It's All in the Perception

I was crafty again ladies and germs (there's probably only one of you who will continue reading at this point though)!  Are you excited??

Over a year ago I posted a stupid game to my Facebook feed that suggested that I'd make a hand made gift for the first 5 people who responded.  I only recently followed through with my last one (I think).  Procrastinator much?  Frankly I was hoping she'd forget.  But who was I kidding?  A free anything for Natalie?  There is no WAY she'd forget.  And she's reminded me of it incessantly for the past 6 months or so.   

It took me a little while to think of something to make her that I hadn't already done.  New things keep me interested.  And I came up with transforming an old ornate picture frame into a serving tray.  So off to Goodwill I went and put my hands on an ugly gold leaf frame and then I came home and went to town. 

Here's the list of stuff you'll need.  Some of it you may already have on hand. 

• A picture frame wide enough to accomodate a handle.
• Two matching drawer pulls
• Glossy paint
• Modge Podge
• Photos and/or pretty paper
• A sponge brush

Now the simple directions...

First I painted the frame glossy black.  Black goes with everything and in this particular case I don't know what colours Natalie has decorated her house in or what her style is so it's best to play it safe.  I did two coats to make sure it was even. 

Then I had Eric drill through the two sides to accomodate the drawer pulls I've had in my possession since I scored them for free at a garage sale (knowing one day they would come in handy). 

Then I took the backing of the original picture and modge podged a bunch of photos I stole off of Natalie's Facebook page of her, her spouse, their super adorable baby and their pups, onto it - all collage like.  Then I applied a layer of modge podge over top for added protection.  The glass from the frame will help but in case some liquid spills and seeps underneath, the pictures are also protected. 

Then I reapplied the back and covered it all with some scrap book paper using modge podge.  Et viola!  A new serving tray with some personal touches.  It's a relatively easy craft that you could do with a slightly older child as a gift for a grandparent.  So there's another idea for you, get crafting! 

 

I Almost Believe That They're Real...

On Monday I was finishing up one of my nephew Sebastian's Christmas presents.  He loves getting a box of pictures; be it superheroes, characters from his favourite films and shows or family members, so I printed a bunch off and laminated them all for added longevity and protection.  The last bunch of photos I printed were family ones.  And as I sat there waiting for them to pass through the laminator, I found myself reminiscing about the specific moments captured in time with these photos. 

Of course I included snapshots of my dad in with the lot, and while I was glancing through, it dawned on me that it's going on three years since I last spoke to my dad.  While I know in my head what the anniversary is, in my heart at this exact moment while looking at his face,  I just didn't feel like that much time had gone by.  While I was looking through the photos it felt like I had just seen him...just talked to him.  Immediately the contents of that particular night captured in this picture came flooding back.  For crying out loud, I remember actual conversations from when that photo was taken.  And I think those memories fooled me into feeling like I'd just seen him.  I think the candid shots do this to me more than the posed formal photos he sat for do.  I'm finding it hard to explain myself with regards to this, I think.  But for a few moments, his death was surreal to me again and the dull throbbing, underlying pain of missing him wasn't there, for in my head I just talked to him.  We just shared some laughs (we had probably just made fun of someone).

It's taken me this long to realize that these photos, these treasures we all take for granted are keeping my memories of my dad alive....in a sense keeping him alive.  I still hear his voice when I look at the pictures.  I find it easier, in fact, to hear his voice while I'm looking at the snap shots rather than when I just close my eyes and try to remember.  I've decided I'm going to spend more time looking through my photos of my dad.  The photos that have captured him in a moment, a moment with a story and a memory behind it. 

It's a fitting week to make this discovery, as today is the 64th anniversary of the day he was born.  Today my gift to my dad is to think of him and smile.  And, to remind you all to get out there and live life and in the process snap a bunch of pictures.  Pictures that might make you cringe now, but will make you or someone smile another day.  Pictures of the good, the bad and the ugly.  The real pictures. 

Handsome Little Snow Men

Last year I decided to make some home made Christmas ornaments.  (Psst...follow that link if you want to see how I made cupcake ornaments.)  Any way, since I was finished my Christmas shopping early this year and everything is already wrapped and under the tree I was feeling a little lost.  I was feeling like I should be doing something and if I didn't find something quick to occupy my time with, the odds were strongly in favour of me spending more money on presents I shouldn't be buying.

So I decided to look up more home made Christmas Ornament ideas on Pinterest (Ya ya, I know it's probably redundant by now to even bother mentioning that site - but credit where credit is due.) and I found a bunch of ideas on this site.  There are a couple listed there that I'd like to attempt, but my first choice was the snowmen.  Mainly because I had 5 burnt out light bulbs around my house and all the supplies (Sally Home-maker, I am not!).  So I spent not one new cent on this project.  And I'll have you know, I got razzed for being so cheap that I wouldn't pay two bucks for a box of light bulbs, but I'm saving the environment yo!  Upcycling garbage at its finest right here.

So here's what I used:

• Burnt out light bulbs (or not burnt out light bulbs if you really hate the environment)
• Ornament hooks (I took these off of pre-existing ornaments I had with both a hook and string loop)
• Acrylic Paint (white, black, and orange preferred - but art is so subjective so use what you have)
• Yarn for the scarves
• White Sticky Glue (I really feel like that name is redundant.)
• An old black stretchy glove (because the kids hands have grown and really they don't keep'em warm anyway!)
• Textured sparkly snow paint (for added effect but most definitely not needed to get desired effect)
• Buttons (small, tiny ones)
• Rubbing Alcohol (not sure if Vodka will work or not, but it's worth a shot!  Wacka wacka!) and cotton pads or paper towels
• Scissors (because your teeth just won't suffice this time)
• Paintbrushes (different sizes but relatively small overall)

Step one:  Clean the bulb with rubbing alcohol.  Supposedly it helps the paint adhere to the glass better.  I don't know this fact to be true, but I did it none the less and I'm feeling confident about my paint job.

Step two:  Apply a coat of white paint to the entire glass part.  Yes, good luck finding something to hold the bulb after you paint it while it dries.  I cheated.  I held the socket end and used my blow dryer to dry the paint quickly.  I suppose I should have added that to the list of supplies.

Step three:  Apply a second coat of paint.  Repeat with the hair dryer.  I did this 5 times on 5 bulbs.  Two coats seemed to suffice.  You could probably do three but that would be overkill.  And ain't no one got time for that!

Step four:  Cut the finger tips off the mini stretch gloves using scissors.  And apply a coating of Sticky Glue to the entire socket of the bulb.  Then put the socket into the finger tip.  Easier said than done, but by the second one, I'd figured out an easy way of getting the job done without copious amount of glue on my fingers.  Turn the finger tip inside out and stick it on the end of the socket with your finger in the finger tip, then slowly pull the sides down turning it right side out again and covering the glue.

Step five:  While the glue is out, apply two dabs of it to the front of your little man and stick on two buttons.

Step six:  If you plan to use the 'snow paint' apply it now, liberally to the bottom.  Then attack that shit with your hair dryer.  You might as well blow some hot air on your newly glued buttons at the same time.

Step seven:  Use a fine tipped brush and apply the eyes with black paint.  Then using a different brush (because you don't want to have to stop to keep cleaning brushes) paint a sideways slightly tilted orange triangle.  Then paint a little black coal mouth.

Step eight:  Slip an ornament hook through the knitting on the 'hat'.

Step nine:  Using whatever colour of yarn you have on hand (I used four different colours, two strands of each) and braid a mini  'scarf'.  It gets cold hanging around on that tree waiting for Christmas you know!

Step ten:  Apply some sticky glue around the back of the snowman edging down as you come around to the front and stick the scarf right in it!  Then apply a little dab to unite the two ends of the scarf and voila!

I'm not going to lie or be modest here...I'm pretty sure my little snowmen are way better than the ones I got my inspiration from.  But of course I'm sure someone will top these ones too.  This was a relatively easy craft that I started and finished in two hours, tops.  I've already given two away.  I've decided to keep one and pass the other two along.  I'm still debating tackling another idea from that site.  So hold tight, you might get another tutorial!

What are you doing to find your Christmas spirit?

My Modern Day Superhero

From the moment I became a parent there has rested an underlying fear that my child would walk through life without ease.  That fear was enhanced on his first day of school.  Yes, up until I passed him off to a stranger for a half day of learning he was protected by me in our own little cocoon.  Then the angst that everyone else would like him to the same degree that I loved him set in.  I worried that other kids would be mean to him.  I worried that he would be bullied and have no friends.  Thankfully those fears have proven to be unfounded with Gage.  He was and still is well liked by all.

Growing up he was taught to defend himself at the hands and words of others.  I also expressed to him how important it was to defend his friends if he ever found them to be victims of bullying.  I taught him to use his words first, and when and if that failed, then he was equipped (by his father) to use his hands.  I refused to leave my son as a sitting duck.  He knew that as long as he was defending himself or a friend that I would defend him to the end even if it found me in a Principal's office.  He's had very few minor run ins through the years, thank goodness.  But this past month he found himself in a position that has left me feeling very proud of his actions.

Since he's started at this particular high school (three years ago) there have been a minimum of 2 teenage suicides as a result of bullying.  A couple of weeks ago a casual friend, but more of a friendly acquaintance, who isn't too popular and pretty quiet was being targeted on Facebook by another student.  It was a pretty harsh attack by someone who clearly believed they were a lot tougher on line than I gather they would be face to face.  After a barrage of insults directed at this victim who refused to respond the bully upped the ante and started targeting  homosexuals that ended with a lot of hateful words and death threats about gay people.   At this point Gage (who has gay friends) stepped in.  After the bully turned on Gage, Gage responded with a promise to finish that conversation in person at school the following day.    So he did, but only after taking screen shots of the entire Facebook conversation.

He approached the bully at school and threatened him with bodily harm if this kid ever spoke to the victim, himself or about homosexuals like that again.  He then walked away with nothing physical happening, just a warning.    Yet he was summoned to the principals office the next morning after the bully tattled on Gage for threatening him while 'surrounded' by his group of friends (which wasn't entirely true).  Unbeknownst to the bully and the principal who was prepare to dole out harsh punishment, Gage produced a slew of pictures depicting the bullying and hateful comments this kid made about homosexuals as an explanation to why he threatened this kid.  Needless to say the tune of the principal changed, Gage received a "lecture" about reporting him instead of threatening him (but over all received praise for stepping in and defending a friend) and was requested to email all the photos to the principal.

Later that day Gage wandered past the office to see this 'kid' and his father walking in to meet with the principal and two uniformed police officers.  I'm not sure what sort of punishment this kid got or if the police presence was merely a scare tactic but these ideals and opinions are learned somewhere.  I'm not sure his father will follow through with any sort of punishment.  I myself am so grateful that the ideals and opinions that my son learned were tolerance and respect for everyone regardless of their race, creed, gender or sexual orientation.  I'm so glad he was quick thinking enough to take screen shots because of course by the next day this kid had deleted everything he had written.  My kid made me proud and I still would have been proud had it come down to fisticuffs while defending the rights of homosexuals and the right for a student to go to school without fear.

Is the right answer to bully the bully?  I don't know... that's such a difficult, multi-faceted question with probably varying opinions on what is the best way to handle it.  But I do know this:  the victim knew he wasn't alone.  Someone had his back.  And sometimes that's all the victim needs to know to keep waking up every day and venturing into the abyss that high school can be.   I'm glad for someone, my kid was kind of a hero.

Taking Control

For longer than I care to imagine I have lived with and suffered from Irritable Bowel Syndrome or for those lucky enough to not be in the know, IBS for short.  And it's a pain in the patootie (quite literally some days but more so a pain in the guts).  I think by now the stigma has been lifted off this chronic illness and most people know what it is it.  But in the event that you just aren't too sure, it's a problem that causes chronic abdominal pain, discomfort, bloating, and an alteration of bowel habits, meaning diarrhea and constipation are in a constant battle with each other.  Ya, it's super fun!

I know I probably could have eased some of my symptoms if I chose carefully what I consume, drank more water, ingested pro-biotics, but I'm pretty stubborn and I refused to change my eating and nutrition habits.  Frankly I just didn't really think those subtle changes would improve it even if I bothered.  Besides I love eating and I hate water and I loathe taking pills.  Not the effects of the pill so much as the actual act of swallowing the pill.  Ya ya, I know I'm lame.

However, about 9 months ago I was introduced to a chiropractor (I was so sceptical of those guys) and I learned that proper alignment in the lower spine can actually help with IBS.  So I thought, "Ah what the hell, I have benefits through work that cover chiropractor visits.  What do I have to lose?"  And I've been seeing Marco and Adam at Healthy Beginnings ever since.   I didn't see complete relief from my symptoms but after time (about 4 months) I definitely did see a decrease in the number of flare ups I'd have.

I also decided about 8 weeks ago to start a 'learning to run' program.  I've been doing the 0 to 5K app that I installed on my iPhone (gosh these things really are handy dandy) and I haven't flaked out yet.  That's HUGE props for this girl.  That alone earns bragging rights because for those of you that know me, you are well aware that I gain interest in things very quickly but I have also been known to lose interest in those things just as quickly.  So yeah me!

So this program starts a newbie runner off with intermittent walking and running and slowly increases the length of running versus the length of walking.  I'm making my way through the program at a slower pace than they have it set up for, but I don't want to get in over my head and then just walk (maybe even run) quickly away from the hard work I've put in thus far.  I've been forcing myself not to cheat, not even for 5 seconds (and sometimes those 5 seconds can feel like an eternity).  I'm about half way through the program, which means I can run 2.5K.  Like whoa!

Around the time I started this program I started taking a daily multi-vitamin, 2000 mg of fish oils a day and drinking 3-4 yoghurt and fruit (home-made) smoothies a week.  I also started being more consciously aware of how much water I should be putting into my body and I'm making a successful effort to drink at least 6 - 8 oz glasses a day.  I've also gotten away from my terrible habit of eating only one meal a day; dinner.  Now I eat something for breakfast and I snack on something every couple of hours throughout the day and eat a larger meal at dinner.  I can honestly say I no longer have headaches or feel like I want to eat my children when I get home each day.

And because running for 'no real reason' (except to say I'm a jogger and hopefully my legs will be smoother) isn't crazy enough I also decided to sign up for Boot Camp work out classes twice a week with a co-worker.  I'm into my 3rd week now of these classes and while I dread them, I secretly enjoy them.  Josh at Go Fitness Niagara  who runs the program changes it up enough for each class that they are never the same, but the results are the same two days later;  aches and pains!  My muscles are screaming at me lately.  But I figure if they are screaming then I definitely worked them!  I'll admit, it's getting harder and harder to go out and run when my body is killing me after these work outs.  But a few minutes in and the muscles get warmed up and things get a teeny bit easier.

I've also just recently started another program/app that I found for my phone that helps me keep track of the number of calories I ingest each day.  In order to get myself to the weight I want, I have to maintain between 1500-1600 calories a day and this program figures it all out for me when I enter my food intake.  I was out for dinner with friends the other night and while I was explaining My Fitness Pal to Kori, and in the process mentioned wanting to lose 20 lbs, she immediately responded with, "That's too much!".  I thought about it last night and then researched the ideal weight for a woman of my height this morning (because I realized I agreed with her) and discovered that I should only be losing 10 lbs, not 20 so I've adjusted my numbers going forward.

I guess the reason I'm telling you all of this is because I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a spell with my IBS.  I can't pin it down to one specific thing that I'm doing that's helped it because I've made numerous changes.  I'm almost afraid to stop any one of these things out of fear that it's the catalyst to 'curing' my IBS.  I'm pretty sure though it's a lovely cocktail of all of these things.  Needless to say I'm loving it!  I don't have quite as much worry when I'm out and about.  I do know it's, without question, been over a month since I had a flare up but probably even longer.

I originally really bucked the idea of making lifestyle changes for many years, but now that I've done some it's getting easier and easier.  I'm finding with the decreased amount of crap I'm eating that the cravings for said crap have also decreased.  It's so much easier to say no to that chocolate bar or can of pop than I ever anticipated.  I guess I've come to learn that I'd rather waste my limited daily calories on something I'm really going to enjoy.  I still catch myself with my hands in the candy jar, but thankfully it's before I've opened the candy and popped it in my mouth and I just put them back.

So here's to a future with limited or no IBS, a better, healthier lifestyle while being 10 lbs lighter and a toned up body!  Pretty small goals considering everything.   I can do this!  I can do this!   My next little goal to add to my changes is eating much more healthy.  I'm not sure I can go completely clean but I'm going to give it a real try overall.  I know I'll still cheat from time to time if we go for dinner or something, but I'm sure every bit of effort will help in the long run.

False Advertising

The other day I was directed to a blog posting written by a girl in Australia via a friend on Facebook.  I'm glad I ventured there.  In her blog she did a little experiment to try to dis-spell a myth; or rather a false truth.  After reading it I thought, I want to try it!  So I did.  This morning.  It took me roughly 40 minutes from start to finish using what I had in my house and the effects buttons on my phone camera.  I did not 'Photoshop' any of the picture(s); meaning I didn't 'erase' any edges or blur out any specific flaws.  The only effects I used were the filters on my iPhone photo app.  The rest was all manipulated by me, the human.

The before picture was taken at 9:15 this morning.  In it I wore a practical, really unpleasant looking, old, greying, yucky bra that probably should have been thrown out a year ago.  I also wore underwear that I've had for about 6 years now.  They look so good because they are in fact too small for me so I don't wear them.  But they are pretty so I haven't thrown them out either.  Found those jammed in the very back of my top drawer.  Upon donning these amazing articles of clothing,  I stood with my legs together, which helps push the fat of my inner thighs into each other, thus making them look even bigger.  I also pushed my stomach out and hunched my shoulders over (which is hard for me to consciously do as I have great posture).  I left my arms laying against my body because that simple move, or lack there of, in fact makes your arms appear wider.  I didn't put on any make up and I put my hair up in an unflattering style.  I didn't use any filter and I zoomed in on the picture so it was "nice" and close.  Et voila, picture number one is complete and it's a rather unflattering looking ME!  It's no where near where I want my body to be in a restful state, but I know it could be so much 'worse'.

Now on to the after picture.  This photo was taken at 9:30 a.m. on the very same day!  Yah, you read that right, a mere 15 minute transformation.  You won't ever guess how many sit ups I squeezed into that 15 minutes! Hint:  None.  In this picture I put my hair down, I added some make up to my face.  I put on a smile of pride.  I pulled my shoulders back to where they usually sit and I put on a bra that actually gives my humongous girls a lift.  I also put on a pair of underwear that actually fit me.  Then I stuck my ass out and threw my hip out and bent my arms placing my hands on my hips and lower back.  Finally I sucked that stomach in!  After a few pictures at different angles, I cropped the shit out of one of the pictures and zoomed out.  Then I added a nice filter to "even out" my skin (tanned always looks smoother than pasty white) and give it a smoother appearance.

So here's the before and after of my body with only 15 minutes between photos.

I could probably lie and suggest these photo ops took place a month or so apart and claim that I've lost 5 - 10 lbs, but that would be a total lie.  Much like the before and afters on those diet pill ads.

The best before/after I've ever seen is my friend Erinn.  You want to know why? Because I KNOW her and I know how hard she's worked and how long it's taken for her to have that amazing before/after shot (see below).  I KNOW this picture is legit.  I'm not sceptical about it.   She's worked super duper hard and earned every defined muscle.  And if you check out her blog, she's got great tips and ideas for getting to the same spot as her.

While my before and after is merely there to show you how deceiving these pictures can be, Erinn's before and after is there to show you how far your body can come if you do the right things.  Relying on diet pills to get you to where she is would be a huge mistake, a waste of money and time and very, very unhealthy.  I'm far from where she is and I'm pretty sure her end goal is different than mine, but with some changes in my lifestyle I'm slowly going to get to a point where I won't have to suck in my gut, stick my ass and hip out and use filters to brag about my body.