Doctors and D Poles. . .

Update on my many doctors' appointments, this is part of my self care routine.  I have neglected myself for the last 14 years while keeping up with the kids and the house.  I got a good report on my pap and my routine physical, got a good report on my Cologuard test so no colonoscopy for this girl.  Yesterday I had a visit with a doctor about my migraines.  He is an OB/Gyn but has personal experience with women with what I call menstrual migraines, those migraine like headaches that happen after your cycle that migraine medicine does not seem to help.  Mine are bad and have been for some time but, these last few years they seem to have gotten worse.  I had a nice visit with this doctor and funny thing his wife has gone through this same thing and here I thought I was all alone.  It was nice to talk with someone that you knew understood what you were saying.  I came away from that visit feeling like I may be on a path to remedy.  We have a plan and a follow up in 3 months to see how it helps. 
Big T had his last lacrosse game he played well and I am happy and sad to see the season end.  They played a really good team last night and several of the kids Big T had played against and with when he played Summer league.  It was funny to see him talking with his friends on the other team. This teams coach had also coached him in Summer league so that was kinda funny too.  Big T has decided to play with Sprats' wooden D pole.  To play with a wooden D pole is a lot different than playing with the light weight aluminum, titanium, or scandium.  The wooden D pole is heavier and packs a punch when you hit someone with it.  Sprat abused the offense when he played with his D pole but Sprat was a little bigger than Big T is.  Sprat had no trouble wielding that D pole, he broke four poles last year over kids bodies.  It was fun watching Big T play with his brothers' pole last night.  He had several good hits and stopped several shots on goal. I was a little worried about how he would do with the heavier pole but he did great. I did not get to see him play on Tuesday night but he used it then too.   We did not get the W but it was great watching him play. 

A Good Bubble Bath can Sooth Everything. . .

A good visit with both families this past weekend and got to see some relatives that we had not seen in quite some time.  It was a good weekend with beautiful weather.  Our garden and the herb garden seem to be loving this change in the weather too, everything seems to be thriving.  I have dried some oregano and the oregano I transplanted to the new herb garden is very happy. 
I found a recipe on Pinterest for a Milk bath so, I thought I would give it a try.  I do love my detox baths so I thought this could be one to add to my list. This goes to my self care,  Here is the recipe: 

2 cups powdered milk (whole not low fat)
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup baking soda
10 drops lavender ( or what ever essential oil you would like to use: peppermint, rosemary, rose, eucalyptus)

put your dry ingredients in a glass jar and shake to combine, add essential oil and shake again.  Let this set for 24 hours in a dark place and shake occasionally.  You can add Epsom salt to this also.  I added 1 cup of this mixture to my bath.
I may give this one as gifts this year it is so nice.  According to history Cleopatra also took milk baths and claimed it preserved her beauty and kept her youthful.  It took 7,000 donkeys to provide milk for her daily bath.  I did not have a donkey so powdered milk will have to do.  The hubbs did say my skin felt very soft after my bath.  So, I guess I will keep this recipe handy. 
When the boys were little as a little treat they use to take baths with Aveno oatmeal bath, this mixture reminded me of that.  It was very soothing and in our Jacuzzi tub it bubbled like crazy, I never get that much bubble using a commercial bubble bath with all the chemicals.  This was truly very enjoyable and soothing. I love that it was all natural with no chemicals and that I made it with my own two hands.  I will tell you, you may have to look hard for powdered whole milk.  I just recently found it on Amazon, I could not find it in our local stores they only had low fat.  You want whole full of fat milk for your bath, it is the milk fat that will make your skin feel soft and glow like Cleopatra.

Looking Forward to the Weekend. . .

It has been a busy week at work, I know, what else is new.  Everyone is on vacation at our office so I have worked a lot this week, I am not complaining, we can use the extra cash to go toward college.  I was asked yesterday if I wanted to go full time rather than part time.  I said no, I like my weeks where I may work a day or two and have several days off.  I do not mind the weeks that I do work more because like I said we can use the cash to go toward college.   Yes, Sprat does have a scholarship but that money does not pay for trips home or trips to see him.  It also does not pay to feed this growing boy while living the college life.  This next year he is going to have to have a car, so these extra hours at work will really come in handy.  He signed his scholarship acceptance letter this week so it is official, he will be back in Boston in the Fall.  I got to talk to Sprat yesterday, actually talk no just text back and fourth.  He said his new lacrosse coach called him and invited him to a tournament the two days before his orientation at the new college.  We will be planning a four or five day trip this summer for the orientation and the tournament.  Cannot wait to see my boy play college lacrosse, he had a short Fall season with his current school but we were not able to go and watch any games.  

One more night of work and off for a day or two to celebrate Easter with the family.   I have to say my drive in to work these last few days has been quite enjoyable, it seems everyone is on vacation this week.    Happy Easter to you all and stay tuned as we prepare for our road trip to Boston.  

A Little of This and a Little of That. . . .

I follow a lot of different groups on Facebook and on pinterest.  My reasoning behind who and why I follow certain groups is to learn and better myself.   I have learned scads of interesting things through both sites.  I follow herbal garden pages, financial pages, recipe and craft pages.  On one of my financial pages someone asked what you did to pamper yourself on a budget.  I was amazed that these ladies are paying $20- $80 for a manicure and possibly a pedicure on a routine basis.  I shared what I do to pamper myself,  I have a detox bath with my herbs and some Epsom salt.  I do not do nails I enjoy playing in the dirt too much to pay that kind of money for nails.  Now this particular site is about paying off debt and gaining financial peace yes, it is a Dave Ramsey site.  You know how I feel about Dave, I really like him a lot.  The hubbs and I are proudly debt free except our house, that is why I still follow these sites.  There is always something you can learn.  I was telling the hubbs about this particular post and he laughed and said you know, you are a girly girl and you don't get your nails done.  He asked why I don't get them done?  I said, I play in the dirt too much and I am in the sink washing dishes and cooking.  I grew up going to the barn everyday working around the barn and riding horses and would have been a waste of good money.  I have to laugh that my husband thinks I am a girly  girl.  He has never referred to me as that before.  I am not sure where that came from but, I guess I am a girly girl, I do like girly things like jewelry and handbags.  Just the other night I took a very relaxing bath with green tea and mountain mint with Epsom salt.  We have a great Jacuzzi tub in our bathroom and it is perfect for the detox bath.  I also like using Epsom salt with Lavender, Rosemary, and Eucalyptus essential oils.  These make for a wonderful relaxing tub.  I am not sure if these baths really do detox or anything else but I sure do feel relaxed after them and that is all that matters to me. I guess my baths that I like make me a girly girl too. I am afraid the girly girl comment may come back to bite my sweet hubby.
One of my herb pages I follow has inspired me to try my hand at making my own essential oils.  I have an abundance of fresh oregano and I think that is the one I am going to try first.  According to one article I read oregano is a very powerful antiviral, anti-fungal, and antibacterial now my oregano is not medical grade of course but it might help keep some bugs away.  I put some of oregano in the dehydrator yesterday and it should be ready some time today.  My hubby has suggested I give my dried oregano to friends and family as gifts and I may just do that, we have so much and if I keep cutting it, it will keep growing.  We transplanted some to my new herb bed too, working in the dirt really is therapeutic.  We are still talking about my cutting bed for fresh cut flowers. 
I found a recipe for basil pesto yesterday and I cannot wait to try this one out.  I will share it with you if it turns out well.  My basil is not quite ready for cutting yet so it may be a little bit before I can try it.  Stay tuned for more herb stuff and the Boy will be coming home from college in a few weeks too.

Old and Married but We still Got It!!!

So this is probably an adult only post so do not read in front of your kids.  The hubbs and I celebrated 26 years this month, we celebrated watching a lacrosse game.  We are going to try an do dinner some time this month after lacrosse season is over.    We are pretty practical people when it comes to gift giving, every now and then we splurge on gifts to each other.  This year my very sweet hubby got a new toilet for his bathroom, ever since he blew his knee out he has wanted one of those higher toilets in his bathroom.  Happy Anniversary to my hubby, he got his potty this week.  Happy Anniversary to me, I got new brakes for my car.  It is ok to be practical folks, you do not have to always blow everything you have on a gift.  We are trying to pay our house off early so we did our Anniversary Dave Ramsey style. 
The other day while I was at work I get this text from my hubby, it was a picture of his fortune from his fortune cookie from the night before.  It said, "love is on the way."  He then wrote on the bottom of it, "your wife will want you to night!!!"   I work 12 hour shifts and had just worked night shift the day before so I was a little behind on my sleep.  I text him back a picture of my fortune that I had taken to work with me for my lunch, "It is better to attempt something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and fail."   I told him I would need wine, diamonds, and chocolate if his attempt was going to be great.  Now, my hubby and I banter back and forth like this all the time.   He text back,
"you can't hit a home run if you don't take the bat off your shoulder."   He then said, "if I make you laugh I have done my job."  This my friends is true love, a man that knows that if he can make you laugh that he can make you feel better about your day.  I love this man to the moon!!!
When I got home that night after a really long bad day, there was a little brown bag on my pillow and inside was:  a bottle of Mucinex DM cough syrup (this was the wine), a bag of open Nestle chocolate chips (chocolate), and a piece of charcoal in a plastic baggie pinched with a wrench ( my diamond in the making).  How is that for creativity??   We may be old but we still got it!!! 

Weekend Update: Garden, College, and Gossip. . .

My little side herb garden/bulkhead is planted.  Yayyyy!!!  My seedlings I was trying to start did not do so well so, I bought some plants to start my herb garden with.  I am  so excited and I cannot wait to clip my first sprigs of Lavender and put them in the bath, awww how relaxing that will be.   Below is the picture after we planted.

I also planted some Dianthus in this bed and some garlic, yes I am going to try my hand at garlic one more time. 

My next adventure is going to be a cutting bed somewhere in the back yard.  I absolutely love fresh cut flowers.  I have some that I cut now when they bloom but I would like a bed devoted for that purpose alone.  I use to have beautiful and very fragrant roses and they died.  I am going to plant some more this year.  

So I got a call from the Dean the other day looking for Sprat, she thought she had called his cell number.  Long story short they believe that Sprat's roommate may be suicidal and wanted to talk to Sprat about the roommates recent behavior.  Well, this just sent me spinning into never never land.  I am a worrier anyway and this was a lot to handle.  I ask that you keep the roommate in your prayers as well as Sprat because I did not know everything he had been dealing with this year.   Being far away from home is hard and add not knowing anyone in this new environment is very difficult.  Sprat was trying to help the roommate cope with some things, I love that my child wants to help everyone, but sometimes our friends need more than just a friend.  Prayers for  them both would be most appreciated.

On to the Gossip train. . .   So my husband went to Atlanta to interview for a job, the job was not in Atlanta the hiring manager was.  At this particular time while he was out of town Big T needed a ride home from lacrosse practice because I was having to work that night too.  I guess when he asked if he could get a ride from one of the players someone else overheard him and only got part of the conversation.  This how rumors and gossip get started, you  only hear half the story and then run with it.  The interview was about two weeks ago and while I was on the phone with Sprat about the roommate he asked if we were moving to Atlanta.  LOL!!!! One of his friends that is in college in another town  texted Sprat in Boston to ask if he was moving to Atlanta.  LOL!!!   All of that because a kid overheard half of a conversation and just went with what he assumed was going on.   Kids can make rash assumptions just like adults and all of a sudden your moving and did not know it.  

That's it for our update.  Stay tuned more college stuff going on and maybe some Lacrosse tournaments and camps for both boys this Summer.  

Herbs and More. . .

The hubbs was able to fill in my bulkhead with good dirt and I have now planted my first plant, a Rosemary.  I am so excited, we use to have a large Rosemary plant in the backyard and we had a brutally cold winter one year and it took its toll and my beautiful Rosemary died.  I have not had one in several years and I am so looking forward to having one again.  I use my fresh Rosemary to make a tea and once it is cooled off you can pour it on your hair, it will strip all of the product off and make your hair silky smooth.  I learned that trick from my sister, we used Mom's Rosemary to do this growing up.  Rosemary is also good in a bath with some Lavender.  I also cook with my Rosemary, it is good in poultry dishes and a friend of mine used it in a homemade spaghetti sauce recipe. 
My seeds I am trying to start of Lavender and Sage are not doing very well, I may be buying some plants later to plant. 
 

The Finished Product!!

My first little plant of Rosemary

The Man that made it all happen.  

Prom, Prom, Prom. . . And did I Mention the Prom. . .

Photo parade of the Prom.  I guess I over did my share on Facebook with my Prom pictures but I am sure when others children did Prom they did the same.  This was my sweet Big T's first Prom and there will not be another like it.  So pardon the parade of photos. 

These are my favorite pictures that I took.  These two are very photogenic and we had a great day.  They also had a wonderful time at the Prom.  Everywhere we went that day everyone said how wonderful they looked.   I know because the hubbs and I drove them everywhere.  We did not chaperone the Prom though.