Maybe we're not drowning

There's a lot going on in my little world over here. We all kind of orbit in our own universes, don't we? Anyway, I've been doing some cocooning this week. Reading, thinking, feeling. It's why you haven't seen a lot from me on IG (if you're following me there). 

I'm a writer. Not just by trade or by choice or by passion, but by necessity because explaining the sh*t outa things is my superpower. It's been a long time since I've written any fiction, which is kind of important and kind of frivolous (depends on your perception, I guess). But I haven't done it. It's been 18 months since I've written any fiction to completion. I miss that part of me but my emotional energy has been pointed in another direction and I takes a ton of energy to write and write WELL. 

Today I was reflecting on one of my favorite pieces I've written. It's only a small piece, not even short story length, but it remains as what I believe is some of my best work. 

You see, I took a class at the community college last fall,  Creative Writing, with the hopes that it would get me back in the saddle, so to speak. It didn't, but that's neither here or there. I turned in this favorite piece titled In Your Atmosphere. My friend had dared me to title all of my assignments with John Mayer lyrics. Challenge. Accepted. 

This piece was my submission for our critique process. It was fascinating to hear these young people critique my writing. The most intriguing part was the interpretation of my use of rain. Pouring rain is central to the piece. And water is usually, as the professor pointed out, a symbol of a baptism or a drowning. I fully intended this character to be drowning. Hopeless, giving up, can't breathe drowning. I channeled every bit of drowning I could muster into that piece. 

Here's the kicker. 

They all read it as a baptism. A washing clean. A fresh start. And I couldn't say any different because my job was to shut up and take notes to edit my work. 

So today, as I'm cocooning and reading and thinking, I've been thinking about the idea that maybe when we think we're drowning we're bring reborn. I don't know. Because  seriously I don't know anything. (Except for why we have wisdom teeth. That I know.) But drowning/baptism/dying/reborn, maybe it's all one in the same and it's how we think about it that's different? 

I'm not getting all glass is half full or half empty on you because as a wise person once said, "what's important is that the glass is refillable." I don't know who said it, but they were so right. 

So, Bombshells, if you feel like your drowning, maybe you're actually being baptized. And maybe I am too. 

REVIEW: Castile Soap Bar Company

It seems food is the easiest transition on this journey towards a chemical-free eco-friendly life, doesn't it? But when it comes to our Bombshell beauty routine it's a little more tricky. I'll be honest, it took a long time to pry the overly perfumed body gel out of my hands. Finally, though, I had to admit what I already knew – I was layering on harmful chemicals every time I showered.

So, I did what everyone does when they're looking for natural, chemical-free soap; I bought a super popular castile soap. The thing was, I just didn't like it. In the winter it was too drying and it the bar left me with a sticky film feeling. Disappointed, and entirely at a loss, I pulled out a bottle of the chemical-filled body wash remaining under my sink only to learn how harsh it really was when my legs began to itch unbearably every night. I felt stuck, frustrated, and a little bit bitter. Was it too much to ask for a nicely scented soap that wasn't harmful to me or the environment? 

Like a gift from the Universe, I received an inquiry from the Castile Bar Soap company. Did I want to try out their castile soap bars? I was hesitant. The castile soap I'd used in the past was not what I wanted out of a body wash or bar. But I figured I'd give it try, hoping they might be different. 

AND THEY WERE! 

The Castile Soap Bar Face and Body bar is cruelty free, organic, and free from sodium laurel sulfate. I received two different soaps, each organic and each touted as a "face and body" bar. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm usually skeptical of any soap that claims I can use it on both my face AND my body. I have pretty sensitive skin so the likelihood that something strong enough for my body is going to be gentle enough for my face is slim. As it turns out, my fears were completely unfounded.   

I received both the Complexion Correction Aloe Vera bar and the Detox Calendula bar (and look at that lovely personalized card they sent, too!). The Complexion Correct bar is hands down my favorite soap I've ever used. It's completely different from any castile bar I've used before. It's like a glycerin bar married a mild castile bar and had super-soap babies. I really could use it on my face, and get this, it really did help my complexion, which, given the early heat we had this spring, was a huge bonus. 

As for the Detox Calendula bar, I found it to be closer to a traditional castile, but with some fabulously unique elements; specifically the bits of what I believe were almond shell that helped to remove dead skin and detoxify at a deeper level.

Castile Soap Bar Company soap has become our family soap now. Safe for children, gentle on sensitive skin, and strong enough for my workout crazy husband, we won't be going back to our old ways. 

If you have been dragging your feet on switching your personal care products, you won't regret replacing your old chemical-filled body wash with this delicious and delicate castile soap. 

Want to know more about Castile Soap Bar Company? Try it for yourself! Visit CastileSoap.com or check them out on Facebook. 

I went MIA, I'm sorrynotsorry

Hey there Bombshells, long time no talk! I'd apologize but I'm not really sorry. Before you get indignant on me, hear me out. My health stuff had to come first, it just had to, you understand.
It's been a whirlwind of doctors appointments and health challenges of late. Bouts of fatigue intermixed with the monthly endometriosis super happy fun time, and well, I just had to put the blog down for a minute.

I'm happy to say it's been mostly good news. Tests for any autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis came back negative, but it's confirmed my thyroid disease is, in fact, autoimmune. So that's sucky. Turns out, the fun part of autoimmune diseases is they tend to run in packs. So, like, once you get one you get a few others because ain't no party like an autoimmune party – evidently. I have some weird autoimmune thing going on with the skin on my legs which meant I had to have all this stuff frozen off and I have to wear pants for a month, but that's no big deal, and we have to keep watching me for rheumatoid arthritis because it runs in my family, but I'm relatively healthy NOW, and that's really the most important thing.

In light of all the good news, I decided to celebrate at Disneyland! EVERY SINGLE MONTH! Okay, not really every single month, but close. One of the perks to living in Southern California is the close proximity to The Happiest Place on Earth. For me, Disneyland really is the Happiest Place on Earth. You may be wondering how this fits in with my goal of chemical free living but it isn't as bad as you think. I'll be writing about my time there and how I make the world's most popular theme park fit in with my lifestyle.

Lots of fun and happy things to come, my friends. So glad you're all along for the ride!

On Health and Being Whole

I have a confession. I've been putting off seeing any more doctors. For anything.

It's terrible, I know. I have to take care of myself so I can take care of my kids blah blah blah.

I know.

The thing is, this health stuff isn't textbook illnesses that are easy to diagnose. Knowing what I'm up against, having been down the road of "you're just a tired new mom" and "take some vitamins" and all the other ways doctors show they aren't listening, I'm have some serious trepidation about . Right now, I've chosen to start at the rheumatologist. Since my ANA test came back positive at the end of last year, my doctor and I have decided I should start at the rheum to rule out diseases like Hashimoto's Disease before I go to an endocrinologist to tackle my thyroid problems. It could be my Meniere's Disease setting off the ANA. Hashimoto's could be the culprit in this never ending pit of thyroid disfunction. Or I could have something else altogether. As much as I'd like to avoid it, I have my first appointment next week.

I was just thinking I was doing really well, too. You see, the body aches have all but disappeared. After some basic allergy testing, we found that I'm not allergic to soy, or wheat, or eggs, and definitely don't have Celiac's – if there was an opposite of Celiac's, I would have that – and maybe I'm a little allergic to cow's milk but we had already done a trial and cow's milk wasn't the cause of the body aches. So, using my amazing reasoning skills (HA HA) I decided to cut out peppers and chillies. I've always been allergic to bell peppers so I thought maybe my body was getting fed up with me eating jalapeños, habaneros, and dried chilies with such reckless abandon. It. Was. Heartbreaking. I love spicy food. But I did it, I gave it up, and so far so good. No body aches. Whaaahoooo!

But then reality hit me. I had a two week span of mild, yet highly annoying, vertigo. And my afternoons have absolutely sucked. I mean SUCKED in ALL CAPS. The three-to-five o'clock hours are filled with such intense fatigue, I am sometimes brought to tears, but more often brought to an afternoon cup of coffee. And two months ago I started having night sweats not unlike those I had postpartum. Are they endo related, thyroid related, peri-menopause related (geez, I hope not since I'm only 37), I have no idea! And Monday, just three days ago, after 20 years of never realizing I had the disease, after 20 years of never having pain outside of my period, the endometriosis hurt. It hurt bad, Bombshells. Leg-shaking, breath-holding, trouble driving pain.

So, I'm starting with the rheum because I miss being healthy. I miss being whole. This onslaught of health issues, it's left me bewildered and scared. Though, to be perfectly honest, I haven't actually processed any of this…still. Yet. But I want to be whole. And if they have to cut parts out of me to make me whole, I need to process that. But I'm not there yet. I'm working on it. Eventually, I'll be whole.

REVIEW: e-cloth Kitchen Cloth Pack

As I work to reduce the chemical load in my home, I'm constantly searching for replacement products for household cleaners. When I was at ShiftCon in October of last year, I received an e-cloth Kitchen Cloths pack. This simple cleaning system consists of two cloths, one microfiber Kitchen Cloth with a "Scrubbing Pocket" corner and one Glass and Polishing cloth.

Here's the most incredible thing about these ecloths – you use only water to clean your entire kitchen.  And when I read that I was like, "Whuuuuut? C'mon, that's impossible!" But it so isn't and it so wasn't.

I couldn't believe how well I cleaned my stove top with just warm water and the Kitchen Cloth. That little scrubbing corner lifted up food and grime right off my stove like it was nothing. I could even get into the rounded corners of the burner depressions. Here's the craziest part. The microfiber cloth removes 99% of bacteria from surfaces. It's safe for granite, marble, glass, stainless steel…you name it, it's safe to clean it!

My kitchen is lacking windows, so I used the Polishing Cloth on my bathroom mirror and backyard slider. Let me tell you, I have never been so relieved to find a replacement for that toxic blue glass cleaner. The kids' leave grubby hand prints on every mirror (why are though even touching the mirror???), window, and surface in our home, but they were no match for the Polishing Cloth. Spray a little water on your mirror or glass and use the dry Polishing Cloth to wipe away the prints, smudges, and water spots leaving it sparkling clean and clear.

Stop by their website and grab an e-Cloth Kitchen Pack for yourself. I think you'll be thrilled with the results and relieved to have made one more step towards a chemical-free home.