my battle for better health

My Battle for Better Health: Physical Therapy and Insomnia

7/29/2015 House of Geekiness 2 Comments



Physical Therapy and Insomnia—Yep, just about sums it up. It's 2:14 am and after tossing and turning, relaxation techniques, racing/obsessive thought, etc. I gave up and started cleaning the living room. Apparently, my brain thought it was imperative that the couch be cleaned out NOW... It did need some TLC, but still not sure why it couldn't wait until the morning...not like I can vacuum it out while everyone's sleeping.

So now, I'm sitting at the computer, hoping my music doesn't wake the kids up. It's just a random shuffle of quiet sonatas, and ballads from Beethoven, P!nk, Jean Sibelius, Lady Antebellum, and Debussy, Kate Miller-Heidke, and such....shouldn't get too loud. ;)

Between my terrible back and my hurt knees (remember, I fractured one and bruised the bone on the other in an extreme demonstration of my gracefulness back in April), cleaning the house gets a bit difficult. If I bend too much, or the wrong way, my back goes out. If I kneel at all, my knees...well, since I my injury occured by landing on my knees, let's just say that kneeling even just a little bit is still like kneeling on a bed of nails. Because of all this, when cleaning, I've been raking things into a pile (when necessary) then, scooting around the living room with the computer chair's height set as low as possible and picking things up from there. (It looks even more ridiculous than it sounds.)

So far, my knees haven't been well enough for much physical therapy. They have me doing mild exercises, pretty much just sitting in a very low chair and standing back up a lot. But I have noticed that now my knees don't feel quite as tight when I climb stairs!

Back to the insomnia part. I started to blame the new medicine my doctor added, then I realized it's been gradually getting worse all summer. I think that, somehow, I'm trying to keep my school year schedule going. This past year was the first with all the kids in school full time. I've been so spoiled having so much time to get things done. I went back to writing, started my own company, and so much more! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE spending time with my kids, and this summer we've been very family focused. The problem is that there really hasn't been any quiet time to work like I've gotten used to. I think I've started staying up later and later to compensate for that lack. I'm sure other parents out there can relate to this.

So yeah. I decided I was going to get to bed earlier tonight, and it I did...1 am is better than 2, right? (Woops! Had to go rescue the bag of bread that the kids left on the edge of the table. I heard the dog whining and trying to get at something...at least I was up for that!) Well, one in the morning was better until I couldn't sleep and had to get up, but I did try. At least I've been able to do something useful while I'm awake.

Goodnight (err, morning), all! I'm going to go play some World of Warcraft until my eyes won't stay open anymore.

My goals

I want to have energy to spend time and actually do activities with my family.
I want to be able to be physically active. I’m not saying I plan on running marathons, but being able to exercise and do basic housecleaning on a daily basis would be nice.
I want my mind to feel less foggy all the time so I can do my job well and enjoy being in the profession I love.
I want to be healthy and be at a healthy weight.
I want my life back!
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    Giveaways

    Winner of $35 from The Kawaii OD

    7/20/2015 House of Geekiness 0 Comments

    Congratulations to Sheri Andes, winner of $35 to spend at The Kawaii OD!

    Visit The Kawaii OD on etsy, Facebook, Tumblr, DeviantArt, and Twitter.


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      my battle for better health

      My Battle for Better Health: Life in the Haze of Depression

      7/20/2015 House of Geekiness 2 Comments



      Living with depression and other health problems tends to make me feel weighted down and like I'm living my life in bit of a haze. Sometimes, things don't seem quite real, sometimes life is just overwhelming.

      There are days that I do well, considering everything that's going on, but it seems like most of my life lately has been in this haze of depression. It just doesn't seem like I can do anything most days. Living everyday life is a constant struggle. I can't get enough sleep, never seem to have enough time for myself, and can't get enough done. My family is sinking further in dept, our house not getting clean enough, my kids not getting enough attention.

      Reading scriptures the other night, I came across this verse that described exactly how I felt:

      O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe. - 2 Nephi 1:13

      That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I want to wake up, shake off these awful chains, and escape this gulf of misery and woe. That's exactly why I'm trying to live better, why I've written down these goals. I WILL get my life back.




      My goals

      I want to have energy to spend time and actually do activities with my family.
      I want to be able to be physically active. I’m not saying I plan on running marathons, but being able to exercise and do basic housecleaning on a daily basis would be nice.
      I want my mind to feel less foggy all the time so I can do my job well and enjoy being in the profession I love.
      I want to be healthy and be at a healthy weight.
      I want my life back!
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        Popcorn and Movie Night

        7/17/2015 House of Geekiness 0 Comments



        I promised the kids another movie night since last night, when we watched The Lego Movie, we didn't get to do popcorn. We did homemade caramel corn (not as fancy as it sounds, I did make the hat, though!) and Pokemon.

        The caramel corn is just a cup of unwrapped caramel candies and a tablespoon-ish of milk melted together and stirred, then poured over popcorn.

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        perler beads

        Perler Bead Scam Update

        7/16/2015 House of Geekiness 1 Comments



        I woke up this morning to find this email reply from Amazon! (Read the original blog post here.)


        Hello, 

        I'm sorry to hear that one of our sellers provided a misleading information to you regarding with the product purchased. WE want our customers to experience great customer service and I completely understand that you want an immediate action regarding this issue. 

        To help you with this, I'd like to ask you to send a report to our investigations team about this. Each report they receive is investigated and the appropriate action is taken. However, we won't be able to release the outcome of the investigation. Please go to the link below and select "Report a violation of our rules" as the subject line: 

        http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/reports 

        Please be sure to include the order ID if available. If the order ID isn't available, please include the ASIN in the comments and fill out the seller name field when submitting the form. 

        Rest assured this issue will be passed to the appropriate team for them to take further actions regarding with the problem. 

        I do apologize for the inconvenience this issue has caused you. 

        I hope this incident will not affect your future purchases h us. We hope to see you again soon.

        Best regards,
        Ace C.


        There was also an email notifying me that a refund had been issued. THIS is why I LOVE Amazon! What other company takes such good care of their customers so quickly? This is how you create lifetime customers. 

        I've sent my report on to their investigation team. Let's see how long that seller is still scamming people on Amazon. :) I'll update more later.



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          perler beads

          Buyer Beware: Perler Bead Scam

          7/15/2015 House of Geekiness 2 Comments




          I go through Perler Beads really fast and order quite a bit of them, usually through Amazon. On June 27, 2015, I found a decent deal on beads (which I needed quickly). I ordered them through a seller called "Qin H", who had an extremely high seller ranking (as seen below).



          I thought it was a bit strange that the beads came in small ziplock type back instead of the usually packaging. 





          Working with beads so much, I noticed that these beads felt a bit different than usually. These were NOT Perler Beads. I'd been ripped off. The beads I'd gotten were a cheap knock off that were absolutely horrible! 

          Apparently, some vendors routinely stock the off brand (which costs significantly less than the Perler Brand), mark them up, and sell them as Perler Brand beads. 

          Item page on Amazon, listing these as Perler Brand beads


          Why am I making such a big deal about this? Well, first, it's just plain dishonest of them. Second, well, this is what the off brand beads looked like after I melted/fused them.

          A small film from the cheap beads melted over the top of the white.
          The low grade plastic had all sorts of problems when melted. They wouldn't melt evenly, the edges rounded (which made them stick out from the actual Perler brand beads), and the finished piece's durability was compromised by the cheap bead (which broke easily). Pictured below: Knock off brand is black.

          The knocks offs did NOT melt smoothly. 

          Different size holes and rounded edges in knock offs

          Different size holes and rounded edges in knock offs (in black) compared to Perler Beads

          These ones ended up uneven, and with holes that weren't supposed to be there! 

          These ones ended up uneven, and with holes that weren't supposed to be there! 


          Symmetry...
          I've contacted the seller, saying I needed either a refund or factory sealed Perler Brand beads. We'll see what they say. 

          While I wait, I decided to do a bit more research. I found out I'm not the first customer to complain about this issue. 


          I've worked with Amazon before when there have been seller issues and they've been wonderful. Last time, the power cord I ordered tried to set fire to my house. It was a month or so past the return date, so the seller wasn't liable any more, but when I told Amazon's customer service about it, they immediately issued a full refund. I'm going to report this seller's dishonest practice to them and see what happens. 

          Please be careful when you buy your beads! Always buy from a reputable seller. This is why I stick with Amazon. Even when things look great, something can go wrong. I trust Amazon to fix this. I'll let you know what happens.





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            my battle for better health

            My Battle for Better Health: Sleep!

            7/13/2015 House of Geekiness 0 Comments

            Dobby, "Don't move. Just let me sleep."

            The past week or so has been a crazy mix of days where I am driven (and a few things actually got done - despite the kids being home for the summer) and days when I am feel perpetually sleep deprived.

            It started with me realizing that not only did I want to accomplish some things on my to do list, but they actually felt possible. It wasn't my old manic, OCD, run myself into the ground activity, but I was able to work for a bit, then rest, then work again, etc. (which is a habit I'm trying to develop). This went on for three or so glorious days!

            My appetite changed as well. Instead of wanting to overeat, I started having an aversion to anything but very specific foods. It was almost as bad as pregnancy cravings. Sometimes I start to eat something that seems fine (like the delicious chicken and rice casserole that is my husband's specialty), and after a few bites, I just can't do it. It doesn't taste bad, but my stomach can't take it. Then, of course, there are times, in between, where I'm absolutely starving and can't eat enough, but it still has to be something my stomach can tolerate. Protein seems to help, but not always.

            After the energy boost came the crash, and it hit me hard. I've been very lethargic for a while now. I've tried a mix of being active and resting, just taking the day off to relax and have fun, and even sleeping most of the day. Nothing seems to change for the better. I had a meeting the other day and was gone for a few hours. That almost laid my flat for two days, but at least I got to go out and socialize! I really needed that.

            Today, I'm a walking zombie, really trying to listen to what my kids are so energetically trying to share with me, but end up patting them on the head saying, "That's nice, honey." Concentration and focus are a joke.

            I feel completely useless. I just want to sleep. If I can't run and play with my kids, at least we can snuggle. :) And the at least the cat is happy to have his "pillow/footstool" handy.

            Oh, and the car died on the way back from my meeting, so we're without a vehicle now.

            Ok, that sounds really bad. I'm not that depressed. I'm frustrated but it could be a lot worse.


            My goals

            I want to have energy to spend time and actually do activities with my family.
            I want to be able to be physically active. I’m not saying I plan on running marathons, but being able to exercise and do basic housecleaning on a daily basis would be nice.
            I want my mind to feel less foggy all the time so I can do my job well and enjoy being in the profession I love.
            I want to be healthy and be at a healthy weight.
            I want my life back!
            Psst! Don't miss a post! Sign up for my email list and get your 

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              Cover Reveal for The Watchers: Flood and Fire

              7/11/2015 House of Geekiness 0 Comments


              If you loved the covers for Knight of Light and Hidden Fire, you're going to LOVE the cover for Flood and Fire!


              The Watchers: Flood and Fire
              Struggling to control her new abilities, Auriella must recover a lost Neviahan who is essential to winning the war against the Shadow Legion. 

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                Free Doctor Who Book!

                7/09/2015 House of Geekiness 0 Comments



                Get Doctor Who: 200 Facts on the Characters and Making of the BBC TV Series for free on Amazon! Get it quickly because this probably won't last long. ***Update: No longer free. Hope you got one!

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                Giveaways

                Win $35 from The Kawaii OD

                7/09/2015 House of Geekiness 1 Comments

                Win $35 to spend at The Kawaii OD!

                About The Kawaii OD

                Hi, my name is Amber I am pretty much a gamer and anime fan. I could never afford any of the cool stuff in the specialty stores when I was growing up, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Even as I get older I still get inspired by the games and anime I love.

                Final Fantasy vii was my first VIDEO GAME OBSESSION 
                Sailor moon was my first LOVE
                League of Legends has been with me since 2009! 

                Visit The Kawaii OD on etsy, Facebook, Tumblr, DeviantArt, and Twitter.


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                1 comments: