Squeaky Joints

Arthritis and renovating do not go hand in hand.  I have gone through back and hip surgery in the last 4 years so I’ve definitely had my time feeling like I was the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz needing some oil in my joints.

I haven’t been officially diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis maybe b/c those tests are not always accurate, but I have enough pain in my joints to know that something is not exactly right there.  But there’s not a whole lot that the doctors can do about it from what I’ve been told.  The medicines they give you for that tend to cause other problems.

I have found a supplement that has helped me.  It’s called Arthri-D-3: www.arthrid.com  It’s kind of a hodge-podge of different things you read about that help arthritis all included in one place.  That’s why I like it – I don’t have to buy a bunch of different supplements though I sometimes also take a fish oil supplement.  I’m not getting paid by Arthri-D-3 or anything and I don’t sell it – just thought I’d post this information here in case it helps anybody else suffering with arthritis.  Feel free to comment with any other tips for arthritis management.

I also try to do my back exercises that the physical therapist taught me every night.  I lay on my stomach and push up off the ground (leaving my hips touching the ground) with my arms 20 times.  And then do a plank for a minute.  Then I repeat both of those exercises one more time.  After that, I do a series of back crunches – about 40.  This where you basically lay on your stomach and put your hands behind your head and lift your torso off the ground.  At the end, I go into the superman pose – put arms straight out in front of you and lift both arms and legs – like Superman!  Hold for 20 seconds.  Then do some swimming after that – air swimming – not the real thing in an actual pool.  It’s alot but it really helps to strengthen and decompress the spine – all good for disc problems.

I also, personally, wish that marijuana would get legalized in the state of Missouri because I think it would be helpful in dealing with arthritis pain.  I have been against marijuana all my life until I got crippled by pain when my disc ruptured – that changed my whole perspective.

I had no idea that the only thing they had to give you for that type of pain was opioids and they were so strong and made me sick I could barely take them – especially while raising little kids.  I do mean – little.  Because at the time my youngest was only 15 months old and I could no longer lift her.  I basically couldn’t leave the house b/c of it.  It would take me at least 30 minutes to get out of bed in the morning – just a like a lightning rod of pain down my back.  It honestly felt like I’d fallen off a 50 foot cliff and was lying at the bottom with a broken back every morning when I woke up.

Once I got up and started moving the pain would get slightly better but it was still really bad – I couldn’t completely straighten my back.  My husband actually bought me a cane with roses on it for Valentine’s day (isn’t he sweet? :-p).  And I’d really gotten to the point where I wanted to wear a grey wig and stop lotioning so people would mistake me for my kid’s grandma – this way I wouldn’t get asked so many questions when they saw me walking hunched over with a cane.  Since I was just barely handling the pain but I couldn’t handle questions on top of it – it would bring tears to my eyes.

So, I had to take hydrocodone (opioid) just to semi-function.  And I didn’t get addicted.  My opinion is not that opioids should be taken off the market b/c some people hugely benefit from them like I did.  I am no longer on them but I used them to be able to take care of my kids during that difficult time.  It was the only way for me and for many people out there.

Though I do look forward to a time where they have different medicines to offer that aren’t quite so potent and I think medicinal use of marijuana could be a starting off point for that.  There have been many studies showing that marijuana cream helps relieve the pain in arthritic joints.  I do hope they make more advances in this area and that more people would become open to it b/c the alternative is opioids – and that’s pretty harsh – we need an in between.  Again, not getting paid by the pot lobbyists – just my own personal opinion.  I, personally, wouldn’t use it for recreational use, but for medicinal I think it could be beneficial.

 

Suzy HomeMaker

When I imagined becoming a Mom, I imagined being Suzy Homemaker.  I imagined perfection – fun days at home playing with the kids, cooking magnificent meals, in a clean and tidy house, etc.  That’s the sort of good stuff I quit my job for.

But reality looks much different with kids.  The reality is that the house is always dirty b/c it’s impossible to keep it clean  unless you plan to have a knee replacement at the age of 40.  There’s just too much stuff to pick up and stuff gets dirty immediately after you clean it.  It’s funny how me and my husband are constantly saying, “But the house was just clean 2 days ago, what happened?!?I”.  And we are using the term “clean” relatively speaking b/c the house is never truly clean when you have kids.

As far as dinners, I’ve made some pretty magnificent meals and some stuff that even I couldn’t eat.  I love to try new recipes.  Well, I used to – the kids have sort of broken me for now but I will rise again.  However, I cook meals only to have the kids hate them.  My least favorite thing to hear when the kids come home is, “Mommy, what’s for dinner?” after I’ve been cooking for a couple of hours.  I tell them that’s a loaded question and I won’t answer it b/c there is no right answer.  No matter what I say, unless it’s Mac N Cheese – the boxed kind not my homemade kind – they are going to say, “Ewww!”.  They each have their own hang-ups regarding food that it’s impossible to please everyone.

My one child loves cheese, but hates it melted unless it’s on pizza.  I use melted cheese quite a bit b/c I love it and when I make a really bad dinner – melted cheese makes it tastes better.  I’m thinking, really kid, you do not want to eat this meal without a ton of melted cheese on it – trust me.  My other child hates everything that is edible unless it’s candy or shrimp (???).  I love shrimp but I never make it b/c my husband hates it.  And the youngest won’t eat anything unless you spoon feed her and she’s 4!!!!  Aye yai yai.  So, as you can see, motherhood quickly becomes overwhelming and this is just one area – food.

And fun playing with the kids sounds easy in theory.  But it’s just as complicated especially if playing with all three kids and even with just the one kid.  They usually don’t want to play by the rules.  Or they are mad b/c they are not winning – and I’m talking actual anger or tears – like bring down the house drama.  Or they keep kicking the game board over b/c they can’t sit still – like literally spinning around on one knee in the middle of the game – and I wonder how their pants all have holes at the knees.  Then, you will spend the entire game telling everyone who’s turn it is, else they will literally stare at the wall for minutes before you say, “Your turn!” and everyone jumps out of their daydream.  Trust me, I’ve tried not saying it and we all just sit there in silence for literally minutes.

I didn’t start out feeling like that.  When I had my first child, I lived the idealized life and I still had my optimism in tact.  Back then, I still had relative control over the house and our life and what the baby ate, etc.  But then they get older and start talking and making their own toast (aka mess) and slowly you lose control of everything.  And it’s a challenge.

I believe that’s why God wants us to have kids – we learn how little control we actually have over things.  Because when I think about it – before I had kids – I actually acted alot like a kid.  I’m embarrassed by some of my behaviors pre-kids and still I struggle, to be honest, but not nearly as bad – ask my husband.  When I first met my husband, I was a bit of a pill.  Ask him about anytime he got my order wrong getting takeout.  Now, I’m happy just to get food that I don’t have to cook and if it happens to be warm when I eat it -even better.  Parenting completely changes you.

What also happened when I started to realize I had no control over things is that we started having more fun as a family.  It was not fun in the beginning, it was controlled.  But now life is more spontaneous and fun.  And I don’t know if that’s b/c I don’t have to change diapers and wipe butts anymore or if it’s just because I’ve finally been broken in as a Mom and as a person.

At some point, you realize you have to let go and let God b/c it’s impossible to have “perfection”.  You start to realize that you already have perfection in this messy life.  If you have God in your life, you have perfection.  Those little faces smiling up at you are perfection.

I imagined a Suzy Homemaker life, but that is a life (without kids – just kidding!) without emotions.  When you think about it, emotions are what make life fun and worth living, but they can also make life a bit of a roller coaster.  We can’t take those out and we wouldn’t want to if given the opportunity.

We’d be robots.

The same emotions that make your child cry when they don’t win a game are the same emotions that make your child cry for someone who isn’t included in a game.

The same emotion that caused your child to drop their toys all over the living room floor to run outside and see a bunny rabbit in the yard is the same emotion that’s going to drive them to do great things in this life.

Emotions are passions and we should embrace them.  When used toward positive ends, they can be amazing.  So, I guess the goal would be to direct our kids and ourselves to use emotions for good not bad.  The key would be not to suppress them but to redirect them in a positive way.  Suppressed emotions can be a very bad thing and toxic to boot.

When focused in a negative way, emotions can cause depression and heart break.  When focused in a positive way, emotions can bring about healing and connection.

I struggle with this plenty.  I’m a strong Feeler on the Myers Briggs spectrum.  And there have been many times that I’ve cursed my emotions and just wished I could get off the roller coaster and not care so much.  But, in the end, I’d rather care than not care.  Because you can’t force someone to care – they either do or they don’t.  So, better to have it and control it than not have it at all.

And as long as I can pray about it and ask God to help me to use my feelings for good and not bad – that is the ultimate goal for me.  I’m trying to teach my girls the same.  At this point, it looks like they are all on the Feeler side of the spectrum as well and it’s looking more like a good thing than I originally thought.  Because feelings that are used for good are the most beautiful things in the world, IMHO.

One last point, and maybe most close to my heart, without emotions, we wouldn’t have laughter.  I love a good time.  One of my favorite quotes is, “Life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass…  It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”  Let’s dance and have fun with the imperfections – b/c often times those are the best part.

Pimp My Mommy Van 10 Ways

Someone needs to start a Pimp My Mommy Van store. I’d pay some big bucks.  Some of the things on my wish list:

1.) Sound proof barrier between the front and the back seats like in a limo

Probably my husband would like an additional sound proof barrier between the driver and passenger seat, but that would get DENIED. :-p

2.) Self-vacuuming This one is self explanatory

3.) Vending machine that someone comes and stocks for me b/c I’ll forget and it’ll be useless if not.

4.) Seats (all but driver seat) that have the ability to deliver a minor shock.  Minor shock never hurt anyone permanently right?  This can be initiated by the driver when the kids start fighting, or anyone refuses to eat where the driver wants to eat, or anyone complains of the music or otherwise disrupts the peace..

And a voice would come over the intercom saying, “Eh – Try again.” B/c moms shouldn’t have to talk while they drive.. Or ever. Can we just outsource the talking altogether? That could just be a portable voice box that we take with us and push the appropriate button for, “Yes dear”, “Eh – try again”, or “Oh wow – that’s so interesting”.

5.) A little robot that hands people stuff when it falls on the floor b/c this is the least safe of all and I never hand anyone anything while driving which leads to the littlest one screaming her head off which is also probably not a safe driving situation. :-p

6.) Amazon Echo built into the back of the car to answer all the millions of questions the kids ask – this way the kids can actually learn something instead of me making stuff up..

Isn’t it funny how they ask some really hard to answer questions when you are running really late for something and you are trying to remember the millions of things you are supposed to be bringing? It’s like why are they thinking about why the Earth is round when they are supposed to be getting buckled? Think about the buckle and the sound of it snapping together.  Or my favorite: How do sheep born babies?  I’ve actually gotten this question and it stumps me everytime..

It should also be programmable to say “mm-hmmm” and “okay” alternately whenever there is a non-question b/c you know they are speaking so quietly in the car that there is no way you’d hear them over the engine anyway. At least that’s what my kids do. At the library and at fancy restaurants (the rare times we choose to torture ourselves) they run and yell but in the car or when they are saying something that I’m really interested in, they squeak like a mouse. I’ll never understand it.

7.) Headphones that come down from the ceiling and land magically on the kid’s heads

Like we really need to reinforce the idea that things fall magically from the sky on command but in this case it might be necessary. If they get their hands on the headphones they will break instantly or disappear into thin air.

8.) TV screens that don’t break after a month – anyone else have this problem?

9.)  A toilet because one of the kids always has to go to the restroom.  This one was suggested by a friend of mine which, of course, I agreed with – this has to be on the list.  Also, you should be able to eject the contents of this toilet if someone is riding up on your tail..

10.) An eject button which would eject the kids out of the car and safely onto the sidewalk with all their stuff. Otherwise, it takes for-ever for the kids to get out of the car. I have one kid that purposefully waits until everyone else is out of the car before she even attempts to unbuckle her seat belt. This is especially bad in the winter or when it’s raining or when you are running late in the school drop off line and holding up all the parents behind you who are also running late. How cool would that be to be able to push the eject button? It would be like: “Love you guys!” Eject. Mom drives off waving and smiling. That would go so much smoother than, “Ok, guys hope you have a good day! There’s a long line of cars behind us waiting so try to speed it up. Why aren’t you already out of the car? You are going to be so late. What is taking so long?!? [Kids making sure their backpacks are perfectly centered on their back.] Get out. Seriously, guys you have to get out! Love you! [Mom drives off frazzled]”.

Did I miss anything? As you can see, I’ve been thinking a lot about this – dreaming about it actually every time I get in the car.. And we spend a lot of time in the car – don’t we moms? Shuttling the little people back and forth and here and there. We deserve to get our vans (or whatever you drive) pimped. :-p  If you saw the state of my van, you would agree. I recently spent a couple of weeks driving with gnats flying around my head because my kids shoved food in one of the receptacles in the back and I refused to acknowledge it.  If I had one of those sound proof barriers, I suppose that would keep the gnats in the back as well.  :-p

Hmm – I think I would live in my car if I could get these upgrades. A mom can dream can’t she.. What else do we “need”?

Chocolate Lave Mug Cake

Careful – this recipe will make you gain weight real quick!  It is sooo good, but use sparingly!  :-p

Chocolate Lava Cake in a Mug (in the microwave):

In a large mug, whisk together:
4 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
2 heaping tbsp cocoa powder

then add in:

1 egg
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp milk
a splash of vanilla extract
A splash of almond extract (optional)
dash of salt

whisk together thoroughly until well combined.

dump 3 tbsp chocolate chips on top of the batter but do not stir.

microwave for ONE minute, then stir. microwave another 20-30 seconds, and voila! chocolate cake in under 5 minutes.

Mini Cream Cheese Danishes

And yet another dessert for breakfast idea.  I’m starting to see a new theme here.  Maybe I should just rename this site DessertForBreakfastorBust.  I did read an article recently that talked about how you should eat your dessert during the day as opposed to at night.  So, here we go, we’re in line with the health advice of the day which I’m sure will be completely different in a year or two – then they’ll be telling us research shows we should be having our dessert at midnight.  :-p  Really, we shouldn’t be eating dessert, but that’s not realistic..  And I’ve done my own research which proves that eating dessert is actually a mood lifter and gives you more energy and motivation to do some renovation – when you tell yourself if you just finish painting a room – you can have a danish, etc..  One danish per room is REALLY motivating.  :-p

Mini Cream Cheese Danishes

Ingredients:
• 1 roll Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Filling:
• 8 ounces soft cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 can cherry or blueberry pie filling
Glaze:
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. milk
Directions:
1. Open container of rolls and do no unroll them. Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut through them like slice/bake cookies. Make 10 slices.
2. Lay each slice on a cookie sheet.  (You can put wax paper down if you want – I didn’t)
3. Use a measuring cup to flatten each roll out and build a small wall around the edge.

Filling:
1. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
2. Drop a small amount into each “danish.”
3. Add a teaspoonful of cherries or blueberries.
4. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
5. Let cool and add a drizzle of glaze.  (I actually didn’t do the glaze part because I’m lazy – tastes good either way..)

Glaze:
1. Combine milk and sugar and drizzle on danishes. Can use a pastry bag, if desired.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Dessert

Another dessert for breakfast idea.  I bring this dessert to my MOPS meetings and everyone asks for the recipe.  It is sooo good!  I don’t really eat breakfast unless it’s amazing so that’s why I tend to have dessert breakfasts..  :-p  And it has to be stuff that goes well with my coffee.  Anyone have an amazing coffee cake recipe?  I still have yet to make a coffee cake..  One day..

Sopapilla Cheesecake Dessert

Ingredients:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, Softened
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (8 ounce) cans crescent roll dough
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg

Directions:

  1. Grease a 9X13 inch pan. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Beat the cream cheese with sugar, egg, and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Unroll 1 can of crescent roll dough, place into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining can of crescent dough.
  3. Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Stir the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar together with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the cheesecake.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

From Potty To Powder Room 03/2016

Don’t you love having to update bathrooms?!?!  It’s my least favorite thing b/c after all it’s just where you go to poop – how fancy does it have to be?  Well, we aren’t always rational beings, right?

Everything in these bathrooms was purchased at Home Depot so that makes it nice and easy.  I’ve been told that Moen is the best brand to buy when selecting faucets/shower heads, etc so I try to stick with that brand where it’s available.  And also to never put ceramic tile on the floors (it’s cheaper but more likely to crack) so I selected porcelain tile.

We did have some unknowns come up – we had to replace most of the sub-floor in both bathrooms due to water damage (not surprising considering these bathrooms haven’t been updated since 1969 – we think) and we discovered some pipes needed to be updated once we opened the walls.  You always have to expect the unexpected.

Isn’t that what they say on Survivor? Renovating can be a little like Survivor. Mentally, you are stressed b/c you aren’t sure if you picked the right contractor. Physically, you may not be showering – in the case of a bathroom update. Or you may not be eating right – in the case of a kitchen update. There’s dust everywhere and loud noises – as if you are in the wild.

Anyway, I digress..  When renovating – something always comes up, doesn’t it?!?!  It does for us and I don’t think we are alone. Or that would be more like Naked and Afraid – anybody watch that show?  I used to be against it b/c hello they are naked and in what world are you going to be naked and lost. You should at least have a pair of initial clothes, right?  You’re not going to be like – Hey! I’m lost!  And then proceed to rip off your clothes.  But now I’m a fan of the show b/c it’s so interesting minus all the butt shots.  Again, I digress.  My ADD gets me EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

We had a contractor do the bathrooms.  In case you are interested, here are the selections we made regarding tile, etc:

Wall Tile Selection:
Grout: Polyblend #115 Platinum
Store SKU# 1001256662
Tile: MARAZZI VitaElegante Bianco 6 in. x 24 in. Porcelain Floor and Wall Tile (14.53 sq. ft. / case)
Store SKU# 1000047587

Floor Tile Selection:
Grout: Polyblend #165 Delorean Gray
Store SKU# 656844
Tile: MARAZZI Studio Life Central Park 12 in. x 24 in. Glazed Porcelain Floor and Wall Tile (15.60 sq. ft. / case)
Store SKU# 1001292431

HallBathroom1
Hall Bathroom
HallBathroom2
Hall Bathroom

Master bathroom:

MasterBathroom
Master Bathroom
MasterBathroom3
Master Bathroom

The paint color we chose for the walls is Antique White.  They are small bathrooms and it’s a rental so I figure you can’t go wrong with that.  It also brightens them up and makes them feel bigger.

Blueberry Muffin Cake

Since I like cake for breakfast, let’s call this a blueberry muffin cake and call it a day! You are allowed to eat blueberry muffins for breakfast but not cake so this is the best of both worlds!

Blueberry Muffin Cake
Ingredients:
Mix together:
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder

Cream together:
2 cup sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with:
1 cup whole milk
Next, gently fold in 3 cups blueberries mixed with a little flour.  Pour the batter in a 9×13 pan.

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake the cake for 45 minutes to an hour.

 

Giving Jar for Girl Scout Philanthropy Badge or Cute Everyday Piggybank

I was recently in charge of a Girl Scout meeting for my oldest girl scout to help the girls earn their Philanthropy badge.  Well, me and my daughter were in charge but you know how that goes…  😉  We needed an activity for the girls during the meeting and I felt like this giving jar was the perfect idea.  This jar is a place where they can save up their coins to donate to a charity of their choosing.  We talked about what charities already exist out there and about how a dime doesn’t buy much here but in a third world country could buy a child a breakfast of oatmeal and such. I also had some magazines and had them cut out some wants vs needs and glue them to poster boards but I would say they were more excited about the jars.

What you’ll need:

sponge brushes (to paint on the mod podge) Found a pack of them at Wal-Mart for cheap.
mason jars (pint-sized – got from Wal-Mart b/c they had some that didn’t have any engravings on them)
tissue paper (multi-colored)
mod podge
card stock (multi-colored for the lids)
box cutter (to cut the slit in the lid for the coins)

The girls were excited to make their jars.  I cut the circles out of tissue paper beforehand.  At first, I bought a circle punch from Michael’s and that was worthless.  It kept tearing the tissue paper and not cutting then eventually broke from too much use (or frustration on my part?!?!) so I had to abandon that idea.  In the end, I found the best way to cut out the circles was to fold the tissue paper over itself multiple times and trace a 1.5 inch circle which I first cut out of card stock (using my whole punch when it was still alive).  Then, I traced that on the folded tissue paper and cut out multiple circles at a time that way.  You will need some strong scissors – I used the kitchen shears b/c I wanted to cut as many circles as humanly possible at one time..  :-p  They don’t have to be perfect – no one will notice..

First, you paint mod podge on a section of the jar using a sponge brush (it dries quick so just one small section at a time), then stick the circles to it, then paint the mod podge over the circles and repeat.  It is pretty easy.  Just keep overlapping the circles so that every inch of the jar is covered.  For the top, I just cut a circle out of card stock and used a box cutter to make the coin slit in it.  Wallah!  Pretty cute, right?  You could also just use it for a pencil holder or you could do the same thing with a vase from the dollar store.  Whatever you want. I need to make one using different colored tissue paper for my office..20160326_171604 (2)

20160326_171610 (2)

 

Here’s a link to the video that shows you the tehnique:

 

And here’s a website where I initially found the philanthropy badge information and the common sense jar.  I kind of combined the two ideas:

http://followthejrleader.blogspot.com/2014/03/brownie-philanthropy-badge.html

Hallway Transformation into Command Center

Because I love magnet and tack boards so much, I decided to update this hallway in between the kitchen and the office into a place where I could put the menu for the week, to do lists, hang the kids artwork, homework, Christmas cards, pictures, etc.  Why not?  I already had the magnet board collage on the one side (as per earlier post), but I made the 4 tack boards more recently (over Christmas break) using different colored yarn to match the magnet boards and hung those up using french cleats.  My husband actually did the hanging and boy was he excited and not in a good way!!! j/k – sort of :-p  I actually made the tack boards instead of putting together Christmas cards to send out (which would explain my lack of Christmas cards received)  b/c I’m ADD like that and I REALLY enjoy doing new projects when I’m supposed to be doing something else – isn’t it strange how that works?  Anyone else like that?  Some pics below:

Hallway_twotackboards
Hallway_2tackboardsOther
Hallway_TackboardsAll Hallway_Tackboard Hallway_MagnetBoards Hallway_BothSides