Sunday Infomercial

It's about time for another blog update but I almost forgot about it so this one will be a quickie!

Today I'm going to post my top three homemade cleaning recipes. They are cheaper, safer, and all around better than what you can buy at the store. I might have thrown some personal opinion into that last statement but here goes:

1. Laundry Detergent

6 cups Borax

4 cups baking soda

4 cups washing soda

4 cups Fels-Naptha bar soap or Zote etc.

This works great for us! My husband works in the fuel tanks or airplanes and comes home smelling to high heaven. Odor is no longer a problem. It also works out to about .04 cents a load when your average household detergent will run at about .14 cents a load assuming you don't use fabric softener at all.

I use 1/4 cup white vinegar as a natural fabric softener. Naturally cheap as well $$!

 2. Fabric Deodorizer

Easiest recipe out there!

1 part water
1 part CHEAP vodka
a few drops of scented oil (until the scent is noticeable) 

We use either fresh linen or citrus scents. (The links contain two sites you can buy good oil from)

3. Dusting Spray
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon lemon essential oil
1/4 cup  white vinegar
1-3/4 cups water

Good for everything but glass or screens. The olive oil will leave streaks.

Happy Cleaning! :)

"I'm not going to vacuum until Sears makes one you can ride on." —Roseanne Barr

Emotional Knowledge: Part 2

      WARNING! GRAPHIC DETAILS TO FOLLOW. If you aren't interested about hearing the intricacies of my period then this is your cue to continue browsing the internet elsewhere. In this post I would like to expand the reproductive topic of the last post and explain how the Paragard has ruined my periods but the Diva Cup has saved my life.

     I knew that getting the Paragard put in was going to hurt. I haven't had any kids so they had to do some stretching to get it in position. Luckily, I was heavily sedated so all I remember of that day is some quick sharp pain and some sporadic cramps. The next day was a different story. I must have lost half of my tooth enamel from clenching my teeth all day. The medicine was not helping and I actually thought that punching the demon they left in my uterus might be an improvement over the "cramps". The pain slowly died down over the next few weeks and I got to enjoy a week of peace before my period came. *insert horror flick music here* It was a nightmare. There was blood everywhere. I had no idea how to handle it and I ended up using a super tampon and a heavy flow pad in combination which I still managed to leak through. I remembered reading somewhere that the Paragard needed time to settle and that the pain and bleeding were supposed to improve over time. That was when the Demon-gard got his 6 month notice. If things didn't dramatically change I was going to cut it out myself.

     Until that deadline I had to come up with a way to cope with the bleeding so I could actually function as a human during the now 8 full days of my period. I knew that I would have to bite the bullet and buy a menstrual cup which is basically a little egg shaped cup that you leave in you vagina for a few hours before emptying it and putting it in again. I was going to order this cup but I procrastinated and it wouldn't make it in time for my next period so I went to the Health Food Center and bought the Diva Cup because I had seen them there before. I had always swore to myself I would never use a cup because it would be gross and honestly it kind of is. You have to be very comfortable with your vagina because if you don't get it around your cervix it will leak. This is easy for me because I can reach mine with a finger but not all people can. They make different sizes for this exact reason. Another aspect of the cup that took some getting used to was the empty/reinsert situation. Feminine travel wipes are my new best friend because you have to make sure the rim is clean before you put it back in (it affects the suction if it's not clean).

     That being said, I will still never ever use a tampon or pad again. This thing is great! My periods have improved steadily, I'm back to 5 days only one of which is super heavy, but the first month I used it I was emptying the cup every 2 hours which means I passed the "normal" amount of blood loss for an entire period in a single day. The cup can be left in for 10 hours and carries no risk of toxic shock syndrome which means that someone with a normal flow would have to empty the cup about twice a day. I have literally forgotten that I was even on my period a couple of times. It's a great choice for the environmentally conscious as the cup can last for years without replacing so there is only a tiny amount of waste involved. Also, there are no harsh chemicals going into your body (side note: most tampons and pads are bleached...not so good for sensitive areas). If you want more information just drop me a comment I'll be happy to answer any questions.

     "If men could menstruate ... clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much...." - Gloria Steinem

Emotional Knowledge Part 1

     Tomorrow is/would have been the due date of our second baby. It's hard for me to think that it's been nine months already and almost a year since I found out about the first pregnancy and the possibility that I might have cancer. I feel like I've been through a lot of things over the past year but some part of me is still stuck in the past. It's a real struggle for me to be "normal" every day when part of my mind wants me to go into the dark and unfinished nursery, huddle in the corner, and cry myself to dehydration.

     This sounds very dramatic but it's real and honest. Opening myself up and giving advice based on what I've learned is a big part of healing for me. That's why this post and the next will be about birth control and periods. MEN. Please don't leave yet because the birth control portion is important for you as well. You can go ahead and excuse yourself from Part 2 because that's where I'll write about all the stuff you don't want to read about.

     Let me start by saying that I've always had liver disease. Liver tumors are not uncommon in people with cirrhosis. However, over three years or being on the birth control Nuva Ring I went from zero tumors to....well a lot. I recently read the doctor's report on the exploratory surgery I had in April. It said, "LIVER APPEARANCE: Innumerable tumors of unknown composition." Innumerable...as in too many to count via a camera looking directly at my liver. That's unsettling to say the least. A quick Google search will reveal that the Nuva Ring has a bad habit of causing mysterious liver tumors. It could be a coincidence but the fact remains that flooding your body with hormones is risky business. Birth control for women is not very safe but since it's seen as "necessary" the risks are ignored. The few types of birth control being researched for men are quick, easy, and virtually risk free. You can read about two of them here and here. The only hormone free birth control for women is Paragard, which I have, and it was/is extremely painful among other things. Sadly, this is the only option left to me in my state of health excluding condoms or my husband to having to go through a 20 year old vasectomy procedure that may or may not be reversible. Any conception would result in the loss of another child or risking my own life to try and carry to 3/4 term. In summary, MEN, please support research and development for male birth controls. They are receiving too little attention and are far too important to be ignored but will never succeed if you refuse them. Put your wife/girlfriend in my shoes.

     If you're looking for a hormone free birth control and have good insurance I would recommend Paragard but otherwise it might not be worth the risk. If you are one of the people it never gets less painful for that's $700 down the drain. Birth control is an extremely sexist branch of medicine and it leaves women who already have health problems at high risk for things like cancer, increased blood loss and even death. Do me a favor and share this information with one other person this week. Most people don't even know that these options could exist and knowledge is the first step!

     See you tomorrow for Part 2!

     “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson