Sorry that I've been slacking off on my posting. This is the end of the year, and as usual, it's my busy time. So, I've been around, but I've been working rather than updating my blog. On top of that, it has been crazy holiday party season around here, so I've had to cram all of my work into the week while we travel on the weekends. Chaos at its finest.
This weekend we're spending some time at home. It's the beginning of my husband's vacation time for the holidays and we don't have any commitments. It took a lot of finagling to get that to happen, but we did it! We're going to bake cookies and watch movies... but of course I'll have to work.
Actually, I took another assignment at the last minute, which is why I won't get to relax with my husband during his 2 weeks off. But this assignment was worth $300 and we have a lot of bills to pay, so I took it. No matter how much money I make, it seems like it's never enough. Story of my life, I guess.
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know where I've been lately and where I'll be the next couple of weeks.
If I'm not on here before the holidays, Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 19, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Finacea Review - The Beginning
Well guys, I finally did it. I went and saw a dermatologist about my rosacea. I've been suffering for a little over a year now. It began when I was pregnant with my youngest and soon it spread to envelope my entire face. My eyes are red rimmed and I look like a prepubescent teenager that never showers, but manages to find time to smoke a lot of crack. It's a good look - really it is.
I'm so sick of being red and bumpy with red-rimmed eyes all the time. I made an appointment in September to see the dermatologist and my appointment just came up (thanks, universal healthcare... that should have been my sarcasm font, if you didn't catch that). Thankfully, she was really nice.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot of things I can use because I'm still nursing my 8-month old. The dermatologist did tell me about 1 product that's "probably safe", but relatively untested in nursing mothers. It's called Finacea.
Now, Finacea is considered class B in the 2nd and 3rd term of pregnancy, with no ill effects on the developing baby, so I figured it's probably pretty safe for nursing. I said to go ahead and send the Rx over.
With my insurance, it would be a $30 copay to get it. That was pretty steep because I'm not used to spending that kind of money on facial care products. Maybe that's why my rosacea is so bad? Who knows. I went over to the manufacturer's website for reviews to see how it worked before I spent that kind of money and I wound up finding a coupon good for $30 off your first 4 prescriptions! With the coupon, my cost is $0!
So now I get to try Finacea for free for up to 4 months. I'll know by then if it's working or not, so for me it's a win all around. If it works, great and if it doesn't work, I'm not out anything.
I've used it twice now. Once last night and once this morning. After the very first application my pores shrunk and my skin was noticeably smoother. I'm not exaggerating, my husband noticed it too. My face was so rough that the change was easily detected.
I'm going to keep using the Finacea and report back periodically with my progress.
I'm so sick of being red and bumpy with red-rimmed eyes all the time. I made an appointment in September to see the dermatologist and my appointment just came up (thanks, universal healthcare... that should have been my sarcasm font, if you didn't catch that). Thankfully, she was really nice.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot of things I can use because I'm still nursing my 8-month old. The dermatologist did tell me about 1 product that's "probably safe", but relatively untested in nursing mothers. It's called Finacea.
Now, Finacea is considered class B in the 2nd and 3rd term of pregnancy, with no ill effects on the developing baby, so I figured it's probably pretty safe for nursing. I said to go ahead and send the Rx over.
With my insurance, it would be a $30 copay to get it. That was pretty steep because I'm not used to spending that kind of money on facial care products. Maybe that's why my rosacea is so bad? Who knows. I went over to the manufacturer's website for reviews to see how it worked before I spent that kind of money and I wound up finding a coupon good for $30 off your first 4 prescriptions! With the coupon, my cost is $0!
So now I get to try Finacea for free for up to 4 months. I'll know by then if it's working or not, so for me it's a win all around. If it works, great and if it doesn't work, I'm not out anything.
I've used it twice now. Once last night and once this morning. After the very first application my pores shrunk and my skin was noticeably smoother. I'm not exaggerating, my husband noticed it too. My face was so rough that the change was easily detected.
I'm going to keep using the Finacea and report back periodically with my progress.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
15 Minute Weekday Meal
We're all busy, but it seems like December is just a beast of a month for everyone. Between Christmas parties, decking the halls, shopping and wrapping gifts, it's easy to let the little things slide, like cooking dinner.
In the past 5 days, I can count the number of times we've eaten dinner before 8pm on one hand. That's not something I'm proud of, but it's a sad reality. To help bring a little bit of sanity back into my life, I decided to pick up a couple quick meal items the last time I was at the grocery store, which sadly, was 2 weeks ago now. Anyway, tonight's dinner took literally 15 minutes to make. Here's what we had:
Steak Tips with Mushrooms, Baked Potatoes and Salad
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds steak tips
3 medium to large potatoes
4 ounces fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion
1 bag of pre-washed salad
1 tomato
1/4 cup cheese cubes (leftover from another meal)
Directions:
Plug in your George Foreman grill and let it start heating up. Meanwhile, wash and prick potatoes. Place them on a plate and set in the microwave. Peel and slice the onion into thick slices. By this point, a few minutes have passed and the Foreman grill should be preheated. Spray it with some cooking spray and toss the onions on.
While the onions are cooking, season your meat. I just used garlic salt and pepper. Super easy! Make sure you get both sides. Slice up your mushrooms and toss them in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil, then turn to medium heat. All of this should only take 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn the microwave on for 10 minutes - the potatoes are already in there. Remove the onions from the Foreman grill and toss them in with the mushrooms. Put the steak tips on the grill and close it.
While the steak is cooking, slice your tomato and open your bagged salad. You'll have a couple of minutes to get a glass of wine, clean up a little or check Facebook. You could also channel your inner Martha Stewart and slice some cucumber or something for the salad or set the table. Don't forget to check on your mushrooms.
When the microwave bings, pull out the potatoes. The steak should be a lovely medium to medium-well at this point, so you can go ahead and pull that off too. The mushrooms should be done too. Let the steak rest while you put the mushrooms in a bowl. Transfer everything to the dinner table, sit down and eat. You now have a fantastic dinner in roughly 15 minutes.
In the past 5 days, I can count the number of times we've eaten dinner before 8pm on one hand. That's not something I'm proud of, but it's a sad reality. To help bring a little bit of sanity back into my life, I decided to pick up a couple quick meal items the last time I was at the grocery store, which sadly, was 2 weeks ago now. Anyway, tonight's dinner took literally 15 minutes to make. Here's what we had:
Steak Tips with Mushrooms, Baked Potatoes and Salad
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds steak tips
3 medium to large potatoes
4 ounces fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion
1 bag of pre-washed salad
1 tomato
1/4 cup cheese cubes (leftover from another meal)
Directions:
Plug in your George Foreman grill and let it start heating up. Meanwhile, wash and prick potatoes. Place them on a plate and set in the microwave. Peel and slice the onion into thick slices. By this point, a few minutes have passed and the Foreman grill should be preheated. Spray it with some cooking spray and toss the onions on.
While the onions are cooking, season your meat. I just used garlic salt and pepper. Super easy! Make sure you get both sides. Slice up your mushrooms and toss them in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil, then turn to medium heat. All of this should only take 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn the microwave on for 10 minutes - the potatoes are already in there. Remove the onions from the Foreman grill and toss them in with the mushrooms. Put the steak tips on the grill and close it.
While the steak is cooking, slice your tomato and open your bagged salad. You'll have a couple of minutes to get a glass of wine, clean up a little or check Facebook. You could also channel your inner Martha Stewart and slice some cucumber or something for the salad or set the table. Don't forget to check on your mushrooms.
When the microwave bings, pull out the potatoes. The steak should be a lovely medium to medium-well at this point, so you can go ahead and pull that off too. The mushrooms should be done too. Let the steak rest while you put the mushrooms in a bowl. Transfer everything to the dinner table, sit down and eat. You now have a fantastic dinner in roughly 15 minutes.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Nephews
This morning I've been thinking about my nephews and I hope that they'll all be safe in a couple of hours as their mother brings them out into the world to run errands, go to school and visit her friends.
It started with a yard sale site. A person was giving away a car seat, but the seat had to have been 10 to 15 years old. Someone quickly commented that they wanted it and thankfully, another mom stepped up and told her that the seat was expired and shouldn't be used.
On came the slew of people who had no idea that car seats expired.
This really shouldn't be shocking, especially not to people in my generation who have only really started having kids in the last 10 years or so. Unfortunately, it appears that expiration dates aren't the only thing confusing some parents these days. Many, like my sister-in-law, don't know or don't care which seat to use for which stage of development. So, I thought I'd post a helpful carseat guide in case there's any grandparents or young parents out there reading this:
So back to my original point, all I can do is hope they're all safe today. The way the laws are written in her state, as long as she uses a carseat, she's fine, but that doesn't make it better.
It started with a yard sale site. A person was giving away a car seat, but the seat had to have been 10 to 15 years old. Someone quickly commented that they wanted it and thankfully, another mom stepped up and told her that the seat was expired and shouldn't be used.
On came the slew of people who had no idea that car seats expired.
This really shouldn't be shocking, especially not to people in my generation who have only really started having kids in the last 10 years or so. Unfortunately, it appears that expiration dates aren't the only thing confusing some parents these days. Many, like my sister-in-law, don't know or don't care which seat to use for which stage of development. So, I thought I'd post a helpful carseat guide in case there's any grandparents or young parents out there reading this:
Obviously there's some overlap in this image and it's really super general in regards to ages and completely ignores height and weight. When moving your child to the next type of carseat, you should make sure they are of the proper height AND weight to make sure they're safe.
So what does any of this have to do with my nephews? Well, despite numerous attempts at educating her, helpful hints and pleas to family members that she speaks to, she still uses the wrong car seats out of convenience. Yes, putting a 5-point harness on all of your kids can be annoying, but it's necessary to keep them safe.
She moved each of her 3 children out of the rear facing baby bucket seat into a forward-facing car seat before the 1 year mark, sometimes well in advance by 3 or 4 months. Between 2 and 3, she switches them over to a belt-positioning high back booster seat. By 4, or whenever a younger sibling "needs" the high-back booster, they are in a backless booster.
Right about now, at least 1 person is probably saying that boys are bigger, blah blah blah. Her youngest failed to thrive and is extremely small. Her middle child also failed to thrive and is small for his age. Only her oldest did well and even he is about average for a boy. So no, I don't think that her children being male is justification for using the wrong seat.
The reason, or so I understand, is because 1.) It's easier to just connect/unconnect 1 buckle and 2.) Booster seats are narrower and fit better in the car.
Now, you may think that I'm holding her to some type of unsustainable standards or something, but I'm really not. I know, because I'm in the same boat. I have a baby under 1 who is still in an infant seat. I have a 3 year old that is in a forward-facing 5-point seat and I have a 5 year old who is also in a forward-facing 5-point seat. Would my life be easier if the 5 year old were in a belt-positioning booster? You bet. She wouldn't be safer though, so she stays where she is.
So back to my original point, all I can do is hope they're all safe today. The way the laws are written in her state, as long as she uses a carseat, she's fine, but that doesn't make it better.
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