My new Haiti Blog

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http://micheleisinhaiti.blogspot.com/

31 Hours and counting...

So, I am now counting down the hours til my first departure for Haiti. I am leaving Saturday morning and coming back Monday night. I can't wait!!!

I picked up a book in Lansing at a cute little shop that explains everything you ever wanted to know about Michigan. I plan to bring it with me to demonstrate to the children where I come from.

I picked up my passport Wednesday. I'm all set to go.

Wednesday evening I had a meeting with Mendle and Herbert from the foundation. They gave me a pretty good work over. Fingers crossed they decided favorably on my future.

I've got my stuff ready, just gotta get my FAA approved containers filled to take in my carry on.

In 48 hours I will laying down to sleep for my first night in Haiti.

Stay Tuned...

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

It seems like it has been ages since I've had an opportunity to write for fun. I have finally finished school - finished with a 4.0 and most distinguished graduate honors - even got to give the commencement speech. It was an exciting night. My grandma was there along with my children and closest friends. I was interviewed for the local paper, too! My 15 minutes of fame were the highlight of my college career!

Now on to the next adventure - I'm working on going to Haiti for a year. I had lunch with a local icon who is exec director of a charity organization that runs an orphanage in Haiti. I am flying down next weekend to check it out and if all goes well I will be moving there next month.

It is going to be a crazy month between now and then. My son moved home last week and I will be busy packing away my belongings and transferring over many of accounts to keep things going back here while I'm gone. I plan to set up a program so friends and family can donate money or supplies for the orphanage so that the compensation I ask for will be covered so stay tuned for information.

I am so excited!

Arrrgh! You can't be a writer if you don't write!

So, I've been so swamped with school I haven't really had time for anything! But the payoff has been sweet.
I just received notice today that I have been selected as most Distinguished Graduate and will speak at my commencements. I am so super stoked. I've got the next week off of school which I hope to use to get a little ahead on my school work and give myself some breathing room.

Stay tuned for the next chapter in the Rager saga!

Woot!

Sleep, you elusive thing, you!

For the past week and a half I have been having some trouble sleeping. I am coming up on the midpoint of my last semester of school. We have a new person in my department at work. My son is having a hard time accepting that he has to make grown-up decisions. My knee is falling apart. And now I've had to make the hard decision to put my faithful companion of 15 years down and soon.

So this morning when I had an opportunity to sleep in and maybe catch up a little on my sleep account, my stupid vinyl windows wouldn't stop rumbling! I've been sitting her watching episodes on HULU for the past 2 hours and haven't heard one single rumble. How is that? Grrrr! Think I'll try to take a nap!

Sikkie Germs

So, anybody that knows me knows that I'm not a big proponent of taking pills to fix what ails me. It's not that I don't believe in it. There are those times when I have overdone it at the gym or tweaked my back or something of that nature and I bow to the pharmacological gods in the form of a Naproxen or two or three. And I faithfully take my Claritin every day. (yes, I've tried all the homeopathic allergy remedies and this is the only thing that alleviates 95% of what irritates my sensibilities!)

Okay, I'm rambling...the point of this is, I don't like to take pills. I would prefer to find a home remedy and power thru most ailments. I believe our bodies were designed to heal themselves and I believe we were endowed with all of the ingredients and resources to do so. I also believe that the body can only really heal itself while we sleep. So the first prescription for any illness should be plenty of rest.

I think people are so worried about their jobs, their incomes, their schedules, that our society has become obsessed with treating symptoms and not with treating the causes. So on the rare occasion that I get sick beyond some sniffles and a sore throat, I will generally take a sick day and make it my #1 priority to beat the germs out of myself!

So last week I got hit with a really bad allergic reaction combined with an oncoming cold or virus of some sort which when combined had me nearly out for the count and then I got tummy symptoms. So I retreated to my boudoir for 72 hours, gargled with salt water, drank herbal detox tea, slathered myself in Vick's Vapor Rub, and eventually gave in and popped a couple of NyQuil tabs.

I was able to get back on my feet after a day and a half of dizziness, nausea, and a hot, burning feeling in my throat that wouldn't end. With the aid of Cepacol throat spray I was able to attend a seminar and a few meetings. Friday night I did the steam room at the gym. Saturday I went to Yoga and really opened everything up. But I still had this tight band around my chest, and I couldn't take a really deep breath in. Every once in a while I would cough up some of the congestion from deep in my lungs. I retreated back to my room and wrapped up in a snugglie and slathered on the Vick's.

By Sunday I could tell I was at 85%. I went to church and out to eat afterward. I still had a terrible tickle in my throat and new that I must have a bit left to expectorate. Now, I'm not sissy, but that is one of my least favorite things to do. I had a coupon for Mucinex from the Costco store so since I had to pick up a few things I figured I would check it out. Man! Did I have sticker shock! That stuff is not cheap! But I figured I'd give it a shot.

I am a convert! Within 10 minutes of taking one 12 hour tablet I could already feel my lungs expanding. By the time I was getting ready for bed I realized I hadn't used the throat spray all day! That stuff is worth EVERY penny!

What's even better - I woke up this morning and barely had any residual congestion. I took one additional tablet just to make sure I got all of the yuckies out of my chest, and I think I'm definitely going to try to make it to my kick-boxing class tonight!

I highly recommend keeping a box in the house.

Mucinex In - Mucus Out

Movie Review - Long Overdue

I'm not sure what this next semester holds for me...but I'm going to try really hard to post more frequently.

So here's the first movie review of the year - stay tuned for more:

Love and Other Drugs

Maggie has Parkinson's and Jamie is a philandering ne'er-do-well. Somehow the two of them make it work. All thru the movie I kept waiting for the words, "you...complete me". So, at it's worst it was formulaic and predictable. At it's best, it was some steamy hot sexy love story. In the middle it was the story of a boy who never really thought much of himself meeting a girl that had written herself off. Together they made a pretty good pair.

My favorite scene -


Him: I never actually knew anyone, who believed I was enough, til I met you. And then you made me believe it too. So, uh, unfortunately, I need you. And you need me.
Her: no I don't
Him: yes you do
Her: no I don't
Him: yes, you do
Her: stop it! Stop saying that
Him: you need someone to take care of you
Her: no I don't
Him: Everybody does
Her: I'm going to need you, more than you'll need me
Him: that's okay
Her: no it's not! It isn't fair. I have places to go
Him: You'll go there. I just may have to carry you
Her: I can't ask you to do that
Him: you didn't

Even though I kept envisioning him and Heath on that mountaintop - I still give this one 4 out of 5 rages