When Lightning Gets Crazy

Here are those pictures/videos I promised!

One Friday this past July, my husband took the children out to the porch to watch a monsoon. A few minutes later they saw - actually saw! - lightning strike a palm tree in our neighborhood's common area. The tree caught fire immediately, from top to bottom.

My husband was on the phone with 911 within ten seconds. This video was taken about 2-3 minutes after the strike.





The second video, below, was taken just a minute or so later. The strong winds quickly spread the fire to surrounding trees, and within a matter of seconds we had a mini-firestorm on our hands. I have never seen a fire spread so quickly.

Thankfully the rains started almost immediately, which helped to slow the fire's spread. I don't know what would have happened without the rain, because this was one mean fire. Even with the rain the fire stayed intense, and our neighbors (directly behind the trees) sustained substantial minor damage from scorched car paint and burned patio furniture. Garden hoses did nothing to stem the blaze.





The fire department arrived about one minute after this video was taken.

We've been next to a lightning strike before, which was frightening, but being that it struck a metal carport, there was no fire. This was a completely different story! Yikes.

Making Pumpkin Pie Ahead of Time for Thanksgiving

This is so, so simple... I know I'm the last to hear about these tips. But just in case there's someone else like me out there, here is the easiest method ever for making pumpkin pie super-easy on Thanksgiving morning:

Monday: Make pie dough, form into discs, refrigerate.

Tuesday: Roll out pie dough, fit into pans, wrap in plastic, freeze.

Wednesday: Make pie filling, leave (uncooked) filling covered in the fridge.

Thursday: Preheat oven, grab out the crusts, pour in the filling, bake.

Pie in the oven in less than five minutes on Thanksgiving morning? Yes, please!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Briefly Breaking Radio Silence

Hi, everyone!

I wanted to check in quickly with you all. We are now at 24 weeks, a bit more than halfway through the pregnancy journey with our newest edition. After a miserable summer I am feeling much better. Still nauseated around the clock, and downright yucky in the evenings (and other bits and parts of the day), and still throwing up a couple of times a week, but infinitely better than July through September. Week 23 was especially a big week of improvement. I have begun doing a bit of cooking, am back at church, and am even taking the children to park days and field trips.

Life is wonderful.

(In the interests of full disclosure, I should say that life in the aftermath of morning sickness is also quite stressful. Coming out of intense nausea, still struggling with constant nausea, and becoming aware of how badly everything - housework, routines, discipline - has deteriorated, can be rather overwhelming. But the incredible blessing of being free from intense round-the-clock nausea is also thrilling and exhilarating, and it makes me intensely thankful for every moment that I feel functional, and everything that I can do that I can't do while sick.)

Baby is checking out beautifully at our midwife appointments. I spent about a month absolutely convinced that baby was babies, i.e. twins, but baby is indeed solely in the singular tense.

Maybe next time. :)

(So I guess this means that I've lost any excuse for all the weight I'm gaining.)

I have finished assembling our birth kit and am moving into my usual post-20-weeks season of feverish spring cleaning (whenever the nausea allows). Good thing, because our home needs it after a summer of neglect!

The last half of pregnancy always goes by with incredible quickness. So much to do, so little time!

Highlights, good and bad, from this summer:

(1) Losing both of our cats - separate causes, six weeks apart. Total bummer.
(2) Health problems for my husband's mom.
(3) Various health problems for our family - most minor, thankfully most are improving.
(4) A crazy fire in our neighborhood caused by a lightning strike that my husband and the boys actually saw with their own eyes. Will post video later.
(5) First visit to our State Fair for my husband and the boys.
(6) First visit to a local lake. Considering how intimidating I find travel details, this is a major victory for me.

I'm spending my time working through the nausea, preparing for the holidays, cleaning up the mess that inevitably results when I'm down for a few months, and working on getting all of our schedule, routines, and school work back together after a summer-o'-morning-sickness. Perhaps I'll post on that subject sometime too.

I don't know that I'll be around often, but I will try to check in occasionally. I hope that each of you is having a wonderful fall!

A few pictures:

At the farm:

At the pumpkin patch:

This is called the "I can't BELIEVE we paid THAT MUCH for ONE PUMPKIN" trip. 

At the state fair:

At the lake:

I thought she'd be intimidated, but she ran straight from the van into the water.

Helping Daddy make popcorn for movie night:

Being crazy. With added mud. Mud always makes things better:

At our local chuckwagon cook-off:

Enjoying the camp fire

Hiking:

Our annual Pilgrim Thanksgiving feast:

Roast chicken, cornbread, mashed potatoes, succotash, Indian pudding, stewed pompion, cranberry sauce.
All (or most) recipes are courtesy of Story of the World, Book 3. 

I should have added some pictures from our second celebration of St. Martin's Day, but this year I totally forgot before it was too late. This year we added a nighttime lantern walk to the festivities.

***

And... Little Girl turns two!

This child cracks me up. Not only is she incredibly independent and strong-minded, but she has every bit of fluffy femininity that I never had as a child. Give her the chance, and she'll change her outfit every two minutes. Literally. She adores hats, gloves, shoes, hair accessories, and everything pink - all of the things that I, in childhood, rejected with all the temerity of a devoted tomboy. It seems I have some things to learn about girlhood in the years ahead!

I'm sure it will be good for me.

Have a wonderful week, everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!

Summer, News, Etc.

At this time of year, the eyes of the nation turn toward one topic, and one topic only....

The 2016 Arizona homeschool convention! How was it???

Well, I'd love to tell you all.

But the truth is that I don't know. We skipped it.

Yup, that's right. After we'd made our plans, arranged for childcare, and purchased our non-refundable, non-transferable tickets for my absolute favorite event of the entire year, we decided at the last minute to ditch the whole thing and stay home. 

{*Crickets*}

The furiously thinking reader has now probably reached the truth of the situation, knowing that very little less than a herd of rabid crocodiles will keep me from the AFHE homeschool convention....

That's right! Two pink lines, the news of which reached us the last day of June, meaning that by the time the conference rolled around, I was too busy doing my dying slug imitation to even think about being an eager conference-goer. (Still am, actually.)

However, we are very grateful, and very excited. We are a few short weeks short of finishing our first trimester, and we heard baby's sweet heartbeat yesterday. (Yay!)

I will post a nausea-and-vomiting update soon for those of you who are here for that purpose (soon = within the next few years). I can tell you (spoiler!) that although it's been an absolutely miserable summer, this pregnancy has stayed non-hyperemetic. (*Loud songs of thanksgiving!*)

In the meantime, I probably won't be around too often. Maybe in another few months?

I hope that each of you has had a lovely summer, and that your school years are starting smoothly. Love to you all!

Entering a New Millennium!

And I'm finally here...

This is my 1000th post!

I've been blogging since 2008, so that's roughly 125 posts - or thereabouts - per year. It looks like my posting frequency peaked in 2011-2013 - and this year, 2016, has been miserable, posting-frequency-wise (halfway through the year I'm at 28 posts).

I've decided - tentatively - that I can keep blogging, assuming that I can accept one caveat - that I'm okay with not blogging.

In other words, if I can be at peace with the (very frequent, very long) times in which the blog is silent, and can accept that I can only post very infrequently, then I can keep going.

Learning to chill out is the key - never easy for an always-stressed person like myself.

But that's the goal!

In the meantime, here's to the next 1000 posts! I'm looking forward to sharing with you all.

In Which... I Go Shopping!

I am not a shopper... except at one time of year, and this is it!

Used homeschool curriculum sale time!

Due to stomach bugs and various life events, I only made one sale this year. But it was the best! As usual, I found nothing for which I was looking, but came home with lots of great things anyway.

At used curriculum sales, I face a couple of challenges:

(1) Being overwhelmed by the sheer volume, and by the voice in my head that says, "Hurry, you're going to miss something you should have bought!"

(2) Seeing something that I want but needing to pass it up because it's over-priced. This happens fairly often.

(3) Seeing something that I want but needing to pass it up because the physical quality of the book isn't going to meet our needs (i.e. yellowed paperback books, falling-apart hardbacks, etc.).

Despite that, I enjoyed my time thoroughly and am sorry it's over till next year!

Here they my finds!

For ME: I especially need the selection on the bottom left.

Missionary Biographies - I'm especially excited about the titles from "Christian Heroes Then and Now" (top left, bottom right). We are currently reading their book about Gladys Aylward, and the children love it.

Classics and History Readers - I adore the Eyewitness Classics series (top left and bottom right) and was thrilled to find two more. "The Yearling" and "Pollyanna" are classics that I want to have in our library. (I am currently working to build a solid library for our family of good-quality classics for children and young adults.)

For Young Children:

Science:

Okay, this one is admittedly one I should have checked out before buying. It's a great book, but it takes human reproduction further than I would have liked. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this one.


History:

And there you have it! A very successful day, and a very enjoyable one. Not only did I find lots of delicious books, but I met up with lots of local homeschoolers and got to chat - always so much fun.

And next time... I'll be there at the very beginning so that I can snag even more!

(Books are the only area in which my minimalist frenzy is in severe remission.)

Happy shopping for those of you heading in the same direction this time of year!

The Very-Low-Carb Diet: Jumping Ship

I owe you all this update, so here goes!

 I will keep it brief.

I have long been in pursuit of dietary methods of pre-conception healing that will aid in the prevention of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), also known as extreme nausea and vomiting of pregnancy.

I ran across one promising line of thought, the very low carbohydrate (VLC) diet, and used it successfully (in combination with the probiotic approach) in the prevention of HG. I went from out-of-control nausea and vomiting, controlled only by high doses of powerful drugs (Zofran), to a pregnancy in which I didn't even throw up once. (Except during labor, but that's another story.)

You can read all about my use of the VLC diet here.

(I should also note that I experienced additional health benefits from the VLC diet in addition to avoiding HG, for example: (1) healing of seasonal allergies, and (2) the remission of my persistent postpartum nausea. I have also seen VLC/ketogenic diets used with rousing success in other cases where extreme healing was needed, such as in the treatment of neurological disorders and with autoimmune diseases.)

My plan was that - after some serious post-partum diet fudging - I would simply go back on the VLC diet and stay there through my fertile years. That seemed only sensible, considering how successful it had been in preventing recurrent HG.

But there was one problem.

Namely that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make it work.

First came the procrastination. As the postpartum weeks crept past, I kept making bargains with myself. Just one more week. Then I'll restart the diet. Okay, one more week. And... how about another three months or so? 

And when I finally did get started, I couldn't stick with it longer than 72 hours, regardless of how many times I tried.

Here are the problems I ran into this time with the VLC diet, with some brief details:

(1) Boredom

Boring? As opposed to recurrent hyperemesis gravidarum? You've got to be kidding me. 

I know, this is minor.

But it's very, very difficult to keep going on a diet that is mostly meat and green vegetables. Severe boredom sets in. I couldn't muster any enthusiasm, and everything tasted bland and boring.

(2) Constant Hunger

I could not feel satisfied when eating. I could eat to the point of feeling physically uncomfortable, and still feel hungry and unsatisfied. As (I believe) Stefani Ruper says, carbs are part of satiety as well as fats. I found this out by experience.

(3) Carb Cravings

As in, I can't think about anything other than grabbing the nearest carbohydrate and chewing on it.

Man on the street: Can you tell me the way to the airport?
Me: Why yes, yes, I would like dessert.
Man on the street: The airport?
Me: Bananas! Oatmeal! Cornbread! Yes!!!

(4) Unsustainability

I simply could not make this diet work past the 72 hour mark. Inevitably, by that time I was so desperate for carbs that I was chewing on any carbohydrate in sight, usually including massive amounts of white sugar.

In case y'all are coming to the conclusion that I'm a lazy, good-for-nothing diet bum, I can say in my defense that I did go nearly an entire year absolutely carb-free. Yes, not just just sugar free, but carb free. I've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

But this time, I couldn't make it work.

(The fact that I am under a massive amount of life-and-raising-children stress has made keeping up the VLC diet doubly difficult.)


(5) Stalled Weight Loss

This time around, I didn't lose any weight at all.

And you're probably thinking, "Well, if you're going on sugar binges every three days, no kidding."

Touche.

But I can also say that even in my carb-free year, I only lost an additional 10 pounds and never got lower than twenty pounds above my ideal weight.


***

Despite all of the above, I kept trying for many months. But finally, I gave up.

I just couldn't do it any more.

There are two possibilities:

(1) I am a lazy bum.

(2) Being on the VLC diet long-term was harmful to my body, and my body stepped in and physically prevented my staying on the diet. (Rather like how one can hold one's breath for a while, but eventually, one's body will force one to begin breathing again.)

Honestly, I'm open to either possibility.

***

So where did I go from there?

I decided to join up with Trim Healthy Mama, a program that I have admired from afar for months.

I hope to post my review of the THM system soon. But in short, the THM program can be summarized thus:

Snacks and meals are either E (protein + carbs) or S (protein + fat).

Thus, the THM system separates macronutrients, but it doesn't villify any of them. Carbs, fats, and proteins are all good - just in the right combination.

And I love it.

I can feel full again. I can have carbs again. Food is interesting. Life is good.

Mmm.

(Though I do cheat, like the delectable piece of lemon meringue pie that I just had for Easter dessert. If you're wondering why I'm having Easter dessert at this time of year, I will just say that it's been that kind of year.)

I've also added back foods that are low-carb but not very-low-carb. Examples: cottage cheese, plain yogurt, berries.

***

The mind-numbing fear that has resurfaced, of course, is the fear of recurrent hyperemesis. The VLC was a guarantee, of sorts. In giving up the VLC diet, I relinquished that guarantee.

There are several possibilities:

(1) The VLC diet has healed my body, and that healing effect will (in combination with the other pre-conception therapies I utilize) prevent future hyperemesis.

(2) I am going to pay. Horribly. (i.e. Repeat hyperemesis, here I come.)

I hope for #1, but it's #2 that keeps me up at night.

Right now I'm a confused mess. But I am forging ahead with (1) Trim Healthy Mama, and (2) my other pre-conception routines, such as the probiotic method and magnesium supplementation.

As to the outcome of this mystery?

Time will tell.

Most likely, time will tell very soon.

And I will let you know what happens.

***

At this point, most readers are of one of two minds:

1. She's showing some sense at last.
2. She really is a complete idiot.

I would agree with both.

And there you have it.

Dear readers, I would welcome your thoughts!