Eeek!! Age Spots...

If you're under 35, you may stop reading now. Or, you can file this away for when you get past 35. Either way.

For those OVER 35, I have a question for you. Do you suffer from age spots? (Do I sound like a retirement home commercial yet?) I'm talking about those brown spots, aka "liver spots" that start appearing on your skin when you're "of a certain age."

Well, I have them. I've had them for a while. A FEW of them. About 2 years ago they discovered one another and decided to congregate. They found that, together, they were a formidable force with which to be reckoned. Gathering confidence, they became bold in their color.

One day, I looked down at my forearm and, lo, a FEW had become a two-inch oval. What the heck? Day after day my eye was drawn to this dark brown patch. It was becoming darker. I could feel my gray hairs gloating about there being another sign to indicate the abundance of my years.

Mutiny. That's what it was.

So, of course, I looked up the culprits. I am a fan of natural methods of treating the body before heading off to the doctor. Not that the doctor would or could do much about it. My eye doctor snorted when I asked why my eyesight was suddenly no longer 20/20. The answer, "You're getting old." Thanks.

Anyway, back to the Patch of Doom. Several sites mentioned using Castor Oil. Well, why not? As long as I don't have to ingest it, I'm game.

So I began to rub Castor oil on the Oval of Old-Age in the morning and the evening. About three weeks later, I could swear I saw a little lightening of the area. I showed my husband. He said it looked the same.

Another three weeks passed and, I'm not kidding, it is 90% GONE! I have compared my arms with one another, I have brandished the area about in every type of light that I could...and it seems to be working!

I don't have a "before" picture (never thought of that!), but The Mark of Agedness is seared in my memory.

I am a believer. I endorse Castor Oil.

Consider this a Public Service Announcement.

Resolutions Tuesday: 6 Weeks to Go

Area 1: Weight

I'm scared. I love the holiday season. Love it. I also dread it because, of course, the holiday season is replete with dangerous landmines as regards weight loss. I do NOT want to end 2011 having lost ONLY FIVE FREAKIN' POUNDS! Not good. I'm an adult. I don't have any physical issues beyond being over 40. What IS my problem? It's rather embarrassing to have posted about this all year and have a measly five-pound-loss to show for it. I've overcome a lot of things in my life, but this one is kicking my butt. I don't have an answer to this for me, but I am determined to find one.

Area 2: Family

Thanksgiving is coming up this week, but I'm going to give some thanks right now.

I have a husband who is godly man, the epitome of a Southern gentleman, an amazing provider, loves me even when I'm not very lovable, and an amazing example of a husband and father for our son to emulate. I am a blessed wife.

I have a son who is not a follower. He knows his own mind (even at 2yo!) and has a sense of justice that will serve him well as an adult. He's very funny and very talented. He has a sweet spirit with no "jadedness." (Is that a word?) Last night at church he and a five-year-old boy were walking around holding the hands of an 18mo little girl. They were just walking around being careful with her and enjoying the fun around them. I can't remember and can't imagine life without him. I am a blessed mother.

That's not to say that they are not both very human. We all have are less-than-stellar moments. Doesn't matter. I'm thankful for their being in my life. My life is better because of them.

Area 3: Schedule

I have made it my daily purpose to attempt to work as diligently as I imagine Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother did. For example, they camped for a few days near a river and Ma's first job the very next morning (after breakfast and washing that up) was to get to the laundry. My first desire after traveling for days would be to sleep in, check my emails, and maybe go out for breakfast. I have been keeping Ma in mind as I embark on each morning's tasks. It's amazing how much work I have accomplished! I have it SO much easier with all the appliances, etc. Now I'm seeing some headway in the tasks that I've been putting off with the declaration that I "don't have enough time." Ma Rules!

I've decided that my "hit and miss" style of blogging is annoying me.  I seem to write in a "feast or famine" style, churning out 5 posts in a row and then disappearing for 2 weeks.  I don't like that.  I've set up a tentative schedule that might work for me.  I intend to blog five days a week, taking the weekends off.  For my initial routine I'm going to try to write Monday's posts about something vintage, Tuesday's posts will be my Resolution Tuesday updates until the end of the year, Wednesday's posts I'm hoping to develop something along the lines of a series--short or long, Thursdays will be something about daily life that I just HAVE to share with you, and Fridays I'm hoping to do a sort of food report as I'm working through  my food stock to reduce the amount of money spent for food.  That's where I'm going to start (this week!), but I will adjust as I go. 

SO, that means you have to (you must!) read my posts during the week but I'll let you have the weekend for other, less important activities like, I don't know, your own life.  My blog is THAT important.  (I see you rolling your eyes!)

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I've had issues with styes since I was 16yo. That first one appeared the morning of my FIRST DATE with my now dh. I slathered on the makeup and he didn't notice. I actually have a scar from that one! I've been reading up on natural ways to deal with them and thought I'd share some of the things I've done that seemed to help in the past.

Definition of stye and chalazion

If you are prone to them, gently wash eyelash area each morning with baby shampoo.

If one develops, use hot compresses to relieve pain and then use castor oil to help them heal. It works pretty fast when I do this.

If you develop a chalazion (which I had never heard of before until one showed up about four months ago), apply the castor oil several times a day, using a hot compress on top. So far the one I'm dealing with is still there, but I can tell that it's getting smaller. I have been doing this only at bedtime, but I'm hoping that several times a day will get this thing gone already!

Area 5: Debt

Two steps forward, one step back. Now our chimney might need a new liner to the tune of $1500. If we don't get it fixed, we'll have to get a drop of kero which would use up $1000 of that for this winter. If we go ahead and get it fixed, it's fixed and we'll use that source (wood stove) for the next however many years. The wood is all done (dh has worked from spring until today gathering it), so it's just this issue of the chimney. It may be one step back, but we're still doing the two steps forward!

Area 6: Garden

TODAY I am going to go ahead and process the Brussels Sprouts. That will mean we can completely put the beds, well, to bed for the winter. I've covered the areas with the compost I've been working on and a tiller should be available soon to turn it all under. I'm actually thinking about adding another bed. We'll see if we can get to that before the weather gets really bad. I have made copious notes of what I did and what I will NOT do next year. Maybe next year's efforts will produce better!

Resolution Tuesday: 27 Weeks to Go

For my first post back from my unintentional hiatus, I thought I'd catch up on my accountability. Therefore, weeks, 28 - 31 will be rolled into this summary and then I'll make a better effort to stay up-to-date. My next post will be in July. Can you believe it's almost July?

Area 1: Weight

For two weeks in July, my husband and I painted the interior of a customer's vacation home--on "The Cape." (Cape Cod for the unfamiliar.) The customer asked if he would be willing to do this, and would be welcome to bring his family along. When he told me about it, the "yes" came zipping out so fast I think I screeched a little bit. We had an AWESOME time during the day playing at the beach, visiting the historical areas, enjoying an antique car show...and eating. I did a lot of cooking (trying to save money), but that did nothing for my waistline. Thankfully the walking and biking kept extra pounds off, but there was definitely no loss. I'm back on track this week. The evenings and early morning were spent prepping, painting, wallpapering and repairing the entire interior. And cleaning. That place sparkled when we got through with it!



Area 2: Family

See above. That was probably one of the best vacations we've had, especially in the family dynamics. One of the (many) reasons things went so well is that I've actually taken up a new word as a reminder of what I want to be like: Radiant. As I've mentioned before, I can be very grumpy. When I wanted to complain about having finished the 162 steps to the top of the Pilgrim Monument, I remembered my "word." I smiled. It might have been a grimace of pain to others, but I was definitely trying!

When my son wanted to misbehave, I remembered my word and put not just a smile, but a radiant smile on my face as I encouraged him to go the right direction. It helped me to have the right frame of mind to fix the behavior, not be upset with the person.

When it was midnight and my husband was working, I didn't complain about MY being tired. I remembered "radiant," smiled, and chatted with him about how enjoyable our vacation was and how I appreciated his willingness to provide it for us.

My default has been less (much less) than radiant. I'm trying to reset my default!

Area 3: Schedule

I'm pulling things back together (sort of emergency mode) after all the tearing up of our house that has occurred. The basement flooded (the FINISHED basement that is no longer finished), and the roof leaked in very horrible ways. Belongings are all out of place and decidedly NOT attractive. I'm wading in, though (pun intended), and intend to bring order to all of this over the next few weeks. Yes, it's so bad that week(S) will be necessary. Though disheartening, we are FAR, FAR better off than the victims of the true flooding that has happened all over the country. So, I'll amp up the radiance and get to work!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I tried my best not to get a sunburn, but I did get some tan. Though I applied sunscreen to my lower arms the "age spots" from previous sun damage have increased again. I have been applying the Castor oil as I posted about before HERE.

Area 5: Debt

The most discouraging part of all the house damage is the financial setback. Along with ceiling repairs, foundation sealing and painting, and loss of belongings, the water in the attic set up a lovely bout of mold in the insulation. We have to hire someone to "contain" it and then replace the insulation. Oops! I mean, ...

Area 6: Garden

The garden is growing like weeds--along with all the weeds that grew while we were gone. I'm hoping to get to some of it today as this is the only non-rainy day since we've gotten back.

I made a little mistake when I planted the garden. I was trying to fit THAT in between rainstorms (the day after I planted we had hail) and it completely slipped my mind to indicate WHAT I planted. Yep, no labels. I recognize some things, but the lettuces are unfamiliar. I hope I don't accidentally pick weeds and put them into our salads!