My Life With Cats

Recently, we started leaving a water bowl in the shower.  This is for a two fold reason.  First, Ash (our oldest of four cats, around 13/14 years old) started trying to lick up the water left on the floor of the shower.  I hate when cats do this, I don’t feel the shower is clean enough, even if I clean it every day.  I also am afraid I’m not rinsing the shower enough, and he could be licking up harmful chemicals.  The second reason, is because Ash gets these periods where he HAS to try and knock over his water bowl, no matter how clean or fresh the bowl or water is.  With the bowl in the shower, I don’t have a huge puddle of water to pick up. 

We also have a ton of what I call lure toys, the fishing rod type toys that usually have elastic like string attached to the end of a pole and a toy that does or does not make noise at the other end of the string.  Our cats love these toys, and when they break (which they do constantly) we can usually still use them to some degree or take the toy off the end to for them to play with separately.  The most common one we buy has a flattened duck at the end. The most recent toy we bought broke last week, the pole snapped, and I don’t like to leave those around, since the pole is made of wood, so I ripped off the duck from it and have been using it to distract Isis or Oberon (our two youngest) when making the bed by throwing it across the room.  

I mention these things, because when I got up this morning, that duck was sitting in the middle of the living room.  Not an hour later, my fiance came home to find it “drowned” in the water bowl in the shower.  We have four different water bowls scattered around the house, and besides Ash, the only reason my cats go into the bathroom is to use their litter box.   I’m not too sure where the logic came from in this instance. 

And no, I’m not surprised they drowned it; Isis has been drowning her mice since the day we brought her home.

July – Recovery

It’s late enough in the month of June to start talking about my monthly goal for July. With that said, I need to talk about the early part of June first.

I’m no stranger to random joint pains, or the needle sharp pains that appear without warning and vanish just as quickly.  Still, when a pain begins to grow worse over time, it warrants taking a closer look.  Over the past six months, I’ve been experiencing pain in the joint of both my big toes, and as spring rolled towards summer, the pain only grew worse.  My trusty clogs, purchased at a uniform store, were my only pair of shoes apart from flip flops, but the longer I tried to wear them, the worse the pain grew.  I started to wear my flip flops when at work and during my weekly visits to my sister.  Thankfully my supervisor never noticed, and while I may work at a corporate office (I use this term loosely, I work at a call center with a business casual dress code) I do work third shift.

Finally, I sought the opinion of my parents, who have experienced, or are going through much of the same problems I am.  I quickly discovered my father had the same problem with his big toes, but the corrective surgery would keep him out of work too long, and he would lose his job. Undaunted, since again I work at a desk job and my father is a cook, I went to the same foot specialist treating my mother. He diagnosed me with a Bunion, and it was decided that corrective surgery would be the best course of action.

Speaking to my coworkers, I believed I would be able to come back to work within a week on crutches; that it would take little to no readjusting my workspace to accommodate my foot while being elevated. If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have been so sure of that.

On June 16th, my fiance drove me to the Hospital for the surgery, and upon waking, I got to experience several hours of minimal pain while he catered to my needs (I was not allowed to put any weight on my right foot yet), that is until whatever they did to numb my foot wore off. That afternoon, my fiance asked which was worse, this or the wisdom teeth (I had all 4 removed about a year ago). I informed him that this was worse. With my wisdom teeth, I had had a clear idea of how long I would be uncomfortable, knew what to expect, and was promised I would be able to go back to work in a few days. With this foot surgery, I had no idea how long I would be in pain for, and its the unknown that bothers me the most, not to mention I’m terribly uncoordinated and out of shape to have to get around on crutches. I keep joking I’m going to have arms and one leg of steel by the time I can put any weight on this foot.

Speaking of going back to work, the secretary at the podiatrist’s office actually laughed when we called them up for a doctor’s note, and were informed I would be out of work for 10 weeks, at a minimum.

It’s been about a week now since the surgery, so far I’ve been able to have partial weight bearing on my foot with minimal issues or pain, and I’ve cut back considerably on the frequency I’m taking my pain meds (I actually haven’t taken any in over 24 hours now). The worst thing about crutches isn’t the pain in the underarms whenever I have to use them, but the pain in both my palms. This morning I started having complications in my left wrist, no doubt borne from the constant use of the crutches and the impending rain coming our way towards the middle to end of this week. Still, I’m hoping I’m making strides with this foot, and hopefully I’ll be back to work in a week or two, since I’m managing to get around the house better without risk of falling on the crutches.

I have a follow up appointment with the podiatrist today, Tuesday the 24th, I’m hoping he gives me good news and tells me I can get this foot of mine wet or use the heated pool at the local health fitness center (showering with the old plastic bags and duct tape method of keeping the bandages dry still makes things more complicated)

In the meantime, I’m trying to spend my time off work and July getting some writing done, but that has been made difficult by the fact that I’m not sleeping well and exhausted. I got more sleep than usual last night, and tonight I can’t sleep more from the fact that the house is too warm than anything, so hopefully I’ll be getting more done over the next few days.

Green Tea Eucalyptus Soap

I’ve been researching making my own soap, because I haven’t been satisfied with my choices at the local stores, and I really don’t want to use up that handmade oatmeal bar that my fiance bought me for my birthday.  Four dollars a bar is a little expensive to use all the time, though I love the results when I do use it.  

I found this recipe on the blog of bulkapothecary.com, modified for easier reading and purchased the ingredients there.  

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs.		Goat Milk Melt and Pour Soap Base, cubed and divided into two bowls
10 drops		Eucalyptus Essential Oil
3 tbsp.		Loose Leaf Green Tea, brewed and strained (Do not press extra liquid out)
What You’ll Need:
2	Bowls
1	Mesh strainer and bowl/cup
	Soap Mold/s (Depending on if using a loaf mold or several smaller ones)

Directions:

1. Brew the tea and strain; do not press the excess liquid, you don’t want it to be dry.
2. Melt the first half of the cubed soap base
   1. Use a microwave with 30-second increments and stirring in between until full melted
   2. Use double boiler setup to melt the base on medium or low heat.  Be careful not to burn or allow it to simmer.
3. Continue heating and stirring until the base is completely melted.
4. Remove the melted base from the heat source and blend in 5 drops of the essential oil.
5. Stir in all the green tea.  It should be drained, but not dry.  The reserved liquid works to color the soap so make sure it’s still saturated.
6. Pour into your prepared soap mold and set aside.
7. Melt the second bowl of soap base and follow the above directions.  Once melted, blend in the remaining 5 drops of essential oil
8. Pour the second mixture into the mold over the first mixture.  The first layer should have started to solidify, but still be tacky on top to allow the second layer to adhere to the first.
9. Allow to cool and harden completely, about 4-6 hours, before removing from the mold(s).  If you’ve used a loaf mold, cut the finished soap into 1-1.5 inch slices.

Now for the price: 

Soap Base: 4.96 (2 lbs)
Eucalyptus Oil(Blue Mallee): 2.58 (.5 oz)

The Eucalyptus Oil came in 4 different options: Globulus, Blue Mallee, Lemon, and Radiata. I chose the Blue Mallee because it has the highest Cineol and Eucalyptol content. It’s the strongest antiseptic among the four options, and has been used to fight colds and flu. Since I personally have a weakened immune system because of my medication, I thought this would be the better of the four options.  I purchased these online along with a dropper for .19 and with shipping paid 17.63.  I’m not sure how many bars of soap this will get me.  At a rough estimate, if each bar is cut into 2″ X 3″ X 1 1/2″ squares at 4oz each, this batch would make 6 bars.  Rounding up to 18, each bar would cost approximately 3.00.  Taking into account I would have a half pound of soap base left over and how many drops I can get from the .5 oz bottle of oil this price may be cheaper (Since I won’t be buying the Oil every time I want to make a batch.

Personally, I’d like to be able to find a local seller, which would knock off almost 10.00, or a website I trust with cheaper shipping.  The great thing about this recipe, is that I can mix and match the base, oil or herbs I use to suite my purpose.  The added benefit is the base has no artificial ingredients,fragrances or harsh chemicals, I can actually pronounce everything in them.  

I’ll update this post when I’ve made the batch, which hopefully the ingredients come in today and I can make the soap early this week

March – Writing

I think I skipped February… Woops.  Not much has changed in the last month or so.  There have been ups and downs and a lot of downs.  I spend my days at work stressed out, worrying about getting my LOA hours straightened out, and trying to function.  Half my coworkers seem to think I’m abusing my LOA, resenting me for taking extra time off, while the other half are understanding, they’ve been there are are struggling with their own health issues too. 

I can’t wait for winter to be over, I’m sick of being cold all the time, and its so dark and bleak.

This morning my friend and coworker Laurie dared me to participate in a writing challenge, not to get 50,000 words written out, but to FINISH the first draft of one of my stories, preferably the one revolving around a certain female protagonist named Kali.  Well, it’s March 1st,  and the challenge begins today.  I need to write 1,000 words before I get back to work tonight, not counting this blog post, because it has nothing to do with my novel 🙂 

January? – Coping

December, and really more than half of January is gone, washed away by snow and pain, and struggling to make it through from day to day.  

My third niece, Gwen, was born on December 26th.  She’s beautiful and a well behaved quiet and three weeks premature baby; tiny and fragile and at peace, not yet aware of the difficulties lying ahead of her.  

I feel like I’m at a stand still with my life.  We’re fighting harder than ever to stay afloat financially, I’ve barely written anything since November, I’m struggling to make it to work on a daily basis, it’s harder than ever to resist the urge to stay in bed.  Part of it is the pain, all my joints ache like I’ve broken them, my tendons are inflamed and I can barely move my fingers half the time.  Every time it snows, I’m in too much pain to want to struggle out of bed and get to work.   My supervisor has noticed this trend, and what can I say?  He knows I have arthritis, I can’t change that, and at least it makes him a little more understanding about my attendance.

In about a week or two, I’m moving to four day work weeks, hopefully that extra day off will help me get my strength back, get more done around the house, and get things in order. 

I already have February’s goal in mind: get my finances back in order, and start on that long winding road to trying to buy a house.  Trouble is, I keep looking at manufactured/mobile homes.  The trouble with this is that even though most of the ones I’m looking at are new or fairly new, the ones I really want are in 55+ communities.  Which means I have to try and convince whoever I need to that my fiance and I won’t make noise, that we’re looking for the quiet neighborhood this would afford us, or else suck it up and realize I can’t move there, and search my other options.  

The other trouble is, that from what I’m reading, most lenders don’t want to finance a loan for these types of dwellings, because the value can deprecate so quickly.  Our credit isn’t exactly perfect either, its far from it.  I can only hope someone gives in and lets us take a loan out.  If we can get a loan for under 700 a month, perhaps even 500, which is doable for the price of these homes I’m looking at, then we’d have no trouble paying the mortgage.  

I can only hope, pray, and keep moving down this road until I reach a destination, or crossroad.

November – Writing… And Life

So, November is almost over, I’m 1,200 words or so away from my goal of 50K, which to me is amazing!
This month has been tough; I’ve been to my sister’s house in CT once or twice a week, helping take care of the kids so she can see the doctors, she’s been in and out of the Hospital from Gallstones and who knows what else, I can’t keep track of it all. I keep getting sick, and the weather is playing havoc with my joints :(.

I’ve discovered that rain really sucks this time of year, and it feels worse than last year. I virtually lose all use of my arms and hands when it rains; since I can’t take any pain meds, I’m reduced to alternatives: heat therapy, ginger tea, or curling up in bed trying to sleep it off, etc.

Ash, my oldest cat, also got very sick, for about a week we weren’t sure if he’d survive. He’s back to his old Separation Anxiety self now, but it was rough. Right before he got sick, my mom’s cat KitKat also began to worsen. She was fourteen years old, and despite all attempts, we had to put her down. I still haven’t had a chance to properly grieve, I’ve known that cat most of my life, watched her grow up and have two litters, carried her around in my arms and on my shoulder. Her death reminds me of how old all my mom’s cats are, and how old ash is. I’m frightened of what’s to come, as each one slips away. Ash is 13 now, and I watch him and the others like a hawk.

Next Month is December, I’ll be spending a week or two resting, recovering from November as best as I can, and then I need to work extra hours, pull in that extra money so we can sit comfortably after bills are paid. I also need to start losing weight, I’ve gained a few extra pounds over this last month; seeing as how I’ve been drinking extra coffee and food at write-ins, I’m not surprised.

October – Prepping for November

So, next month is NaNoWrimo – or National Novel Writing Month.  To check it out go to nanowrimo.org.

What is NaNoWriMo?  The goal is to write 50K words or more in thirty days.  It can be whatever you like; there really aren’t any rules.  November is my chance to do something that seems impossible, or at least daunting.  It’s my chance to meet people and friends who are as passionate about writing and literature as I am  Its a chance to get out of the house, eat great bad for you food and copious amounts of coffee.  It’s a chance to have fun, to buy many pairs of gloves, and to gauge if my PR has gotten any worse.  

Each year, I seem to struggle more to meet the fifty thousand-word count goal.  Each year, my knees or back make sitting for long periods daunting.  I won’t give up, not in a million years.

Except…  I need to have an idea of what I’m going to write about…  Should I work on something I already know, or dive into an area I’m unfamiliar?  Should I wonder through the realms of science fiction and fantasy, or go for a more modern, daily life approach?  Doomsday or not?  I haven’t a single clue of where I’ll be most comfortable, and that’s a daunting task.  Without some idea of even a main character, I don’t even know where to begin writing.  

So my goal for the rest of October is to flesh out ideas for next month, because come Midnight on November 1st, it’s all uphill from there; and I can’t wait to reach the top of the mountain.  

Poetry?

I’m going through all my old material from when I was writing more frequently.  It’s strange to find things from over six years ago that people liked and commented on… Apparently when I was 14-16, I was very good a poetry.  I’m not big on writing poetry, it’s not something I ever understood, I don’t remember all the types of poems they have out there, Haiku and all that.  

Part of the problem, is I was taught that stuff in school around the same time I was struggling to grasp new concepts.  I was sick a lot during that time, they even gave me a mentor and speech classes at the school, even though I knew I could read and speak well.

Most of the poetry I wrote when I was 14, because my English teacher wanted us to write so many for National Poetry month, and he would select the best from each student to be published in the school magazine.  He was my favorite teacher, understanding, and knew more about what was going on in my life than anyone else; so I put my best effort forward.

I also find it strange, that some of the poetry describes a great sadness or loss.  I never thought about it then, but it reminds me of my grandfather, the pain of losing him just a year or so before.  I hadn’t really recovered or grieved for him yet, but I wasn’t letting myself admit that then.  Looking back, I think my subconscious was trying to tell me something 🙂

I don’t think I’ll get back into poetry, not yet anyway.  It’s a thought though, for later.  Maybe this year I’ll participate in National poetry month through NaNoWriMo

September – Vacation!

Vacation, one whole week in which I don’t have to go to work, yay!  What shall I do, where shall I go?  Well, when you’re on limited funds, like I am, there isn’t much you can do.  The only thing I’ve done all week is attend a local Pirate Festival in CT, which was on Sunday.  We had rain, lots of rain, though I still had fun, and got to see period 1/2 scale replica cannons go off.  They were loud! 

Besides that, my fiance and I haven’t really done much more than hang out, and try and get some cleaning done.  I guess you could call it end of Summer cleaning?  Its nice just knowing I can go to bed whenever I want and not worry about work, or anything really stressful for a few days.  I’m not looking forward to Saturday night when I have to go into work, but at least I’ll have a few hours of training Monday and Tuesday to sort of “break” the week up a little.

In terms of pain, I’m feeling marginally better.  My hands and shoulders are bothering me today, its cold here, just reached 50 degrees about an hour ago, which for me, is too cold for my joints.  Still, the sun is out, and it should reach 75 before I have to do anything today.

I think it’s time to start pulling the fall/winter clothes out, and get ready to put the ACs away for the season 🙂

All natural / Homemade Deodorant Recipe

So, this is the first installment of my attempt to slowly replace every chemical in my house with something natural, safer, and preferably cheaper.  I have sensitive skin, and my family is allergic to the fragrances found in commercial items (laundry detergent, soaps, deodorant, you name it).  We all know the toxins found in commercial products, and I cringe every time I have to wash my hands with this stuff, or apply goopy chemicals to my underarms just to smell better.

Yesterday I delved into the art of making my own deodorant.  I gathered up my ingredients, measured them all out, and in 10 minutes had my own stick of deodorant to try out. 
You can find the full recipe here: http://www.learningherbs.com/news_issue_83.html

A few things that went wrong: 

1. I feel that I added too much baking soda or the mixture was too cold for it to dissolve, the texture feels a little granular to me.  That might turn people off.  The upside? When you apply the stuff to your underarms, it doesn’t feel granular on the skin.
2. The butter/beeswax cools FAST.  I made two mistakes here.  There first, I used a pot that was way too big for a single batch.  You don’t need bigger than a pot/pan you would use to heat up a can of soup.  Second, I tried to transfer the mixture to a smaller bowl, thinking it would be easier to stir in the rest of the ingredients.  I had to scrape it out of the bowl and re-melt it before adding the baking soda. I’m not sure if that made a difference in the outcome of the product. 
3. The beeswax and Kokum butter took forever to melt, next time I’ll use a double boiler.  Or even better, an old soup can in a pot of boiling/simmering water works great as a double boiler 🙂
4. I used Calendula infused in Extra Virgin Olive oil.  I should have used something with more antibacterial properties.
5. I used the wrong scale so there was a lot of guess work
6. I couldn’t find illipe Butter.  I substituted it for more Shea butter, so I don’t know if this had any effect on the general “texture” of the final product.

All and all the deodorant is working great, despite my screw ups :).  I applied the deodorant around 10am, walked all around walmart in 80 degree weather for an hour or so, and no smell.  I don’t have the “ugh” feeling I get when I use my traditional deodorant, nor do I have the urge to scratch.  I feel fresh, dry and clean.  IF I stick my nose into my shirt, I can get a TINY whiff of sweat, but its not strong enough for anyone to notice unless they shove their nose under my arms.   Next time I’ll use an infused oil that has antibacterial properties, and the right equipment, and it’ll be perfect.

My fiance says our kitchen smells like an Apothecary now.  He better get used to it once that Overtime money from work starts rolling in, next step is shampoo 🙂