This week I had a doctor's appointment. It was to get some results from tests the doctor had run on me. Most of it was the usual stuff. I need to lose weight and get my cholesterol down. And then there was the one I wasn't expecting. We did the tests to check for autoimmune disorders. One of the markers came back positive. My sister called me a lucky bum and the doctor looked at us like we were crazy. Maybe we are but it was a relief to finally have at least a partial answer to what is going on with my body. My sister and I deal with many of the same issues. She has been actively seeking answers for several years. I have only been trying to figure it out for a year or so. Before that I simply tried to ignore it. I guess the doctor isn't used to people being happy over a diagnosis like that. But it meant I wasn't imagining things. There was something wrong all this time that people told me it was all in my head.
This has got me thinking about all the things that I ignore until they are too big to ignore. I know a lot of it is in how I grew up with the impression that my problems were not as important as everybody else. It took something drastic for anyone to even notice me. So I don't trust my own instincts and feelings. That really messes a person up. Half the time I don't even trust my own memories.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Test Results
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Long week
This week has been a drag. Lisa and I are both sick (a cold) so we have been taking it easy and trying to get better. Both kids are having allergy issues and John is fighting the cold.. So this week has been all about resting, cough control, and Kleenex.
The allergies that turned into the cold started a couple of weeks ago, and they have not gone away, but all the drainage was clear so we were not worried, then last Sunday I had a weird blood pressure issue, that the ER doc decided was a panic attack (I have had panic attacks and this was NO panic attack) brought on by the allergies.. but I am fine we just wanted to make sure that there was not a bigger issue we were missing. but the one night in the ER turned the sinuses and I knew when I woke up that I had a cold. Tues. Lisa and I both went to the dr to get something and the dr I saw (urgent care, as that is closer than my dr) thought it was nothing and that it would run its course, I demanded antibiotics, and she gave me the small z pak.. 3 days in and I am no better, honestly worse.. so I think next week I will need to go see my dr and get something stronger.
I do not like to take antibiotics, but when my body gets a cold (esp with a cough like this) I cannot get rid of it any other way. The best natural thing I have found is Grapefruit seed extract, but the taste is vile and when you have a a sore throat that is RAW (like strep) it is 100x worse and you have to take it 3-4 times a day.
I want to get a better assortment of herbs and oils to see if we can get rid of things without nasty meds. But it takes time and we are expanding, so we will get there..
The allergies that turned into the cold started a couple of weeks ago, and they have not gone away, but all the drainage was clear so we were not worried, then last Sunday I had a weird blood pressure issue, that the ER doc decided was a panic attack (I have had panic attacks and this was NO panic attack) brought on by the allergies.. but I am fine we just wanted to make sure that there was not a bigger issue we were missing. but the one night in the ER turned the sinuses and I knew when I woke up that I had a cold. Tues. Lisa and I both went to the dr to get something and the dr I saw (urgent care, as that is closer than my dr) thought it was nothing and that it would run its course, I demanded antibiotics, and she gave me the small z pak.. 3 days in and I am no better, honestly worse.. so I think next week I will need to go see my dr and get something stronger.
I do not like to take antibiotics, but when my body gets a cold (esp with a cough like this) I cannot get rid of it any other way. The best natural thing I have found is Grapefruit seed extract, but the taste is vile and when you have a a sore throat that is RAW (like strep) it is 100x worse and you have to take it 3-4 times a day.
I want to get a better assortment of herbs and oils to see if we can get rid of things without nasty meds. But it takes time and we are expanding, so we will get there..
Friday, May 27, 2016
New Toy
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| Open, showing the inside finish |
So this weekend we built a new dehydrator. We have gone through 3 commercial dehydrators in the last year. We are hard on them. I guess they are not designed for constant use. In our house we dry so many things. Herbs, onions, tomatoes are our main things. We grow several herbs and use drying to preserve them. We make our own onion powder from dried onions. (It tastes so much better than the stuff you get in the store.)
The tomatoes are what we get the weird looks about. We make a powder out of the dried tomatoes that we use to flavor soups, beans and other dishes.
The tomatoes are what we get the weird looks about. We make a powder out of the dried tomatoes that we use to flavor soups, beans and other dishes.
The inside is sealed with a food grade wood sealant, as are all the trays.. the outside is simply stained to help the wood last a little better..
it is about 5 feet tall and has room for 14 trays.. we only have enough of the mesh for 12 right now (we will pick up another roll soon)
The trays are 18x12, not super large but not tiny. We used a food grade mesh also as we do things like tomatoes that cannot go on metal. What you cannot see is the 2 small computer fans that are set so one pulls air in and over the heating bulb, and the other pull the air up through the trays and out the top.
The links in the pictures are to the corresponding items that we used.
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| After staining closed |
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| the heating bulb |
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| Tray with mesh held over it |
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| close up of the mesh |
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| Controller |
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| the mesh |
This Dehydrator is close to 1/3 the size and is more than 1/3 the cost. The best benefit is that if something goes, we can replace it not the whole thing.
Now the most fun... getting to use it!!!
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Thinking about hard things
I saw a blog this week where a gal shared that she was expecting and how a miscarriage was changing how she was reacting to this little one growing inside.
That got me to thinking about the challenges I am dealing with and how hard it is. This is vary hard for me to write about. For several resons, 1 not all of my family knows that I am trying, and 2 not all of my family knows about my relationship with my other halfs. So hitting publish on this one is going to be hard.
That got me to thinking about the challenges I am dealing with and how hard it is. This is vary hard for me to write about. For several resons, 1 not all of my family knows that I am trying, and 2 not all of my family knows about my relationship with my other halfs. So hitting publish on this one is going to be hard.
I had my first miscarriage when I was 22. I was on birth control and I had not missed a pill, I was a little late with a couple but not a full miss. I was changing Dr's also and I called the new one to ask a question. I was told that my appointment would be kept and that everything should be ok. Ya.. no.. I lost that one @ about 6 weeks. I was sad over it for a long time... but was not in a place that I wanted to start a family. Fast forward to 29 and the same thing happens again. Only this time I was in my ob's office several times in the 2 weeks that my period was late. That time we never got a test to say I was pregnant but even the OB thought I was. Then my marriage ended and I was glad we did not have a baby *even if I was still really upset about the miscarriages* In my next relationship I missed a month @ 31 and we thought it might be. But no.. then that relationship ended.
It happened again @ 34. After that time (rather sure I was, as the way it passed) we started sort of trying... my health has been more stable and my stress lower. It seemed like a good time. My other halfs are more then excited to have another one, but now my body will not get on board. It has been 18 months and nothing. I am having the family issues with cysts, and found out that I have poly cystic ovarian syndrome. As I do more research on that, the more I find that it is hard to treat. There is one medication that you can take, and it does not like me. I found out that there are a couple others, but not as well studied. We are going to try one of them this month. You can loose weight, no thanks I just finally reached a healthy weight for me (was under weight most of my life). I can go on a drastic diet, I don't think that is healthy. Or I can try herbs.. honestly the herbs look like the best option! So I have started to look into what herbs and why.
I am talking to my OB about every option and why or why not to try them. I am blessed that my OB now is a great gal who wants my health to be important also, not just the idea of having a baby.. I see her this week about the cycts and hope that I can start the herbs after that.
*Added after talking to my awesome OB today, we are going to try another medication and the herbal teas. I love that she is ok with me trying herbs and I even forgot to print the sheet I put together on the herbs for her.*
I have always known I am a mother. When I was little I wanted kids of my own (even after helping my mom with my little sister, who is 7 1/2 years younger than I) As the years have gone by I have been blessed with step kids who I will always love. And my other halfs kids who know me as mama Ellen. But that feeling that I should have one of my own is still there, yes I will be ok if I can't have one. But I can't even describe the feeling, it is not a longing, it is not a wish or desire. I just feel like I am to have one. The feeling is honestly the same today as it was when I was 10... it is not about having someone to love me (I have that, both from my kids, good friends and in my relationship with my other halfs).
But I know if I ever get pregnant, I am going to have a hard time getting excited about it (don't want to get my hopes up, or deal with the pain of loss again) and my biggest fear is that it will effect the baby in some way.
In the same way it hurts to see those around me getting pregnant without trying, or very little trying. I had a melt down emotionally when I was told by some friends, they had gotten pregnant and were going to abort. I must clarify that the melt down was about me not them and they made the choice they needed to, for health and personal reasons.
In some ways I have dealt with this really well, in other ways I have not dealt with it at all.. I can logically tell myself that until the last one @ 34, that it was for the best. But logic and the heart are 2 vary different things.
It happened again @ 34. After that time (rather sure I was, as the way it passed) we started sort of trying... my health has been more stable and my stress lower. It seemed like a good time. My other halfs are more then excited to have another one, but now my body will not get on board. It has been 18 months and nothing. I am having the family issues with cysts, and found out that I have poly cystic ovarian syndrome. As I do more research on that, the more I find that it is hard to treat. There is one medication that you can take, and it does not like me. I found out that there are a couple others, but not as well studied. We are going to try one of them this month. You can loose weight, no thanks I just finally reached a healthy weight for me (was under weight most of my life). I can go on a drastic diet, I don't think that is healthy. Or I can try herbs.. honestly the herbs look like the best option! So I have started to look into what herbs and why.
I am talking to my OB about every option and why or why not to try them. I am blessed that my OB now is a great gal who wants my health to be important also, not just the idea of having a baby.. I see her this week about the cycts and hope that I can start the herbs after that.
*Added after talking to my awesome OB today, we are going to try another medication and the herbal teas. I love that she is ok with me trying herbs and I even forgot to print the sheet I put together on the herbs for her.*
I have always known I am a mother. When I was little I wanted kids of my own (even after helping my mom with my little sister, who is 7 1/2 years younger than I) As the years have gone by I have been blessed with step kids who I will always love. And my other halfs kids who know me as mama Ellen. But that feeling that I should have one of my own is still there, yes I will be ok if I can't have one. But I can't even describe the feeling, it is not a longing, it is not a wish or desire. I just feel like I am to have one. The feeling is honestly the same today as it was when I was 10... it is not about having someone to love me (I have that, both from my kids, good friends and in my relationship with my other halfs).
But I know if I ever get pregnant, I am going to have a hard time getting excited about it (don't want to get my hopes up, or deal with the pain of loss again) and my biggest fear is that it will effect the baby in some way.
In the same way it hurts to see those around me getting pregnant without trying, or very little trying. I had a melt down emotionally when I was told by some friends, they had gotten pregnant and were going to abort. I must clarify that the melt down was about me not them and they made the choice they needed to, for health and personal reasons.
In some ways I have dealt with this really well, in other ways I have not dealt with it at all.. I can logically tell myself that until the last one @ 34, that it was for the best. But logic and the heart are 2 vary different things.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Buy Local and hand made
Last week's post went in a completely different direction than I was intending. So let's try this again. Buying local is sometimes rather difficult. But in my mind buying from a small business or artist is the same thing. Handmade stuff is unique. By buying from small businesses you aren't just making the CEO richer. Don't get me wrong, I shop at Walmart and other big chains, but we are trying to get away from that.
We have some of our creations in a little store in Reno called Buy Nevada First. As much as I agree with the theory of always buying local I also realize that in practice it is harder than it used to be. Not every town has a local butcher or a local stationary store. So while I think it is vitally important to support your local area, I also think that we need to be supporting small business across the country. If we can cut dependence on mega corporations then I believe we will be taking the first steps to being a great nation again.
We have some of our creations in a little store in Reno called Buy Nevada First. As much as I agree with the theory of always buying local I also realize that in practice it is harder than it used to be. Not every town has a local butcher or a local stationary store. So while I think it is vitally important to support your local area, I also think that we need to be supporting small business across the country. If we can cut dependence on mega corporations then I believe we will be taking the first steps to being a great nation again.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Relaxation and thoughts
So this weekend we took a little time away and visited some hot springs. It was lots of fun. we camped in the desert, and cooked with the fire.. all with frequent breaks to soak in the hot springs :) the relaxation was awesome, but the allergies are NOT! we are all sick and miserable :( but this too shall pass.. it is making us all irritable and grumpy.. the kids have it also, Little girl is the worst (we have taken her to the DR and should have antibiotics for her soon wanted some blood work first, double ear infection. poor girl)
Lisa and I have been working on some shawls and they are looking GOOD! we are having fun with some yarn we found for a good price. We wanted crochet ones as they are faster for us to pick up and put down (Kids, need I say more....) we went over several ideas before we settled on the patterns we did.. I have been wanting to do a fan shawl and the Really cool pattern I found was not one that can be worked in rows, each fan was worked then the yarn cut and re-attached. We don't like patterns like that as the every time the yarn is cut the finished product is weaker. We like our items to be as strong as possible so that they hold up better. We don't want people to need to buy another item from us because it came out or our workmanship was lacking. We like people to buy from us again as our items hold up, wear well and they like the items. So many items we can buy these days are designed to be used and bought again. This idea is seen as the "norm" buy cheap and when it gives out go get another one.. I don't like this at all. I like to buy quality and then a get upset when it gives out after 10-15 years of regular use. I can thank my dad for this thought.. he taught me to spend $$ on shoes, but to only have a couple pair. To buy the good quality fabric, but get mix and match pieces so a few items can look like a large wardrobe.. It was this thought that has driven me to work until I can say that my design is as sturdy and will hold up as well as possible. Now that my dad is not with us it seems to be that I am working even harder on the little details of the way I do things, to make them function better, last longer and look better doing it.
As with all patterns we use we made some changes so that is lays better and will hold up better.. I have not decided what kind of border to put on it yet, other then it will have all 3 colors in it. Lisa is the same on the edging..
The funny thing is that the blue is the same yarn and yet it looks so different with the other colors. Lisa is getting close to the edging (about 2 more repeats) I have farther to go. About 15 more repeats, but my repeats are smaller, the shawls are about the same # done and you can see that Lisa's is larger. We hope that the bright colors will help the younger generation to see the fun and versatility in some of the items that are not seen as much now.
I started out going to go a totally different direction with this post but that is the way writing goes some times. you start out thinking about Z and end up with Q..
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| Ellen's Work in Progress... |
Lisa and I have been working on some shawls and they are looking GOOD! we are having fun with some yarn we found for a good price. We wanted crochet ones as they are faster for us to pick up and put down (Kids, need I say more....) we went over several ideas before we settled on the patterns we did.. I have been wanting to do a fan shawl and the Really cool pattern I found was not one that can be worked in rows, each fan was worked then the yarn cut and re-attached. We don't like patterns like that as the every time the yarn is cut the finished product is weaker. We like our items to be as strong as possible so that they hold up better. We don't want people to need to buy another item from us because it came out or our workmanship was lacking. We like people to buy from us again as our items hold up, wear well and they like the items. So many items we can buy these days are designed to be used and bought again. This idea is seen as the "norm" buy cheap and when it gives out go get another one.. I don't like this at all. I like to buy quality and then a get upset when it gives out after 10-15 years of regular use. I can thank my dad for this thought.. he taught me to spend $$ on shoes, but to only have a couple pair. To buy the good quality fabric, but get mix and match pieces so a few items can look like a large wardrobe.. It was this thought that has driven me to work until I can say that my design is as sturdy and will hold up as well as possible. Now that my dad is not with us it seems to be that I am working even harder on the little details of the way I do things, to make them function better, last longer and look better doing it.
As with all patterns we use we made some changes so that is lays better and will hold up better.. I have not decided what kind of border to put on it yet, other then it will have all 3 colors in it. Lisa is the same on the edging..
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| Lisa's Work in Progress |
I started out going to go a totally different direction with this post but that is the way writing goes some times. you start out thinking about Z and end up with Q..
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Swiffer and other reusable mop Sizes
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| Green Swiffer with our dust cover on it |
We love all things reusable and simple we are making and selling Swiffer covers and we have a Libman Freedom that we use at home. Yet the sizes of the others are hard to find, yet we need to have them handy so we can make sure that we are selling the right sizes to the right people. I went looking for the size of the Swiffer Wet Jet today and it took me a LONG time to find a site that gave me size and any other info, I knew it had sprayers on the mop head but did not have a good idea of where. So I decided that I needed to look them all up so others would be able to find them easier than I did, and for our reference.
All sizes are in Inches and some are estimates as I have not been able to measure them myself, I did look at several yesterday and know that the sizes are at least close and the designs should work. I have also added any info that I find helpful for making covers. Please let me know if there is any wrong info and I will update the list.
I am working on a new design, one that will work for more than one mop, the size might have to be adjusted but that should be about all. I might post a photo tutorial on how to make them one of these days..
I am working on a new design, one that will work for more than one mop, the size might have to be adjusted but that should be about all. I might post a photo tutorial on how to make them one of these days..
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| Libman Freedom with our Scrubby cover |
Wear Creations on Amazon (expanding product offering here soon)
original green Swiffer has a mop size of 10x5...
Swiffer XL 18x8
Swiffer Wet Jet 11.3x 5.5(needs not to close over the ends as the jets are about an inch from the end)
StarMop 17.5x5
E-cloth Deep Clean Mop 17.5x5.25
O'Cedar ProMist10.5x5
Libman Freedom 15x5
Rubbermade Reveal 16x5.5
Linkyo Pro 15x5 (need flat 15x8)
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