Thank You Thursday

Dear Ativan,

With my body and mind getting increasingly wound and painful over the past couple weeks I have at last turned to you for some relief. Thank you for stepping in and helping me to slow down the momentum and allowing me the opportunity to start turning the tide. Sometimes I just can't seem to turn things around on my own no matter how much breathing, stretching and such that I do.



Dear DVR,

I fought against you for several months. I feel like you are over priced and certainly not a need. But here you are at the strong urging of hubby. Now that we've had you for a couple months I find myself appreciating all that you have to offer. Mainly, allowing me to skip over commercials. We no longer watch shows when they air. These recordings save me so much time and frustrations.

Whimsy Wednesday

I wasn't able to get today's video to properly load off youtube so I'm going to have to do another link:  Dog can dance salsa.  Trust me, it's worth it.

War on Happiness

I've been thinking about the concept of happiness recently. Of all the emotions this one seems to be the most difficult to pin down. Culturally we are programmed to seek it out. Advertisers are always trying to convince us that their product is the missing piece - if only we had (insert any product) then we would be happy. Of course they are much more subtle than that, showing us powerful images of happy people with whatever product they're pushing.

We are sort of told from a very early age what life is supposed to look like and if we can only achieve all those things then we'll be happy. Even though life doesn't work out that way for most people we often try to pretend that it does. We work so hard to show the world how perfectly our lives are going. And boy is it easy to do. All it takes is a big smile and the use of positive superlatives in response to all questions. How are you doing? - "fantastic!" What have you been up to? - "Work has been wonderful and we're planning an amazing trip to celebrate how fabulous our lives are." 

Nothing is ever enough. Happiness has become perpetually out of reach. Or so it would seem.

I absolutely think we can all be happy. The challenge, for me anyway, is just trying to get rid of all the noise designed to make me feel lacking. The things that actually make me happy are so much simpler. I'm happiest when I'm talking and laughing with loved ones, taking in great art or reading a great book. A tidy house and a good meal make me happy. Snuggling with my husband and our sweet little dog make me happy. Feeling productive and purposeful make me happy.

Life with chronic pain is a constant challenge both physically and emotionally. For that reason those moments of happiness are so much more important to me these days. I've actually started to take the societal war on happiness personally. Advertisements are everywhere and just when you think these is no more room to squeeze in more ads you find yourself staring at a panel of 10 ads while on a public toilet. It's just too much! We don't need all this crap and we certainly don't need to look at ads while we pee. 

Super Short Story

A few inches of snow topped with a good layer of ice. Enough to hold up all 10 lbs of our little chihuahua so long as the weight is evenly distributed among all four paws. Meaning each time she tries to shift her weight to move around in search of the perfect spot to do her business her tiny little paw punches through and sink.

I guess this makes it official, the entire family hates snow.

Thank You Thursday

Dear Winter Storm,

You are crippling the greater St. Louis area but I'm so thankful that my husband is home safe and sound, we have power, I have a puzzle to keep me occupied and a little chihuahua to snuggle with.

Whimsy Wednesday

Today's whimsy comes from the Saturday Night Live vault. You may remember when Will Ferrell used to parody Harry Caray. Even if you have no idea who Harry Caray is, the character is funny enough to stand alone.

For some unknown reason I can't seem to load the video into the post but if you click HERE you can see it on YouTube.

Chemical Free Project #4: Toothpaste

The thought of making my own toothpaste was daunting to say the least. The only reason for this is my extreme aversion to the taste of salt. For the most part these natural homemade toothpaste recipes include baking soda, which has a very salty flavor. I honestly couldn't imagine being able to get past this hurdle and had basically written off the possibility until discovered Wellness Mama.

This website has all kinds of great information and recipes for natural and homemade stuff. She does such a great job of explaining not only what ingredients are used but also why. It is here that I found a toothpaste recipe that makes the baking soda optional: Remineralizing Tooth Powder. 

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Bentonite Clay

3 Tbsp Calcium Magnesium Powder

1 Tbsp Baking Soda (optional)

2 Tbsp Powered Mint Leaf (optional)

1 Tbsp Cinnamon Powder

1 tsp Clove Powder

1 Tbsp Xylitol Powder

essential oils for taste (optional)

All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together and you get your powdered toothpaste.

All you have to do is wet your toothbrush and dip it in the powder. For that reason I went ahead and got these small individual glass jars so my husband and I won't cross contaminate. 

Now this is not the only change I made for my teeth. After spending some time exploring the many links Wellness Mama offers about tooth care I've also started brushing with Activated Charcoal, swishing with hydrogen peroxide and doing the usual floss and mouth rinse. 

Honestly my teeth have just not been the same with all the medications I've been taking for my migraines and fibromyalgia over the past 7 years. Seems every time I turn around I have another cavity. The only solution the dentist offered was to use a fluoride gel on my teeth and gums. The research I've done on fluoride turned up some scary information so I decided not to use it. I may not know if this remineralizing powder will make the difference but it can't hurt, which is more than I can say for the fluoride gel.