Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Well I am a believer....the sugar scrub

Last night as I was getting ready for bed I noticed my face was all dry and flaky and it disturbed me. Those of you that know me know I am not a big make-up girl so there was no covering that up. Heck I think some 8 year old's have more make-up than me.

Anyway, I happened to be scanning Pinterest this morning (read: keeping Adam, my two year old with some kind of attachment disorder, happy while he was watching Micky Mouse Clubhouse), and I came across a post of a sugar scrub. It looked rather interesting and the posts under it were all like "my husband just LOVED how soft my skin felt" and "got all the scaly skin off in one scrub, AMAZING".

So fast forward to this afternoon when I finally decided to get out of my pj's and take a shower. I thought, why the heck not? So, I Googled it because far be it for me to actually pin the post. There were all sorts of concoctions and it was kinda scary if you ask me. Like basement scientist meets happy housewife. I settled on the one that sounded the least painful and most organic, plain granulated sugar and olive oil.

Now the recipe I saw must have been for an elephant, or so I thought, so I modified mine a bit. I do that a lot, modify things. Sometimes not with the best of results I might add. I used one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and one tablespoon of granulated sugar. I have sensitive skin and didn't want to look like I had been for an acid peel.

So I scrubbed my face gently with the scrub mixture and my fingertips. And then I looked down and realized I still had a lot to go and I HATE wasting things so I decided maybe I will try it on my neck, shoulders and elbows.  I must say it felt rather weird and was a bit messy. Soon as I was done, I jumped into the shower, rinsed my skin off and realized I was slicker than a greased pig. So, since I was in there to shower, I did just that.

The end result, my elbows are amazingly soft! And so are my upper arms, shoulder, my neck and my face. My cheeks were a bit red and I was afraid the oil would be to much for my face to I followed it with Witch Hazel, and then I regretted that because then my skin was dry again :(. 

So the lesson learned? Add a bit more oil, don't use Witch Hazel afterwards and see what it looks like later in the day. Might not be too oily.

 Did my husband notice? I dunno. He's at work.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

A month without eating out...I...CAN...DO...IT!

I may have to drag myself into this kicking and screaming. Just sayin'.

So barely 15 days into this month and we are, dare i say it, OVER BUDGET on eating out. I said to my dear husband, "maybe we should increase our eating out budget". I mean, it is only $150 for 6 people and that's like 4 adults when you factor in how much the 18 year old and 14 year old eat.

And before we get all crazy about this, I define eating out as bringing food home that I didn't make, well except the grocery store but that's factored into that budget. I rarely get drinks when we order and make us all share a large fry and still we still are over our budget. That is only eating out about 4 times!

Then my brain started saying to me, uh hello, why don't you try to NOT eat out for a month and I was all like, "ARE YOU FREAKIN' CRAZY?!?!?!" But then sanity took hold for a brief moment, though I am not sure if it was sanity or insanity that took hold, I mean for me they are in cahoots with each other.

I think I am going to try this. It's either that or up my eating out budget and I am trying to save money, right? Maybe I should make what we save a reward? Like we can spend it on ___________(insert mindless spending of $150 here).

I will talk to my masses and see what they say. I am figuring on some protests and anarchy but then what fun would parenting be if we didn't have that?

Now I must go and save my two year old from my husband driving him around the yard on my dirt bike, without a helmet!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Disability doesn't = inability

I recently read an article posted on Facebook about a boy with Down Syndrome that is in college and was impressed by his drive and desire to be a college graduate. An amazing thing happens when you decide that your disability is not going to hold you back.

I am more amazed by how many people are astounded that my son, who has Asperger's, has been accepted into Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island. They are actually amazed or surprised that he would be accepted and I am more amazed and surprised and think I WHY NOT! 

I mean really, he has a disability but that does not mean he has an inability. He is incredibly smart. Yes, he some times lacks social graces and is crass at times but does that mean he should not go to college? Yes he often times is less mature than my 14 year old and sometimes my 7 year old but does that mean he's not able? No.

It means there is a lot more work for him to do than others. Just because he may be exempt from certain things or have modifications doesn't mean he does not work just as hard as the "average" person. There are things that we do with ease that we take for granted while he struggles to do them. The physical act of putting a pen on paper is one of them. Running is another. He has to work twice as hard, if not harder, to do these "average" tasks. His body exerts more energy doing these things than the "average" person which makes him tire a lot faster. In my opinion, he works harder.

People should not be surprised to see or hear of someone who has a disability accomplishing things like going to college, driving, holding down a job, or having a family.

Truly the question is, if you haven't done any of these things, what's your excuse?