Healthy Me

Football season is almost over with. While I'm glad about that (LOTS of drama at the high school this season), I'm not so thrilled with having to replace my daughter's flute for concert band that starts after marching band (Football) is over with. It's her senior year. I have to replace a flute for her...for only about six months of use! Ugh.  I really wish her current flute had lasted another six months.

I'll check around online for used ones as well as at musician friend and see what I can find. This purchase is going to hurt.

What are you listening to right now?

I'm listening to Grace Potter and the Nocturnals "Turntable"..new song I just found.

'Cause I will be your record
And you will be my turntable
I'm your amplifier
And you're my RCA cable
Jump up down up down
Down down baby up
One kiss and I'm disabled
I will be your record
And you will be my turntable

It's been a not so healthy start to Autumn so far for me. My allergies have never been this bad. It's so bad, my eyes are now on steroids for the swelling, tearing and redness. My eyelids and skin around my eyes was actually peeling off and crusting from over sensitivity to the constant tearing. I could've created a great Halloween Zombie costume with the way my face was peeling off.  Ugh.

As much as I hate steroids, I had to give in. It affected me all day long, driving, etc. I've been using them 24 hours and what a difference in my eyes. What a relief!

A home business owner I know just put her horse tack business up for sale. She makes bridles, halters, lead ropes out of certain kinds of rope. We have two of her products for our two horses. I'm not going to buy her business (I'm not disciplined enough for a full business like that) but it's interesting.

Some of it is rounded rope and some is flat (reminds me of the for buyheatshrink's selection that goes over wires) but it's just a flat rope. She made me a black and coral bridle for my spotted clydesdale/paint cross and matching reins.

I've not been riding since last fall. My youngest daughter seems to be taking over the riding lessons and getting into horses. I would imagine my oldest daughter's horse will soon become our youngest daughter's horse once our eldest goes away to college. She'll probably get the future college student's dog too.

My last pregnancy (our youngest is nine years old) was a painful pregnancy. Every movement I made hurt (stretched ligaments or something). We decided that we were done having kids at this point (we had four together + his two = six kids...he was 40 and didn't want to be retiring and having kids...and really, six is enough).

Every once in awhile, the urge hits but I think it is more an urge just to hold a little one and then give it back. I've had that urge lately and my husband tells me today if my health was better (it's fine) and he wasn't almost 50, he wouldn't mind another baby.

While the thought makes me a little happy, another part of me thinks about being up all night, packing diaper bags, wipes, bottles, car seats and not being able to leave the house as easily as we do now ('hey so and so, we're leaving, watch your little sister' kiss, kiss and we are out the door) and I just don't want to start over.

So we are looking at buying a horse boarding business that happens to be run on the property we are looking at buying (we are home shopping). It has almost 13 acres. Good thing is - we wouldn't have to move our horses to our new home...they're boarded at that same stable.

It has a playset (like these playsets in chesapeake) in the backyard for the kids already that we'd leave until our youngest outgrew. Then I'd go pool shopping I think. Maybe hot tub shopping too.

Not sure we are ready to own an equine boarding facility but the thought is out there. We'll have to think about it.

I know it's only July but it's time to start getting ready for the next school year (boo, I know).  Soccer started a few weeks ago. Cheer has started but it isn't mandatory yet. Band camp starts next week and we need drum sticks so we're taking a drive into the city today (I can say that because we live in the boonies) for sticks. I wish we had time to order the ones my son would really want but we'll make do with the music store the school uses.

I prefer to buy things from big name music places like Musician's Friend. Learn more about us at MusiciansFriend.com. However, as is the "norm" with teenagers, we didn't find out in enough time to get what we needed here by the crack of dawn Monday morning.

In the last decade, the economy has done all kinds of things, leaving many people struggling. We've been there but we've been one of the lucky families in that my husband has kept his job all these years. The hours weren't always there but he always had his job and we always had insurance. There were a few times we had creditors looking for their owed money and we were left wondering what our rights were and about creditor rights. It's a hard balancing act to manage when money gets tight and creditors are knocking (well, calling), kids need to be fed and clothed, and you need to keep the roof over their head. The last year has been better in terms of hours and we're doing OK. Not everybody is doing as well though.

Know your rights. Know the creditors' rights.

I've been juicing and making smoothies the last month since I got the new Breville juicer and Ninja blender. They are AWESOME. I love them both, but I REALLY love the blender. If the Breville juicer was easier to clean (not all parts are dishwasher safe), I'd love that just as much too...well, almost as much.

It is so easy to toss some veggies into a smoothie and hide it in fruits for my kids. I just grab a handful of spinach and voila - the kids are eating a vegetable they can't taste! I got the one with the individual cups too so it's easy to blend and go for myself or one of my kids.

For the juicer, a bunch of carrots and handful of kale or spinach with fruits and they're getting vegetable juice.

These are the two I have:

What a week we've had.

Builders, painters, home improvement gurus, you all know what trisodium phosphate (TSP) is, right? That degreasing, cleaner? Did you know, you and your kids might be eating it for breakfast?

Here's the video.

Some people say it's ok, other's don't. What say you?

My daughter sees several storefronts in our little town for rent and keeps asking us to rent one and open our own business. I briefly thought about it but I don't have that kind of start-up cash, have no idea what kind of business we would open, and if I'd want to tie myself to a family business around the clock.

Out of all the bad food choices we make, if we had to eliminate one choice that would make the most difference to our health, what would it be?

In two weeks, we start college visits for our oldest child. We have appointments for one college that is within driving distance (but way too expensive) and one she would have to live in the dorms in order to attend but it's much more affordable than the private, local college. Scary times, thinking about my daughter leaving home in what could be forever. In any event, things are going to change.

Gosh, I really can't believe my firstborn little girl is growing up.

This bug I've been dealing with for a week should be well and gone by the first college visit...just in time for me to get all teary and stuffy head weeping over the fact my kid is looking at colleges.

All winter long, I nursed kids and my husband while they went through the stomach virus and colds.  Each of them (five) all passed things back and forth and even though I was in the middle of it all, I got by without catching their bug. 

My husband is putting his Johnson acoustic up for sale. This was the one guitar he kept the longest, but lo and behold, it's going up for sale. Ugh. So, I wonder what he wants now. Perhaps another acoustic or a mark morton signature d2 dominion perhaps?

I just wish he'd keep one or two guitars FOREVER. No lie - in the 18 years we've been married, he's probably had 40 (?) guitars. He buys, plays and either doesn't like it - period - or finds something better.

I really thought this Johnson acoustic guitar had a chance.

*sigh*

The chemical spill in West Virginia has me thinking. If something like that were to happen here, we would not be prepared in any way. Should we be stocking up on water? Should we be checking into filters (though I don't think those would have helped West Virginia).

For the health of my family, I think it's something we should be thinking about. I don't want to be a doomsday conspiracy theorist or anything but West Virginia was human error, right? That could happen. What if those flares knocks the power grid out? That's not conspiracy. They say that could really happen and soon.

It kinda hit home because we almost moved there 14 years ago. My husband turned the job down so we didn't move to West Virginia, right to the heart of the water crisis.

So part of my health issues and then the emergencies we've had the last couple years (my daughter grabbing a few hundred degrees worth of curling iron in the palm of her hand, my daughter's stomach issues she had at one point) all added up to medical debt we were drowning in.

I am HAPPY to say we are almost out of medical debt. After child support ended this past summer, I started applying that money towards the stack of medical bills and it has paid off - literally. We have ONE bill left.

Boy does that feel good.

We just bought a food processor. I am SO excited. Does that make me geeky?  I'm excited because I have this cookbook (Sneaky Chef) so I can hide veggies in the meals I make and the kids aren't supposed to know. Woot!

Just had thyroid tests done (blood tests).  How often do you get those run?  If often, how long have you been diagnosed with thyroid disease?

How's the real estate market? We want to put our house up for sale but we worry that the market isn't great and we won't get enough for it. I have alerts set up to get notices for houses in our area (and our home state because I'm always up for moving back home) but the one house we REALLY wanted, sold. Not sure when we will put it up for sale now.  I  keep hearing of an economic crash coming so I'm not sure if we should get out now or stay put and not take on more of a house payment.

I have a friend and a family member that got out of the business several years ago when the market crashed. I briefly considered getting into the market myself but didn't. I'm not a saleswoman. I saw an app online called goconnect real estate app for your phone for agents to use. I guess there's an app for everything! I like getting access to tools agents have because I want to know every little detail about a house I'm interested in (so I get log ins for regular real estate, notices sent for foreclosures, etc.) and I came across this app. Might be useful for a realtor.