Thankful Thursday Week 2

Yesterday was a rest day, that is the polite way of saying that I did not get anything I had planned or hoped to accomplish done yesterday. I am Thankful that I have learned to embrace those days and accept them for what they are. I took the opportunity to reflect on 2015 and what it meant for me. Today my friends and classmates took a very important exam. The New York State Massage Therapy State Licensing Board Exam.  While I am a bit disappointed to not be taking the exam with them, my energy and efforts are better focused on the positive. That being, I did not study over the break from school 12/12/14 through the New Year. I enjoyed that time with my family. Then I studied a small amount before I received notice that I was ineligible for the exam. Sure the information is fresh in my brain (after all I spent the last 6 months trying to cram it all in), instead I am taking the next 7 months making sure that I do in fact know all the information that I need to pass my board exam. 

I am forever grateful for my long time friend Jennifer, because it does not matter what direction our lives take us, or how long we are apart. We simply need a telephone and twenty minutes.  This past weekend we had the opportunity for a long over due Girls Weekend.  We reconnected and shared over a bottle of wine, some SNL, Empire and Gone Girl.  

I am thankful that on Tuesday night when I was taking out the trash I listened when I was compelled to look up. The winter night sky was clear and crisp. The stars were bright and beautiful.  

I am thankful for the wonderful people who keep falling into my life, some for a brief period of time and others for longer. It seems (a friend confided in me) that I have the best luck and know all the right people. 

I am thankful for the friend who pointed me in the direction of a much needed opportunity.

I am thankful for the friend who shared with me books when I had run out of reading material. 

I am thankful for my new Oakworks bag for my table.

A Simpler Way to Organize/Declutter - Week 1

Last week I started on a journey to a simpler, cleaner and clutter free home. You can read about it here. This is my first weekly update. I had decided when I finished last week's post that I would start with my nightstand corner. I choose this spot for two reasons: 
1. It was small and therefore would only require an hour to accomplish
2. I am having difficulty sleeping and part of that is the clutter that surrounds me when I put my head down to rest

That being said I almost chickened out and started on a project in the kitchen. Lulu was working on this:

When she is finished with this project it will go in the kitchen, but I realized that it was pointless to clean the white cabinet that this is intended for until this is ready, otherwise I'll just be cleaning it again when she finishes.

So instead I moved on to my nightstand corner:

That is one very cluttered nightstand, plus a bag of Mad Hatter Tea Party Props, and a lawn mower box with fruit boxes and trash in it. 

These are the Mad Hatter Tea Party Props that I made from cardboard when Thia's school was doing Alice in Wonderland Junior. The Middle School kids painted the tea cups and tea pots. I have thought about doing some paper mache work on the interiors of the cups, and around the spouts and handles. Then I was thinking I would paint them vibrant colors and maybe sell them on a Craft page for another play or just for decor in someone's room. 

 This was part of the reason I shied away from this as my first project. This means I now have a deadline to finish this craft or recycle it (because it is cardboard).

This is everything that was on top of my night stand:

The black book is the School for Good and Evil, which as the last book Thia and I read together. I guess we need to find a new one.  Then there is the instruction book and CD for my camera, my journal with Lulu, a candle, adhesive spray, gifts from Thia and a plastic file box top with assorted home improvement supplies and items to recycle.

This is what was inside the nightstand:

Empty American Girl outfit boxes (broken down and recycled), Two Harry Potter Books (destined to be part of a Little Library), an old journal of Thia's (reviewed and recycled), blue scarf, black silk scarf, and a dried out pot with 3 dried out bulbs in a plastic bag.

 Empty and ready for a good cleaning. Before I cleaned the nightstand I broke down the lawn mower box (and stashed it for use in our raised garden beds this spring) and dusted the floor and lamp. I also rearranged the lamp and nightstand. I moved the nightstand and therefore my alarm clock further from my bed. There is no way for me to reach the alarm clock and hit snooze.  I know that snooze is ultimately really bad for me, but I just have been so exhausted and in such a funk that I hit snooze (sometimes for up to an hour of just lying in bed waiting for the alarm to go off again). Now I have to get out of bed in order to turn off the alarm or hit snooze.  Hopefully this will motivate me to get up when I wake up. 

Clean and rearranged.

This is the scarf that was inside the nightstand. I'll be listing it for sale, if in two weeks it doesn't sell it will be marked and packaged for my garage sale. 

This is the final result:

Want to check in with Victoria? Here is the link to her week one project.

How about you? Did you do something to simplify, organize or clean your home this week?

My To Do List Week Two

I previously posted a To Do List and I even thought that it might be interesting to post a daily to do list as the subject of a blog. A way for people to see what another person thinks are possible to accomplish in a single day.  However, that isn't what this blog is about. Rather I think it will be an interesting concept to post a weekly to do list. So here is my to do list for the week of January 26, 2015:

Daily:
Wash, dry and put away the dishes
Laundry: wash, dry, fold and put away (as needed)
Sweep First and Second Floors
Make my bed
1 hour massage study

By Week's End:
1 task from my Weekly Organization/Declutter List
Business Proposal - draft letter to organization
Start Valentines Crafts
Complete Financial Aid Packet for Girls' Schooling


Keep in mind that this week my schedule looks like this:
Monday: out of the house 7:45am-5:30pm
Tuesday: out of the house 7:45-5:30pm
Wednesday: home
Thursday: home
Friday: out of the house 7:45-5:30pm
Saturday: out of the house 8:30-1:00pm

So what is on your to do list today? this week?

Sunday Super - What Dinner Looks Like in My House

My recent post on Sunday Morning Pancakes featured a recipe from Brittany Angell's cookbook The Essential Gluten Free Baking Guide, Part 2, this dinner was inspired by what I had on hand (eggs, potatoes, scallions, tomatoes, peppers and cheese). 

I was originally thinking I would make frittata, which is my go to meal when I have eggs and some veggies and potatoes, then I realized I was really craving pizza. If I could find a grain free pizza crust I could make BREAKFAST PIZZA! 

In the picture above the dough actually looks pretty normal, but I remember thinking the dough looked kind of grey. I followed this recipe. One of the things I really love about Brittany Angell is that she has GREAT recipes on her website for free. I am also a Club Angell member and I HIGHLY recommend it. I followed the reader's comments to substitute a chia egg for the egg in the dough (because I only had enough eggs for the topping). I did not make this thick, it to me is normal pizza crust thickness. Not too thick, not too thin.  

First I par boiled the potatoes and then I oven baked them covered in Olive Oil, Fresh Garlic and Rosemary. I took the idea from Jamie Oliver and his Christmas recipe special. I found the recipe here.

I LOVE my cast iron pans and I don't know how I coked without them. They make the BEST potatoes and the BEST eggs and the BEST everything. 

I chopped up some of the potatoes and pan fried them like hashbrowns, then I scrambled some eggs and baked both upon the already par baked pizza dough. 

Since Lulu doesn't eat meat I cut her piece out before I added the bacon, and there is no cheese on Thia's section of the pizza because she doesn't eat cheese. Everyone topped their pizza how they wished: Lu used mustard and Karma Sauce as well as Scallions; Paul and I added peppers, cherry tomatoes and scallions along with Karma Sauce and Cajun Seasoning Blend; and Thia added scallions, mustard and Karma (she also ate the small amount of melon that was left over). 

My homemade Breakfast Pizza was far better than ANY I have ever had here in the ROC!

Shampoo Freedom

I have to confess that I do not wash my hair daily. I don't even wash it every other day. I wash it 1-2 times a week AND I don't use shampoo. I use a Baking Soda Wash and a Vinegar Rinse. This is super easy but still takes a little bit of time. Before I get into the specifics of the wash and rinse, let me back up. 

More than 5 years ago I started to shy away from traditional (aka commercial) shampoo. I searched the internet for shampoo free options. What I found scared me. The reviews for baking soda wash were mixed. Some people loved them, but other people were having serious problems with the baking soda wash. Some people noticed thinning patches or scalp issues. This was enough to keep me away from baking soda washing for a while. 

Instead I found a "natural" shampoo, one that did not contain SLS.  Without the SLS there would be little sudsing and I was prepared for that. I trudged ahead. The first wash my hair felt dirtier than before I washed it. It felt and looked like it was coated with a layer of grime. I repeated the wash with twice as much shampoo. I was able to make "natural" shampoo work, but I had to shampoo my hair twice using 3 times the normal amount of shampoo each time. But I wanted to be good to myself and the environment so I trudged on. I had read about a detoxification period so I incorrectly chalked this up to that. 

In the meantime I tried tea rinses (no good for me), a honey wash (no good for me) and even a beer wash (no good for me). Then I cut my hair super short (donated it to a charity event).  I was at a local craft show where there was a soap artisan who had bar shampoo. The bar shampoo worked like a dream. Even better I could get the bar shampoo at Abundance Co-op. What worked so well about the bar shampoo was that I was able to apply the lather to the underside, tops side and in the middle of my VERY thick hair. 

I loved the bar shampoo but at some point I just got lazy. I was tired of buying one shampoo for the hubs (traditional), natural shampoo for the girls and the shampoo bar for me. Then a miraculous thing happened....

I returned to the internet and found an article that explained why many people had experienced problems with their baking soda wash. The author explained why I had a layer of grime and why I have to wash my hair twice with "natural" shampoo. 

The culprit was hard water. Hard water + sebum = a layer of grease or grime.

So I ordered a water test strip through the internet. I honestly don't remember what company from, but I know it was a company that sold water softeners. You can get a free test strip here.  Given the results I had in the shower I was not the least bit surprised when the test showed moderately hard water. We do get some water spots on our glassware. We don't have cloudy glassware, but we also don't have a dishwasher. 

Moderately hard water meant that I could not use the typical baking soda method.  The typical baking soda method is to mix Baking Soda with water and just pour the solution over your head. You can google for more information on this or read this blog post about two women's experiences with going shampoo free for 31 days. 

Instead of the typical method I used the hard water method. I started with the full 2 Tbsp of Baking Soda, but eventually worked it back to less than 1 Tbsp.  However, I was supremely LAZY. Since you have to boil the water you also have to let the solution cool before you wash you hair. This means planning ahead, which I am not always good at. AND I did not regularly use the vinegar rinse. I don't mind the smell of vinegar, but it was one more thing to mix up when I showered and take with me to the bathroom. 

Eventually I returned to "natural" shampoo and when I lost my job I returned to commercial shampoo (because Suave is super cheap). Then Lu picked up the Baking Soda Wash method and even did her homework because she boiled her solution. She tried tea rinses and a few other methods that I hope she will chime in about. 

So in the New Year I was determined to return to the Baking Soda Wash and Vinegar Rinse Method. 

Some things to keep in mind. If you have a bottle of commercial or "natural" shampoo feel free to use it up. I know most people tell you to ditch the commercial and get away from the nasty ingredients.  If you are up for a rough 6 week transition then go for it. From what I read people who had the hardest transition periods were daily shampooers. When I first went shampoo free I was washing every other or third day. If you read reviews MANY people recommend getting to that point first.

I do not use the Baking Soda wash daily, I use it 1-2 times a week. Lu uses it more because of her MMA Fight Training and the need to get rid of the sweat and salt in her hairline.  I do use the Vinegar Rinse after every Baking Soda Wash. To my Vinegar I add 1 drop of Rosemary (supposedly really good for the hair) and 1 drop of Melaluca. I add the Melaluca for my dandruff. Even with commercial dandruff shampoo I still suffered from dandruff. My dandruff is actually very light. 

A few tips:

1. Comb or brush your hair before you wash it
2. Do NOT skip the vinegar (you need the acid to balance the scalp pH)
3. Try not to comb or brush wet hair (let it get to a damp or even dry state first)
4. Try not to touch your hair during the day, this increases the oil transfer from your hands to your hair. 

My routine:
I make my Baking Soda Wash the night before and let it cool overnight. Sometimes I reheat it on the floor vent in the morning before I shower. I pour the Wash over my dry hair making sure to saturate and then massage the scalp. I leave the wash on for a few minutes and then I rinse under running water.  After the rinse I use the Vinegar Rinse which I simply dump over my head and allow it to saturate all my hair. I do not rinse out the vinegar.

When I get out of the shower I towel dry my hair as best as I can and I put it up (in the summer when it is warmer out then I tend to just leave it down).

Before I Baking Soda Wash

Back Before I Baking Soda Wash

The Wash and the Rinse. I put the wash in a glass bottle because it is hot, I use a plastic bottle for the rinse because it is cold.

After - Nice and Clean (24 Hours Later)

After - Nice and Clean

48 Hours After

72 Hours Later - Still in Good Shape

A Close Up 

96 Hours Later - Time to Wash or put my hair up
No Flash

96 Hours Later - Wish Flash

I have a few recipes to try and help with the dandruff, but dandruff is essentially dry skin and it is a sign that something is missing from my diet.

Hello! This is Lu. Just chiming in with what I discovered on my no-poo journey.

I started no-poo because I was going through a period of complete detox (more to come in later posts.) Everything from my diet to my lotion was researched, switched, and eventually home-made. Everything except ... my shampoo.

I read so many articles about no-poo and the trials and tribulations those who tried it faced. I was so afraid of that dreaded transition period that I began to avoid the subject completely. All the while my poor, limp, dried out, hair called for an alternative.

First I tried shampoo bars ..and hated them. Something about using a soap bar and rubbing it on my head really bothered me, and I always managed to miss a spot. So yeah ... greasy patches ... yum.

Then I tried a series of rinses, everything from tea rinses to egg white and beer rinses. The rinses, while they work great as a hair conditioning treatment, did not clean my hair the way I wanted. 

Then I read something on a crunchy blog (right here) about a coconut milk and castile soap shampoo that suds-ed and worked like real shampoo. It probably worked for a lot of people, but it just left me with a greasy residue all over my hair. Damn you hard water!

So disappointed and with a greasy head I turned back to store bought shampoo. This was an organic all-natural shampoo, but I found myself facing the same issues my mother did with natural shampoo. 

Eventually a long break came along and I decided .... screw it. How bad can this really be? I did my research and found the hard water method and went to trying. I can't say I went through a really intense adjustment period, but I did need to do some experimenting. I had to mess with the frequency I washed my hair and how much baking soda and vinegar to use. 

If my hair was super dry, I decreased my baking soda and increased my vinegar. If it was oily I did the reverse. 

So what I do now is every two to three days I use a table spoon of baking soda dissolved in about two cups of water.
Then I take regular water and add about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar to about two cups of regular (unboiled) water. I use this as a rinse after my baking soda. 

You can choose to leave the apple cider vinegar rinse in for awhile if you so choose, but the smell is STRONG. It's a great conditioner.

Are you looking to do No-Poo? If so leave any questions or experiences with it in the comments!

Thankful Thursdays

Remember when I declared that I was going to post for Thankful Thursdays? Well here we go. 

Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in the month of November. More and more information is coming to light about the story of the First Thanksgiving. Some groups are devoted to getting to the roots of the tradition and preparing what would be a "traditional" meal. 

My mother traces her roots to the Iroquois tribe of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and while I have always been drawn to the traditions of indigenous people I feel that my connection is more to the nature aspect of those traditions. I love that Iroquois and other Native People have a profound connection and reverence for nature and the spirits of those gone before us.

Personally, I don't care what, when or where the original Thanksgiving is or was. I LOVE the idea of Thanksgiving. I love any opportunity to get together with family and friends and be grateful and celebrate LIFE and the future. 

So my goal is to be Thankful every Thursday of my life and that will carry over to the rest of the days of my life. People have said to me that I am a generally happy individual, and I let those people know that I have my dark days, but my hope is that I do put out a hopeful and positive outlook. 

Today I am grateful for the time we had with Twizzle. On Tuesday evening after a long weekend and 3 visits to the Vet's office, Lu had to make the hard decision to put down Twizzle. I am grateful that we had the long weekend with him and that because of the steroids he was on he was eating and for a day and a half that he was himself; active and loving. I am grateful for the wonderful Vets and Vet Techs who were so caring, not just for our cat but for our family. Dr. Straka called Saturday Morning and Sunday Morning just to check in, when I called in on Tuesday late afternoon we were told to bring him right down. I am grateful that Lu was able to be part of his last moments to say her good-bye and gain that perspective and closure. I am grateful to the Vet who treated him on Tuesday who has offered to do a paw print for her to have as a token of her beloved pet. 

I am Thankful that I have a home to live in, that my family is generally healthy and that my fridge is full of healthy, whole foods. 

I am Thankful for the Women Entrepreneurs United (WEU) for being a wonderful supportive group of women who share their souls and vitality with all the members. 

There is so much more to be Thankful for, but I want to make sure that each week I am being Thankful for something new and different and not repeating the same things. 

How about you? How will your life change if you start looking for those things to be grateful for instead of dwelling on the small negatives in life?

A Simpler Way to Organize

As 2014 drew to a close I began to see pins, blog posts and facebook feeds about decluttering and organizing in 2015. Much of the organization was designed around the idea of tackling a small (something under 1 hour) task each and every day. This is a GREAT idea, but as we all know by now I have a hard time staying on track and missing a day or 10 would make me feel overwhelmed and even a bit like a failure.  Then this caught my eye.

Victoria's idea seems so much more doable. To list out 52 things that can be accomplished simply by devoting a small amount of time to it each week.  So I have decided to give her little challenge a try, but in my own way. I am not going to list out 52 projects (because it is already the middle of January) instead I have gone room to room to list the projects I want to accomplish to declutter. I will be done when I can walk through my home and NOT feel the need to declutter. 

A home that is often messy is a sign of 1 of 2 problems. Problem 1: Too much stuff. If one has too much stuff then it tends to pile up. Problem 2: Too Little Space. If you have limited space then you have to decide is owning this item and giving up the precious real estate it is going to take up worth the item? 

OK so there is one more possibility, that you have problem 1 and problem 2. In my 2000 square foot (living space not counting that same amount of non-living space) I do not have enough storage solutions and space AND I have too much stuff. I am an organize out, while Lu is an organize in.

Organize out means I like (need) to be able to see what I have, but I do want it to be organized. Organize in means that Lu doesn't want to see anything, but she wants where it is stored out of sight to be neat and easily accessible. 

I also really, really like Victoria's rules, but I have to be Tree (Thank you Gretchen Rubin author of The Happiness Project) so I have set up my OWN rules:

One Week at a Time To A Simplified/Organized Home 

•  I can move ahead in my weekly list and the order the tasks are listed in is not the order I am moving through them. I will list what works for me. 
• I will only save those items for resale if they will likely sell in my neighborhood garage sale the first weekend of June (rain date to apply). Victoria set a value for the items to be sold, but since I simply want the items to go to a good home I am pricing my items low $1 for most items. I do want to find a local thrift store that is NOT a VOA, Goodwill or Salvation Army Affiliate. (If anyone in my area knows of an independent thrift store that would accept good quality used items please let me know.) After my garage sale everything that does not sell is going straight to charity. I also know from experience that a garage sale with too many little items feels cluttered and overwhelming so I am going to make an effort to get rid of the little things as I go and not hold onto them. There will be no nickel boxes at my garage sale. 
• I am setting up an area in the basement (as part of my office) for garage sale items. I do like this part of Victoria's rules: "I plan to date items with a sticky note when I place them in these boxes. I will go through them at the end of each month and any item that have been in them for longer than 4 weeks must be sold that very day, or it is off to the thrift store they go. No exceptions no matter what the value of the item." However, I plan to list items regularly on a Facebook page that I am part of. Those items will be up for sale on the FB page for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks they will get tagged for my community garage sale. At the end of my community garage sale EVERYTHING that didn't sell will go to charity. 
• Victoria's approach to look at the items as if she was moving is one that I can completely embrace, but I am going to ask myself when the last time I used the item, when I can use the item and is there something else I can substitute?
• Like Victoria I need to respect the stage of life I am in. To this end I want to set a deadline on the items that I plan to use or craft with. Ideally I am setting a one month time frame. If within one month's time I have not found the time to craft with the item I am going to immediately donate it. I am not allowing myself to keep those items for garage sale purposes because I feel that I would not truly be decluttering and organizing. 

I also like that Victoria is keeping herself accountable by posting weekly about her attempts and successes, so I plan to join her in that regard. I will be posting about my weekly attempt to declutter and organize on Tuesdays. I will also link to her weekly post so if you are interested you can see how she is doing as well. Here is my current weekly list, room by room:

Living Room:

1. Television Cabinet and Wii Game Basket

Kitchen:

2. Fridge/Freezer
3. Oven
4. White Rolling Cabinet
5. Built in Cabinets/Drawers
6. Baker's Rack

Breakfast Nook
7. Wire Rack #1
8. Wooden Rack
9. Wire Rack #2

Down Bathroom
10. Broken Chairs
11. Boxes

Dinning Room
12. Hutch
13. Display Case
14. Mantel and Bookcases
15. Table

Bedroom
16. My nightstand and corner   Completed 1/26/2014 
17. Top of dresser
18. Hub's nightstand and corner
Closet
19. Shelves
20. Laundry Basket
21. Milk crate
22. Rubbermade Tote
23. Briar Berry Bear's Basket

Up Office
24. Craft Table
25. Craft Bookcase
26. Boxes in front of Window #1
27. Dad's Bookcase
28. Boxes in front of Dad's Bookcase
29. Boxes in front of Window #2
30. Top of Desk
31. Under/in front of Desk
32. Shelf above hanging rod
33. Hanging Rod
34. Under Hanging Rod

35. Linen Closet

36. Stairwell Closet

37. Entry Closet

Front Porch
38. Exterior Wall Side
39. Interior Wall Side
40. Far Wall Side

Basement
41. E. Corner
42. W. Corner
43. N. Corner
44. S. Corner
45. Laundry Area
46. Chest Freezer

Basement Office
47. Desk Side
48. Sink Side

Attic
49. Attic Eve Storage
50. Attic Open Storage

This list can be edited as needed, adding items as I find them. While I will be posting new posts on my progress every Tuesday, I will be keeping tabs on this page with dates things are complete. Additionally, while I was looking for things to clean/organize/declutter in each room I could have also listed off items to be improved/repaired and I think I will start that list in pink in a new column and see how many tasks I come up with for that. The repair/improvement projects however are completely dependent on the financial situation at the time of the improvements. 

So what do you think? Do you want to join us?

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men......

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry... (Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck, John) that is the story of my life.  That is especially the story of my weekend. A few weeks ago I noticed that my baby puma (we have a 22 pound, but not overweight just a very large and long cat) seemed not to be eating his food. He was still very active and loving. I figured that he was being finicky, after all the finicky nature of cats is legendary. A cat food launched an empire based on the discriminating nature of felines. 

So after a week of his not eating I decided to see if it was in fact the food. He had lost some weight (down nearly 8 pounds when I weighed him), so I visited my favorite local pet store PetSaver and picked up the uber expensive brand of food that my cats had been eating. I bought 2 small bags of 2 flavors of this food. Now keep in mind that we feed our cats well. I avoid grains in their foods and when possible I try to keep the food to high quality. The food they were eating was Acana brand cat foods which they loved. The food sky rocketed to $60ish a big bag. With my being unemployed I selected an acceptable brand that was around $30 for the same size bag.  

At first the expensive favorite brand of food did the trick. For 3 days he was eating, but then he stopped eating and then there was rapid weight loss. I changed the flavor and he was still disinterested. He was down 5 pounds in a week. The hubs was very concerned because he was starting to look very thin and not acting his usual self (tired, lethargic, etc.) so he asked me to make a vet appointment.

Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. I headed over to the Rochester Community Animal Clinic. The staff, vet techs and vet were all very compassionate. They got Twiz in quickly.  Based on the Vet's examination she suspected a lung issue. She was able to do a lung tap and fiv test.  The lung tap and the fiv test came up negative. The recommendation was to head over to Irondequoit Animal Hospital for x-rays.  The x-rays confirmed no fluid in his lungs. The staff at Irondequoit gave Twiz some O2 and prednisone. The recommendation was for some blood work a CBC (complete blood count) and another test as well as a primary diagnosis of Asthma.  We were sent home with the hopes of results on Monday (a holiday).

Friday evening did not go great, but Saturday was even worse.  Twiz did eat small amounts, but he had several seizures with loss of bladder control. Each of the seizures was preceded by rapid breathing. What really helped was that the vet herself called us Saturday afternoon to check on Twiz and deliver the first of the test results. Nothing in those to help us. 

We spent a very long Saturday with Twiz worrying and watching.  I woke up this morning somewhat concerned (I was fully expecting that Twiz did not make it through the night).  Instead I found him standing eating his food. He spent almost all of Saturday sitting on his blanket in the chair and only eating small amounts (1 tsp) while laying in the chair. When I explored the litter box (the other two cats were upstairs all night long) I found evidence of pee. This means, despite our bringing one litter box to the floor he was staying on, he went all the way down to the basement, peed and returned to his chair. Saturday he did make the trek to the litter box in the basement, but after a very long and difficult pee he was unable to make it back up the stairs. 

He flopped over on the floor in front of the steps and let out a miserable meow. I carried him back up stairs to his chair where he had a seizure.  Today he is eating well. We may be looking at a lifetime (his) of medication, but he is looking good today. 

However, I have to give in and admit that I am sick. I have been sneezing more than the usual for the past few weeks, but I woke up this morning with a non-stop running nose, chills and still tired. I am sure the stress of Twiz's ordeal could have pushed me over the edge, but today is a day for me to sit and relax. 

Please know that I have never received any compensation from Arcana, Rochester Community Animal Clinic and/or Irondequoit Animal Hospital. I am sharing my experiences because I believe they gave me great customer service. 

My To Do List

This is my current "To Do List":

Launder the Sheets

 Clean Out the Clutter in the Powder Room


Clean Out the Clutter in my Up Office

 

Set Up a Functioning Down Office

   

Dishes:

Laundry

Clear Off Dinning Table so it can be used for Dinners

This is a long to do list and it is not intended to be a list that can be completed in a single day. Instead it is a list of items that I want to focus on until they are completed.  I will update and adjust my to do list daily, possibly even hourly.  

The point of a to do list for me is to have a guide for what I want to focus on, something to help keep me on track. I have heard over the years that for women in particular the longer the paper used to write the to do list on the longer the to do list. For many people it is important to keep the to do list short and simple. Something that can be achieved, something that can be checked off and completed. A sense of accomplishment. 

A long to do list is overwhelming. Even for me. I am willing to be flexible and adjust as needed. 

This morning I thought I would start with my downstairs office. The bulb burned out last week and I decided to find a replacement.

Search as I might I could only find bulbs intended for decorative candle lights or one single light for this lamp:

So I decided to be flexible, the bulb broke more than 3 years ago. I don't even remember how it broke. I think I was changing the sheets and maybe flicked the comforter to hard causing the bulb to smash into the ceiling.  I left it alone because changing it meant to much work. Well today I decided to simply do it. I unplugged the light and used a pair of pliers to removed the base of the bulb. All the glass was gone or I would have tried the potato trick. It took me less than 60 seconds to remove the old bulb base.  I replaced the bulb and while I was up there I noticed how dirty the top of the lamp was so I quickly dusted it off. 

Then it made sense for me to change the sheets and launder the old ones. So less than 5 minutes later I had changed a bulb that had been broken for years and a freshly made bed to boot. 

Now I am not super happy with my bedding, but it keeps us warm at night. The purple and grey comforter is what we registered for more than 15 years ago. I dream of fresh brightly colored comforters and sheets. I dream of soft organic cotton sheets. I have a plan but that plan will simply have to wait, because there are other projects that need to be completed and hey the comforter and blankets currently work. 

Back to my to do list. I took the two candle bulbs down to my basement office and decided I would give them a try, then I remembered I had a floor lamp in there that had a bulb in it. So I swapped that bulb. The problem I had been struggling with in the basement office is the lack of an outlet.......

Look what I found when I changed the light bulb:

An outlet! I have a surge bar that I think I can work into the ceiling to allow me to plug in an additional floor lamp, a space heater for the winter and run my laptop. Now I need to get on to the organization of the space. I know this won't be a single day project (or maybe it will). (I did string up the surge protector but when I plugged in the space heater and the radio is tripped the switch, so I still need a solution to being able to power the space.)

I made some progress in the basement office. It is not done, but progress was made. 

The dishes have been washed, dryed and put away, just in time to make new dishes for dinner. If I am really motivated I will wash, dry and put away the dishes after dinner. 
                 

Sunday Morning Pancakes!

I used to make all sorts of yummy breakfast treats; giant cinnamon rolls, pancakes, waffles, omelets, and french toast. When I went back to work making breakfast baked goods sort of just fell to the way side. Then the girls and I went gluten free, and Lulu eventually went grain free. 

Gluten Free baking is tough and Grain Free baking is even tougher without accounting for the COST of gluten free baking. For those of you who don't know what gluten is, it is a protein in wheat (and other things) that binds. This is what makes your bread fluffy without falling apart. 

After several Gluten Free Baking Fails I gave up. I figured life would just have to go on without bread and pancakes. I would search out Gluten Free and Grain Free recipes that had reviews and think "maybe some day". The problem I found is that MANY of those recipes called for a ton of eggs. Now I have nothing against eggs or honey. But a pancake recipe that has 5 eggs in it!? Those pancakes tasted like pumpkin scrambles eggs.... there had to be a better way.

For Christmas 2014 I purchased a couple of "cookbooks" for Lulu. She had really been getting into Gluten Free baking, and doing quite well at it. 

Then a few weekends ago Thia had a friend over for a sleepover and I wanted to make good pancakes. I made the friend normal pancakes (because she is a super picky eater if it is not white and a sugar/starch she doesn't eat it), but I wanted something for Thia. So I searched the cookbooks and I found a Vegan Pancake Recipe that could be Gluten Free or Grain Free. HAPPY DANCE!

 This is MORE than a cookbook, it is  "GUIDE".  From the beginning intro to the tips in each recipe this book will teach any skill level the ins and outs of Gluten Free and even Grain Free baking.  You decide what flour you want to use (or combination thereof) and go from there. This edition is The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide: Part 2 Learn How to Use Sweet Rice, Sorghum, Buckwheat, Teft, Cassava and Potato Flour in 50+ Recipes the Authors are Brittany Angell and Iris Higgins. Ms Angell has a website with a ton of recipes on it, and she does a great job of detailing those recipes, but I still think Part 1 and Part 2 are the way to go if you are just starting or in need of some serious help the way I was.

But I digress, back to the Sunday Morning Pancakes.

Since I had failed so many times before at MANY Gluten Free and Grain Free recipes I followed the recipe to a T (confession I did not read ALL of the tips, which you really should before you begin).

For this recipe you choose your flour from the flours suggested. The guide tells you the pros and cons of various types of flours. "Almond flour makes the best pancakes, hands down!" p.144

The recipe also gives the flour and starch measurements in cups and grams. I have a food scale and I had read from a number of sources that weight and not volume was the way to go in gluten/grain free baked goods. Although the Guide has a little something different to say on the matter: "If weight is so important then why do we include volume measurements? It's because we both use volume in our own baking. We keep track of our weight measurements so that we can reproduce recipes exactly from one time to the next. But when we're substituting one flour for another, we have found volume measurements work better for us. We know this is different from what most people will tell you, so let us explain."

The first Chapter is "How to Use This Book" and it discusses different types and brands of flours, as well as sugar alternatives and the things you need to know when using different flours or sugars. This really is a complete guide and is almost like having the authors in the kitchen with you training you.

I chose Almond Flour and Potato Starch because, according to the Guide those were the two to use. I weighed them out. Keep in mind when you work with starch they are very light so they can create a big mess. They also like to stick to the bowl or measuring device so I use a rubber spatula to scrap them into my mixing bowl. While the guide tells you that any mild flavored oil can be used, I used olive oil because that is what I use. I used applesauce and coconut sugar this time around. Since I always spice my pancakes I added freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon and a dash of clove. 

The consistency was nothing like pancake batter. It was stiff and not runny. I used a Pampered Chef large cookie scoop (about 3 Tablespoon size) to measure out my pancakes (because I like uniformity). Once scooped into my pre-heated cast iron pan (which had coconut oil in it) I used the rubber spatula to squish them down a bit. 

I patiently nervously waited. I had gotten to this point a number of times before. Everything looks good, but then when you go to flip the pancakes it is a disaster. Either they stick to your well oiled surface or they just fall apart. 

These pancakes take time, about 2 minutes on each side to get the crispy outside. The good news is if you under cook these there is nothing in them that is potentially dangerous. 

This was the result

A crispy outside and a soft FLUFFY inside! They even tasted like real pancakes. I tried some, Lulu tried some and Thia LOVED them!

I topped them with Chia Chai Apple Compote:

Chop up a couple of apples, I used 4. I peeled my apples because they are cold storage apples which makes for tough skins, but in the fall when they are fresh I would use them skin and all. That is just a preference. Then I added roughly 1 cup of brewed Chai tea and let them cook together for about 10 minutes. As the apples warmed they become soft and let out some of their juices. You could stop there, but I am a super food junkie so I added 1 Tbsp of Chia seeds to the liquid and let that set up. I do not use ground Chia seeds, just whole ones. I also added 1 Tbsp of Coconut Sugar. 

This recipe was so good it was requested by Lulu for dinner at Grandmas where everyone else was having pizza (I picked up a Gluten Free/Dairy Free Daiya pizza for Thia and I, but since that has rice flour in it Lulu doesn't eat it). 

When I went to make them again for Lulu I realized (as she often does) she ate all the applesauce. Now this is where the confession that I didn't read all the tips and hints BEFORE making the recipe comes in. I had canned pumpkin in the house and I thought it was worth a shot to swap out one puree for another. I now had Pumpkin Spice Pancakes. Lulu loved them and I have made those again for both girls. "For the applesauce you can try using any puree. Banana, sweet potatoes and pumpkin work well." p 145

There was a request to make these chocolaty, so I added 3 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder and an additional tablespoon of coconut sugar. The first time I made the recipe I used coconut milk (because I had it), the second time I used the left over "water" from a can of coconut cream, and after that I have used water for every recipe. I recommend making this strictly according to the directions before you play with it. It is important to know the consistency of the batter so that when you vary the recipe with say cocoa you can add extra water (which was needed).  The chocolate version was simply topped with some coconut oil and heated fruit preserves and everyone has loved them.

This morning I made them with home made almond "flour".  This was the remnants of my making almond milk in order to make dairy free egg nog.  After I soaked the almonds and the pureed them in the blend the mixture is strained and the pulp is spread out on a sheet of parchment on a cookie sheet. I let that air dry for 2-3 days and then I put it in the oven on warm (175 degree or so) for 4 hours. After that it set out for a week or so more. Then last night Lulu used the food processor to make flour and we put that in the fridge. 

I measured that out, but I didn't have enough. I was 30 grams shy. Since these pancakes were for Lulu using the Teft or Sorghum flour I had was not an option. We thought about Quinoa but decided to risk using coconut flour. The guide tells you that coconut flour does not work in this recipe and as a main flour that may be correct. The other change I made was to use coconut flour. I heated it to a liquid state and measured it out, but as soon as it hit the cold pumpkin puree and cold water it solidified and I was not happy with it. I will continue to use olive oil. The coconut oil did not damage the batter, it was just lumpy in the batter. Due to the addition of coconut flour I had to add almost the maximum amount of liquid called for in the recipe.  I added water to get the batter to the consistency I knew it should be from previous attempts. 

The results were spot on. The resulting pancake was a bit chewier but still crisp outside and fluffy inside. These I topped with butter and pumpkin puree with some coconut sugar (heated to combine) and Lulu topped hers with coconut oil and preserves. Overall a pancake win! I plan on trying some different flours with Thia (but this makes a Grain Free pancake Lulu can have). I also want to play with the starches, try a few different ones and even reduce the starch if possible.