The 24-Hour Pharmacist by Suzy Cohen starts off with a chapter on overcoming fatigue. Since fatigue is my middle name, I was immediately drawn into this book.

Suzy Cohen is a pharmacist who believes in medication, but she also believes in various natural cures as well. The 24-Hour Pharmacist is chock full of good advice about everything from weight-loss to snoring.

For me, it wasn’t the type of book that I could sit down and read all the way through. Instead, I flipped around to the parts that had to do with me. I got some great advice and some new things to try regarding things like depression and sleeping problems.

If you are looking for some alternatives to the pills your doctor is handing out, or you feel like there has got to be something better out there for you to try, pick up a copy of this book.

Now if you excuse me, I’m off to take some buffered vitamin C to prevent a UTI from attacking me.

See what other bloggers are saying about the book at Mother-Talk.

Callie: No, seriously. Why aren’t they here? Are you sure they said to meet here? We’ve been sitting here for an hour. This sucks.

Me: Yes, they must just be running late. Bubba. Stop hitting Snowbaby. Bubba. I mean it. Stop hitting her.

Callie: Maybe they were lying.

Me: Maybe we are on a hidden camera show.

Callie: Hey! Maybe this is an episode of Punk’d. I hope so. I want to meet Ashton.

(35 minutes later)

Callie: This is the worst episode of Punk’d EVER.

*****

Bug: It’s because I’m in trouble for stealing money from my mom.

Izzy: I don’t steal. I never do. Oh, and I do what I’m told. If you tell me to do something, I’ll do it. I mean it. And I like to cook and clean. Um..I’m allowed to call my brother. And they said you would let me write letters to my mom. And I forgot my night clothes. It was an accident.

*****

Me: Why are you girls talking in the closet?

Callie: Because this closet is the size of a baseball field.

Izzy: Um..I want you to adopt me. I love it here. I like this house. There are things to do here. And I will behave. I promise. I know you don’t know me, but I really want to be adopted. I’m not ready to live on my own yet. I still have stuff to learn.

*****

Bubba: Mom. Mom. Mom.

Me: What?

Bubba: Who is that lady in Callie’s room?

*****

Callie: So, Mama Baggage. Me and Izzy think we need another teenager to even things out. So, when can we get another kid?

Me: Hey Bubba, do you know you are getting a new sister tonight?

Bubba: Another one?

*****

Bug: Wait, she really is coming tonight? For real?

Me: Yes.

Bug: Our family is so cool.

*****

Callie: But I don’t understand. Why does she have to have a transition period? Why can’t they just drop her off for good?

Me: Well, they are just trying to help her adjust. I mean, this morning she was going about her business, this afternoon they call her in to tell her that they found her a family, she’s getting adopted, and guess what? She’s leaving tonight to go meet them. I mean, you can understand how that feels.

Callie: Yeah, she’s probably thinking, “Man, I hope this family doesn’t suck.”

Izzy lives across the state, but a transport team from that area was heading this way tonight for another kid, so the team has decided to let her come for a visit this weekend. The report is that she is THRILLED about finally finding a family.

The respite girls are going to a different home.

I am not **that** insane.

Well, in the interest of time, I’ll just update real quick to say:

That my family is very excited to welcome Izzy, age 17, into our home as a pre-adoptive placement.

The excitement never stops.

After Callie and Snowbaby and I ran around town looking for inexpensive bedding to put on the four beds in the “big girl’s room” (Or as Bubba says, “There are 1-2-1-2 beds now!), I checked my email.

I had one asking me to pick up the three respite/possible placement girls this afternoon.

AND

I had one saying that team/court had met and that they believed I would be a good adoptive home for Izzie (the 17 year old I talked about earlier.) They wanted to know if I would try a weekend visit with her.

TOMORROW.

So um.

I haven’t really talked about all the talking I have done regarding the Izzie situation. I don’t have time to go into all of it now, but I will soon. I knew that they still would need to discuss it with the team/judge because of some case issues and all this. I never thought it would happen this fast.

And then I made a frantic call to my worker.

Who is now making more calls to see what we are going to do next.

All of my kids share the same local worker. I just realized I never gave her a name. Let’s call her Maria (to go along with my Sound of Music title.)

Maria called me this afternoon. She has three children who need, at the minimum, a respite provider, and likely a placement. I agreed to do the respite and would discuss with them further regarding the placement. They need a foster parent who stays home during the day and well, guess who is one of the only foster parents who is home during the day?

This would, of course, put me over my license. Usually, they will make an exception for sibling groups. Maria was discussing this with her supervisor and I’ll learn more in the morning. I really know very little about the whole situation so there was no way I was going to agree to anything but respite at this point.

They are 17, 15 and 14.

Seven children? Oh my.

What a strange day.

I learned some very strange things involving the younger kid’s case. It is one of these situations where I don’t know enough about it to judge at all, but the whole thing is just very odd. As the SW said, “Sometimes cases go the way we want them to and sometimes they don’t.”

As for what it means long-term, I have no idea.

I spent some time talking to the SW regarding the pre-adoptive placement. I think the girl needs a name. Let’s call her Izzie. I learned some things that are causing me to give this idea a second thought. Izzie’s problems aren’t nearly as profound as I thought they were. I still haven’t reached a decision yet.

Well. This post was very vague. I’m sorry.

(P.S. I already mentioned that Bubba threw my toothbrush in the toilet. Not to be outdone, Snowbaby threw Bubba’s baby doll into the toilet. Luckily, I had cleaned it the night before.

Callie: Well, I know one thing that is good about this family. As long as you don’t throw anything in the toilet, you are considered the good kid for that day.)

Thanks for all of the opinions on the “diet.”

A few thoughts:

1. Callie is definitely overweight. I looked up healthy weights for a girl her age that is her height and she is about 50 lbs on the plus side of what they say is healthy. So this is not a case where she weighs 100 lbs and wants to weigh 95. She wants to make healthy lifestyle choices now that she has the option. I think that calling it a “diet” is the wrong choice too. I think continuing to educate her on nutrition, plus adding some exercise will help a lot. Bug and Callie have recently started doing yoga. I think we are going to join back up with the fitness center because then Callie could go swimming. She was excited about that. She comes from a background where kids frequently cooked meals and they had no idea what was healthy or not. She also is not very active..doesn’t play sports or exercise. Her favorite exercise right now is cleaning the house, which I can’t say I mind too much! I think just becoming more active will help tremendously. Although she still gets an attitude about eating certain foods, she has tried to be more cooperative and at least try things. She hates all seafood and fish, but I made a crab fondue dish and she ate it and enjoyed it as long as nobody would mention there was crab in it.

2. We shop and cook together frequently. In fact, all the kids take turns in the kitchen. (And in the laundry room by the way. Bubba loves doing laundry.) Callie likes to cook and especially loves to bake.

3. If you come to my blog to mention your website in my comments, it is usually best to read a little before you “blame” me for something.

4. Snowbaby just made the loudest poop ever and then laughed hysterically.

5. Bubba threw my toothbrush into the toilet this morning.

Thanks for the pool info!

Can any of you recommend a healthy diet for a teenager girl who is a picky eater? Callie is interested in losing weight. I’ve finally convinced her of the fact that eating 300 calories is not the way to do it. She wants to follow a diet plan and start exercising. She is VERY picky about what she eats. Hates all fish and eggs.