Cooper came home yesterday with a low-grade fever. He seemed alright, if a little fussy. His cold seemed to have taken a turn for the worse because he was coughing more, his nose was running more, and he had goop coming from his eyes. Not pretty.

Around 3am-ish, he got up crying and was sitting up in his crib when I walked in, so I knew he was gonna be up a while. Thankfully he calmed down right away, though he did not go back to sleep quickly. I rocked him for about a half hour and wrapped him up tight in one of his blankets to keep him warm since he still seemed to have the fever (too tired to fight him to check his temp…he was warm but not blazing enough to cause alarm). In the morning I heard him talking in his bed, Justin gave him his cup of milk and told me while I was still half asleep that Cooper had lost of poop in his eye. What? I asked Justin alarmed, “he had poop in his eye?” Now it was Justin’s turn to look alarmed, then corrected my groggy hearing, “no, he had GOOP in his eyes”. Not much better, but at least goop is less smelly than poop. I mean, I remember reading horror stories of people’s children figuring out how to take off their diapers and playing in their poop. That alone makes me consider using duct tape on diapers.

So I get up and get ready for work. I get Cooper and he feels warm still. Take his temp and it’s 100 degrees. Not high, but at 8am, it could really only go up. Argh! I call and leave a message for my boss and jump in the car to run up to the office to pick up my laptop (cuz dude! if daycare had called me when they took his temp yesterday, I would’ve brought it home. Yoiu know, so that Cooper wouldn’t be sick). While in the car I call the pediatrician to get an appointment, wondering if this is going to be another one of those visits where they proclaim it a mere cold, stamp his butt with “fine, grade A Baby”, and take my co-pay. But I figure better safe than sorry since I’m suffering from a sinus infection (brought on by a cold) and hey, since I failed with the laptop, I’d better try my other “insurance”.

When I’m about 25 miles into my 30 mile trip to work, my check engine light goes on. NO EFFING WAY!!! Yeah, I try to keep it clean, but folks, I got ticked. Thankfully it seemed to be running alright, no weird noises, no chugging or rough-running, no smoke, and no visible demons flying out of the engine compartment. I call Justin all mad and annoyed but continue on to work. I get there, greet my officemates, grab my laptop, and head back to the pediatrician’s office.

For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have to wait very long, which was nice (and what sucked me into going there in the first place!). Coop’s temp was down to about 99 (but I had him lightly dressed and the AC on full blast), and his lungs were clear. However, his left ear is infected, his right one has a lot of fluid behind it, and he’s got a ton o’ mucous running down his throat (hey, sounds like my diagnosis on Tuesday!). Cooper only cried when she was checking his ears…and understandable since they probably hurt.

Off we went to The Best Target in the World with Rx in hand. Considering how tired and miserable he was probably feeling, Cooper was good while we walked around waiting for his antibiotics. Twenty minutes later we were home. I stuffed some lunch and strawberry gunk antibiotics in him, and layed him down for his nap.

So I got some work stuff done and I searched for “dang car” with little luck. Justin’s on his way home early so that I can bring my car to the shop to figure out it’s main malfunction. Or to see if it just missed the shop, because it’s been a good 8 or 9 weeks since the last time it was there!!! Wish me luck. Or wish me a newish car. Or wish me a good tornado to pick that bad-boy up and rid me of it.

In other news, don’t forget that the fundraiser and silent auction end at 11:59pm tomorrow (Friday)…so go put in your bids or email me your jewelry orders! And thanks to all of you who have helped out so far…I appreciate it so much.

I know you are probably tired of hearing me go on and on about this, but it’s important and I feel it’s worth repeating a hundred times. Folks out in the Midwest who were affected by the catastrophic flooding are in dire straights. Many were told that since their town was protected by levees rated to withstand “100 Year Floods” that they were not required to purchase flood insurance. This year’s flooding has surpassed any “100 Year Flood” that we’ve experienced. Yet it seems like the media is just pretty much ignoring this, which is truly truly sad because these folks need our help just as much as people affected by Katrina three years ago. While the loss of life was considerably less (because more of these folks heeded evacuation orders and ran for higher ground), the extent of damage and cleanup will probably be the same, or more, than Katrina because a much larger area is affected. And instead of local tourism being the hardest hit, our nation’s food source is affected.

So to show that I am really really serious about this, I have lowered the starting bids on the silent auctions I am hosting. Previously I stood to gain a few dollars per item in order to cover business expenses but now I am eliminating that in order to help encourage some bids, and ultimately, some money for the Red Cross to benefit these flood victims. So go look at the silent auctions, look at the catalog fundraiser, and email me with your order. Or if you hate wearing or sharing fine fashion jewelry with a lifetime guarantee on it, then by all means, send a donation to the Red Cross.

Here are the Silent Auctions to benefit the Mid-West flood victims. To bid on a silent auction, put a comment indicating the picture number and your bid amount…such that if you were bidding on the first item, the gold palm tree necklace, you’d put “auction #1, $22.00″. All starting bids are below the retail value, and 100% of what is bid over the starting bid will go directly to the Red Cross to benefit the victims of the Mid-West floods…such that if the starting bid on an auction is $20 and the final bid is $30, then $10 will go directly to the Red Cross. Make sense?
Okay…so bidding closes at 11:59pm EDT on Friday, June 27th; serious bids only, please; I have to charge 5% Virginia sales tax and your shipping will be an additional flat $5.00 for USPS Priority Mail; and I accept checks, credit cards, and PayPal. If you are ordering jewelry from the catalog and win a Silent Auction, all your items will be shipped together.
Good luck!

Please look here, here, here, and here. Then please look here to help.

And if you need very specific help and information…here are sites from Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri.

Then…look below. It has nothing to do with needing your help, but it is awful cute (shirt courtesy of Karen at The Rocking Pony; good looks courtesy of his daddy…I swear they could be twins).

Yes, I am yelling…because I want everyone near and far to know I am doing a fundraiser for the Red Cross to benefit those affected by the floods in the Mid-West. I know I previously mentioned wanting to raise money for the victims of the Myanmar cyclone, but their dang Junta government doesn’t seem to want our help and I at least want the money to get to the people we are trying to help. So since those folks in the Mid-West are being completely inundated with water (in some areas, the water is 12 feet above previous catastrophic flood-levels), I figured I would help take care of our folks here at home.
So, here’s the details everyone will want to know:

• I will be using the jewelry sales from my Cookie Lee Jewelry business to raise the money for the Mid-West Flood Victims.
• A full 50% of the proceeds of each purchase made by you will be sent to the Red Cross to benefit those affected by the flooding in the Mid-West.
• The fundraiser will run from today, Friday, 6/13/08, through Friday, 6/27/08.
• Please go to http://www.cookielee.biz/colleenrummel to see a virtual catalog. Or if you’d like a print catalog mailed to you, please contact me either at jewelry@colleenrummel.com or through the Cookie Lee site just mentioned (and in my blogroll), and I will get one out to you.
• Once you have made your selections, send them to me at jewelry@colleenrummel.com and I will total it up for you and let you know how much of your order will be benefitting the Red Cross.
• I will also be doing silent auctions on items…so keep an eye out for those!
• I charge 5% Virginia Sales Tax and a flat $5 for Priority Mail shipping, regardless of how large your order is (hint: go in with a couple girlfriends or neighbors to send me one big order and save on shipping!).
• NEW UPDATE!!! If you’d like to raise an additional money for the Mid-West Flood Victims, you can book a party, or sign-up as a personal shopper or a Cookie Lee Jewelry consultant! I will donate an additional $15 per party, personal shopper sign-up, or consultant sign-up!

Please pass this info along to your friends and families. I know we have seen the images on the news and the internet and can see that the water has completely enveloped entire towns with water. Remember that so many of these flood victims are the ones that raise livestock and grow crops for food on our dinner tables. I’m sure many of you have friends or family in the affected areas.

So, break out your checks, your credit cards, or your PayPal and pick up some jewelry; these folks need our help.