Do Not Perturb

For the past, um, six? Maybe it's seven? Anyway, for the past one two three many nights Edward has woken up screaming for me and I have clomped upstairs to join him. Most of the time he falls back asleep and I fall back asleep and it's no big deal but the past couple of nights he has failed to honor this unspoken agreement; choosing instead to whisper, "Can I turn on the lights?" And when I say, "NO. Go to sleep" he lies still for about twenty milliseconds and then says, "I've got an idea! I'll turn on the lights!"

So if you were looking for me last night around 3:30 am you would have found me in Edward's room with all the lights on, trying to sleep in a race car bed with my head sandwiched between two pillows while Edward used my back as a dirt track for his Matchbox cars. And yes I know this is just the sort of overly indulgent post-War parenting that will lead to a generation of self-entitled layabouts with no gumption and, I dunno, rickets but it is truly the best I can do in the middle of the night. I am TIRED in the middle of the night.

But this isn't the story I wanted to tell. This is just the framework for the story so that you understand why Edward and I were sound asleep in his room two nights ago with all the lights on when Caroline sashayed in a little after five in the morning. God only knows what she was doing up at that hour but she was, indeed, up (very very up) and she greeted me with a hearty, "Oh THERE you are, Mommy! What are you doing in Edward's room? Why are the lights on? Can you make me breakfast? Can you make me super-special oatmeal for breakfast? Is that Edward? Is Edward asleep? I think he is sleeping" and she reached one of her surprisingly long and elegant hands across me in order to poke her brother in the face.

"Caroline," I hissed. "Do. Not. Wake. Him. Up. Shhhh. It's still night time. Go back to your own bed."

Caroline considered this for a moment and then said, "No, thank you. I don't think so. I don't think I want to go back to bed. I think I want breakfast."

"You should go find Daddy," I whispered, throwing Steve to the wolves (well, wolf) without pause. "Go find Daddy and tell him you want breakfast."

Caroline said, "OK!" and trotted off and I snuggled closer to Edward and tried to fall back asleep again.

One minute later Caroline returned.

"I need you to make me breakfast," she said.

"Where's Daddy?" I asked.

"Daddy was ASLEEP," she said reproachfully. "I don't want to wake him up."

And that - in a nutshell - is what happens to dopes like me who continue/d to get up with Baby every time s/he opened their little milk holes. Almost four years later they still see me as their after hours caterer slash entertainment director who can be roused on demand; whereas Steve - who would cheerfully lock them in their rooms until the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on Daddy's Awake Now - is treated like a sleeping Venus. 

There is a lesson there for those of us who are propping our eyes open with bags of tea.

+

The walk-in doctor who saw Edward last week thought his lungs sounded ok but she decided to do a chest x-ray when Steve and I couldn't remember how long (I just typed 'lung') he had had his cough and were talking about September in our attempt to recall. She looked at the film and said he looked good to her and sent us home with amoxillian to try to clear the sinuses. The next day, however, she called (personally, I liked that. I mean she called personally) and said that the radiologist had reviewed the xray and had found an infiltration in his right lobe and she wanted to keep him on the amoxillian but if he wasn't significantly better in four days to bring him back in. I said okey-dokey and googled walking pneumonia, which is when I discovered that it is contagious in close proximity. This prompted me to reevaluate Caroline's on-going cold as well as my own lingering cough. I took Caroline to our regular doctor who said he lungs sounded "junky" and he put her on azithromycin, which he switched Edward to as well. Done and done and they are both doing much better.

As for me, I went to urgent care and explained that I had this COUGH and the guy looked skeptical but did a chest x-ray anyway. He said the x-ray looked fine and that I should try sleeping with a humidifier. Fine.

When the clinic left a message the next day asking me to call them back I thought Ah-HA! I assumed the same thing had happened to me as Edward - that the radiologist had seen something that the first doctor had missed and they were going to give me something to treat my racking cough.

Instead the nurse said that my regular doctor (urgent care and primary share a clinic) wanted me to be sure to repeat a chest x-ray in four weeks.

And I said, "Um, ok" and then I said, "Wait, what? Why? Did the radiologist see something?"

She said, "Oh let me check" and then said, "Yes he found a nodule in your right lung so they'd like you to repeat the x-ray in four weeks."

Is it me or should that have been the first thing they told me? I admit I was pretty close to blowing off a repeat x-ray when I thought they were just following up on the first one that said I had a cold.

Anyway I googled pulmonary nodules and then I regretted googling them and I emailed my doctor and said hey could it be a pneumonia because we are all about lung infections right now and he said no it isn't because your blood counts were normal; come back in four weeks and if it is still there we'll do a CT scan. 

So I'm still coughing and I have a thing in my lung but it isn't causing the coughing, which is sort of the worst of all respiratory worlds, you know?

+

Autumn in Minnesota. And Patrick invented snowcone cones (snow, meet food coloring. food coloring, meet (and defeat) every stain remover in my laundry room) and joy reigned.

+

Every Christmas as a stocking stuffer my mother and I have given each other desk calendars by an artist named Ling Chang who does very pretty flower prints in watercolor. I don't even remember when or why we started this but we've done it for over decade. Then last year I decided I wanted something different, so I notified my mother of the pending change and went to Etsy to review the options. I looked at ink and watercolor and gouache and photography; dozens and dozens of different artists. I kept coming back to this one calendar, which was comprised of color photographs of plants and flowers. I really liked it so I ordered it and as I did so I thought, huh, her name seems familiar... lo and behold the photographer wound up being a blog reader and commenter and I thought it was so funny and random that out of all of the calendars I went through I should pick something by someone I "know" that I made a mental note to mention it to you guys. Here it is almost a year later - calendar ordering time - so I thought I would give her a shout out (Hi Shawna) and direct you to her site in the hope that you will like her work as much as I do.    

Shawna Cameron Photography

On the subject of people I sort of know who make things I really love I would also like to direct your attention to Heddy Freddy handbags. Full disclosure: I am a handbag person. I would like to be a shoe person but my feet are too fat so I am stuck with the bland offerings of an indifferent shoe industry (Steve calls them my shoe muus) but bags? I love them. So when my friend Jennifer invited me last Spring to an open house for a friend of hers who has a store in St Paul dedicated to the handbags she (the friend) designs I was all over it. And I liked her bags so much that I bought one, even though I didn't really need one and I don't usually do that sort of more than $5 impulse thing. But they were just so pretty and fun and CLEVER that I could not resist. She explains it much better on her website but basically you get this nice looking insert that keeps all of your stuff and then you can magnet it into different shells for day or evening or by season or mood. Then she also has this larger business tote that works with the insert which is brilliant because you only carry one bag to the office but then your purse pops out so you can take it to lunch or whatever. AND - this is why I am bringing it up now - she has just finished designing a diaper bag that dittos (roomy bag for stuff plus zipped changing pad plus purse insert - all in one; like I said, it's very clever) and she emailed me to let me know it was finally completed to her satisfaction.

So, another female artisan and entrepreneur whose work has personally given me a lot of pleasure and I thought would pass her link along. Fa La La and all that.

Heddy Freddy

+

And finally... holiday presents.

I have no freaking idea. None. I do not have a single thing planned for anyone, including Steve whose birthday is in (lemme check my desk calendar) two weeks. So please tell me what the big and little people in your life really like so I can get some ideas. Oh! And I got a Kinect for my birthday but we only have the game it came with. What are good Kinect games - either for the whole family or just for me?

And to share, under the heading of things we already have I guess I would recommend:

For 5 and under -

1. Fisher-Price iXL players. We call them the monkey players since they came preloaded with some random monkey software. Caroline and Edward got them for their birthdays a year ago and they are not only still working (a miracle unto itself) but beloved. I load music and audiobooks on them for bedtime and both Caroline and Edward like the games. They were able to use them from 2-turning-3 by the way. A downside is the relative lack of available software but the upside is the ability to put your own mp3s on them.

I would be interested in hearing if you have and like any of the other little kid handhelds, though, as I might be open to something that has more games. Leappad?

For your very own Patrick -

2. Patrick has just gotten into video games but he doesn't like 99% of them for one reason or another. What he does like - would walk all night again just to buy it some shoes in fact - is Portal 2. It's a spatial puzzle game and incidentally very very funny (the closing song starts "So here we are again/ it's always such a pleasure/ remember when you tried to kill me twice?") He also likes Crazy Machines. For what it is worth.

I'd love suggestions for other games (PC or Wii or Kinect - I guess we are a multi-platform family) he might like. I tried to load my all time favorite Grim Fandango for him but was defeated by all the cursed Windows platform updates from the past decade.

For some random person -

I love my Aerogarden A LOT. I have a 3-pod and then I got a 7-pod. Both are terrific. I have flowers in one and herbs in the other. Warning: it hums loudly and the light is a lot like glaring sunlight so probably not a great idea for people in studio apartments.

I think that is it. Please advise.

PS Mayo on Monday. Fingers crossed.

PPS We are going to my friend Noelle's for Thanksgiving. That's why I am looking so happy and relaxed.

PPS Oh. Sorry. Yeah, about two weeks after I moved Caroline's bed into Edward's room she decided she wanted to move back to her own room again. Now they play in his room for about half an hour at bedtime and then she returns to her room to sleep. Unless she falls asleep in his bed - which happens - or he requests that she leave, which happened last night and she was mortally offended.

Comments

[julianna]

Happy Thanksgiving! I don't have any gifts to recommend, though I will be eagerly reading comments for other people's suggestions.

Mostly I was posting to find out if Caroline has now moved out of Edward's bedroom? And if there is a story behind the move?

Good luck at Mayo!

[Priscilla]

Oh me oh my. Sounds like you will have a busy intra-holiday season. Best of luck with everything!

[Becs]

Ooh! Does Patrick play Minecraft? If not, he totally should. It is like the most amazing Lego immersion experience, but with additional Swedish independent game designer cred. The official website: http://www.minecraft.net/ And the indispensable wiki: http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_Wiki

[HereWeGoAJen]

My husband showed me the preview for the Disney game for Kinect which looks like it would be a pretty good whole family game. I have no personal experience though. But the colors were pretty in the preview.

[Lisa]

Portal 2 ROCKS. My over 50 husband and my just-turning-7 tomorrow son play it together and love it. Needless to say the younger one is an ace player who gets a tad frustrated waiting for his father to look around and explore.

The only gifts we are about in this house is LEGO. (The LEGO video games are fun, btw.)

[Ginny]

Did I miss a post? I thought the twins were sharing a bedroom. What happened?

[Pam]

We like the Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster which Carolyn & Edward may like. Also, any of the sports game are pretty decent. And we like the Michael Jackson Experience, although the other dance games are fun, especially for a party. And if you ever played Fruit Ninja on a tablet the Kinnect version is cool.

This link shows you all Kinnect games and their ratings.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-ca/Games?genre=3028

[Chelsea]

I love Portal 2! Has he played the first one? It's really the only video game I've enjoyed (bar various Guitar Band incarnations) on the 360.

Oh, wait, I forgot one - Viva Piñata was a lot of fun in an obsessive must-organize-and-build-these-creatures-suitable-habitat-until-5-in-the-morning kind of way.

[Julia H]

I love Portal 1 and 2. If you haven't gotten him Portal 1 yet, that one. I asked a gamer friend of mine and he suggests Braid, which appears to be a very inexpensive game on Steam. No other suggestions. Good luck!

[Julia H]

Oh, also, Patrick might like some Nintendo DS games. The Professor Layton games are all brain puzzles and such. I'm sure there are other games on the DS he'd like, too, so it might be worth getting him one. Plus, quiet during car trips!

[Katie]

While my husband was being diagnosed with kidney cancer, the doctor said if he pull random people off the street and did chest X-rays he would find nodules on terr lungs that are nothing. Fret not. Happy Thanksgiving!

[Jan]

Hm, well, you're under 50 and as said above, most nodules are precancerous. At best, it's related to an infection... but didn't you used to smoke? I read that if it's round in shape it's likely benign; malignant ones are irregular. Given that, the fact that they didn't haul you right back in is positive. Try to not worry until you know something, Happy T-Day and good luck at the Mayo!

[DaisyJD]

I think you should have some company (do these exist?) to come in and determine if all these sniffles over the past year are just a case of Many Small Children Bringing in Germs or if something more sinister is afoot, perhaps a small gnome living in the duct work (or Caroline's closet, I can imagine her harboring such a fugitive) spraying pestilence and illness into your air at regular intervals? I just want to send you tissues and tea and maybe a cozy blanket to burrow in.

[Katie]

My gamer boyfriend has suggested "Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet" for Patrick. It's a puzzle game that you download off of Xbox live. Hope it helps!

[tammi]

I was actually looking at the post about the capes you got awhile ago. Was thinking of getting some for gifts. Her site does not seem to be active. Do you happen to have contact info? Or know if she stopped selling them?

[Amy F]

For anyone reading before midnight, my husband was giddy this morning when he found out that Portal and Portal 2 are available (today only) for a total of $12. I assume he bought them through Steam, but I am the only non-Portal player in this house and the extent of my Portal knowledge is that they play it on our PCs and have to open a program called Steam to access it. But if you're thinking about buying it, there's a way to get it super-cheap today. My husband will be home in half an hour and I can get clarification if you email me at amyrobynne at gmail dot com. My husband was very excited that he could buy a second copy on the cheap so now he and the boys can play the cooperative game together.

Back to Julia --

My 5.5 year old hasn't stopped talking about Portal for months now. We have to hold his mouth open while brushing his teeth because he will keep talking and talking and talking about it. He also got into Crazy Machines when we got it last Christmas and he has fun making things but it's a bit beyond him so he hasn't really played it as fully as I expected it was made to be played.

Since they seem to be on the same wavelength with those, have you tried World of Goo? That was the other game we got last Christmas and all 4 of the preschool-and-older types in this house obsessed over it for quite a while. I haven't gotten into video games in ages but it appealed to me (who only likes Tetris-type puzzle games and nothing involving killing). It's simple enough that the 5 year old was quite good at the easy sections but it provided a nice challenge for the adults.

[elsimom]

I think Patrick would enjoy a camera (if he doesn't already have one).
My 9 year old loves hers, and now my 7 year old wants one. We got hers on a black friday sale a couple of years ago - and it has been great fun.
Do you have Hullaballoo? My almost 4 loves that game, and also loves to play it by herself - even when I grow tired of it.

[Jan]

Re above: I think Patrick does have a camera, but depending what it is, maybe a better one? Do you have Photoshop or equivalent software? Since he's into spatial relations and design, I think he would really enjoy learning about color correction, scaling and sizing, filters, cropping, making collages, etc. At some point, he might enjoy learning more about optics and manual settings for single lens reflex cameras. At the other end of that, I bet he would LOVE a pinhole camera and learning how to print and develop photos the old fashioned way. It doesn't require that much expense -- some photo paper, developing fluids that you mix, a red light and some squares of glass. Mainly a small room that you can make completely dark.
http://users.rcn.com/stewoody/ is a useful link for making them out of oatmeal cans -- there are many more out there and you can also just buy one. Just a thought.

[Sarah]

For games ... have you tried scribblenauts? I have the first one for DS, and I think there is a sequal. It is a spelling type puzzle game - instead of being given a set of tools, you can write/type pretty much any word and the object will appear to help solve the puzzle. (hooray - another true example of irony, a spelling game recommendation rife with spelling errors!)

[FishyGirl]

For Patrick, from my gifted 10 year old:

On the PC, through Steam:
Both Portal games
Minecraft
World of Goo
Terraria
Plants vs. Zombies

On the Wii and DS he likes the Super Mario Brothers games, the Lego games, and he various puzzle things - he's working on Puzzler World right now on the DS. He also likes the farming role-playing games Harvest Moon (there are a number of incarnations) and Rune Factory (ditto).

My just-turned 5 year old has had a Leapster for about a year and loves the thing, and he got his as a hand-me-down from someone who had it as a 3 year old, so I think they are pretty durable, and there's a wide range of ability levels for the games.

As for the x-ray, I once got totally freaked out by a something that showed up on a lung scan once, and it turns out it was "an artifact" meaning "some kind of unidentifiable spot that only existed once." It's probably nothing.

[Stephanie]

I like Fat Brain Toys . . they have some pretty cool stuff. The only time my hubby gets excited about any Christmas present is if it is an electronics type thing (blue ray player). Maybe a kindle or nook for Patrick?
My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE Playmobil.

Happy Thanksgiving and sending "healthy" thoughts and prayers.

[Jan]

Oh my god, I meant to write, "most nodules are NOT precancerous." So sorry, Julia. I am procrastinating from a wave of pre-Thanksgiving late night preps.

[Laurie]

Jonathan Coulton is the genius behind the Portal 1 and 2 ending songs. His music is skewed geek-ward, so if Patrick likes 'Want You Gone', check out the rest of his music at http://www.jonathancoulton.com/

[bethinthecity]

I second Minecraft - my 15 year old son and 12 year old daughter and husband all play it - a lot. My son watches the you tube videos that teach him all sorts of stuff about it, he listens to live streaming events and podcasts....it's quite entertaining for him. And he loves Portal 1 and 2. Minecraft reminds me of legos in a game format - you build and build and build and it's artistic enough that my daughter loves it as well.

[Kammah]

Feel lucky that you have no ideas for gifts because you *could* have impossible gifts on their lists.

Like Poland.

My boyfriend wants Poland.

I don't even know.

[Vanessa]

I have Plants vs. Zombies on my phone and love it. My daughter and I both love the Sims in all its incarnations, but it might be a little mature for Patrick at this stage. (Sims can have sex, though you don't see anything - they just disappear under a blanket and giggle a lot until someone gets pregnant.)

[Ann]

I'm showing my age, but does Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego still exist? I loved that game when I was 10 to 13ish.

[suz]

World of Goo, definitely. My son loved it, I loved it.

[Helen]

Minecraft is brilliant - be warned though, it is another language that you will not speak and if Patrick is anything like my 14 year old and his friends it will take on a central role in his life...That said, although there are zombie things and the occasional monster that pops up the graphics are totally old school blocky and they can create wonderful abodes and landscapes and, by the way, learn massive amounts about programming and general computer type stuff that actually means nothing to me...good luck!

[~Lucy~]

Minecraft. My 9 year old is utterly obsessed. I had to put a password on the computer to restrict his access! And I don't even pretend to be interested in what the creepers or the dogs or the pigs or the whatevers are doing anymore. There are only so many conversations you can have about Minecraft and I've had all of mine.

(Oh, and I think membership is about $20).

[Carrie]

Have you tried any of the Lego wii games? My son and husband both like those above all other games. Even I will play them. They involve a lot of logic and problem solving. I really like the original Indiana Jones game the best. My son likes the Star Wars series. We all kind of think Harry Potter is no fun because it is so danged dark. Why can't wizards figure out electricity?

[Helen B]

Anything with wheels for little boys - hot wheels, police cars, etc. I also like the Playmobil brand because most of their toys are made in Germany. Monster trucks from Hot Wheels. Tonka has a set of "mini" trucks (police truck, dump truck, etc.) that make noises with buttons - made in Vietnam. I like to get toys that aren't made in China.

[Medical Mojave]

I have two lung nodules, although too small for xray to pick up and hence, too small for biopsy. They found one in a CT for a pulmonary embolism and the other in the follow-up CT.

They are very likely benign. Most are. And if they are not, any bad stuff will likely be confined to the nodule--point for being a non-smoker as smokers have a whole other risk profile.

Try not to worry about it.

M

[Christine]

Oh, I love you. The first section here, about how you're at their beck and call in the middle of the night because it's the Middle Of The Damn Night, is so exactly my situation. Except I have to nurse the three-year-old back to sleep every time she stirs, and I lack any of the requisite willpower to change the situation. At least I don't have two of her, I suppose.
Thank you.
And happy T-day.

[Jujube]

You should take a look at GOG.com - "Feeling nostalgic about the good old days where gameplay reigned supreme? Longing to spend some long, passionate nights with your favorite games of yesteryear? We're proud to present GOG.com, the site where it's all about Good Old Games and the people that [sic] play them." All games are compatible with XP and Vista. Be forewarned, though, the graphics haven't been updated. The games look and play as they did when they first came out. I personally don't mind, but some people may just be too hooked on their HD to want to look at gigantic pixels. Sadly, they don't have Grim Fandango (yet - make a suggestion?), but you might find something else Patrick would like. Happy Holidays :-)

[RocketGrl]

Just curious, but did Eddy-bear start holding his night time scream + turn on the light festivals after Caroline stopped sharing his room?

Has he tried sharing Caroline's bedroom?

Shawna's photography is stunning. Thanks for sharing.

[alianora]

For the Tweedles and video games, Voldemort, my four year old, loves his Leapster 2. We got a couple of new games, which were pricy, but then lucked into someone on craigslist who sold us 5 for nothing. My main issue is that the graphics aren't that awesome. Leappad also makes kiddie tablet computers now. They might be worth looking into.

[lizardek]

Scribblenauts is AWESOME. It's also available for iPad.

My kids, who love Portal 2, also love Little Big Planet 2: highly recommended! (PS3)

[Throwingutah]

If Patrick has a DS, Scribblenauts is AWESOME. Now I have to look up Steam and Portals and such for my 7yo.
Playmobil is my go-to gift, although my 5yo is getting the Wall Tracks from Hot Wheels, because STICKING THE TRACKS TO THE WALL seems like a peachy idea.

[Erika]

A friend just suggested this site for toy ideas, and the 8 yr. old just spent an hour making lists for herself and the cousins.
http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toys_by_ages/ages.cfm

[Shawna]

Hi Julia! Thanks for the shout-out!

I noticed a jump in views and was trying to figure out where so many people had come from...

I appreciate the mention, and the gift suggestions too - I'm pretty stuck this year for ideas.

My kids' daycare has a Kinect and they liked the Kinectimal game, but the big hit is the dance one. My daughter is totally going to be a raver club kid some day (or whatever the 2020s version of that will be).

[Alexis]

Minecraft is a video game that my fiance plays on the computer. It is basically virtual 8-bit legos with monsters that come out at night. He can sit on there for hours at a time skyping with his friends - who also play on the same server.

[Emily]

The lego games (available for Wii, which is how I have them, XBox, PC whatever) ae fabulous. I've been playing Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 all week. Witty, puzzley game. Batman is my favourite. There's also Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Carribbian).

I assume he's played Portal?

[Kelly]

Try the original Portal (PC) game for Patrick, otherwise my boys (5, 7 and 32) all adore Little Big Planet (and, I'll admit, I do too). It's brilliant in how easy all age ranges can play it, enjoy it, and it's very very creative and encouraging for little game designers to muck about in (or, as the less focused among us do, make junk piles on their moon).

Otherwise, we're giving photo albums to our littles (we just got back from a family vacation), and I'm getting Double Chocolate Beer for hubs, if I can find it.

[Jen]

I agree with the folks above who have suggested Plants vs. Zombies for Patrick. My partner and I have both gotten hooked recently--it's a fun mix of strategy and speed. And I think it's exactly Patrick's sense of humor.

[Jane]

So this is a weird question, but I went to Flotsamblog per your suggestion and have been following her for awhile. Now suddenly I can't get to her site as "server not working"--her server, not mine. She was barely pregnant and worried, so now I am worried too. Does anyone know anything?

[tadpoledrain]

I just emailed you directions that might work for running Grim Fandango -- I had a comment all typed out, but it must have had too many links in it, because the blog wouldn't accept the comment. Just look for an email with the heading Grim Fandango.

If Patrick does end up liking that game, I recommend any of the Infocom Zork games -- he probably wouldn't be into straight text adventure games (although who knows?), but the later ones were graphics-based. You might want to check them out first, though -- some of them were a little creepy. I just checked, and they're available for cheap at Good Old Games.

[Kirsten]

I was rather concerned about your post until I read the comments about lung nodes most often not meaning anything. That is good!!! Good luck tomorrow at Mayo...

[Heather]

Isn't this why children write letters to Santa? So you can find out what they want without having to guess? Maybe Steve should write a letter to Santa too...Although I will say I made my husband very happy by getting him a Sonos wireless stereo component. It allows you to play music on your stereo that you have stored online, plus any radio station that streams online, plus with a Spotify account (sort of like Pandora, but bigger?) you can stream almost any music at all. Truth be told, I don't really understand it, but it seems to make him very happy. And it actually works.

[Lizneust]

I am 3rd or 4th in recommending World of Goo, and I think the people at Fat Brain Toys are geniuses. I can't remember if c & e are into arts and crafts, but I love everything the folks at ALEX make. I know there are beat-box machines for kids, but that might not be of interest to Patrick. That's all I've got on the present front. No ideas for Steve - maybe a subscription to Fine Woodworking or something?

Odd ball question - has the radon in your house been tested? There just seems to be a lot of respiratory / nasal issues is your family. Could there be something that is in the house? (and abject apologies if that spooks you. We bought a second home that was riddled with radon issues, and I didn't even know what it was.)