Showing posts with label Fatherhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fatherhood. Show all posts

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Manage Prescriptions, Chat With a Pharmacist, and Shop Online with Walgreens 24/7! #WalgreensRX #shop #cbias


I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This medication refills shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser Walgreens.  All opinions expressed are my own.

My husband is 43 years young.  That's why we were both taken by surprise when we found out he had serious hypertension, otherwise known as high blood pressure.  He had to take a physical for something work-related and, after checking his blood pressure, they sent him right over to see his primary care doctor, who told my husband that he was very close to be hospitalized.  That was an extremely scary thought for both of us.  Luckily, he has been able to manage his blood pressure with medication and reducing his sodium intake.  Suddenly, we found ourselves managing several different prescriptions just for him.  Not only does my husband need to remember to take specific medications daily, twice daily, or weekly, he also needs to manage his medication refills.  His previous system was to tell me when he notices that he has only 2 or 3 pills left in one of his bottles.  Using the many prescription services offered by Walgreens online is a much better system!

This diagnosis really scared me, but I can only imagine how shaken up my husband was when he first learned about the severity of his high blood pressure.  It was enough to motivate him to make the changes in his life that he mostly only talked about before . . . eating better and exercising more.  He wants to be around to see our children grow up, to teach them new things, to show them fun new things the way only a dad could, to see our children earn their black belts in Taekwondo, and to walk our daughter down the aisle someday (well, that is if he ever lets her go on a date).

Since we have a Walgreens located right next to the Taekwondo studio where our children study, I am running into Walgreens once or twice a week.  Still, the way I stay sane is to do most of my tasks online, including shopping, banking, ordering takeout, grocery shopping, leaving notes for my husband, and much more.  Well, I just added managing my family's prescriptions, medication refills, and refill reminder emails to that list.  Walgreens.com also offers automatic prescription refills, but that wouldn't work well in my husband's case because his medication type and dosage can change frequently.

Whenever I run into Walgreens, I rarely have my husband with me.  We had been talking about buying a blood pressure monitor since he was first diagnosed with hypertension.  While I was at Walgreens.com adding my family members to my account, it occurred to me to look on the website for a blood pressure monitor.  When I found one that was affordable and received good reviews on this and other websites, I just sent the link to my husband to see if he liked it, and placed my order.  Shipping is free for most items when your order totals $25 or more and weighs less than 20lbs, so I was able to have the blood pressure monitor and a bottle of my favorite nail polish shipped to my door for free!

My husband needed to register on Walgreens.com in order for me to add him to my account for managing his medication refills.  This was a quick and simple process.  We were both amazed at how easy it was to view prescription history and to request a refill.

It is easy for me to run into Walgreens or for my husband to go through the drive-thru on his way home from work to pick up his prescriptions, but if you do not have transportation or have limited mobility, it is important for you to know that you can have all prescription refills shipped for free to your door!

Whether you have transportation or not, nobody wants to run out in the middle of the night.  Although I have used Walgreens' Pharmacy Chat before, my husband never did until one night when he was experiencing severe aches and pains as a side effect of his medication.  He really wanted to take an over-the-counter pain reliever to take the edge off, but was not sure if he could take one in conjunction with the multiple prescriptions he was already taking.  This question about drug interaction between his prescription medications and the OTC medication was answered quickly by the pharmacist online.  It only took less than 5 minutes to chat with a pharmacist, my husband never had to leave the house, and he avoided putting himself in a dangerous situation by mixing two medications he should not.

I also want to mention that you can earn or redeem your Balance Rewards points online for prescription refills and purchases.  I was able to get $5 off my husband's blood pressure monitor by redeeming my points!

With the help of Walgreens online services, we have been able to make dealing with my husband's high blood pressure far less stressful.  I am so proud of my husband for making such a serious commitment to taking better care of himself.  He is an inspiration to me and is setting a great example for our children.


Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

Silly Monkey Stories: Where Is Your Off Button?


You parents will know that kids can often be....rambunctious (to say the very least!) and this Father's Day was no exception.

In the morning we went out for breakfast and as always when we prepare to leave the house mayhem ensues. As I am herding the children into the proper seats my oldest Jake says:

“Don’t you wish we had an off button like the t-shirt you have says?” 

This in itself wasn't so odd, but the fact that I did not own such a shirt was.

My youngest son Luke was first to yell at Jake for outing one of my Fathers Day gifts, which turned out to be this Where is Your Off Button? t-shirt.

What the kids do not know is this:  I was thinking the exact same thing about power buttons on children the very moments before all this transpired . . .


Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!




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Silly Monkey Stories: The Case of the Mysteriously Clogged Toilet


I am no super-sleuth, but given enough evidence I can solve just about any caper.

After arriving home from work today, I needed to head to the potty to take care of some business. After prepping to go I see that the toilet has been very impressively clogged. I immediately wanted to know who left this “gift” for me to deal with, but I didn't need to wonder too long.

The "perp" left a trail of gym socks on the floor for me to trace. Fortunately only one individual in my household wears that size.... Crime solved.

Moral of the story? . . .

. . . Pick up your damn socks!



Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!




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Silly Monkey Story: The Code Has Been Cracked


I always knew I needed to be careful about what I said around the kids, but I had no idea my methods of
encryption had been cracked...or nearly cracked.

I know better not to spell out things to Karen in front of Jake as he can spell very well, but I thought I
had another year or so with the twins. Well apparently not so much.

I had a hard time with a coworker last week and wanted to tell Karen about it. To make my point I
spelled out to Karen what I thought of this person as Makenzie was quietly drawing on her magnetic
doodle pad nearby.

When I was done speaking to Karen, Makenzie comes over to me and presents her drawing to me and
says "like that?"

Makenzie drew "8SS" on her pad.

I think I need to upgrade to an enigma machine....




Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!




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Silly Monkey Story: Serious Life Discussions


Our children are now 5, 5, and 8.  They have finally reached the age where they actually have serious conversations with each other.  Sometimes they even have mini debates.  As always, it is most fun for me to listen to these conversations when the children don't know that I can hear them.

Here is one conversation that stood out to me from a few weeks ago.  This completely serious chat took place between our 5 year old and 8 year old sons . . .



Luke:  "I want to be a Power Ranger when I grow up.  What do you want to be when you grow up Jake?"

Jake:  "Oh, I don't know.  I think I'll either be a regular Dad or a professional wrestler."


Although, I found Jake's statement to be completely silly, I do think it is a huge compliment to my husband that our son equates the job of being a Dad to be as cool as being a professional wrestler.





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For Better or For Worse: Where Do Monkeys Come From?


This summer, our children have been on a bit of a banana binge.  For some reason, they cannot seem to get enough bananas, whether they eat them plain, cut up in yogurt, or in an ice cream sundae.  They would barely be finished with one banana before they would ask for another.

In an attempt to teach our children moderation, my husband decided to let our children in on a little secret.  As our children listened intently, he told them where monkeys come from.  He did so by explaining to them that monkeys were really once little children who made the mistake of eating two bananas in one sitting.


I'm not sure our children believed my husband's story, but to this day, they have yet to ask for a second banana again.  Perhaps they think it's better to play it safe just in case?


Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

No Longer Seeing Things Clearly


Every little girl loves her Daddy.  I'm no longer a little girl, but I still adore mine. When I was little he would take my sister and I to the park to play basketball and carry me up to my bed when I fell asleep watching television on the sofa.  As an adult, he is still the best Dad to me and an even better Granddad to my children.  I doubt there is anyone in the world that cares about his family as much as my Dad does.

I admit, as every year passes, I have been thinking about my parents' mortality more and more.  They are still able to live independently for the most part, but I know that the day will come when they will need to be taken care of.  In my mind, that meant my sister and I doing their grocery shopping for them and driving them where they need to go.  It never occurred to me that my Dad would begin to lose his vision.

My Dad has been very near-sighted for as long as I can remember, something that I have inherited.  I always thought that surgery and eyeglasses would always be enough to help him see well enough.  Well, we just learned that his vision in one eye, which is currently blurry, is going to continue to worsen.

I have been thinking quite a bit about how the lives of my parents are going to change.  I have started to wonder how much my Dad will be able to see with having very nearsighted vision in only one eye.  Will he be able to read or watch television?  Will he still be able to walk the dog?  Will my parents need to put corner guards on their furniture to prevent accidents?  I have started to notice which stores and restaurants have and which do not have braille signs on their restroom doors.  Will it come to needing such things for my Dad?  I really do not know anyone who has gone through vision loss, so I feel like I will not know what my Dad will be going through or what he will need until it happens.  I wish I knew, so I can be at least somewhat prepared.




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New 3G2S Series: Dad's the Word!


Many of you have enjoyed stories about my husband in my For Better or For Worse series since June of 2009.  You have heard me mention time and time again about my husband's special sense of humor, which I love even though I give him a hard time about it.  Aside from an occasional Silly Monkey Story, my husband, who writes product reviews for 3G2S, really has not written any personal posts.

Well, my husband surprised me today with a story he wanted to share with our readers.  I think a personal post from him is long overdue.  I really want to encourage him to write more of these posts, so I decided to give him his own series called "Dad's the Word!".  Look for the first post coming soon.


Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

Need a Twin Jogging Stroller to Use On the Road to Getting Fit

As my kids get more mobile and active I can’t help but to reflect on my own physical shape. And right now my shape is round. I can barely keep up with them now and things are really just taking off.  I need to get into better condition.

I am so out of shape now, the only thing I would consider starting with is walking. But whatever I do, I need to be prepared to integrate my kids into it or it simply isn’t going to happen. I immediately thought about jogger strollers as the perfect way to do some aggressive walking while keeping my kids involved.

With a good jogger stroller I can keep my kids with me and actually get out there, and that’s 90% of it . . . just getting out the door with kids. Look at the great selection of double strollers at Morestrollers.com.  They have everything and in all price ranges. I particularly like the Schwinn Arrow Fixed Wheel Double Stroller, but this site has so many choices, I think there are probably a dozen more that would work for me.

Hopefully, I’ll be out there soon zipping by in my rocker-sole shoes, twin jogging stroller, and a pile smiling crazy kids!




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Silly Monkey Stories: Father's Day Photos

actually took 189 photos on Father's Day.  Below are a few of the twins and their Dad that remind me where our three silly little monkeys get their silliness.  You know what they say . . . "The monkey doesn't fall far from the banana tree" or something like that.

On Father's Day evening, we went to an Italian restaurant to dine with my parents, my sister and BIL, and my aunt and uncle.  Look for more Father's Day photos to come on my personal Facebook page and in next Sunday's Weekly Winners photo meme.










If you have a Silly Monkey Story to share, sign Mr. Linky below with the link to your blog post (not the link to your main blog page). Please do not forget to visit the other participants and leave them comments to let them know you stopped by!



Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

For Better or For Worse: Cross-Dressing


We decided this morning to take the whole family to see Kungfu Panda 2 this evening.  The movie was scheduled to start at 5:20pm.  Before we left, I needed to take a shower and eat a light dinner.  While I did that, my husband got the kids changed from shorts to long pants and gave them a light dinner to eat.  Everything was a little rushed because . . . well, we are always in a rush when it comes to leaving the house with the kids because they always take their time to do pretty much everything.

My husband had put the boys in the car while I put a hairclip in my daughter's hair to keep it out of her eyes.  Then we left for the theater as quickly as we could.  We were cutting it pretty close, so I hopped out of the car at the movie theater to go retrieve our electronic tickets from the machine while my husband parked the car.  There was no line, so I got the tickets and waited by the entrance for my husband and children.  When I saw them walking towards the door, something did not look right.  Then I thought, "Why does Makenzie's pants look so short on her?  Did she have a growth spurt?"  Then I noticed that Luke's pants were cut funny.  They were tapered at the ankles and they were a bit long on him.  At that point, it dawned on me that my husband let the twins out of the house wearing each other's jeans!


Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

Silly Monkey Stories: A New Kind of Utopia

Although our 4 year old twins have been potty trained for some time now, once in awhile we still have a potty-related story to share.  Every time our daughter has to use the potty before bedtime, she always takes her time, just to prolong the length of time she can stay awake.

One night, I heard her tell my husband that she thought the last poop was afraid to come out and that is why it was taking so long.  Then my husband told her that the poops want to come out because after they get flushed, they all go to Poopie Paradise.

I think she believed him.









If you have a Silly Monkey Story to share, sign Mr. Linky below with the link to your blog post (not the link to your main blog page). Please do not forget to visit the other participants and leave them comments to let them know you stopped by!



Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

My Photos (W/E 12-25-10)

I'm a little late posting my Weekly Winners photos for this week. You see, the very last gift I received on Christmas day was the flu. Luckily, it didn't hit me until during the drive home from Christmas dinner.

Regardless, we had a great Christmas. Here are some of my favorite photos. I will be sharing many others on Facebook this week.


"One Happy Kid"


"The Best Gift Ever!"


"Sniper No Sniping! Sniper No Sniping!!"


"The Perfect Gift"


"Uncle Tickle Monster"


"Big Kisses"


"Double Kisses"


"Little Boy, Big Stocking"


"Look What Santa Brought Me!"


"Up Up and Away!"



Thank you for taking the time to view my photos this week! If you'd like to play along or see more great photos, stop by to see Lotus a.k.a. Sarcastic Mom.