From Experiment to Lifestyle

May 4th I started an experiment to see what the effects of a ketogenic diet also known as low carb, high fat, adequate protein diet would have on my current health.  I've attempted low-carb/high fat dieting (Atkins) before as well as a low-calorie/non-fat/ low-carb diet (6 Week Body Makeover). I was never particularly successful on either plan, particularly the 6 Week plan as it basically had me starving myself to death by way of 6 tiny, fat-free meals per day. The 30 pounds I lost on it was rapidly gained back in about 1/2 the time it took me to lose it. My hubby declared it a full fail as I was "a complete bitch" for the entire time I was on it (he's right, I was) And I never stuck to the Atkins plan very long as I took a lot of flack about it from friends and family worried that eating steak and eggs and  bun-less bacon cheeseburgers every day would lead me down a fast path to high cholesterol and heart disease. Little did I know just how wrong they would end up being.

What sparked me to give this ketogenic thing a try was a post I read on the Carb Smart website by  author and low-carb expert Jimmy Moore of the Livin' La Vida Low Carb blog and website. The post was about 10 unexpected health benefits of nutritional ketosis besides weight loss.  I read it with great interest because over the past year my metabolic health had taken a nose dive and on top of that I was found to have and enlarged and fatty liver and elevated liver enzymes as well as an enlarged spleen with multiple lesions in it. Reading his post made me think that if nutritional ketosis had such a positive effect on Jimmy's health that it might be of some benefit to me. I had no idea that within the first 6 weeks I would see dramatic changes happen in my body.

Here is what happened to me: In the first 6 weeks my

• Total Cholesterol went from 203 to 195 (under 200 is optimal)
• HDL from 48 to 54 (under 50 is optimal)
• LDL from 117 to 108 (under 100 is optimal)
• VLDL from 40 to 33 (0-30 normal range)
• Triglycerides from 202 to 167 (less than 150 is optimal)
• Liver enzymes: ALT from 94 to 50 (10-49 is normal range) and AST 85 to 36 (0-33 is normal range)

As you can see my previously high numbers were dramatically reduced to near normal levels in just a few short weeks by eating this high fat/low carb/adequate protein diet. 

In addition to the metabolic improvement, I've also lost 15 pounds, 2 pant sizes and gained back much of my joint mobility previously lost to me by almost constant pain which I now believe was totally diet related.

I credit my improvements not only on my High Fat/ Low Carb plan but also on the elimination of what I call the "nasty whites" from my diet; wheat, oats, corn, rye, barely, rice, potatoes and sugar. In addition I've added yoga to my daily routine. My primary care physician was quite impressed with my health improvements and she encouraged me to continue my lifestyle changes and come back in October for another blood test.

Just 3 months into this new lifestyle I've come to understand the effects of GOOD fats on my overall health. I didn't consume any margarine, soybean oil, canola oil or vegetable oil but instead generously ate butter, olive oil, coconut oil, fresh avocados and a few macadamia nuts. Yes, all those things that we've been told for years to avoid lest we raise our cholesterol, clog up our arteries and die of heart attacks at a young age. And upon dumping the nasty whites-including those "whole grains", the ones "they" recommend that we get plenty of, I not only shrank my waistline but eliminated the joint pain that I've been plagued with for years.  I feel amazingly good these days. I feel energetic, rested, focused, happy and with a bright outlook on my future! 

Yes, I missed June

Seriously, the month of June somehow passed by without a post to this blog. *hangs head in shame*
Okay, let's move on and talk about July...

We are doing homeschool summer school this month-we're calling it Summer Fun School. We've added some new activities to provide specific life skills to Mitch's skills set:

Baking=Math, basic life skills
Field trips=Community Education
Video Gaming Sessions=Social Skills (I have him TEACH me how to play a game!)
Yoga=Physical activity
Gardening=Science, basic life skills

Who says learning has to be boring??? Oh wait, Public Schools do.

My Little Pony: Mother's Day Edition

I spent my Mother's Day weekend this year at "Equestria LA" which is the local convention for "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" fans. For those not in the know my sons ae Bronies which is what you call boys who like the MLP:FIM ponies. Girls like the ponies too. Some refer to them as "Pegasisters", I just prefer to be called an interested party and leave it at that.
But seriously, I spent the weekend with my sons at this convention and actually had a really good time despite the fact that I was one of the few at the convention old enough to remember when JFK was our president. Honestly, I didn't really feel out of place though. The MLP bunch is a very welcoming group of people and they embrace all who share their interest in all things pony. And it wasn't just the Brony and Pegasister crowd, there were plenty of little girls from the target demographic attending with their moms and dads in tow. In fact, we ran into a lovely daddy-daughter duo. The daughter was about 4 years old and dressed as Pinkie Pie and Dad decked was out in a Pinkie Pie t-shirt to match! Gotta respect a man who will do that to support his little girl's pony love!

Mitch wearing his ears, horn and wings. 

Matt hanging out in the lobby.

"Shirtless" Discord dancing for us during the Cosplay Fashion Show. 

He was the hit of the convention for the ladies!

More from the Cosplay Fashion Show

Matt and his friend after the Cosplay Fashion Show.

Assorted Convention Attendees coming out of the fashion show

Another picture of the attendees.

The Vendor Hall-they had an amazing assortment of MLP merchandise

nearly all of it hand crafted. 

Some of the hand-crafted plush ponies they had for sale. 

One of the friendliest gals at the convention!

I sat in on a number of panels including the voice actor panels and the Pony Music Video contest as well as the wonderful Cosplay Fashion Show. Best of all, I got to spend quality time with my sons having fun and they WERE NOT embarrassed to be hanging out with their Mom! I'm looking forward to Equestira LA 2014, in fact, I'm looking into having a table at the vendor hall and selling my own hand-crafted pony merch!

Cookie Baking Day with Chef Mitch

The other day my son Mitch came to me with an idea for a cookie, a Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie. I was intrigued by this idea and decided that we needed to give it a try, mostly because of my family's shared belief that bacon goes with everything. And who doesn't love a Chocolate Chip Cookie!

We hit up our local Target store, not so much because we grocery shop there, but because my daughter had a job interview there and I figured Mitch and I could shop while she had her interview. The whole kill 2 birds with one stone kind of thing. She got the job, by-the-way!

So we came home armed with Bacon and Chocolate CHUNKS. Mitch saw the chunks next to the chips and decided it was time to go big or go home in the chocolate arena. Have I mentioned lately how much I like this kid!?

Okay so I started this recipe by cooking off some diced bacon:

Then I gathered the necessary ingredients to make the Toll House Cookie recipe from the back of the Chocolate CHUNKS bag. And yes, I forgot to put the Vanilla Extract out on the counter before I started, but it was in the cookies, I promise:

Then Mitch and I got busy mixing up the cookie dough. He's getting pretty good at using the KitchenAid!

Here is the dough with the bacon added:

I used my handy dandy cookie scoop and made some nice dough balls on the parchment lined pan. Mitch normally does this part, but today I took over the scooping duty-he has grip strength issues and the scoop was being uncooperative. 

The baked cookies fresh from the oven. You can see the little bacon bit right on the top of this one:

I let them cool a bit then put two on a plate and took them to Mitch, who was spending his baking/cooling time playing on the PS3:

The cookie delivery:

Of course Mitch would never eat cookies on Mom's brand new sofa so he moved over to the dining table for the tasting of his new cookie creation:

Mitch proclaims the Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookie to be delicious!!!

If you decide you want to try these at home, I just took the Toll House Cookie recipe off the bag and added cooked bacon. Not rocket science. My thoughts on the cookie- It needed more bacon. No, seriously, it was good but could have used more bacon flavor. I looked at quite a few recipes online for this cookie-and yes, there are many. Some called for Maple flavoring, some for bourbon and one even had some of the rendered bacon fat added into the dough but I thought our first try at this should be taking an existing recipe and just adding the bacon and seeing if it was even edible.  I also think they'd be delicious with some candied pecans, because I love candied pecans!

So there we have it, a successful cookie baking day with my favorite young Chef!

Happy Friday Everyone! Have a Wonderful Weekend!!

New Adventures in Homeschooling

Time to brag a little bit on my youngest kid. For the newbies to my blog, he's 15, has Autism and has been homeschooled for 5 years. He is the self-proclaimed "Autism Boy", but we call him Mitch.


We started something new in homeschooling last month-Mitch is now working fully independently. I write out the assignments for the day in an assignment book and he logs into his online programs and completes his work on his own, checking each assignment off as he completes it. He's actually doing more work AND he's getting better grades!

This all came about because it seemed that every time I went to find him so we could start a lesson he was either busy doing something or he wasn't in the mood at the moment. Autism, as you may know, can be a moody beast on occasion. So I asked Mitch one day if I could just write down the assignments on a piece of paper and give them to him to do. It was a pure "fly by the seat of my pants" experiment based on frustration and exasperation and I really wasn't expecting it to work. I figured by dinner time I'd be having to prod him to get his assignments done or have to add them to the next days work because he didn't or wouldn't do them. But, to my surprise, he had them all completed by 2pm and he did very well on them!

So here is how my little experiment gone right goes: I hand him his assignment book at 9am (okay, 9ish, and some days it's 10ish, we're super relaxed about starting time) and the work is due by dinner (okay, dinnerish), that way he has all day to work on it. For assignments not done online (there are only a few), he just comes to get me when he's ready to start them. I've also added a daily neighborhood walk to his assignment sheet-also done on his timing...although the other day when it was 97° outside he picked 3pm for his walk and we were both sweating like dogs when we got home. (Oh-wait, idea: I should add a space on his assignment sheet for him to check the daily weather!-moment of brilliance right there folks!) So, now there is no more whining, fussing, fighting or waiting for Mommy to finish an online Scrabble match to get our schoolwork done. The new system coupled with focusing on only ONE subject per day has really helped Mitch retain more information and has improved his desire to be educated. Being able to super customize our teaching and learning styles to our individual needs is something that just can't be done in a public school setting. I'm so glad I stopped trying to put my "square pegs" into the school district's "round holes" when I started homeschooling my young'uns 8 years ago. Best "made in anger" decision I ever made!

Uh oh!

Hello dear readers,
A fellow blogger recently got into "trouble" for using a photo on her blog that she found using a Google image search. She, like many people out there, assumed if she found it on Google and it didn't have a watermark or copyright on it that she was free to use it. She found out that that is not the case. She was sought after by the photo owner and was forced to pay for use of the photo on her blog. A blog much like mine where she posts about things that interest her and her day-to-day doings. A blog that makes her not one dime.
Because there are people "out there" whose personal and professional photos show up in search engines for all the world to see but who do not wish to have them shared on peoples blogs without fair and adequate compensation (which does NOT come cheaply) I have decided to do some editing on my blog to remove any photographs that I have not personally taken. It might take the "fun" out of a few posts, and a few post may have to be deleted altogether, but it beats being tracked down and forced to pay out hundreds of dollars that I don't have to the rightful owner of the photo.
So be warned my dear readers, either be the photographer of your blog photos or be prepared to pay for the use of other peoples work should they object. I for one would be thrilled that someone wanted to use one of my photos on their blog, but I'm really good at sharing. Momma taught me well :-D
That is all...
Have a lovely day!

Actual photo taken by your's truly. If someone "out there" wanted to use it on their blog, unaltered of course, I would be honored. Shocked, but honored!

Answering a reader question

KB asks:  "Hey, when you do your remodel projects, how do you budget and know what to buy, like how much paint to get and stuff. I need to start getting mine ready for the bathroom. Can you help a reader out?" 

Great question KB. Here is a rundown of what I do when I'm planning a remodel project:

First, I decide on the absolute maximum amount of money that I can afford to spend. Then, I take that amount of money and divide it into thirds and write down 2/3 of that maximum amount.  That number is my starting point. (More on this in a minute.) For purposes of my example we'll say my max budget is $600, so 2/3 of that would be $400.

Next, I get myself a notebook and make a list of everything I want to do in the room. For example if I'm updating a bathroom, the list may look like this:

• paint
• faucet
• towel bars (2)
• shower curtain
• window covering
• towels
• rug
• wall art (2)
• accessories

Now I take my notebook to the local home improvement, big box and discount stores and start pricing out the materials I want to use. I can do the pricing online, however doing it in person means that I can take advantage of any scratch and dent or clearance merchandise that my stores won't have listed online. I also list the name (or initials) of the store I want to make the purchase at.

• paint -$35.88  per gallon for wall $16.88 per quart for trim -1 of each(HD)
• faucet- $74.95 (HD)
• towel bars (2)- $34.99 each (HD)
• shower curtain-$39.95 (Target)
• window covering $24.95 (BBB)
• towels  $4.99 each x 4 (Ikea)
• rug  $12.99(Ikea)
• wall art (2) $9.99 each (HL)
• accessories  $22.50(BL)

Adding it all up I have $373.90 for basic materials This amount falls within that 2/3 budget amount so for now I'm good to go. Just remember to mark down the actual costs after tax of your purchases, keep a running tab and don't forget to keep all of your reciepts. I tape an envelope to the inside cover of my notebook to keep them in so I won't lose them.

So what becomes of the leftover 1/3 of the budget money? It's left in reserve for unforeseen purchases:

• I don't own painting supplies so I need to buy rollers, brushes, trays, drop cloths and tape.- $25
• I installed the faucet but noticed I have a leak under the sink so I need to replace the pipe-$30
• I went to put up the shower curtain but my old rings look ugly with it so I want to replace them-$15
• The rug isn't large enough so I need to exchange it for a bigger one that costs $10 more
• The new towel bars are larger so I need to buy spackle to patch the old holes-$5
• I love the wall art, but there is still one blank area that needs something $10
• I forgot to put a new trash can on the list-$10

It's amazing how quickly those unforeseen purchases can add up. Just that little list alone is over $100. 

Let me address what happens when I spend more than the budgeted amount. Well, I have a long discussion with Hubby about what made the project go over and we decide if we need to cut items off the list, exchange something we've already chosen for something less expensive or do we increase the budget. Doing the 2/3 main budget 1/3 reserve really helps keep this from happening very often and I know that I can "dip" into the reserve if I need to.

Now to address the paint part of your question, here is how I figure how much paint I will need for a room:  A gallon of paint will cover roughly 350 square feet per coat. Yes, you can do the math or you can do what I do and punch my numbers into an online paint calculator and it will give you a really good idea of how much to buy. Any of these will work fine or you can do an online search for one of your own:

Benjamin Moore paint calculator

Lowes Paint Calculator

Home Depot Paint Calculator

Sherwin Williams Paint Calculator

I hope I was able to answer your questions KB. Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Happy Remodeling!

Autism and Awareness...

This is a re-post of a FB status update I posted on April 2nd:


Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I could ask you to change your profile picture, put a blue light bulb in your porch fixture, don a blue shirt but if you REALLY want to show your support then find a family living with Autism (I'm sure you know at least one) and do something to show them you are thinking of their family today on a personal level: 

*Surprise them with a gift card for their favorite restaurant or store
*Buy the family some movie tickets and spring for the popcorn
*Take them a plate of fresh baked cookies or muffins-Gluten/Dairy free if their child follows a special diet
*Offer to entertain their child for a hour while mom (or dad) takes a nap, reads a book, runs to the store, etc.
*Offer to wash their car and spring for a few gallons of gas
*Come by and mow their lawn, weed their flowerbed or plant some spring flowers
*Offer to do some grocery shopping for them
*Swing by and offer to vacuum, dust or fold a load or two of laundry
*Take mom or dad out to lunch-your treat. Or take them both out to dinner.
*Offer to pick up the tab on a therapy session if they have out of pocket costs
*Come by just to visit and lend an ear for listening (calling first of course!)

There are so many things that families living with Autism do without so they can make sure their autistic son or daughter's needs are being met, these small gestures can make a big impact on their quality of life!

Even though my 15 year old son is High Functioning, we still have challenging days. Yesterday was one of the most challenging days we have had in a long time, by bedtime last night I was physically and emotionally wiped out as was my 20 year old son who spent his day off work helping me manage his brother's behaviors.  What our friends and family don't see are these kinds of days, it seems that they happen to be around on his "good" days which, thankfully, are many. But our family is fortunate, I know some families that have 365 challenging days a year. Regardless of the number of challenging days, Autism Moms and Dads can benefit so much from just the smallest gestures, so I'm asking you to remember these families, not just in April, but every month of the year and reach out to them (don't be afraid!) as we often feel so alone in our struggles.
Thank you.

Kitchen: Phase 2

The Hubby and I have now completed Phase 2 of our kitchen update. As you recall we left you with new countertops, some paint on the walls and hope, a whole lot of hope. As you can see, we have made some dramatic changes in both decor and now functionality.

I didn't realize how ugly the before was until we got going on this project. I designed the color palette for the before....Hubby is responsible for choosing the colors in the after. Let's face it, Hubby has much better taste than I do and I have no problem admitting that.


As you can see we painted the lower cabinets and added hardware, installed upper cabinets on both sides of the window, painted the window, installed new curtains, installed a new tile backsplash and installed the microwave into a hole we (meaning of course Hubby) cut into the wall.

Cutting the hole in the wall should have been an easy task, and I blocked out a 2 hour time frame from our busy day for it, but being that this house was built in 1921 and added on to numerous times there is no such thing as either standard lumber sizes or standard building materials. I often joke that this house was built from lumber that fell off the freight trains as they traveled through town. Our 2 foot, 2 hour hole it the wall took 5 1/2 hours. I know what you're thinking, what crazy person decides it's a good idea to cut a hole in a wall 24 hours before they're about to have a house full of company? I do. I had faith that Hubby could get it done...and he did!

Considering all that Hubby had to cut through-drywall, wallboard, a pine board and some paneling to get this done I think he did an amazing job! And yes, the cord hanging out there is a bit of an eyesore, but I have an electrician that will be coming to do some work at a later time and he can put an outlet on the back side of that wall which is the inside of a shelving area we store some of our many small appliances and Tupperware in. I have too much of both. Or at least that's what Hubby tells me.


You know you drink a LOT of coffee when you have dedicated a corner of your kitchen to it!

I fixed up our "Coffee Center" a bit by reusing the shelf that used to hold the microwave. I painted it with the same chalk paint as the lower cabinets and gave it several coats of wax.
See my KitchenAid mixer hiding out down there? During the holiday season the coffee center becomes the baking center which is why my canisters live on the built in shelf on the left.


Hidden behind the microwave wall is our laundry area:

As you see Hubby put up a wall cabinet. I hasten to call it a laundry "room" as it's just a little space on the inside service porch. See the built ins on the left of the upper photo-that's where I keep, hide, okay, HOARD my craft supplies so there was no room in there to put laundry soap, cleaning supplies, etc. We've only had the cabinet up for 2 days and I already love it to pieces! As for the Gingham Curtains, I've been hesitant to change them so I've decided to leave them for now. The new kitchen curtains I made have a tiny touch of gingham check in them so I'm using that to justify leaving the gingham ones up. Work with me on this, pleeeeaaaaase!!!

I took my daughter's suggestion and painted the fronts of my cabinets using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint using Pure White and clear wax. They came out looking not like brand new store bought cabinets, but more like a hand-crafted, hand-painted cabinet, which is the kind of look I was going for. When your house is pushing 100 years old, brand spanking new looking stuff can look a bit out of place, plus I like the more vintage look, it suits my personality better.

I have to say I am very happy with how it turned out. And yes, that is a package of Red Solo Cups on the counter, I always have them on hand...just in case a party breaks out! What? Like that never happens at your house? Okay, so they're really there to hide the fact that we haven't put the faceplates back over the outlets yet, as is the roll of paper towels. Hey, I had to stage for the photos so don't like judge me, okay!

There is still my food pantry to deal with, so there is a Phase 3 in the planning phases. It still looks like this:

What I really want to do is to frame it in and add shutter doors to match the utility closet, but my dear, sweet Hubby needs a rest after all the hard work he's already done. In the meantime I'll finish touching up the paint (I have a few "oopsies" that I didn't see until I had a kitchen full of company yesterday!), and hunt down a set of matching shutter doors- I think I saw some at the Habitat For Humanity Re-Store last time we were there. I love that place!

Hope you've enjoyed this makeover as much as I have! Watch for Phase 3 in the near future.

Until then,

Laters!

Updated to add: It occurred to me that I forgot to take photos of the new light fixtures we put in. Suffice to say they are flush, round and brushed nickel with bulbs in them! :-D I'll get the photos up when I have a chance...I'm such a blonde!

Kitchen: Phase One

The other day I took a long hard look at my kitchen...

It left a LOT to be desired. It was yellow and green with almond counters and almond laminate cabinets and well, the fruit decals on the wall weren't helping things.  My kitchen was stuck in an outdated phase, halfway between the 1980's and 90's and I needed to change it and STAT. Seriously, my mental health was riding on this!

I had a budget of about $300 that I could spend so I knew it couldn't be a huge makeover, but I knew that I could make a difference with just a few changes. The fruit had to go...as did the counter tops and the wall color.

 Taking out the old almond laminate countertop was harder than Hubby and I expected. It was screwed in there very well and held to the wall with many layers of caulking. Many.

But many hours later we (okay, mostly Hubby) successfully removed the coutnertop and replaced it with this darker, granite looking laminate. Much better already!  Due to the tight budget we chose to reuse the old kitchen sink from the 1980's. It was in surprisingly good shape for it's age and made better than any sink at HomeDepot that was within my budget.

So here we are now. Grey walls, faux granite countertops and looking significantly better. See the little sample of tile stuck to the backsplash. That's my next project, installing a mosaic tile backsplash and doing something (help!!!) with the fronts of the laminate cabinets. I've toyed with the idea of chalkboard paint and new drawer pulls and knobs...but I am open to suggestions. Also, we are installing 2 new upper cabinets where the shelves are currently holding our "stuff". They will need to be painted/stained to match whatever I do to the lower cabinets.

Here is a close up of the backsplash tile. And let's not judge the paint on the window frame, okay....I'm gonna get to that later when I get ready to hang the new curtains that I'm making.

So if you're in the area, stop by and have a cup of coffee with me...

And we can talk about how I want to enclose the open pantry and give it shutter doors to match the utility closet....

and maybe you could give me some ideas on what to do with the laundry area. It's just plain...plain.


Okay there ya go! Phase one is complete.

Sad news...

I am heartbroken to have to report that hubby's Grandma passed away in her sleep last night. And I am disappointed that the scarf and throw that I made for her did not get sent to her in time.

My planned blog posts will be put on hold until later this month.

Been busy...

Not to worry faithful reader, I'm still here! I've been busy this week working on a scarf and afghan for my hubby's 91 year old Grandmother. I need to get them finished and in the mail to her ASAP. I should be finished by early next week and back to my regularly boring schedule!
I'll be sure to post photos of the finished projects.
Laters!

Road Trip

The hubster, youngest son and I went on a short road trip to Boulder City, Nevada over the weekend. Nothing much to report on since we were only there on family business. Here are a few of the things we did NOT see while we were there:

On this particular visit, we did not see The Hoover Dam:

My actual daugher on the Arizona side of the Hoover Dam.

We did not drive out to Lake Mead:

We did not visit The Nevada Southern Railroad Museum:

and we did not visit Starbucks, of which Boulder City has only ONE:

Like I said, not much to report...but I can say that Boulder City is a great place to visit, it still has that wonderful small-town feel to it! If you ever find yourself in Las Vegas and looking for something to do (besides gamble away your children's inheritance), I highly recommend you take the short drive out to Boulder City and enjoy some of their small town hospitality.

(Photos previously posted removed by me)

8 pounds of what???

Today, instead of packing for my weekend trip, I bring you my Pinterest Pin of the Day (because pinning is more fun that packing and we all know I'm going to wait until the last minute anyway)

How To Clean Pet Stains Out Of Carpet
(Removed link and photo)

The pin links to a great article on One Good Thing By Jillee. Love her blog, it's so informative, I can while away hours every day just perusing her bright ideas. However, the reason I pinned this particular pin is because I really, really, REALLY need it. Yes, I have a little pee-pee stain maker on my hands.

Meet Maggie. She's an 8 year old Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua mix I adopted a year ago through a special senior citizen adoption program. She was the senior, not me! She's a bundle of nervous energy wrapped up in cuddly cuteness...and she's not fully housebroken. When I first met her (and of course instantly fell in love with her) I was assured she was A) fully housebroken and B) not a barker. Either she had the adoption agency duped or they lied to us. She's an 8 pound barking pee-pee fountain...and all love and kisses and a laugh a minute!

I mean, come on...how can you not love a desk dog!! In a red sweater! Ohmygawdshe'ssocute! Now I can live with the barking, especially since my hearing isn't what it used to be, and she's awesome at letting me know when mail/ups/fedex has arrived or a pine needle has fallen off the tree outside, but the pee stains well that's another story. Seriously, I lose sleep over the pee stains on my carpet! (not really, I just added that for dramatic effect) The hubster and I are planning to replace all the flooring in our home this summer with a nice hardwood or laminate or something like that, but until then we still have the carpet to deal with. I plan on giving the baking soda/vinegar trick a try and see how it works. I'll report on my findings in a future blog...if I can remember, because the old grey mare just ain't what she used to be! Wait, maybe I WAS the senior citizen after all! 

Fly What???

O FlyLady, FlyLady, wherefore art thou FlyLady? The condition of my home is what happens when someone gets lazy and forgets to put on her shoes and shine her sinks.  After yesterday's big push (a marathon 6 hour all-hands-on-deck cleaning frenzy, the kind NOT recommended by FlyLady) I've recommitted to being a better FlyBaby...15 minutes at a time.

Oh wait, you're not familiar with this Flylady of whom I speak? 

The FlyLady is Marla Cilley, author of the book "Sink Reflections" and chief de-clutterer in charge of the FlyLady website. She devised a system for cleaning and organizing your home and life in small, manageable blocks of time. Here is a little cut/paste from her Wiki page: 

Key points in the FlyLady system include:

Babysteps and Routines

New recruits to the FlyLady system are called "Flybabies" and are introduced to "babysteps" - a series of 31 small daily tasks which introduce and then reinforce aspects of cleaning and decluttering, building up to creating personalized routines for morning, afternoon and evening.

Shine Your Sink

Cilley's first instruction to new members is "Go shine your sink!" She asserts that even in a messy kitchen, the cleaned-out and polished sink provides positive reinforcement to the person who cleaned it, encouraging further cleaning in the rest of the room and home.

15 Minutes at a Time

Cilley that recommends using a timer to work for only 15 minutes at a time. The short time commitment helps stop procrastination, and reduces opportunities to get sidetracked or bored.

Clutter Cannot Be Organized

Cilley recommends that her followers get rid of excess items in their homes, and bring in less items, rather than attempting to organize them. This reduction "decluttering" is done 15 minutes at a time. One such exercise is FlyLady's "27-fling Boogie," in which the follower quickly selects 27 items in their home to discard or give away.

Weekly Routines

Marla advises the use of a weekly routines, whereby each weekday is assigned an additional task or focus; Monday is daily cleaning, Wednesday is errand day, Thursday is grocery day and Friday is "desk day", focusing on paperwork and finances, as well as the day to declutter the car.

Weekly Home Blessing

Cilley's adaption of the Pam Young and Peggy Jones' "Slipshod cleaning" is the one-hour housecleaning mission called the "weekly home blessing." Using their timers, followers are instructed to vacuum, dust, mop, empty trash, change bedsheets and clean up old magazines. Each task is allocated ten minutes only.

Get Dressed to Shoes

Cilley insists that her followers "get dressed to lace-up shoes" before beginning their housekeeping tasks.

Zones

Flylady divides a house into five sections or zones, which are allocated to the five weeks or partial weeks of the month. Each day the email list will provide a "mission" with a detailed cleaning task in the current zone.

Control Journal

Flylady advises the use of a "Control Journal," a household management notebook or binder, to store the owner's routines, lists and other important household information.

Flylady Reminders

Daily reminders of the routines, zones and missions, as well as "testimonials" of the system and products, are sent to subscribers of the FlyLady list.

Perfectionism leads to Procrastination

FlyLady asserts that the most frequent reason for procrastination and inefficacy is perfectionism, as people won't start a task if they think they don't have the time or the ability to do it perfectly. Some frequently repeated sayings in this respect are "good enough is good enough" or "housework done incorrectly still blesses your family".

No Whining

FlyLady often repeats that her website, chat room and Facebook page are "No Whining Zones", and that "If you can't say anything nice, say nothing at all"

Support

FlyLady followers have a webchat on the website www.FlyLady.net that allows them to talk to other FlyBabies and keep each other going throughout the day. Typically, they chat after doing their 15 minutes of work. Top Of The Hour is :00 on the clock, and it generally signals the start of 15 minutes of work as well as Bottom Of The Hour. On the :15 and :45 is generally breaktime, where they get some water to drink and chat with each other to help each other along. The regulars in the chat state they couldn't get done what has to be done without the help of each other.

Does it sound intimidating? Well it isn't. It's not hard either. It really is about "jumping in where you are" and working for only a few minutes a day and in no time at all (okay, maybe a few months) your home and most likely your life will be more organized. And you'll live happily ever after! (okay the FlyLady NEVER actually promised that, that's totally me! *wink*) 

If you're curious, check out her website at FlyLady.net. 

And by-the-way...I've been a FlyBaby since 2003!

Off now to lace up my sneaks and get in a 27-Fling Boogie before my next cup of coffee.
Laters!

Perspective...

That pretty much sums up what I have learned over the past 6 months since my husband was laid off from his job of 12 1/2 years and the 5 month journey that led him to his new career. 

Shame on me....

I've become a blog-slacker. (that's a real thing, right?)

So to end my shameful lack of blogging...I give you "Pinterest Pins of the Day".

Today's theme is Upcycle/Recycle.

Let's start with an oldie, but a goodie made from vintage photo slides! What better way to showcase vacation slides from your 1960's Disneyland trips but to turn them into a cool lampshade!

Vintage Slide Lamp

Next up, An old pickup truck tailgate turned into a kistchy retro style bench with cool vintage license plate covered arms:

Tailgate Bench

And finally, something useful to do with that old computer tower that you're not using...turn the case into a one-of-a-kind mailbox. Put your mail where e-mail used to go!

Mailbox

Okay, that's all folks-gotta run cuz the dinner bell is a ringing!

And for today....

Pain? I don't have no stinkin' pain!

I just gotta share this real quick:
I have been a sufferer of Plantar Fasciitis (it's a foot pain thing) for years and nothing I have done has helped. In fact, taking massive amounts of ibuprofen for the pain and inflammation actually caused me to have stomach issues. Well suffer no more, I have found a miracle! It's HEEL SEATS from the Heel That Pain website. In a desperate attempt to find something to find help for my feet I did a Google search for "heel pain" and their website came up. I figured for $14.95 I didn't have much to lose so I ordered a pair of their HTP Heel Seats. They came in the mail last Thursday and let me tell you what a difference they have made in my pain level. Within minutes of putting them in my shoes I had a 75% reduction in pain and I noticed this morning that I have virtually no pain at all while standing in my sneakers with my heel seats.

Normally just ordering 1 pair costs $24.95, but you can get them for $14.95 plus FREE shipping if you click on the "renewal"  offer and let them send you a new set every 90 days.
They also offer a Gel Heel Seat which is made of a softer material, but I went with the original heel seats. And they're not just for plantar fasciitis, they're for heel spurs and heel pain as well.
Disclaimer: Heel that pain does not know who I am and is in no way sponsoring the writing of this blog post with free stuff or anything. I'm just a customer who loves having pain-free feet!
Okay, that is all. Have a nice day!

Adapting and changing...

As a homeschooling mom there are many decisions I have to make each school year and which curriculum to use is always the most important. I also love that, as homeschoolers, if something isn't working for us we can change to something else at any point along the way. At the beginning of the school year my 14yo son wanted to move away from some of the online curriculum he had been using since 4th grade, mainly Time 4 Learning, and try something new. So we started the school year using unit studies, workbooks and a rather expensive Christian-based curriculum on cd's, none of which held his interest the way Time 4 Learning did. Being this is my 7th year of homeschooling I have learned that if something doesn't work then put it aside and find something that does, so today marks our first day back on the Time 4 Learning website. Now yes, I realize that their curriculum only goes up to 8th grade and my son is technically in the 9th grade, however, due to his Autism and learning disabilities he functions at different levels than the average 9th grader. I think this change will make our days less stressful and more productive. I'll keep you updated. In the mean time, here is a link to the Time4Learning website.

It truly is "to each, his own" My 18yo daughter loves doing unit studies in fact she loved the Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett so much that she actually asked me to purchase them for her. In her Senior year she used American Government, Scrapbooking, Digital Photography and Pioneers. For my daughter the unit studies provided her with a more research based type of learning experience which is more in line with how she learns the best and is more like what she used when she was at the charter high school she attended for 2 years, the same one her older brother graduated from. The curriculum there was independent study and research based. She would have graduated from the charter school but she wanted to graduate a semester early and not all of the classes she needed to do that were available when she needed them. Their program offers only certain classes in the fall and others in the spring. What I did in homeschooling her was to make her homeschool classes as close to the charter schools as I could. Now I have a brand new college student and she couldn't be happier!

Want List

With my birthday coming up in a few days, My Hubby has been asking me what I would like him to buy me, so here is my Want List:

The Ninja 3 in 1 cooking system. 

This is on my list, the TOP of my list because I have a love/hate relationship with cooking dinner every evening. While we are not empty-nesters (that glorious day is coming soon!) our college kids are almost never home anymore so most evenings it's pretty much Hubby-who now has work hours that can go late into the evening, our 14yo son, who I may have mentioned has Autism and me for dinner. Autism Boy (as he proclaims himself to be) is not a "foodie" so he pretty much eats from his list of about 20 or so foods that don't bother him to eat. (It's sensory integration disorder issue-not related to my cooking...or at least that's what the experts tell me) So anyway, I think that one of these one-pot, dump it in and cook it either slow (if I remember early enough in the day that the family will want to eat dinner) or fast (because I kind of forgot the whole dinner thing, again) would be a valuable asset to our small appliance collection.

Next on my list:

The 5X Lighted, Tri-Fold Makeup Mirror

This baby made the list because let's face it, I'm no spring chicken and seeing the age in my face at 5 TIMES regular magnification will be fun. NOT. But it would be nice to actually be able to SEE my face when I'm putting on makeup, eyeliner in particular, lest I leave the house looking a bit more like Cleopatra than I had intended. Again.

And finally, we're back in the kitchen with this bad boy:

The Cuisinart Elite Collection 12 Cup Food Processor

I currently own a 34 year old Cuisinart food processor that originally belonged to my Mom. And while it still works, and works amazingly, the bowl has finally cracked, there are cracks in the base housing and I've misplace a blade so it's not as useful as it was years ago. Not to mention the darn thing weighs in at about 150 pounds so lugging it from the cabinet to the counter requires either my hubby to be home or a team of at least 3 to pitch in and help. Not that this new one weighs much less, when I was out at Bed, Bath and Beyond with Hubby last weekend, he tried to get me to lift the display model and I couldn't. So I informed him that if you get me one of these bad boys you might as well get the bright red because it's going on the counter and staying there and matching the kitchen color scheme is important to me.

I actually think this would go nicely with the Ninja Cooking System for doing all that choppy prep-work before I toss our dinner ingredients into the pot and I'd really love to have both, but I'm not holding my breath...of course Valentines day IS next month!