Sweet Jeepers McGee!

I am no good at blogging regularly.

In fact, the only thing that feels "regular" about anything is total, abject insanity.

The saying "crazier than a bag of cats" applies, only the bag has been shaken quite a bit.

Shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake the crazy...

I Did Something!

Yes, I finally have a project I can post!  This is the second one since I started this blog, which means I'm not doing too well in the Friday's Refashion or whatever I originally planned for Fridays, but things are happening at least, right?

My creativity has been manifesting in really messed up, disorganized, random explosions of doneness.  What's hilarious is, since I am still without a proper camera, I have been taking "before" and "after" pictures with my son's Lego camera.  Soak in the 3MP awesomeness.

Anyway, halfway through painting my downstairs bathroom (that will be another Friday post in the near future), I decided I needed a smaller project to keep the momentum going.  My sights landed on our humble little knife block.

I took "before" pictures and loaded them onto the computer about 3 minutes ago, realized I needed to take "after" pictures, took those, then loaded those onto the computer as well, only to have it save over the "before" pictures.  Of course it would happen that way.  Ugh.

Yourblissblog.com had a suitable "before" picture with apt labeling, so I borrowed it.

Two coats of chalkboard paint and some help from the kiddos rendered this:

"No cuts, no butts, no coconuts" is their favorite line from the movie Wreck-it Ralph.

It says: "Winner winner, chicken dinner" and there is a whole chicken on the top level, half-hidden by knife handles.  

The beauty about it is we can erase and redecorate it as time and season dictates.  Kid #2 wrote "I love you, silly!" on the back of it, while the girl drew a princess somewhere.  Before the day is done, amid the cleaning frenzy (we volunteered to have our HOA meeting here tomorrow afternoon, ugh), a no-sew refashion will be posted on the girl's blog.

Happy Friday! 

Look! LOOK!!!

Like an illness that starts at the base of the spine and creeps quickly toward the brain, wrapping the body in tendrils of body-seizing anguish, so goes my creative bug today.

Seriously, it's bad.

I thought to myself today, "Hm...  The downstairs bathroom needs painting."

And then I painted the bathroom.  Well, about 1/3 of the bathroom.  Then I decided that the color wasn't quite right.  On deck is the quart of free paint I scooped up from Ace Hardware two weekends ago.

What's hilarious about it all is that the kids keep popping their heads into the bathroom to ask, "Is Daddy going to be mad that you're painting the bathroom?"  HAHA!!!

Well, while the wrong color dried, I grabbed my knife block and sanded it down before taking it out front and giving it a coat of primer.  Now I have to decide what color I want it to be before I have the kids unload the dishwasher.

My creative purge is manifesting spastically.  I am anticipating several no-sew refashions for the girl to post on her blog before the evening closes. EDIT: That didn't happen.  But it will on 8/16.

Right after I finish painting my bathroom, that is...

Tasty Tuesday: A Food Review.

I remember once asking my dad what kimchi was.  He told me that it was Korean pickled cabbage.

I never thought of it since.  Pickled cabbage?  Gross.

Well, about a week ago, we were watching "Unwrapped" on Amazon and they showed the King's Kimchi factory mixing up their kimchi.  It is marinated and fermented, mixed in small batches by hand, using not one single unrecognizable ingredient.

SOLD!

I went out and found some at our grocery store and tried it over two egg whites for breakfast.  I wasn't expecting it to be so tangy, but the follow-up flavors of garlic and chili (think sriracha) had me hooked.

I have been enjoying it on my eggs, over rice noodles, and by itself ever since.

I bought the spicy variety and it hasn't been as spicy as I thought it would be.  It's tolerable, even for a spicy-food-wuss like me. :-)

Needed Prayers.

Our priest went to the ER last night with some gastrointestinal issues.

He used to be nearly 400 lbs, but has worked hard with a doctor and nutritionist to lose half of it in about a year's time.  But since then, it appears he's had a whole different host of health problems revolving around his digestive system.

Anyway, if you could please spare a prayer or two for him, I know he'd greatly appreciate it.

Please pray for me as well.  I'm struggling with some deep physical, spiritual, and emotional shakedown.  Everything seems to be coming from a very selfish place, but it has an unusually powerful hold on me to the point where I feel like I can't even put coherent thoughts together about it.

Oh Saturday, You're Here Again!

While the hubs is off giving a talk on NFP, I have big plans to clean.  The kids are finishing up breakfast slowly, hoping to squeeze every last moment of freedom from their morning before I begin cracking the whip of motivation.

Though, to be honest, the house isn't in terrible shape.  I'm betting that we can be done before lunch if they don't drag themselves around like zombies.

It's SO CUTE how my daughter feigns injustice with the list of things that need to be done.  Right now, she's giving me the stink eye because I cleaned the bathroom last night.  "I wanted to scrub the tub," she's growling.  Well, sweetheart, take that energy and put it into picking up your room.  Oh the horrors, right?

If the house is in order in time, I promised to take them out for lunch.  It's as much of a reward for me as it is for them because the house will be clean, I won't have to cook, and then I can come home and sew!

Oh, yeah, get this: I have been working slowly-but-surely to get the computer to the sewing desk so that we can get rid of the office desk and arrange the living room in a more pleasing way.  Since I wasn't sewing much, I figured it was a good plan.  Well, the kids have shown an interest in learning and some minor projects and repairs have been happening.  Wouldn't it figure that the machine would get more use once I made major strides to evict it from its home?

Pffft...

Well, time to slay this beast.  Though, let's be serious, it'll be back by tomorrow at the very latest.

Calm Down Already!

I sat down here to type out my daughter's adventure in sewing from last night, sip my coffee, catch up on world news and Facebook news, and wait for the kids to finish breakfast before we start school.

Instead, I have a little girl hanging from my elbow and DYING to know when she can do her math games on the computer, a baby boy playing in the kitchen sink, and two older boys arguing over who is allowed to eat which snacks since the grapes are nearly gone (thanks to the baby).

Oh Thursday, why do you hate me so?

I want to stop and throw my hands in the air and just let everything happen until I can't feel feelings anymore.  I'm pretty sure that's just because I haven't had my coffee in its entirety though. ;-)

Today is actually set to be a pretty easy day.  The kids will do reading, vocabulary, Bible and Catechism in the morning, then math, science, and history in the afternoon.  This should leave two hours for house cleaning and dinner prep before the mister is due home.

I suppose that means I should have a plan for dinner.

I know, I laughed too.

Click. Take a Pic.

Stiiiiillllllll nnooooooooooo caaaaamerrrraaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

My birthday is in September.  I'm already scouting sales for a DSLR camera.  But with the way finances are going, I may opt for a point-and-shoot and put the difference toward more necessary things (oh these first-world problems).

However, things are on the up-and-up.  My husband has taken on a teaching position rather last minute at a local Catholic college this fall.  It's the same intro course he did before, so his prep work is all done.  It's a tremendous blessing, because now he won't be locking himself away from the family two extra nights a week to prep for the classes.

This also means we're pulling in a little more income.  I'm thrilled about this.  It may put us a little bit ahead of paying off his student loans.

Even more still, his company wants me to make a few Wikipedia pages for some of their authors.  I have to read some autobiographies/memoirs and take some notes.  Yes, I'm getting paid to read about people I deeply respect, and then prepare a wiki page for the world to read about them.  How amazingly awesome is that?!?!

Well, we're late beginning school work.  I'd better make it happen so the kids can hit up our friend's pool later!

Meme and Musings.

Louis, in the dead quiet of prayer during Mass yesterday, began to holler "Na na na na na BAN-NAM!!!!"  That's Louis-speak for "Batman."  You're welcome, Jesus.

That's not even the height of his hijinks.  I'm "Mommy" when he needs me to lay some discipline on his siblings.  Otherwise, my name is "honk honk boobies."

We started school today.  We remained on task rather well, I'd say!  We may have to see about tinkering through some math worksheets later, but they've adequately gorged on poetry, vocabulary, reading, Bible stories, Catechism, and science.  Tomorrow we'll look into history, geography, more poetry, and other things that have required me to completely blank out as I type.

Oh, Louis just got into the coconut flour...

For you, Louis.  From the bottom of my heart.

Oh, and I tried purging some clothing and shoes that are too small for my kiddos.  They are pulling them out of the giveaway bag insisting that they know someone specific who can use what they don't want to relinquish.  And thus:

I also shop after bedtime, but they know.  They manifest out of thin air when I get home.

Jeepers, a silent bomb exploded in my living room while I was typing!  Time to resolve that issue before dinner gets into the works.  

It's been a good day today. :-)

Wellness and Western Medicine.

Concern has been expressed that I am approaching the status of "brainwashed hippie" with my obsession over dietary links to wellness and the use of common household staples as medicine.

But please bear with me while I trace the lines and connect the dots in my train of thought (sigh...  again):

I haven't written off Western Medicine.  I think it's amazing stuff when and where it is needed and necessary!  When Kid #3 was peeing blood, I didn't think it was a job for garlic and whatever else.  I got her to a hospital.  When Kid #4 had nursemaid's elbow (what I thought was a possibly broken arm at the time), off to the hospital we went.  When gall stones attacked, I got my gallbladder yanked (a bit of a rushed decision in hindsight, but there it is).  When one kid relentlessly puked for days, we saw a doctor to monitor his fluids in case medical intervention was necessary.

What fries me is this: When I was going to hospitals to have my children, getting epidurals and cytotec doses without questioning their safety or alternatives, I wasn't considered brainwashed.  I took advice like a kid at a candy dispenser from people who were educated in their fields WITHOUT seeking balancing and/or seemingly contrary advice.  Vaccinations by the truckload found their way into my two oldest sons without so much as a second thought about delay or spacing, the fragility of their immune systems, or the practicality of giving a brand new baby a Hep B shot.  But that method of action, doing what I'm told by people who specialized in a particular area without questioning their credentials or seeking alternative advice, somehow makes my decisions educated?

Am I the only one who sees the lunacy here?!

I tossed gluten and I am feeling great.  I avoided a 3 day hospital stay by treating my second round of mastitis with garlic cloves and raw cider vinegar (I did spend 3 days in the hospital the first time it hit, years ago, because I trusted that such a move was medically necessary).  I treated Kid #2's UTI with garlic and vinegar as well.  It tamed his "pee tantrum." :-)  All of this is just from the past 6 months.  But relying on such brilliantly simple remedies makes me brainwashed.  Getting this advice from naturopaths and homeopaths makes it stupid.  It costs less, it's easily accessible, and it's been working, so I must be borderline insane, especially when I make this decision in light of the decisions I know will be made (and have been made) by a doctor.

I think I have a decent balance in place.  I try to help at home that which can be helped at home.  When things are something I'm not willing to take on myself, I bring in those who are better capable of handling things.  I rely on what I've researched and what I've experienced to make decisions.  And nobody has been put in any real danger through the whole process.  If anything, I've acted in a way that gives Western medicine more of my trust than "hippie" remedies.

I'm not stupid.  I think that's the implication I resent most from anyone who tosses these kinds of decisions in my face.  I'm not so brainwashed or so proud or so bent on one mode of thought that I will not deviate from treating X ailment with Y methods.  Anecdotal and empirical evidence go hand-in-hand when I make decisions regarding the health and well-being of my family.  But somehow my decisions are blasted because a $1.50 bulb of garlic saved me a $200 hospital bill on more than one occasion?

That makes all kinds of sense.

I suppose I'm a tad sensitive about this lately because the criticisms are coming from people close to me, even some who appeared to support these decisions when I began doing the research and application.  I vomit the feelings here because I don't want to run to the more vehemently anti-(natural/western med approach) crowds on various message boards around the internet, further bombarding my wounded sensibilities with propaganda.  And garlic. ;-)

Until next time, my current diagnosis:

It's an "ailment" from which I hope I never recover. :-)