Look what I found on Etsy.com. Doesn't he look fab in front of my haunted house? I made a wooden stand for him so that he reaches his full height. I just love him. But...I am a totally Halloween girl. You get to dress up, decorated your house, and there is no gift giving involved.
Okay, so due to hubby's chemo, I gave Halloween gift bags to my nephews/niece (ages 5, 3, 1.5) with skeleton cups and stuffed skeletons, and skeleton socks, and candy, I did this because they are so adorable, I JUST HAVE TO SPOIL THEM. My twin sister sent me photos of her grandkids in their costumes. I am so going up to Michigan to see them all when this is all over. We can't have little germ producers in the house as the chemo goes further along. That's why I am not in the classroom this fall. It's KILLING ME to not being around all those bright-shining faces.
But, hopefully, things will be back to normal in the spring. Now why did I say that? My life has never been NORMAL. Behind Frankie is the ladder from the workmen who are putting gas into our house. We live with heat pumps in Virginia. They don't work well on really cold days, so the backup electricity comes on and our bills just went tick..tick..tick..right to the bank. AH, HA...we are getting gas. Fifteen years ago, we had just bought a whole new system and had had it installed. THEN...gas came to our street. So when that system died, we yelled, "We're getting gas." You know what kind of gas I'm talking about, so stop giggling.
Anyway, what do chemotherapy and getting gas have in common with Frankenstein? Both of them seem big and scary at first. They have parts of them that are actually dangerous. But, if we face them bravely, and with humor, we can welcome them into our houses. This Frankenstein represents scary things, but why do we make him into desserts and dress up like him? Because Halloween time is the time to face our fears and make fun of them. I kicked my husband out of the house today to go to a meeting with clients. He didn't want to go because he's bald. I told him to face his fears and learn something from the situation. I told him not to stay home and give into depression. He went. I'll let you know how it turned out.
I looked in the back seat of my husband's car this past weekend. There sat his tuxedo shirt with a HUGE fresh ink stain. I asked him why this shirt was even in the car. He complained that the dry cleaners had wanted $15 to clean it, so he wasn't going to do that right now and threw it back in the car. I was curious as to how the ink stain got on it in the car. He had no idea, but he guessed a pen might have fallen out of his pocket (common happening for him) and leaked. He told me that was $60 down the drain.
I had seen a Pinterest pin on using rubbing alcohol to clean furniture. I know this works, because I have a velour footstool my dog rubs against. I put the alcohol on a clean rag and the dirt rubs right off of it. I have removed PAINT from a pair of his pants with the alcohol. I had gotten another smaller ink stain out of a patterned shirt of his--after rescuing it from the trash can. But...this stain was huge.
First I found a clean white washcloth I was willing to trash. I blotted up as much of the ink as I could. Then I started pouring the alcohol directly on the stain--which was about the size of a dollar coin. I blotted and rubbed as the stain started disappearing. I continued to pour alcohol and rub and blot for about an hour. But, the results in the picture above are the results. I wish I had taken the time to take a before picture as proof. But, you'll have to try this to believe it anyway.
You can buy it here
Last week I took my dogs for a walk. We did not go into any woods, bushes, or areas that had poison ivy. But, last Saturday my legs, arms, face, and neck broke out with a VICIOUS case of poison ivy. I waited five days to go to the doctor to go on oral prednisone. He gave me cortisone cream for my arms and legs, but said that it would permanently stain my face and neck if I used it on them.
I had tried home remedies the first few days. In the past I have used facial mask to stop the itching. It does help dry up the spots. I was taking Advil and Benadryl. They helped some, but my face and neck just BURNED.
Even on the medicines, I couldn't sleep. Then I remembered that last summer, my scalp was burning horribly. It turned out I was allergic to an ingredient in hair dye. My friend has started selling organic lotions. She recommended her brand. I took a photo of the bottle because it has saved me so much pain. It is NYR's Calendula and Oats body lotion.
This lotion calmed down my face and neck to the degree that I could actually function as a human being. I am walking around the house with this bottle at all times. It's not curing the poison ivy, but it is not only soothing my outbreaks, it is soothing me.
I wouldn't be recommending a product I don't have complete faith in. If you go to her link, I have put you directly on the page where this lotion is. If you are also interested in organic, chemical free beauty products, click here for catalogue.
If you have trouble reading the page, there is a zoom in button on the bottom bar of the site.
I have also tested more of her products that I LOVE and am putting together a SPA in a Jar.
I will post about this soon.
Update:
I spoke with our homeowners association to ask if they'd cut back the poison ivy along our sidewalk. They assured me it was Virginia Creeper and not toxic. After speaking with my sister-in-law this morning, she told me Virginia Creeper can be just as poisonous to some people as poison ivy. So, I Googled Virginia Creeper and MANY websites told me that a LOT of people are allergic to a chemical in Virginia Creeper and have worse reactions to it than poison ivy. This is why I am in so much pain and am still having large breakouts seven days later. But...the lotion works great.
