Fighting PCOS Naturally

I found a new group on facebook today. It's for people with illnesses that want to swap goodies with others around the world. Awesome, right? I've participated in a couple around Christmas, but this group doesn't have a holiday requirement. I offered to make cards for anyone that wanted one, and I said that I didn't expect anything in return. I love making cards. I love scrapbooking. I love crafting in general. But I haven't been doing it lately. Maybe I thought I had to have the office organized. Or I wanted the dining room organized. Then when my niece came to visit from college, I had planned to get the office rearranged so we could make cards. We used the living room floor instead, because, of course, I hadn't touched the office. I can't really be upset about it because it was my choice. Anyways, I didn't do it. I realized that if I offered to make cards for other people, I would have to make them. And I need that push to do something more usefu...

I feel like the only thing I have to blog about lately is my current mental and physical status. And that doesn't seem like something anyone else in interested in. I'm even annoying myself because I can't find any other topic to write about. I don't have kids to write about, my zoo doesn't do anything especially interesting, and I don't do anything at home that warrants discussion. Okay, except this - which I'm totally excited about. Hyperbolic geometry. Yep, I'm a nerd, and I'm proud of it. I've always loved math. Well, except for algebra 1 in 9th grade. Hated my teacher, and hated that I couldn't understand what the heck she was trying to teach. Algebra 2 went better. And college algebra was the best because I had an AWESOME teacher. If he ever reads this, I know he'll know I'm talking about him :) I ordered the book. A Field Guide to Hyperbolic Space: An Exploration of the Intersection of Higher Geometry and Feminine Handic...

I have come to the decision that I need to start taking all of the supplements I was taking previously, before my decent back into the black hole called depression. I'm on enough prescriptions to keep me from jumping back into that hole, but they aren't helping me climb back up the mountain. I'm just sitting on the edge. I stopped taking a lot of them for no reason. That was stupid. I remember being energetic, excited to cook, loving exercise. I need to get back to that. I've still got all the supplements, so I'm going to be bagging a lot this weekend. When I was on them last, I found it a lot easier to take them when they were already pre-bagged and labeled with the times I needed to take them. My plan is to start taking these again: Cinnamon N-Acetyl Cysteine B6 & B12 D High DHA fish oil Inositol There might be more, but I'll have to check my box first. Yes, I have a box labeled 'Unopened Pills'. And it's a big box. I think I'll...

Sometimes, when Hubs isn't in the room, I watch TEDTalks. He thinks most of them are boring, whereas I'm just frikkin' amazed at some of the things I learn. Each talk is less than 20 minutes a piece. 20 minutes could change your life. Seriously. I watched one about crocheting a coral reef and it's ability to model a previously un-modelable type of math - hyperbolic math. I was floored. And immediately interested in going back to school to focus on hyperbolic math. If you haven't seen any, you are totally missing out on life-changing ideas. Last night I watched a talk from Larry Smith in 2011. His topic was 'Why you will fail to have a great career'. Have you watched it? You need to. Here. You can watch it now :) What are you giving up? What has stopped you from pursuing your PASSION ? I thought it might be important to check out passion in the dictionary. (I recently learned that some of the words we use don't mean what we think they mean.  10 word...

I've always been the type of person that would donate to anyone that needed help. I also donate to charity groups. Every once in a while I volunteer. But I don't always talk about it. I don't want to seem stuck-up or better than everyone just because I'm a closet philanthropist. Ok, that's an exaggeration. I don't have enough money to be a philanthropist lol. Photo from ThinkStock For a long while, when I was out of work, I couldn't donate. Every time I'd get something from Texas Children's Hospital, March of Dimes (the itty bitty baby committee), St Jude, asking for another donation, I'd cry. I realize that most, if not all, of my donations probably went to funding more donation requests, but it's the thought that counts in my book. When I finally was working enough that I had some extra money to share, I began donating again. My list of charities is long, and my donations are small, but I'm still donating. Hubs and I are just so...

I've been looking into joining a local CSA (Community Sourced Agriculture) for a few years now. Joining one means that I'll get local, fresh produce every other week for a year. It'll help support local farms, and it'll mean less trips to the grocery store. But my main reason for joining one is to learn about seasonal produce, and force myself to try vegetables that I have never tried. Obviously if the box is full of onions, all of my friends and family will be receiving onions throughout the year. I got an email from a local organic gardening group I'm in, discussing a CSA that has big dreams of becoming a large farm in the heart of the metroplex - so very cool. Although I disagree with it's location and will probably never visit the store, I was still very excited to hear about it. I checked out their website - http://urbanacresmarket.com/ They have more options than another CSA I've been looking into, the start-up cost is lower, and the box prices are...

Around Christmas last year, I got an email that said 'Come Chill Off the Grid'. It was from Marlboro. I signed up for a membership with Marlboro as soon as I turned 21, so I could get coupons. I get nifty things like sunglasses, pocket ashtrays, bottle openers, etc. Anyways, when I first saw the email, I almost trashed it. Something told me that I needed to read it first. It said I had won a trip, and had a phone number and an RSVP code. I almost thought it was a joke, but I figured, what the heck. I'll call it and see if it's legit. I've received offers in the mail about free trips, and they've always expected me to buy something, so I refused. During our brief conversation, I was able to deduce that it was real - I won a 4 day, 3 night trip for myself and a guest (Hubs, of course!) to the Marlboro Ranch in Montana. I rarely win anything awesome like this, so I was completely shocked. The most expensive thing I've ever won was tickets to Cirque Du Soleil....

This past weekend was, well, somewhat frightening. Saturday morning we woke up to find that half of Spike's face was swollen. As usual, Google scared the crap out of me so I started calling vets. I was worried because I have no extra money to visit a vet. Everywhere I called, I got the same response - we only take CareCredit, a credit card which I knew from previous experience, I didn't qualify for. So I called Dad. His dog is always sick (she's allergic to grass. Can you believe that?), so I figured he could help. We determined 2 things - 1) Spike got bit on the nose by a bug. 2) There was something in our food that did not agree with him. We cancelled all our plans for the weekend. To deal with the swelling, we got childrens benadryl and gave him really low doses all day Saturday. In the evening, when we figured out the food issue, we stopped giving him bites of our food. Of course he got to spend all day on the couch in my lap, while I cried off and on, worrying abou...

I made a rather rash, but very satisfying decision yesterday. I've been considering going back to school to get another degree. I don't need another one, but I want one. I love my job. I love the field I work in. But I also love math. I don't get to use a lot of that at my current job. I used to get college mathematics textbooks and answer the questions, just because I could. I know going to school while working full-time might be a little difficult, but I can make it work, because I want to. I know I can do it. I don't know what I will do after I get this degree. Since I'll be going to my local community college, I'll graduate with an Associate of Science. From there I might move on to a 4 year school to get another Bachelors. Maybe I'll tutor. Maybe I'll come up with something really cool, like developing a program to teach kids that don't have the ability to go to school. Maybe I'll start my own magnet school for kids that know they want t...

I've always loved reading. My dad parents taught me how to read before I hit Kindergarten. My 2nd grade teacher told my parents that I was reading on a 6th grade level. No wonder I always hated it when we would take turns reading. I was the only one in the class that would get through my section without stumbling over the words. When I was in middle school and we had to start writing book reports, I always had to beg my teacher to let me choose a book from home instead of from the school library because none of them were ever interesting enough for me. I've done reports in 7th grade on Tom Clancy books. Eventually my teacher just gave up and let me do whatever I wanted to do. My first Dean Koontz book was Sole Survivor. I loved it. Then I bought False Memory. I was hooked. I will continue to purchase Koontz books until I have a copy of every single one he has written. I currently have roughly 50 books of his, and most have been read. Thankfully I always seem to find him on ...

One of my Happify activities for the week is to determine my power word. Well, what is a power word? I know what a power word is when updating my resume, but that's not what the activity is about. A personal power word is a single word or short phrase that is used to inspire yourself when times are rough, things aren't going the way you want them to, you feel like a failure, you feel like giving up. I've dealt with a lot of those feelings, as I'm sure most other people have. It's a fact of life - life isn't fair, and it certainly isn't perfect. I think a power word should tug at your heartstrings, feel like little piece of bliss, make you smile, and give you a boost of confidence. I don't think it's something you can just come up with one day. It's a word that resonates with you every time something doesn't go your way. It's a word that some people will tattoo on themselves as a constant reminder. I've seen tattoos of 'believe...

Holy crap it's July. June went by way too fast, and ended with very little success in the goal department. June's Goals: - Exercise at least twice a week - Nope - No more donuts!!! If I can cut out coffee and soda, I can cut out donuts. - I switched from donuts to apple fritters. I don't count this as success lol - Shop for produce at farmer's market at least once - Nope.  - Organize the office so I can have a craft day with my niece - We used the living room floor instead. - Have dinner at the dining table at least 3 times a week - Nope. Still can't even see my dining table. - Buy a yoga membership and USE IT. I figure that if I buy it, I'll feel obligated to use it. - Didn't buy it. - Volunteer to make sandwiches for the homeless! - Nope.  I completely bombed June's goals. But that's ok. I'm just going to start over. July Goals: - Stop eating apple fritters. - Participate in the Soul Cysters Weight Loss Challenge fitness p...