed with my crocheting speed now. Maybe making a blanket won't be so bad after all.

It's a six inch wide scarf that is 73 inches long (including the fringes.) I used some of the best, yet inexpensive yarn. Lion Brand Yarn, Wool Ease, Thick and Quick, color: Wheat. I tried a new stitch and I'm happy with how the 'double crochet' turned out.

My next mission is to not only continue on my blanket, but to make a scarf for each of my moms. Look out Mom L. and Mom B., you're in for a treat!!!!

I LOVE you Corey, thanks for taking care of me!

I'm now on day 4 of being sick. I'm not 100% today but took today off anyways. I really didn't want to go back to school not feeling 100% and risk that chance of getting really sick all over again.

Over the past month I've had many kids in my class out sick. Fevers, sore throats, ear infections, rashes, you name it. Well...I got it all. (Minus the rash, thank God.) This last weekend was horrible. The worst for me in a long time.

I got out of bed this morning and noticed that my throat wasn't pounding...that's good. My nose is not as clogged, that's also good. My ears on the other hand...still plugged. I never knew I could still get an ear infection at my age.

I'm trying to look at the brighter side of things. If Corey hadn't convinced me to go to the doctor, I'd be worse. I definitely have gotten plenty of much needed rest in the last 4 days. Even if it's only a few hours at a time. NyQuil has been my best friend. I've kept myself hydrated and can't even count how many gallons of water I've consumed.

My husband Corey has been so good to me. (It's hard to lay around and see so many things that need to be done around the house, and not be able to do anything.) Thanks to him all of our laundry is done and our house is, for the most part, cleaned up. He has made a couple trips to the store always bringing me something good back. My favorites...oranges, Eddy's Strawberry frozen bars, and pudding pops. (I wish I could just leave the Popsicle in my throat.)

Poor Summit hasn't been outside with me for her usual walks. I'll make it up to her.

I'm going to rest today and hopefully have all, if not some, of my energy back for tomorrow.

Next time I hope to be writing about something more interesting than being sick.

SICK! Part 2

I slept in today and still felt like crap. I had a bad coughing fit which caused me to throw up. I was also running another low-grade fever on top of it all. I rarely get sick so I guess it's all catching up to me now.

When Corey got home today he took me to urgent care. After a long wait, it turns out that I have an ear infection! My throat is still really sore, but my streap test was negative. (It's always negative!) The Dr. said she call me in the morning if the 24 hour culture turned positive, but I doubt it.

So, I'm on Amoxicillin and hoping to kill off this virus soon.