I'm a Thinxer!... and I'm not going back.

A blog for the females.
I happily ordered 2 pair of THINX.  My hope was that what I read about them was true.  I have been interested in alternative care products for a long time.  The 'normal' way is costly, wasteful, and limiting.  It's the way we have always done it, which is a phrase I can't stand no matter the topic.  I considered the cup but it wasn't really my style.  My style is less invasive and low maintenance.  Hands free is good for me. 
Unfortunately, my package, while shipped quickly, got here the day after my cycle ended, so I had to wait another month to test this product.  I guess it would be easy to assume that a company that takes care of covering you from leaks has a return policy that covers you for enough time to test the product regardless of having just missed a cycle.

Not sure what THINX are?  By now, you are aware of the it being a period product (possibly the deliverer of all those enslaved to products).  Rather than explain it to you, I will share their link. 
http://fbuy.me/dYxRH  (includes a $10 discount!)
Their page is so great and user friendly.  I love the simple explanations and the visuals.  I could do no better in summarizing what it is, how it works, or what they look like.  So, check it out and come back if you want to hear my story.

 

(photos from Thinx site)

So, the morning day greeted me with my cycle.  No biggie.  After your 20's, you have had it for so long that you have a routine, you know when its approaching, you have your favorite tools and accessories to carry you through and your favorite attire to make you as comfy as possible.  It's just another day with added homework.  This particular morning, I tried something different.  Different can be a blessing or a total disaster when it comes to periods.  The 'normal' way of pads and such, is full of flaws.  It is not a system that I would say that I trusted, but I am accustomed to it and have gone thru most, I dare say all, of the flaws at one point or another.  I know the signals and signs.  This made trusting THINX very difficult.  I never cancel my life for anything related to my cycle.  I may make some adjustments, but I refuse to stop normal life for this.  Being me, I didn't cancel everything to stay home to test this.  I didn't even have a back up plan.  I put these on at about 11 in the morning and committed straight thru the night and into my morning shower at 9am.  It was fantastic!  4 days later, my long marriage to the 'old way' ended in divorce! 

I used the Sport style in black and free flowed on my heaviest day.  No other products.  I left the house, went to my car maintenance appointment, did my daily 'mom' work, worked back stage at my daughters play, dressed the lead character, I was out past 10pm.  I did wear black since that is the uniform for stage work.  I moved, I stretched, I bent... and I was covered, completely.  I was always conscious of it.  Wondering.  I often checked as I have done with other methods but I was covered.  I slept, for the first time in years, without the dark towel under me that would keep me from ripping the sheets off in the morning.  That statement is a game changer! 

Now its time for the Q&A's...

• Are they thick? NO
• Is it like a built in pad? NO
• Do they bunch? NO
• True to size? YES, just measure your hips.
• Did you stain? NOPE
• Not even from the side?  NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST
• Did you feel wet? NO.  Surprised me too!  You do feel a little temperature difference (chill) for a few seconds after you visit the restroom.  That can be moist feeling but the feeling goes away in a minute or two.
• Are they tight? NO
• Are they loose? NO
• Did you have to pick at them all day?  NO, hahaha, no wedgies.
• Did you feel 'unclean'?  NO, not at all like a diaper or our pads. 
• What about a scent?  NO, I thought of this more than I would like to admit.
• Where they hard to rinse out?  NOT AT ALL!  Fast and easy maintenance. I think the hardest part is to make sure they don't find themselves into the dryer. 
• Do they feel like regular underwear?  NO, they feel better than some since the material is soft and smooth and the elastics are not noticeable. Some regular undies are on my pay no mind list on these days.
• Are they uncomfortable to sleep in?  NO.  It was great!  After having them on all day, I didn't even do that conscious sleep thing we do to prevent accidents.  I didn't do the change positions in my sleep thing either.  Checked the sheet, almost by instinct, first thing and was covered!
• The idea of the beige one grosses me out, Should it?  No, it shouldn't.  Thinx thought of us as a visual species and lined the inside in black.  No visual messes no matter what color or style you choose.
• Did you get them for free?  No, I wish! :)  I do get a gift for sharing the $10 coupon (which I didn't have when I bought my collection.)  I paid full price.
• Did they pay you to review?  No, I just wanted to share the awesome, freeing news.

Thinx makes vacation packing for emergencies a breeze.  It's a lot easier to pack a couple of these and a tampon or two for swimming than the arsenal of just in case stuff we usually bring.  I would love to hear them invent a swimsuit.  I would totally try that one!

Next experiment... Thinx for teens.  If I get them started early, I can save them years of drama and discomfort.  What a gift!  Mother of the Eons award in the bag.

How to make saline solution - eye wash

I am officially the dog lady.  Hence my long term 'break' from writing.  Some of you already know that I have 5 dogs (4 boys and 1 girl).  Well my girl had a litter of 4 boys and 1 girl.  What a coincidence!  My 2 oldest angels are 15 and 10 years old.  Shitzu doggies in general tend suffer from allergies.  It is normal to see skin allergies, skin tags, and eye allergies.  The older dogs sometimes have difficulty producing the tears needed to clear their eyes so some people notice an increase in eye boogies, eew.  The vet will give drops for the treatment of this but without making their own tears it is something that you will revisit.  

To avoid vet bills and needless chemical based medications, you can simply help your doggie child by providing the daily tears they need.  The cheapest way to do this is to make saline solution yourself.  You wouldn't believe how easy it is to do.  You can also use a few drops in their ears as an ear wash to prevent ear infections. 

Its for humans too!  Great to know for fans of contacts who run out of solution, those with irritated eyes, those who need a nasal rinse or ear rinse, and more.  

So here is what you will need...

Bottles

1 cup Distilled Water

1 Teaspoon Salt

Dropper (for eye drops)

I prefer to use multiple small glass bottles for a couple of reasons.  First of all, once you open the bottle you have 48 hours of use before it should be discarded to avoid contamination.  A closed container will have a shelf life of about a month.  The bottles I use a boston round 1/2 once bottles and this small recipe yields more than 10 bottles.  I don't need that much so I also fill one 2 ounce bottle for ear washes.

Here is the super simple steps.  I mix the two ingredients and bring them to a boil for sterilization.  I let it cool and pour it in.  That is it!  

Whew!  Time for a break.  

:D Worst Blogger Award

I am not a blogger.  I am more of a person with a blog.  I know you can totally see the difference.  This is more like a sporadic journal for me.  If you had to compare me to a blogger, than I would be the worst blogger ever.  I lack consistency in postings and topics.  I am not looking to make money nor am I looking for a niche.  I just like to write so here I am.  I have always had slight issues with authority so I would choose blogger to host my non-bloggy blurting.

Today I am contemplating which is yet another way that I take time away from the trillion things that have to be done.  Have you ever gotten an idea in your head that is not of grand importance or even worse it is something you have no business thinking about and it just consumes you.  It like as soon as the idea is in your head, even if it is a huge mistake (i.e. sky diving when you are afraid of heights) you still have to do it because you have become obsessed.  This is a flaw in humanity.  Its uncontrollable.  It doesn't even matter that you have heard so many horror stories from others.  You need your own.  Perfect example, I was reading somewhere about the world's soda fountain at epcot.  Apparently, there is one that is horrible.  It is described as tasting like vomit.  Almost every comment from those who have not tried it read something like 'ew, disgusting!  Can't wait to try it for myself.'   <--  See, we are hopeless against it.  I blame humanity!  :)  

Have a great June!

Pintastic Discoveries

I have to say that I love my relationship with pinterest.  I have pinned a lot in my short pinning career, but I would not say that I was pin happy or pin crazy.  I don't pin a lot of the stuff I like because some of it I don't intend to use.  There are things I agree with, things I think are funny, cute animals, and so much more but my goal is really to use pinterest to house things that I actually want to do.  It is my way of goal setting.  So, thanks to pinterest, my 'to do' list is ginormous and it doesn't even include all the things that I actually have to do in my home.

I think I am actually off to a pretty good start!



There are only 4 pins in my money savings section and three of them are my own so of coarse I did them all.  The one I didn't author was a lot of fun...

The pin recommended using a ketchup bottle as a pancake pen.  Ketchup is not something that we use in our house so I was really excited that we had just finished a bottle of Mrs. Butter Worth's syrup.  I mean how perfect is that!  It was a lot of fun to feed these to my little girl and I was surprised at how easy it was.

First of all, K and I decided that we didn't want to dirty more dishes than we had to.  We thought we should make the pancake mix right inside of Mrs. Butter Worth and use her as a shake bottle.  We used another pin about making a funnel out of a water bottle to do this.  The bottle had a big enough mouth that no ingredients got stuck and we cut it long enough that we were able to dump all the ingredients into it without back-ups or clogs.  A quick rinse and now that gorgeous peace of reused plastic stays in our pancake batter jar.

The pin above came out of our Greener Living section.  We have done another pin from that section and are working on a couple more.  I feel so accomplished and well, GREENISH...

Feel free to click on some of the photos to go to the pins you like or follow the links to the pin boards to see if there are others you prefer to try.

Some of these pins give you the I-can't-believe-I-didn't-think-of-it-myself feeling, otherwise known as duh...  The chip clip.  You know how many of these hangers come into the house.  I should never need a chip clip again.  Cutting them took some time because I didn't have the right tool so I had to use a knife.   

I have a section called cool tips.  I have tried a few in there and have authored one from this blog.

The berry pin talked about a homemade fruit wash that was really great.  I have adopted this in my regular routine.  My berries stay firmer and last longer.  The inside of the berry stays new even when the outside starts looking less new.  It is great.  

The bathroom mirror should look familiar.  That is the one that came from this blog.  I have been able to get a lot more accomplished using this and the best part is that I wonderful love notes from my little girl :D!  

Now for the cheese.  I froze cheese and it worked very well.  I froze our Sargento provolone.  It is not regularly on sale and has very few coupons so the idea of being able to have a little stock pile now is very appealing. 

The apple thing.  I have some explaining to do.  I didn't have a rubber band.  I tried it without it and the apple still got brown but not soggy or dark brown.  On my second attempt, still without a rubber band, I put the apple in a small plastic container and it had even less browning so I am sure that if I ever run into a rubber band it could work.

The homemade food section has a ton of things that I want to do.  I have onlly done a couple of them so far but I have big plans.  :)  I started with the grapes.  That will need a 'do over'.  I kept them in a plastic baggie and the sour powder got all wet and gooey.  I thought it would be perfect for halloween.  I just need a good name for slimey limey green balls.  Maybe ogre eyes or something?  Any suggestions?  

The oven corn was delicious and simple.  It was great not to have to fuss with the boiling of water.  It is also easy to make in mass quantities this way.

There are a few more pins that I have been able to try but this blog is already long enough.  I feel like I should get a badge like in the girl scouts or a belt like in wrestling.  I would love to hear about what you have tried from your pinterest account.

Poop on my shoe!

Thats right!  I have poop on my shoe and I feel very accomplished.  I am on, what seems to be the long road to a simpler life.  The yard needed attention and I didn't want to keep paying someone else to do it.  I also was not at all attracted to those big, bulky lawn mowers with their pull strings and thirst for gas.  I really wanted to try a reel mower.  I have wanted it for a while.  I remember talking to my late husband about it.  He thought I was crazy.  He was never interested in mowing.  :D

Being raised a city girl, I can't say that all the yard work is thrilling to me.  I mean, I fantasize about growing food and flowers, but at this point, I would be lucky to successfully grow grass.  I had many reasons for wanting a reel mower.  Maybe you can relate to some of these...

1.  If I had a gas mower, everything would be fine.  It would take less time and cut everything in its path.  Everything would flow until it was out of gas.  Then, I would procrastinate.  It is something that I am really good at doing.  I would forget to buy gas about a thousand times, since I am really forgetful by nature.  I promise, I don't do it on purpose.  The need for gas would give me another reason to roll my eyes at gas prices.  

2. Then there are the mechanical issues.  I am not mechanically inclined and I am on a budget.  I am not the most trusting person when it comes to mechanics of any kind.  I know, stereo typing is wrong but I completely buy into the whole careless, overpriced mechanic conspiracies.

3. My carbon foot print!  The reel mowers have no engine.  They run on the greenest energy available. They run on ME ENERGY!  Really, what is the point of being young and energetic (sometimes) with no outlet?  I don't have to pay for a gym membership.  I don't have many opportunities to get good and smelly.  It's exciting.  I don't need to have a clear side walk or path to walk.  I need to get my bum outside and mow the yard.  I like feeling just a little greener.  I am not super green but everyone loves a little sage.

4.  Thanks to you tube, the maintenance for a reel mower is simple.  I watched exactly what to do and how to do it.  Bonus, I only have to do it once a year.

3.  The reel mowers are cheaper than mechanical lawn mower.  They start at about $30 less than the cheapest engine mowers.  Add to your savings the fact that you do not need to buy gas and will only need a little oil for maintenance and you are saving tons.  The sharpening kit for the reel mower is only about $15- $20 and lasts for years.  I got a bonus deal.  I found mine on craigslist and paid half of what it sells for!  :D

There are cons to everything but they really don't apply to me.  Just for the sake of making this piece slightly less biased I will share some with you.  If you are a lawn guru, the reel mower may not be for you.  The reel does not get to everything in its path.  Uneven ground can equal uneven cuts.  If you do not want to pull weeds, the reel mower may not be for you.  It won't cut every weed out there.  Some weeds won't cut at all (the little white flowers proved this for me).  You have to pull them.  If you do not want to mow too often, the reel mower may not be for you.  Letting the grass grow in too long will beat up any push mower, but the reel will not be able to cut thru thick high grass.  It will take a long time since you will have to do it in stages.  For me, it is ideal.  You will have to see if it fits for your needs.  

Now for some comedic relief.  I was doing so well but there was absolutely no way that I was going to be able to get thru the entire yard without steeping is some dog poop.  I mean the odds are completely against me with 5 dogs.  Here are the suspects... 

The sweet looking bad girl - Mincha

The quiet one - Rusty

The oldest - Copey

The monster - Tobey (Mincha's Boyfriend)

The sweet rescue - Lucky

What do you guys think??? 

Teacher Appreciation!

My daughter loves giving her teacher gifts and I love keeping them inexpensive enough to do them whenever she wants!  This coming monday starts teacher appreciation week!  I have had the gifts done for a while but I didn't want to post it yet.  I wanted to wait until this week.

I didn't want any lurking teachers to get a sneak peak and I know right now is their 'no computer' time.

We got our eye on you!  Ha!

I know a lot of teacher gifts involve supplies.  There are so many wonderful ideas out there but I didn't want to give them more supplies.  They have a lot of it and the school year is almost over. I want to show appreciation by getting them something for their personal use.  Recently, we got these double walled, bpa free drink cups in different patterns.  K and I love them!  We use them every day.  We decided that these would be our perfect gifts this year.  They hold ice for hours and they don't sweat.  That means no mess on the teachers desk!  That is REFRESHING!  We put some Crystal Light drink paks in the cups with Emergen C and some hershey nuggets candies and we were done.  We attached personalized post cards with a picture on it and a little flower lollipop in the straw.  These gifts are intended to stay in between $5 - $10 although it cost us even less because I had all the goodies at home all ready.  I only spent about $4 each on the cup.

My modo for gift giving is to make sure it is useful.  If you use it regularly and it doesn't end up in a closet or on a shelf, I am excited!

Olive oil for swimsuit season!

Spring is great!  It's the ultimate prep time for swimsuit season.  We use it to start building all of our summer dreams and pick up all of our summer gear including swimsuits.  With all the short skirts, shorts, and swimsuits comes hair removal.  Nobody's favorite part.  For those of us who are honest and open with the girl code, we know that the razors don't get used as much in the winter unless we are prepping for something in particular or are going thru a hoochie stage.  You know, hoochie stages and new relationship/ new husband stages are when all your underwear matches and you have to be ready for any chance encounters after that everything is pretty much scheduled or can be put off for ten extra minutes while you 'get ready'.  Since most winter activities don't involve the potential risk of jumping into salt water, most of the time we can handle the 'hair care' the same day we need to show a hairless leg off.  Now it is spring.  It is time to try to get our skin used to waxings and constant shavings again.  Many areas are easy.  They adapt quickly.  No major issues.  Then there is the bikini line.  What a pain in the tukish!  It needs constant attention and is super sensitive for some which makes underwear a nightmare.  Lucky us, I know...


So here is a cheap, natural tip for minimizing discomfort and redness in any area that gets a little rashy for any reason.  Some mothers already use it for diaper rashes and chances are you already have it in your home.  You ready for it?...

OLIVE OIL!

This stuff just keeps getting better and better doesn't it.  All you need is a dab.  Use it the way you would a lotion, rub it in.  You can use it in the days following a shave or wax or opt for the daily regimen which will not only treat the skin but also condition the hair.  Regular use has helped with the future maintenance for some women.  You will have to let me know if it has that affect on you ladies/gents.  I would really love to hear your comments on this one.  

Until next time, Keep it smooth and comfy :)

Forgetful

I can't believe that I have not thought about this before!  I am hugely forgetful and little reminder notes are not working for me because I forget where they are.  Then there is that huge, ugly mirror in the bathroom that I am always plotting against.  It was not until a couple of days ago that I was able to look past it rough, massive, unframed, rectangularness to see a blank canvas.  What a perfect place to write.  I look at that thing every morning.  Forget the paper!  I have been taking an expo to it and loving it.  It wipes right off.  Bonus is that with all the wiping, that gargantuan mirror has been staying cleaner!  :D --> This is a kool-aid smile moment for a person who is domestically challenged.
Now this is a lot more function than fashion but lets face it, the monster mirror was not rocking fashion in the first place.
I have a to do list, a done list, a good job list for my daughter, and a loving good morning note for my daughter.  I am going to start playing with colored expos soon.  So far, if it is on the mirror it has not been overlooked.  THIS IS GREAT!  Plus, if ever the mirror and I have a falling out and I decide to do something to make it more fashionable, I can still use it as a board.  I don't have to see where a board would go or change my routine at all.  I can't stop smiling.  This is awesome!  I love how the pictures make it look like it is word art on the wall.  So far, this seems to have no cons.  I will have to keep you posted if one comes up.  Another tiny step to my becoming all organized and junk!  Woo hoo!

Time with friends

This month is full of ups and downs.  This post will be about the ups, namely friendship.  Being a widow is not an easy thing.  It is all too tempting to let go of everything.  After 7 months, I am actively participating in friendship again.  I have a very special person in my life.  She has drawn me out from the very beginning and it is because of her and her unwavering dedication to me and my daughter that I am able to move forward and be a little social.  I know that she has no idea how much she has done for us.

This month, I enjoyed lunch with her.  She took me to get my first pedicure ever.  I was nervous about it but it was great!  I always had the impression that pedicures were an acquired taste.  I was sure that I would get thrown out for accidently kicking the nail tech since my feet are sensitive.  Then there was the gross factor.  I didn't understand why the water was blue.  How often do they wash those tubs.  Some people have some really grungy, contagious toes.  So, naturally, I avoided it.  Here, I openly admit, I was wrong.  It is really relaxing.  I still wonder about hygiene but I really enjoyed it.  We went to meet another good friend's baby boy.  It was a great day, as usual.  Later this month, she will be helping me and my daughter with yet another huge step.  It will be another reason for me to be eternally grateful to her for her love.

I enjoyed a barbeque with some new friends this month.  They are wonderful people.  My daughter didn't want to leave :)!  Great food, pool time, karaoke, friends, and smiles.  Everything was awesome save for one awkward moment.  You know the stories that start with a friend of a friend brought a friend that no one else knows...  Hours of fun + 15 minutes of awkward weirdness = still a great day!
I also made time for lunch with a good friend that I had not seen since the service.  She lives as a woman but was born a male and her life is more difficult for it.  It makes me angry.  Why are we so nosey as a culture.  Life is hard for the lot of us, why do some people make it harder for some.  It makes me really sad.  My friend has struggled since he was a young boy.  He has always felt feminine.  Coming from a religious family, he has always struggled with feeling wrong and misplaced.  I don't think there is a need for the judgement of strangers.  There is a fierce, on-going debate concerning christianity and the gay community.  I am a christian.  I don't pretend to know everything about truth and righteousness because of it and I do not use religion as an excuse to judge people.  It is my honest opinion that God is great and does not need my opinion or help when it comes to his own judgement.  I can feel all the 'but the Bible says' comments now.  The truth is that not many people have read the Bible in its original state but for all of you who rely so much on what the bible says, please provide the versus where it gives you permission to judge, shun, and ridicule those that are different from you or the verse that states that your help is needed for judgement.  I don't mean this in a negative way.  I do not remember everything I read in the Bible.  I don't care to hear about interpretations of words and what they could mean, I want black and white here.  I know that the Bible says to love thy neighbor.  I mentions nothing about the prescreening process.  It does not tell me to analyze spiritual standing or sexual preferences.  I get pretty tired of those that boast the greatness of God and then insist that he is not powerful enough to handle things on his own.  So, is my friend's lifestyle right or wrong?  How am I supposed to know?  I don't even know if my lifestyle is right or wrong.  I live by love.  Whether I chose correctly is something that I will only know for sure in the end.  I am a friend, no matter what.  I won't cast stones.  I could probably go on about this forever, but I don't want to get too far off topic.  It's just something I wish my friend didn't have to go thru.

The Nester's - An easy easter craft story.

These are The Nester's.  Are they not cute?...

I posted this super easy, super cheap craft up on my hub pages.

I kept it short and simple there, but here I can tell you all about my adventure.  Lets start with the craft.  When I say cheap, I mean cheap.  

Walmart had the Yarn for $1.77.  You could make a ton of these with the little ball of yarn.  They had hairspray for $0.94.  I didn't need it because I had some from like 2000 that I never use.  I am not really the hair and make up type.  I got a bag of little balloons for $0.94.  I had the double sided tape, but that can't be more than $2 and the tissue I had but I know that is about $1 or less.  Peeps are super cheap and the chocolate eggs were BOGO at Publix plus I had coupons so I used my free ones.  I only needed to make 2 for K's 2 teachers but I could have made enough for a small crew.

I thought it would be perfect if I ever decided to host easter brunch.  It would be really cute on the table at each seat.  Then, of coarse, that brings out even more ideas for using these in different colors.  I thought of baby showers and other things that other's can use it for.  These crafts came to me after I flipped out about another craft.  I wanted to make something a dear friend made for me a long time ago.  We are talking at least 4 years ago.  For a girl that has a memory issue, this was a crazy attempt.  She made this delicate little crochet egg.  It was so pretty.  Now that I think about it, what was I thinking?  It has been years.  I had no directions and she has not made them again which should tell me that they were a pain in the tukish!  I knew that I got the wrong string when I got it home.  K and I tried anyway.  What a disaster.  The string would not stay and it looked horrible.  A little bit later, frustrated momma stabs a couple of balloons and carries a soaking wet, messed up globe of hairsprayed yarn over to the garbage to be passionately disposed of while growling.  Honestly, I thought I used up all of my patience in the first 32 years of my life.
I wanted to enjoy crafting with my baby girl (9).  All of the sudden, it was bedtime.  I told her she would have something to share with her teacher and I didn't mean the wet mess in the trash can.  It was after my 2 minute tantrum that the idea for these nests came to me.  Thank the lord.  K loved them!  As it turned out, I still have some patience in me, my filters are just not functioning well.  So, now I have small tantrums here and there.  :D