A is for asthma, arsenic and allergies

Asthma- As a child, I was diagnosed with stress induced asthma. Basically, I only ever had a problem when exercising. I have not had a problem worth dealing with it for YEARS. I mean, several members of my family regularly take inhalers to breath normally, but not me. Just when I was exercising. However, with picking up running more often, I started noticing that after just over a quarter mile, I started having trouble breathing. Ugh, it seems that I had not outgrown my asthma as I had hoped. It just laid dormant waiting for me to run again. So now, I have an inhaler to take before running. Let me tell you... it makes a huge difference. It makes it so that my running has to end because of my legs not being in shape instead of my lungs. And I can run farther now. How nice. So, I guess I'll just have to keep the inhaler.
Arsenic- This is just some random fact about Ridgecrest. We breath arsenic. Yup, it's in the air out here. Obviously not in levels high enough to kill you, but it's still there. It actually was only more recently put in the air when the LA aquaduct drained Owen's Lake. LA now has to pay to put water back in the lake to lower the arsenic levels. And, if you ever tried to poison me with it, there is a likelyhood that it wouldn't work. Just to let you know that. :)
Allergies- These are the bane of my existance. I hate them. I've had to deal with them my entire life! My father and two brothers had to be on allergy shots for years because there's were so bad. Now, not only to I have to deal with them, but my poor defensless kids have been hit by them. :( I'm almost completely positive that is the source of Liam's constantly stuffy nose. The doctor said he's too young to have them, but honestly, I don't believe her. My kid doesn't have a cold, but hasn't been able to breath normally for about a month now. I guess we'll deal with them when he's finally old enough to take something for it. Jordan was diagnosed at a young age with them too, but I never really did anything for it. It didn't seem to be a problem, so I just ignored it. Then comes yesterday. She told me she had an earache, so I took her into her pediatrician's urgent care hours. Thankfully she has no ear infections. However, Dr. Kitty asked me how long her nose has been stuffy. Honestly, I've lost track of how long it's been. She says it's allergies. And it's allergies causing lots of pressure in her ear, which, combined with the storm that came through, is making her ears hurt. (And she also said that Jordan can't hear very well... so I'm hoping that when her ears clear up she'll start listening better. :D) Apparently, Jordan looks like an allergy kid. It causes the dark circles under her eyes (here I was blaming it on her not sleeping much) and the creases under her eyes (I had no excuse for them). So now, Jordan is on Claritin. If that doesn't clear her up in a week, we have to switch to Zyrtec... and so on until we find something for her allergies. Bummer for her. This is not something I would not have liked pass on.