Im sitting here now feeling a bit sorry for myself. Well, not exactly sorry for myself but slightly irritated. Im irritated with my skin. I have been battleing acne ever since I was 14 years old. Im now 31 and I think its high time Im done with dealing with this.
I have gone to a derm and the meds I was on worked wonders and my skin finally looked good enough for me not to want to hide away in my home and not want to meet new people, not want to go out in public, not want people to look at me when I talked to them, not to feel like I look ugly. I was estatic to have my skin look like it did when I was 13. More or less.
I got pregnant and had to get off the meds and surprise surprise the acne came back. Now that I can take my meds again for some reason its making my skin look even more horrible than it was when I was pregnant. Im now back in the same rut as before, ashamed to be seen, not wanting to meet new people, ect.
Then I got to thinking. Im sitting here complaining about bad skin, and some people dont even have skin at all. Maybe they are a burn victim or suffer from a genetic disorder of some sort. Im complaining about my skin being jacked up when there is at least one person I know who doesnt even have a face! Think of the Connecticut woman whose friends chimp ripped her face off.
My point is, no matter how bad we think we have it, there is someone who has it worse. I remember growing up my father used to say that if 5 people had to put their problems on a piece of paper and fold it and put it in a hat and if you reach in and randomly pick a problem then it would be yours, would you want to accept it? Of course I wouldnt because 9x out of 10 their problem is worse than yours.
So instead of whining and complaining and hurting myself by dwelling on what my skin is, I am going to concentrate of what my skin isnt or what it could be. Im going to be thankful for what I have instead of what I dont because it could always be worse.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Mama Cloth - What It Is & Why I Love It
You may or may not have heard of Mama Cloth but just in case you havent I'll clue you in on what it is.
*drumroll please*
They are reusable menstrual pads. Ok before you get the "Oh hayl no" face let me explain why its not as bad as you think.
The same online friend who introduced me to cloth diapering also explained to me the menstrual pads and how they work. At first I had the "Oh hayl no" face but then I thought about the logic of it all. For me, since I am already washing diapers I figured it wouldnt hurt to wash pads too. I figured I would give it a shot at least once so I decided to use them for my postpartum bleeding. A lot of people get grossed out with the thought of seeing the blood and what not ( for tampon users) and lots of people get squeamish with the thought of rinsing out pads. Well, if you are a pad wearer and you get an "Oopsie!" in your underwear or clothes what do you do? You rinse it out. At least I hope you do. ;-) If you have no problem rinsing out those accidents that you have with disposables then rinsing reusables arent that far of a stretch. Some people dont even rinse theirs out rather, they simply soak them in a container until wash day. I dont do that. Its better for me to just rinse away.
Anyway Im getting a little ahead of myself here. First let me explain more about what a Mama Cloth pad is. Its made of a variety of cloths from fleece, to organic bamboo valour. No matter what cloth you get, its very soft against your girlie parts. They come in many different colors, shapes, and designs. Personally I prefer minkee, which is a softer type of fleece. The pic above are a few of the ones I have in rotation. Oftentimes the maker of the pad will use prints that will disguise any stains that you may get. Speaking of stains, there arent any on any of my pads, as you can see from the picture. What I do is after I take it off I rinse them with cold water and squeeze until the water comes out clean. I have a bottle of peroxide in my bathroom that I spray the pad down with. If theres anything left on it ( which there hardly ever is) I can literally see it melt away before my eyes. If this doesnt work, putting the wet pad in the sun to dry will magically lift the stain also.
I know you must be wondering how does one wear these things out in the public? How do you change it? Where do you put the dirty one? They have these cute little wetbags that you put your pads in. I like ones that have a side for your clean unused pads, and the other side for your dirty ones. This is the one that I use and the inside of it. You can see the two sides.
These pads fold up really cute too. You put them on by using the snaps, so when you have to take them off when you are way from home, they can be folded wrong side out for when you need to put the dirty ones in the wetbag. You can even pull out the folded pad out in front of a room full of men and they will be none the wiser! ;-)
Here are the reasons why I love Mama Cloth verses disposables or tampons.
1. They dont sweat at all!!! Its not hot down there so there is no sweaty smell that you get from disposables. These are made of cloth so they breath and you dont get that stuffy, sweaty feeling.
2. They dont move and I mean they do NOT move or shift at all. With disposables, they bunch and move causing leaks and those "Oosies!" that we all hate. Not so with these pads. They snap in place instead of being put in with tape and because of the fleece backing, it makes them stay put better than the disposables.
3. Speaking of snaps, you no longer have your hair being pulled out. OUCH!!! Everybody has had hairs being ripped out because of the tape used on disposables pads. Dont act like you dont know! LOL!
4. No leaks. I havent had a leak yet. No, not one single leak.
5. Its so much softer on my girly bits. Sometimes I forget that its even there, thats how comfortable it is.
6.This may be TMI so read no further on this number 6 if you dont want to be yucked. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the oozing feeling that you get when wearing a pad. This is why I quit with pads and wore a Diva Cup for a year or two. I mean with sposies, I could feel the blood just oozing in all the cracks and crevices and it made me feel sooooooo gross! As God is my witness, I have yet to feel that oozing nasty yuck feeling while wearing a cloth pad. That alone was a slam dunk for me.
7. Its much more pleasant to look at!
8. Once you buy Mama Cloth you wont have to buy another pad again for years. They pay for themselves after a few months.
9. I am not a super conservative environmentalist, but I am sorta happy that I am reducing waste in landfills. :-)
10. There are no chemicals pressed up against your most sensitive parts, which according to what I read causes most womens menstrual cycles to shorten. The chemicals found on pads and tampons cause women to menstruate longer and heavier thereby causing you to buy more pads/tampons which translates in to more cha CHING! for the pad companies. Unfortunately for me I am doomed to forever be a long time bleeder so :-/
11. Finally, as crazy as this sounds, it actually makes the menstruating experience tolerable. If anything can make that tolerable its worth giving a chance, you know what Im saying?
*drumroll please*
They are reusable menstrual pads. Ok before you get the "Oh hayl no" face let me explain why its not as bad as you think.
The same online friend who introduced me to cloth diapering also explained to me the menstrual pads and how they work. At first I had the "Oh hayl no" face but then I thought about the logic of it all. For me, since I am already washing diapers I figured it wouldnt hurt to wash pads too. I figured I would give it a shot at least once so I decided to use them for my postpartum bleeding. A lot of people get grossed out with the thought of seeing the blood and what not ( for tampon users) and lots of people get squeamish with the thought of rinsing out pads. Well, if you are a pad wearer and you get an "Oopsie!" in your underwear or clothes what do you do? You rinse it out. At least I hope you do. ;-) If you have no problem rinsing out those accidents that you have with disposables then rinsing reusables arent that far of a stretch. Some people dont even rinse theirs out rather, they simply soak them in a container until wash day. I dont do that. Its better for me to just rinse away.
I know you must be wondering how does one wear these things out in the public? How do you change it? Where do you put the dirty one? They have these cute little wetbags that you put your pads in. I like ones that have a side for your clean unused pads, and the other side for your dirty ones. This is the one that I use and the inside of it. You can see the two sides.
These pads fold up really cute too. You put them on by using the snaps, so when you have to take them off when you are way from home, they can be folded wrong side out for when you need to put the dirty ones in the wetbag. You can even pull out the folded pad out in front of a room full of men and they will be none the wiser! ;-)1. They dont sweat at all!!! Its not hot down there so there is no sweaty smell that you get from disposables. These are made of cloth so they breath and you dont get that stuffy, sweaty feeling.
2. They dont move and I mean they do NOT move or shift at all. With disposables, they bunch and move causing leaks and those "Oosies!" that we all hate. Not so with these pads. They snap in place instead of being put in with tape and because of the fleece backing, it makes them stay put better than the disposables.
3. Speaking of snaps, you no longer have your hair being pulled out. OUCH!!! Everybody has had hairs being ripped out because of the tape used on disposables pads. Dont act like you dont know! LOL!
4. No leaks. I havent had a leak yet. No, not one single leak.
5. Its so much softer on my girly bits. Sometimes I forget that its even there, thats how comfortable it is.
6.This may be TMI so read no further on this number 6 if you dont want to be yucked. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the oozing feeling that you get when wearing a pad. This is why I quit with pads and wore a Diva Cup for a year or two. I mean with sposies, I could feel the blood just oozing in all the cracks and crevices and it made me feel sooooooo gross! As God is my witness, I have yet to feel that oozing nasty yuck feeling while wearing a cloth pad. That alone was a slam dunk for me.
7. Its much more pleasant to look at!
8. Once you buy Mama Cloth you wont have to buy another pad again for years. They pay for themselves after a few months.
9. I am not a super conservative environmentalist, but I am sorta happy that I am reducing waste in landfills. :-)
10. There are no chemicals pressed up against your most sensitive parts, which according to what I read causes most womens menstrual cycles to shorten. The chemicals found on pads and tampons cause women to menstruate longer and heavier thereby causing you to buy more pads/tampons which translates in to more cha CHING! for the pad companies. Unfortunately for me I am doomed to forever be a long time bleeder so :-/
11. Finally, as crazy as this sounds, it actually makes the menstruating experience tolerable. If anything can make that tolerable its worth giving a chance, you know what Im saying?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Ain't this diaper cute!
One nice thing about cloth diapering is the fact that you can get them in the cutest prints. Even though you have to put a cover on it, which by the way also comes in cute prints, you get to look at the nice designs on your babys butt at home while you're lounging instead of plain ole white.
My children really say the darndest things
My son, who is only 9, was sitting here whistling the theme music from the Extenz commercial continually because he said he "couldnt get it out of his head."
My 3 year old asked me for some soda and I told her no. She comes back with "BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
I was fussing at my son and I said something like, I get mad when you...Well my 3 year old proceeds to tell me "Don't get mad, get glad!"
My son heard these people laughing really loud and he said "they must be drunk."
My 3 yr old said she had a headache because her brain was mad at her.
My 3 yr old put 1 ball under her shirt in the middle of her chest and said "Look at me! I got big breasts! I just need one more breast."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Endless chatter
OMG my children run their mouths a million miles a minute. I talking about all 3 of them do it constantly. What makes it even worse is that sometimes I'll have one child in one ear, and another child in the other at the same time. Both will be competing with each other over who can talk the loudest and who I am going to acknowledge first. While this is going on child #3 is across the room throwing out a philosophical questions one after the other. What am I doing during all this? Trying not to have a serious " Calgon take me awaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!" moment.
I just sit there and look at all 3 of them and not say a word and think to myself, thank God I have these little people here to spit all this endless chatter my way! :-)
I just sit there and look at all 3 of them and not say a word and think to myself, thank God I have these little people here to spit all this endless chatter my way! :-)
Gripe Water for colic - made my way
Gripe Water? What in the world is THAT??? That was the first thing I thought when someone suggested I buy this for my colicky baby. Me and Chris spent an entire night laboring with our baby whos stomach must have felt like razor blades cutting thru it. Thats how gas feels, I know. I have had gas get stuck in my guts and let me tell you, it feels worse than razor blades cutting your middle. It breaks my heart to hear a baby screaming with gas pain because essentially theres not much you can do.
Theres the Mylicon drops you can buy but I have had 3 other children and those drops never worked one iota for any of them. Then I got hip to this Gripe Water. I Googled it to see what it was and what it was made of. Its basically herb infused water that acts to sooth and calm the stomach and intestinal tract. The ingredients vary according to the manufacturer but they generally include dill, ginger, fennel, and chamomile. Some of them have alcohol in it as well as sodium bicarbonate, sugar and water. Well, what do you know! I had some of these ingredients in my pantry so I decided to just make my own.
Of course I wasnt going to put alcohol in it and I dont have any sodium bicarbonate but I did have the ginger, fennel, chamomile, and I also threw in some catnip too. I just put the herbs in my coffee maker and percolated it into a tea. My baby is on formula ( unfortunately :-c) so when I make her bottles I put one part tea to 3 parts water and I then add the powdered milk.
I have to say that ever since I started giving her this herbal blend she has not had one instance of colic. Sure, she lets plenty of farts go, but they dont hurt her stomach at all and shes always calm and hardly ever fusses. She no longer screams at night in pain and me and her father arent up all night long in pain right along with her. Now this is how she sleeps at night and all thru the day.
Theres the Mylicon drops you can buy but I have had 3 other children and those drops never worked one iota for any of them. Then I got hip to this Gripe Water. I Googled it to see what it was and what it was made of. Its basically herb infused water that acts to sooth and calm the stomach and intestinal tract. The ingredients vary according to the manufacturer but they generally include dill, ginger, fennel, and chamomile. Some of them have alcohol in it as well as sodium bicarbonate, sugar and water. Well, what do you know! I had some of these ingredients in my pantry so I decided to just make my own.
Of course I wasnt going to put alcohol in it and I dont have any sodium bicarbonate but I did have the ginger, fennel, chamomile, and I also threw in some catnip too. I just put the herbs in my coffee maker and percolated it into a tea. My baby is on formula ( unfortunately :-c) so when I make her bottles I put one part tea to 3 parts water and I then add the powdered milk.
I have to say that ever since I started giving her this herbal blend she has not had one instance of colic. Sure, she lets plenty of farts go, but they dont hurt her stomach at all and shes always calm and hardly ever fusses. She no longer screams at night in pain and me and her father arent up all night long in pain right along with her. Now this is how she sleeps at night and all thru the day.
Actors or just good liars?
I had a random thought today about actors and their craft. It seems like if you are a pathological liar, or one who just loves to lie, you could easily become an Oscar winning actor. Im not trying to downplay what actors do, but lets just be real and look at this thing for what it is.
We pay money for people to lie to us. These people are not who they portray themselves to be on the big or small screen, unless of course if they are playing themselves. So in essence they get paid to lie. The better and more convincing lie you tell, the more jobs you get and the more money you make. Now dont get me wrong, I am an avid movie lover. I love to watch a good movie, but the bare fact is that actors get paid to lie. It makes me wonder if they lie a lot in their personal lives too. Do you just turn off the "lie(acting) switch"? When an Academy Award winning actor gets into arguments with their SO do they wonder if they are being lie too?
This is a VERY random post but this thought or idea ran thru my mind. :-P
We pay money for people to lie to us. These people are not who they portray themselves to be on the big or small screen, unless of course if they are playing themselves. So in essence they get paid to lie. The better and more convincing lie you tell, the more jobs you get and the more money you make. Now dont get me wrong, I am an avid movie lover. I love to watch a good movie, but the bare fact is that actors get paid to lie. It makes me wonder if they lie a lot in their personal lives too. Do you just turn off the "lie(acting) switch"? When an Academy Award winning actor gets into arguments with their SO do they wonder if they are being lie too?
This is a VERY random post but this thought or idea ran thru my mind. :-P
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
My new daily do
Queeny and The Fam comes to town!
I am hella late in writing about this, but my girl Queeny and her family came to SC back in the summer of 09 and they decided to pay me a visit.
They got here around 2 or so and once Queen made it inside my 3 year old sized her up. Apparently she measured up to my daughters standards so she started talking to her. I dont just mean your average convo either. She was going on and on and on. She proceeded to tell Queen about the ghost that was in me and my husbands bedroom, and how the ducks outside were going to eat her up, and many other colorful, off the wall stories. All we could do was laugh! Meanwhile, Queens 3 daughters and my older daughter and son who are all close in age, retired themselves to my office to play games on my computer.
If you dont know it, my girl Queen loves to cook and bake and me and my husband love to eat, so she throws out there that she wanted to go out to buy stuff to make a cake. Of course I couldnt let her do that. So being the gracious southern bell hostess that I am, what did I do? I sent her to the kitchen to cook dinner with food already on hand! LOL!! Hows that for southern hospitality? If I can recall, Queen cooked rice, cabbage, fried chicken wings, and mac and cheese. It was uuuummm ummm good! Just ask my husband Chris! LOL!
Anyway once she finished cooking ( Lord if my Grandma knew I let this girl come from out of town to visit and I let her cook she would kill me!!) we called the lil ones in from the computer to the kitchen to come and eat. They all sat down to the table and had a merry ole time throwing down on the food.
So after all the food was eaten Chris, Queen, and her husband Thomas, and I all sat around and just chilled. We cracked jokes and told stories and laughed and laughed and laughed! All of our children had a good time playing together too. My oldest daughter is always asking me when they are coming back to visit. Now I really dont like taking pics, but I had to get one of me and my girl.
Of course Thomas wouldnt let me take a pic of him.Why you gotta act like that??? LOL!
He did let me take one of him and Queen tho.
We had so much fun! They live in New Mexico which is a long way from here, but I cant wait for them to come back this way again. If we are ever that way, which will more than likely happen since Chris loves to eat and she loves to cook (LOL!!), we will definitely have to stop thru and visit Queen and The Fam!
They got here around 2 or so and once Queen made it inside my 3 year old sized her up. Apparently she measured up to my daughters standards so she started talking to her. I dont just mean your average convo either. She was going on and on and on. She proceeded to tell Queen about the ghost that was in me and my husbands bedroom, and how the ducks outside were going to eat her up, and many other colorful, off the wall stories. All we could do was laugh! Meanwhile, Queens 3 daughters and my older daughter and son who are all close in age, retired themselves to my office to play games on my computer.
If you dont know it, my girl Queen loves to cook and bake and me and my husband love to eat, so she throws out there that she wanted to go out to buy stuff to make a cake. Of course I couldnt let her do that. So being the gracious southern bell hostess that I am, what did I do? I sent her to the kitchen to cook dinner with food already on hand! LOL!! Hows that for southern hospitality? If I can recall, Queen cooked rice, cabbage, fried chicken wings, and mac and cheese. It was uuuummm ummm good! Just ask my husband Chris! LOL!
So after all the food was eaten Chris, Queen, and her husband Thomas, and I all sat around and just chilled. We cracked jokes and told stories and laughed and laughed and laughed! All of our children had a good time playing together too. My oldest daughter is always asking me when they are coming back to visit. Now I really dont like taking pics, but I had to get one of me and my girl.
We had so much fun! They live in New Mexico which is a long way from here, but I cant wait for them to come back this way again. If we are ever that way, which will more than likely happen since Chris loves to eat and she loves to cook (LOL!!), we will definitely have to stop thru and visit Queen and The Fam!
Sebastian Potion #9 - My new best friend
My hair has been suffering b/c of lack of care. Yeah I know. Bad me! LOL! Hair has been very low on the priority list as of late, but now Im back on the grind.
My hair has been feeling a little weak so I did an Aphogee Treatment. Since my hair is so long, I was afraid to let it hang down my back and totally dry out, because if you have ever done one of these before you know your hair gets hard as a rock and very brittle and any movement will break your hair off. I was scared that my hair would break between my getting out from under the dryer and getting into the shower so I pulled it in a wrapped around ponytail and pinned it up. It didnt dry all the way b/c I wasnt about to sit under the dryer of 3 hours so the treatment was half done and I got half the results.
Hmmm....whats a girl to do? I dug around in my stash and found some 3 year old Generic Sebastian Potion #9 from Sallys in my closet. I only used this once when I was natural and I didnt know it was a protien treatment. I got happy with it and slathered it on thick and let me tell you, my hair was solid as a rock the next day. Natural hair doesnt really need much protien like relaxed hair does b/c the bonds are not broken down.
Anyway I remembered this experience and decided to get happy and slather a whole lot on my hair and wrap it up in a bun made of twists and went to bed. This morning my hair feels MUCH better and MUCH stronger! I plan on doing the same thing today and my hair should be where I want it to be again.
My hair has been feeling a little weak so I did an Aphogee Treatment. Since my hair is so long, I was afraid to let it hang down my back and totally dry out, because if you have ever done one of these before you know your hair gets hard as a rock and very brittle and any movement will break your hair off. I was scared that my hair would break between my getting out from under the dryer and getting into the shower so I pulled it in a wrapped around ponytail and pinned it up. It didnt dry all the way b/c I wasnt about to sit under the dryer of 3 hours so the treatment was half done and I got half the results.
Hmmm....whats a girl to do? I dug around in my stash and found some 3 year old Generic Sebastian Potion #9 from Sallys in my closet. I only used this once when I was natural and I didnt know it was a protien treatment. I got happy with it and slathered it on thick and let me tell you, my hair was solid as a rock the next day. Natural hair doesnt really need much protien like relaxed hair does b/c the bonds are not broken down.Anyway I remembered this experience and decided to get happy and slather a whole lot on my hair and wrap it up in a bun made of twists and went to bed. This morning my hair feels MUCH better and MUCH stronger! I plan on doing the same thing today and my hair should be where I want it to be again.
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