Sweet Note

When DH was rummaging around last week, he found a note from "Mom". He thought it was from his mother, but when I saw the handwriting, I knew right away it was from my own mother, written 3 days after my DD was born, back in 1990.

It is yellowed with age, written on the back of an envelope, and it gave me the warm fuzzies. Here it is:

"Hi There, 3-13-90

This is something I thought you might like to put with the baby's prints. I found it about a week before I went into the hospital and meant to give it to you when you were here.

Anyway, Love Mom

I can see both of you in the baby's picture."

Yep, that was my mother. She and I did not get along sometimes, but I really appreciate this note, now even more because mom passed away in 2007. The item she was referring to in the note was the black footprint they took when I was born. So all this time I've been passing for white, hahaha!

Speaking of White, we went to the annual White family reunion. The family is still growing, and the parking lot (a weedy lawn) was filled to capacity. We got there just a little late because of getting lost. We were driving down an unknown road, but thought we were going in the right direction. We stopped and asked a man how to get to Mummasburg road, and he chuckled.

Man: "You're on Mummasburg Road!"

Me: "Oh good! Thanks!" *blush*

More later, because I really need to get to the gym.

My latest interests

I've decided to make homemade soap again. I have some lye, and I've borrowed a book from the library. I also have some recipes on a paper that use beef fat. The book uses mostly oils of various sorts - olive, jojoba, coconut, etc. I will be making a couple of small batches of soap to try it out.

There is the cold process, which involves stirring the stuff together, and letting it saponify, or the hot process. I can use one of my slow cookers for the hot process.

At the same time, I am looking to buy some citric acid. So far, the only place I can buy it is online, but I have not yet looked at A.C. Moore. I want to make bath bombs. These will be used by me initially, but I also want to make some for gifts.

While searching online, I found out about soap nuts. Soap nuts are a natural soap that actually grows on trees. You can use them as laundry soap, and for other things. I am interested in the laundry soap because it is more natural than the commercial kinds, and you don't need fabric softeners. I have been using vinegar in my rinse water instead of fabric softener sheets, anyway, because it's not full of undesirable chemicals.

Random stuff

Teaching DD how to drive is a learning experience for me. I'd forgotten that you have to learn how to back up, by turning your steering wheel in the opposite direction of where you what to go. That, pulling into a parking space in a parking lot can be tricky, if you've never done it before.

I went shopping for a cast iron frying pan to cook eggs in. So far, it is not seasoned well enough to be truly non-stick. I went looking for an 8 inch pan, figuring I could experiment with it before buying a larger heavier cast iron pan. They are relatively low cost. I guess I should cook bacon in the new pan a few times to really grease it up.

I have ants in my kitchen, and don't know how to get rid of the rascals. DH has tried to find the source, as they usually trail up the side of the house, but he has put ant poison on the outside of the house. They are still coming, even though he has gotten rid of some of them. I'll bet they have a nest somewhere underneath our siding.

We only have 2 window air conditioners installed right now. We need the bigger one in the living room put in, but DH is not feeling well right now. He has a bit of work to do this weekend, and took Friday off, but he's not doing much besides mowing the grass.

I can't seem to get everything done lately. I guess I just have to face the fact that I can't do it all. Having to sleep with a mask on, and take insulin, plus the pills, plus trying to learn new ways to cook better food, have all taken some of my time.

I am switching from credit card to debit card, and it's made the budget a little tight. I will be glad when June comes around, and money should not be so tight.

I had a Nathan's hot dog at the Get Go, and it wasn't all that great. I guess I had so many good dogs off the grill last week, that it paled in comparison.

I really want to go to The Tree of Life spa out in Patagonia, Arizona, so I can get off insulin, but I don't have the money. I don't know how much it costs, but I would like to try it.

I have a nice life, but the physicality of being too fat is a problem I need to deal with right now.

April Rain in May

It's been raining hard here most of the day, and it has been for the past few days. It makes it okay to go shopping for food, but getting in and out of the store is kind of tricky.

I've developed a yen for people watching from my Ford Escape. I decided to watch to see whether someone is fit or fat - most of the people are the former, not the latter. It was a good exercise in seeing how others might see me. I am definitely not fit, but would really like to be. I plan on buckling down any day soon, lol.

Really, my doctor's appointment went pretty well Friday, except for the fact that she sent my prescriptions to the pharmacy, only to have me call and ask about them, to find out they were not there. I was miffed, because I had not expected that. Because it was after office hours when I found out they had not been received, I could not call the doctor to have her resubmit.

I called Saturday, but the office doesn't answer their phone then, either. Then I decided to wait until Monday, because I thought the after hours person on the doctors line would have straightened it out for me by then, but nooo.

I really didn't need that stress, but after all was said and done, I got my thyroid meds in time, and received an invitation to mystery shop for the pharmacy. I like that idea, as long as they reward me. I guess all is well that ends well, except for the unnecessary wear and tear on my nerves. I hope I never have to resort to nerve pills, like my poor mother.

Anyway, I did better overall with cholesterol, blood sugar, and thyroid function. I am happy to hear that. I could do so much better though, so I will try harder to stick to a better diet, and exercise plan.

Waiting for some books from Amazon to arrive. Yesterday was President's day, and there was no mail, but I did receive a package from The Woman Within.

I had ordered 3 tops and 4 dresses. DH was home, and I gave him a little fashion show. Two of the dresses are really nice enough to wear to church. The other 2 are more like house dresses - or ones that I would wear because they are comfortable.

All of the clothing is knit, and I like that material. The picture of the purple dress is one of the nicer dresses, though it is in a beautiful blue green color. I like it very much, and I've ordered a lacy crocheted sweater that will look good over it.

We used a Restaurant.com certificate yesterday to go to the Bombay Grill on Market St. in Frederick. We took DD along, and we all enjoyed the lunch buffet. It was great, and the little walk down Market St was enjoyable, too. The parking at the meters is free on Federal Holidays.

We went past a couple of restaurants that have piqued my interest. One is a vegetarian restaurant, but it has other foods as well. It's called the Orchard. The other is across the street from The Orchard, and it's called the Tasting Room. Both have menus posted outside, so it gave DH a chance to see what they offer.

Another cold

Well, at least I haven't had a cold for almost 2 years before this one hit me, but I really don't like being infected with something that cuts my sleep short. Then one night, I could not wear the CPAP mask because my sinuses were totally blocked.

Well, I am almost well enough to be considered normal - almost. I can't wait until I stop having coughing fits or sneezing.

Today I went shopping at the Common Market, and on the way home, I decided to shop at the Dollar tree. The Common Market's prices are high on a lot of things, but the value for the meats is not too bad. For example, the ham steak is priced $3 more per pound, but it is boneless, and seems like much more meat than the regular kind. This brand is also nitrate free, so I know it is better for my family. I love the taste of it, too.

I also bought some organically raised chicken, and it was so tender and tasty the last time I cooked it, I totally felt it was worth the extra money.

The dollar store had quite a supplyof frozen strawberries, frozen peppers and onions for stir fry, and frozen meals that I buy for DD to cook for lunch. I think I am stretching a dollar there, but I am paying the extra dollars at the Common Market. I am hoping it will all balance out.

So I am ready to do a little experiment

I'm setting up a hydroponic system in my kitchen. I have a sunny windowsill, so I thought it would be a good idea, instead of buying an expensive aerogarden (which I think are really cool looking, though), I have devised a plan to build my own.

I am planning on using a baby wipe container, which doesn't hold much, and a couple of 2 inch net pots, with pieces of rockwool to start the seeds. I have a very small aquarium pump, with a small bubbler to start off with. It came with a one gallon aquarium that I am not using right now.

Now all I need to do is cut out holes in the container and figure out what kind of nutrient to use. I was thinking of using Miracle Grow, but I still need a definitive recipe. I feel like this is just a little experiment, and if I fail, I will at least learn something from it.

I also planted wheatgrass in a windowbox inside my kitchen window. It grew! I am so excited. I soaked some wheat kernels from my food storage wheat, and planted them in some dirt. They have grown about 3 inches and are looking fine.

I ordered a wheat grass juicer and a yogurt maker. I plan on saving some money making my own yogurt, because I buy the plain kind anyway, and I add my own fruit.

I'll have to report back and take pictures of my results.