Weighted Blankets (does anyone else identify with this?)

I think I have mentioned I love the feel of the heavy vest dentist offices use during x-rays.

I know I have mentioned (sleeping so much better with) tucked blankets on the lower half of my bed which simulate weight. (I got conditioned to cats sleeping on my legs when I was little. Created havoc with my undiagnosed asthma. But I got conditioned to the weight (and warmth) on my feet and legs.)

Our little six year old has a weighted blanket which she loves. It has pockets/compartments of pellets.

Here is the site.

These blankets with pellets should never go in the dryer -

"Are your pellets non-toxic?

"poly says: In their current state the pellets are non-toxic. If you melt, heat or change their structure the pellets become toxic. Also, like any plastic, pellets cannot be digested."

I mentioned middle and I are on the road. (We still are).

I have been using my heavy sweatshirt blanket everywhere we have gone. I use it folded, on my lap, in planes, trains, buses, autos.

(I also sleep with it tucked under my legs and then pulled over me which creates a weighted feeling. I put hotel blankets over my legs.)

I have a C shaped neck pillow with me too. It is the dense kind. I has not worked on my neck, but it works great in my lap during the day in transit. It gives me somewhere to put my hands. It puts weight on my lap.

I realize weighted blankets would have helped me as a child.

Sheets

We have a variety of beds at our house.

The king went to my mother's guest room when husband and I switched to XL twins, side by side. His jumps and twitches woke me, two beds totally solved that problem. We did not want to sleep in different rooms. I needed to be able to sleep. The XL twins are pillow tops, so they require special sheets, both XL and deep pockets.

Middle's room has two regular twins that are pillow top. They require deep pockets. The XL twin sheets in T-shirt fabric, left over from college beds, work very well on these beds. Youngest has a similar mattress upstairs that uses the same sheets.

We have one regular twin (no pillow top) that uses regular twin sheets.

Oldest's bed is a 3/4 bed that needs a regular double sheet, no deep pockets, no double/queen size.

And that is my problem.

I am always hunting (oldest's room, laundry, linen closet) trying to remember which sheets go on that bed. And we are changing it constantly because we use it for company very regularly. Yesterday I had the big hunt. I could find the fitted, but not the flat. Still have not found the flat.

About half of our sheets are white.





Last night, I figured out a solution that I should have done years ago.

I ordered a set of Aqua, cotton weave, sheets in a regular double size. Very high thread count. On clearance at Macy's. I had a coupon too.

The only other Aqua colored sheets in the house are EX twin T-Shirt that are in middle's college stuff.

The Macy sheets will be very distinct. And as soon as I have them in hand, going to wash and put right on the bed. And after company, wash and put right back on the bed.






I still have queen size sheets from a long ago bed, floating around, because we use them on an air mattress.

We have a lot of sheets, blankets, quilts, towels, etc. A lot. But when I have a houseful or a revolving door of company, I need them. I often need them all. Sometimes we are full to the gills and then full to the gills again, two days later, with totally different people.

We have asthma and allergies at our house.

I have very large, clear plastic bags. Garbage bag size, but clear and thinner. I have gotten in the habit of bagging sheet (sets) together. So everything for one bed is in a bag with the air squished out and the end loosely tied. This protects against dust mites and keeps sets (not in use) together.

The only problem with this is the white sheet sets all look the same.

Yes, I guess I should be labeling.

Or I should stop buying white.

But the bag thing works really well.

One word of caution - everything must be very dry to go in a bag. Things like quilts and comforters, I line dry after they come out of the dryer. So they get dried, and then more dry.

I have never had anything mold, because I am super careful with my drying. But middle's freshman roommate had something mold, big time.

And I only use clear bags. I know someone who once put three family quilts in a dark garage bag and they disappeared. We can only assume they went out in the garbage. They would have looked like garbage. She was devastated, as you can well imagine.

Gaylord

One of my local librarians mentioned Gaylord as a source for photo storage.

I first ordered envelopes.

2 mil Polyethylene Postcard Envelopes (100-Pack)
ZZ-PB35
Fits up to: 3 1/2H x 5 1/2"W

2 mil Polyethylene Postcard Envelopes (100-Pack)
ZZ-51025
Fits up to: 4H x 6"W

2 mil Polyethylene Envelopes (100-Pack)
ZZ-2810
Fits up to: 8W x 10"H



The envelopes are clear, three sides are fused, the last side has an open slit. I gave these to my mother for mother's day.

We have dismantled three photo albums.

Two were black construction paper like pages and were disintegrating, not to mention not archival safe. And the last was the terrible sticky pages with the plastic sheet over it, which we now know ruins pictures.

We were able to get all the pictures out of all three albums. It was not easy. My mother could not do it. But middle and I could. My mom wrote on the back of pictures, for the few where there were writings on the pages. We left all of it with my mom. She is going through and at least writing names and locations on the back of all the pictures. She can do this at her own pace. And she has nice, readable handwriting.

The librarian had suggested the envelopes. Each picture can be seen (front and back), is protected, and can be handled. That is what we are doing with a lot of these old pictures. We are then dividing by family lines and then going to put in archival safe boxes (also Gaylord).



After our success with the envelopes, I ordered photo albums pages. (My previous sources are all defunct.)

4 mil Polypropylene Album Pages for 4 x 6" Prints (25-Pack)
ZZ-PP4625-6

4 mil Polypropylene Album Pages for 3 1/2 x 5" Prints (25-Pack)
ZZ-PP35525-8

I ordered 5 sets of each.

I have not yet received my Gaylord album pages, I just placed the order today and then called to verify they are in stock and will ship immediately. They are. They will.

I also verified that everything I ordered was archival quality. It is.

To be honest, I did not even compare prices or shop. I was just happy to find what I needed (desperately, we have piles of pictures at this point) and know it would ship immediately and was archival safe.

Earth Day

Earth Day is observed on April 22 and was started in the United States in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson to create awareness for the Earth's environment and to encourage conservation efforts. In 1990, Earth Day was taken international, and today, more than 500 million people in 175 countries observe Earth Day.

Laundry and bathroom tub faucet

I think I mentioned when I stayed with our little 6 year old, last month, for a week, I caught up the laundry at that house. Started with a pile that was very, very high, and washed around the clock, for days.

At that house the dryer was slow. Which was annoying. I was always waiting for it.

At my house, washer and dryer are about even. Which is nice.

Yes, I told the husband of that house the dryer vent probably needed checked.

I have 2-4 extras rolling in for the weekend. I have been catching up laundry and washing bed linen for three days.

I have not been setting a timer and doing laundry as constantly as I was at the other house. Youngest had an orthodontia appointment. I picked out a new faucet set for the bathtub in my bathroom, which was complicated. I was at the library looking stuff up a couple times. But I have done a lot of loads the end of this week.

And either we have a stash of missing hangers somewhere, or we do not have enough hangers for everything in the house to be clean at the same time. Walmart run is needed. I love the deep grooves for straps on their plastic hangers.

We have a leaking faucet on our bathroom tub. (The leak is only on top the tub, we hope.) I think the style of tub is called Roman. The tub has a top mount for faucets.

We had the same model tub at the old house. I have always liked it.

And since faucet needs to be replaced, I wanted a set with a spray hose. So shampooing little kid's hair and rinsing the tub after a deep tub cleaning would be easier. Plumber sent me to a specialty shop to look at options. There were three top mount faucets with hoses. Of the three only one was still available. Of the one, there was one left in stock. Yes, we ordered quickly.

Plumber was here this morning. They will have to go through my bedroom wall to get to the faucet. You can just see the faucet, through the crack in the door, on the other side of this wall. On this side, right beside the love seat, is where they will have to go through the wall.

We talked about options to leave access. They said the simplest option was to cut very carefully and then put a vent, like a cold air return, over the hole so we can get to the faucet again if we need to. And so we can check for leaks. And so the area can vent.

Hopefully I will not be writing about a bathroom gutting and redo (from mold) later this month.  .  .

My project of the last year - Tshirt collection for youngest

It is extremely difficult to buy (good) presents for youngest. Extremely. Her birthday was earlier last week. I had planned ahead and started collecting KEY T-shirts nearly a year ago. They were a big hit.

But first, oldest did very well in buying for her -

It has something to do with Zelda who is beloved by oldest, youngest and middle's boy at our house.

Here are my efforts, she was surprised and pleased -

This is the only 'regular' shirt of the bunch. She liked it and it fit really well. She is short, it is hard to buy the right proportions sometimes.

Yes, she knits.

One of our favorites.

I loved this one.

Struggle bus is one of her favorite expressions.

Chemistry, her favorite.

Arguing is one of her things too. . .

More chemistry.

Mole day, a big deal to her and some friends. So this was a big hit.

One of the most classic Star Trek bits ever. 

This (given to youngest by middle) is the start of my quest for next year. Tshirts from famous theaters. Suggestions are very welcome please.

Cleaning out drop box

I bought the hat in Charleston in 2013, I think, in the gift shop at one of the plantations. It is nice and thick. I like the colors. I wear it all winter. Middle found the same company (Solmate Socks) in her wanderings over Christmas break and got me the mittens. I am not easy to buy for unless you are very clever. This was very clever. A total surprise. Notice how long the mittens are, they go way up my wrist and "no, air gets me".

I first looked at the mall. No slippers to be found that went way up the ankle (no air getting me) and had great traction. None. So, then I started looking on line. I ordered several pair from Kohl's and Target. These were the winners. I almost didn't order them because they were only available in an XL and I wear an 8 usually. But, oldest has taught me to always read the reviews. And one woman wrote how she had ordered several pairs of these in various sizes as Christmas gifts and they consistently ran small. I looked at my last pair of Totes/Isotoners and they were an L. So, I took a chance and ordered them. Very warm, very good traction, fit perfectly with athletic socks. And they are very fun.

Middle bought this at the Catholic Conference she attended last week. Not quite sure where I am putting her, but loved it. The book is going in my church bag collection. 

They were out shopping. This is just the regular grocery store. Not sure if they were headed somewhere, like a children's party or if they just do this for fun. From the looks of the crowd, it must have been a day or two before Christmas, it was packed.

Risotto Recipe youngest loves

I make this for youngest, so it is vegan-ish. We always add the "ish" because she is not strict vegan, just mostly. This is one of the things I took middle too. My husband might eat this, but would add a lot of cooked chicken to it. Other than a couple spoonfuls to check as I am cooking, I do not eat it.

Good ideas for aching neck and shoulders

Okay, when you click over to the link, just ignore the title.

These poses would be great for people who hunch forward a lot during their life.

These are chest openers.

Like I said, just ignore the title.

visual quotes - these are actually photos of quotes I found out and about.

Cords and available space in my iPad

This is the cord store we use. Monoprice.

Charger cords, Ethernet cords, VGA cords, USB cords.

I can't explain what all those do, but we have them and use them.

Oldest says ALWAYS read the comments/reviews posted with a product, on any site, before ordering. True for this site also. Once ordered a cord, with bad reviews, and it was not good.





My iPad told me I had -0- available space in October.

I called oldest who first didn't believe me and then had me pull up the storage information.

We were not surprised when podcasts was listed as the number one thing taking up space on my ipad.  I was collecting/saving them for travel time over the holidays.

My iPad does not have a lot of storage capacity because I do not store things (other than the special occasion podcasts)

I move pictures over to Dropbox and move them to the house computer very regularly. I clean the pictures out of photos and Dropbox each time.

I do not keep any books on my iPad.

But number two on my most full list was email. Which surprised us.

Oldest looked it up and said that while email is out there on the Internet, everything I open (attachments) on email, is also stored on my iPad.

I do almost all my email reading/opening on my iPad. I have a lot of attachments. My brother sends me all kinds of pictures and things. I order things. The kids and my husband all send me things. We use drop box too, but lots on email.


Where ever oldest looked said the only way to clean my email attachments out of my iPad was to delete my yahoo email account from my iPad and then reinstall it. So I was not closing my account with yahoo. I was taking it off my iPad and then putting it back on my iPad.

So, he first asked me if I knew my email password. I did, but he double checked by logging on my email on his computer to be sure I was remembering correctly. I was. Then I took yahoo off my iPad  (settings, mail contacts calendars, yahoo, delete account). And then I added it back on my iPad. My email account looked exactly the same. The only difference is all the attachments on emails were no longer open. But, if I wanted one open, I just had to click the download icon attached to the post and it would reopen.





The screen shots below are all from AFTER I deleted and reinstalled my emails account.

Family pictures into matching card game for kids

I think this is a super cute idea for small children. Especially if they do not see their extended family regularly.

Podcast post

These are the Podcasts I download each week -



The Moth

"Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events."

Vinyl Cafe

"CBC Radio presents the stories and misadventures of Dave, the owner of the "Vinyl Cafe", the world's smallest record store, where the motto is "We may not be big, but we're small." The show also features Dave's wife, Morley, their two children, Sam and Stephanie and assorted friends and neighbours."

This American Life

"Official free, weekly podcast of the award-winning radio show "This American Life." First-person stories and short fiction pieces that are touching, funny, and surprising. Hosted by Ira Glass, from WBEZ Chicago Public Media, and distributed by Public Radio International."

The first two are new to me and recommended by our oldest. The third, This American Life, is
beloved. If I am ever in a coma, the kind where I might be aware, please have one of my kids buy the complete archives and play it for me, one show at a time, all day, to keep me sane. Really great.

Jennette just wrote about another podcast, Serial.

Still cleaning out pictures -

This is Burn Notice on Netflix, screen shot while I was watching on my iPad. If you notice the metal rack of glasses with leaves on them, on the left side of the picture, behind her, we had the exact same ones when I was little (I am 53).

I did not want to copy her picture. SO -
This is a Shutterbean picture, please click and go look. (Love her weekly recap in pictures.) I think this (son's first day of kindergarten) is one of the all time great pictures. I am showing it because she often includes a 'sign' in her pictures to commemorate a date. Really good idea. Not all the time. But sometimes. This is an actual thing with new babies now..

I bought this lamp at a garage sale. The woman just wanted it out of her sight because originally it had a glass (Tiffany kind of shade) and she broke it. I watched ebay and garage sales for replacement shade. I never had the lamp with me. I never figured out right shape and size. Finally took it to a lamp repair shop, in October, after years of using it without a shade in various rooms. I asked for help in knowing size and shape. Owner of shop said - I think I actually have something that will work in the back. She came out with this, used, $20. Sold. Color and size and style - perfect. 

Lending Library for kids on a neighborhood street.

A really great idea - a toddler safety seat next to the baby changing station in a women's bathroom. Middle and I saw these once, her iPod battery was dead, so we could not take a picture. Months later she was in another town with her boy and saw them again and this time got a picture.

"You'll always be my best friend, you know too much." On the pillow on the back of the couch. My therapist's office.

A weekend when we had a houseful including our little 6 year old. Yes, when we have a houseful, you can tell by the living room. You can also see just a peek at all things gaming to the left of the picture. That is a wooden water buffalo stool with the wii on it. There are two TV's and a whole host of electronics in that corner. Sprite bottle is either middle or youngest, on occasion helps with stomach. This is the puppet theater middle and I found at a garage sale the summer before last (I think). You can see a pile of puppets behind the theater and also a bin of them near the horse. That silver light (right side, on table) is from Walmart, has a nice heavy base and is great for detail work like painting. Pottery piece in far right corner of the picture is bust made by middle in high school art class. 

A corner of middle's room at college. Those elephants are cut from extra scrapbook paper. One is going the opposite direction, on purpose. The light fixture is from a garage sale. Have to have super low watt bulbs in it or it gets HOT.

This is also in middle's college room. It is the same one we give for Confirmation gifts. That is decorative washie tape (I think) around the light switch. Very middle.

Bag Lady

Remember the Halloween costumes post?

It took several days for me to think of a spot, in the house, to take those pictures. 

There are really no blank walls. And I needed a hook for hanging.

Our back door is rarely closed. So, I only see the garage side of the door and the screen door to the garage.

I realized the house side of the back door, rarely seen, would be a blank spot for taking pictures.

There was even a hook in place. (I used to have a wreath hanging on the door.)

Evidently, at some point in the past, I removed the wreath, turned the hook around to the house side of the door, and hung .   .   .

Yes, I hung bags from that hook.

At the point, getting ready to take Halloween costume pictures that day, I closed the door and saw the bags, I had absolutely no idea what was in them.

The brown paper bag had sewing supplies to be donated to a local high school that still has sewing classes. I delivered that bag.

The rest, the plastic bags, were (mostly) odds and ends that not even GoodWill would want.

Old mismatched socks, old headbands, a child's coin purse, a couple (now old) bottles of scented lotion, etc. 

There were 4-5 bags with just a few things each in them. 

From what I saw, dust, children's sizes, I think those bags had been hanging there for many years. 

I am sure my original intention was to pass on those items. 

Where I do not know, but I am sure that was the idea. 

I try very hard to donate or rehome rather than pitch. 

And if I had put the bags in the passenger seat of my car, I would have taken care of following through on whatever my plan was. 

If I had set the bags on the rug by the back door where I had to walk over them to get out the door, they would have gotten out to the car.

But because they were set in a slightly obscure place, the wrong side of the door, they went into never get done land.

Quite honestly I pitched everything but the socks which went into the puppet making bag.  One never knows when we might feel the need to make sock puppets.

But finding that hidden cache of junk, made me wonder what else I have sitting around, walk by daily, and just don't SEE.

And yes, I thought of Mrs. Dorfman.

Leaves

My husband sent these pictures (I was out of town) this week.
He just happened to catch all the action -

Each of the separate piles, at the ends of our driveways, were larger than a car. So, first the street sweeper comes and puts all the piles into one big pile that fills the culdesac. Yes, street is barely passable at this point. 

I think they leave the men there, working, just so we do not panic that they are leaving us boxed in our street.

Then, the big machinery arrives to actually remove the leaves. This process happens 2-3 times on our street each fall. People pulling into our street, with the leaf piles, larger than cars, in the street at the end of our driveways are sort of mind blown. We have to put the leaf piles in the street, otherwise the machinery would be up on our lawns. 

To be honest, we are so used to the piles we do not notice them. I didn't even really click with the fact that they were all gone when I pulled in the driveway on Friday. But as I said - middle's boy, youngest's carpool mom, friends just can't get over the size of the piles each year.

This is a picture from 2012 when the piles were just getting started. 

Refurbishing site, fun

I found this site, BetterAfter, by accident.

Middle and I went back through all the archives the week middle was home (after the hospital).

Some really cute things.

Occupied our minds in a very positive and fun way.

A good recovery activity.





Yes, there are a few things where I absolutely cringed that the wood had been covered by paint.

But mostly great ideas.

There are very few sites where I subscribe to their automatic feed, but this is one where I do.

Fun to get her new posts, always mostly pictures, in my email inbox.




Middle has now requested her boy take a woodworking class.

He was all for it if he can find one.

Actually, if you think about it, great idea for young people in general - a basic electricians class (not for wiring a house, but for things like rewiring a lamp or making a new one from odd things) and a basic woodworking class (enough to make shelves or refurbish the odd garage sale piece) and maybe a basic ceramic tile class.

As you know, middle is pretty creative. She really enjoys unusual things. And after I was garage saling this fall and saw the variety out there, for such low prices, we have talked a lot about these types of projects.

My dishwasher and I now have a peaceful relationship, no little signs needed

I try to live as hassle-free as possible.

Big things happen, little things happen, but if a habit or system can be set in place to take away the daily hassles, I am all over it.

If you open my dishwasher, at any time it is not running, the dishes are clean, always.

So we do not need a little sign that says "clean" or " dirty".

Unless you see all the lights and hear it running, the dishes are clean.

Any kid, at my house, knows they can open the dishwasher and get a clean item, if they are looking for something specific.

I have a long history with dishwasher filters getting built up/dirty. So all dishes are thoroughly rinsed and often scrubbed with a brush before they go in the dishwasher. Everyone at my house, including middle's boy, knows how I like the dishwasher loaded. They can do it. But honestly, I like to do it myself. So, I am happiest with the system where dirty dishes are left in the sink. Dirty dishes go in the sink, rinse first please. Set to soak if needed.

We eat mostly from home, we have a busy house. It is not hard to round up a load at any given time.

I empty the clean dishes. Then I either leave it empty, or refill and run immediately.

And I am no longer trying to fit as much as possible in the dishwasher.

If it is mostly full, I just go ahead and run it.

Sometimes I send my husband to hunt for odds and ends of dirties around the house. Sometimes I throw in a fruit/veggie dish from the island. I can always add a Kleen Kanteen or two. But if it is just mostly full, I just go ahead and start it. It makes things flow more smoothly, less stressful.

Because dishes are a constant around here.

If they were a frustration, it would be a constant thing. 

More dresses

The first post is here.

I ordered a few additional things to try.

I basically ordered all the Nine Wests with 3/4 or long sleeved that were warm (thick for cold weather which is now here). Because I now have a track record with Nine West, I only ordered smalls. In the other brands, I tried to order both small and medium, of each item, to try both sizes for comparison.



First, the rejects -

Way too much going on with this dress. Neither middle nor I liked it at all. 

This one is sort of the opposite (pattern placement wise) of the other reject (above), but it still did not work. We think we do not like the "belt". Even though the belt is part of the pattern, and is not an actual detached belt, it just doesn't work on me.

The Keepers -

Loved it. 

This was only available in a medium. And the medium fit just fine.

Ordered in a small and a medium because I was not sure of how this manufacturer fits me. It was the small that fit. This is the thinnest of all the dresses pictured (down to this point in this post) but I really liked it. Because it is long sleeved and I will wear with heavy tights or leggings, it is still warm.

Remember the Vera Wang from the last dress post?

Great dress. Still trying to decide. If I need a dressier winter weight dress, this would be a good one. If I just need more practical winter weight dresses, then I am not sure how durable this one will be. 

The second denim jacket ended up being a cold weather solution for me.

I wrote about winter weight dresses earlier in the week.

I wrote about my second denim jacket months ago.

Those two posts merged on Tuesday.

I discovered the slightly larger, squarer, second, denim jacket works perfectly over heavy weight dresses. Perfectly.

I had my alteration lady add inside pockets to the second jacket, when I discovered there weren't any.

I seriously, truly love these pockets for daily life around town (car fob, cell phone). And for travel (hotel room key, cell phone, money, passport, airline tickets). I very rarely carry a purse.

The more substantial second jacket felt a little bulky with summer weight dresses, tops and skirts. It is perfect with heavier winter clothes.

So I have my original jacket with the mended elbows for half the year and the new one for colder months.

I almost never wear denim (skirts, dresses, jeans), so the denim jackets go with most everything I wear (dresses mostly) and are definitely my GO TO items for every day life.

Yes, I wear other jackets. But not as much as I wear my denim ones.

And honestly, I should take my other favorites in for an alteration lady consult, because inside pockets in all of them would mean greater happiness.

Inside view of both jackets. Original, lighter weight jacket is on the left. The newer, heavier jacket is on the right. Original pocket on left, added pocket on the right. Tall, skinny pockets. Deep. Really love them.