well, we've been in Oregon for almost a month now, and in our house since the 3rd, We've been adjusting a lot, but things for the most part have been going well.
heating: our house has a radiator for almost every room, each individually controlled, with varying levels of effectiveness; the one in our bedroom will roast us in minutes, the one in the living room warms up the windowsill quite nicely, etc. For the past week I've kept all the heaters off except when absolutely needed; once Milt had to be up at 6 and it had frozen overnight, but by the time the rest of us got up we could shut it off again.
paint: the house was painted...interestingly. Thankully there was a gigantic bucket of blueish paint in the garage, so with the help of a $5 can of brown paint I am (slowly) repainting the mint-green living room a nice, clean grey. The boy's room I painted a super happy dark aqua; they love it. The kitchen will be yellow (hooray for oops paint!) but I'm waiting on that, since it needs a bit of a remodel. We'll see.
Did manage to kasher the kitchen, mostly; the dishwasher is a glorified dish drying rack, I want to get wash bins for the sink (for conservation reasons, too) and I use towels and plastic cutting mats on the laminate countertops for now.
planning my garden; there is one spot in the backyard that gets sun all day, and I've noticed that's where the neighbours have positioned their planter boxes too. Just need to salvage some materials for that.
we are still just using our phones for internet, and occasionally driving over to McD's to use their free wifi when we need it (some sites/functions do not work on a phone) and it looks like we will not be able to afford home internet for some time, which is fine, we're doing ok :)
on that note, we have been looking for a renter; I hope we find the right one/ones soon, because I would really love the company and that big, beautiful room is just an empty space till then.
Alright, time to get ready for Shabbat. Should be really great this week!
happily
-nava
21 January, 2011
07 January, 2011
moving in
we finally got into the house on the 3rd, signed on the 5th. After much deliberation (who's, I don't know) the sellers signed yesterday. Containers were delivered the 5th, finished unloading today, and I am really really really looking forward to Shabbat. My only internet access is through my phone, so whileit's been great having some access and taking advantage of what an awesome phone I have, it's been a bit limiting. Once % have real internet again it will be picture time, because OH MAN the updating I have planned for this place! Woooo!
happily,
nava
happily,
nava
01 January, 2011
Well hello, 2011. So nice to see you.
I am in Oregon. We are in Oregon. Finally. I flew up with the boys on Thursday; 7am flight out of San Jose. It was a great flight; quiet, short, early. No issues in security (no scan or pat-down), easy seating arrangement switch, happy child, sleeping toddler.
The UPack containers were filled in a marathon session by my Dad, with some assistance from myself and my sister. My Mom helped indoors, packing and organising. 3 containers full of STUFF, and still some got left behind. I am going to continue getting rid of things as I unpack up here. It's been fun, actually, the purging. Assisting in this is that I am setting up our kitchen as Kosher, so anything that didn't make the cut is GONE. It means I start over too, in acquiring some things, so I am trying to keep that controlled. I want to cut it all down, as far as we can. Packing all that was too much. Even after all the Ebay and half.com and garage sales and craigslist and freecycle, so much stuff.
Mom and I managed to condense my crafting supplies quite a bit. It doesn't all fit in the wardrobe, yet, but by summer that is my plan, and by the end of this year (Rosh Hoshanah) I want it all to fit without being precarious. :) One of the last things to make it in to the containers was my little sewing machine; my heavy-duty (to me, at least) machine I think got left behind. It may get sent up, it may not. Either way I want to give sewing lessons. I have enough supplies, after all, and we can definitely use the income! Going to finish posting things to Etsy too; perhaps today, a little 'New Year' treat.
I am looking forward to the enforced frugality we are heading in to; no tv, still sussing out internet, very minimal use of utilities. Which reminds me, we need to get utilities turned on in the house.
We sign Monday, finally, 11 days late, and are taking 'early' occupancy for $30 a day until the down payment clears. Cheaper than a hotel, yes, and we are relieved to finally be moving in. Finally finally finally.
Finally together, finally going home, finally starting again after a long pause.
Finally.
It's going to be a lovely year.
So here is my resolution: Go, enjoy. "We should all be all alive."
The UPack containers were filled in a marathon session by my Dad, with some assistance from myself and my sister. My Mom helped indoors, packing and organising. 3 containers full of STUFF, and still some got left behind. I am going to continue getting rid of things as I unpack up here. It's been fun, actually, the purging. Assisting in this is that I am setting up our kitchen as Kosher, so anything that didn't make the cut is GONE. It means I start over too, in acquiring some things, so I am trying to keep that controlled. I want to cut it all down, as far as we can. Packing all that was too much. Even after all the Ebay and half.com and garage sales and craigslist and freecycle, so much stuff.
Mom and I managed to condense my crafting supplies quite a bit. It doesn't all fit in the wardrobe, yet, but by summer that is my plan, and by the end of this year (Rosh Hoshanah) I want it all to fit without being precarious. :) One of the last things to make it in to the containers was my little sewing machine; my heavy-duty (to me, at least) machine I think got left behind. It may get sent up, it may not. Either way I want to give sewing lessons. I have enough supplies, after all, and we can definitely use the income! Going to finish posting things to Etsy too; perhaps today, a little 'New Year' treat.
I am looking forward to the enforced frugality we are heading in to; no tv, still sussing out internet, very minimal use of utilities. Which reminds me, we need to get utilities turned on in the house.
We sign Monday, finally, 11 days late, and are taking 'early' occupancy for $30 a day until the down payment clears. Cheaper than a hotel, yes, and we are relieved to finally be moving in. Finally finally finally.
Finally together, finally going home, finally starting again after a long pause.
Finally.
It's going to be a lovely year.
So here is my resolution: Go, enjoy. "We should all be all alive."
06 December, 2010
Movin' On Uuuuup (material monday. ish.)
'We' sign the papers on the 23rd. I'm looking into POA for various reasons. The closing date is the 27th. Wow. So soon. so very very soon. Not ready yet, but so ready. If I could throw everything in a bag and be out the door now I would.
Milt's been up there since the 28th, as he started work the 29th. The first few days were hard, but harder for him, as he didn't have the routine and the rhythm of taking care of the boys, the house, the plans; all he had was the emptiness of a rented room and the voices of his son through a telephone. The first few calls were filled with choked messages, loneliness.
It hits me sometimes now too, especially as I try to plan for getting the 3 of us up there; "what day? what does closing mean? should we deliver our stuff before we get there? what is your work schedule? what, in all this confusion, will work?" Then I look into plane tickets and, despite my repulsion at being scanned and/or searched the trade off is >2 hours flight time, or +12 hours drive time, or +30 hours train. So plane tickets then, but what about the cost? $50 if we can go the 25th, but where would we sleep then? $50 if I can wait until January; can I? It's only an extra week. It's an entire extra week! Not so long, and yet we are so tired of waiting, of the being apart.
Asher wakes up every morning now, "Daddy not here. Daddy at new house!" calm, matter-of-fact, sometime excited. Already it's a routine; it's been easy, how quickly he accepted it, no tears, just some occasional wistfulness. Is that ok? In small children time was elastic, I remember, my own Dad gone for months at a time, no sadness on my part. It was the actual parting that hurt, not the being apart. I am thankful that he's not hurting, but somehow, it makes it harder, and strange, being so alright with this distance. Adin though, he's been a bit clingy, so incredibly excited whenever I come around a corner, much less back inside after being out for an errand. "You came BACK!" Happy to see me, yes, but also so surprised.
It's made me re-examine love, family, attachment. Strangely, makes adoption seem even less fraught; I'd only seen the trauma of it until now, known the risks, the problems, the pain of what I still want, eventually. but this has nothing to do with our move. Not yet, anyhow.
Now it's a matter of purging; I've lost my camera, again, so I can't post things to sell, and anything I don't sell in my 'not keeping' pile I am giving away. I don't want any of it, and I can't afford to take it even if I wanted to. Hey, right now I can't afford to take any of it. Strangely, I'm ok with the thought that perhaps all these boxes I am carefully packing will have to be abandoned. It makes me giddy. I wouldn't miss it, most of it, I know now the boys wouldn't at all. I am going to go through the boxes of toys, see if I can purge another 50% there. Shouldn't be hard. I keep catching myself waffling over things, thinking "what if" and packing it up again when I should be throwing it out. Throw it out! Be done. Be free. That seems to be my mantra these days. be Free.
Milt's been up there since the 28th, as he started work the 29th. The first few days were hard, but harder for him, as he didn't have the routine and the rhythm of taking care of the boys, the house, the plans; all he had was the emptiness of a rented room and the voices of his son through a telephone. The first few calls were filled with choked messages, loneliness.
It hits me sometimes now too, especially as I try to plan for getting the 3 of us up there; "what day? what does closing mean? should we deliver our stuff before we get there? what is your work schedule? what, in all this confusion, will work?" Then I look into plane tickets and, despite my repulsion at being scanned and/or searched the trade off is >2 hours flight time, or +12 hours drive time, or +30 hours train. So plane tickets then, but what about the cost? $50 if we can go the 25th, but where would we sleep then? $50 if I can wait until January; can I? It's only an extra week. It's an entire extra week! Not so long, and yet we are so tired of waiting, of the being apart.
Asher wakes up every morning now, "Daddy not here. Daddy at new house!" calm, matter-of-fact, sometime excited. Already it's a routine; it's been easy, how quickly he accepted it, no tears, just some occasional wistfulness. Is that ok? In small children time was elastic, I remember, my own Dad gone for months at a time, no sadness on my part. It was the actual parting that hurt, not the being apart. I am thankful that he's not hurting, but somehow, it makes it harder, and strange, being so alright with this distance. Adin though, he's been a bit clingy, so incredibly excited whenever I come around a corner, much less back inside after being out for an errand. "You came BACK!" Happy to see me, yes, but also so surprised.
It's made me re-examine love, family, attachment. Strangely, makes adoption seem even less fraught; I'd only seen the trauma of it until now, known the risks, the problems, the pain of what I still want, eventually. but this has nothing to do with our move. Not yet, anyhow.
Now it's a matter of purging; I've lost my camera, again, so I can't post things to sell, and anything I don't sell in my 'not keeping' pile I am giving away. I don't want any of it, and I can't afford to take it even if I wanted to. Hey, right now I can't afford to take any of it. Strangely, I'm ok with the thought that perhaps all these boxes I am carefully packing will have to be abandoned. It makes me giddy. I wouldn't miss it, most of it, I know now the boys wouldn't at all. I am going to go through the boxes of toys, see if I can purge another 50% there. Shouldn't be hard. I keep catching myself waffling over things, thinking "what if" and packing it up again when I should be throwing it out. Throw it out! Be done. Be free. That seems to be my mantra these days. be Free.
07 November, 2010
progress!
Oh wow it's been a crazy couple of weeks. First, Milt got a job! Well, a job transfer. All because our awesome realtor called her friend, who is a manager in a semi-local store in Milt's company. Awesome! We are still hoping for the other job, but now that this job is in hand we are go! However, she needs him the 1st week of December, and the soonest we can close on the house is the end of December, so we will be apart for 1 month. Hard. Especially for the boys. He has promised to Skype every day though, so that's good. Also, so so so so so exciting. This is really happening! Woo hoo!
Otherwise we've been clearing out everything we own! So have my parents! It's been wild in here! Milt decided to sell his big corner desk unit, so I cleared it and emptied the matching file cabinet, and I emptied our tall4-drawer file cabinet and condensed all those files into 1 box. so cool. I'm pretty sure we'll need 1 more file box, but I'm hoping I can condense things a little more. I havegonethrough all our boxes that were still packed from our move last August and have been purging, at least 1/3 of our stuff, and almost 1/2 of our books. I also went through and pulled out all my 'in progress' stuff, and all the various uncompleted projects from my Grandmother, and put them all in bins to work on. 4 bins of sewing projects! Wild! Some of them are from the early 1970s. Also very cool.
So now I'm getting back to that, and then hopefully time for bed.
happily,
nava
Otherwise we've been clearing out everything we own! So have my parents! It's been wild in here! Milt decided to sell his big corner desk unit, so I cleared it and emptied the matching file cabinet, and I emptied our tall4-drawer file cabinet and condensed all those files into 1 box. so cool. I'm pretty sure we'll need 1 more file box, but I'm hoping I can condense things a little more. I havegonethrough all our boxes that were still packed from our move last August and have been purging, at least 1/3 of our stuff, and almost 1/2 of our books. I also went through and pulled out all my 'in progress' stuff, and all the various uncompleted projects from my Grandmother, and put them all in bins to work on. 4 bins of sewing projects! Wild! Some of them are from the early 1970s. Also very cool.
So now I'm getting back to that, and then hopefully time for bed.
happily,
nava
24 October, 2010
making plans: week 2
Since the task of going through everything in this house is so consuming I am not going to attempt to get back to my 5-day postings until it is done, just random updates and a weekly game plan.
On the house front, we are waiting to hear from the bank and from Milt's job, to see about a transfer request. We are really waiting to hear from the VA on an even better job, but we need something in order to move forward. Onward, ever onward. We havedecided to go with U-Packmoving, because theideaofMilt having to drive a truckover I-5 in the snow has me freaked the heck out. Of course, so does the thought of us driving the van over I-5 in the snow, but oh well.
Last week I focused on patterns; I have over 200 complete patterns ready to go to Pattern Rescue, and I am still finding bits and pieces as I sort through. however, I am marking that project 'done', and moving on.
This week I have a few areas to focus in: fabric, sewing, and etsy.
I've decided to get my etsy shop going again, this time by November1st. It seems crazy, but really it's needed, because if I can sell the things now I don't have to take them with me to Oregon. Yay! So that means I need to put together all my partially assembled items, finish writing my essence descriptions and get everything photographed and posted. Even if nothing sells, at least this will be done and I can reopen after we move.
Other sewing is needed as well; I am going to try to finish up all my UFOs, at least to thepoint that Ican take out all thepins, if not completely finish each thing. The boys at least need very cozy pjs, since they kick their covers off and I don't want them to freeze. Footie pjs! I am also going to try to turn more of my scraps into quilt squares: I keep all my trimmings, then sew them to used dryer sheets in crazy-quilt fashion. Waste not, want not, right? Plus it's really quick, and less thought and time intensive than my other quilts.
While I do this I am going to go through all the fabric. There are more than 10 bins of fabric to go through, which I will be dividing into keep: I actually have plans for or love this fabric; sell: vintage or otherwise awesome fabric; and giveaway: small lots, random fabrics, and anything not a natural fiber.
Ok, we'll see how this week goes! Hopefully the weather clears by next weekend too. :)
happily,
nava
On the house front, we are waiting to hear from the bank and from Milt's job, to see about a transfer request. We are really waiting to hear from the VA on an even better job, but we need something in order to move forward. Onward, ever onward. We havedecided to go with U-Packmoving, because theideaofMilt having to drive a truckover I-5 in the snow has me freaked the heck out. Of course, so does the thought of us driving the van over I-5 in the snow, but oh well.
Last week I focused on patterns; I have over 200 complete patterns ready to go to Pattern Rescue, and I am still finding bits and pieces as I sort through. however, I am marking that project 'done', and moving on.
This week I have a few areas to focus in: fabric, sewing, and etsy.
I've decided to get my etsy shop going again, this time by November1st. It seems crazy, but really it's needed, because if I can sell the things now I don't have to take them with me to Oregon. Yay! So that means I need to put together all my partially assembled items, finish writing my essence descriptions and get everything photographed and posted. Even if nothing sells, at least this will be done and I can reopen after we move.
Other sewing is needed as well; I am going to try to finish up all my UFOs, at least to thepoint that Ican take out all thepins, if not completely finish each thing. The boys at least need very cozy pjs, since they kick their covers off and I don't want them to freeze. Footie pjs! I am also going to try to turn more of my scraps into quilt squares: I keep all my trimmings, then sew them to used dryer sheets in crazy-quilt fashion. Waste not, want not, right? Plus it's really quick, and less thought and time intensive than my other quilts.
While I do this I am going to go through all the fabric. There are more than 10 bins of fabric to go through, which I will be dividing into keep: I actually have plans for or love this fabric; sell: vintage or otherwise awesome fabric; and giveaway: small lots, random fabrics, and anything not a natural fiber.
Ok, we'll see how this week goes! Hopefully the weather clears by next weekend too. :)
happily,
nava
21 October, 2010
what day is it? : patterns! everywhere!
So this whole buying a house - trying to move - dealing with banks - finding employment -sifting through mountains of ... stuff... has really thrown me for a loop. At the end of the day I don't even zone out anymore; I just keep going until I can barely drag myself into bed because I just. want. to. finish. My poor kids. Well, Adin seems fine; he likes the new stuff to destroy, but Asher is having a hard time with the incredible mess and the lack of routine. Poor kid.
The past 4 days I have done nothing but sort patterns. 35+ years of patterns. This means gathering them all together, all the envelopes, random pieces, etc, sorting them, trying to put the pieces with the envelopes, repairing ripped pieces and envelopes, and cataloging everything. 4 days. I have 4 groups: mine (mine!mine!) sell/giveaway vintage, sell giveaway non-vintage, and 'missing'.The 'missing' group runs the gamut from complete except for 1 tiny piece missing to everything missing except for one sad little piece floating around in a plastic bag with a large card telling me the company and pattern number. I have sorted through 1 box of patterns so far, smoothing, matching, packaging, I still have 2 MORE to go.
What I want to do is see if there is some place online where people are looking for pattern pieces to complete their own incomplete ones and I will send them mine (if they need them) for the cost of postage. Or even free. heck, I think we might have an extra $5 this week, why not? Well, I don't think $5 will send many. A few though! Definitely a few!
I did manage to freecycle about 10 buckets of paint. Awesome! I also have one box of craft 'stuff' (magazines, supplies, patterns) to get rid of. I was hoping to garage sale this weekend, but the forecast is calling for RAIN. and then some RAIN. plus I am attending a baby shower and hopefully getting together with friends this weekend, but it already seems too late for garage sales and we need money for closing costs and money money money freak out blah blah blah. I need to chill out again.
That has been my lesson in this whole thing. Chill out. Trust.
So I do.
Again.
happily.
-nava
The past 4 days I have done nothing but sort patterns. 35+ years of patterns. This means gathering them all together, all the envelopes, random pieces, etc, sorting them, trying to put the pieces with the envelopes, repairing ripped pieces and envelopes, and cataloging everything. 4 days. I have 4 groups: mine (mine!mine!) sell/giveaway vintage, sell giveaway non-vintage, and 'missing'.The 'missing' group runs the gamut from complete except for 1 tiny piece missing to everything missing except for one sad little piece floating around in a plastic bag with a large card telling me the company and pattern number. I have sorted through 1 box of patterns so far, smoothing, matching, packaging, I still have 2 MORE to go.
What I want to do is see if there is some place online where people are looking for pattern pieces to complete their own incomplete ones and I will send them mine (if they need them) for the cost of postage. Or even free. heck, I think we might have an extra $5 this week, why not? Well, I don't think $5 will send many. A few though! Definitely a few!
I did manage to freecycle about 10 buckets of paint. Awesome! I also have one box of craft 'stuff' (magazines, supplies, patterns) to get rid of. I was hoping to garage sale this weekend, but the forecast is calling for RAIN. and then some RAIN. plus I am attending a baby shower and hopefully getting together with friends this weekend, but it already seems too late for garage sales and we need money for closing costs and money money money freak out blah blah blah. I need to chill out again.
That has been my lesson in this whole thing. Chill out. Trust.
So I do.
Again.
happily.
-nava
12 October, 2010
tasty tuesday: coconut rice pudding
So Sunday we drove back from Portland and it took me all of yesterday and some of today to recover. Whew! What a trip! It was great, but when we move we are splitting it up into 2 days, at least, because sitting in a car for12 straight hours does a number on the body. Anyhow!
So when we got back there was a big pot of rice in the rice cooker, and since it was getting to the end of its tastyness I took theleftovers, put it in a pot with a can of coconut milk and some raisins and cooked it up until it was warm. A little sprinkle of cinnamon and YUM. that's it!
-happily,
nava
So when we got back there was a big pot of rice in the rice cooker, and since it was getting to the end of its tastyness I took theleftovers, put it in a pot with a can of coconut milk and some raisins and cooked it up until it was warm. A little sprinkle of cinnamon and YUM. that's it!
-happily,
nava
28 September, 2010
tasty tuesday: the generosity of others
Today! Today I woke up later than intended (10!) and then only because my boys had drawn swirls on the wood floors with what looked like black sharpie. yay! Once I went after it with a rag and rubbing alcohol (usually my go-to with marker damage) I discovered it was actually black crayon. and lime-green crayon. oh, and some hot pink crayon to accent the baseboards. I haven't dealt with the orange crayon on the closet door or the brown crayon on the playroom wall. yet.
Thanks to the late start Mom and I kept trying to figure out our plans, which were to include IKEA, Pacifica, lunch, and loading my minivan with some furniture. See, my parents have been up in Pacifica, renting a room from my aunt, to be closer to my Dad's office. Now that he's transferring to DC they are packing up the room in Pacifica and moving everything down here, so it's easier to sort through and pare down. We decided that the simplest plan was Ikea-lunch-Pacifica-load-dinner-home, so that's what we did.
I love Ikea fries. That is all.
Once we got to Pacifica I took my Mom to Safeway, and she bought supplies for dinner; she and Dad made us rice, garbanzos, salmon, and a big salad. It was delicious!
Then I drove home, with a car full of stuff, the end.
That's all I've got for today! Tomorrow I'm planning to submit my final exam. I'm hoping it cools down. That would be really helpful, for things like thinking and breathing. :) Portland, I am so looking forward to your rain!
happily,
nava
Thanks to the late start Mom and I kept trying to figure out our plans, which were to include IKEA, Pacifica, lunch, and loading my minivan with some furniture. See, my parents have been up in Pacifica, renting a room from my aunt, to be closer to my Dad's office. Now that he's transferring to DC they are packing up the room in Pacifica and moving everything down here, so it's easier to sort through and pare down. We decided that the simplest plan was Ikea-lunch-Pacifica-load-dinner-home, so that's what we did.
I love Ikea fries. That is all.
Once we got to Pacifica I took my Mom to Safeway, and she bought supplies for dinner; she and Dad made us rice, garbanzos, salmon, and a big salad. It was delicious!
Then I drove home, with a car full of stuff, the end.
That's all I've got for today! Tomorrow I'm planning to submit my final exam. I'm hoping it cools down. That would be really helpful, for things like thinking and breathing. :) Portland, I am so looking forward to your rain!
happily,
nava
27 September, 2010
material monday: moving on
Ok!Well all these holidays took me by surprise, and we are having a great time (Simchat Torah next! yay!), I'm just about done with my first herbalist course (just need to sit the final exam!) and we are already on to the next big project: moving! which means: decluttering!
The four of us are moving to: Portland! We are going house-hunting in a little over a week (!!!) so we've started the pre-approval process for a loan, all that fun stuff. In addition, my Dad accepted a position in DC, so he and Mom are moving too! Not only that, they are moving at the end of October, so it is crunch time on the paring down and making plans, and it has been nuts!
We are planning a yard sale for this coming week, so this week the plan is to pull everything out, evaluate, and get a big sale together. In addition to sorting through our stuff, 30 years of my parent's stuff, and 25 years of my Grandmother's stuff, there's another problem: we are dealing with the heat wave that's been smothering California, and this house does not have air conditioning. Our normal trick of closing the windows in the morning and turning on the fans is only lasting to about 1pm, and then it's too hot to do anything beyond sit until around 8 pm, when it is finally cool enough to open the windows again.
Also my card reader is on the fritz, so until I can get that sorted out no new pics. :(
So, full steam ahead!
happily,
nava
The four of us are moving to: Portland! We are going house-hunting in a little over a week (!!!) so we've started the pre-approval process for a loan, all that fun stuff. In addition, my Dad accepted a position in DC, so he and Mom are moving too! Not only that, they are moving at the end of October, so it is crunch time on the paring down and making plans, and it has been nuts!
We are planning a yard sale for this coming week, so this week the plan is to pull everything out, evaluate, and get a big sale together. In addition to sorting through our stuff, 30 years of my parent's stuff, and 25 years of my Grandmother's stuff, there's another problem: we are dealing with the heat wave that's been smothering California, and this house does not have air conditioning. Our normal trick of closing the windows in the morning and turning on the fans is only lasting to about 1pm, and then it's too hot to do anything beyond sit until around 8 pm, when it is finally cool enough to open the windows again.
Also my card reader is on the fritz, so until I can get that sorted out no new pics. :(
So, full steam ahead!
happily,
nava
13 September, 2010
brief hiatus
I just found out I have 7 more days to complete my herbalism course, so that is my entire focus right now. I'll be back the 22nd!
06 September, 2010
material monday: hats!
Asher is 3!!! Amazing! 3 years ago, wow, we were in such a different place,physically, mentally, but one thing has never changed, we fell in love with that kid the moment he looked at us, and we've been smitten ever since. His birthday party was great; he had a blast playing with his friend, and our steam trip excursion up at Roaring Camp was so much fun. Milt decided that if we win the lottery, it doesn't matter where we are living, we're going back there for his 4th birthday and renting the private car. ;)
His little upsherin was small and sweet; it went really well. Everyone took turns cutting his hair, and I saved one curl for the scrapbook. His hair was wild afterward, but one night of sleeping and it looks really cute! We gave him a set of books; a children's siddur, machzor and tehillim from Mesorah publishing, as well as his tzitzit (which he can't wear yet; soon!) and some really cute HATS!
The hats I got at Target; they were cute and fit pretty well, but were, as Kat put it, very 'scene'. As in, skulls. I personally feel skulls are a little inappropriate for a 3-year-old, so I changed them! I forgot to take a before picture, and target does not sell them online, so the after picture will just have to do!
The cap was the easiest, as there were no skulls involved, just a 'gritty' 'urban' applique. Asher picked out a tree iron-on, so that was an easy little change. The grey fedora had a white skull at the base of the star, so I sharpied over the skull and ironed on a fun 'E' Milt helped me pick out. The black fedora took the longest; the original band was a skull print, so I ripped that off (it was glued on) and found a fun abstract type guitar fabric, and used it to sew on a new band. I love easy refashions; I especially like shopping Halloween clearance (you can get onesies 2 for $1!!) and then 'de-halloween'-ing them. Asher loves his new hats and I love that he looks cute and smart but still like a little kid, rather than a 'tough boy' or a product advertisement. :)
While we were at JoAnne's I happened to spot this awesome little book of iron-ons! I got the tree for the hat from this book, and used a whole sheet of butterflies on a stained shirt of mine; I'm going to see how well they do in the wash, but they are really, really fun. I have a lot of plans for this little book! Most of them involve covering up stains :)
happily,
nava
His little upsherin was small and sweet; it went really well. Everyone took turns cutting his hair, and I saved one curl for the scrapbook. His hair was wild afterward, but one night of sleeping and it looks really cute! We gave him a set of books; a children's siddur, machzor and tehillim from Mesorah publishing, as well as his tzitzit (which he can't wear yet; soon!) and some really cute HATS!
The hats I got at Target; they were cute and fit pretty well, but were, as Kat put it, very 'scene'. As in, skulls. I personally feel skulls are a little inappropriate for a 3-year-old, so I changed them! I forgot to take a before picture, and target does not sell them online, so the after picture will just have to do!
The cap was the easiest, as there were no skulls involved, just a 'gritty' 'urban' applique. Asher picked out a tree iron-on, so that was an easy little change. The grey fedora had a white skull at the base of the star, so I sharpied over the skull and ironed on a fun 'E' Milt helped me pick out. The black fedora took the longest; the original band was a skull print, so I ripped that off (it was glued on) and found a fun abstract type guitar fabric, and used it to sew on a new band. I love easy refashions; I especially like shopping Halloween clearance (you can get onesies 2 for $1!!) and then 'de-halloween'-ing them. Asher loves his new hats and I love that he looks cute and smart but still like a little kid, rather than a 'tough boy' or a product advertisement. :)
While we were at JoAnne's I happened to spot this awesome little book of iron-ons! I got the tree for the hat from this book, and used a whole sheet of butterflies on a stained shirt of mine; I'm going to see how well they do in the wash, but they are really, really fun. I have a lot of plans for this little book! Most of them involve covering up stains :)
happily,
nava
02 September, 2010
thoughtful thursday: line drying
One way I try to save the planet (and cut down on costs) is to line dry our laundry. There are definite pros and cons to this, and all sorts of excuses for not doing it. However, I do 13 loads of laundry a week (2 loads 6 days a week, plus 1 load of linens) minimum, so that is a lot of drying that needs to happen, and thus a lot of opportunity to do this the best way.
pro: it's free! yay!
pro: it doesn't use up resources! by line drying I am not only not using up energy resources directly, but also indirectly by preventing wear and tear on the dryer, which would have to be replaced eventually. (yay! more money-saving!)
con: somewhat weather-dependent. now, I do hope to eventually have an indoor or covered clothesline, but for now it is out in the open so we need sunny weather in order to dry. Also, I then make excuses for not going outside to hang clothes, as in the summer "it's too hoooooot." In the winter, "it's too cooooold". Basically, I need to stop whining.
pro: free bleaching! Line-drying gets our cloth diapers nice and white again.
con: free bleaching! Anything dried in the sun will get sun-bleached. Until I have a covered clothesline to mitigate this I hang our clothes and anything else I don't want faded inside-out. So, yes, they still get faded, but on the inside.
con: line-dried laundry is really stiff.Not the t-shirts or other knit fabrics, but cotton sheets are somewhat stiff, and those jeans? well, they soften up eventually with wearing. give it an hour or two.
pro: line-dried laundry smells amazing. seriously, so nice. If laundry is still stinky after drying outside, I would definitely get that washing machine looked at.
Now I need to put away all that line-dried laundry, and get to bed!
happily,
nava
pro: it's free! yay!
pro: it doesn't use up resources! by line drying I am not only not using up energy resources directly, but also indirectly by preventing wear and tear on the dryer, which would have to be replaced eventually. (yay! more money-saving!)
con: somewhat weather-dependent. now, I do hope to eventually have an indoor or covered clothesline, but for now it is out in the open so we need sunny weather in order to dry. Also, I then make excuses for not going outside to hang clothes, as in the summer "it's too hoooooot." In the winter, "it's too cooooold". Basically, I need to stop whining.
pro: free bleaching! Line-drying gets our cloth diapers nice and white again.
con: free bleaching! Anything dried in the sun will get sun-bleached. Until I have a covered clothesline to mitigate this I hang our clothes and anything else I don't want faded inside-out. So, yes, they still get faded, but on the inside.
con: line-dried laundry is really stiff.Not the t-shirts or other knit fabrics, but cotton sheets are somewhat stiff, and those jeans? well, they soften up eventually with wearing. give it an hour or two.
pro: line-dried laundry smells amazing. seriously, so nice. If laundry is still stinky after drying outside, I would definitely get that washing machine looked at.
Now I need to put away all that line-dried laundry, and get to bed!
happily,
nava
01 September, 2010
working wednesday: surprise house makeover part 2
Well, I am done! mostly. What all did I do? I painted the dining room, living room and kitchen walls beige (two different beiges, actually, as I found a can of paint that was almost the same color as the one I bought, which was good because then I had just enough paint), tiled and boxed the hearth, painted the brick fireplace surround, constructed and painted a mantle to go over the brick 'mantel', and patched and painted the wall above the fireplace. Originally I was going to leave that wall burgundy, to make my mom happy, but there was a big crack in the drywall from the house settling (earthquake country! yay!) and since I had to patch it I had to repaint it anyhow, so I went with grey. Thing is,we didn't have any grey left, so I mixed some green and purple paint with some white primer and made my own grey,which I actually really love. I don't really like the beige and grey together, but it is growing on me, and I am thinking of doing some grey walls in our own house now, instead of all white.
(grey? gray? I think I like grey just because gray looks like Gary to me. hmmm. I know it's supposed to be a regional dialect thing, but since I don't have one dialect I just go with whatever seems right.)
Anyhow, for the fireplace, I used firring strips to create a 'box' on top of the brick, screwed that into the walls, and then I attached the front decorating strip and the mantle top to that. I used liquid nails to attach more wood boards to cover the brick underneath. It's sturdy and looks fantastic (and I say this only because everyone who has seen it says so, and also because I am proud of myself.) I covered the bricks with white primer, then painted over that and the mantel with high-gloss white, for ease of cleaning.
Now then, it isn't quite done. almost! almost.
happily,
nava
31 August, 2010
tasty tuesday - crab lettuce rolls and chocolate torte
I tried out this 'crab delight' recipe, although I did not blanch the almonds, I did add a carrot, and I had to sub in 1 T of white vinegar for the 2 T of lemon juice. It came out really tasty; now Milt did not like the raw onion, although I honestly didn't even notice the taste, so next time I may set some aside for him before adding the onion.
nom nom nom
I also made this delicious pecan chocolate torte, to try out for Asher's birthday party. It is really really good, but very rich. It also did not set up completely, so we ate it as a sort of pudding. next time I think I'll cut the agave nectar in half, and use a little more salt.
so fantastic
Still deciding if that's what I want to do for his birthday, as well as figuring out what we want to serve in general. I'm thinking tostadas, but... I dunno. I feel less confident in my serving choices lately, as people are simply not willing to go outside of their food 'box'; a few months age Milt and I decided to make dinner for his family, so we bought a bunch of stuff: fish, potatoes, things for a big salad. His sister went out and bought chicken 'for the guys' and that's what basically everyone ate; they didn't even want baked potatoes. It was ... weird for me. Really weird.
I remember when I was young and my grandmother encouraged me to befriend a little girl who lived down the street. I wound up in inviting her for dinner,and she accepted, although her mom made her a white-bread american 'cheese' sandwich first, 'just in case'. Well, I could see why when she came to our house and my Mom offered to serve her some dinner- a cheese souffle. "ew, I don't like that." I was shocked; I could never had said something like that to a host. wow. My mom was surprisingly tolerant though, just asked her "do you like eggs?" "yeah." "do you like cheese?" "yeah." "Well, this is just eggs and cheese." " I don't like it like that." " have you ever had this?" "no." My Mom had me walk her home so we could have a peaceful dinner, as there was no point in having her just sit there and watch us eat. I never hung out with her again;
it was just too weird for me; I could not reconcile the way she had acted about food with having her as a friend. I'm not entirely sure why. and it isn't as if I had this surplus of friends, that I could 'afford' to be picky about making a new one. That, however, is a topic for another time.
Which is a really long-winded way to say that I feel awkward offering people food that they may not like, partly due to how I may feel about them afterward because of it, but I also don't like serving food just because it's 'expected': I am not serving chips, pizza, and soda. I'm just not; I'm not that person, we're not that family. Maybe it's weird, maybe not, eh, I can see I am getting way too stressed over this, so I think I'll go finish off some of that chocolate goodness and work out a birthday menu I can be happy about.
happily,
nava
nom nom nomI also made this delicious pecan chocolate torte, to try out for Asher's birthday party. It is really really good, but very rich. It also did not set up completely, so we ate it as a sort of pudding. next time I think I'll cut the agave nectar in half, and use a little more salt.
so fantasticStill deciding if that's what I want to do for his birthday, as well as figuring out what we want to serve in general. I'm thinking tostadas, but... I dunno. I feel less confident in my serving choices lately, as people are simply not willing to go outside of their food 'box'; a few months age Milt and I decided to make dinner for his family, so we bought a bunch of stuff: fish, potatoes, things for a big salad. His sister went out and bought chicken 'for the guys' and that's what basically everyone ate; they didn't even want baked potatoes. It was ... weird for me. Really weird.
I remember when I was young and my grandmother encouraged me to befriend a little girl who lived down the street. I wound up in inviting her for dinner,and she accepted, although her mom made her a white-bread american 'cheese' sandwich first, 'just in case'. Well, I could see why when she came to our house and my Mom offered to serve her some dinner- a cheese souffle. "ew, I don't like that." I was shocked; I could never had said something like that to a host. wow. My mom was surprisingly tolerant though, just asked her "do you like eggs?" "yeah." "do you like cheese?" "yeah." "Well, this is just eggs and cheese." " I don't like it like that." " have you ever had this?" "no." My Mom had me walk her home so we could have a peaceful dinner, as there was no point in having her just sit there and watch us eat. I never hung out with her again;
it was just too weird for me; I could not reconcile the way she had acted about food with having her as a friend. I'm not entirely sure why. and it isn't as if I had this surplus of friends, that I could 'afford' to be picky about making a new one. That, however, is a topic for another time.
Which is a really long-winded way to say that I feel awkward offering people food that they may not like, partly due to how I may feel about them afterward because of it, but I also don't like serving food just because it's 'expected': I am not serving chips, pizza, and soda. I'm just not; I'm not that person, we're not that family. Maybe it's weird, maybe not, eh, I can see I am getting way too stressed over this, so I think I'll go finish off some of that chocolate goodness and work out a birthday menu I can be happy about.
happily,
nava
30 August, 2010
material monday: do fun stuff
So I had a whole post ready to go, and then I remembered what day it was, so here instead is a link to new album, just released today, called Do Fun Stuff, which was put together in order to raise funds for the study of Smith-Magenis Syndrome, and here is a link to what it is all about. ;)
happily,
nava
happily,
nava
26 August, 2010
thoughtful thursday: baking soda
After posting last night I walked into our bathroom and realised that not only did I have a project for 'working wednesday' but I had documented it as well! Oh well, it fits just as well into 'thoughtful thursday' so it will have to do.One of the ways I've cut down on toxic chemical usage (and poisoning incidents) in our house is by the obsessive and pervasive use of baking soda. Vinegar serves a major roll in there too, but today baking soda is the star. Back in, oh, maybe January, if not earlier, I decided to try out baking soda in self-care items. I had read about making tooth powder last summer and had come across mentions of homemade deodorant several times, and with both running low I decided, hey, " 'no 'poo' has worked for me, why not these as well?" So I mixed up a batch of deoderant and a batch of tooth powder, put them in some leftover jam jars and have been using them ever since. They both work beautifully; thedeoderant is certainly not an antiperspirant, although it does seem to help a bit with wetness, and it smells fantastic. Since using the tooth powder my teeth have been whiter and gums healthier and my sensitivity has diminished, although only slightly on that last point. Sugar and cold drinks still cause me a lot of pain!
This past week our baby tooth gel (Jason) ran out, and while Milt was in the store puzzling over the dizzying array of all-natural, fluoride-free toothpastes (we love Staff of Life!) I decided that it would be fun for Asher and I to make some custom toothpaste, just for him! I got together the ingredients and supplies:
coconut oil
baking soda
sea salt
flavors
clean baby food jar
small mixing bowl
spatula
smushed, in a messy kitchen
I measured out enough baking soda to almost fill the jar and put it in the bowl, then mashed in coconut oil until it reached a smooth paste consistency and was completely mixed. Then I had Asher smell the various extracts (peppermint, orange, almond, vanilla) and choose his favorite. He chose almond and dumped it in before I could stop him; luckily the bottle was almost empty so it wasn't too much, but that is some very almond toothpaste! I mixed in a pinch of salt, although next time I will leave it out, scooped it into his jar and we labeled it. Custom toothpaste! It's nontoxic, and good for the skin, so I'm not worried or annoyed with him sneaking gobs of it to sample or smear all over himself. Which he has done. Repeatedly.
I mix it!
My toothpowder is slightly different; it is just baking soda, some sea salt, and peppermint extract, added a few drops at a time until the mixture was slightly crumbly but not sticking together or wet.
The deodorant is equal parts baking soda and coconut oil; there are many, many good recipes out there that include more ingredients and I will probably play around with the ingredients next time I make a batch but this suits my needs just fine.
I love these because they cut down on cost, I can buy the ingredients without buying more plastic, and I am keeping chemicals off of and out of my body and out of the environment. All while smelling nice! :)
Now then, Milt has arranged to have the next 10 days off, so it is time to relax! Oooh, and we may be going to a Bar Mitzvah this weekend. Exciting!
happily,
nava
This past week our baby tooth gel (Jason) ran out, and while Milt was in the store puzzling over the dizzying array of all-natural, fluoride-free toothpastes (we love Staff of Life!) I decided that it would be fun for Asher and I to make some custom toothpaste, just for him! I got together the ingredients and supplies:
coconut oil
baking soda
sea salt
flavors
clean baby food jar
small mixing bowl
spatula
smushed, in a messy kitchenI measured out enough baking soda to almost fill the jar and put it in the bowl, then mashed in coconut oil until it reached a smooth paste consistency and was completely mixed. Then I had Asher smell the various extracts (peppermint, orange, almond, vanilla) and choose his favorite. He chose almond and dumped it in before I could stop him; luckily the bottle was almost empty so it wasn't too much, but that is some very almond toothpaste! I mixed in a pinch of salt, although next time I will leave it out, scooped it into his jar and we labeled it. Custom toothpaste! It's nontoxic, and good for the skin, so I'm not worried or annoyed with him sneaking gobs of it to sample or smear all over himself. Which he has done. Repeatedly.
I mix it!My toothpowder is slightly different; it is just baking soda, some sea salt, and peppermint extract, added a few drops at a time until the mixture was slightly crumbly but not sticking together or wet.
The deodorant is equal parts baking soda and coconut oil; there are many, many good recipes out there that include more ingredients and I will probably play around with the ingredients next time I make a batch but this suits my needs just fine.
I love these because they cut down on cost, I can buy the ingredients without buying more plastic, and I am keeping chemicals off of and out of my body and out of the environment. All while smelling nice! :)
Now then, Milt has arranged to have the next 10 days off, so it is time to relax! Oooh, and we may be going to a Bar Mitzvah this weekend. Exciting!
happily,
nava
25 August, 2010
working wednesday: random meme
Despite working extra hard today (why is it we are getting all our summer right now? 111 degrees? seriously California?) I didn't actually complete any projects, although I did get partway through quite a few; plus, the awesome tires I found for my bike got sold out, so now I am back to square one in the tire search. grr. Anyhoo! So I decided to do a meeeeme, since I haven't in quite a while. Here goes.
1. age on my next birthday
2. place (s) I would like to travel
3. favorite place (s)
4. favorite food (s)
5. favorite animal
6. favorite color
7. place where I was born
8. name of pet (s)
9. my first name
10. bad habit
11. first job
12. Grandmother's names
13. college major
well, that's it for today. Hopefully the temps are low enough tomorrow to really be productive; no a/c + high temps = lots of sitting around trying not to feel warm. yay popsicles!
happily,
nava
1. age on my next birthday
2. place (s) I would like to travel
3. favorite place (s)
4. favorite food (s)
5. favorite animal
6. favorite color
7. place where I was born
8. name of pet (s)
9. my first name
10. bad habit
11. first job
12. Grandmother's names
13. college major
well, that's it for today. Hopefully the temps are low enough tomorrow to really be productive; no a/c + high temps = lots of sitting around trying not to feel warm. yay popsicles!
happily,
nava
24 August, 2010
tasty tuesday - sushi and 'rice'
I've been throwing in some raw food again, now that I'm feeling well enough to branch out from my tea+broth cold diet. I tried this recipe for cauliflower 'rice' and, well, I'm hoping I did something wrong because the texture was good but the flavor, hmm. I think maybe the cauliflower was not quite right? It started out kind of tasty, and then just kept tasting worse. It was not growing on us; quite the opposite. So I figured I would just try to use it in sushi instead, since the texture was good and when I rolled it up with some greens it tasted good. Well, the sushi came out quite tasty, and was really fun to make, but the cauliflower not only tasted off but I was quite nauseated for the rest of the evening. (irony: first night in a week I've had the opportunity to go to sleep before 1am, and I'm up because of my stomach. yeesh.) Still, I thought I would share what did work.
ingredients:
miso paste sushi nori sheets sliced carrots
sliced squash rice substitute avocado slices
smashed nuts
First I prepped all the ingredients and laid them out conveniently.
Mom, I can have?
Then, assembly! I smeared some miso paste across the nori, then spread out a layer of rice substitute (I've seen people makethe sushi without the rice sub, and it looked tasty, so I may try that next time!) Next some lines of carrot, squash, avocado, and nuts.
Asher likes to help.
ready to roll!
Slice and serve. Yum!
Next I'm going to try raw tacos and rawvioli, and I'm trying out a chocolate torte for Asher's birthday. nom nom. :)
happily,
nava
ingredients:
miso paste sushi nori sheets sliced carrots
sliced squash rice substitute avocado slices
smashed nuts
First I prepped all the ingredients and laid them out conveniently.
Mom, I can have?
Asher likes to help.
ready to roll!Roll up tight with the mat
all done!
all done!Slice and serve. Yum!
Next I'm going to try raw tacos and rawvioli, and I'm trying out a chocolate torte for Asher's birthday. nom nom. :)
happily,
nava
23 August, 2010
material monday: fighting the (virus) fight
Still fighting off this cold, it's a nasty one, but not completely immobilizing, which is a blessing. This is, also thankfully, just a cold and not Pertussis, of which we apparently have an epidemic currently. We also have one of the highest, if not the highest, pertussis vaccination rates in the country, so, interesting that. In case I have not mentioned it before, we do not vaccinate. It is actually contra-indicated for our children, but even if it weren't I don't know that I would, seeing as there ARE side effects and vaccination does not confer immunity. It does not. If a vaccine 'takes' it confers antibodies, but antibodies are not immunity. (they do help though, don't get me wrong.) So a vaccination will not prevent infection if you have a weak immune system. Good hygiene is needed as well. Interestingly, infection rates and hygiene practice are correlated. Almost give the appearance that vaccinations themselves don't do much?
Ok, ok, I'm not anti-vax. I am anti-baby-vax, and anti-bunched-vax, as I believe both are dangerous. I feel that mass vaccinations are a sort of stop-gap measure against poor hygiene, and I believe that adults who cannot avoid contact with people with poor hygiene (i.e., people who persist in coming into contact with the public when they are sick.) should get vaccinated. My Dad works in an industry that requires a LOT of travel, and a LOT of public contact, so he gets offered vaccines everywhere he goes, and he accepts them gladly, because he is around the babies occasionally and does not want to carry a disease that can hurt them. As he put it "vaccines were to inoculate the people who were carrying disease, so that children would not catch them."
That makes sense, since most kids are not going to go beyond certain spheres of community. It's the adults traveling between groups that really are the spreaders of disease. I'm not talking about once the disease has been introduced to a group, because once one kid has it all the other kids are going to get it really fast. The key is to prevent the introduction of disease into a group. So, if we can stop spreading disease between communities (good hygiene! and, yes, vax) then the kids can be safe and disease, I truly believe, can be obliterated.
But, HOW?
1. When there is an epidemic in our area, like the current pertussis outbreak, we severely limit public outings, and monitor our friend's health to prevent exposure. That means, the only shopping is for groceries and gas, and we limit those as much as possible and go during off hours to avoid crowds.
2. When we are sick, we do not go out. Asher's friend, who is only around a few days a week, came by yesterday and I had to say no to a playdate as even though Asher was ready to play he is still sick and this would not only set him back in his recovery but risk infecting his friend. It was sad, but he was pretty accepting of the situation. After all,he's had to give up cheese and ice cream because of his cold, so I guess he's getting used to it!
3. We do not go to work, or school, sick. When Milt is sick, he stays home. If he is out of sick days, he uses vacation days. Recovery is a lot faster when you stay home and take care of yourself, and forcing yourself to go and give 10% in a work/school setting while exposing everyone around you is just counterproductive. Either way you'll have work to catch up on, and if you just stay home you can get back to work sooner and won't have wiped out everyone who could have helped you who are now stuck at home (or out infecting the mall).
(I know that we only get a limited amount of sick days, and I think it is a travesty. It should be policy to not come to work sick, because then instead of one employee out sick you wind up with ALL your employees out sick, because they keep infecting each other. Just saying, it is time for reform.)
4. we FIGHT THAT ILLNESS! When I get sick the first thing I do is start megadosing on Vitamin C. I really mean MEGAdosing too. I also bundle up, as much as I can stand it, and drink lots of hot liquids (like tea and broth). Raising my temperature seems to help my body burn out the illness, and sweating is a good way to release toxins. Hot showers wash it all away, and I keep my trusty slippers on whenever I am roaming around. Yes, it can be a little uncomfortable to be all bundled up in August, but when I can literally FEEL myself getting better it is so much better than sucking down popsicles to soothe my throat while my head pounds and I shuffle around listlessly between couch and bed. The boys get the same treatment, along with somewhat paranoid monitoring for dehydration. Milt is a little stubborn when it comes to taking care of himself, but he will at least take vit C chewables when I remind him.
So that was a really long-winded way of getting around to my fight the illness kit:
from top left, clockwise:
my teakettle (used to heat water for tea and broth), a comfy not-too-heavy sweater, my cute and comfy slippers, vitamin C chewable, vitamin C energy booster drink powder, and Miso paste for healthy broths.
That's about it; I add varying amount of veggies to the broth, depending how much I feel like 'eating' as opposed to drinking, try to keep my temperature up and take vitamin C as soon as I start to feel tired or congested. Now back to tea-sipping!
happily,
nava
Ok, ok, I'm not anti-vax. I am anti-baby-vax, and anti-bunched-vax, as I believe both are dangerous. I feel that mass vaccinations are a sort of stop-gap measure against poor hygiene, and I believe that adults who cannot avoid contact with people with poor hygiene (i.e., people who persist in coming into contact with the public when they are sick.) should get vaccinated. My Dad works in an industry that requires a LOT of travel, and a LOT of public contact, so he gets offered vaccines everywhere he goes, and he accepts them gladly, because he is around the babies occasionally and does not want to carry a disease that can hurt them. As he put it "vaccines were to inoculate the people who were carrying disease, so that children would not catch them."
That makes sense, since most kids are not going to go beyond certain spheres of community. It's the adults traveling between groups that really are the spreaders of disease. I'm not talking about once the disease has been introduced to a group, because once one kid has it all the other kids are going to get it really fast. The key is to prevent the introduction of disease into a group. So, if we can stop spreading disease between communities (good hygiene! and, yes, vax) then the kids can be safe and disease, I truly believe, can be obliterated.
But, HOW?
1. When there is an epidemic in our area, like the current pertussis outbreak, we severely limit public outings, and monitor our friend's health to prevent exposure. That means, the only shopping is for groceries and gas, and we limit those as much as possible and go during off hours to avoid crowds.
2. When we are sick, we do not go out. Asher's friend, who is only around a few days a week, came by yesterday and I had to say no to a playdate as even though Asher was ready to play he is still sick and this would not only set him back in his recovery but risk infecting his friend. It was sad, but he was pretty accepting of the situation. After all,he's had to give up cheese and ice cream because of his cold, so I guess he's getting used to it!
3. We do not go to work, or school, sick. When Milt is sick, he stays home. If he is out of sick days, he uses vacation days. Recovery is a lot faster when you stay home and take care of yourself, and forcing yourself to go and give 10% in a work/school setting while exposing everyone around you is just counterproductive. Either way you'll have work to catch up on, and if you just stay home you can get back to work sooner and won't have wiped out everyone who could have helped you who are now stuck at home (or out infecting the mall).
(I know that we only get a limited amount of sick days, and I think it is a travesty. It should be policy to not come to work sick, because then instead of one employee out sick you wind up with ALL your employees out sick, because they keep infecting each other. Just saying, it is time for reform.)
4. we FIGHT THAT ILLNESS! When I get sick the first thing I do is start megadosing on Vitamin C. I really mean MEGAdosing too. I also bundle up, as much as I can stand it, and drink lots of hot liquids (like tea and broth). Raising my temperature seems to help my body burn out the illness, and sweating is a good way to release toxins. Hot showers wash it all away, and I keep my trusty slippers on whenever I am roaming around. Yes, it can be a little uncomfortable to be all bundled up in August, but when I can literally FEEL myself getting better it is so much better than sucking down popsicles to soothe my throat while my head pounds and I shuffle around listlessly between couch and bed. The boys get the same treatment, along with somewhat paranoid monitoring for dehydration. Milt is a little stubborn when it comes to taking care of himself, but he will at least take vit C chewables when I remind him.
So that was a really long-winded way of getting around to my fight the illness kit:
from top left, clockwise:my teakettle (used to heat water for tea and broth), a comfy not-too-heavy sweater, my cute and comfy slippers, vitamin C chewable, vitamin C energy booster drink powder, and Miso paste for healthy broths.
That's about it; I add varying amount of veggies to the broth, depending how much I feel like 'eating' as opposed to drinking, try to keep my temperature up and take vitamin C as soon as I start to feel tired or congested. Now back to tea-sipping!
happily,
nava
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