Just things

So yeah, life just keeps on...one days just melts into the next. I have thought about blogging for a couple weeks, just haven't found the time until now. So in my customary list style, here goes:

1. We recently had family pictures taken, and they turned out REALLY nice. Josh Bishop, a friend of ours and photographer extraordinaire, took them for us and did a fabulous job. We will print some out and give them out around the holidays. Or if you want one and know my email address, you can email me and I will email you some.

2. I have a dry and sarcastic sense of humor, which enables me to get along with my husband quite well. However, sometimes I am not as funny to other people as I think I am in my head, and I have recently had to apologize for something I said when someone took it the wrong way. I don't mind apologizing for hurting someone's feelings, but damn. Come on. Would I really say something like that if it wasn't a joke? Seriously people, lighten up.

3. Trinity is officially one. She is also officially walking, which means I am officially a try-and-keep-all-those-things-out-of-my-reach mom again. We also discovered she is allergic to tomatoes, and possibly to cottage cheese. The latter is puzzling, though, because she can handle other dairy products. She has an appointment with the doctor Friday, so maybe he will have some insight. Wayne thinks I am crazy, but I think she has 6 words: hello, thank you, mama, dada, Bubba, banana.

4. Riddick is potty trained. He sleeps through the night without a pull-up and doesn't wet the bed. He still has accidents on occasion when he is playing and just forgets to go. He loves to pee on trees, and will do so in all types of weather. I have decided that Trinity will be potty training soon because she is a great imitator and I refuse to wait until she is three to start. Despite the advances on the elimination front, we now face challenges in the night fears arena. Riddick is not afraid of the dark I don't think, but he will not sleep all night in his room because he hears sounds in the basement that scare him. So most nights, Trinity wakes up around 2 and we go out to the couch to find Riddick there. Which means I have to actually be awake and sitting up to feed her. Which means I am still as sleep deprived as ever.

5. Wayne shot a deer on the first day of opening season, which is great for our food budget! Kathy and David let him process the meat at their place, which also saved us a ton. Thanks Kathy and David!!

6. After many months of RNA extraction problems, my advisor finally broke down and let me get an RNA extraction kit. However, one problem in getting good RNA stems from me letting other people touch my samples and ruining them (yes, I am positive it was not me). It turns out that RNA that is in homogenized tissue doesn't like to be thawed more than once, so trying to get RNA from these already-once-thawed tissues because the original samples were degraded is the devil. Luckily for me, I have back up tissue samples that have never been thawed that I can use with the kit. Thank goodness for good study design and lots of samples.

7. Knitting and crocheting have completely absorbed my "free" time. It is that time of year again where I find myself making gifts like crazy. For some reason I always make things for other people and nothing for myself.

8. I will probably not give my name as a tutor for Genetics next semester, although it has been a great refresher since I had a genetics course more than 10 years ago. I actually learned some things, too, so that was nice, but tutoring is a major time suck that I don't think I want to deal with next semester.

Olive oil progress/other updates

I have been putting olive oil on Riddick's legs and feet everyday for about 5 days now, and his feet and the spot on the back of his leg are looking much better. We will not be going back to that dermatologist for his follow-up appointment.

Other news in my life:

1. Trinity slept through the night three days last week. This was nice and completely spoiled me, for she has not repeated this since Thursday night. She has two teeth on the bottom and has that scrunched-up nose smile going on and it is totally cute.

2. Upon suggestion from Wayne's Aunt Olivia, we started having Riddick drop pennies in a glass jar every time he goes pee in the potty. We started this over the weekend. The first day he had several accidents, but we kept letting him put the pennies in the jar. He really loves doing it. The second day he had a couple accidents, but not nearly as many. Yesterday he had no accidents. All hail Aunt Olivia for the great idea!!

3. I am really tired of working on the current project. I am really tired of only being able to work part-time. I am ready for this project to be done, and it is really close, but now I have problems with one particular process that would go really quick if I didn't have to troubleshoot it. As in I could be done in one or two days with the damn project if I didn't have to figure out what is going wrong with the last process. Additionally, I really need to figure out how to get more time in the lab, because I simply cannot read at home, and reading is a huge part of my career.

4. Wayne and I are slowly doing P90X. We have to get in better shape to do the whole thing the way you are supposed to do it, but we are getting there. Wayne has already noticed a difference in his stamina. Yay for exercise!

5. We got new phones. We love them. As soon as I figure out how to get to all the websites I need to get to, we are getting rid of Mediacom. Yay for saving money!

6. I am still working on cloth diapers. I am actually trying to get some made for a friend who just had her baby. They are in a tough spot right now financially, and I thought I would get theirs done first since I can actually afford to buy disposables still. I have the material all cut out for three diapers, I have one mostly done, but I really need to get on this.

7. I think from now on my posting will be in this format. It is just easier.

Yes, I am finally posting/Frustration with the dermatologist

I know. I know, I know, I know. It has been FOREVER since I posted.

It is kind of hard to remember to write stuff when you have two little ones on the go. Trinity is crawling and pulling herself up on everything and getting into everything. Research is crazy right now. Plus I am tutoring and playing softball, so the blog kind of gets left out of the picture. But I am posting now, and I am at least TRYING to keep up.

Here’s what happened today.

Riddick’s skin isn’t getting any better. He has red, itchy, scaly patches on the back of his leg and on top of his foot that just won’t heal. So I finally broke down and took him to the dermatologist.

I told her what his problem was, and that although he has never officially been diagnosed, I thought he has eczema. She agreed.

She asked me what I had been putting on it to try and relieve the problem. I told her we had used over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream, which didn’t work. Lotions didn’t work, they just made his skin red. Olive oil may have worked if I had applied it on a regular basis. I then told her I was a graduate student in an endocrinology lab and I have been following Environmental Working Group’s studies on chemicals in personal care products, and that I was concerned about a lot of the chemicals used in those products, like parabens and phthalates. She then asked me if I had tried mineral oil, and I told her I have not tried it because mineral oil was listed on EWG’s website as potentially harmful in animal studies. Then she put me on the spot and asked me what specifically were the concerns, and I couldn’t remember off the top of my head. This then apparently made her think I was just another looney toon mom, because her body language and facial expression totally changed.

This is why doctors frustrate me. Instead of THINKING for themselves, they just toe that MD line, and treat diseases the way everyone else says to treat them, and alternative treatments that aren’t pharmaceutically based are the devil, and Ph.D.’s (or soon-to-be) don’t know anything about medicine.

She gave me Cetaphil and Vanicream to try, in addition to a prescription hydrocortisone cream. Sorry, but those things have lots of chemicals in them, and steroid treatment is no good. They may not have immediate side effects, but I am not going to add to my son’s chemical body burden and cause effects that won’t be seen until he is an adult (yes, people, this happens).

So what am I going to do? We are going to make a regular thing out of the olive oil. I have heard that shea butter works well for moisturizing and healing, so I may get some of that. I have also heard that honey, baking soda, and Epsom salts help with eczema. So I am going to try the olive oil first, maybe some honey. We may try baking soda in the bath.

Some random things, in no particular order

We moved. Still in Columbia, just a different duplex with more space in a better neighborhood. We still have piles of stuff all over the house. I like that we have more space, a fenced backyard with a huge tree (shade!) that Riddick LOVES to play in, an eat-in kitchen, space for a craft area for me downstairs, and more cabinet space. What I do not like is the set-up of the upstairs living room, the fact that our queen box springs do not fit downstairs where the master bedroom is, having to get rid of ants, and not having a dishwasher. The landlord says he will put in a dishwasher in a couple months, so here’s to hoping. It is too late now to change, and we are NOT moving again until I graduate and we buy a house. Then we will pay movers to move it.

Riddick is speaking in 4, 5, and 6 word sentences. Yay for language development! There are still a lot of pronunciation issues and words we do not recognize, but he is getting more and more clear everyday.

Trinity is almost crawling and pulling herself up on things. She can get around by doing her little butt-scoot, rolling, and moving backwards. She also slept for 7 hours straight Friday and Saturday nights, but not last night.

I recently finished another cloth diaper, and I think I like it better than previous “prototypes”. My friend Katy and I are going to make one together, complete with pictures so we can blog about it.

I do not like the taste of plain cream cheese, but I think the prices for flavored cream cheeses are ridiculous. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before, but I bought some plain cream cheese (store brand, super cheap) and mixed it with some sugar and vanilla…and I had cheesecake-flavored cream cheese. Which is wonderful for breakfast on graham crackers and bagels with a great cup of coffee.

I am still working on Trinity’s baby blanket. I had two pink squares done, only to realize I knitted them one row short. I have yet to decide what to do with these squares. I think I should have enough yarn to replace them with correctly knitted squares, but I won’t know until I get done with the other pink squares. I think I can give her the blanket as a graduation gift…

Wayne loves the new place and likes to grill outside now that we have a little privacy. He grilled 4 out of 7 nights this past week, and he is a grill MASTER.

Kelsey, my sister, is coming to visit soon!

Wayne and I are going to start the P90X workout this month. It may be a slow, painful death for me, but I will try my best.

My brother is going to Korea. For the third time. Potentially with his wife and child, but we won't know for sure for a couple months.

Things I have recently discovered:

Ants do not like cinnamon. I read this on the internet and decided to try it yesterday morning. They refuse to cross any cinnamon barrier. We tried Terro recently, but I am too impatient to wait for it to work, so I killed all the ants in the kitchen yesterday and did the cinnamon thing, and it worked marvelously.

Riddick only likes fireworks if he can play with a flashlight at the same time.

Trinity likes fireworks, but jumps every time she hears a loud one.

It only takes 2.5 beers for me to be “lit” and only 4 for me to forget where I took off my wedding band. This is also known as being a "lightweight" or a "cheap date".

Apple Cider Vinegar Conditioner

I did it. I finally took the plunge.

My Yes To Tomatoes conditioner finally ran out over the weekend. I went to the kitchen to get the apple cider vinegar, which has been patiently awaiting its chance to show its stuff.

I mixed the vinegar with water in a 1:4 solution (read: 1 part vinegar, 4 parts water, total 500 ml using 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup) and put it in the empty conditioner bottle.

I have two criteria for the apple cider vinegar conditioner:
1. It cannot leave my hair smelling like vinegar. Period.
2. It has to actually work…I need to be able to comb my wet hair without serious knotting, and it has to leave my hair soft.

So I was ready.

After my baking soda shampoo was rinsed, I grabbed the conditioner bottle. Now, the instructions for apple cider vinegar conditioner say to only use it on the ends of your hair, not on your scalp. Ok, whatever. If you have short hair, this isn’t really practical. So I just poured some all over my head, and rinsed.

I towel dried my hair and was ready for the first test: can I comb it easily? I found that yes, I could comb it easily. The conditioner did part of its job. The next test was to blow dry it to see if my hair was soft after using it. During the blow drying part, I could smell, ever-so-faintly, apple cider vinegar. I thought it was going to be a short-lived relationship. However, once my hair was completely dry, I couldn’t smell any vinegar at all. And my hair was soft. SUCCESS! I think next time I will just rinse a lot more to make sure it is all out of my hair so I don’t smell any vinegar when blow drying, I was kind of in a hurry yesterday when I did this because Wayne was taking me shopping for a summer dress.

This is one of the most economical changes I think I have made, and NO chemicals to deal with! The bottle of apple cider vinegar was $1.18 at Wal-mart, and that was the 16 oz bottle. I got the small one just in case it didn’t work, then I wouldn’t have a bunch of vinegar around that would be barely used. And since I am diluting it, it should last awhile. The REAL test will have to be in the winter, though, when I need conditioner to keep my hair from getting all static-y.

Double standard

I got (indirectly) called a hippie at a barbeque on Memorial Day weekend because I am making cloth diapers and wipes, and making a rag rug from the scraps of material for the diapers and wipes. One person asked me if I was going to start using an outhouse like a hippie after I mentioned these various projects. Everyone laughed, even me, because it was funny. It was only the next day that I realized what had really happened.

I reflected on this situation and, like I always do, thought about a question I should have asked my accuser: Would you call your grandparents hippies? Because I am only doing things they had to do in their lives.

Disposable diapers, disposable wipes, disposable nursing pads…these are all relatively recent inventions. But a lot of people don’t stop to think about what their grandparents did, and even some of their parents, did. I was cloth diapered as a baby. Our parents were cloth diapered as children. Disposable diapers only came about in the 40s, and then it was a luxury. Generations past used only what they needed, reused what they could. That is what I am trying to do…not only is it more economically sound, it is more environmentally sound. So now there is a double standard: when our generation does this it makes us hippies, but when our grandparents and parents did it, they were just doing what they had to do because there were no other options.

I fear that this lack of planetary/environmental awareness is rather pervasive in my generation, and this makes me sad for my kids and the planet they will inherit.

A busy start to our summer

I love summer. There are always so many possibilities. There’s baseball, softball, and great weather. Plus, there are special events, like graduations, birthdays, concerts, barbeques, parties, weddings, family reunions, festivals...

So here’s what went down last week.

Monday, May 18 was Cody’s, our nephew, 8th grade graduation. We were the last of our family to get to the middle school in Centralia (we are usually the last to arrive anywhere), but they saved us some seats. As we waited, Trinity got fussy and wanted to nurse, and of course that was only moments before they started the procession, so I couldn’t see Cody because I was sitting. Cody got a couple of academic awards, though, and when he walked up to receive them I could see how handsome he looked! He seems so grown up now, as I am sure his mother would completely agree. The 8th grade band members also performed a song with the rest of the band, and they sounded great (much better than the rest of the band performing Pomp and Circumstance without the 8th graders).

It was a very to-the-point ceremony, lasting about 45 minutes, which was great because it was getting warm in the auditorium and Riddick was getting restless. Speaking of Riddick, he went to the ceremony wearing underwear and told Wayne twice that he had to go potty, and did not have an accident! Woohoo!!!

Afterward we all went over to the pool hall and had a dinner that was truly amazing. To steal a phrase from Katy, my sister-in-law is a domestic genius. I wish I had half the cooking talent she has!

On Wednesday, May 20 it was my birthday. Wayne’s parents bought us tickets to the Willie Nelson concert. My sister-in-law came to babysit and brought a Pyrex dish variety pack for my birthday present, which I LOVE because the dishes are glass. She also brought me some scissors that work great as a seam ripper (I’ve already tested them out!), and a magnetic pin holder so I don’t have to worry (as much) about dropping pins on the floor. Anyway, we went to the concert and had a great time. Willie puts on a fabulous show!

Saturday, May 23 we went to a wedding. It was interesting. A Catholic priest came to a Presbyterian church and split the ceremony with the Presbyterian preacher (?). It was a nice ceremony nonetheless, and I hate to make fun, but I have to. Apparently at Catholic weddings, the priest raises his right arm to bless the couple, and everyone in the audience follows suit. In this particular ceremony, the priest did that, and a lot of people in the audience did the same. Except that the people who weren’t Catholic were also doing this…with their arms straight out…like Nazis…as the priest was giving the blessing. To see this en masse at a wedding was absolutely hysterical.

In other news for that day we went to a BBQ after the wedding. It was quite enjoyable, even if I did have to hold Trinity 2/3 of the time. Everyone brought a side dish and the food was all good.

Sunday, May 24 we went to my dad’s for another BBQ, this time with my brother and his family. My brother was assigned another tour in Korea (this will be his third tour in Korea, and he has been to Iraq twice), and wanted to visit before he has to leave. We hope this time he will be allowed to take his wife and young son with him, but I am not sure if it will happen or not due to the escalating situation with North Korea. Anyway, we all had a pretty good time, once again, good food. I learned about a recipe for dump cake from my dad’s fiancé, Rena. How could I have not known about this wonderful concoction? It is so delicious and EASY! I am totally going to try it out. Also, I learned that for some reason, Riddick does not like to go pee in the potty at my dad’s. I have no idea why.

Monday, May 25, Memorial Day, was our day to finally rest. I think I did a load of laundry. Maybe picked up a few things off the floor. That was about it. It was a fun, crazy week and we were exhausted, but it was a great start to the summer!

Update on the to-do list

So a couple of blogs ago I listed many things that I was hoping to accomplish. Here’s an update.

1. I got another cloth diaper made for Trinity. I now have the prototype and one that actually fits her. Wayne and I have both noticed that these diapers are rather bulky. Too late to switch materials, I already have several old T-shirts destroyed to make the diapers and I WILL make more of them. The one I did finish worked just fine yesterday. Apparently Trinity likes to save all her poop for one diaper, and it held it all nicely.

2. I did get finished with the massive amount of reading I had to do for the meeting in which I was supposed to present two papers. On the day of the meeting, as I was walking into my office, my advisor called me to tell me that the meeting was postponed. This was about 10 minutes before the meeting. We have yet to reschedule…Fred (my advisor) is in Denmark this week, and the other person we are meeting with is doing something that takes up so much of his time that he can’t even send me a quick email.

3. The blanket I am making for Trinity is a rather simple one: four colors, 9 squares of each color sewn together. I have completed 6 of the 36 squares, and I am almost done with number 7 of the purple.

4. Yesterday after I did a pitching lesson I went to the store for a few things and bought some sweet potatoes for Trinity. I got 2 pounds at 65 cents a pound. I used ice cube trays to divide them up once they were all pureed and froze them. They work quite nicely and I think two cubes are probably close to one jar of baby food. So this is definitely WAY more cost effective than buying it in jars.

Trinity is so funny when she eats solid food, especially sweet potatoes. It’s like a dog getting a treat. She sees the spoon, and gets all wiggly and giggly with excitement, and her eyes and mouth get all big, and she grabs my hand to get the spoon to her mouth. It makes me laugh every time.

5. I am currently in a frustrated mode regarding making butter. I did try it the same weekend I made the yogurt, but I bought ultra-pasteurized half and half, failing to notice that the instructions said not to use ultra-pasteurized cream to make homemade butter. I realized this after half an hour of the cream being in the mixer doing nothing but swirling around being cream. Today at the store I noticed ALL the heavy whipping cream there was ultra-pasteurized, as was most of the half and half, causing me to curse under my breath. It’s a damn conspiracy!

6. I got a little more done toward the project I am working on at school. It seems like I should already have all the data collected, but then I remember that I am only in the lab part time and I have only been working at it for a few months. It just seems like it is taking forever.

7. I have made no progress on the container garden or the hats I am supposed to be knitting for my brother and sister. I do not feel upset by this in any way.

8. I have started a rag rug with the scraps from making cloth diapers. Because everyone knows I need another project.

Other news: Riddick is almost fully potty trained. It is truly a miracle. I never thought the day would come. He still wears a pull up at night because he isn’t night trained yet, but he has had only a few accidents since the last blog, none of which involve poop. He has been to the ball field during one of my games with underwear and did not have an accident, but this was because my husband taught him how to pee outside at the playground at the ball field.

And Riddick is talking. A LOT. I even get the play-by-play from the bathroom (Mama, pee! Mama, I done! Mama, I flush! Mama, pants!). Most of it is comprehensible, but he still has those words that he says that make Wayne and I look at each other with that question in our eyes, “Did you understand a word he just said?” And then we just smile and say ‘ok’ or ‘yeah’. He loves to watch Diego and Dora, the Backyardigans and Wonderpets, and any cartoons involving superheroes. He seems to pick up new words every day when he watches morning cartoons.

Trinity is rolling from her back to front and back again in both directions now. She is getting closer to sitting up on her own, and is also getting closer to pushing herself up on all fours. At her 6 month checkup on the 12th she was 20 lbs, 6 oz., which puts her in the 97th percentile for weight. Still. She was 26 ¼ in long, putting her in the 58th percentile for height. Her first “word” is ‘dada’ which she says NONSTOP. She has started getting upset when she can’t have/reach an object she wants, and gets even madder when you take something away from her. She is sleeping “through the night”, which basically means she sleeps for a 5 hour stretch (like 11p-4a), which also means I am still tired.

So that’s the update on my to-do list. Although it is slow, progress is being made.

Making yogurt

So I decided to try and make my own dairy products because they typically come packaged in plastic and I am trying to reduce my/our plastic consumption. I searched the internet for recipes for homemade yogurt, butter, sour cream, and cream cheese. A few weekends ago I attempted to make yogurt. This is that story.

Friday: started at 3:30 pm
I found a really neat recipe for making your own yogurt in a crock pot here. The instructions seemed really easy, and there was a lot of down time, which is perfect for my life because I have two children who demand a lot of attention.

Ingredients: 2% milk, one container of plain live active culture yogurt

Details to be aware of:
1. Don’t use ultrapasteurized milk.
2. Use 1 oz of store bought yogurt for every cup of milk you use.
3. Once you make your own, you can use it for starter culture to make more yogurt instead of buying a container from the store. I have no idea how long you can do this, because at some point the bacteria die off and you will have to buy another container from the store.
4. The site I found directions on says the yogurt is good for 7-10 days.

Procedure:
1. Add milk to crock pot and heat on low for 2.5 hours.

2. Turn off crock pot and let sit 3 hours.
3. Remove two cups of the milk to mix with the yogurt.
4. Put the milk mixed with yogurt back in the crock pot and stir it up.
5. Wrap a heavy bath towel around the crock pot and let it sit overnight.

6. Open the crock pot and view the magic that has occurred while you were sleeping.
7. Eat with fruit, unless you like the flavor of plain yogurt.

Saturday: 8 am
SUCCESS!!! This recipe is sooooo easy!!


The yogurt had a layer of liquid on top, and I tried my best to spoon it off, but most of it got mixed in with the yogurt. I also attempted to drain it with a coffee filter in a colander, but a lot of it got stuck to the filter, so I just quit trying that. It really isn't that big a deal. The crock pot yogurt is pretty much the consistency of low fat yogurt. I mixed some yogurt with some peaches I had and it was DELICIOUS. Most of it I froze, and I kept out a little bit for me, since I am the only one who will eat it. I might get Riddick to try some if I mix in some blended berries.

I will definitely do this again. I totally can’t wait for there to be all sorts of wonderful fruits at the farmers market to try with my yogurt!

Too much stuff

So yeah, I am not so great about keeping up with this blog. My life is literally a whirlwind of activities, only a few of which get accomplished, and blogging is a pretty low priority. Here is a list of things I am trying to get done:

1. reading a massive amount of material before I have to present a couple of papers tomorrow to my advisor and a collaborator so we can talk about a thesis project. I was the last to find out about this meeting, but I guess that is what happens when you are low on the totem pole.

2. making cloth diapers for Trinity. I have a prototype completed, but cannot get the others made because I cannot get any sewing done without my husband taking care of the kids.

3. blanket for Trinity that I started knitting 9 months ago.

4. knitted hat for my brother that was supposed to be a Christmas present, and now is looking like it will be a Christmas present this year.

5. knitted hat for my sister that matches the scarf I made for her, also was supposed to be for Christmas.

6. making baby food for Trinity. She REALLY likes sweet potatoes.

7. starting a container garden. I think I’ll start with tomatoes and green beans this year to keep it simple.

8. making butter.

9. data collection for the current research project I am doing.

10. blogging about all these things, complete with photos.

11. keeping up with household stuff.

I have mentioned in a previous blog that mornings are pretty much only good for a couple things—keeping kids entertained and maybe doing a load of laundry…blogging if I get lucky. Afternoons are spent in the lab or reading stuff pertaining to research. So that leaves evenings, which involve very little of the things listed above. Maybe I will try to incorporate a day into my week where I try to do something that gets me closer to completing the projects listed above. That means sacrificing a research day, though, and I don’t know if I can afford to do that at this point.

Not being able to get these things done sometimes stresses me out. It stresses me out because some of the items will save us some money if I can only get them done.

In other news, Riddick is no longer fighting with me to wear underwear and is going pee in the potty by himself regularly. And he has to inform me every time that he has to go pee. And he also has to inform me that he needs to turn on the light, when he has finished going pee, that he needs to flush, and needs to wash his hands. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes exasperating. However, he still refuses to poop in the potty. Completely exasperating. Trinity no longer hates being on the floor on her belly and is trying to get up on all fours. She still only rolls from her back to front in one direction, but she is almost sitting up by herself. She is also easily distracted, and we have lots of distracting things to look at and examine, especially when she is nursing. I love the feeling of warm breastmilk dripping down my side while she squirms around to look at her brother. And when I say love, I really mean hate. But like anything else, this too shall pass.

So as soon as humanly possible, I will post about my recent experience with making homemade yogurt (hint: it went great!), which will be in a few days, at best. We have the baby dedication and a wedding this weekend, so maybe early next week.

***Update 9:45AM***

Riddick did it! He went poop in the potty by himself while I was laying down in bed with Trinity trying to get her to sleep. He didn't say anything, he just went in the bathroom, sat down, pooped, and then yelled to me that he pooped.

I wonder what else will suddenly happen if I blog about it...

Spring and softball

I love spring. I love the warmer but not too hot weather and all the flowers and trees blooming. Mostly I love spring because it means the beginning of baseball and softball season.

Wayne and I love Cardinals baseball and catch the games when we can. I just had my first softball game Thursday night. Wayne plays on Friday nights and started pitching this season, and pitched a great game this past Friday. I am playing on two teams this season (Mondays and Thursdays...Monday was rained out), despite Wayne’s wish for me to only play one night because he has such a hard time with Trinity. I wasn’t able to play much past the first half of last season due to the pregnancy, and I haven’t been to any practices yet this season, so I was a little nervous about how rusty my skills were. Fortunately, I have been giving fastpitch pitching lessons for the past two months, so my arm has been worked out several times. However, I was right to be nervous about rusty skills, at least offensively. I fouled out three times. Not good. Defensively I was solid, though, which I am pretty happy about.

Speaking of pitching lessons, I love giving them, especially when I see results. The girl I am teaching is mostly a beginner, but she knew the basic mechanics when we started. After 8 lessons, she has significantly improved her mechanics, which has led to a faster fastball.

We had another lesson today after a rough session last week. I gave her some things to work on through the week to help her help herself improve. Apparently this is paying off in ways I couldn’t have foreseen. For example, today I noticed that she can throw her fastball as a drop pitch. This is FREAKING AWESOME! The first time she threw it today both her parents and I had to pick our jaws up off the floor because the ball literally looked like it dropped off the edge of a table, and it was over the plate. I think this pitch is similar to what is called a peel drop pitch, but I haven’t taught her that (yet). I showed her how to throw a turnover change-up (although, admittedly, way earlier than I should have) which drops quite nicely when thrown correctly, so I thought maybe she was turning her wrist over when she snapped the ball, but that wasn’t the case. Whatever it is, I am all for it. Every good pitcher needs a good drop pitch. So I was very excited to see this naturally from a pitcher I am coaching.

I love softball.

Other peoples' lab skills, or lack thereof

Sometimes I hate the fact that some of the experiments I do require other peoples’ help. Not because I don’t like working with other people, but because I don’t like relying on other peoples’ lab skills, or lack thereof. I am not saying that mine are perfect, but I do have some good lab skills thanks to extensive experience working in a few different labs before becoming a graduate student. If my advisor were to pick one student out of the lab to try a new protocol, it would be me. I know how to do a lot of stuff, and I know how to do it well.

Recently I pulled out some frozen homogenized tissue samples to thaw, or what I thought were homogenized samples. It turns out they weren’t as homogenized as they should be, as in there are LARGE, clearly visible chunks of tissue that I wouldn’t have missed had I been the one doing the homogenizing. The strange thing is that all the samples that have this problem were processed on the same day, but I can’t figure out who has crappy homogenizing skills. Even if I did know who the culprit was, it wouldn’t make any difference…pointing out the fact that they have potentially screwed up several samples isn’t going to make the samples any better, nor is it going to make the person feel good. The only potential good I can see from pointing this out is that, in the future, the person might pay closer attention to make sure the whole tissue is homogenized, and that may not even matter because I have no way of knowing if the person is ever going to homogenize tissue ever again.

I do realize that at some point in one’s career, you have to take some necessary risks to get some things done. I consider one of these risks to be allowing others to help you do lab work. In order for this to happen without bad things occurring (i.e. ending up with crappy samples), these people need to be properly trained. Sometimes the training takes a long time. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes. Homogenizing tissue with a tissue tearor (basically a dremel tool with a fancy attachment) is one of the 5 minute lessons. It isn’t hard. Really, a five year old could do it. All it takes is some manual dexterity and good eyesight. And your eyesight doesn’t have to be THAT good to do it. Hence, my frustration at having unhomogenized tissue samples.

One also realizes at some point in their science career that the more samples you have, the better, and in my case (and especially lucky for the non-homogenizer), I have samples that can replace these that have been properly homogenized. Murphy’s Law strikes again.

Organic shampoo Review

So I have recently switched to using baking soda instead of using shampoo, but I thought I would review two organic shampoos that I tried before making the switch.

I have a horribly dry, flaky scalp. As in if I let it go without some kind of dry scalp shampoo, it looks like a blizzard hit my head when I brush my hair. So in the past I used Head and Shoulders Dry Scalp Shampoo Plus Conditioner. It worked ok, but I always had a low level of flakiness, probably due to the hard water we have. But then I started being more conscious of the chemicals I put on my body and decided to switch to an organic shampoo.

I went to Walgreens to find a replacement shampoo and conditioner. They have a good selection of products that are more natural than regular shampoos. After looking for awhile, I decided to try the Jason Tea Tree Scalp Normalizing shampoo and Yes To Tomatoes conditioner. I chose these products because it says on the shampoo bottle, “Say goodbye to dry, flaky, itchy scalp”, they have less nasty chemicals in them, and they were on sale. Plus the shampoo has a cute koala on the bottle. The first couple times I used the shampoo, it worked fine, but after a week I noticed it made my scalp more flaky and itchy than when I used the Head and Shoulders, even with the conditioner. Next.

I decided I would try to find something at Clover’s Natural Market instead. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Clover’s has a huge selection of products. Which means a lot of ingredient reading. Remember, just because something has “organic” or “natural” on the label, that doesn’t mean it is free of harmful chemicals, and Clover’s has plenty of examples.

I looked at probably 15 different shampoos. For me, it isn’t just a matter of being chemical-free, but it also has to be a price I am willing to pay. I found the perfect combination: Organix South Thera Neem Shampoo. It claims to be “perfect for those with sensitive scalps…” I decided to try it out.

This shampoo is thinner than most, and you are supposed to massage it into the scalp, then leave it for 3-5 minutes. It smells ok, and it does keep the flakiness of my scalp to a minimum, but there is still flakiness when I use this shampoo.

Most recently I have been using baking soda to clean my hair. I just make up a paste with water, massage some into my scalp, and rinse. Right now I am following with Yes To Tomatoes conditioner, and the plan is to switch to apple cider vinegar when the conditioner runs out. This works just fine for cleaning my hair, but the flakiness persists. It is less flaky than ever before, but I think I am just destined to have a dry scalp forever. But I tried, and now people who read this blog have a handy review of a couple “organic” shampoos.

Treehugger

I have been called a treehugger twice in the last week. By my husband. I told him I wanted to make my own butter so we wouldn’t have to buy margarine in plastic tubs (reducing plastic use) or butter (with PFOA lining the paper—read about PFOA here), and he called me a treehugger. And not in a good way, in the usual derogatory tone that accompanies the word. This really hurt my feelings, and he later apologized, saying that he is just overwhelmed with the amount of information I have about chemicals.

In addition to trying to use products without harmful chemicals, I have been inspired to reduce our plastic use recently, so I have been trying to find ways to eliminate using things with plastic packaging, make my own stuff that normally comes in plastic, or try to find items packaged in glass. The reason I don’t want to use plastic is because it doesn’t biodegrade. Ever. And I think about the amount of plastic used in this country (it’s everywhere) and how much we consume and throw things away, and it makes me sad. Hundreds of millions of tons of plastic are in the landfills and ocean (see here). And it doesn’t biodegrade. It will break into smaller and smaller pieces over a long, LONG period of time, and did I mention it doesn’t biodegrade?

I never really thought that trying to reduce consumption, protect my and my family’s health, and protecting wildlife were bad things. Apparently, though, this makes me a treehugger. If this is the case, then so be it. I would rather be a treehugger than be an ignorant, narrow-minded, not-interested-in-protecting-the planet-that-supports-our-life {insert catchy term for anti-treehugger}. Not saying that my husband is one, because he is trying to be more conscious, but he doesn’t need to insult me about it.

Incidentally, the second time he called me a treehugger, he was being more sarcastic and joking, and it didn’t hurt my feelings.

Love and annoyance

Some days I have what can best be described as a love/extremely annoyed relationship with my life, and this mostly has to do with the fact that I have two young children. Sometimes I really get annoyed with my kids. And it isn’t their fault. It is mine for not having enough patience and having too many things that I need and want to get done. And I just love them to pieces so I am not unhappy with the fact that I have kids, I just want more time.

Right now I am only working half days in the lab. This is due to a couple reasons:
1. We can’t afford full time care for two kids, and
2. The kids and I don’t wake up until 7:30ish and I can’t get them and myself ready quickly enough to be anywhere before 10.
So I drop the kids off at 12:30, and I am in the lab by 12:45 or 1.

It seems intuitive that I would have enough time in the mornings before I drop off the kids to get things done around the house. This is simply not the case. Once I get Riddick settled, Trinity needs something, and vice versa. Plus I am trying to deal with the dog and getting myself breakfast and ready to go, and getting kids fed and ready. Needless to say, our mornings are hectic, and most days I feel overwhelmed.

I feel like I am making very little progress toward my degree because of the part-time daycare issue. I know that, eventually, I will be able to get more reading done at home when Trinity gets a little older and isn’t so dependent on mommy. But at this juncture in my graduate career, I feel like I need to be closer to at least getting a publication out. Perhaps I compare myself to other graduate students too much, especially those who do not have children. There are days when I don’t even get into the lab because I have to run errands that I simply cannot do with a bull-headed, independent, spirited 3 year old and an infant in tow. The balance (or lack thereof) of work and home really takes its toll.

Right now I think I will have to spend more time in graduate school to get finished, which is really not ideal. Not because of my home life, but because of the financial situation that would put us in. So in addition to the other worries in my life, I worry about this.

However, balanced with all the frustration and worry is the love part of my life. When I step back, take a deep breath, and just look at my life, I love it. My family is amazing (extended included) and I love them. I love where I live. I love my friends. I love what I do. And then I realize that I really do stress too much about stuff. I just need to take one day at a time and get done what I can and not worry so much about what I can’t.

Chemicals I Avoid/Public Service Announcement

At the request of a friend, I am finally posting about chemicals I actively try to avoid in my lifestyle.

The first is bisphenol-A, or BPA. This is the chemical our lab researches. This chemical makes up polycarbonate plastic, which used to be typical baby bottle plastic. Because of so much pressure from legislators, researchers, and parents, the major baby bottle companies are phasing out BPA-containing plastic for their products. This chemical is also found in the linings of aluminum cans (beer, soda, soups, vegetables, fruits, infant formula), recycled paper, carbonless paper receipts, windshields, eyeglasses, CDs, and dental sealants. This is not an exhaustive list. This chemical is a health concern because it behaves like estrogen. Hormones have very powerful effects, especially in small doses. BPA has been shown to have harmful health effects in animals that were exposed while still in the womb (obesity, neurological problems, reproductive problems, and many others).

This is where my obsession with avoiding chemicals started. I had no idea what I was putting on and in my body until I became a graduate student. Now it has snowballed and I check labels on EVERYTHING. To make matters worse, a new study came out showing that some food additives can be estrogenic. Awesome.

Here are some others:

Parabens
Linked to cancer, skin irritation, immune system toxicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, and endocrine disruption; found in essentially every type of personal care product

Sodium Laureth Sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate
Skin irritant, 1,4-dioxane is a contaminant; this is what makes your shampoo and toothpaste foamy

Antibacterials
I actually have never used antibacterial ANYTHING unless there wasn’t an alternative available (like if I needed to wash my hands at someone’s house and all they have is antibacterial soap). Use of antibacterials leads to superbugs.

Pesticides
Pesticides, along with lots of other types of chemicals, bioaccumulate, which means they get stored in fat, so they stick around for a long time in your body. They have harmful effects in the nervous system, immune system, reproductive system, and endocrine system.

Phthalates
Commonly called “fragrance” or “parfum”; in virtually every type of personal care product. Linked to immunotoxicity and neurotoxicity. There are lots of other phthalates, like dibutyl phthalate, that are linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and other organ system toxicity.

Flame Retardants
Children’s pajamas are treated with flame retardants. They cause neurological damage.

Commercially available cleaning products
Yes, there’s nasty stuff in them.

Environmental Working Group has a website dedicated to showing people what is in their personal care products: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php.

“Why should I care? I only use a little bit everyday” I can hear people asking. This is why you should care:

1. There are no regulations as to what chemicals the cosmetics industry can use.
2. There are no regulations that say those chemicals have to be tested for safety before they are released onto the market.
3. Study after study has shown that long-term, low dose exposures to many individual chemicals leads to chronic disease (cancer!). And on top of that, we are exposed to numerous chemicals on a daily basis.

Go to the site. You can look up personal care products you use or individual ingredients in your personal care products.

So these are things I do/plan to do to avoid these chemicals:
1. Buy organic produce.

2. Avoid canned goods if possible.

3. I use organic personal care products, like JR Watkins lotion, Yes To Tomatoes conditioner, Burt’s Bees lip balm, Burt’s Bees facial cleanser, Burt’s Bees soap. I no longer use shampoo. I use baking soda, and it works just fine. My hair looks great, and it is cheap.

4. I use olive oil on the kids’ skin. No more toxic baby lotions.

5. I check the labels on my kids’ pajamas to make sure they say they are not flame-resistant, or I buy snugly fitting pajamas because the snug pajamas aren't usually treated with flame retardants.

6. I plan on using baking soda to clean my children’s hair, and Burt’s Bees soap (or other organic soap) on their bodies.

7. I plan to make my own laundry detergent after the current bucket runs out.

8. I plan to make my own dishwasher detergent.

9. I plan on no longer using commercially available cleaning products. Vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda work just fine.

10. I plan on using apple cider vinegar for conditioner after my Yes To Tomatoes bottle runs out.

So yeah, there’s a lot here to think about. There’s a lot of chemicals out there. And we are only beginning to find out the harmful effects of a fraction of them.

Sleep, how I miss thee...

I love my sleep. I have loved it since before I can remember. It drove my mother crazy that I like to sleep so much. Before I had kids, I would lounge around for hours on the weekend, drifting in and out of consciousness.

These days I am lucky if I get four hours uninterrupted. And I am exhausted.

Today, however, I feel better than I normally do. Trinity has been waking up between 6:30 and 7. Usually this wouldn't bother me, but since she isn't sleeping through the night yet, I feel completely exhausted getting up that early. This morning she work up around 8. And she laid in bed quietly, playing with her feet so her mama could get another hour of sleep. It was glorious.

When she wakes up that early and I am exhausted, I am frustrated that she doesn't sleep longer. But every morning when I finally open my eyes, she looks over at me and a beautiful smile comes across her face. Like she was just waiting as patiently as she could for me to wake up, and when I do she is so excited that I am awake so I can love her. And the frustration subsides.

Really, how can you stay mad at this face?

I can't remember when Riddick did that as a baby. Fortunately, he is young enough to still want his mama. On the weekends, I usually try to take a nap with the kids. Trinity and Riddick and I all pile into bed and go to sleep. Sometimes I wake up before Trinity does to find Riddick already awake, just laying there...waiting as patiently as he can for his mama to open her eyes so he can flash her his beautiful smile that says, "Love me, mama." And at that moment, everything is right in the world.

 Or this one?

The journalist and Clover's Natural Market

So my advisor was interviewed by a senior journalism major a short while ago about bisphenol-A (BPA) and the work he does/we do in the lab. I guess he suggested she contact me to find out what we do as a family to avoid BPA in our lives.  So she did.  Last week she was over to photograph me and Wayne making dinner and to record our conversation/me talking about BPA and other harmful chemicals I try to avoid (parabens, sodium laureth sulfate, phthalates, this list really could go on). Sunday she came with us grocery shopping. Yesterday I took a trip to Clover's. The reason I originally wanted to go to Clover's was to find a baby/toddler lotion without parabens and phthalates in it.  I mentioned this to Wayne a few weeks ago, but my experience yesterday solidified the fact that I really needed to go.

Riddick has horribly dry skin.  As in it cracks if left unattended. He also gets eczema on ocassion. I have been trying to make a habit of slathering lotion on him every morning, but with two kids and everything that needs done in the morning, this doesn't always happen, and when we get home, we make dinner, do some chores, and crash on the bed, asleep before we get there. When I do remember, I have been using a Huggies brand baby lotion on him.  Yesterday, I put the lotion all over him and put his clothes on.  Five minutes later he had HIVES. I had never actually seen hives on a person until yesterday. Red blotchy spots with raised bumps in the middle. I threw him in the tub and rinsed him off, and they mostly went away. The lotion went in the trash.

After I dropped off the kids at the sitter's I met the journalist at Clover's. I have never stepped foot in Clover's. Until yesterday. I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff they have.  You could really do all your grocery shopping there if you wanted to get all-natural products. Also if you wanted to go broke you should shop there, because there are some pretty pricey items.  But you get what you pay for. Anyway, the journalist started recording and taking pictures of me trying to sort through the selection of skin care products for kids. Really this takes a lot of time, because some products still have ingredients that I know are harmful even though they are in an all-natural store. It just so happened that a friend of mine who also has a baby and a thesis was there, so I asked her what she uses on her baby's skin. She uses sesame oil. What?!?! Sesame oil? How simple! Basically she told me anything you can put in your body can go on your body.  Soon after that a saleswoman noticed me and helped me find the section of the store that had oils to use on skin. They have a lot. And they are expensive. Like, $1 an ounce or more, depending on the oil. 

I decided to go ahead and put a small bottle of sesame oil in my cart and look around the store just to see what they had. They really have a lot of neat stuff. And you can get organic produce there for about the same price as the pesticide-and-herbicide laden produce at a regular grocery store. (Why does the organic stuff cost more at the regular grocery store?) Milk from hormone-free cows that have eaten pesticide and herbicide free grass bottled in half gallon glass containers: $2.99. Ouch. I think I'll have to stick with plastic gallon jugs for now (I'll probably post at some other time about my plastic-induced depression). Cereal, pasta, coffee, deodorant, shampoo, toothbrushes, granola, vegan stuff, potato chips, bread, jelly, salsa, diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent...they really do have pretty much everything you could want.  For a lot more. So as I was looking around and examining ingredients on various products, I ended up talking myself out of buying the small bottle of sesame oil. I did, however, purchase a bottle of shampoo that is supposed to take care of dry, itchy, flaky scalp which I now have thanks to postpartum hormones and hard water (I will post a review of the shampoo in about a week).

After I finished at Clover's, I decided to swing by Schnucks to get some sesame oil.  I really don't want to pay more than $1 an ounce for oil. Sesame oil at Schnucks was less expensive than Clover's, but apparently sesame oil is fairly expensive compared to olive oil, which, incidentally, is the base for many all-natural baby lotions. I bought olive oil. If it didn't work, I could at least cook with it and I wasn't out a whole lot of money.

So I put olive oil on Riddick this morning. It was a little messy, but with practice I shouldn't get it all over the place. It seemed to work right away, it soaked into his skin well, it didn't stink, and I didn't have to use a lot of it. He didn't have an allergic reaction to it, it doesn't have any harmful chemicals in it, and it is less expensive than baby lotions. I think we'll try this for a week and then I will post again on how well (or not well) it works.

The journalist is coming back this week to formally interview us. More on that later.

My Fabri-Tac Experience

Recently I have discovered several clothing items that need mending. The problem with mending things in this house is that we don't have a sewing machine, so it has to be done by hand or with the steam-a-seam stuff unless it can wait until we visit Wayne's parents in Sturgeon so I can use his mom's machine.  Well, I didn't want to sew by hand or wait. And I have an item that can't be ironed, so I need a machine for it.  

I wanted to try the Mighty Mend-It that Billy Mays peddles on TV.  But I didn't want to pay $19.99 for it, and I didn't want bottles of the stuff collecting dust in my house if it didn't work.  I found some reviews online about it, some good, some bad, and one mentioning that you can get the same stuff at JoAnn Fabrics or Michael's, but it is called Fabri-Tac.  Off to JoAnn's I went.

I found the Fabri-Tac pretty easily.  I also found eleventy-billion other options for fabric adhering stuff.  I opted for the Fabri-Tac because I found a trial sized bottle.  Remember, I don't want a bunch of it hanging around if it doesn't work.

I first tried this stuff on an old pair of socks that had holes in the heels. Mending socks this way should be a breeze, I thought.  I just hate to throw something away if it can be fixed, even socks. The socks were knee-length cotton socks, Hanes I think.  I cut a rectangular piece out of one of the socks to use as a patch on the other.  I started to put glue on the patch, and noticed that it is difficult to get an even line of glue because it it rather thick.  Not so good when it dries fairly quickly.  So I decided to put some on a small area, stick it on the hole, then add some more to another area, etc.  This seemed to work better.  Success!  Or so I thought...

The instructions recommend waiting 24-48 hours before trying to wear an item that has been Fabri-Tac'd.  So I waited 24 hours.  I grabbed my newly-repaired sock and tugged on the patch. And when I say tugged, I mean tugged.  Lightly. The patch came right off.  Well this sucks, I thought.  But I was not deterred. Wayne had a pair of jeans that needed the pocket fixed.  The inside of the pocket, just the thin cotton part.  Surely Fabri-Tac could hold together a seam between two pieces of thin cotton.  So I tried again.  I had to work in small areas again, and I let it dry for 24 hours.  After 24 hours I tugged the seam of the pocket and...it easily came apart. This is when I began thinking that I was glad I only paid $3 for the trial size tube.

I decided to give it one more try.  On the sleeve of Riddick's winter coat is a velcro piece that is used to keep the bottom of the sleeve tight.  The velcro had been stitched on, but one side is about to fall off.  I tried the Fabri-Tac to glue it back until I could stitch it up, again gluing in small areas.  I waited another 24 hours.  What a complete waste.  The velcro piece came right off the sleeve.  This stuff couldn't hold two pieces of paper together.

So what is the lesson here?  Fabri-Tac is a waste of money.  I won't bother trying the Mighty Mend-It, even if you can repair and reuse a parachute.  I'll just save up my money and buy a sewing machine, and continue to use other people's machines until that day comes. Hopefully I can find something crafty to do with the rest of the bottle so it is not a complete waste.

In the beginning...

So this is my first blog.  It took me five or six tries to get this actually up and going because I was sidetracked by either Trinity or Riddick.  Ah, the joys of nursing and chocolate milk.  I contemplated starting a blog for a few days because I wondered, "Do I really have time for this?", "What if nobody likes the blog?", and "What if I don't have anything to blog about?"  In the end, I decided I would post when I had it figured out in my head what I would write, that way I could save time, which is so valuable to me these days.  I also decided it doesn't matter what other people think, because I really am just doing this for me.

I decided on my blog title, Finding the Silver Lining, because:

1. I am a very optimistic person,

2. Whenever people come to me with a problem, I usually help them see the bright side(s) of things, 

3. I try to think of things to be thankful for when I am down, and

4. I like the color silver.

So what is this blog about, you may be asking.  It is about my life, my family, my work, my random thoughts and opinions on topics large and small.  

So here's to my new blog.  I hope I enjoy writing it.  Perhaps someone out there will enjoy reading it.