Fire in My Belly

I’m feeling draggy and blah.  I thought I had a case of Cabin Fever. Food hasn’t been very interesting me to lately either. I thought it was trying to adjust to this month’s One Small Green Change of a lactose free diet.

I woke up with a fire in my belly. Actually, it was in my lower back. Turns out that fire in my back is a kidney infection. I have orders to take it easy, drink loads of cranberry juice (no stretch there. Cranberry is one of my favorite juices), and let the meds do their thing.

I’m good at many things – sewing, building, baking. I’m not very good at sitting around and being sick.

Being sick annoys me. It’s boring. My brain wants to me to start and finish items on my Do It Yourself Honey! List. My body says, “Fat chance girlie. I’m not leaving this sofa, unless it’s to take a nap in the bedroom.”

Fortunately, Blitzkrieg hasn’t left my side. He’s being extra snuggly because he senses I don’t feel well.

My special Pekingese powers make Lisa feel better when she is sick.

Stitched Love Note

Valentine’s Day gifts for Husband are hard. I use all my good gift ideas for Christmas.

 Husband usually gives me candy or flowers. I don't do that in case I duplicate. Although for our first Valentine’s Day, I gave him an anatomically correct chocolate heart.

18 years later it’s still in the box in the back of our refrigerator.  I’d show you the real thing but I’m too afraid to open the box.

 I told Husband he had my heart - and gave him this

 

Garage Workshop Transformation: Insulate the Garage Walls

Fiberglass insulation has the reputation for being a pain in the itch to install. Fortunately, I had a better experience than I expected with fiberglass insulation when I insulated the garage door.

Insulated garage wall

The Owens Corning Garage Door Insulation kit I used was not made with the recycled content and no itch Owen's Corning EcoTouch insulation. The door kit insulation made my hands itch mildly when I pulled the rolls from the box without wearing gloves but nothing like the persistent itch-fest I experienced after doing minor DIY jobs involving the brand my builder used.

My good experience with the fiberglass garage door insulation kit made me think differently about fiberglass insulation. It also made me want to try the EcoTouch insulation I read about while researching garage door insulation options. I agreed to join Owen’s Corning’s EcoTouch DIY Review Panel and blog about my insulation adventures. 

 My insulated garage door. It looks like pillows, doesn't it?

Hot Dog Pinewood Derby Car

This project is not mine but it’s so awesomesauce I must share it with the entire Internet. Yep. That. Cool.

Mr. G is racing in his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. With a little parental help, the kid needs to turn a block of wood, a weight, and some wheels into a car for the BIG RACE. 

It sounds fun. I wish Girl Scouts did something like that. Even at a young age, I'd use any excuse to break out the tools, ya know?

When his mom told me Mr. G wanted to go for style instead of speed, I expected Mr. G to make a car looking like the Batmobile (a thumbs up choice because we share the same taste in superheroes) or an ice cream truck to go with his career goal of being an ice cream man.

Clear Your Clutter: Five Temporary Garage Organizers

I’m participating in the Clear Your Clutter Challenge because my garage workshop project is making nothing but clutter in the garage.

I know things will get worse before they get better but I need a temporary fix. I have a big fat bruise on my arm (OW!) when a couple of tool cases leapt from a shelf and cannon balled onto my arms and head during a I-swear-I-put-it-in-the-garage type search. 

A garage clean up and temporary reorganization should put the workshop project back on track. It is either that or post Beware of Falling Power Tools signs all over the garage. Oh, heck I still might.

I want to spend as little money as possible on this project because all of my organization and storage will change in a few months when I build the new garage storage system. My repurposed freebies may not be the prettiest but they are doing the job for now. 

 This is my working plan for final garage project.

One Small Green Change: Lactose Free Diet

This is the hardest and most hateful One Small Green Change yet. Yep, worse than that first go around with the bad brand of recycled content sand toilet paper.

This may not technically count as a green change. Many people adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet for environmental reasons; I am trying to go lactose free for pure heath reasons. I have had upset stomachs and digestive issues for as long as I can remember. Turns out I’m lactose intolerant. 

I did not do much with that information, except change my diet to incorporate less processed food, and more grains, vegetables, and use meat as a condiment in recipes. That change got me off the prescriptions. I still ate ice cream, yogurt, and cheese with abandon. I seriously and most definitely love cheese.

It’s only in the last year that I switched to drinking soy, almond, rice, or coconut milk largely due to the Silk to Milk Challenge and buying milk alternatives for less thanks to my coupon database.

SOPA Shelved but Still Dangerous

Today, many websites are going black in protest of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) bills. SOPA has been shelved but may be rewritten. Unfortunately PIPA is alive and well.

If you don't understand what the hubbub is about and why you should be concerned about the bills passing, I embedded a video of notable bloggers explaining why SOPA and PIPA as they are currently written are a very bad idea if you like freedom of speech on the Internet.


If you want more information, http://www.blogworld.com/sopais a great place to start.


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