It is what It Is!

Purpose – schmurpose! LOL 20 days down and I've spent most of it rather down … but not quite out... due to some of life's unexpected troubles. :( The damages are reversing, healing, returning to normal, slowly. But, as usual, it's not going to stop me from moving toward my goals!

And I am still moving ahead WITH PURPOSE! I am determined that even starting my business month 33% behind (so to speak) will not keep me from building my business!

Same for SPARKnEarthlyBest – no progress to report, but no backsliding either!

On the green front... we are doing LOTS BETTER at eating REAL FOODS! I found a few new blogs to follow in this effort of avoiding processed foods more:

100daysofrealfood.com and foodformyfamily.com and eatingrules.com

If you have any interest at all in eating less processed foods, more organic foods, or more local foods you may find one or all of these very helpful! :)

And with ANDEE365 – Wow! Have we been 'thru the ringer' and then some! It wasn't fun. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. :( However, we have had some extensive family discussions about the things that have happened and the things that could yet happen. These have resulted in a number of things improving around here. But there are still some “issues” to resolve ~ aren't there always such things in large families? LOL So, we move ahead! We go forward WITH PURPOSE! We take stock of where we are at; where we want to go; and which path(s) we want to take to get there.

I do have to say this: In the last 20 days I've talked to a number of locals and met some really nice people! This makes me look forward even more to what's ahead as I seek out more and more of the people of my little town and help them understand what a wonderful thing I have for them with my company! :) There are lots of hard-working folks around here who are barely getting by and really struggling to find that “something” that will help them get to the next check, help them get to feeling better so they can do more to meet their families' needs, and give them hope for a brighter future. Before long they will all know! I can't wait to share what I have with all of them!!!

I close with this:

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

~ Steve Jobs (Feb. 24, 1955 – Oct. 5, 2011)

CatchAllMyEarthlyBest

Yes, it's been a long time. :)

So much has been going on. 

One of the biggest things is my business is growing! 

For more about it just visit the website mentioned on my business card. :)  Want a link? ;-)

All~My~Earthly~Best's business!

This makes me very happy and is proving to many of my "naysaying" family & friends that it IS POSSIBLE,

even though I am challenged by tons and tons of obstacles!

~@~*~@~~@~*~@~happy dance~@~*~@~~@~*~@~

Another thing taking up much time is my niece 

"Little Miss Dany"

This pic is from a photo shoot with our good friend,

Lori at Lori Lokken Photography.

She's been snapping photos "forever" and really loves being able to turn that love into a business.  She's taken pics of my triplets, all my kids, other family, friends of the family, 

and ...

ME!

LOL

While some argue with me about it, I'm just not one to get in front of a camera much.  So, here's a rare chance to see me in a few different poses!  (I need to have "headshots" for my business and it wouldn't hurt to get people's opinions on which one to start with.)

So, here's one... #1

And, here's two... #2

A third pic... #3

Pic #4

Pic #5

And finally... #6

Beyond these things we continue to grow greener in so many ways!

As my kids have grown up and needed me less, some of that void is filled with the needs of my niece.  But I'm finding too that as we eat more fresh, whole foods we're finding that most of us are feeling better, having more energy, and some chronic health issues are easier to deal with. So we are all busier doing all sorts of things that we love doing.

I've always loved writing, being creative, and helping others.

Now, I am finally to a point where all these attributes are combining into helping others to make changes in their lives.  We are teaching others that making changes that are "green" and moving towards living a greener life is something that hugely enhances one's life! Nothing brings me more satisfaction than knowing that something I shared with someone else is making their life better than it was, better than they thought it could be, better than they used to imagine! Of course, now they imagine things even better than that! ;-)

Changes are in the works for my blogging - positive changes!

So, please, come back again and do share this with others!

See you again soon!

All My Earthly Best

Influenza - H1N1 or ????

In all the press about the Swine Flu or the H1N1 Influenza virus there is so much anxiety about how will affect any given person(s). I was prepared; at least as much as possible. Or rather, I thought I was. I had what I needed to keep making my colliodal silver. :) I had been diligent in taking my many supplements. Due diligence has also been given to handwashing and to disinfecting multiple areas, surfaces, items, etc. on a frequent (many times a day) basis.

On the last Wednesday of September, my college daughter calls me in the wee hours of the morning to ask for help with feeling super hot, coughing so much she could hardly breathe, and nausea following the coughing or maybe preceeding it as one leads to the other either way. She's called the university health center and someone is supposed to be calling her back soon but she thought she'd call me while waiting (since I usually know better than the docs about my kids - LOL). A few hours later, one by one, my triplets awoke with individual versions of the same illness. The exact time of sudden onset varied by only hours. Fevers were present. All over achiness, accompanied by coughing, some nausea, more coughing, some head congestion, still more coughing, and so on down the list until it was that every symptom given for the H1N1 flu was met by the trio collectively.

Early in the afternoon I find out that my college daughter was advised to go to the urgent care center asap and upon arriving and attempting to explain her symptoms she passed out just as she was saying 'light-headedness' to the receptionist. Passing out, during a flu epidemic/pandemic, in a medical center, needless to say, brought her prompt attention and moving her to an isolated room whereupon she was intensely questioned about all her symptoms and activities over the last 30 days or so. IV fluids were administered for a few hours and she was released to go home with strict orders to avoid people, wear a mask when she must be around any people, get lots of rest, drink plenty of fluids, treat symptoms with OTC stuff and NO SCHOOL, NO WORK, NO REHEARSALS, NO ANYTHING until Monday!

The next few days were spent doling out meds, supplements, silver, tea, soup, and assorted comfort foods as I debated taking one or all of the kids at home into the local clinic. Medical clinics are a place to avoid this time of year if at all possible - after all, they are FULL of sick people!!! A brief phone call quickly confirmed this and gave me a list to work from that would necessitate going to the clinic.

By the end of the weekend my son was doing much better but his two sisters were still quite sick. All the kids had seemed better by Saturday... but the girls relapsed or suffered a setback of some sort by Sunday. By the following Wednesday, with steady declines, we took the girls into the clinic. Doc listened to our whole story and then tells us that it sounds like the kids all got the H1N1 flu and now have secondary complications from it, namely bronchial infections, or, bronchitis. One girl is worse than the other, with low O2 sats.... so she gets a couple more meds, but both are put on antibiotics for the next 10 days.

Eight days into this we have six members of this house, plus a kid who doesn't live here, sick with similar symptoms... or had been sick... and in various stages of recovery or illness. Then I get a call that my other daughter (who lives 3 hours away) is suddenly so sick with coughing and feeling hot and then cold and nausea too! UGH!

Today, 14 days after it all began, we are still fighting to regain health for all family members! So far a total of 17 days of work have been missed by various working family members... all paid by the hour, so we'll all be short in the next round of paydays. :( Coughing symphonies rattle through this household at random times. :( :) Schoolwork is behind. (kids like, mom doesn't) Routine and order have to yet to return. Most days consist of temp checks, doling out meds or supplements, pushing liquids, and keeping all else as simple as possible. Some of us are developing a premature case of cabin fever too!

In quieter moments I try to focus on the days ahead when no one will be sick! It's the only thing keeping me sane. ;-)

50 Days and Counting

50 Days!!! Hard to believe it's been that long!!!

It's been over a month since my last posting, too! I don't know what it is about my life that keeps it running at such an insane pace! This too is all part of what I'm working to change. I want a quieter life. I want a simpler life. I want a healthier life.

Instead it seems to still be out of control... what I personally do on any given day follows the needs of all those around me.

Progress on the "green" front is moving slowly. We are remembering the cloth bags more often than not, so we've cut down on how many plastic shopping bags we use. The formerly perpetually overflowing stash of such bags under the kitchen sink is actually shrinking now! :) I'm buying more organic foods too - not all - not even half; but it's averaging about 10% of my grocery money lately. It's harder cutting down on processed foods for the whole family than I'd hoped. Many "say" they are all for it but then when they are buying something they bring so much of it home. :( I am doing better personally at not eating it however. That, at least, is only going to go in one direction, eventually eliminating all of it, for me. Now when I choose to eat something prepared from one of the many processed food selections here my body reacts by feeling ill fairly quickly.

It's much like when I was working on cutting down sodas... all kinds of carbonated drinks. At the beginning it was hard to just cut it down to one can or bottle of soda per day. At the same time I was cutting quantity I was also cutting caffeine, so the sodas I did drink were caffeine free. It probably took close to a year to get to the point where I cut it down from 3 to 6 sodas a day to just one in a week. It was an 'up and down' thing - but once I got to just one a week it was a lot easier to go without soda for two weeks, then three weeks, and a month. One day, about a year and a half into it I was out with some friends and we stopped somewhere for something to drink. My choices were coffee (which I don't drink), milk (which I also don't drink), various sodas, and tap water (which I also don't drink). No juices or teas or bottled/filtered waters. So I ordered a soda. When our drinks arrived, without giving a thought at all to the fact that I hadn't had a soda in close to six months, I swallowed a good-sized gulp... and nearly choked! Not only did the taste so totally no longer appeal to me, but the fizzing carbonation actually felt like it was burning all the way down! I never took a second swallow and I've not even considered trying any soda again since then. It's been three years now. I'm hoping cutting out processed foods, at least for me, if not for my whole family, will follow a similar course.

We have also been very busy preparing for a garden this summer! There are over 200 small containers with little seedlings all over my house right now awaiting the day they can be safely transplanted into the backyard garden. We live in the northern regions of the U.S. Midwest so spring is just barely here. Grasses have only been green a little over a week. The early flowers - tulips, irises, daffodils - are now blooming, bringing color to yards that were still quite bland just a week ago. The leaf buds on many trees aren't quite ready to open but it shouldn't be much longer. With all this in mind, our plan is to begin planting the garden this weekend and have it all in by the end of May. We will be praying for success in this first gardening for food endeavor! Considering my lack of a green thumb we will need lots of prayers! LOL

Colloidal Silver (Day 19)

This morning I woke up to some requests for how I make colloidal silver. Now, I realize that there are some people that don't believe in this - some are worried they will turn silver, or blue, if they drink this - some say it only works due to the "placebo effect" - and some will swear that it cures everything!

All I can say is in making this for our own use, we have seen many times that it has increased the speed of healing or decreased the time of illness. We have seen absolutely no harm coming from using it either externally nor internally. The most any of us may have actually consumed in a day was about 2 ounces, but on average we usually use just about a tablespoon.

But I'm not writing this to convince you to use it. I'm writing this for those who are already convinced of it's benefits and are looking for a way to reduce the cost of it for their own personal use.

This form of colloidal silver, or silver water, is very inexpensive to make. We feel it has saved us hundreds of dollars in medical care visits and tests every year that we have used it. For us it is but one step in reducing how much we spend, how much we must use our car (to get to doctors), and tends to increase how healthy we are which is to everyone's benefit. :)

We are now closing Day 19 in our quest for creating healthier lives!

THE MAKING OF COLLOIDAL SILVER

This is for those people who believe colloidal silver has healing properties and would use it more if it didn’t cost so much to buy it already prepared.

We have been making it at home for many years now, thanks to a dear friend who told me how he did it (he’d been making it for us for some time) before he moved away, and additional thanks to another couple I knew that were also making it. My one friend forgot to tell me where to get the needed supplies. But the couple I know gave me that info and included tips on making the “generator” (for lack of a better term).

Essentially, you get colloidal silver by creating an electrical circuit that allows for minute silver particles to be disbursed into distilled water... thus the nickname "silver water" in our home. :)

So you need the following supplies:
Silver – best form is like a heavy wire; must be .999 pure silver (we buy it online, on ebay, 1-foot length for about $7 cut in half) (so far we’ve made at least 70 quarts with the same silver rods)
30 volts in battery power – we use four 9-volt batteries that snap together (you can buy them anywhere – for 4 it might be close to $10; a single 30 volt battery at Radio Shack was $15 I think) This is probably the one thing you will buy fairly often if you make silver frequently. (4 9-volt batteries are usually spent with making 20-25 quarts)
Insulated copper wire – we use cut up electrical cord with 1-inch of insulation cut away exposing the copper wires (we simply bought a replacement cord for a lamp for about $2 or $3 at the hardware store and cut on two 1-foot sections of it) (we’re still using the first cut; have enough left for 2 more new starts; so far 70 quarts and counting)
2 Alligator clips with colored insulated ends (one black, one red) (we bought them at radio shack, but probably a hardware store would have them too – didn’t cost too much, $1 or $2 maybe) (we’re still using original clips – 70 qts & counting)
Duct tape (we used about a foot or so each time we’re making CS)
2 Wooden sticks – popsicle sticks or tongue depressors (my son has a huge supply of “popsicle” sticks bought over several years for various “building projects” and we just took 2 of those) (still using original sticks – 70 qts & counting)
1 – nylon scrubber – the kind of thing you use to scour pots, soap-free (you can buy a pack of 12 for $1 at the dollar store) (still using the first one – 70 qts + but may switch out soon)
1 – Quart size glass jar – wide mouth if possible. It’s important that it be glass. It must be clean. It must be clear so you can observe the process when needed. (You can opt to buy some canning jars, or you can just use a clean empty jar from spaghetti sauce or something similar)
Distilled water – I buy it by the gallon for about 70 cents. Make sure nothing is added back in!
Something to store it in… needs to be glass (NOT PLASTIC EVER), should be dark colored – or take clear jars and decorate them with paint so light doesn’t penetrate. :) Lids should be metal (it’s ok to have a rubber seal within the lid but it’s best if it doesn’t have that). Contents should fill jar so that colloidal silver needn’t be in contact with the lid too much. In a pinch we’ve wrapped the tops with aluminum foil. Consider your needs here too. We use a bunch of half-pint jars so each family member can have their own jar from each batch. We also use quart jars to give to family members away from home for awhile.

OK – my best guess, rough estimate of initial costs would be $30. But it would depend too on what you might already have on hand. The batteries and the water are the most consumable.

HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER

Cut two 1-foot lengths from the insulated copper wire cord. It could be shorter, but start with this and you can adapt it as you learn your own needs. Trim off the insulation about 1-inch on both ends of each length.

Attach one end of each cord to each of the alligator clips. Wrap the copper wire around the conducting screw at least once. Tighten screw. (Optional: we secured this further with a small piece of duct tape wrapped around just the part of the clip where the copper wire and screw are)

Attach other end of each cord to one of the four 9-volt batteries. On the end of the battery that you’d usually snap into the appliance there are two different snap ends – wrap the copper wiring around one of each. Secure each copper wire with a small piece of duct tape (or electrical tape can be used here too; we’ve just switched to that as it seems to last longer; but we did many batches using the duct tape)

Snap the four batteries together.

Fill the batch jar with distilled water to about an inch from the top.

Using the popsicle sticks to stabilize the alligator clips secure clips to rim of batch jar with narrow strips of duct tape.

We’ve found duct tape to work best as it usually keeps sticking even when it gets wet.

Once you’ve secured the clips over the filled batch jar all that’s left is closing the circuit by putting a length of silver in the water from each clip. You MUST prepare the silver wire!

You’ll need to cut the 1-foot length of pure silver in half. Straighten each length if necessary; the straighter, the better. Take each half and scrub from end to end all around with the nylon scrubber. Then using a clean, white paper towel, dampened with distilled water, wipe down each “rod” and rest each rod on a clean towel until ready to place in water.

As you place each rod into the water you want placement to keep it from touching the glass walls or bottom of your batch jar. You also want each silver rod to NOT touch the other. The only thing besides water that should be in contact with the silver is the teeth of the alligator clip.

Adjust the position of the rod to keep them as parallel to one another as possible.

As soon as you close the clip on the last silver rod your batch is “cooking”! Check the time! One quart typically takes about 15-20 minutes. You can check on progress after 5-10 minutes. Usually within 5 minutes you’ll notice some “cloud activity” between the rods. By about 15 minutes you should see lots of dark trails extending from both rods (one more than the other – opposite polarities). If you notice some dark “pieces” breaking away on their own, your batch is done! Even if you don’t see this, stop “cooking” by 20 minutes. Holding the top end of one of the silver rods, release the clip, pull the rod out of the water.

When you remove the rods you will notice they are darkened from the water line down. You may dry the rods with the paper towel. Scrub each rod with the nylon scrubber again and wipe with the damp paper towel before storing away until next batch! :)

Pour batch into appropriate containers for storage.

If you ‘taste’ the silver and would prefer not to, try chilling it in the refrigerator. For those who do taste it I can attest to eventually getting used to it.

For most internal applications all you need is a swallow or two. You can repeat that a few times a day if you feel the need.

For most external applications a little dab on a cotton gauze or soak the end of a cotton q-tip to apply.

Now that you can make your own you’ll find all sorts of uses for it.

Any questions?

Spring? Day 2

In just a few hours Spring arrives here in the upper Midwest of the Northern hemisphere! It has been such a long winter!!!

THAT was how I was going to start this post. But I was also going to post this a lot sooner than now, however it was circumvented by Blogger’s / Google’s own little bots somehow concluding that it might be something automated doing this blog instead of it being someONE! Namely, ME! LOL So it was a bit disconcerting to get noticed like this BUT at the same time it is quite reassuring that the people behind this site (Blogger and/or Google) somewhere care enough to protect us bloggers and readers from such unwanted content. Having said this…

SPRING IS HERE!!! Yes indeedy! I am so glad too! (but as I write this – we are under yet another winter storm warning anticipating another 4-8 inches of the white stuff today!) Our first day of Spring was fabulous!!! It was sunny and beautiful and warm… and lots of snow melted!!! It’s all white again now – but soon, very soon it will be gone again!

In my locale we have had at least an inch of snow on the ground for 111 consecutive days! The all-time record is 122 days straight! We are now in fifth place with this winter AND there is still snow on the ground AND another round of snowfall due Friday! My neighbors, especially the older ones, tell me that THIS is what winters used to be like all the time. They tell tales of snow deeper than most adults are tall. They speak of digging tunnels to the driveways and roads. (so what about clearing out those driveways? Where did they put all that snow? And how’d they get all that snow off the roads?) Some of these old guys really make me laugh!

Still, if this winter is any indication of what winters here were like 15 or 20 years ago or longer, then I am very glad we moved here after that. Let me tell you, if my first winter here was like this one, I never would have spent the next 13 winters up here!!!

But on the other hand, it does make one appreciate the coming of Spring that much more! Never in my life have I looked so forward to a new season!

We have some great plans for this springtime as well. The whole family is taking on a backyard garden! Mostly it will be a vegetable garden, but there will be other plants too, like lots of herbs, some flowers, and perhaps some sort of low ground cover to replace the remaining grass so we don’t need to mow in back at all maybe. :) We are starting to see patches of grassy areas out there, so soon we can start digging up things and making plots ready for planting. We’re already starting some seeds, but plan on buying young plants soon too. Though I’m sure we still have a good month, maybe two, to go before that last danger of frost is gone.

We will also be working on a new organization plan to set in place. We’ve tried the Flylady program but haven’t done so well in sticking to it, though a few things have stuck and everyone loves to use my Flylady Feather Duster. I will still keep my Flylady cling where I can see her – there’s power in her purple image! :) This new program does have a few points in common with Flylady. This new plan of mine comes from my latest reading. The book is called Organic Housekeeping. It was printed in 2006 but I just heard about it a few days ago! What I’ve read so far fits right in line with my goals for the immediate future.

Those goals also include building up my [former business] to the point where it’s bringing in enough to care for all our expenses (and then some) BUT what’s even better is sharing all that I’m learning with others who will come to share with me in using their nontoxic products and working toward making a “carbon-neutral” footprint on this earth!

I can’t help but think that if I’d stayed with this company way back when perhaps my body would not now be so broken down, so chronically ill, so constantly in pain and without those challenges so many more positive things could have been accomplished by now! Starting now however, is still far better than never starting at all. It is so important, I think, for people to realize the danger the world is in now and take steps personally to change their futures!

This is now DAY TWO into my new plan... going pretty good so far. Next post will update you in more detail of what steps I've managed to take so far and how the family is accepting them. ;-)

DAY ONE minus two

In preparation for this journey that I am about to blog I am getting everything set up today. Consider this a preamble or preface to the book this is about to become.

The 20th day of each month tends to be a hallmark for me and as it is just two days away I've decided to get everything in place so that I may officially begin this course on Thursday, the 20th day of March in the year 2008.

As I begin designing this blog I inserted a picture a friend of mine sent me from Texas. Texas being my home state and the longstanding home of my mother's family going all the way back to it's glory days as the Republic of Texas; although it's not my physical home now there are many things I do love about it. Namely - BLUEBONNETS! OK, I also love YELLOW ROSES and nearly every other color of rose too. But I still love looking out over a field of Bluebonnets! My friend took this picture last April (2007 many of us had unusual winter-like storms) when a storm brought SNOW to her neck of the woods in Texas and nearly covered all the newly blossomed Bluebonnets! This particular picture just fascinates me!

Seeing snow covering a field of springtime blooms, and in the tree too, seems to be a contradiction in vision. It seems to match my present life: a contradiction in so many facets! If you look into my life, what you see is NOT what you get! What you get fails to match what you expected when you first looked. One must look beyond the obvious in order to see what's really there!

In all the obstacles and challenges I've faced over the years I've learned a few things!
Never say "never" ;-)
Listen before you speak.
Learn something new everyday!
There's more, but those I'll save for future posts. In sharing my earthly best you will eventually find something here for everyone that has ever been a part of a family. :)