Lycorne With an I instead of the Y it's French for Unicorn. I just like this spelling better.

Okay, for a long time, I’ve slowly been trying to go green. While there are still a lot of things that need improvement in that direction, when I clean I now make my own green cleansers, and I use green dish detergent for the dish washer, and a green dish soap. I make my own facial cleanser, and use baking soda with spearmint oil to brush my teeth. I am using the greener alternative to the laundry detergent and spot remover, but I had old shampoo and conditioner I was using up. (And I’ve been using it up for a LONG time since I had purchased a very big bottle before I decided to go green in Kansas City. I had purchased a HUGE bottle of Aussie Moisture Shampoo when I was living in Prescott, WI which we moved out of in Jan, ’09. So as you can see I was using that bottle a LONG time.) I really liked how the Aussie shampoo worked with their 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner. I liked how the combination of them kept my long hair (okay it’s now below my waist in length when I leave it down) feeling healthy while cleaning them.

But even the Aussie shampoo had ingredients that really aren’t that great for you. So I had decided that when I finished the bottle I attempt to make my own shampoo. Well I finally finished the bottle, so it was time to live up to the promise to myself. For one shower/shampoo I found myself in too much of a hurry to find a recipe I liked and use it. So instead I used the Sauve shampoo and conditioner that my husband prefers which were on hand. I quickly remembered why I liked the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner much better than the generic ones. My straight hair felt rough and almost frizzy like. It was also harder to comb and brush; I just really didn’t like how it felt. So I knew next time I would have to something different.

Online searching doesn’t yield many varieties of recipes, in fact I think there is only about a half dozen that are repeated on many, many websites. So I went to the library and picked up a couple of books again. I have used a few recipes by Janice Cox before and I liked them so I picked up a couple of her books, Natural Beauty from the Garden and Natural Beauty at Home. Inside I found a recipe that to me didn’t seem like a shampoo at all since it didn’t use any soap. The recipe was called Old-Fashioned Rosewater Shampoo, and instead it had something which I had heard for a very long time is a good conditioner for the hair, egg. Basically it uses rose water, apple cider vinegar and egg. (To see the actual portions please check out Natural Beauty from the Gardenby Janice Cox.)

I wasn’t sure how my hair would feel when I used the recipe. It sounded so strange to not have any type of soap in it. It certainly didn’t make any lather like most of us are used to when washing our hair. I massaged it into my scalp as directed and worked it through the rest of my hair. It makes enough so that you massage it through your hair twice, and I followed the suggestion of leaving it on 15 minutes the second time for more conditioning. Now I’m not sure if it was exactly 15 minutes. I just did my normal routine, wash my hair first and wash the rest of me in the shower while my hair is conditioning (this time with the egg mixture), then a final rinse just before I exit the shower. The only other thing I made sure to do was to rinse my hair with cool to warm water instead of hot. (I certainly didn’t want to end up with pieces of cooked egg in my hair, which I didn’t.)

While I wasn’t sure if my hair would feel clean after massaging this egg mixture into my scalp, it turns out that my hair/scalp does actually feel clean. I also like the feeling/texture of my hair after using this concoction. it was easy to comb out, and once my hair was dry it brushes easily. Now to see how long my hair feels clean after using it, since I just used to yesterday. I usually try to go 3 or more days before washing my hair again, so we’ll have to see how long this lasts. I’ll also have to see if I like how things work repeating this shampoo again and again. Sometimes you do need to switch up your cleaning routine, but I’ll know more later. I guess I’ll have to keep eggs on hand to clean my hair now….

Okay you may wonder why I when I haven’t used this site in almost 3 years I am now adding a recipe tab. Well basically it’s like this ….

Hubby is making a WordPress plug-in called Recipe Press, and when he’s done hopefully it will have the ability to create shopping lists from the selected recipes or user created menu(s). (Add customizable cookbooks, private notes, and a rating system for recipes and you’ll see that basically he wants to have the most functionality of RecipeZaar.) I’m going to support his attempt and hope that I will be able to do what I want with it in the end. The features I most want are the more advanced ones (or subscription based ones) on RecipeZaar but since I’m a SAHM and he’s only recently gone back to work, affording subscriptions aren’t the easiest thing to do right now.

Therefore I will slowly be adding the recipes that we normally use on a day to day basis in the hopes that eventually I’ll be able to use the software to plan menus and create shopping lists. I will also be adding the non-food recipes I am most likely to use or make ie … bath and body, and/or household cleaning.

I do know from experience it’s easiest to have just one nice and easy place to look for the recipes you want, and it’s even better if it’s quick and easy to find them there as well.

This evening I was reading some of the forums I’m in. In them some people are going through family crises with loved ones. While I try to wish them all the best, it reminds me of where I was a year ago. As I type this, 364 days ago, we were leaving the hospital for the last time and driving home.

While it was good to be with mother until the very end even if she was in a coma, it was also hard to say good-bye and know it was going to be the final one. Sure a few good-byes to follow (at the visitation, at the cemetery) but none were particularly easy. This year, we are having Christmas as Bill & Kathy’s rather than dad’s. It will probably be easier for everyone. Nothing would have made last Christmas easy, for any of us, but we survived it. Life always goes on for the living. The trick is to find the way to allow it to go on for you.

While it’s been not always been an easy year, we have survived it. Life will never be the same as it was before, but that’s to be expected. We’ve needed to find a new way to continue some of the traditions we’ve had for years. And we’ve found some, they may still be refined before they are considered prefect I’m sure, but we work at it.

What I’m regretting most of all this evening though, is that my baby will never know Grandma. Sure baby still has one grandma left, but it won’t be the same as knowing my mother as grandma. I admit there is nothing I could have done to change. I didn’t have any say in what happened to my mother. There was no way, I could have prevented her aneurysm from rupturing when I didn’t know it existed. Even if I had become pregnant last year after the wedding, baby still wouldn’t have known my mother. But none of this changes the fact, that I wish my baby could have grown up knowing my mother. While not the same as knowing grandma baby will be able to know grandpa. I am thankful for that at least.

Well, I’m posting for the second time in two days, so I guess some might fall over in shock. If you do, be careful not to hit your head.

Today has been mainly quiet, I’ll admit that. Earlier I ended up going to town to get some distilled water for my plants so can hydrate them all in their new home. Earlier today Shane worked hard at putting his kitchen in order, (yes his kitchen not mine). I’ve spent some time on organizing the living room, but we still have a ways to go before all is done. We still don’t know where many of the things are going yet but we are slowly getting closer. We will have many totes to go through, and several to repack and put into storage.

Oh, and if anyone is really observant you’ll see that I have changed the weather info on my page, and now it not only fits into the column, it’s also for the right location.

I didn’t realize how long it had been since my last post, until my husband mentioned it last night. Today I looked, and my last post was the end of October. It’s not that a lot hasn’t happened since then, because it has. A glance at my husband’s blog has hit some of the highlights in our recent lives.

In November, we found a new apartment, and moved. Our new place is smaller than our last one, but we just couldn’t remain any longer with the cigarette smoke, no heat in one of the bedrooms, and a front door we couldn’t secure. Well, shortly before we moved out the landlord finally put a cheap sliding lock on the front door so it could be secured. It only took them 9 weeks to do that. We couldn’t afford to wait around until he finally thought about doing something about the cigarette smoke.

The new home is actually a townhouse, with the living room, kitchen, laundry in a half bath on the first floor, and two bedrooms and full bath upstairs. It means that baby and office are going to be sharing space for a while, but there weren’t a lot of options available in our price range.

Also in November of course was Thanksgiving. We had two large dinners that day. One on each side of the family, we had 29 on my side of the family and 17 on his. It was wonderful seeing my cousins again, especially Jean and her family. Unfortunately their trip up was quick because Scott had to be back at work on Friday. At least now they’re only one state away rather than on the West Coast, so it will be easier to see them more frequently.

Also on the 28th, I had my first ultrasound. It was really nice to see baby for the first time, and very reassuring to know that baby is right on track and doing well. We do have a VHS tape with pictures of baby, and plan on changing it to a digital format, but things like moving and income have been taking priority. Not yet sure if we’re going to put the video on the web, or if we’re going to make a dvd but we’ll do something with it, maybe both. And it was also good to know that even with Thanksgiving, I only gained about 1.5 pounds since my last visit 5 weeks prior.

We moved the last of our things out of the old place yesterday. Yah, nothing like waiting until the last day, but we kept delaying the moving of the 55 gallon fish tank, which we finally did about 6 pm yesterday. Anyone who’s moved a large fish tank knows it’s quite a big production and this one was less, but luckily Shane had a friend of his help with the moving of the tank an stand. Even without the fish and water it still weighted 100 lbs or so, since Shane had left the 50 lbs of river rock in the bottom.

We had to move the fish back into the tank quicker than expected since the heater wouldn’t stay submerged on the side of the tote we moved the fish in like it needed to. So basically we ended up filling up the tank with most of our hot water (and then cooling it a bit so it would be the right temp) and moving the fish right in. It will take longer for the tank to get properly established, but we have a biowheel filter that’s wonderful in helping it along. Besides we have real hardy fish, they have been through this a time or two before so it should be fine.

It’s hard to believe that this year is almost over, but it is so I’ll leave it at that for now.

Yes, It’s been a while since I last posted. Many things have happened since I last posted, but most of them are unremarkable. I had an appointment with the midwife on Oct 17th. The really wonderful thing that day was that we heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. She started out by saying that sometimes it can take a while to find where the baby is so that we could hear the heartbeat, but in this instance the baby was exactly where she started looking, so there was no hunting around for the baby. Early last week we took care of what we needed to at the Trempealeau County so everything is fine there too.

We moved here the end of September. It was at the beginning of October we met our downstairs neighbors. The downstairs neighbors are an unusual lot currently. When first met them we met Chris and Rosey. Chris is actually married to Tina, and Rosey is his girlfriend. Tina and left for Maine several months ago, and after that Chris had met Rosey online and she moved out here from New Jersey. About half way through the month, one evening Rosey became rip roaring drunk to say the least. She does not a good drunk make. When this happened Chris decide that he’d rather have his wife back, and a few days later she arrived back in town. Well, Rosey left for a few days, but since then has apparently learned she has terminal skin cancer and only a few months to live. Now she’s back living downstairs with Chris and Tina. Don’t ask me how they’re working it out, all I know is that all three are there.

What’s the importance of all that you wonder? Well the simple answer has to do with the fact that Rosey and Chris smoke. When there is only one of them down there, the smoking doesn’t seem to come up through the floor. But when both of them are there, Rosey especially, the smoking is simply awful. This is an older double-wide trailer house, that has been put on a basement foundation. While we’re not sure exactly where the smoke is coming from (we’ve attempted to seal off the basement doorway but putting up plastic and weather stripping) it manages to get up here and bother us. We’re not sure if it’s coming through the doorway, the floor (here is no vapor barrier and the false ceiling down below offers no protection), or if it’s coming up through the heating vent that was cut when they put the stairs in.

But when all of that is said and done, it doesn’t really matter where it is coming from, what matters is that the landlords aren’t willing to do anything about it. We’ve attempted for a month to get it contained, or seeing if the landlord was willing to do anything about it. Unfortunately for us, the landlords aren’t willing to do anything about it. Nor have they repaired the cut heating vent in one of the bedrooms. Nor have they fixed the door jam for the front door, even though the door can’t close or lock currently because the jam is too wide. As for the room without heating, the landlord has offered to purchase a space heater and deduct $25 a month from our rent. Sorry, but that’s not acceptable, while space heaters are safer than they used to be, they are still a fire hazard. And I know how much of a fire hazard trailer houses are in and of themselves. Generally if there is a trailer fire, it’s a complete loss, and we certainly don’t need anything to make it more of a hazard.

What does all this mean? Well basically it means we’ll be moving again, and it’s going to be fairly soon. We only learned yesterday, that they are going to do absolutely nothing about the smoke, and their idea of a solution for a bedroom without heat, is a space heater. It’s been more than a month since he was suppose to fix the door jam, and he hasn’t done it yet. So, while I like this place, and love the space we have for what we pay, it’s now time to look for something different. It’s not a fun process but it has proven to be a necessary one. Wish us luck!

A lot has occurred since my last post. Shane, Bob and I have moved to Trempealeau. The move itself had some unusual details and things but there is no reason to go into all the ins and outs of the move. Anyone who has moved before, knows things rarely go as planned for a move, and often the unexpected occurs. I will mention that one of the very unexpected things during this move is that on Friday, September 22, Shawna (Shane’s sister) received a 3 day eviction court order. She had to be out of her rental, by 6 pm, Sunday, September 24th.

Since she was moving in with Karen, they wanted us to try and move our things out sooner, that idea of theirs had mixed results. But I can say we now have everything at our new home in Trempealeau, and it’s nice not to have to commute to Holmen so Shane can do his work. We couldn’t get internet service in Trempealeau until Thursday, September 28th, so until we had it we were driving back and forth daily.

This past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we went to Amrail, in Chicago. Amrail is an event put on by a group of model railroaders in Chicago, for the purpose of having out-of-town guests come and operate their railroads. We ran for different railroads during our trip, one Friday evening, two on Saturday, and one on Sunday morning. They were all lots of fun, and definitely the makings for a great trip. And as an added bonus we were able to stop at Bill Kirchmeyer’s new home in Rockford, IL on the way back to see how he’s coming with his benchwork. It’s a beautiful home, a huge basement, a great plan for the layout, and a wonderful start on his benchwork. This is definitely going to be a great railroad to come and operate once he has it finished!

Sunday evening after we returned, Shane and I met the downstairs neighbors. Rosey and Chris appear to be really nice people. Rosey just recently moved here from Rhode Island, so naturally she’s having a bit of cultural shock from the differences between the East Coast and the Mid-West. One of the biggest things she’s adjusting to is the fact that on the East Coast is that you don’t get to know much about someone unless you’ve known them many years already, and here in the Mid-West people are curious and want to get to know you once they meet you. I know the difference between the two because I spent 6 1/2 years living in the Greater Boston Area, which is most definitely that way. Out there you don’t become friends with someone until you’ve known them at least 1/2 a dozen years already, minimum.

Rosey isn’t currently working, she’s taking some time to organize their apartment and settle in before finding herself a job. One of the things she offered was that if we needed to go shopping or anything let her know and she’d be glad to help us with a bit of transportation when she can. It was very nice of her, and on Tuesday when she needed to go to LaCrosse to run some errands, we went along. Shane had considered staying home, but since he was waiting for someone to get back to him with some work, he decided to come along. It was an enjoyable time for all I believe, I know I enjoyed it.

Rosey and Chris are smokers though, and at the moment, that smoke is finding it’s way up the old staircase. We need to talk with the landlord about either closing off the stairs, or sealing the door with plastic, or something. I’m sure hoping that it will all work out. I like this place a lot, and while I can’t really smell the smoke much, I’m sure it’s not good for me or the baby. I know that Shane and Bob are much more sensitive to it, but I really hope something can be done.

On the thirteenth, I had my first appointment with the nurse, and then one with Dr. Peck. The appointments went well, just long, my first appointment was at 1:30, and I didn’t get out of the clinic until a few minutes before 5. At this point everything seems to be going well, and it appears that I should be able to have things the way I would like. What do I mean by that you ask? Well, for starters it means that I will have a midwife rather than a doctor, and I’m looking into have a water birth. Sure it’s early yet and a lot of things could happen before April 25th, but currently there is no reason for me not to have a midwife or waterbirth.

I am greatly looking forward to our move to Trempealeau by the end of the month. It’s going to be a relief to have our own place, and not be sharing living space with Karen. Lately she has been really upsetting Shane a lot and while I do my best to stay completely out of it, just the raised voices of them arguing can set me a bit on edge. Luckily whenever it happens I just tell myself to relax, there is only a few more weeks of this.

While I’m happy that Shane and I are moving on, I’m still sorry about the pain and upset he’s going through now with his mother’s behavior. While I find it difficult to dredge up sympathy for her, I really wish this wasn’t so difficult on Shane.

What can I say, I get hundreds of spam emails every day. Like everyone else, I hate it. I do what I can to keep a handle on it, but I can’t even control my own. Since Shane and I announced to our families of our upcoming family addition, I have been receiving many more spam mails, and now they are coming to my personal email box. While the person who added me to babytobee.com may have thought they were helping me, I really really wish that instead of signing up my personal email address, they had sent me a link to the place and perhaps a line or two of why they thought I would find it useful.

How do I know it’s not something I signed up for? Well that’s easy, I have an endless number of possible email addresses to choose from since I own my own domain. Whenever I sign up for things on the web, I am always picky about the email address I use. I select an address that will allow me to have some indication of whether or not, the site I went to sells my email address to other lists as well. This also allows me to block that email address if I start receiving an unreasonable amount of spam at it.

Bottom line everyone? Don’t sign someone else up for an email list. Even if you think it’s the best thing in the world, or right up their alley. Always talk to the individual first, either in email or person, and it’s really much nicer to send them the link to allow them the choice. I will admit that I have sent people invitations to lists, or places before, but I do believe I have always talked to the individual first. And while I may send someone an invitation email, I haven’t signed them up on a list, they’re the ones that I allow to make that choice for themselves.

While I could make separate posts, I’ve decided it’s not critical for me to do so. Instead of making a couple short posts, I’ll make this one and include the information I would have put in each.

On Friday we meet with our future landlord. I recall mentioning that Muriel owned the property, but she recently had a hip replacement, and can no longer handle the step to and from her place. This is why she has moved in with her daughter and son-in-law who have a ranch home with everything on one level. Muriel’s daughter and son-in-law are the ones that will actually be handling the rental.

While I can’t recall her son-in-law’s name of the top of my head, he’s a nice individual and quickly addressed all our concerns. They live in Mindoro and he works in Galesville, so he’ll be close in the event that something happens at the rental. He also mentioned that Muriel has 5 dogs and several birds (hence the animal smell in the house). He’s already told us that as far as he’s concerned, the place is ours, and he’s offered to allow us to move in on the 15th for a half-month rent. Now all we have to do it get him the deposit and rent, and it’s a done deal.

On Friday night, we had a RiverRail session at Dennis’ again. It went as smoothly as always, and was just as much fun as expected. We had talked about missing it or only attending part of it so that we could see Skeeter Lewis again. Shane and I had our first date listening to Skeeter Lewis at Riverside park during the Forth of July Festival La Crosse has every year. Unfortunately this year without our own vehicle, we were unable to listen to him play jazz.

We had received word that he would be playing at Skipper’s on Friday night, but while we having such fun at Dennis’ we decided not to end the evening in a smoke filled bar, even if it was to listen to some wonderful jazz. Besides, I had awoken early, missed my afternoon nap that day, and was quite tired. I actually went to bed once we arrive home, and for anyone who knows what I night owl I am, yes it was very unusual.

On Saturday, Bob had asked us to go to Caledonia with him, to met his friend Rosa. She is a very nice lady, and while I could go into much more detail, I think my husband summed it up nicely yesterday in his blog. If you’re interested you can see what he wrote here.