Big Fat Tonsils

We may finally know part of the reason that Jonah has been such a stinker lately and why he won't nap! His tonsils are seriously swollen which is likely causing sleep apnea.

We took him to the Doctor today to see if this ear infection that he's had for the past month is gone (it isn't). When the doc. saw Jonah's tonsils he was impressed (at how huge they are) They are so big, they touch together in the back of his throat. They have been this way for for the past month, but since they haven't gone down by now, we will probably have to have them removed.

To tell you the truth, I'm a little relieved. I know this is a pretty major surgery for a kid, but I really feel like it's going to be for the best. This explains why he won't fall sleep, why he has been getting up 4 times a night and subsequently been tired all day and has been a real pill. He can't breath. Maybe he'll even stop snoring!

Anyway, I'll keep you updated weather he has to have the surgery or not, but I'm betting we will.

Fat Tuesday

I've decided to participate in Lent this year. Now, I know that I'm not a Catholic, but I like the idea of making a sacrifice in preparation for Easter.

I'm going to give up sweets and here are the conditions I've set:

-No desserts
-I am going to allow 100 calories of sweets (like candy) allowed per week (Saturday's after my long run).
-I am going to eat a cupcake on Jonah's birthday.

I had to give myself a little wiggle room, otherwise I wouldn't last 48 hours. When I tell myself that I can't do something AT ALL, that is all my mind will focus on and I can't stop thinking about that thing. I will have much more success by allowing myself a little bit of sweetness.

Here is what I am either going to eat tonight (hence, fat Tuesday) or throw away. Goodbye sweet treats!

(Okay, I am going to save the bag of m&m's for Easter. Luckily, the bag hasn't been opened yet, so It's not in any danger of my devouring it.)

I want to do this for three reasons:

1. I want to remember the real reason for Easter by sacrificing something important to me to help me remember the ultimate sacrifice that my Savior gave for me.

2. My health. Besides just wanting to take better care of myself, I've got a half marathon to run April 30th. I really need to give my body the nutrients it needs and none of the junk it doesn't during training.

3. To help me get food creative. I am food boring. I never know what to make for dinner, nothing ever sounds good. Some people just don't care that much about sweets, I just don't care that much about "real" food. I know all the stuff that I shouldn't be eating, but when I take all of that bad stuff away from my diet, there isn't much left. I don't know how I'm going to fill the hole that removing junk food will leave.
So...what do you eat. I would love any recipes, and not just dinner either. Snacks, lunch, breakfast. What are some staples in your diet? Please help!

Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Summary:
In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship - and innocent love - that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel's dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice - words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.

Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.

My Thoughts: 3 stars (out of 5)
This was a good book. Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. It was a sweet story, good writing, interesting plot. I couldn't bring myself to give it four stars. I have a feeling that I will have forgotten it within a week. However,I really did like it and would recommend it to anyone. It was interesting to read a story about what happened in our country during WWII to the Japanese. It gave me much deeper sympathy for what happened. I knew that many were sent to live in interment camps, but I really didn't take it to heart until I read this story and could see what that really meant to the people who it affected.