ADD? Me? Nah.

This morning, on my way out of the house, I grabbed my wallet, but realized that I had left my phone in the bedroom.  So I walked to the bedroom, and immediately forgot why I was in there.  Knowing that it was supposed to be chilly, I decided to find a sweater while I was in there.  So I put my wallet down on the bed and started searching the closet.  I tried on one sweater after another, rejecting each one until I realized it was the shirt that I didn't like, not the sweaters.  So I took the shirt off and threw it into my "give away" pile.  Back to the closet to pick out a new shirt.  Then a sweater.  A look in the mirror told me I had a good combination.  But now that my clothes looked nice, my "good enough" hair needed some help.  10 minutes later, I exited the bathroom with a cute outfit and done-up hair.  When I got back to the living room, on my way out the door (again), I remembered why I had gone into the bedroom: to get my phone.  So I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my phone off the bedside stand, and discovered my wallet, which I had put on the bed.  I finally left the house, shaking my head at myself.  I am one of those people who really WOULD lose my head of it wasn't attached.  thank goodness it is.

Straw or tube?

Today, I went on my first jog since being put on asthma medication.  Mind you, my jogs consist of 75% walking, and my jogging speed is probably slower than your fast walking speed.  However, with the asthma medication in me, all I can say is wow!  Before, when I exercised, I would huff and puff, I ended up wheezing and coughing, and it felt like I was breathing through a straw:

This time, I was still huffing and puffing (that comes from being out of shape) but my airways were much more open.  More like breathing through a paper towel tube:

I don't like being dependent on medicine, however.........YOU try breathing through a straw and a paper towel tube and see which you prefer.

So much history in one lifetime

My grand mother was born in 1913.  Next Tuesday, she will be celebrating her 99th birthday.  I think back to all the things I learned about in history class - modern U.S. history.  She has lived through so much of it.  So in honor of her birthday, I have complied a timeline (thanks in part to Wikipedia) of historical events that have happened during her lifetime.

• 1913:  Woodrow Wilson becomes President, the 16th amendment establishes a federal income tax, Henry Ford establishes the assembly line
• 1914 (age 1):  Mother's Day is established as a national holiday
• 1917 (age 4): the U.S. enters into WWI
• 1919 (age 6): the 18th amendment establishes Prohibition
• 1920 (age 7): women gain the right to vote, first radio broadcasts are heard in Pittsburgh and Detroit
• 1921 (age 8): Warren G Harding becomes President
• 1923 (age 10): Calvin Coolidge becomes President
• 1926 (age 13): NBC is founded
• 1927 (age 14): Charles Lindburgh makes the first trans-Atlantic flight, The Jazz Singer is the first "talkie" (motion picture with sound) released
• 1928 (age 15): Steamboat Willie opens and Mickey Mouse is born, Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
• 1929 (age 16) Herbert Hoover becomes President, the Wall Street Crash begins the Great Depression
• 1930 (age 17): vegetables become the first frozen food sold
• 1931 (age 18): the Empire State Building opens
• 1932 (age 19): Ford introduces the Model B
• 1933 (age 20): Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes President, the 21st amendment ends Prohibition
• 1934 (age 21): the Dust Bowl (severe drought, heat waves and giant dust clouds in the Great Plains)
• 1935 (age 22): the FBI is established, the Social Security system was established, Alcoholics Anonymous is established
• 1936 (age 23): LIFE magazine published their first issue
• 1937 (age 24): the Hindenburg explodes killing 35, the Golden Gate Bridge is completed
• 1940 (age 27): The Selective Service Act requires all males age 18 to 45 to register with the military draft board, Oldsmobile introduces the first fully automatic transmission, Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry are introduced
• 1941 (age 28): regular TV broadcasting begins, the U.S. enters WWII after the attack on Pearl Harbor
• 1942 (age 29): Casablanca is released
• 1943 (age 30): Oklahoma! opens on Broadway
• 1944 (age 31): the G.I. Bill provides education, mortgages and loans to returning WWII vets, D-Day (the Allied surprise invasion of Normandy)
• 1945 (age 32): the United Nations is established, Harry S Truman becomes President, an atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Germany and Japan surrender - ending WWII
• 1947 (age 34): the Polaroid camera is invented,  Meet the Press broadcasts its first episode
• 1949 (age 36): NATO is formed, Germany is divided into East and West Germany
• 1950 (age 37): Korean War begins, Peanuts is published for the first time
• 1951 (age 38): the 22nd amendment established Presidential term limits, I Love Lucy premiers on TV
• 1952 (age 39): The Today Show premiers on TV
• 1953 (age 40): Dwight D Eisenhower becomes President
• 1954 (age 41): the Tournament of Roses parade is the first event to be televised in color, Brown V Board of Education declares school segregation unconstitutional, The Tonight Show premiers with Steve Allen as host
• 1955 (age 42): Rosa Parks incites the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Disneyland opens, the polio vaccine is developed, James Dean is killed in an auto accident
• 1958 (age 45): NASA is formed
• 1959 (age 46): Alaska and Hawaii become states
• 1961 (age 48): John F Kennedy becomes President, Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space, Vietnam War begins, OPEC if formed
• 1962 (age 49): John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, Marilyn Monroe dies 
• 1963 (age 50): Martin Luther King Jr gives his "I have a dream" speech, JFK is assassinated, Lyndon Johnson becomes President
• 1964 (age 51): the Beatles arrive in the U.S.,  the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ends segregation
• 1965 (age 52): Medicaid and Medicare are created, Malcolm X is assassinated
• 1967 (age 54): the first Super Bowl is won by the Green Bay Packers
• 1968 (age 55): Martin Luther King Jr is assassinated
• 1969 (age 56): Richard Nixon becomes President, Neil Armstrong walks on the moon, Sesame Street premiers
• 1970 (age 57): Earth Day is first observed, American Top 40 with Casey Kasem is broadcast on radio, PBS is founded
• 1973 (age 60): Roe v Wade legalizes abortion
• 1974 (age 61): Richard Nixon becomes the first person to resign the Presidency
• 1975 (age 62): Bill Gates founds Microsoft, Wheel of Fortune and Saturday Night Live premier on TV
• 1977 (age 64): Jimmy Carter becomes President, the first home computer - the Commodore PET - is released for sale, Elvis Presley dies, Atari 2600 becomes the first home video game system
• 1979 (age 66): Chrysler receives government loans to avoid bankruptcy
• 1980 (age 67): Mt St Helens erupts, John Lennon is assassinated
• 1981 (age 68): Ronald Reagan becomes President, MTV becomes the first cable network dedicated to music
• 1983 (age 70): Chrysler introduces minivans, the U.S. invades Grenada
• 1985 (age 72): Willie Nelson organizes the first Farm Aid, Nintendo is introduced
• 1986 (age 73): the Challenger explodes killing all 7 crew members, Fox Broadcasting Company is launched
• 1989 (age 76): George H Bush becomes President, The Simpsons premiers on TV, the Berlin Wall is torn down
• 1990 (age 77): Iraq invades Kuwait
• 1991 (age 78): the World Wide Web debuts, the cold war ends, USSR is dissolved
• 1992 (age 79): riots occur in Los Angeles over the beating of Rodney King, Hurricane Andrew hits Florida and surrounding areas
• 1993 (age 80): Bill Clinton becomes President, a truck bomb explodes in the basement of the World Trade Center, David Koresh leads is followers to a mass suicide in Waco, "Don't ask, don't tell" prohibits the openly gay from serving in the military
• 1995 (age 82): the Oklahoma City bombing kill 168, OJ Simpson is acquitted of murder
• 1996 (age 83): bombing at the Atlanta Olympic Games
• 1997 (age 84): human cloning research is banned
• 1999 (age 86): Columbine school shootings occur
• 2001 (age 88): George W. Bush becomes President, terrorists fly hijacked planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and  a Pennsylvania field killing nearly 3000 people, the U.S. invades Afghanistan, the Patriot Act gives government agencies the right to conduct searches based on "suspected terrorism"
• 2002 (age 89): Dept of Homeland Security is created, a sniper kills 10 people in the DC area
• 2003 (age 90): the Columbia disintegrates when re-entering Earth's atmosphere killing all 7 of the crew, the U.S. invades Iraq with help from the UK, Australia and Poland, Saddam Hussein is captured
• 2004 (age 91): Facebook is launched
• 2005 (age 92): Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast
• 2009 (age 96): Barack Obama becomes President, Michael Jackson dies
• 2010 (age 97): an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico explodes becoming the worst oil spill in American history, "Don't ask, don't tell" is repealed
• 2011 (age 98): Osama bin Laden is killed, the U.S. shuttle program ends when Atlantis returns to earth

For those of you who aren't counting - that's 16 different Presidents!!!  This list, of course, is not complete.  So much has happened in the last 99 years, there's no way to document it ALL here on my lowly little blog.  But it is certainly something worth reflecting on.  

Home-Made Laundry Soap

I found a recipe in a magazine for making your own laundry soap.  I don't remember what magazine.  It was just sitting on the table at work.....and it was months ago.  If you happen to know what magazine this  was printed in, please let me know.  I would love to give credit where credit is due. Is "recipe" appropriate for something that's not food?  It doesn't sound right.  Oh well.  I'm trying it today.  I did the math and, though the ingredients require a minor up-front investment (approximately $25), it turned out to be cheaper per load than the laundry soap on the store shelf.  With most of the ingredients, once you buy them, you can get several batches made before having to buy more. AND!  I can make it with any scent I choose, using essential oils.  Melting the soap right now.  I'll have to let you know how it works.  Or, if you want, you can try it too!  Here's what you need (everything here is available at your local Walmart, Meijer, or Lowe's):

• 1 - 5 gallon bucket, with lid
• 1 - metal cheese grater
• 1 - bar of gentle soap (a non-lotion variety such as Dr. Bronnor's or Ivory)
• 1 cup of washing soda (NOT baking soda)
• 1 cup Borax
• 4 gallons plus 4 cups of water
• essential oil of choice (I used Lavender) - optional

Grate the entire bar of soap with the cheese grater.  Place into a stainless steel saucepan, with 4 cups of water, on the stove.  Heat, stirring regularly, until all the soap is dissolved.  Set aside.

Put 4 gallons of warm water into the gallon bucket.  Thoroughly stir in the borax and washing soda.  When those are dissolved, stir in the warm, melted soap.  At this point, add whatever essential oil, if any, that you chose.  It did not say HOW MUCH essential oil to use.  I suppose it depends on the scent you chose and how strongly you want your laundry soap to smell.  I have never worked with essential oils before, so I used 10 drops in this batch.  When I was done stirring it, it seemed a little weak, so I may use more next time.  

Place the lid tightly onto the bucket, and allow the mixture to sit overnight.  The next morning, you will find it has a thick, gelatinous consistency to it.  Use a long spoon (I will be using one of the long, thick paint sticks they make JUST for 5 gallon buckets) to break it up and stir it.  You will probably not be able to break up ALL the lumps, but that's OK.  This soap is now usable!  It can be stored, covered, for two months.  If you don't think you'll use it in that time, you can reduce the recipe.  Use 1 cup per load of laundry.  

Good luck!  Let me know how it turned out.

Take Wing

Well, we've done it! We have attracted Blue Jays and butterflies to our yard! It's fun to watch the butterflies flit here and there.  Right now I am watching what looks like a yellow monarch (Google says it's a swallowtail) and a completely black butterfly (perhaps the black swallowtail?) on the bush out front.  I'd like to think they are playing, but they are probably chasing each other away from the food source.  And there seems to be a whole flock of Blue Jays.  Do they travel in flocks?  Hmm.....back to Google.  OK, apparently they do.  Well, I guess a whole flock has claimed our yard as their home this summer.  However, I have discovered some downsides to having these creatures in my yard. No one ever tells you about the downsides!

First, the same plants that attract butterflies, also attract bees. Not just bees but BEES! BIG BEES!  Lots and lots of BIG BEES!


Second, Blue Jays are mean!  The screech at us when we walk through our yard and they scare away the other birds.  We used to see chickadees, titmouse's, finches, sparrows, nuthatches, etc all at our suet feeders.  But since the Blue Jays have moved in, the only other birds we've seen are downy woodpeckers.

Perfect

Perfection. Something we all strive for. Does anyone actually reach it? Not me. I burn out before I get there. The job remains half done. You'll notice it as you drive into my yard. There are bikes parked here and there. Children's toys and piles of wood (my husband's a carpenter and collects scraps). 2 tree forts (my kids each have their own), a basketball hoop, a fire ring, a monkey bar and my garden, which is currently over-run with weeds. Please don't pay any attention to the dishwasher on the front porch. It just died and we haven't gotten around to taking it to the dump yet. Where else are you supposed to put something like that??? Step into my living room and you'll see 2 coffee tables and 2 side tables, covered in clutter. Books, school papers, pens and pencils, nail polish, magazines. My walls don't hold expensive art, but pictures of my family and art projects the kids made at school. The carpet is stained and covered with dog hair. We have vacuumed already, trust me. Our dog just sheds THAT much. In one corner of the kitchen, instead of a dining room table, are 2 fold-up banquet tables that make up my craft and sewing area. I have a list of projects that need to be done, and so many scraps of material I don't know what to do with all of them. I could make a very colorful quilt, but that would just be another thing on my project list. In another corner is our recycle bins. We recycle religiously. Unfortunately, the recyclables usually fill up and over flow before we take them into town. The county recycling truck goes by our house every week on it's route. But we never remember to put our bins out. Next comes the laundry room. Not only do we do our laundry here but we also store things in there. Clothes that don't fit the kids, pieces of a computer we don't use, the carpet cleaner....Oh yeah and baskets of clean, folded laundry. I took care of some of this mess today. The kids and I dropped off 4 boxes of clothes, sheets, blankets, etc at Goodwill today. Wow what a difference!! The bathroom looks pretty good. There's a small pile of books and magazine, because, yes, I read in the bathroom. Seriously though, who doesn't?!?! The only "problem" with the bathroom is the corner full of my photographic equipment and props. I don't have a studio, so all my stuff gets stored here, in a large Rubbermaid container. The bedroom isn't bad either. The bed, recently, started making itself every morning. That alone makes the room look SO much better. The clothes I wore yesterday are hanging on a chair. The closet is scary. Boxes of pictures and school stuff the kids have brought home over the years. Wrapping paper. Clothes that REFUSE to stay on their hangers. Shoes. Stuffed animals from when I was little. Yep I still have stuffed animals. One of them I have had my ENTIRE LIFE. The second bathroom is full of duckies. No i don't mean there are rubber duckies are in there - physically. But the shower curtain and the wallpaper and wall art art yellow duckies. The wallpaper is peeling and needs to be taken down. Really, the whole bathroom should be redone. The kids are a little old for yellow duckies now. The kids clean their own bathroom, so most of the time it looks like a war zone. My son's room - yikes. He's 14 so there's the whole young teenager thing going on in there. Plus, he has a ferret, which adds his own.........scent. My daughter is a little pink princess. You see pink everywhere in her room. You also see everything she owns......on the floor. Poor kids have inherited my lack of organization. However, they are happy, healthy and loved. You may see an occasional visiting mouse, but our house is not over-run with rats or bugs (although it does seem to be a popular haven for spiders, but I've heard that's good luck?) It's certainly NOT perfect. FAR from it. I have done my best to make it presentable, and I am trying to improve my habits. Today, the day of the party, my anxiety is bubbling up. but I know it's not going to be perfect. So I am trying to battle the anxiety down. Later, I will have friends over who like me for me, not for my housecleaning skills. We will enjoy each other's company, and some cold beverages around a bonfire. Everything will turn out just.........perfect.

What the.......?

Ok. Per doctor's orders we have completed the 1 full month of no dairy for Madison. Our instructions were then to slowly reintroduce dairy and see what happens. So May 1 we did. She had a piece of cheese. Day 2 she had 1/2 of a yogurt. Day 3 she had a glass of milk. So far, she hasn't had any adverse reactions at all - no vomiting! I should be celebrating, I know. Yay, no milk allergy, right? But if it wasn't that then 1) what WAS it? and 2) why did it go away when we took dairy away? OR could it still be milk allergy......is there such thing as an allergy that builds up? Could she be allergic but only have a reaction if she has more than a certain amount,, or if she has dairy products every day for a certain amount of time? I'm so confused. If she isn't reacting to dairy anymore, then the doctor most likely won't order the blood tests. She'll say "well, she's ok now, no need for testing". That means we won't know for sure. We will just wait until it all happens again and start over again???? Aaaargh sometimes doctors frustrate the heck out of me. I want to know WHY she was throwing up almost every night for a month.