Thia, Benny and I have colds

A week ago, Thia got a stomach bug or stomach flu and vomited all night long. The disease is gone and now she has cold. Usually she coughs so hard and it will make her vomit. She couldn't sleep well because of that. It means I couldn't sleep well either, helping her out. Poor girl. And poor Mama .... ;)

Two days ago, Benny got the same bug as Thia: stomach bug or stomach flu. He is feeling better now, but he has a little cold.

I have a cold. Fortunately, mine is not too bad. Even though I am dizzy and my nose is stuffed up, I still can do the housework.

Everyone but Gus, is sick. Usually I am the one who almost never gets sick. Alhamdulillah! Here, mothers are not allowed or are not supposed to get sick, otherwise the world will stop spinning. ;)

Let it snow ... let it snow ... let it snow ...

Yup, we got tons of snow again today. In the past two weeks we had 4 snow storms. Fortunately I didn't have to go anywhere or get trapped somewhere during the storms. But that doesn't mean I feel safe driving the day after the snow storm. The roads are usually still pretty bad. I really have to be careful driving in the snow. I don't want to get in any more car accidents ... snif.

I don't like when Gus has to drive in the snow storm. So, usually I tell him that the roads will be very bad to try and convince him to change his mind. But as usual Gus said he will use his good judgement. If the roads are very bad, he will come back home.

Today, Gus was driving out there. I called him to make sure that he was okay. He told me he needed to call a tow truck, because he got in an accident. Of course I was worried. But after a few minutes, he said he was just joking! O my God! "Gusssssssss ... you are not nice!" Gus laughed so hard. He likes teasing me. Actually, this is the second time he made a joke getting an accident in the snow storm and I believed him both times. "Grrrrr ... @#$%^&*!!!"

Sleep Apnea

Roar ... roar ... It was not sound of a lion or other wild animal, but it was Gus's snoring sound. hehehe ... I am a light sleeper, so I wake up every time I hear any noise.

It sounds normal, doesn't it? Gus snored while he was sleeping (so do many other people). But it was not normal! Gus was diagnosed with sleep apnea after he got checked out by a special doctor. It meant Gus would stop breathing repeatedly during his sleep. His sleep apnea also made him very tired during the day.

Here is a short description of sleep apnea according to Amerian Sleep Apnea Association:

The Greek word "apnea" literally means "without breath." There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. In central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.

Sleep apnea is very common, as common as adult diabetes, and affects more than twelve million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. Risk factors include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. Yet still because of the lack of awareness by the public and healthcare professionals, the vast majority remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant consequences.

Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated. Several treatment options exist, and research into additional options continues.

There are treatments for sleep apnea: surgery or using a CPAP machine.
After a lot of thought, Gus chose to use a CPAP machine. CPAP is short for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It blows air at prescribed pressure.

His machine is great! It has been helping Gus to sleep really well at night. Gus didn't feel comfortable using it at first, but he kept using it. Now he doesn't have problem sleeping at all.

The good news is CPAP machine is covered by insurance! You can click here to find out more information about CPAP machine.

I hope this information is useful for you all. Because sleeping better can make your days better too! ;) Good luck guys!

Boston Red Sox

Last night I went to the Red Sox game with my husband, Gus, his friend, Karl, and Karl's wife Tina. It was a good game though the Red Sox lost 4-3 to the Yankees. But no matter what, Red Sox vs Yankees is always an interesting game.

Something funny happened in the middle of the game. It was in the 7th inning when Eric Hinske hit the ball off the wall. Suddenly one of the fans, a guy, ran on to the field and took Robinson Cano's hat and ran around. Security chased after him and finally tackled him and Gus said that the guy definitely went to jail. They don't tolerant fans that break the rules, and that is why they don't show fans doing that on TV.

Gus can't believe that I was at game four of the 2004 ALCS (American League Championship Series). People, including him, are still talking about it. It was one of the greatest games in Red Sox history, the one where Dave Roberts stole second in the 9th. That year, the Red Sox were baseball world champions, the first time they won since 1918.

The curse was gone. The Boston Red Sox can be the World Champions again at anytime. They look good this year. Keep believing people!

Visiting Frantz

On Labor Day weekend we went to Greenfield, Massachusetts to visit Chris and his wife, Melissa, and their children: Kyan (2.5 years old); and Mila (5 months old). Chris is one of Gus's "Helmet" friends from Duke University. Karl, Tina and their 9-month old son, Alex also came. Karl is one of the Helmet too.

We had a good time hanging out together. The fathers played wiffle ball. The kids had a blast playing in the sand box, with the bubble machine, and riding a battery-powered toy car. The mothers talked about their husbands and their children ... haaa ... women!




We had delicious chicken, salad, corn on the cob, and hamburgers for dinner. After dinner I tried Mother's Milk Tea (haaa ... I know, funny name huh?!). Melissa told me that it was special tea for breastfeeding. I never heard about it before but I really wanted to try it. Although it tasted okay, it is not my favorite. :)

We stayed at Hampton Inn, near Chris's house. The next morning we invited everybody to swim at the hotel. We had a fun swimming, nobody else was there, and we didn't get caught, so it was perfect. ;) Unfortunately, we had to leave early because Benny had a hockey game in the afternoon. Melissa said: "Thanks Anna and Gus for inviting us to swim!" Gus said: "Hey, anytime!" And everybody laughed.

Hunting camp

It is a tradition in Angus's family especially the guys to go hunting every year. Usually it is held in middle of November in the Adirondacks, in New York state. Gus doesn't hunt, but he still goes every year to hang out with his family. The camp was built by uncle Josh in ... "no idea!" Gus said.

A week ago Gus and Benny went to the camp for a work weekend. They left on Friday morning and stayed there for two and half days. That was when I called 911 because I was nervous of being alone at my house (old post: 911). Gus's job was to bring food; he made beef stew, marinated steaks, brought some bread, snacks, and beverages.


They were building an addition to the camp. The other guys were: Steve (hunting buddy from Skaneateles), our cousin Alex's husband, Steve, and his two sons, Will and Nat; and cousin Jace, who was the team leader. Benny was very excited to be there, because he had two friends to play with.



When they got home from camp on Sunday, it was in the middle of the night. Gus and Benny were very dirty and they had a lot of dirty and wet laundry... ayayay! Benny was very tired and half sleeping when I helped him take a bath.

The next morning Gus told me that everyone worked very hard in the rain and when they left, the addition still needed a lot of work. Gus also said that the camp is not designed for women. Starting with: there is no electricity! Hmm, I am getting suspicious, what's next ... There is no shower ... omigosh! But luckily there is a river next to the camp (... uhm ... okay, I started to giggle). And there is no toilet (... whaaat? Haaaa!) I had been jealous of Gus every time he went to hunting camp. I thought the place was an exciting vacation house. So for me, it would be a disaster! Haaaa ...

You can see more pictures here.

It's not a man thing?

Every day I have piles of dirty laundry. Because I am so busy, I do the laundry at night and fold them after we put our kids in bed. That means I fold them while my husband, Angus, and I watch tv shows, so, fun huh?! One night, I asked Angus to help me to fold the laundry and he didn't mind doing that. But when I checked his folding, omigosh ... what a mess ... especially the nice clothes. I laughed, but I didn't want the nice clothes to be wrinkled, so I did his folding all over again. Angus laughed too but was confused when he saw me doing his folding all over again. He thought he did a great job. Since then, I only let him fold the easy stuff like shorts and socks.